ncely charge,--yet he would tolerate no familiarity or
condescension on his part towards inferiors, and was even wont to
force William to wash his hands when he had so far forgotten himself
as to shake hands with anyone of a subordinate or menial rank. Another
trait of character of Professor Hintzpeter, is his firm conviction
that difficulties, no matter how vast and intricate, are always
capable of being settled and satisfactorily arranged by means of
eloquent phrases and good intentions.

At the time when William renewed his acquaintance, in the capital of
Westphalia, with his old tutor, the socialistic and labor problems
were engaging the attention not merely of Germany, but likewise of
all Europe. Prince Bismarck was in favor of a continuance of harsh
measures with regard to labor, and of persecution of the most
resentless nature so far as the socialists were concerned. Hintzpeter,
full of his former sympathies for autocracy and socialism at one and
the same time, called William's attention to the fact that Bismarck's
policy had merely had the effect of vastly increasing the strength of
the socialists as a factor in German politics, and of rendering the
labor difficulties more acute. He, therefore, suggested to the emperor
the idea that he should endeavor to solve both problems by means of
an international congress, under his own presidency, at which means
should be devised for reconciling the interests of socialism with the
state, and those of capital with labor.

William, with all his common-sense and cleverness, has inherited
from his ancestress, Queen Louise, and one might almost say from his
grand-uncle, King Frederick William IV., a very strongly developed
tendency towards idealism. It was to this phase of his nature that the
recommendation of Professor Hintzpeter particularly appealed, and the
more he considered the matter, the more he discussed it with his old
tutor, the more convinced he became that it was in his power to solve
the difficulties of both socialism and labor, and thus to earn the
gratitude, not only of his own people, but of the entire civilized
world.

Of course, Prince Bismarck immediately realized the Utopian character
of the scheme, saw its impracticability, and proceeded to condemn it
with more than his ordinary irritability and _brusquerie_. Finding,
however, that the emperor was not to be argued out of the idea of
holding a labor conference, he proceeded to ridicule it, and what was