l fashion. His father, on the other
hand, was wont to say: "I will not touch the Chancellor's statue, but I
will remove the stones, one by one, from his pedestal, so that some
fine day it will collapse of itself."

It is a curious thing that these reforms and ideas, not having been
applied by the monarch whose character would have harmonised perfectly
with their conception and execution, now possess no reversionary value.
They lose it completely by being subjected to a false paternity.

It is true that occasionally William II envoys some real satisfaction,
such as that which he has derived from the coming of the King of
Belgium. So impatient was His Majesty to return his visit, that he
could not wait for the good season and therefore he came in the bad.
At Ostend, Leopold II had caused sand to be strewn at William's coming
(the beach being conveniently handy). The King of Prussia only spread
mud. Why was the King of Belgium in such a hurry? After the visit of
General Pontus to Berlin and his three days in retirement with the
German headquarters staff, people at Brussels are still asking what
more King Leopold could possibly have to settle in person with Messrs.
Moltke and Waldersee at these same headquarters?

The _Courier de Bruxelles_ informs us that certain proposals for an
alliance were made to Leopold II during his stay at Potsdam. What!
Could Prussia possibly have dared to think of laying an impious hand
upon Belgian neutrality! But if not, why should they have been at such
pains formerly to prove to me that the thing was inconceivable?
Prussia wants a Belgian alliance and the King refuses. Splendid! But
let him tell us so himself! I confess that such a document would
interest me far more than all that I have published on the subject!
May not the explanation of King Leopold's journey be, that William II
would like a mobilisation in Belgium just as he wants one in Italy? M.
Bleichroder will supply the cash. He has already got his bargain
money, viz. Pastor Stoecker in disgrace, and the repudiation of
anti-Semitism by its ex-partisan, William II.

November 27, 1890. [16]

How can one avoid taking an interest in William II of Hohenzollern? He
is one of those people who, by every means and in every way, insist on
being noticed. This up-to-date Emperor is obsessed by the idea of
making profit, for purposes of advertisement, out of every sensation;
he loves to upset calculations and produce every