CHAPTER XXI

LAST YEARS

During the last years of her life, the Empress Frederick paid repeated visits to England, where she had many attached friends.

She much enjoyed a visit to the Bishop of Ripon in 1895, when she was able to study the wood carving in the cathedral, as well as Fountains Abbey and other places of historical interest. It was characteristic of her that only a few moments before she left Ripon, while she was actually waiting for the carriage to take her to the station, she exclaimed, "How much I should like to paint this view!" Drawing materials and a paint-box were brought her; she sat down, and in a few minutes produced a charming sketch of the cathedral amid fields and trees.

As an artist the Empress was undoubtedly far more than a mere amateur, especially in sculpture. It is said that on one occasion, having given a commission to the famous German sculptor, Uphues, for a colossal statue of the Emperor Frederick, she visited his studio one day when he was at work on the clay model. This did not seem to her to promise a good likeness, and she thereupon set to work on the clay herself, and in about half an hour she quite transformed the model, so that when it was carried out in marble it became universally recognised as the best presentment in existence of the Emperor's features. Uphues also made a bust of the Empress herself, which was set up in 1902 on the Kaiser Friedrich Promenade at Homburg.

The Empress had first met the Boyd Carpenters in 1866, soon after the death of Prince Sigismund. She happened to hear a sermon from the then Canon Boyd Carpenter which brought her much comfort, and the acquaintance then begun developed into warm friendship.

The Bishop had a great admiration for the Empress's sympathetic alacrity of mind. "She had wide range," he writes, "and quick intellectual sympathies; she understood a passing allusion; she followed the track of thought; there were no irritating delays; there were no vacant incoherences in an observation, which show that the thread has been lost. She had read; she had thought; she had travelled; she had observed; she had mixed with many of the foremost minds of the time; she had taken practical part in many great and humane enterprises. Consequently her range was large, and her mental equipment was well furnished and ready for use. Conversation with her could never become insipid."

The Empress always did everything she could to improve Anglo-German relations, and the feeling aroused by the famous telegram which her son sent to President Kruger in January, 1896, keenly distressed her. She wrote to her old friend Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff:

"But even this most sad episode between our two countries has not shaken my faith in our old opinions that there are many, many higher interests in common, why we should get on together and be of use to each other in helping on civilisation and progress. I trust that a good understanding will outlive hatred and jealousy."

And again: "When I think of my father and of all his friends and of our friends, it appears to me almost ludicrous that Germany and England should be enemies."

In 1897 the Empress Frederick took part in the Diamond Jubilee, driving in the procession with Princess Henry of Battenberg. The sight of the two widowed sisters, who had put aside their grief to join in that great day of national rejoicing, deeply touched many of the spectators. The Empress herself wrote of this occasion in which she "gladly and thankfully joined with proud heart":

"The weight of lonely, hidden grief often feels heaviest when all surroundings are in such contrast. And yet the heart of man is so made that many feelings find room in it together; so gratitude and thankfulness mingle with memories so sad that they can never lose their bitterness."

Madame Waddington, the wife of that old Rugby and Cambridge man who filled with such distinction the post of French Ambassador in London, has left a record of a conversation she had with the Empress in August, 1897. Madame Waddington, who was an American by birth, was struck by a question the Empress asked her, namely, whether she did not find it difficult to settle down in France after having lived ten years in London--"the great centre of the world." Madame Waddington replied that she was not at all to be pitied for living in Paris, that her son was a Frenchman, and all his interests were in France. She adds: "Au fond, notwithstanding all the years she has lived in Germany, the Empress is absolutely English still in her heart."

They had some talk about Wagner, and Madame Waddington informed the Empress that there was a difficulty as to the performance of _Die Meistersinger_ at the Grand Opera owing to the fact that Frau Wagner considered the choruses too difficult to translate or to sing with the true spirit in any language but German. The Empress replied:

"She is quite right; it is one of the most difficult of Wagner's operas, and essentially German in plot and structure. It scarcely bears translation in English, and in French would be impossible;--neither is the music in my mind at all suited to the French character. The mythical legends of the Cycle would appeal more to the French, I think, than the ordinary German life."

The Empress was a real connoisseur in music, of which she had a wide knowledge, though her skill as a performer was considered to be inferior to that of Queen Victoria.

Like her mother, the Empress Frederick was a great letter-writer. She wrote in a mixture of German and English, choosing the most telling expressions, and she was in constant communication with various distinguished Englishmen for years. To them she sent long and very frank letters about everything that interested her, especially foreign politics.

As has been already indicated in this book, the Empress was in the habit of showing far more clearly than most Royal personages allow themselves to do, exactly what she felt about those whom she met even for the first or second time. This found either an answering antagonism or a reciprocal liking in those with whom she was brought in contact.

Many of the distinguished men whom she heartily admired speak of her, and that in their most secret letters and diaries, with an admiration approaching enthusiasm. But now and again comes a discordant note. Such may be found in Mr. G. W. Smalley's _Anglo-American Memories_.

