The German Emperor as Shown in His Public UtterancesWilliam II, German Emperor
History
The German Emperor as Shown in His Public Utterances
William II, German Emperor
Germany -- History -- William II, 1888-1918 -- Sources; Germany -- Politics And Government -- 1871-1918
After the Emperor had gone down the front and had greeted separately
every battalion, every division or squadron, he pictured the present
situation in eloquent words and called attention to the fact that no
crime which so cried to Heaven had been recorded in the history of the
world, but he also set in their proper light the difficulties of the
task which we had set for ourselves and emphasized the fact that we
had before us an opponent equal in equipment and fame but ten times
superior in numbers. But, and his words ran about as follows, "you will
and must defeat him with the help of God and, indeed, in such a way
that the Chinese in thousands of years will not presume to raise his
hand against a German"; and his voice became deeply moved and powerful
as he spoke the following words: "On the strength of the oath to the
flag which you have sworn to me I demand that you give no pardon, that
no prisoners be taken, for you shall be the avengers of the abomination
which has been committed in this present time." Then followed certain
words of farewell, and the speech of the Emperor which for me and for
many others will be unforgettably closed with the phrase, "Adieu,
comrades."
[Illustration: THE EMPEROR IN 1900]
CIVIS ROMANUS SUM
IMPERIAL LIMES MUSEUM, SAALBURG, OCTOBER 11, 1900
_Limes_ was the Latin name for the boundary wall extending for
about 300 miles from the Rhine to the Danube and separating the
Roman Empire from the free Germanic peoples. At Saalburg, in the
Taunus Mountains, there stood on the _Limes_ an old Roman citadel
which was excavated and restored. The Romanized ceremony at the
laying of the corner-stone of the Imperial Limes Museum struck
certain German critics as somewhat theatrical. The guards had been
drilled to clash their swords on their shields after the manner of
the Pretorian guards, the rector of the school offered his homage
in Latin verses, and boys whose hair had been dressed in Roman
fashion swung their censers. The Emperor's historical references
here about the relation of Germany to Rome are somewhat one-sided.
It may be recalled, in connection with the Emperor's remarks about
Augustus and his salutary influence on Germany, that in the Forest
of Teutoburg there is a great monument to commemorate the fact that
the united German tribes, struggling victoriously against this
"Roman culture which fell so fruitfully upon Germany especially,"
there annihilated the forces of the general of Augustus, Quintilius
Varus.
My first thought to-day goes back in solemn gratitude to my father of
everlasting memory, Emperor Frederick III. It is to his creative will
and to his activity that Saalburg owes its restoration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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