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ASSOCIATION,
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weeks. Q

THE

LIFE OF BISMARCK,

PRIVATE AND POLITICAL.

"f&lt ffiott flit miinfa tins

ismarck:

His AUTHENTIC BIOGRAPHY.

INCLUDING MANY OF HIS
PRIVATE LETTERS AND PERSONAL MEMORANDA.

CURIOUS RESEARCHES INTO HIS ANCESTRY;

LIVELY INCIDENTS OF HIS YOUTH AND STUDENT LIFE ; AND A

FULL ACCOUNT OF HIS SOCIAL SURROUNDINGS AND THE GROWTH OF HIS

OFFICIAL AND PUBLIC CAREER;

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF

GEORGE HESEKIEL.

TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED A REVIEW OF

BISMARCK'S INFLUENCE IN RECENT EUROPEAN POLITICS,
THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR, ETC.

Introduction BY Bayard Taylor.
Jf Ihrstrafob

With Scenes of Home and Student Life, Battle Views, Portraits of celebrated States-

men and Soldiers, Landscapes, Ornamental Vignettes, etc., by

Distinguished Artists.

AND

A MAP OF EUROPE.

NEW YORK:
FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION BY BAYARD TAYLOR ....................... Pagt> v

EDITOR'S PREFACE ............................................. xvii

iljt Jfirst.

THE BISMARCKS OF OLDEN TIME.

I. NAME AND ORIGIN .............................................. 31

II. CASTELLANS AT BURGSTALL CASTLE. (1270-1550.) ................ 36

III. THE PERMUTATION. (1550-1563.) ................................ 50

IV. THE BISMARCKS OP SCHONHAUSEN. (1563-1800.) ................. 57

V. AKMORIAL BEARINGS ........ . ................................... 68

VI. THE NEIGHBORHOOD OP BISMARCK'S BIRTHPLACE ........... ..... 77

VII. SCHONHAUSEN.. .................. ..... 81

§ooh %

YOUTH.

I. SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS 101

II. UNIVERSITY AND MILITARY LIFE. (1832-1844.) 123

ri. BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE. (1847.) 148

LEARNING THE BUSINESS,

I. INTRODUCTORY. " Ut sciat regnare." 157

II. THE ASSEMBLY OP THE THREE ESTATES. (1847.) 165

III. THE DAYS OP MARCH. (1848.) 178

IV. CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP, (1849-1851.). 191

CONTENTS.

% Jfourilr.

ON THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.

I. ON THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. (1851-1859.) 217

II. BISMARCK ON THE NEVA. (1859-1862.) 280

III. BISMARCK ON THE SEINE. (1862.) 310

§ook

MINISTER-PRESIDENT AND COUNT.

I. THE CRISIS ..................................................... 331

II. THE MAN AT THE HELM ................ . ..... . ...... .......... 343

III. THE GREAT YEAR, 1866 .................. .......... ........... 382

IV. MAJOR-GENERAL AND CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERATION ........ 414

V. A BALL AT BISMARCK'S ......... ..................... ........... 431

VI. BISMARCK'S HOUSE AT BERLIN ....... . .......................... 441

VII. VARZIN.., . 448

CHANCELLOR AND PRINCE OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.

I. THE WATCH ON THE RHINE. (1866-1870 ) . . . ... ... . . 489

II. WAR 505

III. BISMARCK BEFORE SEDAN . ... .*..-..'. 511

IV. BISMARCK AND FAVRE 523

V. BISMARCK IN VERSAILLES 552

VI. BISMARCK'S RETURN HOME. 572

VII. CHURCH OR STATE ? (1872-1877.) 573

ARBITER OF EUROPE.

INTRODUCTORY : BISMARCK AND THK EASTERN QUESTION 597

I. WHO ARE THE TURKS ? 599

II. WHAT is RUSSIA ? 604

III. THE CHRISTIAN PROVINCES '. 610

IV. THE Two RELIGIONS (Mohammedanism and the Russian Church}. . 616
V. How THE WAR BEGAN 622

VI. THE SEAT OF WAR ...... 631

VII. PROSPECTS AND PROBABILITIES. . . 636

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

1. PORTRAIT OF PRINCE BISMARCK, . . . . . . Frontispiece.

2. ANCIENT BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS, . . . . . . . 31

3. STONE STATUE ON OLD TOMB, . . . . . ... 36

4. THE BISMARCKS OF OLD (full page), . . . . . . . 37

Happy the man who ne'er forgets

The great and good who bore his name ;
They honor him who honors them,

And emulates their fame.

8. THE EMPEROR AND THE IRON CHEST, . . '. '-,.&'. . . .- . 42

9. HORSE AND HOUNDS, . . . . . ...",..».'.,., 50

10. MEETING FOR THE HUNT, ,,./ , '.'-.. . - .'" T . . 51

11. LAMENTATIONS FOR BURGSTALL, . . • ! 54

12. THE BISMARCKS AND THE MARGRAVE (A.D. 1562), . . . .55

13. SWORDS AND SHIELDS, <.;^ .,;'•; ;\ V; . "... . . 57

14. CHARLES ALEXANDER VON BISMARCK (A.D. 1727), . . . .62

15. CHRISTINE VON BISMARCK, '. ' . . . . . ... 63

16. ARMORIAL BEARINGS OF THE BISMARCKS OF SCHONHAUSEX, . . 67

17. KARL WILHELM FERDINAND VON BISMARCK, FATHER OF THE

PRINCE (full page), . . . . ..'../. . . 74

18. ARMS OF OTTO COUNT BISMARCK, . . . ., 76

19. CHURCH OF SCHONHAUSEN (A.D. 1212), . .' . . . . 84

20. MANOR HOUSE OF THE BISMARCKS, . ... . . . . 85

21. PORTRAIT OF BISMARCK'S MOTHER, . . . . . . . 86

22. LIBRARY OF BISMARCK'S FATHER, .... - ,: . . . ... . 87

23. PORTRAIT OF BISMARCK'S ONLY SISTER, . . . . . . 88

24. DESIGN OF BISMARCK'S ARMORIAL BEARINGS (full page), . . .. ... . 89

Lift the ancestral standard high,

The banners to the breeze be cast !
In the warnings of the Past

The sure hopes of the Future lie.

25. THE LIME-TREES OF SCHONHAUSEN, ••*.'-• 94

26. EARLY YOUTH (full page), ' . ,. '. _ . . •'. 96

The op'ning buds betray the flowers,

The flowers the fruit betray ;
The flrst note that we catch reveals

The spirit of the lay.

27. SHIELD ON OAK, . . . . ..." .'•-;'' .' . 101

28. THE CRADLE (full page), ... . . Y' v- V; . 107

Stately, noble, and well-founded,
And with beauty all surrounded,

Stand the old ancestral towers ;
Stately, noble, and well-grounded
In himself with hopes unbounded,

See the son forsake these bowers
For the pathway that will lead him
To the troublous times that need him.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

29. THE BOY BISMARCK AND HIS FATHER, HUNTING, .... 109

30. HUNTING BAG AND WEAPONS, 109

81. SETTING OFF FOR A JOURNEY, 113

32. COLONEL VON BISMARCK— WARRIOR AND HUNTSMAN, . . .114

33. BISMARCK AT SCHOOL, . . 117

34. FALL WITH A HORSE 118

35. HORSE, DOG, GUN, AND DEER, . . . . . . . .121

36. THE STUDENT'S SABRE, 123

37. YOUNG BISMARCK CITED BEFORE THE DEAN, 125

38. VACATION-TIME WITH PIPE AND DOG, 127

39. FIRST MEETING OF BISMARCK WITH PRINCE (AFTERWARD KING

AND EMPEROR) WILLIAM, .130

40. CUPID'S VIOL, 148

41. THE STORK FAMILY, .150

42. FATHER AND SON, 151

43. LEARNING THE BUSINESS (full page), 155

The Master is born, not made,

But must learn the way to rule,
As the workman learns his trade ;

And life must be his school.
He must give body and soul,

He must give heart and hand
To his work, and must search out knowledge

Through many a foreign land.

44. BISMARCK FIRST ADDRESSES THE UNITED DIET, May 17, 1847, . . 157

45. " MIT GOTT FUR KONIG UND VATERLAND 1" 164

46. BISMARCK IN 1847-1848, 169

47. COUNTESS VON BISMARCK-SCHONHAUSEN (full page), . . . 180

48. BISMARCK THE PROPRIETOR, INSPECTING HIS LANDS, . . .181

49. IN THE STREETS OF BERLIN, 182

50. IN THE SECOND CHAMBER, 1849, . 192

" Victory is yet to come, but it will come !"

51. KING FREDERICK WILLIAM AND THE INQUISITIVE STAG, * . 199

52. "IF YOU ARE NOT OFF WHEN I HAVE DRUNK THIS BEER, I WILL

BREAK THIS GLASS ON YOUR HEAD !" 201

53. BISMARCK WRITING EDITORIALS FOR THE New Prussian Gazette, . 204

54. AT THE STUDY-TABLE — LETTER-WRITING EN ROUTE, . . . 207

55. ON THE VOYAGE OF LIFE (full page), 216

Count not such days as wasted ;

The wanderer, as he goes,
Plucks many a flower of wisdom

That by the wayside grows.

56. THE AMBASSADOR RIDES OUT, 221

57. MEETING OF THE PRINCE OF PRUSSIA (AFTERWARD KING AND

EMPEROR) AND BISMARCK AT FRANKFURT, 1851, . . .222

58. BISMARCK AT THE BALL, 224

59. " His EXCELLENCY HERR LIEUTENANT VON BISMARCK," . . 225

60. BISMARCK'S ONLY SISTER — FRAU VON AMIM (full page), . . '. 238

61. A BALL AT BISMARCK'S (full page), 268

Beauty and strength, rank, fame, and power

Assemble in the festive hall.
To dance away the merry hour,

Or watch the gay scene from the wall.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

62. BISMARCK AND PRINCE METTEIINICII AT THE JOHANNISBERG,. . .. 278
03. BISMARCK, THE "REPRESENTATIVE OP THE FUTURE," .. . . 278

64. EN ROUTE TO ST. PETERSBURG, 1859, 280

65. BISMARCK BEAR-HUNTING, 285

66. AT THE CORONATION OF KING WILLIAM, 1861, 285

67. A RUSSIAN JOURNEY, 308

68. BISMARCK AS CHANCELLOR, . 313

69. PRINCE CARL AND BISMARCK, THE MINISTER-PRESIDENT, . . 313

70. THE DAILY RIDE IN THE THIERGARTEN, AT BERLIN, . . . 315

71. BISMARCK AND NAPOLEON III., 325

72. AN AUDIENCE, . 327

73. MINISTER-PRESIDENT AND COUNT, .331

74. GENERAL VON ROON, 333

75. BISMARCK AS PREMIER, RECEIVING A DEPUTATION, 1862, . . 339

76. IN BERLIN . . . . . .341

77. THE IRON CROSS, .343

78. BISMARCK'S ESTATE IN FARTHER POMERANIA (full page), . . 355

The Bismarcks fhall hold their domain till the day
When they from their haunts drive the herons away.

79. STAG-HUNTING AT SCHONBRUNN, 373

80. RESTING AT BIARRITZ, 376

81. "A VERY PRETTY SHOT, RIGHT ACROSS THE CHASM," . . . 379

82. THE TORCH OF WAR 382

83. VICTORY ! .384

84. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF BISMARCK (in the Unter den

Linden, 1866), . .' .390

85. BISMARCK, MOLTKE, AND ROON, IN COUNCIL 394

86. BISMARCK DONS HIS HELMET, 396

87. BISMARCK EN ROUTE FOR THE SEAT OF WAR, MEETS AUSTRIAN

PRISONERS, 398

88. BISMARCK AND THE KING VISIT THE HOSPITALS 399

89. BISMARCK ON THE BATTLE-FIELD OF SICHROW, .... 401

90. BISMARCK CAUTIONS KING WILLIAM AT SADOWA, . . . . 402

" How can I ride off when my army's under fire ?"

91. BISMARCK'S BED ON THE ROADWAY OF HORITZ, . . . . 403

92. BISMARCK'S QUARTERS IN THE CASTLE OF NICOLSBURG, . . . 406

93. BISMARCK AND BENEDETTI, 410

94. TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO BERLIN (1866)— MAJOR-GENERAL VON

BISMARCK, . 411

95. PEACE 412

96. MAJOR-GENERAL AND CHANCELLOR OF THE CONFEDERATION, . . 415

Under Prussia's royal banner,

Humbled is the Austrian's pride ;
On the bloody field of yict'ry

Is the statesman justified.

97. BISMARCK, CHANCELLOR OF THE DIET, 422

98. THE CHANCELLOR ADDRESSING THE DIET, 425

99. A BALL AT BISMARCK'S— ENTRANCE OF THE KING, . . . 434

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

100. A BALL AT BISMARCK'S — THE QUEEN PASSES THROUGH THE

THRONG, . . . • 435

101. A BALL AT BISMARCK'S — THE ROYAL PRINCES, .... 436

102. A BALL AT BISMARCK'S — THE "BUFFET SUPPER," . . . 439

103. BREAKFAST AT HOME IN BERLIN, ' 446

104. IN THE THIERGARTEN AGAIN, 447

105. THE ESTATES OF VARZIN — PRIMEVAL INHABITANTS, . . . 448

106. THE PARK AT VARZIN, . ... . . . . . 450

107. BISMARCK AND HIS SON, HUNTING, 452

108. THE WATCH ON THE RHINE, . . . 489

109. THE SPIRIT OF WAR, . . .505

110. BISMARCK AT GRAVELOTTE (full page), 507

111. ON THE HEIGHTS BEFORE SEDAN, . . . . . . . 512

112. BISMARCK AND NAPOLEON AFTER SEDAN (full page), . . . 519

113. BISMARCK IN THE SADDLE (full page), 527

114. CAVALRY CHARGE, ?TH CUIRASSIER REGIMENT (full page), . . 555

115. PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE, ..... 563

116. BASHI-BAZOUKS AT BAY, Facing 597

117. ABDUL HAMIL II., SULTAN OF TURKEY, . . . . " 602

118. ALEXANDER II., TSAR OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, . . ' « 606

119. RUSSIAN COSSACK OUTPOST IN BULGARIA, . G22

120. TURKISH IRREGULAR CAVALRY IN ASIA MINOR, . . " 636

INTRODUCTION.

BY BAYARD TAYLOR.

, PRINCE BISMARCK.

THE distinction between a politician and a statesman is con-
stantly forgotten, or at least practically slurred over, in our civil
history. The former may be described as a man who studies the
movements of parties as they are developed from day to day,
and from year to year ; who is quick to avail himself of popular
moods and thereby to secure temporary power ; and whose high-
est success lies in his barometrical capacity of foreseeing coming
changes and setting the sails of his personal fortune in such wise
as either safely to weather a gale or to catch the first breath of
a favorable wind. But the statesman is one who is able to look,
both backward and forward, beyond his own time ; who dis-
covers the permanent forces underlying the transient phenomena
of party conflicts ; who so builds that, although he may not com-
plete the work, those who succeed him will be forced to com-
plete it according to his design ; and who is individually great
enough to use popularity as an aid, without accepting the lack of
it as a defeat.

In the economy of human government, it so happens that
very frequently mere politicians are elevated to se^ts which
should be occupied, of right, by statesmen ; while the latter,
shut out from every field of executive power, and allowed no
other place than the parliamentary forum, are too often mistaken

vi INTRODUCTION.

for mere political theorists. The history of our own country
gives us many examples of this perversity of fate, this unhappy
difference between the path indicated by genius and that pre-
scribed by circumstances. But in Europe, where the accident of
rank in almost all cases determines the possible heights of polit-
ical power, the union of genius and its field of action— of states-
manship and opportunity — is much rarer. And rarest of all is
that grasp of mind which never fails to consider passing events
in their broadest relation to all history, and that serenity of in-
tellect which is satisfied with their logical place therein, though
the present generation be incompetent to perceive it. Of the six
prominent European statesmen of this century — Pitt, Stein,
Metternich, Cavour, Gortschakoff, and Bismarck — the last-named
possesses these rare faculties in the fullest degree. More fortu-
nate than most of the others, he has lived to see much of his
work secured — -so far as our intelligence may now perceive —
beyond the possibility of its being undone.

When the younger Pitt, early in 1806, after the battles of
Ulm'and Austerlitz,, cried out in despair, " Roll up the map of
Europe !" he could, not have guessed that in less than ten years
his heroic although unfortunate policy would be triumphant.
He died a few months afterwards, broken in spirit, with no pro-
phetic visions of Leipsic and Waterloo to lighten his hopeless
forebodings. Stein saw Germany free, but his activity ceased
long before she rose out of the blighting shadow of the Holy
Alliance ; Metternich perished after the overthrow of the system
to which he had devoted his life ; and Cavour passed away nearly
ten years before Venice and Rome came to complete his United
Italy. Gortschakoff still lives, a marvel of intellectual vigor at
his age, and may well rejoice in the emancipation of the serfs,
the liberalization of the Eussian Government, and the elevation
of his country to a new importance in the world ; but it has not
been given to him, as to Bismarck, to create a new political sys-

INTRODUCTION. VI 1

tern, to restore a perished nationality, and to fill its veins with
blood drawn directly from the hearts of the people.

If Bismarck's career is so remarkable in its results, it is even
more remarkable in its character. We can comprehend it only
by estimating at their full value two distinct, almost antagonistic,
elements which are combined in his nature. It requires some
knowledge of the different classes of society in Germany, and of
the total life of the people, to understand them clearly ; and I
must limit myself to indicating them in a few rapid outlines.

Bismarck is of an ancient noble family of Pomerania,
belonging to that class which is probably the most feudalistic in
its inherited habits, and the most despotically reactionary in its
opinions, of the various aristocratic circles of Germany. In
him the sense of will and the instinct of rule which brooks no
disobedience are intensified by a physical frame of almost giant
power and proportions. He is one of those men who bear down
all obstacles from impulse, no less than from principle — who take
a half -animal delight in trampling out a path when others attempt
to beset or barricade it. Apart from his higher political pur-
poses, he cannot help but enjoy conquering for the sake of con-
quest alone. This is not a feature of character which implies
heartlessness or conscious cruelty ; in him it coexists with many
fine social, humane, and generous qualities.

The other element in Bismarck's nature, which lifts him so
far above the level of the class into which he was born, is an
almost phenomenal capacity to see all life and all history apart
from his inherited intellectual tendencies. Until recently, it was
almost impossible for any Prussian Junker to judge a political
question of the present day without referring it to some obso-
lete, mediaeval standard of opinion ; but there never was an
English or an American statesman more keenly alive to the true
significance of modern events, to the importance of political
movements and currents of thought, and to the necessity of

viii INTRODUCTION.

selecting strictly practical means, than the Chancellor of the
German Empire. He possesses a wonderful clearness of vision,
and therefore rarely works for an immediate result. In the
midst of the most violent excitements his brain is cool, for he
has studied their causes and calculated their nature and duration.
It is impossible that he should not have gone through many in-
tellectual struggles in his early years : the opposing qualities
which combine to form his greatness could not have been easily
harmonized. Out of such struggles, perhaps, has grown a tact —
or let us rather call it a power — which specially distinguishes
him. He possesses an astonishing skill in the use of an inscru-
table reticence or an almost incredible frankness, just as he
chooses to apply the one or the other ; and some of his most
signal diplomatic triumphs have been won in this manner. The
secret thereof is, that while he uses the antiquated convention-
alisms of diplomacy when it suits, he relishes every fair oppor-
tunity of showing his contempt for them by speaking the simple
truth, knowing beforehand that it will not be believed.

Looking back over his history, it is now easy to see that Bis-
marck's great political plan might easily have failed, had he not
possessed such a remarkable combination of candor and secre-
tiveness. It was imdoubtedly slowly developed in his mind
during his residence of eight years in Frankfurt as the represent-
ative of Prussia in the old German Diet. He there learned the
impracticability of such a union, the damage inflicted upon all
Germany by the dominant influence of Austria, and the neces-
sity of a radical political change. His strong conservative senti-
ments did not blind him to the fact that such a change could
only be accomplished by the aid of the people ; and this involved
the danger, at that time, of precipitating a new. revolution. He
had the power to wait, and, while keeping his great object
steadily in view, to conceal every movement which pointed
towards it. Even had he been far more liberal in his political

INTRODUCTION. IX

views, lie could not have escaped the necessity of endeavoring to
place himself at the head of the Conservative party : there was
no other path to power, and no success was possible without
power.

In other respects, his residence at Frankfurt was rich in
opportunities for the broader education of a statesman. His
journeys to Italy, Hungary, Denmark, and Holland, his wide
acquaintance with intelligent representatives of all European
nations, and his acquisition of many languages, were aids to his
cool, objective study of races, events, and governing forces. There
was little opportunity for personal distinction ; the character of
his services was only known to Frederick William IY. and his
ministers ; but the former, if unsuccessful as a ruler, was a man
of great wit and keen intellect, and appreciated Bismarck's ability
from the first. Not until he was appointed ambassador to
Russia, in 1859, was the future statesman much heard of, outside
of Prussia. His position in St. Petersburg, and afterwards in
Paris, made manifest his intellectual power and diplomatic skillj
and brought his name into prominence. When he became the
minister of King William I., in the autumn of 1862, the moral
shock which the German people experienced was not caused fry
their ignorance of his abilities. He was by that time well
known, distrusted, feared, and — hated.

I can distinctly recall the excitements of this period. When
I reached St. Petersburg, in June, 1862, Bismarck had taken his
leave but a few weeks previously, and the diplomatic and court
circles still included him in their gossip. He was almost invari-
ably spoken of with the greatest cordiality : his frankness, good-
nature, and hearty enjoyment of repartee were specially empha-
sized. I remember that his brief term of service in France was
then watched with very keen interest by the representatives of
the other Powers. When I returned to Germany, a year later,
he was at the head of affairs in Berlin ; and I doubt whether even

K INTRODUCTION.

Metternich was ever so unpopular with the great majority of the
people. This was not surprising ; for a member of the Prussian
Herrenhaus (House of Lords), who was a chance travelling-com-
panion of mine, expressed his unbounded satisfaction that an
u Absolutist " was at last minister. There would be no more
revolutions, he affirmed ; no more concession of useless privileges
to the people ; the ancient rights of king and nobles would be
restored. "When the Conservatives said these things, the Liber-
als were justified in foreboding the worst evils. During this
period I saw Bismarck, for the only time ; and, however much I
sympathized with the general feeling, I could not withhold the
respect and admiration which attend the recognition of grand in-
dividual power. In stature and proportions he seemed to me to be
the equal of General Winfield Scott, but his face had nothing of
the vanity and petulance which characterized the latter' s. It was
massive, clear, and firm — as if cut in granite when in repose, but
slowly brightening when he spoke. His tremendous will was
expressed as fully in the large, clear gray eyes as in the outlines
of the jaw. To judge from photographs, his face has changed
but slightly since then.

