her case gold or silver embroidered hat with
white plume; with the 'small' uniform, however,
black trousers (or knee-breeches, black silk
stockings, shoes with black bows and the
'three-cornered' hat with black plume). During the
first fourteen days gentlemen wear black woolen
vests and black gloves, in the last eight days
black silk vests and grey gloves.

"Berlin, December 30, 1913.

"The Ober-Ceremonienmeister.
"GRAF A. EULENBURG.

"By command of His Majesty the Emperor, mourning
will be suspended for New Year's Day and the 17th
and 18th of January."

So, it is apparent what a close corporation all the royal
families make and the peoples are simply viewed as the personal
property of the ruling princes. In his telegram which the German
Kaiser wrote to President Wilson on August tenth, observe that
all is personal. The Kaiser says, "I telegraphed to His Majesty
the King, _personally_, but that if, etc., I would employ _my_
troops elsewhere.... His Majesty answered that he thought _my_
offer...." He speaks of the King of the Belgians "having refused
_my_ petition for a free passage." He refers to "_my_ Ambassador
in London."

This telegram shows, on the other hand, another thing,--the great
ability of the Kaiser. Undoubtedly he knew why I was coming to
see him--to present the offer of mediation of President
Wilson--but from our conversation I do not think that he had even
in his mind prepared the answer, which sets forth his position in
entering the war.

He said, "Wait a moment, I shall write something for the
President." Then taking the telegraph blanks lying on the table,
he wrote rapidly and fluently. It was a message in a foreign
language, and, whatever we may think of its content, at any rate
it is clear, concise, consecutive and forceful.

The personal touch runs through that extraordinary series of
telegrams in the famous "Willy-Nicky" correspondence between
Kaiser Wilhelm and the last of the Romanoffs, discovered in
Petrograd by Herman Bernstein. These reveal, moreover, the
surpassing craft of the German Kaiser. He was the master schemer.
Touting for German trade, always for his advantage, he twists the
poor half-wit of the Winter Palace like a piece of straw.

Emperor William was not satisfied with a quiet life as patron of
trade. As he studied the portraits of his ancestors, he felt that
they gazed at him with reproachful eyes, demanded that he