The old journalist describes her in a way which gives a far from pleasant impression of the Empress towards the end of her life. He was presented to her by the then Prince of Wales at Homburg, and the first thing he noticed was that, though she was very like Queen Victoria, her manner was less simple and therefore had less authority. He also criticises her dress, and observes that both the late Queen and her eldest daughter "showed an indifference to the art of personal adornment."

Mr. Smalley admits that the Empress has a much greater vivacity than the Queen, but he thinks that this vivacity becomes restless, and that her mind can never be in repose. He says drily that, from her marriage and down to the day of the Emperor Frederick's death, she had lived in a dream-world of her own creation, her belief being so strong, her conviction that she knew what was best for those about her so complete, that the facts had to adjust themselves as best they could to that belief and that conviction.

As was the Empress's way when a stranger, and especially a foreigner, was presented to her, she at once began to talk of Mr. Smalley's country and of what she supposed would interest him. Instead of allowing him to say what he thought, she plunged directly into American topics, especially commenting on what she supposed to be the position of women in the United States. It soon became clear, or so he thought, that she had a correspondent in Chicago from whom she had derived her impressions. "She talked with clearness, with energy and almost apostolic fervour, the voice penetrating rather than melodious."

Mr. Smalley said to himself that all that she asserted might be true of Chicago, but of what else was it true? And he was evidently much nettled that she generalised from the "Windy City" to the rest of the United States.

Instead of seeing, as probably most women would have seen, that she was speaking to an auditor who was fast becoming prejudiced, the Empress continued to unburden herself in the frankest, freest way to this journalist whom she had never met before. She even seems to have touched on politics, on Anglo-German relations, on the internal affairs of Germany:

"Never for a moment did this dreamer's talk stop or grow sluggish. Carlyle summed up Macaulay in the phrase 'Flow on, thou shining river'; he might in a sardonic mood have done the same to this Princess."

It was an illuminating interview, declares Mr. Smalley, throwing light on events to come as well as on those of the past, and he goes on to explain that multitudes of Germans shared Bismarck's distrust of the Crown Princess, and believed that she wanted to Anglicise Germany. He reiterates what has so often been said--that she told all-comers that what Germany needed was Parliamentary government as it was understood and practised in England. In little things as in great she made no secret for her preference for what was English over what was German:

"Judgment was not her strong point, nor was tact; if I am to say what was her strong point, I suppose it would be sincerity. Her gifts of mind were dazzling rather than sound; impulse was not always under control. Her animosities once roused never slept, as Prince Bismarck well knew."

Seldom has a more prejudiced view of the Empress been given to the world, but it is interesting as showing how she sometimes impressed those who had been fascinated by the Bismarck legend when they were brought into passing contact with her eager, enthusiastic mind.

To a fall from her horse at Cronberg in the autumn of 1898 may be traced the beginning of that merciless disease which ultimately killed her.

It was a bad accident. The horse reared and the Empress fell on the wrong side on her head with her feet under the horse and her habit still clinging to the saddle. Her head was much bruised, and her right hand was injured and trodden on by the horse. She was not at all frightened, indeed she took it very calmly, observing:

"I have ridden for fifty years, and it is natural that an accident must come sooner or later. But I shall ride to-morrow. I'm going to try and paint and write some letters in spite of my hand."

But her injuries did not yield to treatment, and very soon began the long martyrdom of pain which she bore for more than two years with the same stoic fortitude which the Emperor Frederick had shown. The disease was undoubtedly cancer, and it is suggested that it had been gathering force for quite a number of years. However that may be, it was certainly known in 1900 that a cure was impossible.

The most terrible feature of these last months was the severe pain which seized her at intervals. It was characteristic, both of her courage and of her kindly nature, that during these attacks she would not see even the members of her family, to whom the sight of her sufferings would have been so distressing. But in the intervals she occupied herself with conversation, or one of her ladies would read aloud to her, and she even painted a little. Her son, the Emperor, was constant in his attentions, coming over almost daily from Homburg, but even he was only allowed to remain with her a few minutes at a time.

Physically the patient had suffered a great change. Her cheeks, which had been round and apparently in the bloom of health, gradually became thin and sunken, and her face assumed that curious transparent paleness which is the unmistakable sign of approaching death.

It is said that when the Empress received the news of Queen Victoria's death, in January, 1901, she said to those about her: "I wish I were dead too." But for more than six months longer she bore with extraordinary fortitude the chronic suffering which the most able physicians were unable to relieve. Her consideration for those around her was constant. On one occasion, in a spasm of agony, she cried out loudly and seized the nurse's hand; then at once apologised: "I am so sorry, I am afraid I hurt you." The nurse said afterwards, "I have only been with the Empress for a week, but already she has filled me with higher ideals, and I am going back resolved to be a better nurse than ever."

As long as it was possible, the Empress continued her painting and drawing; and to the very end she was especially happy when she was able to work with some practical object in view, such as the laying out of a new rose-garden or suggesting alterations in architectural plans. Her greatest pleasure--and she was intensely susceptible to happiness even during the last six sad months--was a visit from her eldest brother. When she was expecting King Edward, she supervised closely every little arrangement made for his comfort and convenience, and while doing so she would be wheeled in her bath-chair about the rooms he was to occupy.