The world will never know the extent of the strain to which
Bismarck's nature was subjected during those four years, when
he rarely looked upon the people without meeting gloomy eyes
or hearing sullen murmurs of hate, when murder constantly
tracked his footsteps and revolution only waited for some act
which might let it loose. His long conflict with the Legislative
Assembly, in regard to the army estimates, was inevitably misin-
terpreted. In fact, it was so designed ; for the statesman's secret
plan could not be concealed from Austria, France, and Europe,
unless the German people were first deceived. But the suspicion
that the increase of the military power of Prussia was solely in-
tended to create a weapon against the liberties of the people
provoked an imminent danger. Bismarck walked on a narrow

INTRODUCTION. <i

path between two abysses : if he had wavered for an instant^ he
must have fallen. He was made to feel, in a thousand ways,
the depth of the popular indignation ; and he bore it, perhaps,
the more easily because he always frankly declared his conscious-
ness of it. This is a part of his experience which Ilerr Hesekiel
has passed over very lightly, out of consideration for the Germans
themselves, no less than for his subject ; yet it should by no
means be omitted from the statesman's biography. One inci-
dent, which I heard of at the time it occurred, is worth preserv-
ing. Bismarck was dining with a friend at the table d'hote of a
hotel in Frankfurt, when he noticed strong signs of hostile recog-
nition in two ladies who sat opposite. They immediately
dropped their German, and began talking in the almost extinct
Lettisch (Lettonian) tongue, feeling themselves perfectly safe to
abuse the minister to their heart's content therein. But Bis-
marck, who never forgets any thing, remembered a few words of
the language, and could guess the drift of their talk. He waited
a while, and then whispered to his friend, " When I say some-
thing to you in an unknown tongue, hand me the dish of pota-
toes." Presently he spoke aloud, in Lettonian, " Give me the
potatoes, please !" The friend instantly complied ; the ladies
stared, petrified with surprise, then hurriedly rose and left the
table.

It is impossible wholly to preserve a great political secret from
the instincts of other minds. For a year before the declaration
of war against Austria, in 1866, a presentiment of something not
entirely evil, to be reached through Bismarck's government, be-
gan to be felt in Germany. Singularly enough, it first impressed
itself upon the young, and, when betrayed, was a frequent source
of trouble in the homes of the Liberal party. Among other in-
stances, a boy of my own acquaintance, not more than eighteen
years of age, prevailed upon his fellow-pupils in an academy to
join him in sending a letter of congratulation to Bismarck, after

Xii INTRODUCTION.

young Blind's mad attempt at assassination. He was rewarded
by a charming letter from the minister, and in the pride of his
heart could not help showing it, to the amazement and deep mor-
tification of his parents. But now the noble young fellow is
dead ; and Bismarck's letter, preserved in a stately frame, is treas-
ured by the family as a most precious souvenir of the son's fore-
sight. The declaration of war nevertheless was a great shock
to Germany. Even then its true purpose was not manifest ; but
six weeks of victory, and the conditions of peace, opened the eyes
of all. It is difficult to find, in the annals of any nation, such an
overwhelming revulsion of sentiment. The swiftness of the
work gave convincing evidence of long preparation : it was a
phenomenon in German politics ; and the truth pierced, like a
sudden shaft of lightning, to the hearts and brains of the whole
people. In a day, Bismarck the Despot was transferred into Bis-
marck the Liberator.

When in Germany, in 1867, I learned, through the best
sources, of a suggested finale to the Prusso- Austrian war, which
I do not think has yet passed into history. The proposition,
privately considered at iNlkolsburg before signing the treaty of
peace with Austria, was that the entire Prussian army should
march westward through Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and Baden, to
the Rhine, compel the support of Southern Germany, and engage
France if she should take up the gage of battle thus thrown
down. The boldness of such a plan must have made it very-
attractive ; but Bismarck, probably in deference to the King's
views, finally declared that the fortune already secured was so
great that it must not be hazarded. How much he gained by
waiting four years does not now need to be explained. The
movement might have been carried into effect, with very great
probability of success ; yet it would only have united Germany
in form, not in feeling. It might have reconstructed the Em-
pire, but upon no such firm foundation as it stands on at present.

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

From that day, all men in all civilized countries who study
the development of history have followed with keenest interest
the course of the German statesman. He has been the focus of
such intelligent observation that no important line of policy
could long be kept secret ; but it is still the habit to distrust his
simplest and frankest declarations. A mind of lower order
would have been satisfied with the enormous triumph of aveng-
ing those bitter years of the Napoleonic usurpation, from 1806
to 1813, with restoring the ancient boundaries of race after two
centuries, and constructing the new and vital, because logical and
coherent, German nationality.

It was known that Bismarck's iron constitution had been seri-
ously shattered by his long and unrelieved labors and the tremen-
dous wear and tear of his moral energy. He should now be satis-
fied, said the world ; he has a right to a season of rest and peace.
Therefore, when he immediately plunged into a new and — as
many of his heartiest admirers believed — an unnecessary struggle,
there was a general feeling of surprise, amounting almost to dis-
satisfaction. The simple truth is, he saw the beginning of a
conflict which will continue to disturb the world until it is finally
settled by the complete divorcement of Church and State in all
civilized nations. The work he undertook to do had far less
reference to the interests of our day than to those of the coming
generations. I shall not discuss the means he employed : to do
this intelligently requires an intimate knowledge of the history
of the whole subject in Germany since the Treaty of West-
phalia, in 1648 ; and hence very little of the foreign criticism of
his policy is really applicable. He has at least succeeded in
building a firm dike against the rising tide of ecclesiastical
aggression ; and the fight yet to be fought in France and Italy
and Spain — perhaps even in England and the United States —
will be the less fierce and dangerous because of his present work.
He might well have avoided the hard, implacable features of the

£1V INTRODUCTION.

struggle, but the principle which impels him has the imperious
character of a conscience.

"While wondering at this man's great work, we must never-
theless guard ourselves against attributing to him liberal ideas of
government in any partisan sense. He is an aristocrat, lifted by
a great intellect above the narrowing influences of his rank. He
believes in a government of power, and which shall exercise its
power sternly when need comes. His habit of facing events
defiantly, even in cases where a conciliatory policy might lead to
the same results, makes his attitude sometimes unnecessarily
harsh and despotic. As an individual, he is magnanimous ;
as a statesman, never. His exaction of terms from France, his
treatment of the German press, the bishops, and finally Count
von Arnim, are prominent illustrations of this quality of his
nature. In debate lie is sometimes carried too far by the irrita-
tion created by his antagonists, and quite forgets his acquired im-
perturbability. But even in such instances lie often has courage
enough to publicly confess the fault. The truth is, he accepts
the legislative feature of the Imperial Government of Germany
through his intellect, while the inherited instincts of his nature
rebel against it. His brain is modern, but the blood which feeds
it is that of the Middle Ages.

For compactness, clearness, and force there are no better
speeches in the German language than Bismarck's. He is an ex-
cellent English scholar, and has evidently modelled his style
upon the best English examples. His sentences are short and as
little involved as possible : he endeavors to avoid that construc-
tion, peculiar to the German tongue, which throws the verb —
often the key-word to the meaning — to the very end of the sen-
tence. He is rarely eloquent ; but he has an epigrammatic power
of putting a great deal of significance into brief phrases, many
of which find immediate currency among the people. For in-
stance, the whole meaning of his conflict with the Catholic eccle-

INTRODUCTION. XV

siastics was compressed into the sentence, " We shall not go to
Canossa !" And the declaration of his policy of " blood and
iron," which sent a thrill of horror through the country when
first uttered, has become a proud and popular phrase.

Bismarck stands now at the height of his success. He can
receive no additional honor, nor is it likely that his influence will
be further extended, except through new developments which
may attest the wisdom of his policy. It is not in his nature to
stand idle : while he lives he will remain in action. He will
therefore be a disturbing influence in European politics — an ele-
ment of power through respect, or mistrust, or fear. But while
it is not likely that any force or combination of forces can over-
throw the work of his life, nothing he may henceforth do can
invalidate his right to the title of the First Statesman of the

Age.

BAYAKD TAYLOR.

NEW YORK, March 17, 1877.

EDITOR'S PREFACE

TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.

THE life of Count Bismarck has been so much misinterpreted,
by interested and disinterested persons, that it is thought the
present publication, which tells " a plain unvarnished tale," will
not be unwelcome. In these days of universal criticism, no per-
son is exempt from the carping mood of the envious, or the facile
unreasoning of the ready-made theorist. Should we feel disposed
to credit vulgar report, noble motives and heroic lives are no lon-
ger extant in our present state of society. The eyes of detractors
are everywhere curiously — too curiously — fixed upon the deeds
of men of mark, and mingled feelings pull down from the pedes-
tal of fame every man who has ascended to the eminence award-
ed to the patriot and^ statesman. Truly, such a condition of
things bodes no good to the common weal of society, either in
England, Prussia, or in any part of Europe. The present writer
can see no utility in this practice of soiling the reputations and ac-
tions of men who, by slow degrees, have worked their way into
positions of merit' and mark.

The evil, however, does not wholly rest with the detractors.
An erroneous theory about universal equality gives the spur to
this spirit of criticism. A sort of feeling arises in the mind to
the effect of, " Had I been in his place, I should have acted oth-
erwise!"— the bystander proverbially seeing more of the game
than the players. It is, however, a great matter of doubt wheth-
er this is universally true. It might be true, if every circum-
stance, every motive, every actuation, could be laid bare to posi-
tive vision. In the conduct of life, however, this is rarely possi-
ble, even in the crudest way ; especially is it so in the intricate

xvj PREFACE.

and tortuous paths of politics. Politicians, we all know, are
many ; statesmen, unfortunately for the well-being of the world,
are few.

Some few years since England lost a' statesman named Henry
Temple, Viscount Palmerston. He had the rare happiness of be-
ing popular during his life, although it is perhaps more certain of
him than of any modern statesman, that his inflexibility as to is-
sues was remarkable. Apparently he would bend, but he had,
upon fixed principles, determined to rule, and his happy method
of conciliation, in which he was clad as in a garment, veiled from
the eyes of friend or foe that wonderful spirit of determination
permeating all the actions characterizing his political career.
And when Palmerston died, a wild wail of sorrow arose from all
England, a regret which will never be abated so long as England's
history remains intelligible.

Of similar materials to Palmerston, Count Bismarck is com-
posed. Otherwise put together, it is true, in accordance with the
genius of the nation amongst which his life-destiny has cast him;
but as to the generic likeness there can be little doubt. The pol-
icy of Palmerston was "thorough ;" so is that of Bismarck. But
it is not the "thorough " of a Strafford; it is rather the enlight-
ened " thorough " of a man cast into modern society, and intense-
ly patriotic. Though Bismarck has consistently upheld the pre-
rogatives of his royal master, he has not been neglectful of the in-
terests of the nation of which he is the Minister. A spirit of can-
dor breathes through all his actions, and displays him in the light
of an emphatically honest man. Unlike the present remarkable
occupant of the French throne, he is not tided along by public
events; nor, like that potentate, does he extract fame from an
adroit bowing to the exigencies of the hour. Tbe French sover-
eign has eliminated a policy, and gained a kind of respect from
others, in consequence of a masterly manipulation of passing oc-
currences. The Prussian Premier, on the other hand, has ob-
served fixed principles. The latter has his political regrets — he
can shed a tear over the grave of the meanest soldier who died at
Sadowa. The former looks upon human life much as chess-play-
ers look upon pawns — to be ruthlessly sacrificed on occasion,
should it happen that a skillful flank movement may protect the
ultimate design in view. Chess-players, however, know that the

PREFACE. xvii

pawns constitute the real strength of the game, and that it would
be worse than folly to sacrifice the humble pieces. Political sa-
gacity is ever displayed in judicious reserve, and this quality is
eminently evinced in all Bismarck's activity. Perhaps the most
singular triumph of Bismarck's life consists in the neutralization
of Luxemburg — an episode in his career of which he has great-
er reason to be proud than of the battle-field of Sadowa, or the
indirect countenance afforded by him to Italy. It can scarcely
be doubted that so peaceful a victory is a greater merit than the
massing together of thousands of armed men, for trying a right
by ordeal of steel and gunpowder.

Astute as Napoleon may be, Bismarck certainly was wiser than
he. The former has dynastic reasons for maintaining a pre-em-
inence in the face of Europe ; but the latter, with comparatively
inadequate means, had a far more difficult problem to solve. For
Bismarck has a heart large enough to entertain feelings of kind-
liness towards the whole of Germany, as well as towards that
section of it known as Prussia alone. There is a generous aspi-
ration in him for German nationality, overruling petty animosity
towards his enemies.

In all his contests he has ever been ready to hold out the hand
of reconciliation, although, in no instance, has he deviated from
the strict line of duty pointed out by his special nationality. In-
deed, it was a paramount necessity to raise Prussia in the scale of
nations, ere a German nationality could emerge into healthy po-
litical being. Prussia's rise, therefore, comprehended within it
the elements of German political existence. Geographically, the
consolidation of a great kingdom in the north was a necessity ;
and considering how well and prudently Prussia has used its
great position, no one can regret the result of the events of 1866.
Prussia, as a Protestant country, as a land of education and in-
tellectual refinement, has no equal on the face of the globe. But
that single position depends on the race-character of the nation
-evinced in its utilitarian spirit. Bismarck will perpetuate his
policy in time to come.

" Great acts," says the old dramatist, " thrive when reason
guides the will." This application of reason, so continuously,
•consistently, and quietly exercised, predicates a great national fu-
ture. That future is bound up with the fame of this great loyal

xyih PREFACE.

statesman and dutiful subject, who has had insight enough to see
how far the prerogative of the crown of Prussia was consistent
with the happiness of its people, foresight enough to rationally
contend for such prerogative, and faithful courage adequate to
the fearless execution of a grand design, comprehending within
itself elements of consolidation and enduring strength. What
Germany owes to Bismarck can as yet be scarcely calculated, but
very few years need elapse ere the sum will become intelligible.

It is, however, necessary to descend from generalities into par-
ticulars; to discuss, as briefly as may be, some objections that
have been urged, and to expose the fallacy of certain historical
parallels, sought to be drawn in reference, to Bismarck's position
towards his king and his .country.

We have not to contrast Bismarck with any hero or states-
man of antiquity. Society, although not human nature, has so
changed, that what our modern men do for the common weal
changes with the. circumstances and the extension of the circle
of population. One man could then address a nation — now the
nation must rely upon Camarillas. Democracy, in these days,
either vaguely advocates desperate political experiments, or, stung
to madness by real or fancied wrongs, determines them — as hot-
headed non-thinkers usually determine — by violence.

Our modern Cleons use the press, which, truth to be spoken, is
not unwilling to be used; and hence any thing not to be twisted
before the law-courts into libel, represents the license and not the
freedom of the press. But the man of antiquity at least had to
exercise the courage of meeting his fellow-citizens, and thus either
swayed them or was lost. Assent or dissent was given by accla-
mation. Bismarck presents rather a contrast than a likeness to
Greek or Roman statesmen — they sought the Agora or the Forum;
he has no time for claptrap.

But let us turn to the political doctrine, partly known as that
of divine right, for which Bismarck has-been thought to fight.

The doctrine of a divine right of possession to the Crown of
Prussia is one not readily comprehensible to an English subject,
under the circumstances of the modern constitution of the United
Kingdom, for the reason that modern society has accustomed it-
self to look upon the results of the revolutions of 1649 and 1688
as final, and settled by events, and the contract entered into be-

PKEFACE.

tween the parliament, or representative body, on the one hand,
and the constitutional sovereign on the other. We may recur to
an earlier period, when the crown was devisable by will in Eng-
land, or when at least the succession was settled in accordance
with the desires of a dying sovereign, for some kind of parallel.
Although this absolute right of leaving the crown by will has
not often been exercised, it has found its defenders ; for instance,
in the case of Queen Jane, a minority held that Edward was justi-
fied in devising his crown ; therefore, while the theory was not
actually substantiated by the right of peaceable possession, it was
not regarded as wholly illusory. If Henry VIII. might by his
prerogative bar certain members of his family from the succes-
sion, the crown advisers of that day must have been justified in
supporting such a prerogative, and could not have regarded the
sovereign as ultra vires in the matter of a transmission of the
crown. It is certainly, from the logic of facts, an impossibility to
effect any such change in the order of succession now, and in it-
self would be as fatal a step as any political theorists could at-
tempt ; and if so fatal in a country where feudalism is a mere
historical eidolon, how far more unwise in a country such as Prus-
sia, where feudalism has still a practical, though not an avowed,
existence ? In the very nature of things, the sovereigns of Prus-
sia hold their crown upon a principle of divine right, as propri-
etors of the fee-simple of the soil, which divine right has ever
been construed to impose certain obligations towards their vas-
sals, the holders of the usufruct, and their subjects, agents, and
traders — which obligations, to their honor be it spoken, the sov-
ereigns of Prussia have ever attempted to fulfill. This divine
right differs in its nature and mode of action from the mere arbi-
trary will of a tyrant. There, as here —

" Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds,
But Harry, Harry."

Their divine right to the soil, which they swear to defend, and
seek to improve, for the benefit of all, differs essentially from the
divine right as understood by a Charles Stuart. Fiscal arrange-
ments are again of a widely different character, and a vassal like
Bismarck, who maintains the prerogative of his sovereign liege, is
merely carrying the legitimate consequences of an enduring and
progressive system, akin to, but not identical with, ancient feudal

xx PREFACE.

theories, into action. It is clearly false to seek a parallel in
Charles and Strafford ; the parallel would be more just if drawn
between Henry and Wolsey. But parallels are ever suspicious,
as the course of historical sequence is not identical, and presents
only delusive points of contact.

Any adequate explanation must be sought in another direction,
and that direction is best pointed out by the very essential fea-
tures of Prussian history itself. From this cause, a prominence,
by no means undeserved, has been assigned to the early history
of the family whence Bismarck sprang. In the brief sketch given
in the first book, it may be plainly seen that impulses of duty
guided, and a kind of hierarchy of rank sustained, the active en-
ergy in the vassal on behalf of the sovereign, and that in fighting
for the supremacy of the Prussian crown, Bismarck was at the
same moment upholding the real solidarity and ultimate rights
of the subjects of that crown. Surely by maintaining the rights
of the father against all comers — those rights held by the father
in trust — the interests of the children are best consulted.

For there is a mesne power between absolutism and republican-
ism, tyranny and democracy ; this is not constitutionalism. This
is honor, higher than all.

" The divinity that doth hedge a king," from which a true
king's impulses flow, must be founded on a higher instinct, and
derived from a higher plane. True kingship is very rare, often
falls short of its standard in the very best of men — for humanity
has always its faults ; but rightly guided, it is possible, nay, prob-
able, that the office of kingship may be justly and nobly exer-
cised. A constitutional monarch, although irremovable, save by
the process of revolution, can only be governed by the impulses
of the man himself, while an absolute sovereign may arrest, cor-
rect, and mitigate much that is evil in the State. In civil affiiirs,
we require such an ultimate personage, one whose honor and self-
respect will be a sufficient safeguard against abuses. Any king
not evidencing that honor in his private life as well as public acts,
is liable, and justly so, to deposition; every king who faithfully
performs the difficult and delicate duties of his position, has a right
to expect the true and loving submission of his subjects. The
combination of an honest minister with a noble-minded king, how-
ever, is rare. In Frederick the Second of Prussia, as to some ex-

PREFACE. xxj

tent in the first Napoleon, there was a will to be honest; but
where the latter failed in his task, the former prevailed in the
hearts of his people, and the admiration of the world. Have we
not the exquisite book of Mr. Carlyle as evidence of it ? Eeal
statesmen know how infinitely difficult the problem of adminis-
tration must be, and hence it is that so many real wrongs are
accidentally committed, when the right is sought through the
agency of unscrupulous ministers. The axiom that the king can
do no wrong, simply means that if he inadvertently do a wrong,
he is bound to repair it so soon as he is possessed of the truth of
the wrong. On this fact — and no polity is built up with safety
without resting on facts — is based the right of petition, as well in
oriental as in occidental countries. Now, here is the political
lever, nor is the standpoint far off The king is bound to do jus-
tice, because his position, being founded on divine right, relies
upon divine protection. In any country where God, under what-
ever form, is honored, no king, conscious of his deep obligations
for his position, can hesitate to throw himself fearlessly into the
midst of his subjects, always regarding such monarch, as is the
case in Prussia, as the steward of the Unseen Governor of all.
Legally and politically, the king represents the ultimate court
of appeal, and honestly fulfilling the duties imposed upon him,
no sovereign need fear, as in Prussia would be absurd, the
hand of the assassin. It is the everlasting curse entailed upon
large States, that for petty motives there exists an alarming sys-
tem of bureaucracy, in which the voices of the honest servants are
drowned in the din of the general throng for distinction, wealth,
ease, and enjoyment. Hence public servants, of whatever degree,
fear to speak ; hence the public fumes, hence stoppage of trade,
discredit by capitalists, ultimate want of employment, lassitude of
patriotism, conspiracy, crime — with its load of expense — famine,
and the fall of States ensue.

Now, a practical king, conscious of his office, and ablebodied
enough to undergo the exertion, can be the greatest of philanthro-
pists, if supported by an honest ministry, fearless enough to repress
undue expenditure, either by his sovereign or the lieges. Wary
to draw the sword, eager to substitute the ploughshare, should
such a monarch be ; and such a monarch we find in Prussia, and
have found before. Fearless and honorable should be his minis-

PREFACE.

ter ; and such a minister we find, fortunately not without paral-
lels, in Count Bismarck.

Bismarck had not only this abstract duty, as some may like to
call it, to perform towards his own sovereign. There was anoth-
er duty of no less importance and delicacy to fulfill as a German
— as a member of the body corporate of the Teutonic nation.
Had Austria continued in its peculiar position of pre-eminence,
derived from an association of its rulers with the extinct Holy
Roman Empire, the real power of self-government would have
passed from the German nations to that mixture of Slavs and
Czechs, Huns, Magyars, and Poles, making up so large a propor-
tion of Austrian subjects; and could Prussia, emphatically Ger-
man in all its regions, have permitted a supremacy so at variance
with— I will not say common sense — but ethnical affinity? Is
it not more in conformity with natural sympathy that the German
kindred races of the north should be consolidated in a truly Ger-
man national sense, than remain a loosely-constructed federation
of petty princedoms, under the guidance of a power whose main
strength lay in races alien, and even hostile, if we are to trust
present events, in their interests, instincts, and sympathies ?

There was, of course, underlying all this, the cardinal fact of a
difference of religious sympathies. So eminently Koman Catho-
lic, ruling over nations outwardly, and perhaps sincerely, attach-
ed to the Papal forms of ecclesiastical government and doctrine,
Austria could not hold out a faithful hand of fellowship to Prot-
estant Prussia, with its stern Calvinistic self-assertion : so attached
to all that is ancient in reference to birth, family tradition, and
historical fame, Austria could not but be jealous of a nation which
had robbed it of its warlike glory, and set up a new nobility in
opposition to its ancient semi-oriental princely families: so wed-
ded to all that was archaic and statuesque in form and stationary
in its character, how was it possible to tolerate a neighbor whose
spirit is remarkable for its restless activity and love of innova-
tion ; so practical in science and utilitarian in its aims? A con-
test between two such powers, and in such a cause, and as a con-
sequence of such various processes of development, was inevita-
ble, while the ultimation of the strife could scarcely be doubtful.
The imperial nation, so proud, profuse, and old-fashioned, must
receive a lesson, intended in the utmost spirit of candor, from

PKEFACE. xx.iil

the patient, practical, and untiring nation of North Germany,
who looked upon its sovereign and institutions with kindly affec-
tion, as the outcome of the labors of their immediate fathers, and
to the fruits of which those subjects were honestly entitled. Nor,
as having resided in both Prussia and Austria, am I disposed to
think that Prussian tendencies do not receive hearty approval in
the German sections of the Austrian people. Let the events ac-
companying the siege of Vienna, in 1848, be properly valued, and
the fact is patent. The cowardice of Ferdinand is the key to the
history of that siege, as well as its justification.

We have not here, however, so much to do with the policy of
the Prussian people, and their relations towards Austria, as with
a consideration of the effects wrought upon Bismarck's mind by
his position, education, personal character, and the events of his
era. We here rather want to get an intelligible picture of Bis-
marck himself — to learn why Bismarck is the actual Bismarck
he is, and not another Bismarck, as it were, altogether.

