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William II and Francis Joseph
[Illustration: WILLIAM II EMPEROR OF GERMANYFrom Life]
William IIGermany
Francis JosephAustria Hungary
1900
The essential qualifications for an author of such a work as thepresent are an actual acquaintance with the persons mentioned, anintimate knowledge of their daily lives, and a personal familiaritywith the scenes described.
The author of William II. and Francis-Joseph, sheltered under the nomde plume of Marquise de Fontenoy, is a lady of distinguished birthand title. Her work consists largely of personal reminiscences, anddescriptions of events with which she is perfectly familiar; a sort ofpanoramic view of the characteristic happenings and striking featuresof court life, such as will best give a true picture of persons andtheir conduct.
There has been no attempt to trammel the subject,—which embracesreligious, official, social and domestic life,—by following astrictly sequential form in the narrative, but the writer's aim hasbeen to present her facts in a familiar way, impressing them withcharacteristic naturalness and lifelike reality.
To this task the author has brought the habits of a watchful observer,the candor of a conscientious narrator, and the refinement of awriter who respects her subject. Hence she presents a true, vividand interesting picture of court life in Germany and Austria. If suchmerely sensational, and too often fictitious, unsavory tales as crowdthe so-called court narratives expressly concocted for the "society"columns of the periodical press are not the most prominent featuresof the present work, it is because they receive only a truthfulrecognition and place in its pages.
"If only Emperor William would be true to himself—be natural,in fact!" exclaimed Count S——, a Prussian nobleman, high in thediplomatic service of his country, with whom I was discussing theGerman Emperor a year or so ago. Then my friend, who had, a shorttime previously, been brought into frequent personal contact with hissovereign, in connection with his official duties, went on to say:
"There are really two distinct characters, one might almost saytwo personalities, in the kaiser. When he is himself he is the mostcharming companion that it is possible to conceive. His manners are asgenial and as winning as those of his father and grandfather, bothof whom he surpasses in brilliancy of intellect, and in quicknessof repartee, as well as in a keen sense of humor. He gives onethe impression of possessing a heart full of the most generousimpulses,—aye, of a generosity carried even to excess, and this,together with a species of indescribable magnetism which appears