was not able to resist.

The unhappy Monarch unfortunately never once realized that the
"Democrats" were his best friends. The Imperial power could, in
the long run, only be upheld, if it found both its support and
its counter-weight in a strong democracy. Like Friedrich Wilhelm
IV., William II. was also unable to adapt himself to the changing
circumstances of his time. The one-sided composition of his entourage,
which was always recruited from among people who held his own views,
was, at all events, chiefly to blame for this.

Although the Imperial Chancellor had told me that he would overcome
the Kaiser's displeasure in regard to myself, almost two months
elapsed before I was received at General Headquarters, and even
then, it was only because a question had been asked about the matter
in the Reichstag. When I saw the Kaiser, towards the beginning of
May, in Kreuznach, the American question was of interest merely to
historians, and no longer to politicians. Consequently, my interview
with the Monarch, which took place on a walk, was not of very great
moment. With his customary skill, the Kaiser steered clear of any
attempt to enter deeply into the political problems of the hour,
and behaved towards me, for the rest, just as affably as he had
been wont to do in the past.

I had made the journey to Kreuznach in the company of my late friend,
Ballin, whom I was never to see again. Whereas I was invited to
lunch at the Imperial board, Herr Ballin was only asked to dinner.

Among the many and various charges which were brought against me
in my Washington days, was the allegation that I was principally
an agent of Ballin's. I had, in cordial agreement with Herr Ballin,
always energetically supported the interests of German Shipping
Companies; but even my most bitter enemies can only justify their
charge against me for the period preceding the war. For, during
the war, Herr Ballin had no influence at all, either in America or
at home. He was, for instance, kept aloof from the Kaiser, because
he was regarded as an "interested party" and as a pessimist. On
the occasion in question, a high official of the Court said to me
at the Imperial table that if I was seeing Ballin again before I
left Kreuznach, would I please tell him that he was not to speak
so pessimistically to the Emperor as he was wont to do. The Emperor
ought not to be allowed to hear such stuff, otherwise he would
lose nerve. This little passage of conversat