Let us therefore glance at his early life, and see how his
strong, daring, and somewhat headlong youth has gradually
moulded him into the astute, unbending, and progressive statesman
we now see him to be in the latter days of his remarkable life.

The first thing that strikes us must be his opportunities of birth
and of lineage. Education, it can not be doubted, is materially
influenced by these two considerations. An indulgent father and
an ambitious mother may help a lad along. Next comes the nec-
essary process of estrangement; that emergence into actual life
from which so few come forth proudly ; and, finally, the attain-
ment of self-consciousness, but without direction and without an
aim. This usually results, as with Bismarck, in an appreciable
amount of obloquy, from which the strong spirit desires emanci-
pation. In the case now in point, his aspirations of the better
sort had the mastery. Application to his distressed fortunes led
him to think of others, and while he tested other men he applied
the same stern acid to his own soul.

The empty affection of dissolutism assailed him, and he fled
from it with the disgust of a noble mind : he longed for a more
exquisite grace of beauty and dignity, and attained it. From
that time forward he could apply; the serious element in his na-
ture obtained the upper hand, and he perceived that life was not

jr IvEiI* AGE.

intended as a mere puppet scene. Patriotism, one of the grand-
est impulses of human nature, led him to a recognition of bis du-
ties as a man, and comforted in his domestic relations, he stood
for his king. He became the king's man — to that fealty he vow-
ed himself, and^that fealty he has nobly accomplished. He saw
at once he was the king's rnan, but policy he had none. Policy,
of whatever sort it might prove to be, was yet to come ; but the
historical guide-line of a relation between the highest post of dig-
nity and his own rank, fashioned it into a policy into which per-
force the idea of aristocracy necessarily entered. Had Bismarck
not been so vehemently attacked at the onset of his political and
representative career, it is very probable that the stout resistance
he made would not have proved so strenuous. But the attack
was one which roused the dormant elements of his nature. Very
proud, like most of the Pomeranian and Brandenburg Junkers, he
resolved upon showing that his pride was not false, and was not
so greatly leavened with personal ambition as some tauntingly
averred. But it must be confessed that there is a vast differ-
ence between his early speeches and his later policy — in itself a
proof that his career was not that of a political adventurer, re-
solved for notoriety at any price. The crudeness of his earlier
speeches has formed an absolute boon to his opponents, who
scarcely anticipated that a man who honestly cared for the point
at issue, rather than the airing of a more or less inflated eloquence
— seasoned with a philosophy of a very unpractical kind — was
about to enter into the political arena. Looking at Bismarck in
his earliest stages of development as a statesman, the present
writer can not say there was much beyond a general adhesion to-
the Prussian traditions to recommend him. It is for this reason
that certain documents have been reprinted in the latter pnges of
this book, not furnished by the German compiler. In these doc-
uments, appealing as they do to his family pride as a liegeman,
may be found the key of Bismarck's subsequent violent declara-
tion on the side of the monarchy. " That a king should volunta-
rily propose to set aside what, in my contract, inherent in my
birth, with that king, contravenes my family pride, makes me
sorry for that king, but vehement against his advisers. But be-
ing sorry, I must fight for him, or his successors."

Prussia was, like a nation or two more in Europe, in a " par-

XXV

lous state " in 1848. But these days of March were a natural re-
sult of facts pressing on the people : they passed, however. In
those events, misunderstood even at the present time — misunder-
stood as all revolutions must be — Bismarck took no part save
that of thinking that a replacement of the army by an ununi-
forrned corps was another insult to Prussia — and her lieges.

His political education had advanced to a point when it would
either resolve itself into a total abnegation of political activity,
or an aspiration towards some ameliorations of the matter in
hand. This signified itself, not by individual actions after a
time, but rather by the centralization of a party existing in fortu-
itous atoms into clubs — adding the printing-press as a powerful
aid.

Suddenly the ambassadorial post at Frankfurt was offered him.
Light-hearted and willing — to all appearance — he accepted it
The world has yet to be made acquainted with the positive re-
sult of this Frankfurt mission. That his instructions were accu-
rate there can be little doubt, and that all his energies were bent
upon the humiliation of Austria as the powerful rival of Prussia,
is equally true. That his diplomatic facility had at this time ac-
quired any great amount of strength is doubtful. He was an ex-
cellent host, and a sincere adviser ; but it is due to him rather
again to cast away any delusion as to the diplomatic grandeur of
his actions — unless, which may be the case, honesty pure and sim-
ple is diplomacy.

He therefore remained a good friend, a good host, a kind mas-
ter, a most loving husband and brother. Perhaps nothing in
connection with the man who has been thought so harsh, is so in-
teresting as his care, his love, not only for his own family, but for
his humbler dependents. In his correspondence, which really
forms the feature of this volume, we find the careful and truthful
expression of a mind seeking to set itself right with the world
and its duties, and consistently adopting utter straightforward-
ness as the efficient means to this end. In times of trouble he
sympathizes deeply with the bereaved ; in seasons when most as-
persed he shows a firm reliance on the goodness of his cause, and
his innate sense of right ; and he ever displays a confidence in
the ultimate realization of the object held in view.

The various letters written during seasons of holiday travel dis-

xxvi PREFACE.

play a keen delight in natural objects, and are written with a sim-
ple eloquence denoting frankness and candor.

Before closing this Preface, already somewhat lengthy, it is per-
haps not out of place to refer to a recent review of the two first
German sections of this book, in the October number of the Edin-
burgh Review. The reviewer will perceive that the blemishes to
which he alludes have been removed, so far as may be, from the
text. Any one, acquainted with German literature, is aware that
its genius admits of the expression of many simple naivetes, very
far from consonant with the dignity and spirit of the English lan-
guage. For these reasons a rearrangement and compression of
the earlier parts of the -book has been effected, and notes have
been added of interest to the English reader, whose acquaintance
with some of the personages named would necessarily be limited.
Nothing, however, tending to illustrate the character and pur-
poses of the chief personage, has been omitted. So far as the ma-
terials could serve, a faithful picture of Count Bismarck is here
presented, and it is anticipated that the Prussian premier will be
seen to far greater advantage than through the medium of the
Edinburgh reviewer. That gentleman will perhaps forgive the
writer for differing from him in his general estimate of Bismarck's
character. The estimate taken by the critic is very severe, and
scarcely just. It is also so curious that the writer can not refrain
from transcribing it here, that the reader may have both sides of
the picture before him.

" To govern," says the critic,* " is, according to his ideas, to
command, and parliamentary government is to command with a
flourish of speeches and debates, which should always end in a
happy subserviency with the ruling minister. This arbitrary dis-
position is, of course, strengthened by his success of 1866 ; but he
will be grievously deceived in believing that only stubborn res-
olution is wanted to triumph again. He is a man of the type of
Eichelieu and Pombal ; but this style of statesmanship is rather
out of place in our century, at least for obtaining a lasting suc-
cess.

" We can not, therefore, consider him as a really great states-
man, though he has certainly gifts of the highest order. He is a
first-rate diplomatist and negotiator. No man can captivate more

* Edinburgh Review, vol. cxxx., pp. 457, 458.

PREFACE. XXVll

adroitly those he wants to win ; nobody knows better to strike
at the right moment, or to wait when the tide is running in his
favor. His personal courage is great, physically as well as
morally ; he shrinks from nothing conducive to his end. He is
not naturally eloquent ; but his speeches are generally impres-
sive, and full of terse argument. He is a capital companion in
society — witty, genial, sparkling in his conversation. His pri-
vate life is pure ; nobody has accused him of having used his
high position for his pecuniary advantage. It is natural that
such qualities, backed by an indomitable will, a strong belief in
himself, and an originally robust constitution, should achieve
much. But by the side of these virtues the darker shades are
not wanting. We will not reproach him with ambition ; it is
natural that such a man should be ambitious. But his ambition
goes far to identify the interests of his country with his own
personal power. Every thing is personal with him ; lie never
forgets a slight, and persecutes people who have offended him
with the most unworthy malice. His strong will degenerates
frequently into absurd obstinacy ; he is feared by his subordi-
nates, but we never heard that any body loved him. Driven
into a strait, his courage becomes the reckless daring of the
gambler, who stakes every thing on one card. He can tell the
very reverse of the truth with an amazing coolness y still of tener
he will tell the plain truth when he knows that he will not be
believed. He is a great comedian, performing admirably the
part he chooses to play. He knows how to flatter his interlocu-
tors, by assuming an air of genuine admiration for their talents ;
they leave him charmed by his condescension, whilst he laughs
at the fools who took his fine words for solid cash. His con-
tempt of men is profound; he dislikes independence, though he
probably respects it. There is not a single man of character
left in the ministry or the more important places of the civil
service (!). Few things or persons exist at which he would
not venture a sneer.

" At present he has chosen to retire, for an indefinite period,
from a perplexing situation which he has himself created. No-
body can tell in what direction he is going to steer his vessel.
He likes to strike the imagination of the public by sudden reso-

XXV111 PREFACE.

hit ions. Nobody can prophesy what will be the final result of
the great political experiment upon which he has entered, for it
depends on the working of so many different factors, that even
the boldest will scarcely venture to calculate the issue."

Those passages italicized above form a specimen of the kind
of attacks, by no means honorably or reasonably made, upon
Count Bismarck, and it is somewhat lamentable to read, in the
pages of so important a Review, views quite incompatible with
truth, and so calculated to sway the minds of many who have
little leisure to analyze historical phenomena.

Time has triumphantly cleared up much that seemed vaguely
ominous in Bismarck's policy, and the progress of events will
doubtless throw clear light on that which still remains dark and
unintelligible to those who care little for light.

KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.

Book tljc first.

THE BISMARCKS OF OLDEN TIME.

CHAPTER I.

NAME AND ORIGIN.

Bismarck on the Biese.— The Bismarck Louse.— Derivation of the Name Bismarck. -~
Wendic Origin Untenable.— The Bismarcks in Priegnitz and Ruppin.— Riedel's
Erroneous Theory. — The Bismarcks of Stendal. — Members of City Guilds. — Claus
von Bismarck of Stendal.— Rise of the Family into the Highest Rank in the Four-
teenth Century.

N the Alt Mark, be-
longing to the circle
of Stendal, lies the
small town of Bis-
marck on the Biese.
It is an old and fa-
mous place, for south
of the town stands an
ancient tower, known
as the Bismarck
Louse. Tradition
states that the tower
received its name
from a gigantic louse
which inhabited it,
and that the peasants
of the district had every day to provide huge quantities of meat
for the monster's food. In this legend we can trace the popular
spirit of the sober Alt Mark — it laughs at the pilgrimages which
were made in the thirteenth century to Bismarck in honor of a
holy cross, said to have fallen from heaven. These pilgrimages,
at first greatly encouraged by the lords of the soil, as they found
in them a rich source of income, soon came to a sanguinary end,
from the severe strife occasioned by these very revenues.

32 BISMARCK ON THE BIESE.

Bismarck does not, as some assert, derive its name from the
Biese, because in the year 1203, when it is first mentioned in the
records, it is called Biscopesmarck, or Bishopsmark, afterwards
corrupted into Bismarck. It belonged to the Bishops of Havel-
berg, who erected a fort here as a defense of their Mark, on the
frontiers of the Sprengels of Halberstadt. From the little town
the noble family of Bismarck has its name.

It is a tradition of later times, by no means historically con-
firmed, that the Bismarcks were a noble family of Bohemia, set-
tled by Charlemagne in the Alt Mark, and the founders of the
town of Bismarck, which received its name from them. It is
further erroneously asserted, that the Bismarcks, after the decease
of the very powerful Count von Osterburg, had shared the coun-
ty with the family of Alvensleben ; and thus the town of Bis-
marck passed into the possession of the Alvenslebens.* This
last is only stated to account for the circumstance of the holding
of Bismarck in the fourteenth century as a fief by the Alvensle-
bens ; it being forgotten that in those days the title went with
the office, and that a county could not therefore be in the posses-
sion of two families.

As groundless is the tradition of the Wendic descent ot tne

* Alvensleben. This family was of noble origin in the Alt Mark, and has been
partly elevated to the rank of Count. Its annals extend to 1163. The original seat
of the family was Alvensleben on the Bever ; the lines consisted of three — red, black,
and white. Of these the red line died out in 1534 and 1553, at Erxleben and Kal-
vorden. The white line, divided into three, through Joachim Valentine, at Isern-
schnippe, Eirnersleben, and Erxleben — the first expired in 1680, the second in 1734 —
the third, founded by Gebhard Christoph, still flourishes. The black line was always
the most extensive. It divided into two branches, that of Ludolf and that of Joachim.
Only a portion of this family exists at the present day. Of the branch of Ludolf,
there existed Philip Karl (born 1745, 16th Dec.), who became a Prussian diplomatist
and was a favorite of Friedrich II. and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He died a
Count, 21st Oct., 1802, at Berlin, unmarried. Johann Aug. Ernst was born at Erxle-
ben, 6th Aug., 1758 ; he was Minister for Brandenburg and Privy Councillor of Prus-
sia ; died 27th Sept., 1827, a Prussian Count. The "black line died out with his
son, the Prussian Minister Albrecht v. A. The white, or Gardelegen line, was eleva-
ted to the rank of Count in the persons of Fried. Will. Aug. (bora 31st May, 1798 ;
died 2d Dec., 1853), and Ferd. Friedr. Ludolf (born 23d Jan., 1803), at the ascen-
sion of Fried. Wilh. IV., 15th Oct., 1840. Albrecht, the representative of the black
line, was distinguished for his devotion to his king, much as Bismarck has been.
He died 2d May, 1858 ; his large property went to his sister and her children. —
K. R. H. M.

ORIGIN OF THE BISMARCKS. 33

Bismarcks. According to this, the actual name of this noble
family should be Bij-smarku, in Wendic, " Beware of the Christ-
thorn." Not very happily has the double trefoil in the arms of
the Bismarcks been identified with the Christ-thorn — as a proof
of their Wendic descent.

The Bismarcks are rather, as are all the families of knightly
rank in the Alt Mark, the descendants of German warriors who,
under the Guelph, the Ascanian, or other princes, had conquered
the Slavic lands on both banks of the Elbe for Christianity and
German civilization, and had then settled themselves on those lands
as fief-holders. The Bismarcks belonged to the warrior family
of Biscopesmarck-Bishopsmark-Bismarck, and when surnames
came into use, called themselves after their dwelling-place — von
Bismarck. Of course, they retained the name after the loss or
cession of their original seat.

Like many other knightly families of the Alt Mark, the Bis-
marcks gradually spread towards the East, conquering greater
space for German Christian culture, subduing the Wends or driv-
ing them back towards the Oder. Thus the Bismarcks also ap-
pear, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, as warrior
knights in Priegnitz and the region of Ruppin.

We can not understand how a historian of such general intel-
ligence as Riedel, can object to this course of development, pre-
senting so many analogies in the series of other races of nobility
in the Alt Mark. According to this writer, it appears " credible
and plausible " that the chivalric race of Bismarck, found at
the beginning of the fourteenth century in the region of Prieg-
nitz and Ruppin, should have descended from the Castellans at
Bismarck, who were provided with some territorial fiefs on the
downfall of the episcopal castle. " On the other hand," says Rie-
del, "those citizen families to be found in the cities of the Mark
and in Stendal, bearing the name of Bismarck, whence that
branch arose, the energy of which not only equalized the Von Bis-
marcks with the highest nobility of the Mark, but has surpassed
all of them, by the principles of unprejudiced historical inquiry
are proved to be self-distinguished, and the descendants of plain
citizens of the little town Bismarck, which had flourished so well
under episcopal protection."

This is, however, an assertion supported by nothing, except,

34 RIEDEL ERRONEOUS.

perhaps, by an accidental negative — the circumstance that up to
the present time no seal has been found of the undoubtedly chiv-
alric Bismarcks in Priegnitz and Kuppin ; for the identity of ar-
morial bearings would necessarily establish the common origin of
the knightly Bismarcks, and those of Stendal, beyond all ques-
tion. But we do not understand Kiedel's objection, as he does
not deny that the Bismarcks entered the first rank of the aristoc-
racy of the Alt Mark in the same fourteenth century. It would
be almost puerile, by means of fantastic explanations respecting
the races bearing the name of Bismarck, to deprive the Minister
of the rank of Junker,* and thus claim him as a plebeian.

For if the Bismarcks of Stendal appear in the character of citi-
zens since the thirteenth century, it proves nothing as to their
chivalric descent, but may almost be used as an argument in fa-
vor of it. It is well known and unquestioned that a whole series
of knightly families have settled themselves in towns, and taken
part in municipal government, in all places at first more or less
patrician in character. Thus it fared with the Bismarcks in Sten-
dal, and not with them only, but with the Schadewachts and oth-
er Alt Mark knightly races, members of which took their place^
in the municipal government of Stendal. The Bismarcks were
then attached to the most distinguished, honorable, and influen-
tial Guild of Tailors (cloth-merchants), because every inhabitant
of a town was obliged to belong to some guild. But to infer from
this that the Bismarcks were of citizen birth, would be as absurd
as to deny the nobility of the Iron Duke, the victor of Waterloo,
because the Worshipful Company of Merchant Tailors in London,
as recognizing his fame, made him free of their guild. It is in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in fact, and especially in the
towns of the Marks, that we find the noblest families — even the
Margrave himself — associated with citizen guilds. At the same
time it mattered not at all whether such members occupied them-
selves with the trade; for we are not, in this place, speaking of
position, but descent. And if the practice of handicrafts and com-
merce were not then, as later, held to be incompatible with noble-
birth — although, in general, the practice was uncommon — the de-

* This rank in Germany, and especially in North Germany, is held to be noble.
We hare no corresponding title in English ; it is higher than esquire, but not exact-
ly that of a knight or baronet. Perhaps it corresponds to ' ' honorable. "— K. R. H. M.

ASSOCIATION WITH MERCHANT GUILDS. 35

scendants of noble houses, on leaving the towns, naturally re-en-
tered their own rank of territorial lords.

It is, therefore, explicable that Glaus von Bismarck, Freeman
of the Guild of Tailors in Stendal, could step from that position
into the first rank of the Alt Mark nobility.

Eiedel is also the only historian who, in contradiction to earlier
and later authorities, asserts the descent of the Bismarcks from a
citizen family in Stendal, instead of from the Castellans of the
episcopal castle of that name. Even, however, had he been able
to determine this beyond a doubt, it would not have proved the
plebeian descent of the Minister-President, but only that the no-
bility of his family reaches no higher than the fourteenth century
— in itsejf a sufficiently long pedigree.

CHAPTER II.

CASTELLANS AT BURGSTALL CASTLE.

[1270—1550.]

Eulo von Bismarck, 1309-1338. — Excommunicated. — Claus von Bismarck. — His
Policy. — Created Castellan of Burgstall, 1345. — Castellans. — Reconciliation with
Stendal, 1350. — Councillor to the Margrave, 1353. — Dietrich Kogelwiet, 1361. —
His White Hood. — Claus in his Service, while Archbishop of Magdeburg. — The
Emperor Charles IV. — The Independence of Brandenburg threatened.— Cham-
berlain to the Margrave, 1368. — Subjection of the Marks to Bohemia, 1373. —
Claus retires into Private Life. — Death about 1377. — Claus II., 1403. — Claus
III. and Henning. — Friedrich I. appoints Henning a Judge. — Ludolf. — His Sons.
— Pantaleon. — Henning III. obiit circa 1528. — Claus Electoral Ranger, 1512. —
Ludolf von Bismarck.— Electoral Sheriff of Boetzow, 1513.— His Descendants. .

S the ancestor of the race
of Bismarck, we find among
the Bismarcks in Stendal,
where they had been
known since 1270, a cer-
tain Kale or Ealo, other-
wise Eudolf von Bismarck,
whose name appears in the
records from 1309 to 1338.
This personage was a re-
spected member of the
Guild of Tailors, often its
guide and master, as also a
member of the Town Coun-
cil of Stendal.

In the sparse notices con-
tained in the records con-
cerning him, it appears that Eule von Bismarck was held in high
esteem for his prudence nnd wealth. He represented Stendal in

THE BISMARCKS OF OLD.

RULE VON BISMARCK. 39

the most important negotiations with princely courts, carried out
political arrangements of every kind, and in every position main-
tained a high status among his fellow-townspeople. He is also to
be regarded as one of the founders of the town schools in Sten-
dal, and met heavy opposition from the Nicholas Cathedral
foundation, which claimed the establishment of schools as its
sole privilege. But under his direction the Council maintained
its plans as to the establishment of city schools,, and realized these
despite of the ban of the Church ; probably this, the first Bismarck
of whom we have any knowledge, died an excommunicated man,
for his long dispute with the authorities was only accommodated
at a much later period by his son. Kule left behind him four
sons, Nicholas I., commonly called Claus, Eulo II., known during
his father's life (and so called in the records) as Rulekin (the
little Rule) ; the others were John and Christian.

The younger brothers soon fell into the background. Claus
von Bismarck was an individual of remarkable character, which,
based upon the honored name of the family, and the wealth he
had inherited, aided him in extending the sphere of his influence
far beyond that of his town circle. In testimony of respect to the
memory of his father, he was immediately assigned the councillor's
seat, vacant by his father's death. Claus, acting with great mod-
eration, next distinguished himself in settling the internal differ-
ences of the town, and reconciled the Church with the memory of
his father by large donations, and by the establishment of a me-
morial festival. Yery early in his career, however, he occupied a
singular and duplex political attitude. In the town, with anima-
tion and wisdom, he headed the patrician element against the
democratic innovations of the lower guilds, and stood at the front
of the aristocratic conservative party in Stendal. But in the
country he sided more and more with the Margrave, at that time
of Bavarian origin, and gradually became one of the leaders of
that patriotic Brandenburg association, which sought to reunite
the Marks, separated by the death of Waldemar the Great, under
one government.

The political activity of Claus von Bismarck in the fourteenth
century, offers many points of similarity to that of his descendant
Otto von Bismarck in the nineteenth century.

In his contest with the democratic party in Stendal, Claus von

40 CLAUS VON BISMARCK.

Bismarck was not very successful. After a long and obstinate
fight, the aristocratic Guild of Tailors was worsted. The members
of it, and among them Glaus von Bismarck, were driven out and
banished. He now returned to the country, where he possessed
numerous estates, inherited from his father; but he did not remain
quiet. We see him in continued activity on behalf of the Mar-
grave Ludwig, for whom he conducted the most intricate negotia-
tions, and to whom he lent considerable sums of money.

The reward of his political assiduity was proportionate to its-
importance. On the 15th of June, 1345, the Margrave granted
the Castle of Burgstall, one of the strongholds of the country, pro-
tecting the southern frontier of the Alt Mark towards Magdeburg,
to Glaus von Bismarck and his descendants, and their brothers, as
a fief. Thus the Bisrnarcks entered the first rank of the nobility
of the Alt Mark, as Castellans.*

These Castellan families in the Alt Mark, although they could
not claim any right to a higher rank, formed a privileged class of
the chivalric nobility, which maintained itself by the possession of
castles — then of great importance for the defense of the country.
The Castellans under the Luxemburg dynasty, like the members
of the Bohemian nobility, were called nobiles, while other classes
of the nobility were only denominated " worshipful," or strenui.
They had ingress and precedence at the Diets before the others,
were not summoned to those assemblies by proclamation, but by
writ, and were immediately under the jurisdiction of the Land
Captain, while ordinary knights were subject to the Courts of
Justice of the province. Although the Castellans maintained a
portion of these rights to very recenj: times, they were never any
thing more than Alt Mark Junkers, whose families possessed some
privileges beyond the rest.

