William of Germany | Page 9

off. The Crown Prince only uttered the two words, "My son," but
in a tone of great affection. As he folded the Prince in his arms he
reached his hand to the tutor, saying, "I thank you. Be always as true to
me and to my son as you have been in this case."
The last anecdote belongs also to the young Prince's private tutor days.
At one time a certain Dr. D. was teaching him. Every morning at eleven
work was dropped for a quarter of an hour to enable the pair, teacher
and pupil, to take what is called in German "second breakfast." The
Prince always had a piece of white bread and butter, with an apple, a
pear, or other fruit, while the teacher was as regularly provided with
something warm--chop, a cutlet, a slice of fish, salmon, perch, trout, or
whatever was in season, accompanied by salad and potatoes. The smell
of the meat never failed to appeal to the olfactory nerves of the Prince,
and he often looked, longingly enough, at the luxuries served to his
tutor. The latter noticed it and felt sorry for him; but there was nothing
to be done: the royal orders were strict and could not be disobeyed. One
day, however, the lesson, one of repetition, had gone so well that in a
moment of gratitude the tutor decided to reward his pupil at all hazards.
The lunch appeared, steaming "perch-in-butter" for the tutor, and a
plate of bread and butter and some grapes for the pupil. The Prince cast
a glance at the savoury dish and was then about to attack his frugal fare
when the tutor suddenly said, "Prince, I'm very fond of grapes. Can't we
for once exchange? You eat my perch and I--" The Prince joyfully
agreed, plates were exchanged, and both were heartily enjoying the
meal when the Crown Prince walked in. Both pupil and tutor blushed a
little, but the Crown Prince said nothing and seemed pleased to hear
how well the lesson had gone that day. At noon, however, as the tutor
was leaving the palace, a servant stopped him and said, "His Royal

Highness the Crown Prince would like to speak with the Herr Doktor."
"Herr Doktor," said the Crown Prince, "tell me how it was that the
Prince to-day was eating the warm breakfast and you the cold."
The tutor tried to make as little of the affair as possible. It was a joke,
he said, he had allowed himself, he had been so well pleased with his
pupil that morning.
"Well, I will pass it over this time," said the Crown Prince,
"but I must ask you to let the Prince get accustomed to bear the
preference shown to his tutor and allow him to be satisfied with the
simple food suitable for his age. What will he eat twenty years hence, if
he now gets roast meat? Bread and fruit make a wholesome and
perfectly satisfactory meal for a lad of his years."
During second breakfast next day, the Prince took care not to look up
from his plate of fruit, but when he had finished, murmured as though
by way of grace, "After all, a fine bunch of grapes is a splendid lunch,
and I really think I prefer it, Herr Doktor, to your nice-smelling
perch-in-butter."
The time had now come when the young Prince was to leave the
paternal castle and submit to the discipline of school. The parents, one
may be sure, held many a conference on the subject. The boy was
beginning to have a character of his own, and his parents doubtless
often had in mind Goethe's lines:--
"Denn wir können die Kinder nach unserem Willen nicht formen, So
wie Gott sie uns gab, so muss man sie lieben und haben, Sie erzielen
aufs best und jeglichen lassen gewähren."
("We cannot have children according to our will: as God gave them so
must we love and keep them: bring them up as best we can and leave
each to its own development.")
It had always been Hohenzollern practice to educate the Heir to the

Throne privately until he was of an age to go to the university, but the
royal parents now decided to make an important departure from it by
sending their boy to an ordinary public school in some carefully chosen
place. The choice fell on Cassel, a quiet and beautiful spot not far from
Wilhelmshohe, near Homburg, where there is a Hohenzollern castle,
and which was the scene of Napoleon's temporary detention after the
capitulation of Sedan. Here at the Gymnasium, or lycée, founded by
Frederick the Great, the boy was to go through the regular school
course, sit on the same bench with the sons of ordinary burghers, and in
all respects