As the crowd seemed complete the men about me consulted their watches
and then suddenly grew quiet in expectancy. The lights blinked twice and
went out, and we were bathed in a hush of darkness. The heavy curtain
rustled like the mantle of Jove while from somewhere above I heard the
shutters of the windows of heaven move heavily on their rollers. A
flashing brilliant beam of light shot through the blackness and fell in
wondrous splendour upon a dazzling metallic dais, whereon rested the
gilded throne of the House of Hohenzollern.
Seated upon the throne was a man--a very little man he seemed amidst
such vast and vivid surroundings. He was robed in a cape of dazzling
white, and on his head he wore a helmet of burnished platinum. Before
the throne and slightly to one side stood the round form of a
paper globe.
His Majesty rose, stepped a few paces forward; and, as he with solemn
deliberation raised his hand into the shaft of burning light, from the
throng there came a frenzied shouting, which soon changed into a sort of
chanting and then into a throaty song.
His Majesty lowered his hand; the song ceased; a great stillness hung
over the multitude. Eitel I, Emperor of the Germans, now raised his face
and stared for a moment unblinkingly into the beam of sunlight, then he
lowered his gaze toward the sea of upturned faces.
"My people," he said, in a voice which for all his pompous effort, fell
rather flat in the immensity, "you are assembled here in the Place of
the Sun to do honour to God's anointed ruler of the world."
From ten thousand throats came forth another raucous shout.
"Two and a half centuries ago," now spoke His Majesty, "God appointed
the German race, under William the Great, of the House of Hohenzollern,
to be the rulers of the world.
"For nineteen hundred years, God in his infinite patience, had awaited
the outcome of the test of the Nazarene's doctrine of servile humility
and effeminate peace. But the Christian nations of the earth were
weighed in the balance of Divine wrath and found wanting. Wallowing in
hypocrisy and ignorance, wanting in courage and valour; behind a
pretence of altruism they cloaked their selfish greed for gold.
"Of all the people of the earth our race alone possessed the two keys to
power, the mastery of science and the mastery of the sword. So the
Germans were called of God to instil fear and reverence into the hearts
of the inferior races. That was the purpose of the First World War under
my noble ancestor, William II.
"But the envious nations, desperate in their greed, banded together to
defy our old German God, and destroy His chosen people. But this was
only a divine trial of our worth, for the plans of God are for eternity.
His days to us are centuries. And we did well to patiently abide the
complete unfoldment of the Divine plan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account