in which I have moved, but I have never found an enthusiasm comparable to that I evoked in Prince Wilhelm." The prince was 12 years younger than the diplomat. But let no one be misled: it is certain that their friendship never developed into' anything other than friendship. But whether crown prince or emperor (which he became on June 15, 1888), Wilhelm demanded Philip's ! presence, invited him to accompany him on cruises-the most soughtafter of privileges-followed his advice, and had his songs performed and his poems read to him. Suddenly Phili's diplomatic career blazed: in 1890 he became Minister Plenipotentiary in Stuttgart, in Munich in 1891. and finally became Ambassador to Vienna in 1894-one of the highest posts of the Wilhelmstrasse. And the emperor, as a "New Century" present, conferred upon him in 1900 the

dignity of Prince of Eulenburg and Hertfeld.

Eulenburg had perhaps played too open a part in the break between the Kaiser and old Chancellor Bismarck. That was enough to ensure that the entire Bismarck clan would join forces against him. Later, Chancellor Hohoenlohe also had a' falling out with the sovereign's closest friend.

He was reproached with "enclosing" Wilhelm, monopolizing him, making him devote his time to Phili's nonsense-poetry and music were not meant for an emperor of Germany. Worse still, all were sure that he delved in mysticism and the esoteric, and it was feared that he might lead his imperial friends along these paths. Stories were told of seances with the spirits, all the more unpopular because at that very time Nicholas II of Russia and the Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna had fallen into the hands of charlatans and mediums, much to the consternation of their empire. And then it began to be rumored that perhaps these things covered something far worse, for homosexuality was very much in the public eye those days.

In 1902 the Krupp affair had rocked Germany-the great industrialist from the Ruhr, accused by

Vorwaerts of having been expelled from Italy for having committed "acts against nature" in Capri, died suddenly. Suicide? Apoplexy? The truth was that Krupp had left himself open to such accusations, for he used to bring from Italy bellboys for whom he would find jobs in Germany. Philanthropy? Who knows? ...

In the German empire homosexuality was punishable by Article 175

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of the Penal Code, just as it was in England, where the Oscar Wilde trial had taken place in 1895. The Krupp affair was only the most resounding of a series of morals scandals taking place in Germany around the year 1900. A prominent businessman, Israel, had committed suicide to escape a blackmailer. The Intendant General, Greg von Hulsen, had been accused by the singer Frank and the journalist Steindahl. Prince Friedrich Heinrich von Hohenzollern himself, of the royal family, had been struck from the Order of the Knights of St. John and exiled from Germany. Count von Wedel, Grand Master of Court Ceremonies, had had difficulties with the Munich police and was forced to leave Prussia. Two generals, Count von Hohenau and Count von Lynar, had been forced out of the army after a noisy inquiry. Frederick von Hohenatu, brother of the general, had been dismissed from the diplomatic service for the same reason in 1901. Article 175 had achieved a sad celebrity-it served in all cases of personal revenge and blackmail.

It isn't strange, therefore, that when Philip von Eulenburg drew the hatred of the journalist Maximilian Harden, the latter brought the debate upon the ground where he was sure of destroying his victim. From February of 1906 on, he never ceased to attack furiously, from the pages of his publication, Zukunft, "Phili the Byzantine" until he had destroyed the unfortunate prince completely. And, without intending to do so, a notorious homosexual, Adolf Brand, would contribute to the tragedy.

Oscar Wilde said once, not long before his trial, that all of his life he had been searching for 12 men who would disagree with him, and that he had found only 11. The twelfth was Queensberry. Like

Wilde, Eulenburg had found his twelfth man.

Maximlian Harden was, in 1906, a man of 45, quite well-known in the political and journalistic circles of Berlin. He was a man of brilliant intelligence, a first-rate writer-biting, colorful, who would wield with dash and elan the razor-sharp adjective, the lashing metaphor. He had already made himself known as the merciless critic of the Prussian regime, the Court, the imperial system, and, as far as possible, even of the Kaiser himself.

Eulenburg, considered as the. most iniquitous of the emperor's friends, brought upon himself the wrath of the journalist. Already, Zukunft had been calling him "Phili the Byzantine," "salon mystic," unctuous and sickly," but in the fall of 1906 the campaign took a violent turn. On November 17, the editorial appeared under the title of Prelude. Since Eulenburg did not react, on the 24th there appeared a new article: Dies Irae (Day of Reckoning), This time there was a precise allusion to Phili's special brand of morals. Then, on December 8, the prince was warned to retire to pri vate life under threat of scandalous revelations.

It was at this moment that von Eulenburg made his first mistake, He could have faced the attackand with his position in the Court perhaps he could have succeeded in silencing the matter or persuading Harden to stop-or he could have left the political arena, claiming reasons of health or for the purpose of administering his estates. At any rate, decisive action was needed. Instead, Eulenburg left for Switzer land, which made Harden think that he had succeeded. But soon, far too soon, the prince returned and, with supreme imprudence, received from the hands of Wilhelm II the Order of 21