The German Empire and the German crown rest upon a Brandenburg basis and a Prussian foundation. On that account we wish on this day to remember the people of the mark and of Brandenburg and not least the Brandenburgers who in 1870 risked their lives and all that was near and dear to them in order to win the imperial crown for the old master. As long as a Hohenzollern lives and as long as there are Brandenburgers both of them will remember Constantine Alvensleben, Vionville, and the Third Corps.[48] This was the old Brandenburger loyalty which had been preserved through all the centuries, and I hope that this loyalty may be the possession of the coming generations of the city of Brandenburg. And I drink this cup in the hope that this loyalty may never be extinguished. [48] Constantine Alvensleben, commander of the Third (Brandenburg) Army Corps, played an important part in the battle of Vionville, on the 16th of August, 1870. He checked the French army operating from Metz and held it until the arrival of reinforcements. HAULING DOWN THE FLAG HAMBURG, JUNE 18, 1912 As usual, the Emperor was present at the meeting of the North German Regatta Association. Since 1897 he had been absent but once. Certain references in his address here doubtless refer back to the outcome of events at Agadir. It is difficult to tell whether or not he is on the defensive. Whatever his qualities or defects, it cannot properly be said that he has often or indeed ever publicly weakened in a position which he had once taken. He has, however, occasionally shifted his ground. Criticism, instead of giving him pause, has usually had the effect of angering him and of immediately drawing his fire upon his critics. So, in regard to the criticism of his agrarian policy on the part of the Prussian land-owning nobility, he replied that "opposition on the part of the Prussian nobility is monstrous" [_ein Unding_]. As the opposition had been directed solely against certain policies and not against him personally, his statement implies that he expected the Prussian nobility to support him in all of his positions. He expected personal loyalty. As some of his opponents were members of the Prussian Landtag, it is difficult to see what would become of the idea of representative government in case the representatives of the people waived their opinions and those of their constituents in his favor. Some of the sharpest criticism which the Emperor incurred was that which followed the incidents at Tangier in 1905 and at Agadir in 1911. In both cases what may be called the war party showed great resentment, and certain of the criticisms made by them seem to indicate that war, to them, was a consummation devoutly to be wished, and the failure to make war at these opportunities was looked upon as a defeat. The Emperor seems here