The Balkan Kings.

New York Times 100 years ago today, August 4, 1913:
    We venture to think that the German Emperor has been misreported, or misunderstood, in his alleged sarcastic remarks as to the monarchs of the Balkans. He is alleged to have said that all save his brother-in-law, Constantine of Greece, stayed at home and "combed their dogs." That is not quite true. Czar Nicholas of Montenegro might possibly have served his country better had he confined his attention to the toilet of his canine pets, but as a matter of fact he was at the front and went there before his allies were ready to act. And though Constantine was with his troops much of the time, and is loyally credited with their triumphs, these were quite as much due to the masterly diplomacy of M. Venizelos, the gifted Premier of Greece, whose tact and foresight and firmness brought about the combinations which first made the alliance possible and then made possible the terrific defeat visited on Bulgaria by Greece and Servia.
    The French have a maxim, "n'est pas soldat qui veut" — not every one who wishes can be a soldier — and, if Constantine really be one, (reports differ as to that,) his greatest gift to his subjects has been in his cordial co-operation with the sagacious statesman, the responsible head of his Government. The day for monarchs, as monarchs, to lead their armies in person is past. Forty years ago Napoleon III. made a terrible botch of that business, and some German authorities hold that Wilhelm I., on the field of battle, was rather a hindrance than a help. At Gravelotte he had to be urged, and almost forced, from a post of great peril to himself, where he was by no means serviceable to the commander on whom the responsibility really rested, nor must it be forgotten that the present German Emperor has brought his country to its actual position of military primacy in Europe by the steady building up of a stupendous army, which, with rare intelligence, patience, and skill, he has kept from firing a single shot. Should the time ever come when he would have to summon it to fight, we doubt very much that he would undertake to lead it.