She felt most deeply the attacks which were then being made in Germany on England, and even on King Edward, at the time of the Boer War. An article in the _Vossische Zeitung_, which observed that such attacks on a constitutional Sovereign were unworthy of a great nation, gave her much satisfaction.

King Edward paid his last visit to his sister at Cronberg in February, 1901. A contemporary chronicler notes that everything was arranged to show that the visit was meant for the Empress Frederick and not for her son. This was doubtless by the wish of the Emperor himself, for, though he did all due honour to his uncle, meeting him at Frankfort and conducting him across the lovely Taunus Valley, to the very door of Friedrichshof, he took leave of King Edward at the threshold, so that the brother and sister might be alone at their first meeting.

Among the last English visitors received by the Empress at Friedrichshof were her old friends, the Boyd Carpenters. This was in May, 1901.

They found her on their arrival lying on a couch in her beautiful garden, and the Bishop was struck by her likeness to Queen Victoria--a likeness enhanced by the black dress and by the form of hat which she wore. The Empress rejoiced in the spring and in the colour which was spreading everywhere through her garden. She still took a practical interest in everything concerning the beautiful home she had created. The Bishop gives one instance: the great blue face of the clock, the tower of which dominated Friedrichshof, needed re-painting. Before she decided what exact tint should be used, she caused slips of paper giving different shades of blue to be held up against the face of the clock. Then she made up her mind.

Once, as they passed through the flower garden together, she quoted to the Bishop the words, "The effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Another time, looking round at the beauty of the trees she had planted, she said, "I feel like Moses on Pisgah, looking at the land of promise which I must not enter."

When parting from Mrs. Boyd Carpenter, for whom she had a great regard, the Empress gave her a bracelet of her own, one she had often worn and with which she had affectionate associations.

To the Bishop she gave a seal which had belonged to Queen Victoria, and which had been in the room when the Queen died. It commemorated a picnic in Scotland, in which the Queen, the Prince Consort, and Princess Alice had shared. The seal, mounted in silver and set in Aberdeen granite, was a cairngorm found by Prince Albert and Princess Alice on that day.

The Bishop remained with her a moment at the very last, and she said to him, "When I am gone I want you to read the English Burial Service over me." And then she characteristically explained to him exactly what would have to be done to make this possible. When the end came three months later, thanks to the prompt acquiescence of the Emperor, his mother's wishes were carried out.

The Empress became much worse at the beginning of August, and, by the wish of her son, Canon Teignmouth-Shore was telegraphed for. He arrived at Friedrichshof on August 5, and in the presence of the Emperor and the Empress's daughters the Canon knelt down and offered some prayers from the Office for the Visitation of the Sick. The whole sad scene, he says, was quite over-powering and far too sacred for him to describe. "The dying Empress was at first slightly conscious, and I could see a gentle movement of her lips as we said the Lord's Prayer."

Towards six o'clock in the evening the Canon was again summoned to the sick-room. "The sweet noble soul was just passing away. I said a few prayers at the bedside, concluding with the first two verses of that exquisite poem, 'Now the labourer's task is o'er.'"

A butterfly flew into the room and hovered for awhile over the dying Empress, and when she had breathed her last it spread its wings and flew out into the free air again.

The Emperor desired Canon Teignmouth-Shore to arrange with Dr. Boyd Carpenter for a private funeral service to be held at Friedrichshof.

On the following Sunday the Canon preached a funeral sermon in the English church at Homburg. In it he made a statement with regard to her Majesty's religious views which deserves quotation:

"The religious conceptions which inspired and guided this life, alike in its humblest and in its loftiest spheres of action, were, as I believe, neither crude nor complex nor dogmatic; they were clear and simple and broad--an absolute faith in the Fatherhood of God, and in the Brotherhood and redeeming love of Him who died that we might live."

The Lutheran funeral service, which was held in the parish church of Cronberg, was most impressive in its simplicity. At one point of the service the Crown Prince and three of his young brothers rose from their seats, and, having put on their helmets, drew their swords and took their places at each corner of the coffin of their grandmother, where they remained until the end of the service.

This old church, which, as we know, the Empress had herself restored, dates back to the middle of the fifteenth century. On the organ, which is of exquisite tone, Mendelssohn often played when he visited the Taunus.

Perhaps the most touching of all the hundreds of wreaths sent for the funeral was one of simple heather which had been made by the Emperor's younger children. Attached to it was a sheet of black-edged paper on which they had all written their names in large childish characters.

The Empress was buried beside her husband and her son Waldemar in the Friedenskirche at Potsdam, and the sarcophagus over her tomb is by her artist friend, Begas.

Of memorials to her, there is the bust at Homburg already mentioned. In the English church at Homburg, where she attended divine service for the first time after the death of her husband, is a memorial consisting of four reliefs, placed in the spandrels of the arches in the aisle, representing the four Evangelists. A striking statue of the Empress in coronation robes by Gerth was unveiled by the Emperor William in October, 1903. It is opposite the statue of her husband in the open space outside the Brandenburg gate at Berlin.

So lived, and so died, this most gifted and generous lady, who was rendered illustrious, not by the symbols of her Imperial station, but by her many winning qualities of heart and intellect.

