133

VIII. THE EMPEROR'S NINETIETH BIRTHDAY 159

IX. STREETS, PARKS, CEMETERIES, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS 179

X. PALACES 195

XI. THE HOMES OF THE HUMBOLDTS 209

XII. PHILANTHROPIC WORK 221

XIII. AROUND BERLIN 249

IN AND AROUND BERLIN.

I.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

It was seven o'clock of a gray November morning when we arrived in
Berlin for our first residence abroad. The approach to the city
reminded us of the newer parts of New York, and we found that the
population was about the same. But here the resemblance ceases. New
York is the metropolis of a great nation,--the heart whence arterial
supplies go forth, and to which all returning channels converge; the
cosmopolitan centre of a New World. Berlin is the increasingly
important capital of the German Empire,--growing rapidly, but still
the royal impersonation of Prussia and the Hohenzollerns; seated in
something of mediaeval costume and quiet beside the river Spree; as
content to cast a satisfied glance backward to Frederick the Great and
the Electors of Brandenburg as to look forward to imperial supremacy
among the Great Powers, and the championship of continental Protestant
Europe.

There is one continuous thread woven through the old history and the
new, and this appeared in the first hour of our stay. Everywhere on
the streets the one thing most strange to our American eyes was the
number of striking military uniforms mingled with the more sober garb
of civilians. Officers of fine form and gentlemanly bearing, in
uniforms of dark blue with scarlet trimmings and long, dragging,
rattling swords, were commanding the evolutions of infantry in the
main streets; while frequent glimpses of gold-laced light blue or
scarlet jackets or of plumed and helmeted hussars animated the scene
on the crowded sidewalks. Germany is, as it has been from the
beginning, a military power.

We drove first to the home of an American friend. We were not prepared
for the four long flights of stairs up which we were directed by the
porter on the ground floor. "What reverses of fortune have come to
A.," thought we, "that she lives in an attic!" The tenement was a good
one, to be sure, when we found it,--large and lofty apartments with
many windows, co