Among the Castellans of the fourteenth century were the Yon
der Schulenburgs, the Yon Alvenslebens, the Yon Bartenslebens,
the Yon Jagows, the Yon Knesebecks,f and the Yon Bismarcks
of Burgstall.

* In the original, Schlossgesessen, literally "seized of or seated at a castle." — K.
R. H. M.

t Knesebeck. Of this family one was celebrated as Prussian Field- Marshal (born
5th May, 1768, at Carwe, near New Ruppin, of an ancient Brandenburg family). He
fought with distinction in 1792-'94, and was placed on the staff by the Duke of Bruns-
wick. He fulfilled a singular diplomatic mission to Petersburg in 1811-'12, which

THE CASTELLANS. 41

On the outbreak of the terrible storm which accompanied the
appearance of the pretender Waldemar — whose claims have, how-
ever, not yet been disproved — Claus von Bismarck prudently
withdrew himself, and awaited the conclusion of these troubles at
the Castle of Burgstall. It was the only thing he could do, for,
in the position of circumstances, he could afford no assistance to
the Bavarian Margrave, wTith whom he was intimately connected,
and on the general question he could give no decision, as the per-
son of Waldemar the Great had never been known to him.

About this time, 1350, a reconciliation took place between the
banished aristocratic party and the town of Stendal. Some of the
members returned thither, but Claus von Bismarck, as may be
supposed, remained at Burgstall; but it would appear that from
that time forward he stood on friendly terms with his native
city.

In the year 1353, he became still more closely connected with
the Margrave, in the capacity of Privy Councillor; and in this
post, which carried no emolument with it whatever, he exhibited
energy of such a wise character that Bismarck's government, de-
spite of the wretched and sorrowful state of things at the time,
bore rich fruits, not only for the Alt Mark, but for miserable
Brandenburg in general.

In the year 1361, Claus quitted the service of Brandenburg for
that of the Archbishop of Magdeburg, in consequence of his near
relative, Dietrich von Portitz, known as Kagelwiet or Kogelwiet
— i. e.j White Kogel or hood — having ascended the archiepisco-
pal throne of St. Moritz.*

Dietrich von Portitz, whose relationship to Claus is unquestion-
able, but whose precise affinity is not clear, was a native of Sten-
dal. He had embraced the ecclesiastical profession, and had

had for its real motives an incitement to the Russian emperor to withstand Napoleon
to the utmost, and to decoy him into the interior of Russia. The world knows the
rest. He was an enthusiast in poetry, as well as war. Many poems of his have been
privately printed— the chief of these is one in praise of war (Lob des Kriegs). Think
of a TyrtEeus in a Prussian general's uniform! He died 12th Jan., 1848. — K. R.
H. M.

* The Archbishopric of Magdeburg took its rise from a Benedictine convent in honor
of St. Maurice, founded by Emperor Otto I. in 937 ; and in 967 it was made an arch-
bishopric, and the primacy of Germany was given by Pope John XIII., with Havel-
berg, among others, as a dependency. — K. R. H. M.

DIETRICH VON PORTITZ.

shown such a genius for government, even as a monk at Lehnin,
that the Bishop of Brandenburg, Ludwig von Neiendorff, intrust-
ed him with the administration of his diocese, much to his own
advantage. The Emperor, Charles IV., early recognized the im-
portance of this rnan ; created him Bishop of Sarepta and Chan-
cellor of Bohemia, subsequently procured him the Bishopric of
Minden, and finally the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. The cog-
nomen of Kagelwiet or Kogelwiet this distinguished person re-
ceived from a castle of this name in Bohemia, but according to
some, from the white hood which he had assumed in orders at
Lehnin. A tradition asserts that the Bohemian magnates, envious
of the eminence of the Chancellor, accused him of fraud, and re-
ferred the Emperor to the iron chest which stood in Dietrich's
private chamber. When Charles IV. had this chest opened by
Dietrich, there was only found within it the monk's frock; the
white hood of Brother Dietrich of Lehnin.

As to the relationship between the Archbishop Dietrich Ko-
gelwiet and Glaus Bismarck, it must be admitted that it has not
been clearly established by the records. But we think we do not

ADMINISTRATION OF CLAUS. 43

err in assuming that Dietrich Kogelwiet was also one of the Bis-
marcks of Stendal of the same family as Glaus von Bismarck.
He certainly is called Dietrich von Portitz, but we must not con-
sider this singular in an age when brothers even existed with dif-
ferent surnames ; and, on the other hand, an identical name by
no means establishes any relationship, or places it beyond doubt.

Common armorial bearings were a much surer index to family
affinity between their wearers than identical names. We can
not, as before stated, absolutely prove from the records that the
Archbishop Dietrich Kogelwiet was a Bismarck : it may be de-
cided by later researches, but there are several reasons for con-
sidering this to be the case. There was no family of Portitz at
Stendal, to claim the Archbishop as a scion of their house — an
important fact, as the birthplace of Dietrich is ascertained to have
been Stendal.

When Dietrich Kogelwiet entered on the government of the
Archbishopric of Magdeburg, he immediately summoned his rel-
ative, Glaus Bismarck, to assist in his administration. Such an in-
vitation might have been the more welcome, in consequence of
the hopeless condition of the Margrave's affairs. . It must not be
forgotten that Glaus was not only a vassal to Brandenburg, but
to Magdeburg, and was connected by blood and friendship with
many members of the Cathedral community.

Thus Glaus von Bismarck, in conjunction with the knight Mei-
necke von Schierstaedt, became General Commandant of Magde-
burg. The duties were so shared between them that Von Schier-
staedt fulfilled the office of Minister of War, while Von Bismarck
was Minister of the Interior and of Finance. Foreign affairs, and
especially those relating to Brandenburg, the Archbishop had re-
served for himself — why, we shall presently see. We must not,
however, regard the various duties in those days as so clearly de-
fined as in a modern government; the distinctions were less ob-
vious, and thus we see Glaus von Bismarck in many a battle-field,
fighting bravely beside Schierstaedt. Dietrich Kogelwiet and his
two chief servants, in fact, carried on a really model government.
In the course of a few years the very considerable debts of the
Archbishopric were liquidated, estates pawned or wholly aliena-
ted were redeemed, and the security of the subjects of the See fix-
ed in a manner rarely known in Germany at that era. Bismarck's

44: POLICY OF DIETRICH.

constant care was devoted to the protection of the peasantry
against the frequent outbreaks, usually ending in the plunder or
destruction of property ; for his clear insight had perceived that
the safety of the life and property of the subject was bound up
with that of the liege lord's income — apparently a secret to most
rulers of that time.

Thus this six years' adrninstration of the See by Bismarck be-
came a great blessing to it, and Dietrich Kogelwiet recognized the
fact by implicit confidence, although — a very remarkable circum-
stance, impossible at the present day — he was opposed to Bismarck
in his foreign policy.

The politic Emperor Charles IV. had especially seated his Bo-
hemian Chancellor upon the archiepiscopal throne of St. Moritzr
with the absolute intention of securing in him an efficient co-op-
erator in his extensive plans. Dietrich Kogelwiet was to aid in
the conquest of the Mark of Brandenburg for the great Bohemian
empire which Charles IY. sought to erect from Liibeck to the coast
of the Adriatic for the house of Liitzelburg. Dietrich Kogelwiet
had from of old been a chief supporter of these aims,«and, as Arch-
bishop of Magdeburg, he succeeded only too well, considering the
weakness and poverty of the Bavarian Margrave, in ensnaring him
and bringing him into relations which rendered him an uncondi-
tional and very abject dependent of the Emperor. At the death
of the Archbishop, after a reign of six years, the independence of
Brandenburg was lost, and the councillors of the Margrave con-
sisted of imperial servants alien to Brandenburg.

Claus von Bismarck held utterly aloof -from this policy of his
chief, for his Brandenburg patriotism desired the maintenance of
the independence of the Marks. He saw no safety in the division
of his native land, and its final subjection to the crown of Bohe-
mia. Despite of these differences, the Archbishop held fast to
his "dear uncle" — a designation applied in those days as cousin
is now — bequeathed to him the greater part of his wealth, ap-
pointed him his executor, and a member of the interregnum pro-
vided to exist until the enthronement of his successor in the See.

When Bismarck had acquitted himself of his duties towards the
Church of Magdeburg, and had overcome the many obstacles to-
wards a settlement of the inheritance of Dietrich Kogelwiet, he did
what he had probably long since designed. He returned to the

ADMINISTRATOR TO THE MARGRAVE. 45

service of the Margrave of Brandenburg. This step can only be
explained by the high patriotism which actuated this excellent
man. For himself he had nothing to gain by such a step, and he
must have been aware of the sacrifice he was making, for the af-
fairs of the Margrave at that time were in the utmost confusion,
.and in a ruinous condition. The national income had long been
anticipated, money was rare, and the partially justified concurrent
government of the imperial councillors seemed to render it im-
possible to save the autonomy of Brandenburg.

The Emperor Charles, to whom Bismarck's conduct was suffi-
•ciently intelligible, sought with great pains to win him to his
party, but in vain. The faithful Alt Mark Junker, in 1368, be-
came administrator of the Margrave's government in the capacity
of Chamberlain, and conducted his patriotic labor with such energy
and wisdom, that by the October of that year the imperial coun-
•cillors placed about the Margrave were dismissed, and their posts
entirely filled by Brandenburgers of Bismarck's party. In this
new Council there sat Dietrich von der Schulenburg, Bishop of
Brandenburg, the noblest prelate in the land ; Count Albert von
Lindau,Lord of Ruppin, the chief vassal of the Margrave; Bis-
marck himself was Chamberlain for the Alt Mark; Marshal Sir
Lippold von Bredow for the Middle Mark ; and Justice Otto von
Moerner represented the New Mark.

Bismarck and his friends now actively promoted the safety of
Brandenburg independence by every means in their power during
a period of five years. Bismarck was the soul of this patriotic
struggle against the policy and rapacity of the mighty Emperor.
His wisdom and energy were visible in every department of the
State; his immense wealth he freely sacrificed in every direction;
and the results were so important that they forced the disconcert-
ed Emperor to a measure which even Bismarck had not been
able to foresee as a wholly unexpected proceeding.

The politic Charles, who had never speculated upon an appeal
to arms, and who depended on the cunning, of which he was so
great a master, before displayed in his counsels, suddenly seized
the sword. He perceived that he was unable to outwit Bis-
marck, and was compelled to emerge from his lair and break up
the independence of Brandenburg by force. Bismarck could not
oppose his mighty army, and thus by the treaty of Fiirstenwald

46 RETIREMENT OF CLAUS VON BISMARCK.

the independence of Brandenburg was lost, on the 13th of Au-
gust, 1373 ; the Marks fell into the hands of Bohemia.

After this destruction of his patriotic plans, Glaus von Bis-
marck retired into private life, most probably to Burgstall ; but
the proximity of the great Emperor, who held his court at
Tangermiinde, forced him to retreat from the former place.
Neither Glaus nor his sons ever served the house of Liitzelburg.
He then retired to his native city of Stendal, and occupied him-
self with religious duties and the affairs of the Hospital of St.
Gertrude, which he had founded at the Uengling Gate of Stendal
in 1370. Probably this foundation again embroiled the aged
man with the ecclesiastical authorities during his closing years,
and he seems to have died in excommunication, like his father.
We do not know either the year of the birth or death of this
illustrious and patriotic man. He appears first in the records
in the year 1328, and we lose sight of him in 1377. He is
buried at Burgstall, with the simple inscription, " Nicolaus de Bis-
marck miles" on the tomb. He bequeathed to his sons a for-
tune of great amount in those days — consisting of lands, treas-
ures, and ready money.

These sons, Kule, Glaus II., and John, with the patriotic spirit of
their father, held aloof from the Emperor Charles IV., despite of
all the efforts he made to draw the rich and illustrious possessors
of Burgstall to the Court at Tangermiinde. Glaus became a
knight, and is thence mentioned in precedence of his elder broth-
er Kule in the records, from the year 1376. Kule died without
heirs; the knight Glaus alone left any family, and died in 1403.
The third brother, John, became an ecclesiastic, and was still liv-
ing in 1431.

The sons of the knight Glaus were respectively named Glaus
III., and Henning. They inhabited Burgstall in common, but in
consequence of a dispute with the Chapter of the Cathedral of St.
Nicholas, in Stendal, they were excommunicated ; but they do
not appear to have suffered much in consequence, as public opin-
ion had long since declared against the abuse of excommunication
common with the Churchmen. Glaus and Henning were brave
but peaceable individuals, who had a most difficult position to
maintain during the bloody feuds and endless fighting of that con-
vulsed age. The brethren Bismarck were the first among the no-

LUDOLF, HEIDE, AND HENNING. 47

bility of the Alt Mark to take the part of the Burgrave Frederick
von ISTiirnberg, regarding that great prince as the saviour and de-
liverer of the Marks.

Frederick I. seems also to have had confidence in the Bismarcks,
for in 1414 he appointed Henning one of the judges in the great
suit of felony against Werner von HolzendorfY,* who occupied, in
the capacity of the Margrave's captain, the castle Boetzow — now
Oranienburg — and had betrayed this castle to Dietrich von Quit-
zow. f Glaus on his part served the electoral prince in pecuniary
matters, but he died in 1437, and his brother Henning had pre-
ceded him to the grave by ten years.

As Henning's only son KulofF had died in his youth without
issue, the sons of Glaus alone succeeded to the property. Their
names were Ludolf, Heide (Heidrich), and Henning. They in-
herited that love for country life and the pleasures of the chase
peculiar to the Bismarcks. These brothers improved and in-
creased the condition of the house, which seems to have suf-
ered amidst the strife of the evil days of previous generations.
The time of Ludolf s death is unknown ; Heide was living in
1489 ; Henning died in 1505 — his wife was Sabine von Alvens-
leben. «

The male heirs of Ludolf and Henning divided the property

* Holzendorff. This family still exists, and has numbered among its prominent
members, gallant soldiers and' eminent jurists. Karl Friedr. von H. was a distin-
guished general of artillery, born the 17th Aug., 1764, and the son of a famous artil-
lery general, under Friedrich II. (died 10th Dec., 1785). After a brilliant career,
during which he commanded the artillery of the army of Bliicher (1815), when he was
wounded at Ligny, he died at Berlin, 29th Sept., 1828. There is still living a mem-
ber of this family, Franz von Holzendorff— an eminent writer on criminal jurispru-
dence— born at Vietmannsdorf in the Uckermarck, 14th Oct., 1829. He is editor
of a newspaper connected with the subject he has treated of in so many works. —
K. B. H. M.

t Quitzow. A very ancient and important family, still existing at the village of the
same name, near Peoleberg, in the Priegnitz. During the Bavarian and Luxemburg
regency, this family attained formidable proportions. Hans von Quitzow was nomi-
nated administrator by Jobst von Mahren in 1400, but shortly dismissed, for undue
severity and ambition. Friedrich I. of Hohenzollern, first governor under Emperor
Sigismund, and then elector as feoffee of the Marks, had as his opponents the broth-
ers Hans and Dietrich von Quitzow, sons of Sir Kuno— born at Quitzhofel, near Havel-
berg. They were repressed, but still the authority of the governor could not be estab-
lished until after their death in 1414. One Dietrich von Quitzow was a field-marshal
in the Brandenburg service, in 1GOG. — K. R. H. M.

48 LUDOLF VON BISMARCK ELECTORAL SHERIFF.

of their fathers, but preserved much in common — the residence
of Burgstall Castle among the rest.

The four sons of Ludolf were Giinther, Ludolf, George, and
Pantaleon. They were ennobled, together with their cousins, in
1499, by the Elector Joachim I., but the two elder brothers soon
died without male heirs, and the third brother, George, was child-
less ; it does not appear that he was ever married. Pantaleon
alone left a son, Henning III., by his wife Ottilien von Bredow,
who died before 1528, leaving four sons behind him — Henry,
Levin, Frederick, and Laurence. Levin and Laurence soon dis-
appear from the records, and Henry, married to Use from the
Kattenwinkel, and Frederick, wedded to Anna von Wenckstern,
appear as the representatives of the elder stock of Ludolf. All
these Bismarcks lived in peaceful retirement, on the best terms,
at Burgstall, with their cousins of the younger Henning-branch
of the family.

Henning II. and his wife Sabine von Alvensleben had as sons,
Busso, Glaus, Dietrich, and Ludolf. Dietrich and Busso dying in
early youth, Clans became in 1512 the Electoral Eanger of the
great estate of Gardelegen (the forests of Javenitz and Letzling).
The rangers were in those days high officials (chief foresters) ;
the title, however, they did not obtain until the time of King
Frederick William I., with considerable privileges. The forest-
ers were then literally called heath-runners (Haide - laufer) —
rangers, in fact.

Ludolf von Bismarck in 1513 becam e Electoral Sheriff of Boet-
zow, the present Oranienburg. His activity appears to have been
applied to the protection of the Electoral game preserves. Lu-
dolf was reckoned one of the best horsemen and warriors of his
era, although we do not learn any thing respecting his prowess.
He seems to have been very active in the establishment of the
militia of the Alt Mark, and died in 1534. His wife, Hedwig
von Doeberitz, long survived him. In the year 1543, the Elec-
tor Joachim owed her a thousand thalers, and she was still alive
in 1562. Ludolf 's sons were Jobst, Joachim, and George.

Joachim was killed at the siege of Magdeburg, at which he
was present with his brothers. Jobst married Emerentia Schenk
von Liitzendorf. George married Armengard von Alvensleben.

We thus see the castle of Burgstall in the middle of the six-

INHABITANTS OF BURGSTALL. 49

teenth century inhabited by two pairs of brothers, with four
households ; Henry and Frederick representing the elder or Lu-
dolf branch of the Bismarcks, and Jobst and George the younger
one through Kooning. Ludolf's widow also resided at Burg-
stall.

CHAPTER III

THE PERMUTATION.
[1550-1563.]

Changes. — The Electoral Prince John George and Burgstall.— Forest-rights. — The
Exchange of Burgstall for Crevese. — Scho'nhausen and Eischbeck. — The Permu-
tation completed, 15G3.

DOOMED to a sorrowful termination was the peaceful life of the
family of the Bismarcks at Burgstall. All the Bismarcks were
eager sportsmen, and there was no spot in the whole of the Bran-
denburg country better adapted for sport than their castle, sit-
uated in the midst of the great preserve of Gardelegen, the woods
of the Tanger, and of the Ohre.

These preserves were not only the most considerable, but also
the most well-stocked in the Marks ; and although only a small
portion belonged to the Bismarcks, they enjoyed forest privileges

THE PRESERVES OF GARDELEGEN.

conjointly with their neighbors to the fullest extent. It was not
remarkable, therefore, to find the Castellans of Burgstall " mighty
hunters;" but a still mightier hunter was destined to overwhelm
them, and compel them to give up their privileges in forest and
moor.

Every one of the descendants of the great Frankish prince,
the Burgrave Frederick von Niirnberg — all the powerful Elec-
tors and noble Margraves of Brandenburg — were considerable
sportsmen. They had early perceived that no place was more

convenient than Burgstall Castle, when they desired to hunt near
the Tanger, through the forest of Gardelegen, the Dromling, and
other preserves of -the Ohre. They often visited their trusty
vassals at Burgstall, and for weeks together were welcome guests
of the Bismarcks, whose wealth could well maintain the expen-
sive hospitality of princely guests. The Electors John Cicero

52 THE ELECTORAL PRINCE JOHN GEORGE.

and Joachim Nestor were frequently at Burgstall. We know
that the Bismareks were one of the first families of the country,
allied to the new Frank rulers; even at a later time the Bis-
mareks were proud of their loyalty to their liege lords ; but the
intimate personal relations which the Bismareks maintained with
the Electors John Cicero, Joachim Nestor, Joachim Hector, and
the Electoral Prince and Margrave John George, engendered
feelings of personal affection and respect, far surpassing the ordi-
nary loyalty of vassals.

This has to be remembered when it is sought to understand
the events which took place in 1562 among the Bismareks in
their right light.

When the hunt-loving Electoral Prince, the Margrave John
George, became administrator in the year 1553 for his youthful
son, the postulated Bishop of the See of Havelberg, he followed
the chase more enthusiastically than ever, and founded the hunt-
ing-box in Netzlingen, purchased from the Alvenslebens in 1555,
known as Letzlingen. In order to establish wider preserves for
the new edifice, he everywhere attacked the privileges of the
Bismareks ; and his object was to abridge or to abrogate their
forest rights in all directions. The Bismareks, known to us as
zealous sportsmen, did not wish to dispose of their forest rights;
their position at Burgstall did not admit of pecuniary compensa-
tion ; but they, nevertheless, from a feeling of respect for the
Electoral Prince, consented to a treaty which considerably cir-
cumscribed their privileges, much to their disadvantage. This
treaty was signed at Zechlin, on the 1st July, 1555, in person, the
Prince residing at that place. They asked for no compensation
from the Prince, but allowed him to fix it as he pleased, accept-
ing without a murmur a deed acknowledging a debt of three
thousand gulden, a sum by no means representing the amount of
their loss. By this sacrifice they purchased peace, however, for
but a very short time ; for while the differences continued be-
tween the Margrave's huntsmen and those of Bismarck, the Elec-
toral Prince could not but perceive that the Castellanship of
Burgstall stuck like a wedge in the centre of his preserves. He
desired to have the entire control from Letzlingen, where John
George habitually held his court, to the castle of Tangermunde;
hence it was necessary to dispossess the Bismareks of Burgstall.

NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE PERMUTATION. 53

This honorable and faithful family suffered deeply, when, in
the beginning of the year 1562, the Electoral Prince proposed to
them to exchange Burgstall for other lands. He first offered
them the convent of Arendsee ; but the Bismarcks, who could
not, at first, contemplate the resignation of their ancient family-
seat, declined to .this procedure. The affair was of such an un-
usual character that it created the greatest excitement. Even the
Chapter at Magdeburg, to whom the Bismarcks were lieges for
several possessions at Burgstall, was set in commotion. They
dreaded an enlargement of the boundary of Brandenburg, beyond
this purchase of Burgstall, to the detriment of the archiepiscopate.
The Archbishop of Magdeburg, the Margrave Sigismund, and
brother of the Electoral Prince, also wrote, apparently at the in-
stance of his Chapter, to him, " that he hoped he would desist
from his intention, and leave the Bismarcks in peaceful posses-
sion of their lands, and allow other folks to have a hare, a buck,
or a stag."

• John George, however, was not the man to be so easily dis-
suaded from his purpose. He continued to ply the Bismarcks
with propositions of exchange, which they as steadily rejected,
being unwilling to resign Burgstall. But their rejection was of
no advantage to them, for their loyal principles were outraged at
this difference with their liege lord ; and, besides, it became very
evident to them that the Electoral Prince had no intention of
abandoning his plans. If the brothers and cousins Yon Bismarck
had possessed a spark of speculation, they might, under the cir-
cumstances, have obtained compensation of such magnitude as to
have formed an enormous revenue for their house ; but such
thoughts were remote from these loyal and simple-minded coun-
try Junkers.

The Electoral Prince, who knew his men, employed measures
which he saw must lead to his object without fail. On the 12th
of October, 1562, he wrote, from Letzlingen, a letter in very un-
gracious terms, in which he gave up his project of exchange in
the greatest anger, but allowed a whole series of minor difficulties
to become apparent for the future.

