MY RECOLLECTIONS OF WILLIAM 11-1879-1903 237 



not come when it is permissible to give his conversation 

 in detail ; it treated a multitude of current topics, and even 

 burning questions, with statesmanlike breadth, and at 

 the same time with the shrewdness of a man of the world. 

 There were in it sundry personal touches which interested 

 me; among others, a statement regarding Cecil Rhodes, 

 the South African magnate, and a reference to sundry 

 doings and sayings of his own which had been misrepre 

 sented, especially in England. One point in this was espe 

 cially curious. He said, * Some people find fault with me 

 for traveling so much ; but this is part of my business : I 

 try to know my empire and my people, to see for myself 

 what they need and what is going on, what is doing and 

 who are doing it. It is my duty also to know men and coun 

 tries outside the empire. I am not like , &quot; naming a 



sovereign well known in history, who never stirred out of 

 the house if he could help it, and so let men and things 

 go on as they pleased. 



This union of breadth and minuteness in his view of 

 his empire and of the world is, perhaps, his most strik 

 ing characteristic. It may be safely said that, at any given 

 moment, he knows directly, or will shortly know, the per 

 son and work of every man in his empire who is really 

 taking the lead in anything worthy of special study or 

 close attention. The German court is considered very ex 

 clusive, but one constantly saw at its assemblages men 

 noted in worthy fields from every part of Germany and, 

 indeed, of Europe. Herein is a great difference between 

 the German and Russian courts. If, during my official 

 life at St. Petersburg, I wished to make the acquaintance 

 of a man noted in science, literature, or art, he must be 

 found at professorial gatherings across the Neva. He 

 rarely, if ever, appeared in the throng of military and 

 civil officials at the Winter Palace. But at Berlin such men 

 took an honored place at the court among those whom the 

 ruler sought out and was glad to converse with. 



As to the world outside the empire, I doubt whether 

 any other sovereign equals him in personal acquaintance 



