present Emperor a certain "Old Testament" character--a feeling of
direct reliance upon the Almighty, a consciousness of his own
part in guiding a chosen people, and a readiness, if need be, to
smite the Philistines. One phase of this feeling appears in the
music at the great anniversaries, when the leading men of the
empire are brought together beneath the dome of the Palace
Church. The anthems executed by the bands and choirs, and the
great chorals sung by the congregation, breathe anything but the
spirit of the Sermon on the Mount; they seem rather to echo the
grim old battle-hymns of the Thirty Years' War and the war in the
Netherlands.

And yet it must be said that there goes with this a remarkable
feeling of justice to his subjects of other confessions than his
own, and a still more remarkable breadth of view as regards the
relations of modern science to what is generally held as orthodox
theology. The fearlessness with which he recently summoned
Professor Delitzsch to unfold to him and to his family and court
the newly revealed relations of Assyrian research to biblical
study, which gave such alarm in highly orthodox circles, and his
fairness in estimating these researches, certainly revealed
breadth of mind as well as trust in what he considered the
fundamental verities of religion.

A good example of the curious union, in his mind, of religious
feeling, tolerance, and shrewd policy is shown in various
dealings with his Roman Catholic subjects.

Of course he is not ignorant that his very existence as King of
Prussia and German Emperor is a thorn in the side of the Roman