tions.

The "drama" really began when Justice Kern asked Harden if in his writings he had accused von Moltke of homo-sexuality.

"I did not," answered the editor, emphatically, "My object was solidly political. I wrote that General Count von Moltke and his intimates sought to influence the Kaiser's political actions and often to persuade his Majesty against the advice of constitutional advisers. I said General Count von Moltke is a man of completely abnormal sensibilities, even in non-sexual affairs, and I refuse to retract a syllable I have uttered against him.

"I now say I have proof that General Count von Moltke belongs to a coterie of men among whom certain crimes are practiced, I have said or written nothing about this, because I am not an informer and I have no personal desire to see General Count von Moltke taken to jail. But if proofs of my assertion are demanded, I will produce them here and now."

Harden said the plaintiff had once pressed the prince's handkerchief to his lips and cried, "Phili! My Phili!" and in writing him a letter had used the terms, "My soul" and " My beloved."

Frau von Elbe, the divorced wife of Juno von Moltke, testified to gross epithets her former husband had applied to married life. She then described the handkerchief incident, which she said she saw from an adjacent room. She said also that Prince Zu at once knelt to her and begged her to give up her husband. Referring to her divorce, Frau von Elbe said she had asked von Moltke: "What will his Majesty say to our divorce?" To this von Moltke replied: "His Majesty hears only what I permit him to know."

Frau von Elbe's statement created a great sensation in the court. Continuing, she testified that von Moltke had once written a letter to her mother in which he said they had formed a circle about the Emperor which nobody was able to break through.

Thus, the first day of the "Eulenberg trials” that lasted two years and were not fully dropped for a decade I will discuss later some of the inaccuracies of the above account.

In early decades of this century, nearly everyone prominent in German life felt compelled to publish memoirs explaining, among other things, his relationship to these scandals. Later writers have tended to forget the matter.

I first came across mention of the affair four years ago in Gide's CORYDON but for nearly a year I could discover little more. Ultimately, I found contemporary accounts in old papers and magazines, and the 1930 Eulenberg biography by Haller (Knopf, 2 vol.). More recently, Goerlitz' THE GERMAN GENERAL STAFF, Craig's THE POLITICS OF THE PRUSSIAN ARMY, and Reiners' THE LAMPS WENT OUT IN EUROPE, and Holstein's MEMOIRS have tended to set prewar German history back in perspective.

Getting into this matter has brought more than just this one incident to light. I hope an expansion of this essay may soon form part of a book on the considerable role of homosexuals in German history. It is often said that homosexuality is the mark of tired, decadent cultures, yet we find it prominent throughout the history of Prussiathe least effete kingdom of Europe. And we might recall that in other times, the phenomenon was as common among the regimented Spartans as among the cultured Athenians. OUR POOR, DEAR KAISER -

Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor who unified modern Germany and made King Wilhelm of Prussia the first German Emperor, earned renown as the chief cornerstone of European peace. A vigorous reformer at home and a skilled diplomat abroad, his policies seemed to insure continued economic well-being and peace. He had interlocking pacts with Russia, Austria and Italy and friendly arrangements with Japan, England, Turkey and even France. He left a Germany of swelling nationalism and prosperity.

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