Ferdinand of Coburg has commenced his punishment on earth. Knowing him as I do, I am certain that he suffers intensely, even though he may sometimes receive consolation from the Devil! I think he believes himself a superman. That fool Nietzsche--in reviving a theory as old as the hills, when supermen called themselves cavaliers, warriors, heroes and demi-gods--has turned a considerable number of heads in German countries. He did them the more harm in that their superhumanity, infested by the morbid materialism of the century, became separated from the ideal which once animated these mighty persons, and elevated them to honour instead of luring them to crime. It is certain that despicable motives and methods can only end in a terrible material and moral defeat. Ferdinand of Coburg, who has been ambitious from his youth upwards, was a student of Nietzsche at the time when his theories achieved notoriety. So Nietzsche obtained as his disciple a being who is now one of the most notable victims of Zarathustra. CHAPTER XI William II and the Court of Berlin--The Emperor of Illusion I wish to speak of William II as of one dead. He does not belong to this world; he belongs to another. I must be excused if I am sparing of anecdotes. It would be painful to me to recall to life and movement one who has passed. My desire is to limit myself to explaining effects of which I know the cause. It was puerile to wish under high-sounding vain words such a petty thing as the arrest and trial of a Government sunk in shame. Society cannot recognize any Divine law in crimes against civilization, since they place man below the level of the beast. William II fell from the throne and was arrested by a more powerful hand than that of earthly justice. He has known the severest prison of all--exile; the most frightful regime--fear; the most terrible sentence--that of conscience. Who will know the secret of the nights of this fugitive traitor to his people whom he fed with deceptions and lies, and whom he has led to ruin, civil war and dishonour? For not only did he dishonour himself, but he dishonoured Germany in dishonouring her arms. Where is the honest German who has recovered from the intoxication of war who can hear the name of Louvain, of the _Lusitania_, of poison gas and other horrors without shuddering? But the responsibility of all these crimes must rest on William II. The passing of centuries will be necessary to wipe out the stain of his murderous folly. This constitutes the shadow over the unfortunate Empire which makes it appear monstrous to the nations of the Entente. But I wish to say at once, because I am certain of it, Germany is what Imperial Prussia has made her, and would again make of her. The victim of her confidence and candour, she accepted as gospel all that her Sovereign, the heir of victorious ancestors, declared, professed and taught her.