would be a
helpful beginning, which we would appreciate."

"I am not as well prepared as I would like," said the teacher; "but as
I believe in making a first meeting of this kind a sort of a model in
its plan and purpose, I will in a free way tell you something of

THE STORY OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM.

The life of the Emperor of Germany has been full of thrilling and
dramatic scenes.

When he was a boy, Germany--the great Germany of Charlemagne--was
divided into states, each having its own ruler. His father was
Frederick William III., King of Prussia, and his mother was Louise,
an excellent woman; his youth was passed amid the excitements of
Napoleon's conquests. Russia and Prussia combined against Napoleon;
Russia was placed at a disadvantage in two doubtful battles, when
she deserted the Prussian cause, and made a treaty of peace.

Napoleon then sent for the King of Prussia, to tell him what he
would leave him.

The lovely Queen Louise went with the unfortunate king to meet the
French conqueror, hoping thereby to obtain more favorable terms. But
Napoleon treated her with scorn, boasting that he was like "waxed
cloth to rain."

He, however, offered the queen a rose, in a softer moment.

"Yes," said Louise, thinking of her kingdom, "but with Magdeburg."

"It is _I_ who give, and _you_ who take," answered Napoleon
haughtily.

Napoleon took away from Prussia all the lands on the Elbe and the
Rhine, and, uniting these to other German states, formed a kingdom
for his brother Jerome.

The good Queen Louise pined away with grief and shame at her
country's losses, and died two years after of a broken heart. So the
boyhood of William was very sad.

It is said that children fulfil the ideals of their mothers. Poor
Louise little thought that her second son would one day be crowned
Emperor of all Germany in the palace of the French kings at
Versailles.

William was born in 1797; he ascended the throne as King of Prussia
in 1861. How widely these dates stand apart!

On the day of his coronation as King of Prussia, he exhibited his
own character and religious faith by putting the crown on his own
head. "I rule," he said, "by the favor of God and no one else."

Under his vigorous rule Prussia grew in military power, and excited
the jealousy of the French people. Napoleon III., on a slight
pretext, declared war with Prussia. In this war Prus