The Bismarcks replied in a highly respectful manner, and re-
minded the Electoral Prince, in almost touching accents, "that
their ancestors and themselves had for a long time sat worthily

54: CREVESE EXCHANGED FOR BURGSTALL.

under the Electoral Princes, had served them with blood and sub-
stance willingly, and testified themselves to be honest, upright,
and true subjects, and would willingly have met the estimable
Elector and Prince, the Margrave of Brandenburg, in these very
matters ; although they might be forgiven for hesitating at an ex-
change which would transport their ancient race to other places,
and they would prefer to remain in their ancestral seat, granted
them by Almighty God, rather than idly to depart therefrom."

This letter, however, was the limit of the powers of the Bis-
marcks. The Electoral Prince had taken his measures only too
well. There now ensued very active and weighty negotiations
as to the compensation to be given for Burgstall. This was not
easily to be found, and these negotiations prove, as also their final
result, that the Bismarcks agreed to the surrender of Burgstall
out of respect to the Prince, and from an apprehension of setting
themselves in actual hostility to the authorities as the result of
any further refusal.

The representatives of the elder race — Henry and Frederick—1-
first assented, and took for their shares in Burgstall the Abbey
of Crevese, a foundation of Benedictine nuns. The income of
this property, with all its appurtenances, did not amount by far
to those enjoyed by the brothers in Burgstall ; but no better es-
tate could be found, and the Prince therefore commanded the
payment of considerable sums in satisfaction — not, however, ex-
ceeding the moderate amount of two thousand thalers.

THE PERMUTATION COMPLETED.

The ladies of the house of Bismarck seemed even more discon-
solate at the 1'oss of Burgstall than the men. To terminate their
lamentations, the Prince allowed each of them the sum of one
hundred gulden.

The representatives of the younger branch — Jobst and George
von Bismarck — were still more unfortunate. Thev hesitated

longer than their cousins, not from want of will, but because the
proffered compensation was still more incommensurate with what
they lost. But at last, moved by the instances and promises
of the Prince, they agreed to accept Schonhausen and Fisch-
beck.

On the 14th December of the year 1562, all the Bismarcks had
met together at Letzlingen with the Prince, and the agreements
were here executed by which they surrendered Burgstall for
Crevese and Schonhausen. The crrrmrVhiMron of the first Glaus

56 THE TREATY OF LETZLINGFN.

von Bismarck might well be sorry at this surrender. The ex-
change expressly excluded the Hospital of St. Gertrude at Sten-
dal, as well as their possessions at Wolmirstadt, Burg, and other
remote places in the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. The Permu-
tation, as it was called, did not alter the vassaldom of the Bis-
marcks ; they continued to be lieges of Magdeburg for the fiefs
abandoned with Burgstall, and vassals of Brandenburg, as before,
belonging to the Alt Mark nobility in respect of Schonhausen and
Fischbeck.

The Bismarcks still remained a very considerable family after
the permutation, but their original position was lost by the cession
of Burgstall, and their former wealth much decreased. That the
permutation also had its effect in manifold ways on the character
of the family can not be denied. It was a great sacrifice to bring
to the governing house, although the Bismarcks very likely un-
der-estimated the magnitude of their sacrifice.

By the Easter of 1563 the Bismarcks had quitted Burgstall,
and taken possession of Crevese. The Electoral Prince had hur-
ried their departure in consequence of the breeding season of the
game and the advance of spring. On the third day after Easter
he granted them Schonhausen, in the name of his son, the Bishop
of Havelberg, having obtained the consent of the Chapter on the
previous day.*

* Briest was also included in the permutation.— K. R. H. M.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BISMARCKS OF SCHONHAUSEN.
[1563-1800.]

Further Genealogy of the Bismarcks.— Captain Ludolf von Bismarck. — Ludolf Au-
gust von Bismarck. — His remarkable Career. — Dies in the Russian Service, 1750.
— Frederick William von Bismarck. — Created Count by the King of Wiirtemburg.
— Charles Alexander von Bismarck, 1727. — His Memorial to his Wife. — His De-
scendants.— Charles William Ferdinand, Father of Count Otto von Bismarck.

F the four families of the race of Bis-
marck, who quitted Burgstall at the
Easter of 1563, three had perished in
the male line in the first generation;
the youngest branch had completely
died out with Jobst and George; and
in the elder, Henry had left behind
his only daughter, Anna Ottilie, who
married Fritz von der Schulenburg
at Uetz. Frederick alone perpetu-
ated the race, and all the property
of the elder and younger branches at Crevese and Schonhausen
fell to his line. He was known in early days as the Permuta-
tor. Perhaps he had represented his family in the negotiations
with the Electoral Prince respecting Burgstall ; we have seen
that the two brothers of the elder line preceded the younger ones
in conceding the property. But the designation is unfitting, as
he was rather permutated (bartered) than a permutator.

On his death in 1589, he left behind him, by his marriage
with Anna von Wenckstern, three sons and a daughter. The
race' of the youngest son, Abraham, and of his wife Anna

58 CAPTAIN LUDOLF VON BISMARCK.

Schenck von Flechtingen, perished in the next generation. The
second son, Pantaleon, married to Anna von der Schulenburg, is
the ancestor of the flourishing and numerous branches of the
Bismarcks of Crevese.

The Schonhausen branch was continued by Frederick's eldest
son, the Captain Ludolf von Bismarck. In 1560 he joined in
a campaign against the Turks under the command of Wolff
Gleissenthaler, who commanded a troop of 1,300 horse in the
name of the Elector of Saxony, in the imperial army. Ludolf
married Sophie von Alvensleben in 1579, and died in 1598. He
was succeeded in the possession of Schonhausen by his only son
Valentine, who married Bertha von der Asseburg* in 1607, and
died on the 12th of April, 1620. His second son, August von
Bismarck, succeeded him at Schonhausen. He was born on the
13th of February, 1611, and died the 2d of February, 1670, a
Colonel in the Elector of Brandenburg's army, and Commandant
of the fortress of Peitz. Having entered the army in his earliest
youth, he took service under the Khinegrave in 1631. After the
battle of Nordlingen, in 1634, he served in the army of Duke
Bernhard of Weimar; served also till 1640 in Lothringen, Bur-
gundy, and France, but then passed over into the service of
Brandenburg. He was thrice married, first to Helene Elizabeth
von Kottwitz, then to Dorothea Elizabeth von Katte, f and lastly
to Frederica Sophia von Mollendorff. J

A young brother of this August was Valentine Busso ; born
1622, died 18th of May, 1679; had issue by his wife, a Von Bar-

* Asseburg. This family is noble and well-endowed in Prussia Proper and Anhalt.
The name is derived from Asseburg in Brunswick, a noble structure of considerable
antiquity. It was finally sacked in 1492, and destroyed altogether in the Brunswick
troubles. The present family hold the lesser countyship of Falkenstein in the Mans-
feld district and the knight's fee of Eggenstadt.— K. R. H. M.

t Katte. This remarkable family needs scarcely any thing at my hands. It is
ancient and aristocratic, and has continued to exist despite all kinds of mutations till
now. There was in the line of Wust, John Henry von Katte, whose unfortunate son
was beheaded for undue zeal towards Frederick the Great : of him some account is
presented— -the date of his murder being 6th November, 1730. Other members of
the family have distinguished themselves to recent days. — K. R. H. M.

J Mollendorff'. One of the Mollendorffs was a Prussian field-marshal, Richard
Joachim Henry von M. (born 1725 ; died 1816). He was with " der oUe Fritz," and
was even respected by his enemies. Napoleon gave him the Grand Cross of the Le-
gion of Honor.— K. R. H. M.

LUDOLF AUGUST VON BISMARCK. 59

deleben,* the General Frederick Christopher von Bismarck, who
died in command of Kiistrin in 1704. The second son of the
first marriage of Christopher Frederick with Louise Margarethe
von der Asseburg, was Ludolf August, the only adventurous
member of the family of the Bismarcks of Schonhausen.

Ludolf August von Bismarck was born on the 21st of March,
1683, entered the army at an early age, and as a valiant soldier,
a handsome person, of rare intellect, he made a great figure.
Something uneasy and adventurous was early observed in his
character. On the 22d of November, 1704, he married Johan-
na Margarethe von der Asseburg, who died in 1719, only leaving
him a daughter, Albertine Louise, and who married, in 1738 or
1739, a Prussian officer, named Frederick William von der Al-
ben. When a lieutenant-colonel in garrison at Magdeburg, Lu-
dolf August had the misfortune to kill a footman, either in an-
ger or when intoxicated. He concealed the corpse under the
bed, and fled. Nevertheless, he obtained a pardon through his
great patron General Field - Marshal Gneomar Dnbislaw von
Natzmer, f who possessed great influence with King Frederick
William I., and 'had won great fame in battle against the Swedes,
Turks, and French, and was also distinguished for exemplary pi-
ety. He was the stepbrother of Count Zinzendorf, the founder
of the Moravians, through his second wife, born a Yon Gersdorf.

* Bardeleben. This family exists in the best condition, and has done good service
to the Prussian state. The most distinguished member of this family is Kurt von
Bardeleben, jurist and judge at Minden. — K. K. H. M.

t Gneomar Dubislaw von Natzmer was a field-marshal in the time of King Fred-
erick William I., and frustrated the flight of the Crown Prince, afterwards Fred-
erick II. Among his proximate descendants, through the mother, was a distinguished
Prussian general, Oltwig Ant. Leop. v. Natzmer, born 18th April, 1782, at Villin, in
Pomerania. He took part in the many illustrious struggles of the growing kingdom
of Prussia — was present at the battle of Auerstadt, 1806 ; taken prisoner at Prenzlau
and exchanged in 1807. He received promotion to the staff after the peace of Tilsit,
accompanied the King to the conference of princes at Dresden, and was sent on a se-
cret mission to Kussia. He was also in action ar the battles of Gross-gorschen (1813),
Hainan (1813), Bautzen, and others down to Leipzig. He was also in the campaign
of 1815, in high command. After a life of devotion to his sovereign, he died 1st Nov.,
1861. It may be as well to state here that my object in these notes is to show how
entirely devoted the military officials of Prussia are to the house of Hohenzollern, and
that these side-illustrations throw a light upon the central figure of this book, Count
Bismarck himself, and the motives of his steady, although apparently inconsistent,
patriotism.— K. R. H. M.

60 LUDOLF BISMARCK ENTERS THE RUSSIAN ARMY.

Bismarck was pardoned for his desertion, and reinstated ; but
promotion did not ensue. Bismarck was thrice passed over on
regimental changes ; for the King entertained some anger against
him, despite of his experience. Bismarck did not bear this long;
he sold his estate of Skatiken in Prussian Lithuania, quitted the
army, and entered the Kussian service in 1732. In the next
year, on the 26th of May, 1733, he married a Mademoiselle Trotte
von Treyden, whose sister was the wife of Biron,'* the favorite of
the Empress Anna, and afterwards Duke of Courland. He com-
bined his fortunes with those of that remarkable personage ; but
shared his disgrace, and was banished to Siberia. But by means
of his considerable talents he seemed to have made friends out-
side of the Biron party, for he was soon recalled, and appointed
a General. Bismarck governed several districts with ability, and
fulfilled some diplomatic missions, especially at the court of Lon-
don, to the perfect satisfaction of all, and seems to have conduct-
ed himself with peculiar tact, so as to come into collision with no
party ; and he succeeded in maintaining the position he had earn-
ed in the service of the State. He finally became General in the
Ukraine, and died in October, 1750, at Pultawa. He left no is-
sue by his second marriage, with the sister of the Duchess Biron
of Courland.

A century after Ludolf August, a second Bismarck of Schon-
hausen visited Eussia, under specially honorable circumstances.
This was Frederick William von Bismarck, the famous Cavalry

* Biron (Ernst Johann von), Duke of Courland, was bom in 1687, the son of a
landed proprietor named Biihren. He was the favorite of the Duchess of Courland,
Anna Iwanowna, niece of Peter the Great, from his elegant manners and attainments.
She ascended the Russian throne in 1730, and though it had been expressly stipulated
that Biron should not be allowed to come to Russia, he soon made his appearance at
the court. Assuming the arms of the French Dukes of Biron, he governed Russia,
through Anna. His life was stormy until near its close, when he returned to his
Duchy of Courland, which he governed wisely. In 1769 he abdicated in favor of his
son Peter, and died 28th December, 1772. This son Peter governed till 28th March,
1795, then resigning Courland to the Czarina Catherine, but retaining all his sover-
eign rights. He then passed his time alternately at Berlin and his estates of Sagan
and Nachod, dying 12th Jan., 1800, at Gellenau in Silesia, One of the collateral
descendants of Biron, Prince Gustav Calixt von Biron, born 29th Jan., 1780, died in
the Prussian service, a Lieut. General and Governor of the fortress of Glatz, 20th
June, 1821. He had three sons. The second, Calixt Gustav, bora 3d Jan., 1817,
is alive, having married, 1845, the Princess Helene Meschtscherskii, by whom he has
issue Gustav Peter Jon, born 17th Oct., 1859.— K. R. H. M.

FREDERICK WILLIAM VON BISMARCK. 61

General of Wiirtemberg, also known as an esteemed military au-
thor. He was born on the 28th of July, 1783, at Windheim on
the Weser, and joined the Brunswick service in 1797. He after-
wards served in England, and finally in Wiirtemberg, where he
very greatly distinguished himself, and rose to the rank of Gen-
eral. He was the Wiirtemberg ambassador to Berlin, Dresden,
Hanover, and Carlsruhe. He aided in the reconstruction of the
Danish army in 1826, and was esteemed so high an authority on
cavalry matters, that the Emperor Nicholas summoned him, in
1835, to Kussia, to inspect his cavalry. In 1818, Bismarck was
created a Count by the King of Wiirtemberg, which title he trans-
mitted after his marriage with the Princess Augusta Amalia of
Nassau-Usingen (born 30th December, 1778; died 16th July,
1846, the last of the line Nassau-Usingen),* on her bringing him
no issue, to the descendants of his deceased elder brother, John
Henry Ludwig. On the 3d of April, 1848, he again married
Amalia Julie Thibaut, and died on the 18th of June, 1860. His
descendants by this marriage, a son and a daughter, form the sec-
ond lines of the Count Bismarcks of Wiirtemberg, the other line
existing in the family of his deceased brother.

. The third Bismarck of Schonhausen, who went to Kussia as
the representative of His Majesty the King of Prussia, is our Min-
ister-President.

Colonel August von Bismarck was succeeded in Schonhausen
by his second son, also named August ; — born the 15th of May,
1666 ; married the 24th of April, 1694, to Dorothea Sophie von
Katte ; died the 18th of June, 1732. He was Councillor and
Land Commissioner to the Elector of Brandenburg, the builder or
restorer of the present mansion of Schonhausen. He was suc-
ceeded by the eldest of his seven sons, August Frederick — born
the 2d of April, 1695 — who met a hero's death as Colonel and
Commandant of the regiment of Anspach-Baireuth Dragoons in
the year 1742, at the battle of Chotusitz.f It is said that the

* Nassau-Usingen, Princess Augusta Amalia, was married 2d Aug., 1804, to Louis
William, Landgrave of Hesse-Hombourg (died 19th Jan., 1839); separated 1805.
She was the daughter of Duke Frederick Augustus (died 24th March, 1816, the last
of his house) and of Louise, born Princess of Waldeck (died 17th Nov., 1816). The
Almanach de Gotha does not recognize the subsequent marriage with Count Bis-
marck.

t The battle of Chotusitz was fought the 17th May, 1742, l>y Frederick II., when

62 CHARLES ALEXANDER VON BISMARCK.

Minister-President in person is extremely like this Bismarck, his
great-grandfather, who was an excellent soldier, and high in favor
with Frederick the Great. August Frederick was twice married,
first to Stephanie von Dewitz, and then to Frederica Charlotte von
Tresckow.

The second son of the first marriage of this brave soldier was
the intellectual Charles Alexander von Bismarck, born in 1727.
He was about to accompany his maternal uncle, one of the Von
Dewitz family, to his post, which was that of Prussian Ambassa-

CHARLES ALEXANDER VON BISMARCK.

dor to Vienna, when Frederick the Great appointed his future to
be otherwise. Charles Alexander entered the royal chamber an
attache' of the embassy, but quitted it as a cavalry officer. He
was averse to the military art, and soon obtained his discharge as
a captain. On the 5th of March, 1762, he married Christine
Charlotte Gottliebe von Schonfeld — born the 25th of December,

he obtained a victory over the Austrians under Prince Karl of Lorraine. The place
has some 1200 inhabitants, and is situated near Czaslau in Bohemia. This deci-
ded the cession of almost the whole of Silesia. — K. R. H. M.

CHRISTINE YON BISMARCK.

1741 ; deceased on the 22d of October, 1772 — her mother having
been a sister of his mother, one of the Dewitz family. An ele-
gant French composition, by Charles Alexander, is preserved ; a
spirited and touching memorial of his departed wife, in the infla-
ted style of those days. The title of this composition — of greater
merit than usually the case with such writings — is as follows :
" Eloge ou Monument erige a la Memoire de C. C. GK de Bis-
marck, nee de Schoenfeld, par Charles Alexandra de Bismarck.
Berlin, 1774."

CHRISTINE VON BISMARCK.

We select a few passages therefrom : —

" My friend lost her mother (Sophie Eleonore von Dewitz) in
her earliest childhood, and her maternal grandmother (Louise
Emilie von Dewitz, born a Vori Zeethen of the family of Trebnitz)
took her to live with her at HofTelde. She was t&re nurtured in
retirement and innocence, and already won my heart by her filial
gentleness. There I found her once more, after years of war and
life in a distant garrison, in perfect innocence, the charming pic-
ture of a blushing rose. O ! that ye could return, ye hours of
rapture ! when the society of this sweet creature, who in her soli-

64 ELEGY IN MEMORY OF FRAU VON BISMARCK.

tude had received nothing from art, but every thing from the hand
of nature,-filled my soul with such celestial joy, that in possessing
her I forgot, not alone every evil of life, but even every minor
grief! Return at least for an instant to my remembrance, ye
sweetest of hours, for alas ! the pang of sorrow will needs drive
you away too soon ! Above all, return, thou memory of yon
magnificent spring night, upon which I wandered, between rny
best-beloved and her dear sister, in the outskirts of a majestic
and peaceful forest, under the silvery moonlight, while the brooks
trilled and the nightingale raised her sorrowing tones. My heart
was instinct with love, and attuned to the enchanting prospect.
I felt the beauty of the earth, and the still greater loveliness of
innocence, indwelling those hearts so full of affection for me I
But, no 1 this reminiscence is now too powerful for my feelings,
and my tear-bedewed eye is too weak to bear the dazzling glory
of joy ! No other evening is destined for me on earth such as
that was ! She exists no longer who made that evening more
charming to me than all the beauties of nature. She has left me
forever ! Soon afterwards our society was interrupted, our sup-
posed felicity was bitterly destroyed. Our grandmother, the ref-
uge of her grandchildren, the sustainer of all the poor of her
neighborhood, died. My friend and I were parted, and the sor-
row which succeeds all evanescent joy became our portion.

" Still it was not that terrible misery which now oppresses my
heart. Well-founded hopes comforted and the tenderest affec-
tion aided us. My hopes were not in vain. The slight cloud
which had veiled the morning sun — which gave me life — passed
away, and his ray soon shone forth with accustomed glory.
With anxious unrest I yearned to associate myself with my
friend to the brink of the grave. Could I but have done so for
eternity ! Our compact, however, is not yet broken, and will en-
dure as long as my tears can flow, and the soul of my beloved
was too beautiful to prevent their flowing forever. Her excel-
lent father, who might have bestowed her on a better and a richer
man, gave her to me because my beloved would not have a bet-
ter or richer man, nor any man save myself. What words, my
father, could express my thanks for this favor, unless they could
to some extent mark the value of your daughter, and stand in
some relation to my lost happiness and my present grief! The

ELEGY IN MEMORY OF FRAU VON BISMAKCK. 65

silent tears that overflow my cheeks are more eloquent than
words. You can not see my tears, but perchance God beholds
them, and your daughter also. A tear is the only gratitude I
can offer. May the conviction cheer you that you could not
have given your virtuous daughter to any one who loved her
more affectionately, faithfully, and unselfishly than I did !

" You then gave her to me, my father. The 5th of March,
1762, was the happiest day of my life. I still hear the words
which my tender bride selected for herself: ilntreat me not to
leave thee or to return from following after thee, for whither thou
goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge : thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God. T^ here thou diest will I die,
and there will I be buried : the Lord do so to me, and more also, if
aught but death part thee and me"1 (Euth i.16, 17). I cherish the
hope, the only hope now animating me, that even death does not
part us.

"With what delight, my friend and my father, did I 'then re-
ceive her from your hand. Alas ! that I had left her with thee !
I declare with the sincerity of one who is comfortless that I should
have done so, had I known that death would so soon have with-
drawn her from my arms !

" I should then have lost eleven years of a life such as angels
only lead ; but I would willingly have sacrificed these happiest
years of my earthly life. Then I felt as secure from such thoughts
of death as if I were to retain her forever ! but she left thee and
her relatives in tears, and her peerless heart impelled her to ask
my pardon for these very tears. Of this nature were all her im-
perfections. What happiness did I not anticipate in the future on
the revelation of such tender sentiments ; and the realization was
still greater than my expectation. Our days passed away in hap-
piness and peace. Could this state of things last forever ? It was
heaven upon earth, for me at least ; for what can be preferred to
this intimate association with a charming, joyous, tender, intelli-
gent, and virtuous woman ? Exclusively to love! exclusively to
be beloved !

" Nature had endowed my friend with beauties of person and
mind, by which she could not fail to please. The first would im-
mediately fascinate the eye, the second preserved that fascination
forever. Perhaps I ought only to dwell upon the last as the fount-

QQ SONS OF CHARLES ALEXANDER.

ains of her virtues. But it would be ungrateful to be silent re-
specting the once visible half of the charming whole, by which
alone we learn to know the other invisible portion, causing vir-
tuous thoughts to grow into virtuous deeds, and without which
I can not even realize any picture of my beloved friend. She
was of noble form, pleasant and well formed. Her expression
was exactly equivalent to its necessary power of pleasing. Her
hair of dark yellow tint. Her forehead was prominent, which
she herself regretted, but which made her more beautiful in the
eyes of others. Her brow never betrayed pride or passion.
Her eyes were bluish-gray — their expression was attentive and
watchful, but joyous. Her heart was light, mild, and ever open,
and ever performed what her eye promised. Her nose was very
handsome, somewhat high in the centre, but not to the extent
visible in ambitious or passionate women. Her cheeks were
breathed upon by the happy bloom of health, and the still more
lovely blush of shame readily rose. Her mouth, which never
gave an untrue kiss, which never uttered a word of vanity, of
slander, or of lust, displayed handsome, well-arranged teeth, and
balmy lips. The gentle smile of this mouth, the seat of inno-
cence, how soon, alas ! was it to pass away ! The outlines of
the lower part of the face were soft, the chin well formed. The
profile was artistic, and so excellent that a famous Berlin painter
desired to sketch it for that alone. Her manners manifested a
noble freedom, neatness, and good taste."*

Thus does Bismarck's grandfather depict his wife. There cer-
tainly is much of the sentimentality of the times in these charac-
teristic sentences, but there is more — true affection and a culti-
vated sense. It evinces a well of poesy in the individual, that
we grieve to find these thoughts clothed in the choicest French.
The poet in him is then first justified when these periods are re-
translated into German, for that they were thought in German is
not to be doubted.

The four sons of Charles Alexander are: — Ernst Frederick
Alexander, born the 14th of February, 1763 ; died a Colonel and
Brigadier in 1813 ; his eldest son by a marriage with Louise von
Miltitz is Theodore Alexander Frederick Philip von Bismarck,

* This rhapsody will convey a good idea of what was thought fine writing in those
days, but it is fulsome to the last degree.— K. R. H. M.

