Crushed as a nation a hundred years since, under the great Napoleon, the members of this military caste are still ruled by the fear of despotism from without, and ignore the despotism within of their own creation, still fight ideas with physical force, hold the uniform as sacrosanct, are overbearing, touchy, often (with, of course, many exceptions) insufferably vain and spiteful. They realize most emphatically that they are the masters, not the servants, of the German people; they are a class aloof, apart, a class wielding tremendous social and political power. Sometimes it seems almost a pity that Carlyle rediscovered the virtues of that “iracund Hohenzollern” Frederick William I. So many latter-day Prussians, without possessing his sturdy virtues, seem to model their conduct on his, and try to impress the world by the more disagreeable, rather than the more praiseworthy traits of his vivid forceful personality. CHAPTER IX THE BAUERN-HAUS AND SCHRIPPEN-FEST The _Bauern-Haus_ or peasant cottage which the Emperor gave to his daughter at Christmas was built and ready for occupation by the time she returned to the New Palace in the spring. It was solemnly inaugurated, being unlocked by the Emperor and presented by him to the Princess, who was overjoyed at having a place where she could cook and wash clothes to her heart’s content; for, like most people of royal birth, she was attracted chiefly towards those occupations in which she was least likely ever to be engaged. Before the advent of the _Bauern-Haus_ we had made toffee on a doll’s stove in a doll’s saucepan, but the brocaded chairs and sofas of the rooms of the _Prinzen-Wohnung_ were an unsuitable background for tentative culinary efforts, and the Princess sensibly remarked that grown-up people had not dolls’ appetites and she wanted to cook something for “Papa.” It is true that, having a cold, he had partaken of the toffee (which turned out rather soft) with much appreciation, but we were eager to prove ourselves capable of higher achievements. All the dolls’ crockery-ware, saucepans and frying-pans were taken over to the _Haus_, which was built in one of the side gardens a little distance from the Palace. The first time we indulged there in an orgie of cooking, the Princess, wishing to play the part properly, donned an embroidered peasant’s dress which had been presented to her by the good _Bauern-Volk_ who came to Donau-Eschingen. We met the guard on our way to the garden. They were dreadfully nonplussed when they first caught sight of her in this costume, not being sure if it really was the Princess or not, but finally decided to render the customary honours. The wearer of the dress had thrown herself so entirely into the part of _Bauern-frau_ that this obvious anachronism annoyed her extremely. She found the costume, moreover, rather tight and hot, and not very practical for beating eggs in, and therefore decided not to wear it again when she really wanted to work.