 of all the slanders that have been circulated about me are justified. Their distrust has vanished ; their simple, unsophisticated nature now meets me frankly. Every one greets me in a friendly manner, and most people shake hands. I also receive occasional invita- CHILDHOOD DAYS 31 tions and then sit in these clean little rooms to sip a cup of cocoa and make trial of my acquirements in the Dutch language. One person in particular has done much to enlighten people and to smooth my path, namely, Burgomaster Peereboom. At the outset, he was the only one who thrust aside all prejudice, and sought to see and to help the human individual he and his family. And to him and to his warm-hearted and active wife I am indebted for many a little improvement in my modest household at the Parsonage as well as for many a wise hint that taught me to understand my new environ- ment. One or two Germans also tendered me imme- diate help ; among them the experienced Count Bassenheim of Amsterdam, who knows Holland as well as he does his beautiful Bavaria ; then the clever and ever-faithful Baron Huenefeld, formerly vice- consul at Maastricht, whose care for me has been most touching ; further, there are several German business men of Amsterdam, faithful, self-sacrificing men to whom I owe a lifelong debt of gratitude. And so there only remains unchanged the anxiety as touching my old home, my country, the longing for her and for those to whom I belong. But not of that now. I will talk here of that other life which to me, in the seclusion of this island, often appears so distant as to be separated from the present by a whole train of years. Born heir-apparent to a throne, I was brought up in the particular notions valid by tradition for a Prus- sian prince. No one in the family had ever cherished a doubt as to the suitability and excellence of these principles, for in their youth all its male members had traversed exactly the same path. 32 THE CROWN PRINCE OF GERMANY While fully recognizing the undeniable value of the old Prussian traditions, I believe, nevertheless, that the narrow, sharply-defined and hedged-in education of Prussian princes (in which the rigid etiquette of the court combines with the anxious care of the parental home to provide directions for mentor, tutor and adviser) is calculated to produce a definite and not very original product adapted to ceremonial duties, rather than a modern man capable of taking his un- swerving course in the life of his times. If I had submitted tamely to the system, it would in time have led me into a position in which I should have been ignorant of the world, sequestered and secluded. The worst of such a position appears to me to be, not the Chinese Wall itself, but the ultimate incapacity to see the wall, so that the immured imagines himself free while in reality his mental range is closely circum- scribed. At an early age, and certainly at the outset as a mere consequence of my natural disposition, though later with growing consciousness and maturer judg- ment, I opposed the efforts to level out the indepen- dent features in me with the object of creating a " normal Prussian Prince." Two directly diverging views were at work here. On the one hand was the traditional notion stressed so emphatically throughout His Majesty's reign, the notion of the augustness (erhabenheit, exaltedness) of the ruler, the notion figuratively expressed in the word itself that the Prince, King, Kaiser must stand elevated high above the level of the governed classes ; on the other hand was my own conception that he must become acquainted with life as it is and as it has to be lived by people of every station. It remains to be said that the endeavour to be true to my conviction in thought and act caused me many a struggle and many an unpleasantness. CHILDHOOD DAYS 33 The upbringing and the daily life of us children in the Imperial parental home was simple. We certainly were not indulged least of all by our military governors. My first military governor I was then a lad of seven years was the subsequent General von Falkenhayn. I remember him with reverence and gratitude. He did not pamper me ; permitted no excuses ; and even in those childhood years he impressed upon me that, for a man, the words " danger " and " fear " should not exist. In the best sense, he passed on to me the undaunted freshness of his faithful soldierliness. There was in me from infancy a passion for horses and rid- ing. General von Falkenhayn arranged our rides in the beautiful environs of Potsdam in such a way that we had obstacles to surmount. Hedges, fences, walls, ditches and steep gravel-pits had to be briskly taken. He used to say on such occasions : " Fling your heart across first ; the rest will follow." That saying I have taken with me through life ; again and again, and in recent circumstances when the drab hours of my destiny and my loneliness here in this island have threatened to stifle me, the General has stood before my mind's eye and has helped me over my difficulties with his brave soldierly philosophy. Even when a lad I had to prove myself as patrol and scout, and I was also instructed in reading maps. Gymnastics, drill and swimming were ardently prac- tised as physical training. An event that made a deep impression upon my young mind recurs to me. I was permitted to present myself to Prince Bismarck in due form and not in the unofficial way in which I had done so when, as a young- ster, I suddenly surprised him in his den. From my father I received instructions to don my uniform and meet him at Friedrichsruh ; I was going to the eightieth birthday of the ex-Chancellor (Alt-Reichskanzler). 34 THE CROWN PRINCE OF GERMANY To don uniform was, even in that early period, the acme of delight to my boyish heart ; and to this was to be added a visit to the man whom, then as now, a healthy instinct taught me to regard as a sort of legen- dary hero. In the night before this journey, I did not sleep a wink. Bismarck was suffering severely from gout, and leaned upon a stick to welcome us in the castle. At lunch he displayed an astounding liveliness and vigour ; but, as a consequence of the excitement naturally experienced in this first " official " appearance of mine, this general impression is all that I have preserved in my recollection. Moreover, it must be confessed that I was rendered somewhat anxious during the meal by the Prince's big boarhound, who suddenly laid his cold nose on my knee under the table, and growled very unmistakably whenever, unobserved, I tried to free myself from his attentions. After lunch, His Majesty mounted horse and, on a piece of ploughland close to the castle, awaited Bis- marck at the head of the Halberstadt Cuirassiers, whose chief the aged prince had been appointed. I had the honour of accompanying the old gentleman in his carriage. In a truly paternal manner, he pointed out to me all the beauties of the Friedrichsruh park. My father delivered a very fine speech and presented the prince with a sumptuously- wrought sword of honour. The prince replied with a few pregnant words. Then we returned to the castle. I noticed that the prince was very weary and fatigued ; the prolonged standing had doubtless put too great a strain upon him. His breathing was quick and heavy ; and finally he tried to open the tight collar of his uniform, but failed. Almost startled by my own boldness, I bent over him and undid it ; then he pressed my hand and nodded gratefully. CHILDHOOD DAYS 35 We left the same afternoon. On this beautiful day, which I would not, for all that is dear to me, have blotted out of my memory, I had seen for the last time the greatest German of his century. Our first scientific education we received from our private tutor. I cannot approve of this method, for the pupil misses the stimulating rivalry of comrades. When I entered the Cadet School at Plon as a lad of fourteen, in April, 1896, large gaps manifested them- selves in my knowledge, which necessitated a good deal of extra work. In my Plon days the future General von Lyncker acted as governor to me and to my brother Eitel Frie- drich. He was a typical high-minded Prussian officer of the old school. His unswervingly serious nature made it rather difficult for him to enter into the ideas of us immature little creatures or to discover the proper methods of managing us. And we were real children at that time. For him there existed only orders, school, work and duty, and again orders and duty. When I grew a bit older, we often got to logger- heads. As a youth, I certainly was not a pattern be- ing for the show-window of a boys' boarding-school ; but that there was so much to complain of as General von Lyncker managed to discover, day in day out, I really cannot believe. Moreover, although quite uninten- tionally on his part, his somewhat hard and unyielding manner hurt me. But it was this very General von Lyncker whom the Kaiser afterwards employed as go- between when disagreeable conflicts arose. Although I readily and gratefully acknowledge, that in this task imposed upon him, General von Lyncker never adopted the role of time