SONS OF CHARLES ALEXANDER. 67

created Count Bismarck-Bohlen, the 21st of February, 1818. He
is the second Bismarck of Schonhausen who gained the rank of
Count ; for the General Frederick von Bismarck, who obtained a
similar dignity in the same year and month (the 17th February,
1818), from the King of Wiirtembejg, was also a Schonhausen.
His line still endures in one son, while the title was also ceded to
the descendants of his elder brother, the present Count von Bis-
marck-Schierstein.

The second son of Charles Alexander was Frederick Adolf
Ludwig, born the 1st of August, 1766 ; he died in 1831, a retired
Lieut.-Greneral. In 1813 he was Commandant of Leipzig, in 1814
of Stettin, and owned the knight's fee and estate of Templin, near
Potsdam.

The third was Philip Ludwig Leopold Frederick, born the 21st
February, 1770, a Major in the Mecldenburg Hussar Eegiment ;
he died on the 25th October, 1813, at Halle on the Saale, of his
wounds received at the battle of Mockern.

The fourth and last, Charles William Ferdinand, was the father
of the present Minister-President.

CHAPTER V.

ARMORIAL BEARINGS.

Up with the banner in the morning air!
Raise high the ancestral shield up there!
For these loved symbols bid us know
That joyfully we van-ward go !

THE shield of the Bismarcks exhibits a device, which, although
it has not materially changed in the course of centuries, has at
different times been variously blazoned. It displays a double
trefoil, or, more exactly speaking, a round-leafed trefoil, flanked
in its corners by three long leaves. The centre device has altered

ARMORIAL BEARINGS. 69

in the seals of various times, sometimes resembling a rose leaf,
sometimes a clover leaf; finally it has remained a clover leaf.
The other trefoil has been treated in the same way, the leaf
being sharply serrated and shorter, or sometimes longer and but
slightly serrated, finally becoming an oak leaf. The colors have
also only been decided in later years. The shield is thus de-
scribed : —

" In a field azure a golden clover leaf supported in the three
angles by three silver oak leaves." As to the crest, the arms
of Ludolfvon Bismarck exhibit two stags' antlers on the helmet,
evidently alluding to his official position as Kanger to the Mar-
grave, for the buffalo horns now in use also often appear at a
very early period. The present emblazoning of the crest is thus
given : — " On a coronetted helmet displayed two buffalo horns
proper in azure and argent crosswise — the helmet is azure and
argent."

The small gold coronet, which, contrary to every rule of good
heraldry, is represented hovering between the horns, is a more
recent addition. We are unable to decide when and how this
coronet became part of the crest. Briiggemann, in his descrip-
tion of Pomerania, describes it as a Count's coronet — for what
reason we do not perceive.

On inspection of the earliest seals it is evident that the round
trefoil was unquestionably the peculiar and original device, the
elongated leaves havingbeen subsequently added, disputing prece-
dence with the clover leaf. Thus it is that afterwards we find
the oak leaves small and the centre trefoil large — and contrari-
wise. If the clover be regarded as the principal device, it would
be more heraldically true, as it is always emblazoned in gold, to
blazon the horns in azure and or. Indeed, the heraldic ensigns
of the Prussian Monarchy (Vol. I. p. 19) give the correct crest
of the Bismarcks in the Armorial Bearings of the Counts of Bis-
marck-Bohlen.

The seal of the first Nicholas von Bismarck (1365) displays
the device in a neat border, with a string of pearls within the in-
scription. This inscription, no longer very legible, is /S. (Sic/il-
ium) Nicolay de Bismark. This border disappears on the seals
of his three sons : the shield lies within a string of pearls on a
field strewn with small crosses. In all these seals the trefoil is

70 VARIATIONS IN THE DEVICE.

prominent, but in the seals of succeeding generations it becomes
very, small,, the long leaves being prominent, until by lapse of
time they assumed proportionate dimensions.

It would be idle and unheraldic to endeavor to identify sym-
bols deriving their names from the botanical world, hence it
.would be useless to define the long leaves in the Bismarck arms
as those of the Wegedorn, Christ-thorn, or White Bramble.
This has, however, been done in support of the extraction of
the Bismarcks from the Slavonic race — to identify it with Bij
smarku (Beware of the Bramble), an idea which we must dis-
miss as entirely erroneous. The legends only recognize the
clover leaf, and call the long leaves those of the nettle. In
popular tradition these two ideas have become intermingled, as a
proverb shows which was engraven on the blade of a sword of
honor presented to Count Bismarck some years ago. This prov-
erb is: —

Der Wegekraut sollst stehen lah'n —
Hilt dich, Junge, sind Nesseln d'ran.

Anglice.*

The bramble thou shouldst let 'a be ;
The nettle, boy, beneath you'll see.

The round leaves were here supposed to be bramble (plantago) ;
the serrated long leaves, leaves of the nettle.

We find the legend of the arms in the third volume of the
Berlin Review of 1856, afterwards reprinted in Hesekiel's Wop'
pen fSagen, Berlin, 1865, as follows : f —

The leaf so green and goodly,

The wanderer's delight,
In purest gold so shiny,

The Bismarck's coat bedight —
The cloven leaf lights golden

All on an azure field,
With nettle leaves so olden,

Sharp shown upon the shield.
In ancient days departed,

There was a dainty maid,
By whom the nettle signet

Was on this shield displayed.

* From Platt, or low German.— K. E. H. M.

t The reader must excuse the free and somewhat irregular rendering of this legend
—penes me. — K. E. H. M.

THE LEGEND OF GERTRUDE. 71

For damsel Gertrude many

A suitor came to woo,
But her father not with any

Save her cousin willed to do.
A Wendic chief so princely

Came down from northern seaj
A hundred horses with him

Pranced pricking o'er the lea.
Young Gertrude he demanded,

But Gertrude, all politely,
Made little courtesy candid —

Despite his carriage knightly,
She would have naught of he.

The Prince, incensed highly,

Upraised his golden wand ;
He called his knaves assembled,

Around him they did stand.
In angry tones he shouted —

" The trefoil bruised shall be;
Not thus will I be flouted !

The nettle fain I'd see.
'Twere merry to be breaking

The trefoil green or gold,
And havoc to be making

Amidst these halls so old!''
And in that self-same hour,

This Prince of Wendic race
Assaulted Gertrude's bower,

The trefoil to displace.
The castellan, o'erpowered,

Sank silent in the moat ;
The chieftain so o'er froward

His way then onward smote.

Rejoicing in his valor

The Prince came clanking in,
But Gertrude showed no pallor,

Despite the battle's din.
"I'll cull the trefoil golden

That hath no nettle's sting,
. The trefoil quaint and olden — "

"Thou shalt not do this thing!"
He to his arms would take her,

And lovingly embrace ;
No courage did forsake her:

He quickly shouted "Grace!"
Down in his blood before her,

He sank in sudden death —

72 TRADITIONS RESPECTING THE ARMS.

Proud as the race that bore her,

She stabbed with bated breath ;
And once and twice she smote him,

And buried deep the steel.
'Twas thus she could devote him

The nettle's sting to feel—
"Who dares to cull the trefoil

The nettle's sting shall feel!"

And since young Gertrude's hour,

On Bismarck's shield displayed,
The nettle's stinging power

Round trefoil is arrayed.
With steel of keenest temper,

Their virtue is upheld,
Since early days of Gertrude,

Those early days of eld !

According to another and still more simple legend, the Bis-
marcks added the oak leaves to their arms on the occasion of
one of their race conquering a Wendic- chief, whose device con-
tained such a leaf, or three such leaves. We do not lay any
stress, and with justice, on the presumed importance of such tra-
ditions, so common in the last century ; still we should not like
to see them altogether thrown aside as trifling. Every legend
contains some kernel of truth, however small. Thus it does not
seem unimportant that the Bismarcks are continually represented
as combatting the heathen Wends. There is certainly nothing
proved by it, but it would never have arisen had not this family
belonged to the followers of some German 'prince, who had es-
tablished himself in the frontier Marks on the Elbe, and waged
unceasing war thence against the Slavonic tribes existing be-
tween that river and the Oder.

Thrice in this century has the dignity of Count been conferred
on the Bismarcks of Schonhausen; we now therefore possess
Prussian Counts of Bismarck-Bohlen, Wiirtemburg Counts of Bis-
marck, the first line of which call themselves Counts of Bismarck-
Schierstein, and the second line only Counts von Bismarck ;
finally, we have Prussian Counts of Bismarck-Schonhausen.

The arms of the Prussian Counts of Bismarck-Bohlen are thus
given : — The shield is bordered or and quartered, the first and
fourth fields azure, displaying a trefoil or surrounded by three
oak leaves argent (Bismarck); in the second and third field a

BISMARCK'S FATHER.
(Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Bismarck.)

ARMS OF BISMARCK-BOHLEN AND OF SCHIERSTEIN. 75

griffin gules on a roof-tree formed of five stones gules in steps
(Bohlen). The Bismarck crest is crowned and surmounted by
two buffalo horns emblazoned azure and or crosswise, with a
small gold crown between the horns; the helmet trappings are
azure and or. The centre (Bohlen) crest is crowned and sup-
ported by two uncrowned griffins gules regardant on a trunk of
a tree ; the helmet trappings are azure 'and gules. The crowned
crest to the left displays three ostrich feathers, the centre one sa-
ble, the others white ; each ostrich feather bears a diamond ar-
gent (perhaps for Schiverni) ; the helmet trappings gules and' ar-
gent. Between the shield and crest is the Count's coronet.
Supporters, two crowned griffins gules regardant.

The arms of the Wiirtemberg Counts of Bismarck-Schierstein
(called the first or Nassau line, their family estate of Schierstein
lying in Nassau) are as follows: — The quartered shield displays,
in the first and fourth fields, azure a trefoil or, with three oak
leaves argent at the corners ; in the second field, gules a lion or
passant ; in -the third, gules a horse argent fresnee. On the
crest, coronetted, two buffalo horns of azure and argent crosswise,
between which is a coronet or. The helmet trappings -to the
right are azure and or, to the left azure and argent. Supporters,
to the right a horse argent, to the left a lion or. Motto, "Einig
und treu " — " United and true."

The arms of the Wiirtemberg Counts of Bismarck of the
second line (described according to the Grotha Calendar) are as
follows : — The quartered shield displays in the first and fourth
fields, azure a trefoil argent ; in the second field, also azure
(? gules) a horse argent fresnee ; in the third field azure (? gules)
a lion or rampant. The crest, coronetted, displays a pair of horns
argent and azure, between which is placed a trefoil (? argent).
The helmet trappings to the right are azure and argent, to the
left azure and or. Supporters, to the right a horse argent, to the
left a lion or.

If this blazon be correct, the shield no longer displays the an-
cient device of the Bismarcks — the double trefoil. Either there
has been some error in the raising of the armorial bearings, or
the original symbol has been advisedly adopted.

The arms of the Prussian Counts von Bismarck-Schonhausen
(the Minister-President and his heirs) are thus blazoned: — The

AKMS OF COUNT OTTO VON BISMARCK.

shield, bordered or, displays on a field azure a trefoil or, sur-
rounded with oak leaves argent; on the coronetted helm two buf-
falo horns of azure and argent crosswise, with a coronet argent
between them. The simple family arms of the Bisrnarcks have
thus been retained on his elevation to the rank of Count, the
shield under the crest having been surmounted by the Count's
coronet. The arms are improved by two eagles as supporters,
the one sable and crowned being the Prussian royal eagle, the
left gules, with the electoral cap, the eagle of Brandenburg.

Another addition is that of the motto, "In Trinitate Robur"
— " My strength in the Trinity." This is a motto devised upon
correct rules, as it should always bear a double meaning — one re-
ferring to the double trinity of the trefoils, the other allied to the
higher signification of the Trinity of God.

CHAPTER VI.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF BISMARCK'S BIRTHPLACE.

Genthin. — The Plotho Family. — Jerichow. — Fischbeck. — The Kaiserburg. — The
Emperor Charles IV. — The Elector Joachim Nestor. — Frederick I. — General
Fransecky "to the Front." — Tangermiinde. — Town-hall. — Count Bismai-ck. — His
Uniform, and the South German Deputy. — Departure for Schonhausen.

[The translator has abridged the following chapters and transferred them to a place
apparently better fitted for them than that they occupy in the German edition, but
nothing of importance is omitted.]

GENTHIN is an ancient place, owing its foundation during the
twelfth century to the noble Lords of Plotho, whose ancestral
mansion, Alten-Plotho, lies close to the town. At the present
time the head of this family, who is invested with the dignity of
Hereditary Chamberlain of the Duchy of Magdeburg, resides at
the Castle of Parey, on the Elbe. The noble family of Plotho
shares with that of the Ganse of Putlitz the distinction of being
the only race still flourishing, the origin of which can be traced
to the Wendic princes and family chieftains. It is probable that
they were early converted to Christianity, and thence were en-
abled to retain some attributes of their Wendic nobility, and as-
sert some few privileges in the presence of the Teutonic knightly
aristocracy, gradually thronging forward into the Marks with
their feudal retainers. The Plothos and the Putlitzs hence are
called noblemen (Edle Herrn, nobiles viri\ at a time when the des-
ignation was usually only applied to dynasties. In early records
they are always named in precedence of the members of the an-
cient chivalric races. They had vassals of noble blood, and, up
to the most recent period, held their own court at the Manor of
Parey. The features of that Freiherr von Plotho who so ener-
getically repelled the Imperial Ban, in his capacity as Electoral

78 KEDEKIN AND JERICHOW.

Brandenburg Ambassador, at the Imperial Diet in Eatisbon,
which the Imperial notary, Doctor April, endeavored to force
upon him against Frederick the Great, are well known and popu-
lar. The best portrait of this remarkable personage has been
drawn by Goethe, in his "Fiction and Truth."* It is not so gen-
erally known that a branch of this Wendic family has also estab-
lished itself in Belgium. The enormous possessions of the Bar-
ony of Engelsrniinster, in Flanders, were first alienated from that
family amidst the storms of the French Eevolution.

It was on the afternoon of a somewhat chilly June day that we
drove into the green pastures of Jerichow. . The fragrance of
lime-blossoms and hay saluted our nostrils. The eye was grati-
fied by well-kept fields, pleasantly alternating with plough-land
and meadow; the heath, with its thorn bushes, chiefly surround-
ed by strips of brushwood, smiled before us.

The first place at which we arrived was Eedekin, with the'
simple mansion of the Alvensleben family — its tall poplars, and
its neighboring venerable church with the bronze figure of
Christ. Next came Jerichow, the small city which gives its
name to two counties. This pretty little town has two church-
es, and welcomed us cheerfully with its group of fine old elms
and fragrant rose-trees. The church at the entrance has nothing
remarkable about it, but the other at the end of the town is very
curious, as one of the earliest specimens of pure Gothic style in
these parts. This possesses a crypt.

Close behind Jerichow on the left, a landmark, the handsome
Kaiser-house of Tangermiinde, is visible.

At our next stage, the fine village of Fischbeck, we were al-
ready upon ancient Bismarckian soil ; we did not, however, drive
farther in the direction of Schonhausen, close by, but turned to
the left towards the Elbe, on the other bank of which Tanger-
miinde, with its imperial castle, tall towers, walls, and turrets,
forming a well-preserved piece of mediaeval architecture, present-
ed itself to our view in the last golden rays of the evening sun.

We slowly crossed the broad expanse of the Elbe in a ponder-
ous ferry-boat, and went up to the castle built by the Emperor
Charles IV., that acute and politic King of Bohemia, as a metrop-
olis for the great realm which extended from the North Sea and

* Goethe's "Fiction and Truth" (Dichtung und WaJirJieif).—K. E. H. M.

THE KAISER-HOUSE OF TANGERMUNDE. 79

the Baltic as far as Hungary, and in which he designed to found
the power of his family — a realm destined to fall to pieces under
his sons.

At the castle we did not, of course, find the old lime-tree of
justice, at which appeals used to be made from the gate of the
old Brandenburg bridge. The gate and the tree have both dis-
appeared, but on entering the castle-yard by the massive gate-
tower, we had the venerable ruins of the ancient pile before us;
.on the left the tower, on the right the chapel, smothered in fes-
toons of blooming roses. The castle itself, in which the powerful
emperor once lived — where the magnificent Elector Joachim Nes-
tor held his joyous wedding-feast with the beautiful Princess
Elizabeth of Denmark, and where he breathed out the last breath
of his noble life, after many bitter disappointments — exists no
longer. The sheriff's office, which stands on the site of the castle,
was built by King Frederick I. before he was king. His F., with
the electoral cap and the Koman numerals III., is still to be seen
on the ceilings.

The old Kaiserburg is now inhabited by a retired officer of
cavalry, who was then entertaining a visitor, General von Fran-
secky, known since the battle of Sadowa as " Fransecky Yor" —
"Fransecky to the Front." This hero of the fight had come thith-
er to inspect the fourth squadron of the Westphalian Dragoons,
lying in garrison at Tangermiinde ; hence on this evening the
old castle was full of gay feminine toilettes and brilliant uni-
forms. Charles IV., educated at the French court and in Italy,
here at one time instructed the rude squires of the Mark in his
courtly and chivalrous code of manners towards ladies. The
first assemblies in which both sexes intermingled took place at
Tangermiinde. Until that time in these regions men and women
had sought their amusements separately, and hence knew noth-
ing of real society.

The old Emperor would certainly have enjoyed the pleasant
picture of cheerful sociability presented this evening in the love-
ly gardens between his chapel and tower.

Next morning we visited the remarkable town-hall and the
handsome church of the ancient city. Such town-halls and
churches no communities or cities as large as Tangermiinde build
at the present day. We are wanting in that sense of public

30 BISMARCK'S SULPHUROUS COLLAR.

spirit, and prefer small separate houses, and devote no proud and
extensive structures to the use of the commonwealth.

The morning sun was shining brightly on the old city, and the
Sunday bells were tolling as we passed back across the Elbe. A
group of children bathing enlivened the strand below the gray
tower. Two officers brought their fine horses across in the ferry-
boat ; one of these belonged to the Westphalian Dragoons, the
other wore the yellow collar and cap-stripe of the Seventh Heavy
Militia Cavalry, the colonel of which is General Count Bismarck.
It is well known that Count Bismarck habitually wears the uni-
form of his regiment, and a South German Deputy to the Diet
did not omit to stigmatize the yellow token of the uniform of the
Chancellor of the Diet as very ominous. The excellent and rev-
erend gentleman saw in the sulphurous collar of Bismarck a piece
of the uniform of a prince as different from our noble King Wil-
liam as could possibly be.

On reaching the landing-place, we took a long last look at
Tangermiinde, before entering the carriage which was to convey
us to Schonhausen.

CHAPTER VII.

SCHONHAUSEN.

The Kattenwinkel.— Wust.— Lieutenant Von Katte.— Schonhausen.— Its History.—
The Church. — Bishop Siegobodo. — Bismarck's Mansion. — Interior. — Bismarck's
Mother. — Bismarck's Birth-Chamber. — The Library. — Bismarck's Youthful Stud-
ies.— Bismarck's Maternal Grandmother. — The Countess with the Dowry. — Ghost
Stories. — Anecdote of a Ghost. — The Cellar Door. — The French at Schonhausen.
—The Templars.— The Park.— The Wounded Hercules.— The Pavilion.— Two
Graves. — The Orangery. — The Knight's Demesne. — Departure from Schonhausen.

ON leaving Fiscbbeck for Schonhausen there is on the right
the Kattenwinkel, or Kattenland. By this we are not reminded
of the old Teutonic tribe of the Catte, of whose relations towards
the Cherusci we know very little, but of the old and chivalrous
race of Katte, established in this region for the last five hundred
years. Almost all the villages whose church spires we see or do
not see, in the corner between the Havel and the Elbe, belonged
or still belong to the family Von Katte.

Among these villages is Wust. In the church of that place
are buried the remains of that Katte, whose friendship for Fred-
erick the Great ended in the tragedy of Kiistrin.* There is
something fantastic, and at the same time touching, in the fact,
that, as well as the skull of the executed John Hermann von
Katte, the periwig trimmed with blue lace, and worn by him, has
been preserved in the family vault at Wust. The Katte familyf
was very numerous, and in this district there is scarcely a church

* For the most eloquent account of this sad affair, the reader is requested to refer
to Mr. Carlyle's "Frederick the Great," Book vii. chap, ix.— K. R. H. M.

* Katte. This illustrious family has been historically famous for its liege adhe-
rence to the Prussian-Brandenburg house. John Henry von Katte (born 16th Oct.,
1681 ; died 31st May, 1741), of Wust, was a Field-Marshal General and Count. His
son was the unfortunate friend of Frederick the Crown Prince, beheaded at Kiistrin,
6th Nov., 1740. Several others of this family have distinguished themselves, despite
the cruelty of the kings, in the Prussian service. — K. R. H. M.

82 THE EXECUTION OF JOHN HERMANN VON KATIE.

or family mansion which does not bear its canting heraldic coat
of arms. By marriages, also, the azure shield, with the white cat
bearing the mouse in its mouth, has spread in all directions. It
is impossible to contemplate the armorial bearings of the Kattes
without thinking of the beheaded friend of the great Frederick.
Just as the cat, in the coat of arms, plays cruelly with the
mouse, did the furious King Frederick William piny with him.
It is a milder trait in the tragedy of Kiistrin, that the angry King
endeavored in his peculiar way to comfort John Hermann's fa-
ther, as well as his grandfather, Field-Marshal Count Wartersle-
ben, for the terrible fate of their son and grandson. Frederick
William I. was an angry and almost coarsety -severe monarch, but
there was nothing of the Oriental despot about him, and, to do
him justice, his native benevolence and Christian conscientious-
ness must not be overlooked. Oriental despots were not, how-
ever, then confined to the Orient. The general characterof King
Frederick William the Severe bears a favorable contrast with
those of the other rulers of his time.

As we drove into Schonhausen, the church bell was ringing;
but it did not give a clear sound, but appeared dull. The bell
of the prettiest village church between the Havel and the Elbe is
cracked, and will probably soon be recast ; but we can not deny
that the very dullness of its sound, amidst the sunlight and blos-
soms of the well-wooded roadway, had a peculiar effect upon the
mind.

Schonhausen is an ancient place, and, like all this portion of
the circle of Jericho w, was originally ecclesiastical property. It
formed part of the endowment granted in 946 by Emperor Otto
I. to the bishopric of Havelberg, founded by him. This grant of
Otto's, in course of time, was considerably divided ; Schonhausen
and Fischbeck, however, remained attached to the cathedral of
Havelberg as maintenance of the bishopric. Until the fifteenth
century Schonhausen was an ordinary village, governed by a
bailiff. But during the bishopric of John von Schlabrendorf,
who occupied the episcopal throne during the peaceful period be-
tween 1501 and 1520, the place greatly improved, and made some
progress towards becoming a township. In an acknowledgment,
still extant, of the year 1547, the receipt runs thus : " Keceived
of the worshipful magistrates and sheriffs of the borough of

SCHONHAUSEN. 33

Schonhausen." The place had therefore become a borough.
The bounds of this borough were very considerable, for, besides
the forest-land, they comprehended more than 20,000 acres of
arable land. Hence it ensued that Schonhausen, down to recent
times, always reckoned more inhabitants than the neighboring
township of Jerichow. As, however, there no longer existed any
bishops of Havelberg as its protectors, Schonhausen was unable
to maintain its rank as a borough, although time has not effaced
all similarity in the place to a town or market-place. Schon-
hausen suffered greatly in the Thirty Years' War, alternately
from the Swedes aiid the Imperial forces; and of forty-eight
farms only one remained. In 1642 the manor-house was plun-
dered and burnt ; and in 1651 the whole district was visited by
a severe inundation. For many years there was no pastor at-
tached to the church, until the Bismarcks summoned, in 1650,
the Rev. Adam Winkler from Grosswulkow.

