The most important heritage which my noble grandfather and father left me is the army, and I received it with pride and joy. To it I addressed my first decree when I mounted the throne. As I enter into the next decade of my reign I again address it in these words: You who are now assembled here constitute the 1st Infantry Regiment of the guard, in which I grew up; the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps, the most distinguished regiment of the cavalry body-guard of the Prussian Kings; the Hussar Regiment of the Body-Guard, which I have always commanded; and the Cadet Corps of the Infantry Battalion, which represents the entire army and which in Potsdam enjoys the honor of providing the guard for the King and his house. Perhaps never did an army suffer such severe loss as in the year 1888. Never has an army lost in the course of a single year two such powerful leaders crowned with laurel and honor, who were at the same time its war lords.[17] I look back gratefully upon the years which have passed since that time. [17] It is interesting to note that the Emperor here himself explicitly makes the distinction between commander of an army, _Heerführer_, and war lord, _Kriegsherr_, a title which can only be bestowed upon the Emperor. Seldom has so difficult a task fallen to the lot of a successor who in a brief period had been forced to see both his grandfather and his father carried away by death. The crown was weighed down with heavy cares. Every one lacked confidence in me; everywhere I was falsely judged. One alone believed in me, one alone had faith--that was the army. And leaning upon her, trusting upon our old guard, I took up my heavy charge, knowing well that the army was the main support of my country, the main support of the Prussian throne, to which the decision of God had called me. I therefore turn to you first to-day and express to you my congratulations and my gratitude, and in these expressions I include likewise with you all your brothers in the army. I am of the firm conviction that, through the self-sacrificing devotion of the officers and men in their faithful work of peace, the army during the last ten years has been maintained in the same condition in which I received it from my departed predecessors. In the next ten years, faithfully bound together, let us seek further the unconditional fulfilment of our duty in old and unremitting labor, and may the main supports of our army remain forever intact! They are courage, sense of honor, and unconditional, iron, blind obedience. That is my wish which I to-day address to you and with you to the entire army. ON THE DEATH OF PRINCE BISMARCK FRIEDRICHSRUH, AUGUST 2, 1898