“affords an opportunity to students, not only from the British colonies, but also from Germany and the United States, to obtain the benefits of an Oxford education.  The opportunity afforded to young Germans during their period of study to mix with young Englishmen is one of the most satisfactory results of Rhodes’s far-seeing mind.  Under the auspices of the Oxford alma mater, the young students will have an opportunity of studying the character and qualities of the respective nations, of fostering by this means the spirit of good comradeship, and creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and friendship between the two countries.”

The Emperor had always admired the Colossus of South Africa, discerning in him no doubt many of those attributes which he felt existed in himself or which he would like to think existed; and the admiration stood the test of personal acquaintance when Cecil Rhodes visited Berlin in March, 1899, in connexion with his scheme for the Cape to Cairo railway.  It does not sound very complimentary to his own subjects, the “salt of the earth,” but it is on record that the Emperor then said to Rhodes that he wished “he had more men like him.”  At the close of the visit the Empress returned to Germany, while the Emperor took a much needed rest-cure for three weeks at Highcliffe Castle, a country mansion in Hampshire he rented for the purpose from its owner, Colonel Stuart-Wortley.

In the course of this work, it may have been noticed, no particular attention has been devoted to the Emperor in his military capacity.  The reason is, because it is taken for granted that all the world knows the Emperor in his character as War Lord, that he is practically never out of uniform, and that his care for the army is only second—­if it is second—­to that for the stability and power of his monarchy.  The two things in fact are closely identified, and, from the Emperor’s standpoint, on both together depend the security, and to a large extent the prosperity, of the Empire.  He knows or believes that Germany is surrounded by hordes of potential enemies, as a lighthouse is often surrounded by an ocean that, while treacherously calm, may at any time rage about the edifice; that round the lighthouse are gathered his folk, who look to it for safety; and that the monarchy is the lighthouse itself, a rocher de bronze, towering above all.

In this connexion it may be noted that the army in Germany is not a mercenary body like the English army, but is simply and solely a certain portion of the people, naturally the younger men, passing for two or three years, according as they serve in the infantry or cavalry, through the ranks.  The system of recruiting, as everybody knows, is called conscription; it ought rather to be described as a system of national education, whereby the rude and raw youth of the country is converted into an admirable class of well-disciplined, self-respecting and healthy, as well as patriotic, citizens.  The Emperor believes, contrary to the opinion of many English army officers, that a man to be a good soldier must also be a good Christian, and thus we find him enforcing, or trying to enforce, among his officers the moral qualities which Christianity is meant to foster.