We cannot do better than quote in conclusion from the remarkable tributes which were paid to her memory by the late Lord Salisbury and the late Lord Spencer.

Lord Salisbury, who was then Prime Minister, in moving an address of condolence with King Edward in the House of Lords, summed up in masterly fashion both the beauty and the tragedy of the Empress's life:

"When the then Princess Royal left these shores, there was no person, either of contemporary experience or in history, before whom a brighter prospect extended itself in life, and all that could make it desirable spread itself before her. She had a devoted husband, himself one of the noblest characters of his generation, who probably centred in himself more admiration than any man in his rank or in any rank. She had every prospect of becoming the Consort of the Emperor--an absolute emperor--of the greatest of the Continental Powers. She had every hope that she would share fully in his illustrious position, and in no small degree in the powers that he wielded. This was before her for nearly thirty years, and in that time she had all the enjoyments which were derived from her own great abilities, her own splendid artistic talents, and from the powers which she exercised over the artistic, æsthetic, and intellectual life of Germany. She occupied an unexampled position. Then suddenly came the blow, first on her husband and then on herself. By that fell disease--which probably is the most formidable of all to which flesh is heir--her dream of happiness, of usefulness, and glory was suddenly cut short. The blow, in striking her husband, struck herself in even greater degree; and she felt--she could not but feel--how deeply she shared in all the disappointments, all the sufferings, that attached themselves to his history. When he had been Emperor only a few weeks, he died, and then she spent her life in retirement. Her health failed, and she, too, fell under the same blow, passing through years of suffering, with the sympathy of all connected with her and all those who knew her. She was deeply valued in this country by those who knew her, and they were very many. She had an artistic and intellectual charm of no common order; she spread her power over all who came within her reach; and her gradual disappearance from the scene was watched with the deepest sorrow and sympathy by numbers in her own country and in this."

The motion was seconded on behalf of the Opposition by Lord Spencer, who, it will be remembered, was a near kinsman of that Lady Lyttelton to whom was entrusted the charge of the Empress's early childhood:

"Her Imperial Majesty had no ordinary character. Brought up with the greatest care and solicitude by her Royal and devoted parents, she early and ever afterwards showed the highest accomplishments, not only in art but in literature. She was herself an artist of no small merit, and her power of criticism and influence in art was even of a higher order. In this age, which had been so remarkable for the enormous number of persons who have joined in endeavours to alleviate the sufferings of the human race, whether in peace or in war, I venture to think that no one stands in a higher position than the Empress Frederick of Germany. During those wars, in which her illustrious husband played such a splendid part, she exerted herself to do all she could to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded, and she had ever in peace used her endeavours to promote the same objects among the suffering poor of her country. No one, I am sure, will be remembered in the future with more affection and devotion on this account than her Majesty. She was always sympathetic and energetic with regard to other matters. There was nothing which stirred her sympathies or energies more than the education and improvement of her own sex. She did much in this respect in her adopted country; but we cannot consider her life without remembering the beautiful simplicity and earnestness of it. She was devoted to duty, and although she suffered intensely during her life when her noble husband was afflicted with the terrible disease which took him off, and during the sad years in which the same malady afflicted her, she always showed a patient endurance which will remain an example for all mankind. I cannot but refer to her great charm in private as well as in public life. It so happened that very early in my life, before she was married, she honoured me with her acquaintance. It was only on rare occasions I had the privilege of continuing that acquaintance, but I have from time to time within the last few years seen her Majesty, and I shall always recall, as one of the most delightful recollections of my life, the charm and influence of her conversation."

INDEX

Abeken, Herr, 243

Aberdeen, Lord, 48

Adelaide, Queen Dowager, 3, 28

Albert, Prince, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9; his children's affection, 11, 12, 209; Exhibition of 1851, 16, 17; view of German politics, 26, 27, 37, 38, 46, 47, 53, 113, 122, 124-131, 136, 138, 139, 162, 165, 166; training of the Princess Royal, 32-35; her betrothal, 36-38, 41, 45-50; and marriage, 60-68; letters to his daughter, 71, 72, 74-76, 80, 81, 87-89, 103, 105-107, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 124, 127-132, 135, 138, 148; visits to his daughter, 119, 122; acquaintance with Morier, 155; first meeting with Bismarck, 162; theory of monarchy, 127-130; narrow escape, 120; death, 149-151, 153

Alcott, Miss, 14

Alexander of Bulgaria, Prince, 310, 313

Alexander I, the Tsar; Alexander II, 22, 263, 267, 278

Alexandra, Queen, 108, 109, 177, 263

Alice, Princess (Grand Duchess of Hesse), 4, 6, 11, 12, 48, 60, 62, 106, 116, 131; wedding, 154, 197, 205, 212, 214, 222, 223, 233, 236, 237; death, 273, 323, 324

Althorp, Lord, 6, 8

Ampthill, Lord and Lady, 252, 284, 285, 286, 338

Anderson, Mrs., 50

Angeli, Von, 251, 256, 264

Arnold, Matthew, 281-284

Augusta, German Empress, 17, 19, 25, 27, 39, 60, 77, 78, 154, 156, 157, 185, 214, 228, 230, 233, 246, 267, 305; death, 326, 327, 328, 353

