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Show THE KAISER COMES DOWN. We noted in theso columns tho other da3, the stiff and stalwart assertion of Kaiser Wilhelm that he is ruler by divmo right, not dependent upon cither people or parliament for his commission; that he gets his right from heaven direct, and that nny ono who challenges it is a rebel against God. It was protty strong talk, and the Gorman Gor-man newspapors were not slow in calling call-ing him down for it. Tho domaud that he should ceaso that kind of talk and should subject his public utterances utter-ances to tho censorship of the Primo Minister, has evidently brought tho Kaiser down from off his perch, and he now explains that ho only meant what ho said in a sort of gcuoral or Pickwickian Pick-wickian sense. In placo of asserting a domiuanco inherent in himself derived de-rived from heavenly right, ho meant only tho manifest duty of himself and others to conform themselves to God's laws and to work with zeal, energy, and good will for tho upbuilding of the kingdom and of the community. So far from undertaking to draw any right to rule from God, ho meant, it appears, that tho obligation was the other way; not from God to him, but from him to God, and that ho meant not to assert any personal right, but only a personal obligation; not a heaven' right to arbitrary rule, but an obligation to do justice and right in tho face of heaven. Tt is rather a clumsy como-down, all the same, and puts the matter on an altogether different footing. It is as complete aud radical a change of attitude atti-tude as that exhibited by President Joseph F. Smith of tho Mormon church when he -was called upon by the Senate committee in Washington to explain ex-plain how he was a prophet, seer, and rovelator. In Utah his claim in this respect is rampant, absolute, dictatorial. The people are expected not only to recognize it, but to conform their conduct to it, and to obey him as the very mouthpieco of God, speaking the will of heaven to them. In Washington, Washing-ton, however, he sang ver3r low. He had had no revelation, did not know if he had even felt such a thing as an inspiration, was' rather doubtful about it, but on the whole concluded that he might havo a feeling of inspiration, just as any good Mothodist or Baptist or any other pious person might have. A tremendous como-down, and an absolute ab-solute shifting of ground. One is inevitably in-evitably put in mind of it on reading the liko shifting and change of ground adopted by tho Kaiser on being called to account for his rashness, Tho main difference betwoen the two is that the Kaiser is humbled, will stay humbled, and really understands that he must not do so auy more. President Josoph F. Smith, however, comes home from his ordeal at Washington to announce that he lied to tho committoe in order to avoid the "traps" set for him by his enemies, and proceeds to do business from tho same old stand as prophot, seer, and rovelator without any question ques-tion whatever about it, in precisely the same old blatant, dictatorial, and imperious im-perious way as before his humiliating come-down before the committee. |