r influence on their eldest son. It was he, Count
Augustus, who acted as the comforter of William whenever he was
subjected to reproof or to disciplinary measures by his father or
mother; who invariably espoused the lad's cause, and who contributed
more than anyone else to convince William that he was a victim of the
most cruel and unmerited form of parental severity and persecution. He
constituted himself the mentor and the guide of the prince, initiated
him into all the intricacies of the imperial court, as well as into
the secrets of its most prominent members. In one word, he rendered
himself so indispensable to the prince, that as soon as the latter
succeeded to the throne he at once appointed Count Augustus Eulenburg
to the grand mastership of the court and household.

To what extent Emperor and Empress Frederick were aware of the spirit
characterizing the count's relations with their eldest son, it is
difficult to say, but there is no doubt that during the last two or
three years of Emperor Frederick's life, the position of Augustus in
the household of "Unser Fritz" was vastly improved and facilitated by
the sensational quarrels of his elder brother, Count Botho Eulenburg,
the celebrated statesman, with Prince Bismarck, for both Frederick
and his wife, from, that time forth, ceased to look upon Augustus as a
creature and a spy of the chancellor.

How great was the intimacy between William and the count, may be
gathered from the fact that Augustus was the invariable and sole
companion of the emperor in that species of Haroun-al-Raschid
nocturnal expeditions which his majesty was wont to undertake in the
slums of his capital, for the purpose of learning what his people were
saying about him. At that time, his features were far less familiar
to the public than they are to-day, and by giving his moustache
a different twist, and his hair another turn, he experienced no
difficulty in disguising himself. The adventures which he met with
during the course of these nightly prowls in the company of Count
Augustus are numerous enough to fill a book. Still, while they
furnished plenty of amusement, excitement, and experiences not
altogether unpleasant, they involved his majesty, on one or two
occasions, in so much personal danger, that the count, realizing the
responsibility which would rest upon his shoulders in the eyes not
merely of the nation, but of the entire world, if anything untoward
happened to the monarch, induc