Augustenburg, Duke Christian of Sonderburg-, 179

Augustenburg, Hereditary Prince Frederick of Sonderburg-, 180-183, 210, 211, 275

Austria, Emperor Francis Joseph, 174, 197, 211, 280

Babelsberg, 90, 92, 96, 109, 110

Bacourt, Monsieur de, 78

Baden, Prince Regent of, 38

Ballardin, M., 306

Barclay & Perkins's draymen, 68

Battenberg marriage, the, 306, 309, 312

Bavaria, King of, 228, 241

Bazaine, Marshal, 228, 241, 317

Beatrice, Princess (Princess Henry of Battenberg), 118, 356

Begas, 251

Benedek, 218

Benedetti, 230

Bergmann, Prof., 289

Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince, 266, 267

Bernhardi, Theodor von, 157, 188

Bismarck, Prince, opinion of the English marriage, 39; relations with Crown Princess, 152, 153, 162-167, 256, 258, 275, 285, 286; relations with Morier, 157, 207; accession to office, 159, 166; Dantzig incident, 168, 169; relations with Crown Prince, 175, 285, 286; policy on Scheswig-Holstein question, 182, 185, 210-211; attitude to royal personages, 210; Austrian war, 210-212, 217-221; visit to Paris, 223; at a royal christening, 228; Franco-German war, 228-230, 239-240, 245, 248; the Imperial Dignity, 241, 242, 255; "British petticoats," 256-258; and Hinzpeter, 261, 267; and the Regency of the Crown Prince, 267-271, 283, 284; and the Crown Prince's illness, 289, 290; relations with the Emperor and Empress Frederick, 302-307, 308-312, 313-319, 321-326, 353, 360, 361; fall, 327, 328

Bleibtreu, 251

Bloomfield, Lady, 39, and Lord, 74, 136

Blumenthal, Field-Marshal, 217

Bornstedt, country life at, 111

Bötticher, 303

Bouguereau, M., 333

Boyd Carpenter, Bishop, 66, 353, 354, 364, 365

Brühl, Countess Hedwig, 189

Brunnemann, Privy Councillor, 97

Brunnow, 87

Buccleuch, Duke of, 66

Buchanan, Mr., 45

Bucher, 238, 266

Bunsen, Baron, 27, 152

Bunsen, Mme., 25

Busch, 238, 266, 275, 306, 308, 319

Canning, Lord, 47

Carlyle, 110, 160, 360

Charles Anthony of Hohenzollern, Prince, 97

Charles of Prussia, Prince, 279, 280

Charles of Prussia, Princess, 79

Charles of Roumania, Prince and Princess, 214, 265, 277

Charlier, Mme., 10

Charlotte, Princess, 1

Charlotte, Princess (daughter of the Empress), 117, 265-267, 277

Christian IX of Denmark, King, 180, 188

Churchill, Lord Randolph, 272

Clarendon, Lord, 30, 34, 42, 93, 125, 143, 144, 145, 147, 156, 252

Cobden, 45, 69

Coburgers, the, 174, 185

Colenso, Bishop, 200

Connaught, Duke of, 106, 267

Consort, Prince. _See_ Albert, Prince

"Court Circular," official, 8

Craven, Mrs. Augustus, 302

Craven, Mrs. Dacre, 249

Dantzig incident, the, 167-170

Darwin, Charles, 199

Delane, John, 147

Delbrück, Prof., 274

De Ros, Captan, 103

Déroulède, Paul, 337

Detaille, M., 333

_Deutsche Revue_, 352

_Deutsche Rundschau_, 316

Devonshire, Louise Duchess of, 95

Dino, Duchesse de, 78

Droysen, J. G., 34

Duff, Sir M. E. Grant, 356

Duncker, Frau, 158

Duncker, Herr Max, 136, 153, 158, 182, 184, 186

Edinburgh, Duke of, 63, 64, 69, 263

Edward VII, King, 6, 12, 14, 19, 20, 62-64, 69, 106, 109, 149, 159, 177, 260, 263, 280, 330, 344, 358, 363, 364

Eliot, George, 273

Elizabeth, Landgravine, the, 329, 351

Elizabeth of Prussia, Queen, 134, 135

Ernest of Hanover, King, 73

Ernest of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke, 3, 38, 41, 85, 174, 307, 322

