n his person are
punishable with death, and attacks, in speech or writing, which are
adjudged to constitute _lese majeste_ are subject to special and
severe penalties.[300]

[Footnote 299: Arts. 53-58 of the Prussian
Constitution. See p. 253.]

[Footnote 300: R. C. Brooks, Lese Majeste, in _The
Bookman_, June, 1904.]

*221. Powers: Military and Foreign Affairs.* The king of Prussia being
_ipso facto_ Emperor, the royal and Imperial functions which are
combined in the hands of the one sovereign are of necessity closely
interrelated. There are powers which belong to William II. to-day
solely by virtue of his position as king of Prussia. There are others,
of an Imperial nature, which he possesses by reason of the fact that,
being king of Prussia, he is also Emperor. In practice, if not in law,
there are still others which arise from the thoroughgoing
preponderance of the Prussian kingdom as a state within the
Empire--the power, in general, of imparting a bent to Imperial policy
such as would not be possible if, for example, the king of Wuerttemberg
were Emperor, rather than the king of Prussia.

The functions of the Emperor as such are not numerous, but, so far as
they go, they are of fundamental importance. In the first place, the
Emperor is commander-in-chief of the army and navy. He may control the
organization of the Landwehr, or national defense; determine the
strength and composition of the armed contingents; supervise the
equipment and drilling of the troops; and mobilize the whole, or any
part, of the forces.[301] A second group of Imperial functions are
those relating to foreign affairs. "It shall be the duty of the
Emperor," says the constitution, "to represent the Empire among
nations, to declare war and to conclude peace in the name of the
Empire, to enter into alliances and other treaties with foreign
countries, to accredit ambassadors and to receive them."[302] The (p. 212)
Emperor's power, however, is not in all of these directions absolute.
One important limitation arises from the requirement that, under all
circumstances save in the event of an attack upon the federal
territory or its coasts, war may be declared only with the consent of
the Bundesrath. Another is that in so far as treaties with foreign
countries relate to matters which are to be regulated by Imperial
legislation, "the consent of the Bundesrath shall be requir