But even more than that--Bonn is situated on the Rhine; it is here that our grapes are gathered; our legends cluster about it, and every castle, every city, speaks to us of our past. The magic of Father Rhine will certainly exercise its power upon the Crown Prince likewise. And when you joyfully pass the cup and sing a new song, then I hope that your spirits may rise and enjoy the beautiful moments as becomes happy German youths! But may the source from which you draw your joys be as clear and pure as the golden juice of the grape, may it be deep and constant as Father Rhine! If we look about us in the joyous Rhineland, our history rises up before us in very palpable form. You may well rejoice that you are young Germans, as you travel through the stretch from Aix to Mainz, that is, from Charlemagne to the time of Germany's splendor under Barbarossa. But why did all this glory come to naught? Why did the German Empire dwindle away? Because the old empire was not founded upon a strictly national basis. The universality idea of the old Roman Empire of the German Nation did not admit of any development in the spirit of German nationality. The life of a nation depends upon its frontiers, upon the personality of its people, and upon its racial traits. And so the glory of Barbarossa had to fail, and the old imperial structure had to fall, because through its idea of universality it hindered the process of crystallization which might have made it a rounded and completed nation; for the smaller units crystallized into the form of powerful principalities and laid the foundation for new states. But through this process their rulers unfortunately came into conflict with the empire and the Emperor, who dreamed of universal dominion, and internal peace was lost to the ever weakening empire. Unfortunately, at the head of this chapter in the development of our German people we must write the telling words of Tacitus, that great student of Germany: "_Propter invidiam_." The princes were envious of the power of the Emperors, just as once they were envious of the power of Arminius in spite of his victory. The nobility was envious of the cities which had become wealthy, and the peasant was envious of the noble. What unhappy consequences and what grievous woes our dear and beautiful Germany had to suffer "_propter invidiam_"! The shores of Father Rhine can tell you long stories about this. But finally God allowed one to accomplish what before had been impossible. Aix and Mainz are for us historic memories; the longing to be brought together into a single nation remained in the German breast, and Emperor William the Great, in union with his faithful servants, achieved it. So cast your eyes from Coblentz to the German Eck and from Rüdesheim to the Niederwald! The pictures teach and prove to you that you are now Germans in a German land, citizens of a definitely bounded German nation. You are here to prepare yourselves to