Eugénie, Empress, 19, 20, 43, 44, 193, 222

Exhibition, of 1851, 15, 16, 17; of 1862, 154; of 1867 (Paris), 222

Faraday, 92

Faucit, Helen, 61

Fitzmayer, Colonel, 45

Frankfort Congress, 174

Frederick Charles of Hesse, Prince, 247

Frederick Charles of Prussia, Prince, 186, 217

Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, 181

Frederick, Prince of Netherlands, 266

Frederick, the Emperor-- As Prince Frederick William of Prussia-- First visit to England, 15-18, 25; betrothal, 29-32, 39, 43; visits England again, 51; marriage, 61-70; admiration of England, 85; pride in his eldest son, 102, 103, 107, 108; New Palace at Potsdam, 109-111; country life at Bornstedt, 111, 112; military promotions, 112, 116, 166; hope of the Junkers, 116 As Crown Prince-- Death of King Frederick William IV, 133-135; his father's coronation, 139-146; death of his father-in-law, 149-152; visits to England, 154, 175, 292, 293; to Italy, 159, 224, 287; to the East, 225; to Paris, 225; the Dantzig incident, 167-169; relations with Bismarck, 167, 173, 175, 182, 210, 211, 219-222, 239, 248, 268-272, 285, 286; admiration of England, 171; Schleswig-Holstein question, 180-183; in the Danish War, 184-188; hatred of war, 186, 221, 236; work for soldiers and their families, 186, 222, 235, 240; family life, 188-197, 207-209, 256; the Austrian War, 213-215, 217-221; freemasonry, 106, 266; the Franco-German War, 229, 235-240; the Imperial Dignity, 242, 243; regency, 267-271; illnesses, 255, 287-298; silver wedding, 279-282 As Emperor-- Accession, 299, 300; journey to Berlin, 300; State business, 301-302; relations with Bismarck, 302-305, 309-314; monetary position, 306-308; death, 314; Freytag's reminiscences, 321-325

Frederick, the Empress, Physical descriptions of, 58, 59, 160, 161, 362 As Princess Royal-- Birth, 1, 2; christening, 3, 4; education and childhood, 6-20; first meeting with her husband, 15-19; visit to Paris, 19, 20; betrothal, 29-31; training by her father, 33-35; confirmation, 47-49; an accident, 50; marriage, 58-70; arrival in Berlin, 74; reception, 75-83; the Old Schloss, 83, 84; influence of and on her husband, 85; conditions at the Prussian Court, 86; Babelsberg, 90; social preferences, 91, 92; visits of her parents, 92-97; new residence in Berlin, 98-99; birth of Prince William, 100-114; New Palace at Potsdam, 109-111; country life at Bornstedt, 111, 112; birth of Princess Charlotte, 116, 117; interest in politics, 86, 87, 98; paper on ministerial responsibility, 126, 127; nursery management, 123 As Crown Princess-- Description of death of King of Prussia, 133-135; anniversary of marriage, 136; coronation of her father-in-law, description, 139-147; colonel of Hussar Regiment, 146, 198, 265; political views, 148, 157, 158, 175, 185, 187, 223, 284; death of her father 149-153; relations with Bismarck, 152, 162-165, 166, 169-172, 184, 185, 211, 212, 238, 239, 266, 267, 275, 285, 286; love of England, 188; visits to England, 153, 154, 158, 175, 267, 272, 273, 292, 293; love of France, 245, 246; birth of Prince Henry, 155; position in Prussia, 155, 156; relations with her husband, 157-159, 168, 169-172, 196, 197, 258, 270; visits to Italy, 159, 275, 276; favourite newspapers, 173; patriotism, 165, 175, 184, 185, 238, 239, 244, 267; popularity, 173, 198, 247; Schleswig-Holstein question, 178-182; work for army and other nursing, 187, 233-235, 248, 249; family life, 188-197, 207-209, 224, 225, 255, 256; artistic tastes, 188-190, 192, 193, 251, 252, 256, 264, 277, 278, 280; musical tastes, 189, 190, 191, 192, 195, 198; literary tastes, 189, 190, 192, 195, 199; as botanist, 190; interest in science, 251; pistol-shooting, 190; education of children, 194, 195, 208, 209, 259-261; social preferences, 198, 199, 251, 252, 253, 273; religious position, 199, 204, 253, 278; art and industry, 205, 206, 223; bereavements, 214, 216, 273, 274, 275; work for soldiers and their families, 222, 231, 233, 234, 235; visits to Paris, 226, 281; work for education, 253-255, 280, 283, 293; visit to Russia, 263; affection for the old Emperor, 286; her husband's last illness, 287-298 As Empress, 299-314; relations with Bismarck, 303-305; influence over her husband, 303, 307, 308, 309-313; the Battenberg marriage, 309-313; her first and last Court, 313; death of the Emperor, 314 As Dowager Empress-- Relations with Bismarck, 315-318, 322, 323, 353, 361; relations with her son, the Emperor William II, 315-318, 329, 332; comparison with him, 318-321; planning of Frederickshof, 329-332; life there, 340-366; patriotism, 323, 324, 356, 357; visit to Paris, 332-337; death of Empress Augusta, 326, 327, 332; the anonymous letter scandal, 338, 339; collections, 341-343; reading, 343, 344; gardening, 344, 345; restoration work, 345, 346; personal tastes, 346-348; philanthropy, 348; character sketches, 348-350, 354, 358-361; views on royal biography, 352, 353; visits to England, 354; artistic tastes, 354, 355; musical tastes, 357, 358; religious position, 352, 353, 366, 367; last illness, 361-365; death and funeral, 366-368; tributes in the House of Lords, 368-371

Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 79, 109, 110, 192, 228, 262, 341

Frederick VII of Denmark, King, 176, 179

Frederick William III, King of Prussia, 57, 83, 98, 166, 192

Frederick William IV, King of Prussia, 18, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 38, 55, 74, 83, 92, 93, 97, 98; death, 133-135; political testament, 141-143, 157, 192, 282, 319, 329, 352

