CHAPTER XL. AS AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY—1897-1903
Nomination by President McKinley. Light thrown upon his methods by appointments of second secretary and military attache. Secretary Sherman; his reference to President Johnson's impeachment. Judge Harlan's reference to Dr. Burchard's alliteration. Discussions with the German ambassador and others. Change of the American legation into an embassy; its advantages and disadvantages. First interview with Emperor William II; subjects discussed. His reference to Frederick the Great's musical powers. The Empress; happy change in the attitude of the people toward her. The Chancellor of the Empire; Prince Hohenlohe; his peculiarities; his references to Bismarck; his opinion of Germans. Count von Bulow, Minister of Foreign Affairs, resemblances between him and his father; his characteristics as minister and as parliamentary leader. Ambassadorial receptions; difficulties, mistaken policy of our government regarding residences for its representatives. Change in German public opinion toward the United States since my ministerial days; its causes; evidences of it during Spanish War. Misrepresentations in German and American papers, and their effects; our own culpability as shown in the Fessenden case. International questions; Haitian theory of the Monroe Doctrine. The Samoan question; furor consularis; missionary squabbles; reasonableness of Minister von Bulow. Attendance at Parliament; its characteristics; notes on sundry members; Posadowski; Richter, Bebel; Barth. The German Parliament House compared with the New York State Capitol.