Scientific American Supplement, No. 1157, March 5, 1898 | Page 2

military establishment
of the great country. He believes in militarism, or in force to use a more
common expression, but in this he is right, for it has taken two hundred
and fifty years to bring Prussia to the position she now holds, and what
she has gained at the point of the sword must be retained in the same
way. The immense sacrifices which the people make to support the
army and navy are deemed necessary for self-preservation, and with
France on one side and Russia on the other, there really seems to be
ample excuse for it. To-day the German army is as ready as in 1870,
when Von Moltke walked down the Unter den Linden, the day after
hostilities were declared, looking in the shop windows.
No ruler, except possibly Peter the Great, ever gave so many ex
cathedra opinions on so many different subjects in the same length of
time, and of course it cannot be supposed that he has not made mistakes,
but it shows that it is only by prodigious industry that he has been able
to gather the materials on which these utterances are based. He is
indeed the "first servant of the state," and long before his court or

indeed many of the housemaids of Berlin are awake, he is up and
attending to affairs of all kinds.
He is a great traveler, and knows Europe from the North Cape to the
Golden Horn; and while flying across country in his comfortable
vestibuled train, he dispatches business and acquires an excellent idea
of the country, and no traveler can speak more intelligently of the
countries through which he has traveled, and this information is
brought out with good effect in his excellent after-dinner speeches.
In speaking of the versatility of the Emperor, something should be said
of him as a sportsman. He has given a splendid example to the
Germans. He has tried to introduce baseball, football and polo, three
American games. This may be traced to the time when Poultney
Bigelow and J. A. Berrian were the Emperor's playmates. Fenimore
Cooper was one of the favorite authors with the young scion of royalty.
The Emperor is fond of hunting, yachting, tennis and other sports and is
never so happy as when he stands on the bridge of the royal yacht
Hohenzollern. He is a well known figure at Cowes and won the
Queen's Cup in 1891.
William II. was born January 27, 1859, in Berlin, and until he was
fourteen years old his education was intrusted to Dr. Hintzpeter,
assisted by Major Von Gottberg, who was military instructor. At this
time his corps of teachers was increased by the addition of Prediger
Persius, who prepared him for his confirmation, which took place
September 1, 1874, at Potsdam. As William was to lead an active life,
it was thought best to send him to the gymnasium at Cassel.
Orders were given that he and his younger brother Henry, who
accompanied him, should receive the same treatment as the other pupils,
and this order was strictly obeyed. He graduated from this school
January 24, 1877, just before his eighteenth birthday. After this his
military career began with his entrance as an officer into the first
Garde-regiment at Potsdam, that he might become thoroughly
acquainted with practical service. The young prince was assigned to the
company which his father had once commanded. After serving here for
a short time he went to the university at Bonn, and from there he went

back to the army again. Emperor William ascended the throne in June,
1888, upon the death of his father Frederick III.
In 1880 he was betrothed to Augusta Victoria, Princess of
Schleswig-Holstein, and on February 9, 1881, they were married. The
Empress is about a year younger than the Emperor, and makes an
excellent mother to her four little sons, to whom she is devoted. Their
oldest child, little Prince William, the present Crown Prince, was born
at Potsdam, May 6, 1882. His father's devotion to the army will
doubtless prompt him to make a soldier of his son at an early age; in
fact, he wore the uniform of a fusilier of the Guard before he was six
years old.
The imperial family consists of seven children. The eldest, the Crown
Prince of Germany and Prussia, is Prince
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Victor-August-Ernst, born May 6, 1882. The
second child is Prince Wilhelm-Eitel-Friedrich-Christian-Karl, born
July 7, 1883. The third is Prince Adalbert-Ferdinand-Berenger-Victor,
born July 14, 1884. Prince August-Wilhelm-Heinrich-Victor was born
January 29. 1887. The fifth child, Prince Oscar-Karl-Gustav-Adolf, was
born July 27, 1888. The sixth child is Prince
Joachim-Francois-Humbert. He was born December 17, 1890. The
youngest is a girl, Princess
Victoria-Louise-Adelaide-Mathilde-Charlotte. She was born September
13, 1892.
Our engraving is from the last portrait of the Emperor