v. Berg, evidently wished to invest my visit with an official

character which would enable him to be in attendance. After a while, however, the Kaiser became impatient and did not wish to wait till the hour appointed for the interview. So I was requested by telephone to hold myself in readiness by 11 o'clock.

"I went to the Castle at that hour and waited in the room of the aide-de-camp until the Kaiser came and asked me to go for a walk with him. However, Herr v. Berg was also there and accompanied us. Consequently the conversation lost much of the directness which would have been highly desirable in the Kaiser's own interest, as well as in that of the country.

"I found the Kaiser very misinformed, as usual, and full of that apparent buoyancy of spirit which he likes to display in the presence of third persons. The facts have been twisted to such an extent that even the serious failure of our offensive--which, at first, had depressed him very much--has been described to him as a success. It is now intended to retire to the old Hindenburg line, so that the only result of the offensive has been the loss of several hundreds of thousands of valuable lives. All this, as I have said, is dished up to the poor Kaiser in such a fashion that he remains perfectly blind to the catastrophic effect of it.

"He now puts his whole trust in Herr v. Hintze, whom he evidently looks upon as a great light.

"I told the Kaiser of my grave misgivings and made him clearly understand that I did not think there would be much use in entering into peace negotiations with Great Britain. I urged that no time should be lost in immediately approaching Wilson, who was an idealist and who had no territorial aspirations in Europe. If, however, the war should continue much longer Wilson would most probably become subject to the influences of a war party, and then we could no longer hope that he would still insist upon a settlement along the lines of his idealist programme.

"The Kaiser agreed that my views were well founded, but he thought we ought not to enter into peace negotiations before the approach of autumn, by which time we should have returned to the safe position afforded by the Hindenburg line. Then, he thought, we should avail ourselves of the offer of mediation which had been made by the Queen of Holland.

"Whenever I was too frank in my criticisms and suggestions, Herr v. Berg skilfully interposed. He declared to me when the Kaiser had left that it would not do to make His Majesty too pessimistic.

"I also discussed with the Kaiser the question of doing away with the restrictions imposed upon the sale of perishable articles of food, such as butter, eggs, etc.; and I pointed out to him that the fixing of maximum prices and the issuing of regulations dealing with illicit trading merely forced the people to pay exorbitant prices, at the same time helping those engaged in underhand trading to amass huge fortunes. On this subject, too, the Kaiser fell in with my own views, and it was decided to release at least the perishable articles, and to allow them to be sold once more through the ordinary channels without restriction.

"The Kaiser also declared that this war would soon be followed by another, to which he referred as the Second Carthaginian War. He spoke a great deal of an Anglo-American alliance which would, of course, be directed against Japan, and the views on political subjects which he expressed in this connexion showed that he is being very badly advised indeed.

"Herr v. Berg is obviously conservative and Pan-German in his politics, and it seems that his influence is predominant at Court. Only on the Prussian suffrage question did he agree with my own standpoint, which is that universal suffrage must be granted now that the King has promised it.

"Since the Kaiser and the Kaiserin, on account of the latter's illness, were dining alone, I joined the so-called 'Court Marshal's table,' together with the Countesses Keller and Rantzau, the gentlemen-in-waiting on the Kaiser, and the physician-in-ordinary and the chamberlain of the Kaiserin. The duty of acting as court marshal fell to General v. Gontard, as Herr v. Reischach had unfortunately fallen seriously ill."

In order to illustrate further what has been shown to be Ballin's views on the character of the Kaiser, I here quote the first part of a letter of his, dated October 25th, 1918:

"In the meantime," he writes, "Wilson's reply has been received, and it is certain that compliance with its terms will be equivalent to capitulation.

"To my mind Wilson's note clearly shows that he and his allies will demand that the Hohenzollerns, or at any rate the Kaiser and the Crown Prince, shall relinquish their rights to the throne, and that, in consideration of such an act, they will ease their terms of peace.

"Each of the men who are at the head of their respective Governments has to play to his gallery, and if these men desire to give their audience a convincing proof of the completeness of the success they have achieved, they can do no better than demand condign punishment for the man who has been held responsible for the war, and inflict it upon him. I do not believe that the Kaiser would grieve very much if he were given a chance now of retiring into private life without much loss of dignity. The war, which was something absolutely uncongenial to his whole nature, has had such bad effect on his health that it would be desirable in his own interest if he were enabled to retire comfortably into private life. He must see the force of this argument himself, and it is not likely that he would refuse to accept such a chance, as a refusal would prejudice the best interests of his country. The Kaiserin, however, may be expected to oppose any such solution with much feeling. If the Kaiser's grandson were now appointed his successor, and if a regent were nominated in whom everybody had confidence, the whole German situation would lose much of its seriousness. Of course, the abdication of the Kaiser would not take place without certain disturbances, but it would be necessary to face these disadvantages with a good grace. No doubt the outlook would be better if they could be avoided, and if the Kaiser, without losing his position, could be invested with rights and duties similar to those of the British king, who, broadly speaking, enjoys all the advantages of his dignity without having to take upon himself responsibilities which he is unable to bear. I quite believe that the Kaiser never derived much pleasure from his sovereign powers; at any rate, if he did, he has ceased to do so since this unfortunate war has been forced upon him."

Ballin's last entry in his diary contains the following passage:

"Stinnes has sent word to me that the Socialist and Centre parties are of opinion that I ought to be nominated to conduct the peace negotiations. I have told him that I should not shirk it, but that I should be much better pleased if somebody else would do it."

This note was written on November 2nd, 1918. One short week later, on November 9th, his heart had ceased to beat--a heart which had so warmly responded to the call of his Kaiser and country, and which had succumbed to its excessive load of grief and sorrow.