GERMANY. 



369 



The Emperor Friedrich had at different times 

 had copies taken of parts of his diary. The 

 original was found at San Remo after his de- 

 parture, and was forwarded to his wife, in 

 whose possession it remained after bis death. 

 The new Emperor and Prince Bismarck were 

 angry at the divulging of the extracts that ap- 

 peared in the " Rundschau," the authenticity 

 of which was called in question by the chan- 

 cellor, who declared that the historical state- 

 ments were untrue, saying, in a report to the 

 Emperor Wilhelm, that his father, the author of 

 the diary, was not allowed to be made privy to 

 the political negotiations in France, for fear 

 that he would betray the confidence reposed in 

 him to the English court. In this report he 

 gave his opinion that the diary in the form in 

 which it was published was a forgery, and rec- 

 ommended that the author should be crimi- 

 nally prosecuted on the charge of libeling the 

 memory of the Emperor Friedrich in declaring 

 him capable of menacing Bavaria and Wurtetn- 

 berg with threats of war to compel them to 

 enter the empire and in ascribing to the Prus- 

 sian Government intentions such as were in- 

 involved in the statement of the diai-y that the 

 Chancellor threatened as soon as the French 

 war was over to combat the doctrine of Papal 

 infallibility. In replying to a passage repre- 

 senting him as returning to Varzin on July 18, 

 1870, under the impression that peace was se- 

 cured, the Chancellor exhibits his attitude dur- 

 ing the negotiations over the Hohenzollern can- 

 didature for the Spanish throne in a new light 

 by saying that, far from considering peace se- 

 cured, he was convinced that w#r was neces- 

 sary, and that he intended to resign his minis- 

 try and to return to Varzin if the King's re- 

 luctance to engage in war had led to a peace- 

 ful conclusion of the diplomatic controversy. 

 In accordance with the Chancellor's suggestion, 

 the Minister of Justice instituted criminal pro- 

 ceedings. The unsold numbers of the maga- 

 zine were confiscated by the Government, and 

 Prof. Geffcken, who furnished the diary for 

 publication, was arrested on the charge of either 

 calumnious attacks on the memory of the dead 

 or of divulging state secrets. In his examina- 

 tion by the judicial authorities he repeated the 

 statement that he had received the diary from 

 the Emperor, but the authorities in their inqui- 

 ries acted on the suspicion that the Empress 

 Victoria had procured the publication. She 

 was called upon, but refused to deliver the 

 original diary into the custody of the stats to 

 be placed in the Prussian archives. 



The Aeetssion of William II. The young Crown- 

 Prince during his father's brief reign held little 

 communication with his parents, and main- 

 tained a rival court in Berlin, consorting with 

 reactionary politicians and military men, and 

 evincing in toasts and speeches a dislike for 

 his father's pacific and progressive policy. His 

 first act after the death of Friedrich was to 

 issue two striking addresses, one to the army 

 and one to the navy. In the former he said 

 VOL. XXTIII. 24 A 



that he assumed the place to which he was 

 called with unshakable confidence, because he 

 was aware of the enthusiastic feeling of honor 

 and duty that his predecessors had implanted in 

 the army. The attachment between the army 

 and the monarchs of the Ilohenzollern dynas- 

 ty had grown stronger with each generation. 

 " Thus," he continued, "we belong to each oth- 

 er, I and the army. Thus were we born for 

 each other. And firmly and inseparably will 

 we hold together, whether God's will gh 

 peace or storm." A proclamation to the Prus- 

 sian people was issued on June 18, in which 

 he promised to be a just and mild prince, to 

 foster piety and the fear of God, to protect 

 peace, to promote the welfare of the country, 

 and to be a helper of the poor and the op- 

 pressed, and a true guardian of the right, 

 counting on the fidelity of his people, who have 

 always stood faithfully by their king, in good 

 and in evil days. 



The ceremony of opening the Reichstag in 

 the Old Palace at Berlin on June 25, on which 

 occasion he was attended by most of the sov- 

 ereign princes of Germany and by the dignita- 

 ries of the empire, was a page-ant of unexam- 

 pled splendor. Two days later he took the oath 

 on the Prussian Constitution before both houses 

 of the Diet with a pomp and circumstance that 

 were equally impressive and spectacular. The 

 father had chosen to reign under the name with 

 which he was originally christened and by 

 which he was best known throughout his liie. 

 The son, who also bore the double name of 

 Friedrich Wilhelm, discarded the first part in 

 order, to follow the royal style of his grandfa- 

 ther, whose example he continually extolled, 

 and which, he said in his speech from the 

 throne, he was resolved to follow, striving to 

 assure the military and political safety of the 

 empire abroad and watching over the execu- 

 tion of the laws at home. He adopted the first 

 "NVilhelm's economical policy as his own in re- 

 gard to affording to the working population, 

 in conformity with Christian morality, such 

 protection as legislative measures can give to 

 the weak and distressed in the struggle for ex- 

 istence, and in this way seeking to equalize 

 unhealthy social contrasts; but all efforts hav- 

 ing an aim or tendency to undermine public 

 order he considered it necessary to suppress. 

 His foreign policy he declared to be to main- 

 tain peace with every one, as far as lies in his 

 power, and not to use the strength obtained 

 through the new military law for aggressive 

 purposes, for Germany needs no fresh military 

 glory nor conquests since she has won by fight- 

 ing the right to exist as a united and inde- 

 pendent nation. 



In his opening speech the Emperor spoke of 

 the existing arrangements with Austria-Hun- 

 gar"y and Italy as permitting him to cultivate 

 his personal friendship for the Emperor of 

 Russia and the peaceful relations that have 

 existed with the neighboring Russian Empire 

 for a hundred years. On July 13 he set out 



