One of the most valuable qualities of Empress Augusta-Victoria is her extraordinary tact.  It is due to this, more than anything else, that she has been able to retain, not only a hold upon the affection and regard of her impulsive and brilliant husband, but also an influence over him without his being aware of the fact.  By the leading members of his court, and by his principal ministerial advisers, she is regarded not merely in the light of his guardian angel, but as his most sensible counsellor.  She may be relied upon at all times to soothe his anger, soften any bitterness which he may entertain towards this or that person, and call forth at critical moments the most generous and chivalrous phases of his, on the whole, very attractive character.

She is claimed by those who know the true state of affairs to act in the capacity of a brake and a safety-valve to her husband, and it is no secret that both the classes and the masses feel an additional sense of security when they know their popular empress to be by the emperor’s side; for every mistake that he has made since he ascended the throne has taken place during her absence, and he himself is the first to acknowledge that she is largely responsible for every success that he has achieved.

The sentiments of the empress towards Bismarck have been much misunderstood and misconstrued.  It is perfectly true that she was brought up from her earliest childhood to regard him as the enemy of her house, the prince having, as I have already related, been the author of the indefensible act of spoliation, by means of which her father had been deprived of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, now forming part of the kingdom of Prussia.  The manner in which the Iron Chancellor was viewed in the home of the empress when a young girl, may best be gathered from the fact that whenever her nurses and governesses were desirous of putting a stop to her naughtiness and of frightening her into obedience, they would exclaim:  “Bismarck’s coming! wow! wow!” This childhood impression has continued so deep that even to this day, whenever the empress shows any signs of reluctance to comply with her husband’s wishes, or betrays irritation, the kaiser is in the habit of springing upon her the familiar old cry of “Bismarck’s coming! wow! wow!” which at first always makes her start as she did in infancy and girlhood, and then causes her to burst into laughter, and restores her to good humor.

These sentiments of aversion to Bismarck were to a great extent modified at the time of her marriage by the knowledge that it was the chancellor who had contributed more than anybody else to facilitate and bring about the match.  The latter was opposed by many of Emperor William’s kinsfolk, as well as by influential people at court, on the ground that her rank was inadequate to render her a suitable match for the heir to the throne of Germany.  Bismarck, however, took the ground that a marriage between the heir presumptive and the eldest daughter of the de jure Duke of Schleswig-Holstein would go a long way to reconcile the inhabitants of the above-named duchies to their annexation by Prussia, while at the same time it would constitute the reparation of an act which he himself admitted was extremely unjust, but to which he was compelled by imperative considerations of policy.