But why, and to what end? Had we met the liar and cheat
with honesty, had we remained calm in presence of this nerve-ridden
individual, we should have been able to recover, morally at first and
then actually, all the advantages that Prussia gained by her victory.
The Imperial victim of restlessness, whose nerves are so unhealthily
and furiously shaken when he goes abroad, has a craving for disturbing
the nerves of others; this in itself makes him the most dangerous of
advisers. William II never allows to himself or to others any
relaxation of the brain; like all spirits in torment, he must needs
find, forthwith, to the very minute, a counter-effect to every thing
that confronts him. With him, even a sudden calm contains the threat
of a storm, excitement lurks beneath his moods of quietness. The
bastard peace which he has authorised Turkey to conclude, conceals a
new revolution in Crete: such is his will. No sooner is there evidence
of an improvement in our relations with Italy, than he invites King
Humbert to be present at the German military manoeuvres, in order to
create dissension between the two countries. And so it is in
everything. He makes it his business to inspire weariness and vexation
of spirit, to destroy those hopes and feelings which restore vitality
to the soul of a people. He is for ever stretching out a hand that
would fain control by itself the rotation of the globe, and he sets it
all awry.
The glorification of William II at Kiel is founded upon shifting sands.
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