The church and the manor-house are situated close together
upon an eminence, and from the churchyard there is a fine view.
This venerable sanctuary was consecrated on the 7th of Novem-
ber, 1212, and built by Bishop Siegobodo of Havelberg, at the
beginning of his episcopate, he being one of the first spiritual
shepherds who busied himself in the establishment of Christiani-
ty in this neighborhood. Its patron saints were the Virgin and
the martyr Willebrod. In order to increase the sanctity of this
church, which, from the rarity of churches at that time, was fre-
quented by the inhabitants of an extensive district, a rich collec-
tion of relics was established there. Among these were relics
of the holy martyr of Thebes, of the martyr Sebastian, of Bishop
Constantine, of the Abbot ^Egidius, of St. Alban, and others.
These were discovered on the repair of the altar in 1712, contain-
ed in a sealed casket, together with an original record by Bishop
Siegobodo as to the consecration of the church and the deposit
of the relics. The church of Schonhausen is the largest, hand-
somest, and most perfect village church in the whole district —
its shape in grand simplicity is that of a tri-naved basilica. Its
origin from the Havelberg bishops is also shown by the broad
tower transept, the cathedral of Havelberg having been the
pattern of all churches in the vicinity. The Land rath Au-
gust von Bismarck especially promoted the interior decorations

84 THE CHUKCH OF SCHONHAUSEN.

of the church ; he also, in great measure, restored the manor-
house. He presented the handsomely carved pulpit and stair-
case in the centre, as well as the splendid and richly carved oak
dais opposite the pulpit. He also set up the altar and altar-
piece. To his parents he erected a memorial with oval por-
traits ; the costume of the pictures is that of the middle of the

seventeenth century. His own mural inscription, erected by his
son, is at a little distance, but it is far inferior in execution. Un-
der these memorial tablets is placed, in a style of the utmost sim-
plicity, that of the mother of our Minister-President.

The mansion of the Bismarcks is close to the church. It is
entered by a gateway with walled railings, having to its left the
farm building, and in front of it a tall and handsome lime-tree,

THE MANSION OF SCHONHAUSEN.

which, as it were, marks the boundary between the offices and
the special courtyard of the mansion. At a few paces from the
lime stands a sandstone vase, and we then find ourselves in front
of the house where Bismarck was born.

It is a plain, massive, quadrangular building of the last few
years of the seventeenth century, the enormous foundation-walls
of which date from the early castle first inhabited by the Bis-
marcks : this was ravaged and burnt during the Thirty Years'
War. The house is in two stories, with a high roof. On the
right a wing is built out, extending as far as a sandstone vase.
The park begins on the left with magnificent alleys of chestnuts
and limes.

The doorway is as simple as the house, without steps or porch.
The shield above it bears on the right the arms of the Bismarcks,
and on the left those of the Kattes — the cat with the mouse.
The inscription to the right is August von Bismarck, that on the
left is Dorothea Sophia Katte, anno 1700.

Round the corner, by a door leading to the garden, the house
can be entered through a handsome and spacious garden saloon.
The ceiling of this room is decorated with the armorial bearings.

This ground-floor leads into a large hall, whence there is a
heavy, broad, and dark staircase to the upper rooms. The

BISMARCK'S MOTHER.

next room is the comparatively low-ceilinged dining-room, hung
with white tapestry ; and here we also found the ceiling borders
and the two fireplaces richly ornamented with carving. On the
side-tables stand busts of Frederick William III. and Frederick
William IV., the latter as Crown Prince. The furniture is
plain.

From the dining-room the door to the left leads into two hand-
some reception-rooms, the one ornamented with oil paintings, the
other decorated in the Japanese style. Here are, in the corners,
casts of Kiss's Amazon, and Eauch's Walburga riding on the
stag.

To the right of the dining-room is situated the sitting-room of
Countess Bismarck, tapestried in green. The pictures and litho-
graphs are of the time of Frederick William III, and over the
chimney-piece is the medallion portrait of a woman, probably an
antique beauty. The principal object in this room is the portrait
of the Minister-President's mother.

Farther on again to the right we enter the bed-chamber; in

THE LIBRARY.

yonder alcove, now divided from the room by a red curtain, Otto
von Bismarck was born, on the 1st of April, 1815. In this al-
cove his cradle stood, but it is now only occupied by the bed in
which his father died.

It is a simple apartment, presenting a comfortable and cosy as-
pect.

The third door in the background of the green sitting-room
leads to the library, a spacious chamber painted red, having in

the centre a ponderous and broad table. The books are contain-
ed in two bookcases. The collection is not inconsiderable in
number, but their arrangement is confused.

It was worth while to cast a glance into the book-shelves, and
see what books were studied by Count Bismarck in his youth.
In one of the cases we found honest old Zedler's voluminous
Universal Lexicon of the Sciences and Arts; next to it the ex-
tensive collection, " Theatrum Europium," still an indispensable
companion ; a General History of Germany, a Universal Histo-
ry, both written in the pedantic tone of the last century; Gle-
dow's " History of the Empire ;" a historical Labyrinth of Time,

88 PORTRAIT OF BISMARCK'S GRANDMOTHER.

and Ludwig Gottfried's "Historical Chronicle of the Four Mon-
archies." Theology was represented by Dr. Martin Luther's
German writings. Next to a collection of old travels, stood a
Political and News Lexicon, with Busching's " Geography."
The other bookcase, in its upper shelves, appears dedicated to
the Belles Lettres. Yoltaire and the Letters of Count von
Bussy stood peacefully beside Frederick von Schlegel's works
and Leopold Schefer's "Lay Breviary;" next to Basedow's "In-
troduction" was lying Herschel's " Popular Astronomy."

Turning from the books to the pictures, we find them of
special interest, as they chiefly depict members of the family.

A couple of portraits of Bis-
marck's only sister when
very young, evidence some
remote likeness to the moth-
er.

No portrait of the Minis-
ter-President himself any-
where exists in the house.
There was, however, one
of his brother, the Royal
Chamberlain, Bernhard von
Bismarck, of Kulz, Provin-
cial Councillor in the circle
of Naugard — a youthful face,
not much like the Minister-
President. Count Bismarck
is also personally unlike his
mother, although we can
scarcely doubt her influence
over his mental qualities. We may mention among the pictures
a very interesting one of his maternal grandmother, and also one
of his uncle General von Bismarck.

By chance we noticed, half-concealed by the enormous stove,
the portrait of a lady. The original had scarcely been a beauty •
her features were hard and unformed, though this might partly
have been the painter's fault. This picture had its little history.
Madame Bellin, the housekeeper, told us that during the ab-
sence of Bismarck's father on a journey, she had found it in a

BISMARCK'S ARMORIAL BEARINGS.

THE COUNTESS WITH THE DOWRY. 91

loft, cleaned it, and brought it down to the library. She asked
her master on his return whose portrait it was, and learned that
it was that of a young countess who had in his youth been sug-
gested to him as a wife, with a dowry of one hundred thousand
thalers.* We could readily understand that Herr von Bismarck
found few charms in the picture, but the housekeeper, who was
struck with the dowry, exclaimed, " Ah ! gnadiger Herr, I should
have had her if she had possessed a hundred thousand thalers!"
Bismarck's father replied, with a smile, " Well, you can have her
yourself, if you like her so much."

In those days people had a great deal of respect for a hundred
thousand thalers, and such a sum of money was then respectfully
called a ton of money. In our times a hundred thousand thalers
form no great amount of wealth, although one does not instinct-
ively put one's hand in one's pocket to give the poor possessor a
trifle by way of charity. At least, such was the expression of a
well-known young nobleman lately, on speaking of the difference
in the times. However, the portrait of the young countess with
the hundred thousand thalers has hung in the library behind the
stove at Schonhausen ever since.

The peculiarity of the paternal mansion of Bismarck consists
in its quadrangular form, its thick walls, its massive heavy stair-
case, the depth and low pitch of its rooms, and the almost extrav-
agant use of stucco on the ceilings, friezes, stoves, and panels.
But the whole mansion impresses you with an air of comfort
and homely solidity ; there is a historical air of noble simplic-
ity throughout the whole of the apartments.

Schonhausen would of course not be a correct dwelling-house
for an ancient family, if proper ghost stories did not pertain to
it ; and the ancient structure does not look as if these were de-
ficient. On the contrary, there never was a house more like a
haunted house than this cradle of Bismarck's. Those, indeed,
who were able to tell of the ghosts which flitted about the man-
sion are long since buried, and we were obliged to content our-
selves with a very poor remainder of these traditions ; but what
is still preserved was quite sufficient to satisfy the charm of ter-
ror in the ladies, at times guests at the mansion, if not to arouse
terror of a real kind, without any delightful sensation. The li-

* About £13,300 sterling.

92 GHOSTS AT SCHONHAUSEN.

brary was especially " uncanny ;" a faithful servant, who slept
there when the family was from home, often woke up in the night
with a cold breath to disturb him ; he perceived that there was
a " something" unpleasantly close to him, and his usually fear-
less spirit was seized with icy horror. It was by no means so
unpleasant when the "something" evinced its presence in some
more definite manner, as, for instance, when it came tramping up
the oak staircase outside, or banged itself down with a dull
thud. The man who related this was not at all wanting in
courage; he knew that he was quite alone in the house; he al-
ways concluded it to be thieves, but if he put out his hands
they encountered nothing, and if he went out from the room he
found no one there. It is very easy to laugh at these things,
but that is all of no use ; the unexplained always has its terrors
until some false or true solution of the enigma is found.

One night, Bismarck, before he was Minister, occupied the bed-
room in which he was born ; he had guests in the mansion —
among others a certain Herr von Dewitz. The next day a hunt-
ing party was to take place, and a servant had been instructed
to awaken his master at an early hour. Suddenly Bismarck
awoke; he heard the door of the library in the adjacent cham-
ber open, and thought he perceived soft footsteps. He conclu-
ded it was the servant coming to awaken him. At that moment
he heard Herr von Dewitz exclaim, "Who's there?" He sprang
from the bed, the clock struck twelve, and there was nobody to
be seen. He had felt or heard something, as other persons had
before him, which was susceptible of no explanation. Another
of the Bismarcks had also seen something ; if we are not mista-
ken this was an uncle of the Minister's, the General von Bis-
marck, who died in i831. He saw, certainly only in a dream, a
fleeting white form that beckoned to him -r he followed, and it
led him down into the cellar, the most ancient part of the build-
ing, and there showed him a door in which there was cut an
opening in the form of a heart. He thought from the motions
of the apparition that it signified to him the existence of a con-
cealed treasure. This was, as already stated, all a dream, but the
dream was so vivid, it made such an impression on him, that on
the next morning he examined the cellar closely ; he found, hid-
den behind rubbish and lumber, a little door with a heart-shaped

THE CELLAR DOOR. 93

opening in it, the existence of which was quite unsuspected by
any of the members of the family. The door had now been
found, but alas ! no treasure was discovered, for the door only
concealed a hidden passage leading into the Church.

In the library door there are three deep cracks, commemorating
the presence of evil spirits of any thing but a ghostly nature ;
they were French soldiers, who in 1806 pursued the young and
lovely lady of the mansion, and endeavored to break down the
door with their bayonets, when the fugitive had locked it behind
her. Bismarck's father sheltered his wife from the attentions of
the children of the " grande nation" in the forest, but his ready
money, among which was a considerable sum in louis-d'ors, he
buried under the solitary pavilion in the park island. His as-
tonishment was great, when, on his return, he found his treas-
ure disturbed, but not stolen, though the louis-d'ors were scat-
tered about. Not the French, but the dogs, had discovered it, had
scratched up the earth, and thrown the gold pieces contemptu-
ously aside.

It does not seem that Schonhausen had ever been in the pos-
session of the Soldiers of the Holy Virgin — the Order of the Tem-
ple ; but in the ghostly chronicles of the mansion the Knights
Templars play a considerable part. Their long white mantles
with the red cross are certainly particularly adapted for this ; but
it is a sign of the deep impression made by the sudden destruction
of the might}?- Order, upon the people of these districts, that in all
mysterious narratives, all secret subterranean passages, treasure
hoards, and similar circumstances, we find the Templars with their
long white cloaks occupying a conspicuous place. At the same
time, there is much avarice mingled with this, for the most ex-
travagant traditions found credence as to the wealth of the Tem-
plars. Buried treasures of the Order were suspected everywhere,
and the poor Templars were doomed to guard the riches which
they had accumulated during their lives, as ghosts, forever.

From the mansion we passed on to the upper terrace of the
park, and wandered down the cool shady alley of limes, the
branches of which bent to the ground, forming a verdant arbor of
singular beauty. In this magnificent spot the lord of the mansion
often had the table spread for himself and friends. The park is
remarkably distinguished for fine rows of trees, both old and new,

94 THE UPPEK TEKKACE.

and the lime-tree seems ever to have been the favorite tree of the
Bismarcks of Schonhausen.

On the wall, separating the terrace from the park itself, there is
growing a very handsome birch-tree, which appears to have been
self-sown. It has rooted itself deep into the stone, breaking
down a portion of the wall, and now grows up amidst ruins and
wreaths of roses, like the green flag of a victor.

The park is laid out according to the antique French style,
with straight hedges, basins, and statues; but Nature has long
since overcome the garden shears of Lenotre.

It is easy to perceive from the lower park itself that the lord
of the manor is no longer present, and that the farm is leased.
Between the tall noble avenues and picturesque foliage, broad
patches planted with vegetables may be observed. This gives a
homely, but scarcely a neglected, appearance to the place, as it
does not destroy the general beauty of the view.

By an avenue, adorned with really splendid limes, we reach a
small bridge, leading across the mantled pool which divides the
park from the fields. On this side is the cool shade of the limes;

THE WOUNDED HERCULES— TWO GRAVES. Q5

yonder in the sunshine is Indian corn and beet-root. By this
bridge stands a statue of Hercules with its hand on its back, cut
in sandstone, on the north side of which the Junker Otto Bis-
marck once fired off his rifle — the marks of which musketry are
still visible — and he ever afterwards used to assure his friends
that Hercules put his hand there because the shot still. pained
him ! On one thigh, evidently by a later hand, some person has
•written u Adam." This person, obviously somewhat wanting in
his knowledge of mythology, no doubt was led to the explanation
by the very primitive style of costume. But so long as the coun-
try side contents itself with such explanations, there is not much
to be said against it. It is somewhat more reprehensible to de-
capitate the gods, to provide a whetstone for the scythe. This
fate, however, a somewhat massive Flora has had to undergo ;
and there it stands behind a thicket, apparently mourning the
loss of its curly head.

Upon a small artificial- island in the park stands a lonesome
pavilion in the style of the Kegent, half hidden by trees and over«
grown with moss. The poet might select it for the scene of the
catastrophe of a romance. We did not cross the wooden bridge,
because our friendly guide warned us against the gnats which for
a long time, in many sorts and sizes, have enjoyed their innocent
lives in that locality.

We did, however, visit two solemn places in the park — two
graves. In a dark shrubbery, grown quite wild, lies an elder
brother of Bismarck, deceased as a child. The cast-iron cross has
evidently been erected over the grave at a later time.

At the very remotest corner of the park, close by the sedgy
shore, we found the second grave. Here Captain von Bismarck,
a cousin of the Minister, reposes. Above the last resting-place
of the wearied soldier is another iron cross. This was the favor-
ite spot of the old gentleman during his lifetime ; beneath the
trees, on the banks which now watch over his grave, he used in
summer time to muse every day over his quiet fishing-rod, or
gaze dreamily across into the blooming meadows beyond the
water. At his express desire he was buried in this spot.

Besides the six-and-twenty farms and subsidiary patches, there
is also at Schonhausen a knight's demesne (Hitter gut], formerly
likewise the property of the Bismarcks, but which had to be sold

96 DEPARTURE FROM fcCHONHAUSEN.

in time of need. It now belongs to Dyke Captain Gaertner. It
is related that the Minister wished to repurchase it, but Captain
Gaertner, who did not wish to part with the property, asked
150,000 thalers more than the value, upon which Bismarck ob-
served, " I would have given 50,000 thalers more than it was
worth, but I can not agree to a larger sum." This is only a pop-
ular tale, for the truth of which we can not vouch.

In taking leave of Schonhausen, we may be allowed to say
that, in the general picture of the place, we seem to recognize in-
dividual traits of the man there born — or, rather, that the sight of
Schonhausen has shown us features which point to cognate and
similar facts in the outward appearance of Bismarck. It is diffi-
cult to express this in words, but the sentiment remains ; and in
this we need not appeal to posterity, as is the custom of authors
when they feel assured that they will be unintelligible to their
readers, but rather to all those alike familiar with Bismarck and
his estate of Schonhausen.

Be health and blessings ever near

The mansion old by woods surrounded,
The cradle, so to Prussia dear,

Of him who Germany refounded.
By strength of thought and weapon's might
He conquered, striving for the right ;
Peace to the house and hail the star
That Prussia's glory beams afar !

mverrath dieMwtkM
fe Blitthe sefet die

EABLY YOUTH.

Book t[)e Seconb.

YOUTH.

CHAPTER I.

SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS.

Bismarck's Parents. — Brothers and Sisters. — Bismarck Born. — Kniephof, Jarcheiin,
and Kiilz. — The Flamann Institute. — The Frederick William Institute. — Residence
in Berlin. — Bismarck's Father and Mother. — Letter of Count Bismarck to his Sis-
ter.— Confirmation. — Dr. Bonnell. — Severity of the Plamanns. — Holiday Time. —
Colonel August Frederick von Bismarck and the Wooden Donkey at Ihna Bridge.
—School-life with Dr. Bonnell.— The Cholera of 1831.— The Youthful Character
and Appearance of Bismarck. — Early Friends. — Proverbs. — " Far from Sufficient ! "
quoth Bismarck.

ARL WILHELM FERDI-
NAND VON BISMARCK,

of Schonhausen, born on the
13th November, 1771, once
belonging to the Body Guard
(No. 11 in the old list), who
quitted the service as Captain,
was married on the 7th of
July, 1806, to Louise Wilhel-
mina Menken, born on the
24th of February, 1790 ; died
the 1st of January, 1839, at
Berlin.

Fran von Bismarck was an

orphan daughter of the well-known Privy Councillor, Anastatius
Ludwig Menken, who had served with distinction under three
sovereigns of Prussia and possessed great influence during the
first years of the reign of Frederick William III. He was born
at Helmstadt on the 2d of August, 1752, and was a member of
a family distinguished for its literary attainments. To a certain

102 ANASTATIUS LUDWIG MENKEN.

extent he was a pupil of the Minister Count Herzberg,* by whose
means he was appointed to a post in the Privy Chancery. Fred-
erick the Great held him in great esteem, he having rendered an
important service to his sister, the Queen Louise Ulrike. in Stock-
holm ; and he employed him from the year 1782 in the capacity
of Secretary to the Cabinet for Foreign Affairs. From 1786 he
became Privy Councillor to Frederick William II., and in that
office was again intrusted with the administration of foreign af-
fairs, but after the war with France was supplanted by General
von Bischofswerder,f and retired into private life. Menken was
the only adviser of King Frederick William II., who was recalled
and reappointed at the accession of Frederick William III. He
was the author of the well-known Cabinet Order issued by Fred-
erick William III., which insured the young King the confi-
dence of his subjects. Menken was no revolutionist, as Bischofs-
werder and his partisans asserted, but to a certain extent he
agreed with the principles of the first French National Conven-
tion. He is portrayed as a gentle, liberal, prudent, and experi-
enced man, but of delicate health ; and he died on the 5th Au-
gust, 1801, in consequence of illness brought on by a life of unin-
termitting labor. According to the opinion of Stein, Menken
was a person of generous sentiments, well educated, of fine feel-
ing and benevolent disposition, with noble aims and principles.
He desired the good of his native land, which, he sought to pro-
mote by the diffusion of knowledge, the improvement of the con-
dition of all classes, and the application of philanthropic ideas ;
but his indisposition for war at an important juncture was ad-
verse to his fame; his too eloquent and humane edict, and his
singular gentleness of mind, invested the Government with an
appearance of weakness.

* Herzberg, Ewald Fred. (Count von), a distinguished Prussian diplomatist, bom
at Lotten, near New Stettin, in 1725. He published many most valuable diplomatic,
historical, and juridical works, and died on the 27th May, 1795, after having been
somewhat harshly treated by those in power. — K. K. H. M.

t Bischofswerder (John Rud. von), General and Minister of Frederick William II. ,
born at Dresden, 1737, of an old Saxon family. He entered the Prussian service,
1760, and was a Major in 1779. The confidence the King, first as Crown Prince,
had in him, was unlimited ; and he was employed in important diplomatic matters at
Szistowe and at Pilnitz. He was ambassador to Paris in 1793. He died in October,
1803.— K. B. H. M.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 103

His orphan daughter became the mother of Count Bismarck.
It is interesting to note that a hundred years before a daughter of
the same family, Christine Sybille Menken, deceased in 1750, as
the wife of the Imperial Equerry Peter Hohmann von Hohenthal,
was the ancestress of the Count von Hohenthal of the elder line.

The brothers and sisters of Count Bismarck were : —

I. Alexander Frederick Ferdinand, born 13th April, 1807;
died 13th December, 1809.

II. Louise Johanne, born 3d November, 1808 ; died 19th
March, 1813.

III. Bernhard, born 24th June, 1810, Koyal Chamberlain and
Privy Councillor, and Chief Justice of the Circle of Naugard,
near Kiilz and Jarchelin, in Pomerania.

IV. Francis, born 20th June, 1819 ; died 10th September,
1822.

Y. Franziska Angelika Malwina, born the 29th June, 1827;
wedded at Schonhausen on the 30th October, 1844, to Ernst
Frederick Abraham Henry Charles Oscar von Arnim, of Krdch-
lendorff, Royal Chamberlain and a member of the Upper House.

The Minister-President himself, Otto Edward Leopold, was
born at Schonhausen on the 1st April, 1815.

His earliest youth, however, was not passed at his ancestral es-
tate in the Alt Mark, but in Pomerania, whither his parents had
removed in the year 1816. By the decease of a cousin they ha4
succeeded to the knightly estates of Kniephof, Jarchelin, and
Kulz, in the circle of Naugard. At Kniephof, where his parents
took up their residence, Bismarck passed the first six years of his
life, and to Kniephof he returned in his holidays from Berlin, so
that this Pomeranian estate of his parents may be regarded as the
scene of his earliest sports.

These estates were held in fee from the Dewitz family, in the
circle of Pomerania, then known as the Daber and Dewitz circle,
and were ceded with the feudal rights to the Colonel August
Frederick von Bismarck, the great-grandfather of the Minister-
President, on his marriage with Stephanie von Dewitz. After
the death of the Colonel, his three sons, Bernd August, Charles
Alexander (the Minister's grandfather), and Ernst Frederick
(Royal Conservator of Palaces) possessed these estates in com-
mon, until, on the partition of 12th August, 1747, they were

104. DIVISION OF THE PROPERTY.

handed over to Captain Bernd August alone. He bequeathed
them to his son, the Deputy of the Daber-Naugard circle, and to
Captain August Frederick von Bismarck and his sister Charlotte
Henrietta, who was married to Captain Jaroslav Ulrich Fred-
erick von Schwerin. By a deed dated the 7th of August, 1777,
August Frederick became the sole possessor, and bequeathed
them to Charles William Frederick von Bismarck, the father of
the Minister-President.

