Just above his head was a great
allegorical painting of the Grand Monarch, with the proud subscription,
"_Le Roi gouverne par lui meme_," the motto of the autocrat.
The ceremony began with the singing of psalms, a short sermon, and a
grand German chorale, in which all present joined. Then William, in a
loud but broken voice, read a paper, in which he declared the German
empire re-established, and the imperial dignity revived, to be invested
in him and his descendants for all future time, in accordance with the
will of the German people.
Count Bismarck followed with a proclamation addressed by the emperor to
the German nation. As he ended, the Grand-Duke of Baden, William's
son-in-law, stepped out from the line, raised his helmet in the air, and
shouted in stentorian tones, "Long live the German Emperor William!
Hurrah!"
Loud cheers and waving of swords and helmets responded to his stirring
appeal, the crown-prince fell on his knee to kiss the emperor's hand,
and a military band outside the hall struck up the German National
Anthem, while, as a warlike background to the scene, came the roar of
French cannon from Mount Valerien, still besieged by the Germans, their
warlike peal the last note of defiance from vanquished France.
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