Freemasonry, 106, 266

Freytag, 121, 166, 236, 321, 325

Friedberg, Dr., 271

Froude, 160, 273

Galliera, Duchess of, 330

Garter, Order of the, 67

Geffcken, Dr., 170, 316

Geibel, 192

George of Hanover, King, 220, 221

Gerhardt, 289

Gerlach, General, 28, 29, 39

Germany in 1858, 53-57

Gerth, sculptor, 368

Gloucester, Duchess of, 3, 110

Godet, Pastor, 51, 151, 297

Goethe, 77, 189, 192

Gontaut Biron, M. de, 245, 246

Gontaut, Duchesse de, 246

Goschen, Mr. (afterwards Lord), 272

Gotha, Dowager Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and, 4, 52, 113

Gower, Lord Ronald, 192, 193, 228

Granville, Lord, 22, 47, 93, 144, 174, 227, 230, 257, 285, 293

_Grenzboten_, 190

Hardenburg, 55

Hagen, Prof., 251

Heine, 192

Henry of Prussia, Prince, 156, 209, 259, 260, 261, 266, 275, 277, 288, 313

Hertel, painter, 264

Hildyard, Miss, 50

Hintze, Prof., 141, 142

Hinzpeter, Dr., 123, 207, 261

Hobbs, Mrs., nurse, 121, 122

Hodel, 267, 270

Hoffmann, 92, 251, 283

Hohenlohe, Prince, 237, 253, 268, 278, 281, 282, 302, 304, 310, 311, 328

Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Princess of, 60, 75

Howard, Cardinal, 276

Humbert, Prince (afterwards King of Italy), 224, 287, 300

Huxley, 199

Ihne, Herr, 331

Irene of Hesse, Princess, 288, 309, 313

Keeley, Mr. and Mrs., 61

Kent, Duchess of, 4, 20, 52, 63, 122; death of, 137

Kinglake, 273

Kohn, Baron, 307

_Kreutz Zeitung_, 130

Kruger, President, 356

Lees, Miss, 249

Leiningen, Prince, 52

Leo XIII, Pope, 271

Leopold I, King of the Belgians, 3, 30, 43, 47, 48, 49, 60, 63, 64, 102, 103, 149, 307

