Let me add that it was on the occasion of one of these expeditions that the emperor met with a very severe injury to his hand.  There is an old established usage in Berlin, on New Year’s eve, which prescribed that any man appearing in the street in a high or stiff hat should be incontinently bonneted, that is to say, have his hat crushed down over his eyes and ears by a blow of the fist.  Emperor William, who is somewhat fond of rough horse-play, used to delight in this form of amusement, and on the first New Year’s eve after his accession to the throne, he sallied forth with Augustus Eulenburg in search of adventures.  Catching sight of a portly citizen of mature years walking along under the shadows of the trees that line the magnificent avenue known as “Unter den Linden,” he immediately proceeded to crush the high silk hat which the man wore by a tremendous blow from his imperial fist!  He was unable, however, to refrain from a cry of pain, and his companion the count, on seeing that his sovereign’s hand was drenched with blood, at once summoned the two detectives who were following discreetly in the rear, and caused them to arrest the citizen.  The man on being searched at the palace police station, was found to be a merchant of high standing, who, determined to get even with the practical jokers from whose brutality he himself had suffered on previous New Year’s eves, had devised a sort of thick leather hat-lining, armed with long and sharp prongs, pointed outward like the quills of a porcupine.  The emperor, on smashing the hat, naturally had his hand dreadfully lacerated.  The citizen was kept under arrest for twenty-four hours, during which the question was discussed as to whether he should be prosecuted and punished for inflicting personal injury upon the sovereign, or not.  Finally, William himself, with that good sense which so often characterizes him, gave orders for his liberation, on the ground that he could not possibly have dreamt that he would be bonneted by his sovereign, that he was, therefore, quite innocent of any intention to inflict injury upon the person of the emperor, and that he, William, had, after all, got nothing but what he deserved for playing such a prank.  Moreover, in order to show the citizen that he bore him no grudge, he sent him, by way of consolation for his arrest and the destruction of his hat, a portrait bearing the autograph signature of the kaiser, as well as the words:  “In memory of Sylvester-nacht.”—­New Year’s eve is sacred to Saint Sylvester.

Count Botho Eulenburg, the elder brother of Augustus, has repeatedly held the offices of cabinet minister and Premier of Prussia.  He happened to be at the head of the Department of the Interior at the time when the attempts were made by Nobiling to assassinate old Emperor William, and ever since that time has been the sworn foe of socialism, and identified with everything that is reactionary and despotic in Prussian legislation.  His influence with the emperor is very great, and there is no doubt that he has contributed in a great measure to the somewhat extravagant views which the kaiser entertains with regard to the Divine Rights of monarchs, and especially concerning their responsibility, not towards their people alone, but also towards the Almighty.