Leopold, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, 227

Letze, Fraulein, 254

Loftus, Lord Augustus, 229, 230

Louis, Prince (Grand Duke of Hesse), 117, 131, 154, 213, 222, 225, 237

Louis of Battenberg, Prince, 310

Louise, Queen of Prussia, 38, 62, 74, 98, 142, 192

Louise of Prussia, Princess (Grand Duchess of Baden), 15, 16, 38, 39, 122

Lutteroth, painter, 264

Lyell, Sir Charles, 199, 200

Lyons, Lord, 281

Lyttelton, Sarah, Lady, 6-14, 17, 65, 114, 370

Lytton, Lord and Lady, 333

Macaulay, 360

Macdonald incident, the, 119-121, 124, 137, 138

Macdonell, Lady, 215

Mackenzie, Sir Morell, 291, 294, 300

Magdeburg Cathedral, 73

Malakoff, Duke of, 87

Malet, Sir Edward, 312

Malmesbury, Lord, 93

Manchester, Duchess of (Louise), 95

Manteuffel, Baron, 54, 56, 94, 97, 282

Margaret, Princess (daughter of the Empress), 247, 332

Margherita, Queen of Italy, 247, 287

Marie of Roumania, Princess, 216

Martin, Dr., 100

Martin, Sir Theodore, 26, 46, 94, 126

Mary of Cambridge, Princess (Duchess of Teck), 48, 68, 153

Mecklenburg, Grand Duchess of, 108

Melbourne, Lord, 3, 7, 23

Millet, J. F., 14

Monarchy in England, 2

Moltke, 43, 51, 238, 256

Morier, Sir Robert, 155, 156, 157, 167, 168, 172, 206, 207, 317

Motley, J. L., 160, 161

Moustier, 87

Napier of Magdala, Lord, 295

Napoleon, Emperor of the French, 19, 31, 42, 166, 222, 225, 230, 231, 295

_National-zeitung_, 173

Neale, Countess Pauline, 79

Nightingale, Florence, 19, 187, 249

Nippold, Prof., 327, 348-353

Nobeling, 267, 270, 272

"Old" Royal Family, the, 1, 23, 63

Ollivier, M., 226

Oscar, painter, 251

Paget, Sir Augustus, 58, 108

Paget, Walpurga Lady, 58, 108, 276

Palmerston, Lord, 30, 47, 63, 120, 137, 147, 177, 184

Perry, Mr., 18, 32

Phelps, the actor, 61

Playfair, Dr. Lyon, 273

Ponsonby, Mrs., 273

Poschinger, Margaretha von, 255

Putbus, Prince, 238

Putlitz, Frau, 207-209

Putlitz, Gustav, 102, 188, 196

Puttkamer incident, the, 313

Radziwill, Princess Elise, 16

Raglan, Lord, 103-105

Ranke, Prof., 353

Redern, Count, 283

Regnault, Henri, 334, 335

Reinhold, sculptor, 251

Reiss, Mr., 331

Renan, 200, 336

Ripon, Lord and Lady, 273

Roggenbach, Baron, 316

Roon, Von, 240

Rumbold, Sir Horace, 317

Russell, Lord Arthur, 337

Russell, Lord John, 3, 120

Russell, Lord Odo. _See_ Ampthill

Russell, Sir. W. H., 228

Salisbury, Lord and Lady, 267, 269, 368

_Saturday Review_, 124

Saxe-Meiningen, Hereditary Princess of, 117

Saxony, King of, 241

Schellbach, Prof., 91

Schleinitz, Baron, 124, 138

Schleswig-Holstein Duchies, 137; history of, 177-181; the war, 183-188

Seckendorff, Count, 295

Sigismund, Prince (Son of the Emperor Frederick), 196, 205, 209, 214-216, 224, 225, 355

Smalley, G. W., journalist, 358, 360, 361

Sophia, Princess (afterwards Queen of the Hellenes), 227, 228, 245

Spencer, Lord, 370

Stanley, Dean, 341

Stanley of Alderley, Lord, 174

Steibel, Dr., 331

Stein, 55, 56

Stockmar, Baron, 1, 10, 30, 32, 33, 72, 81-82, 88, 94, 95, 97, 101, 108, 113, 122, 126, 135, 137, 152, 156

Stockmar, Baron Ernest, 72, 156, 159, 169, 170

Stolberg, Prince, 307

Story, Mr., 276

Strauss, 200

Sumner, Archbishop, 47

Sussex, Duke of, 3

Teignmouth-Shore, Canon, 365, 366

Tenniel, Sir John, 327

_Times, The_, 36, 69, 70, 123, 124, 138, 147, 169, 170, 173, 230

Titian, 264

Thiers, 245

Thomas, G. H., 143

Thürr, General, 231

Uphues, sculptor, 354, 355

Victoria of Hesse, Princess, 309

Victoria, Princess, daughter of Empress Frederick, 213, 214, 309-312, 332

Victoria, Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Augustenburg, 277

Victoria, Queen, 1, 2, 3; education of her children, 4-6, 8, 10; Exhibition of 1851, 16, 17; marriages of her children, 24, 25; Princess Royal's betrothal, 29-31, 36, 37, 39, 42-44, 46-49; a caricature, 28; birth of first grandchild, 100-103; sees him for first time, 121-123; description of the New Palace, 109; birth of Princess Charlotte, 116, 117; death of Prince Consort, 149-151; relations with Morier, 172, 207; relations with Bismarck, 184, 185, 311, 312; attitude in Danish War, 177, 184, 185; Austrian War, 213; Franco-German War, 229, 230, 231; intervention on behalf of France, 256, 257; visit to the Emperor Frederick, 311, 312; the Battenberg marriage, 310, 311; death, 362

Virchow, Prof., 292

_Volkszeitung_, 173

_Vossische Zeitung_, 363

Wace, poet, 12

Waddington, M., 337, 356, 357

Waddington, Mme., 356, 357

Wagener, 289

Wagner, 357

Waldemar, Prince (son of Empress Frederick), 224, 274, 341

Walewski, 87

Wangenheim, von, 87

Wellington, Duke of, 3

Werner, Anton von, painter, 251, 264

Westmorland, Priscilla Lady, 107

Wilberforce, Bishop, 47

Wilberg, painter, 264

William I, German Emperor; as Prince of Prussia, 16, 17, 25, 26, 37, 39, 60, 65, 93; regency, 97, 98, 102, 115, 116, 201; succession as King William I, 133, 134, 137; coronation, 139-141, 143, 147, 148, 157, 165, 166-169, 171, 172, 182, 183, 211, 218-220, 223; Emperor, 227, 228, 230, 234, 235, 241-243, 256, 257; attempted assassinations, 267-272; failing health, 285-288, 294; death, 297, 298, 306, 307; character, 319, 320, 353

William II, German Emperor, birth and christening, 100-107; and Queen Victoria, 121-123, 141, 142, 194, 195, 207, 208, 209; education, 259-262, 265, 266; betrothal and marriage, 277; accession, 315-318; comparison with his mother, 318-321; relations with his mother, 329, 332, 356, 364, 365

Wittenberg, 73

Wodehouse, Lady, 22

Wrangel, Field-Marshal von, 73, 79, 94, 96, 100, 183, 228

Würtemberg, King of, 228

* * * * *

Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:

two shy to talk=> too shy to talk {pg 66}

indeed Crown Princess was much distressed=> indeed the Crown Princess was much distressed {pg 229}

au troisiéme=> au troisième {pg 273}

Kaiser Freidrich Wilhelm IV=> Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm IV {pg 352}

life of Freidrich Wilhelm IV=> life of Friedrich Wilhelm IV {pg 353}

Mendelsshon often played=> Mendelssohn often played {pg 367}

coronation of her fatther-in-law, description, 139-147;=> coronation of her father-in-law, description, 139-147; {pg 375}

Redern, Count, 383=> Redern, Count, 283

End of Project Gutenberg's The Empress Frederick; a memoir, by Anonymous