The knightly estate of Kniephof is about a (German) mile from
Naugard to the eastward; its situation is pleasant, being sur-
rounded by woods and meadows, close to the little river Zarnpel.
Even in the last century the beautiful gardens and carp-lake
were famous.

Jarchelin, formerly called Grecholin, some quarter of a mile
distant from Kniephof, which is incorporated with the parish of
the former place. A small stream runs through this village.

Kiilz is nearer to Naugard; the church there was originally a
dependency of Farbezin ; formerly it possessed oak and pine for-
ests, and the hamlet of Stowinkel was planted with oaks.

In the year 1838, Captain von Bismarck ceded these estates to
his two sons, who farmed them for three years in common, but
then divided them so that the elder, Bernhard, retained Kiilz,
while the younger, the Minister-President, took for his share
Kniephof and Jarchelin. When, after his father's decease in
1845, the Minister-President took Schonhausen, Jarchelin was
surrendered to the elder brother. Kniephof was retained by
Count Bismarck until 1868, when, after the purchase of Varzin,
it passed into the possession of his eldest nephew, Lieutenant
Philip von Bismarck.

As the possessor of Kniephof, the Minister sat till 1868 for the
ancient and established fief of the Dukedom Stettin in the Upper
Chamber. On its cession the King created him a member of that
chamber for life. In the adjacent estate of Zirnmerhausen, be-
longing to the Von Blanckenburgs, Otto von Bismarck was then
and afterwards a frequent guest. The youthful friendship which
he then contracted with the present General County Councillor
Moritz von Blanckenburg, a well-known leader of the Conserva-
tive party in the Chamber of Deputies and at the Diet, remains
unshaken to the present day.

THE CRADLE.

EARLY EDUCATION. 107

About the Easter of 1821, Otto von Bismarck entered the then
renowned school of Professor Plamann, in Berlin (Wilhelm-
strasse 130), where his only surviving elder brother Bernhard
then was. Bismarck remained in this place till 1827, when he
left it to pursue his more classical studies at the Frederick Wil-
liam Gymnasium. He was there received into the lower third
class — his elder brother having by that time reached the second
class.

His parents were accustomed to pass the winter months in Ber-
lin, and during those times received both their sons at home, so
that the boys ever retained feelings of relationship to the home
circle, although not always there.

From the year 1827 both brothers became chiefly residents at
the Berlin establishment of their parents, and were committed to
the care of a faithful servant, Trine Neumann, from Schonhausen,
who still lives at the Gesund-Brunnen, at Berlin, though she no
longer wears the black and red petticoat of her native spot.
Well qualified masters attended, especially during the absence of
the parents in the summer time. By their aid they became ac-
quainted with several of the modern languages. Among these
tutors, the first was M. Hagens in 1827, t'hen a young Genevese,
named Gallot, and in the year 1829, a certain Dr. Winckelmann,
unquestionably a clever philologist, but a man of no principle,
who vanished one morning with the cash-box, and left his
charges behind with Trine Neumann. This occurred at the resi-
dence of the parents in Behrenstrasse No. 39 ; they afterwards
resided at No. 52, in the same street, and subsequently on the
Donhofsplatz. At this time Otto von Bismarck laid the founda-
tion of his prowess in English and French, which he ulteriorly
brought to perfection.

It is evident that labor, care, or expense were not spared by
the parents to foster the talents of these gifted children. This
was, indeed, a'special duty with their mother, a lady of great edu-
cation, who combined with many accomplishments the sentiment-
al religious feeling of her period, and had inherited the liberal
views of her father. Madame von Bismarck was no doubt a dis-
tinguished woman, not only esteemed for her beauty in society,
but exercising considerable influence in society. Her activity,
which zealously espoused modern ideas, was probably less want-

THE MOTHER'S PLANS.

ing in insight than in persistency, but from that very cause oper-
ated unfavorably in the management of the estates. The con-
duct of agriculture suffered under numerous and costly institu-
tions and experiments, reducing the family income to a consider-
able extent, especially as the brilliant winter establishment in
Berlin, and the summer visits to watering-places, demanded ex-
tensive resources. She evidently sought at a very early age to
awaken ambition in her sons ; it was particularly her desire that
the younger son, Otto, should devote himself to a diplomatic
career, for which she considered him especially fitted, while the
elder brother was from the first destined for the commission of
Provincial Councillor (Landrath). Both these aspirations were
fulfilled, but not in their mother's lifetime; she had long died
when her younger son entered on diplomatic life, but her mater-
nal instinct is honored by her early perception of the path by
which Bismarck was to attain the highest distinction. How
often must Bismarck have thought of his mother's heartfelt wish,
in his position as ambassador in Frankfort, Petersburg, and
Paris! How frequently his earliest friends must have exclaimed,
"Bismarck! had your mother only survived to see this!"

In contradistinction to the wise, ambitious, but somewhat
haughty mother, his father, a handsome, personable, and cheerful
man, full of humor and wit, rather represented the heart and
mind, without very great claims to strong intellect, or even
knowledge. Strangely enough, the cultivated and literary
Charles Alexander von Bismarck, transformed from a diplo-
matist into a cavalry officer by the command of the Great Fred-
erick, educated his four sons for the army.

This cavalier,' of French sentiments, who subscribed to Paris-
ian journals, still preserved at Schonhausen — a custom not usual
with the aristocracy of the Marks — and who lived with great sim-
plicity, but drank wine, and ate off silver plate — brought up his
sons like centaurs, and his greatest pride was in the excellence
of their horsemanship.

Bismarck's father entered the Body-guard (white and blue),
the commander of which was also a Bismarck, and, as he often
told hi»s sons in later times, " measured out the corn every morn-
ing at four o'clock to the men for five long years." He loved a
country life, grew wearied in Berlin, especially when he had

HORSEMANSHIP AND THE CHASE.

109

grown somewhat deaf, but, with chivalrous devotion to his ladv
wife, conformed to her wishes on this point.

Madame von Bismarck, besides esteeming the company of tal-
ented persons and scholars, Was devoted to chess, of which she
was a complete mistress; bat her husband's amusement was the
chase to the end of his life. How strangely the old gentleman
pursued this pastime we learn from a letter of Bismarck's to his
newlv-married sister, in the latter part of 1844; very characteris-
tic of the relations maintained by the son and brother.

OW you have departed, T have nat-
urally found the house very lonely.
I have sat by the stove smoking and
contemplating how unnatural and self-
ish it is in girls who have brothers,
and those bachelors, to go and reck-
lessly marry, and act as if they only
were in the world to follow their own
sweet wills; a selfish principle from
which I feel that our family, and my-
self in proper person, are fortunately

HO BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

free. After perceiving the fruitlessness of these reflections, I
arose from the green leather chair in which you used to sit kiss-
ing and whispering with Miss and Oscar, and plunged wildly into
the elections, which convinced me that five votes were mine for
life or death, and two had somewhat lukewarmly supported me ;
while Krug received four, sixteen to eighteen voted for Arnim,
and twelve to fifteen for Alvensleben. I therefore thought it
best to retire altogether. Since then I have lived here with fa-
ther ; reading, smoking, walking, helping him to eat lampreys,
and joining in a farce called fox-hunting. We go out in the
pouring rain, or at six degrees of frost, accompanied by Ihle, Bel-
lin, and Charles, surround an old bush in a sportsmanlike way,
silent as the grave, as the wind blows through the cover, where
we are all fully convinced — even perhaps my father — that the
only game consists of a, few old women gathering faggots — and
not another living thing. Then Ihle, Charles, and a couple of
hounds, making the strangest and most prodigious noise, partic-
ularly Ihle, burst into the thicket, my father standing perfectly
stock still, with his rifle -just as if he fully expected some beast,
until Ihle comes out, shouting " hu ! la! la! fuss! hey ! hey !" in
the queerest shrieks. Then my father asks me, in the coolest
manner, if I have not seen something; and I reply, with most
natural air of astonishment, nothing in the world ! Then, growl-
ing at the rain, we start for another bush, where Ihle is sure we
shall find, and play the farce over again. This goes on for three
or four hours, without my father, Ihle, and Fingal exhibiting the
least symptom of being tired. Besides this, we visit the oran-
gery twice a day, and the sheep-pens once, consult the four ther-
mometers in the parlor every hour, mark the weather-glass, and
since bright weather has set in have brought all the clocks so
exactly with the sun, that the clock in the library is only one
stroke behind all the rest. Charles V. was a silly fellow ! You
can understand that, with such a multitude of things to do, we
have no time to visit parsons ; as they have no votes at the elec-
tions, I did not go at all — impossible. Bellin has been for these
three days full of a journey to Stendal he made, and about the
coach which he did not catch. The Elbe is frozen, wind S. E. E.,
the last new thermometer from Berlin marks 8° (27° Fahr.) ba-
rometer rising 28.8 ^n. I just mention this to show you how you

CONFIRMATION OF BISMARCK. HI

might write more homely particulars to father in your letters, as
they amuse him hugely — who has been to see you and Curts,
whom you visit, what you have had for dinner, how the horses
are, and the servants quarrel, whether the doors crack, and the
windows are tight — in short, trifles, facts ! Mark me, too, that he
detests the name papa — avis au lecteur ! Antonie wrote him a
very pretty letter on his birthday, and sent him a green purse, at
which papa was deeply moved, and replied in two pages ! The
Kohrs have lately passed through here without showing them-
selves ; they baited at the Inn at Hohen-Gohren for two hours,
and sat," wife and children and all, with ten smoking countrymen,
in the taproom ! Bellin declared they were angry with us ; this
is very sad and deeply affects me ! Our father sends best love,
and will soon follow me to Pomerania — he thinks about Christ-
mas. There is a cafe dansant to-morrow at Genthin ; I shall look
in, to fire away at the old Landrath, and take my leave of the cir-
cle for at least four months. I have seen Miss ; she has

moments when she is exceedingly pretty, but she will lose her
complexion very soon. I was in love with her for twenty-four
hours. Greet Oscar heartily from me, and farewell, my angel ;
don't hang up your bride's rank by the tail, and remember me to
Curts. If you are not at A. by the eighth — I'll !— but enough of
that. Entirely your own " forever," BISMARCK.

Otto von Bismarck, on his sixteenth birthday, as his brother
had been before him, was confirmed at Berlin, in the Trinity
Church by Schleiermacher, at the Easter of 1830. The same
year he went to board with Professor Prevost, the father of Ho-
frath Prevost, now an official in the Foreign Office under Bis-
marck ; and as the house was very remote from the Frederick
William Gymnasium in the Konigs Strasse, he quitted it for the
Berlin Gymnasium, Zum Grauen Kloster. Bismarck, after a
year, passed from Professor Prevost to Dr. Bonnell, afterwards
director of the Frederick- Werder Gymnasium, then at the Grau-
en Kloster, but who had not long. before been Bismarck's teacher
at the Frederick William. Bismarck remained with him until,
at Easter, 1832, he quitted the Kloster after his examination, to
study law.

This is an outline of Bismarck's life in his boyhood and school-

_Q2 THE PLAMANN INSTITUTE.

days ; let us endeavor to form some picture of the lad and youth,
from the reports of his tutors and contemporaries.

We see Junker Otto leaving his father's house at a very early
age, as did his brother. The reasons for this we can not assign,
but no doubt they were well meant, although scarcely wise.
Bismarck used subsequently himself to say that his early depart-
ure from the paternal roof was any thing but advantageous to
him. Perhaps his mother was afraid he might get too early
spoilt; for with his gay nature and constant friendliness, the lit-
tle boy early won all hearts. He was especially spoilt by his fa-
ther, and bv Lotte Schmeling, his mother's maid, and his own
nurse.

At the boarding-school of Plamann in Berlin, whither he was
next brought, he did not get on at all well. This then very re-
nowned institution had adopted the thorough system of old
Jahn, and carried out the theory of " hardening up," then fash-
ionable, by starving, exposure, and so forth — not without carry-
ing it to extremes in practice. Bismarck, who had always sub-
mitted meekly to all his masters, could not, in later dnj^s, refrain
from complaining bitterly of the severity with which he was
treated in this institution. He was very miserable there, and
longed for home so much, that when they were out walking, he
could not help weeping whenever he saw a plough at work. The
masters were especially obnoxious to hirn on account of the
strictness with which they insisted on gymnastics and athletic
sports, from the hatred of the French they methodically preach-
ed, and by the tough German usage they exercised towards the
little scion of nobility. In his paternal house, Bismarck had not
been educated in class-hatred, as it is called ; on the contrary, his
mother was very liberal, and had no sympathy with the nobility.
Marriages between nobles and citizens were then much more un-
frequent; Madame von Bismarck had very likely encountered
vSome slights from the proud families of the Alt Mark and of
Pom crania, and caste feeling could scarcely have been felt by
Bismarck in his childhood. It. was not any want of sympathy
with his school-fellows, but the democratic doctrines of some of .
the masters, which roused the Junker in the bosom of the proud
lad. We shall see that in later years it was the incapacity of two
masters at the Grane Kloster which caused them to handle him

HOLIDAY TIMES.

113

ungently, because of his noble birth, and thus impelled him to re-

Distance.

It is easy to understand that Otto von Bismarck, as long as he
Stayed at the hateful Plamann Institute, and at the Gymnasium,
longed ardently for the holidays, for these times are the bright
stars in the heaven of every schoolboy.

And how was the holiday journey performed in those days
from Berlin to Kniephof in the Circle Naugard ? The stage-
coach of Nagler — then the pride of Prussia — set off* in the even-

ing from Berlin, and arrived at Stettin at noon the next day.
There were not over-good roads at that time from Berlin to the
capital of Pomerania. From Stettin young Bismarck proceeded,
with horses sent by his parents, to Gollnow, where his grandfa-
ther was born, and where proverbially there was a fire once a
fortnight. In Gollnow he slept at the house of an aged widow
named Dalmer, who held some relation to the family. This
aged lady used to tell the eager lad stories of his great grandfa-
ther the Colonel von Bismarck, who fell at Czaslau, and who
once lay in garrison at Gollnow with his regiment of dragoons —
the Schulenburg Regiment, afterwards the Anspach Bayreuth.
After almost a century, the memory of the famous warrior and

114

THE WOODEN DONKEY OF 1HNA BRIDGE.

huntsman remained alive. Stories were told of the Colonel's fine
dogs and horses. When he gave a banquet, not only did the
sound of trumpet accompany each toast, but the dragoons fired
off volleys in the hall, to heighten the noise. Then the Colonel
would march with the whole mess, preceded by the band and
followed by the whole regiment, to the bridge of Ihna, where the
Wooden Donkey stood. This terrible instrument of punishment
—riding the Donkey was like, riding the rail — was then cast
into the Ihna, amidst execrations and applause. "All offenders
are forgiven, and the Donkey shall die !" But the applause of
the dragoons could not have been very sincere, for they knew
very well that the Provost would set up the Donkey in all its-
terrors, the very next morning; therefore they only huzzaed to
please their facetious Colonel.

This is a picture of garrison life under King Frederick William
I. There still exists a hunting register belonging to this old
worthy, which reports that the old soldier in one year had shot a

INTRODUCTION TO DR. BONNELL. 115

hundred stags — an unlikely event nowadays. One of the first
sportsmen of the present day — H.R.H. Prince Frederick Charles
of Prussia — shot three hundred head of game between the 18th
of September, 1848, and the 18th of September, 1868, pronounced
" worthy of fire." A correspondence of the old Colonel's is still
extant, which evinces a highly eccentric stanchness ; in this his
cousin, the cunning diplomatist Von Dewitz, afterwards Ambas-
sador to Vienna, is severely enough handled. It was doubtless
from these statements of the acute colonel of cavalry that the
Great Frederick did not allow his son, Charles Alexander, to ac-
company him to Vienna in the Embassy, but ordered him to be-
come a cornet, with some very unflattering expressions concern-
ing the diplomatist.

The next day young Otto von Bismarck used to leave Goll-
now, and thus on the third day he reached Kniephof, where for
three weeks he led a glorious life, troubled only by a few holiday
tasks. Among the most pleasant events of holiday time were
visits to Zimmerhausen, to the Blanckenburgs, which possessed
an additional charm from a sort of cheese-cake prepared in this
locality. ,

From Plamann's school, Bismarck passed to the Frederick
William Gymnasium ; and here he immediately attracted the at-
tention- of a master with whom he was afterwards to be more
closely associated, and of whom mention will afterwards be made
in this work. This gentleman (the Director, Dr. Bonnell) relates:
— " My attention was drawn to Bismarck on the very day of his
entry, on which occasion the new boys sat in the schoolroom on
rows of benches in order that the masters could overlook the new
comers with attention, during the inauguration. Otto von Bis-
marck sat — as I still distinctly remember, and often have related
— with visible eagerness, a clear and pleasant boyish face and
bright eyes, in a gay and lightsome mood among his comrades, so
that it caused me to think, 'That's a nice boy ; I'll keep my eye
upon him.' He became my pupil first when he entered the up-
per third. I was transferred at Michaelmas, 1829, from the Ber-
lin Gymnasium to the Graue Kloster, to which Bismarck also
came in the following year. He became an inmate of my house
at Easter, 1831, where he behaved himself in my modest house-
hold, then numbering only my wife and my infant son, in a

YOUTHFUL CONDUCT OF BISMARCK.

friendly and confiding manner. In every respect he was most
charming; he seldom quitted us of an evening; if I was some-
times absent, he conversed in a friendly and innocent manner
with my wife, and evinced a strong inclination for domestic life.
He won our hearts and we met his advances with affection and
care — so that his father, when he quitted us, declared that his son
had never been so happy as with us."

Bismarck to this day has preserved the most grateful intimacy
with Dr. Bonnell and his wife; even as Minister-President he
loved to cast a passing glance at the window of the small cham-
ber he had occupied in Konigsgraben No. 18, while he resided
with Dr. Bonnell. The window is now built up. The powerful
minister and great statesman ever remained the friendly and
kindly Otto von Bismarck towards his old teacher. He sought
his counsel in the selection of a tutor for his sons, and afterwards
sent them to the Werder Gymnasium, that still flourishes under
the thoroughly excellent guidance of Bonnell.

Among the favorite masters of Bismarck at the Frederick
William Gymnasium, he distinguished Professor Siebenhaar, an
excellent man, who subsequently unfortunately died by his own
hand. He found himself welcomed at the Graue Kloster by
Koepke with great friendship — his youth alone prevented his
being placed in the first class. Besides Bonnell, he here found a
great friend in Dr.Wendt; Bollerrnann, however, and the mathe-
matician Fischer, raised the Junker in him in an unwise manner.
He also got into many disputes with the French Professor, and
learnt English in an incredibly short space of time, in order not
to be submitted to the test of the French Professor ; as it was
allowed to the pupils to choose either English or French for a
prize theme.

As a pupil, in general, Bismarck's conduct preserved him al-
most entirely from punishment, and seldom was he amenable to
censure. He exhibited such powers of understanding, and his
talents were so considerable, that he was able to perform his re-
quired tasks without great exertion. He even at that time exhib-
ited a marked preference for historical studies — especially that of
his native Brandenburg. Prussia, and Germany. He laid the
foundations of his eminent historical attainments, afterwards so
formidable to his opponents in parliamentary discussion, in these

AT THE GRAUE KLOSTER.

117

youthful years. The style of his Latin essays was always clear
and elegant, although perhaps not, in a grammatical sense, always
correct. The decision on his prize essay of Easter, 1832, was,
Oratio est lucida ac latina, sed non satis castlgota. (The language is
clear and Latin, but not sufficiently polished.)

On his departure for the University, Bismarck was 'not seven-
teen years of age, and possessed none of the broad imposing pres-
ence he later attained ; his stature was thin and graceful. His
countenance possessed the brightness of youthful liberality, and
his eyes beamed with goodness. His eldest son Herbert now re-
calls in his likeness the vivid image of his father in those last days,
of his pupilage. Bismarck has inherited his tall stature from his
father, who, with his fine presence and cultured manners, had
been a personage of most aristocratic appearance. But in gen-
eral the elder son, Bernhard, was more like his father than the
younger brother.

When the cholera broke out in Berlin, in 1831, in the general

118

THE CHOLERA MANIA.

cholera mania, Bismarck was desired by his Hither to return home
so soon as the first case had declared itself in that city. Like a
true schoolboy, it was utterly impossible for him to receive the
news too soon. He hired a horse, and several times rode to the
" Frederick's field," from which district the cholera was expected.
He, however, fell with the horse by the new Guard House, and
was carried into his dwelling with a sprained leg. To his great-
est annoyance he was now obliged to remain for a considerable
time in bed, and endure the approach of the cholera to Berlin,
before he could leave. But he never lost his gayety and good
humor on this account. Bonnell, as might be expected, was
greatly alarmed, wnen, on returning home, he learnt that Bis-
rnarck had tumbled from the horse and had been carried to his
room ; but he was soon comforted by the good temper with
which the patient recounted the particulars of the accident.

Bismarck awaited his convalescence with patient resignation,
and when he was finally able to enter upon his journey to

COUNT BOKCK'S GOVERNESS.

Kniephof, an event took place owing to the strange cholera meas-
ures caused by the cholera mania. Travellers by stage, for in-
stance, might not alight at such places as Bernau or Werneuchen
on any account, but the coaches drove side by side until their
doors touched and then the exchanges were effected, while the
local guard paraded with spears in a manner almost Falstaffian.
In another place, Bismarck was allowed to alight, but he could
enter no house ; there was a table spread in the open street,
where tea and bread and butter were provided for travellers, and
the latter breakfasted, while the inhabitants retired to look upon
them in abject terror. When Bismarck called to a waitress to
pay her, she fled shrieking, and he was obliged to leave the price
of his breakfast on the table. The saddest case was that of a
lady traveller, who was proceeding as governess to Count
Borck's mansion, in Stargard. This poor girl dreaded travel-
ling, and got into the condition which so outwardly resembles
an attack of cholera. The doctors of Stargard were in an up-
roar, so the poor governess was put into quarantine in the town
jail. Bismarck himself went into quarantine, and was first
locked up in the police office at Naugard, and afterwards at his
native place. His mother, it should be mentioned, had taken
every precaution then in fashion, and had engaged a retired mili-
tary surgeon, named Geppert, who had seen much of the cholera
during his residence in Russia, as a cholera doctor, for her imme-
diate service. With this doctor Bismarck was used to hold ar-
guments, for though his conversation was rude and desultory, he
could tell the story of his voyages in a practical and animated
manner. Madame von Bismarck would have been very angry
had she had an idea of the carelessness with which her son ob-
served the severe quarantine rules. However, despite all the
pains which the wise lady took, cholera showed itself on her es-
tate, w'hile all the neighbors were free from it. At Jarchelin
Mill two boys had bathed, against the regulations; they had
eaten fruit and drunk water — they were sacrificed to the disease.
It can be easily understood what a nuisance the quarantine, even
in its mildest form, must have been for Bismarck, who never be-
lieved in the infectious nature of cholera. In later times, when
the two brothers farmed the estates, there was a case of cholera
in Kiilz ; no one dared to enter the house ; the two Bisrnarcks

120 HABITS OF BISMARCK IN YOUTH.

went in, and declared that they themselves would not quit it
until they were properly relieved. This shamed every one, and
proper medical aid was obtained.

As a boy and youth Bismarck was not usually very animated.
There was rather a quiet and observant carriage in him, especial-
ly evinced by the "blank" eyes, as they were once very aptly
called by a ]ady ; these qualities were soon accompanied by de-
termination and endurance in no insignificant degree. He was
obliging and thoughtful in social intercourse, and soon acquired
the reputation of being "good company," without having trans-
gressed in the ways so common among social persons. He never
allowed himself to be approached without politeness, and severe-
ly censured intruders. His mental qualifications very early
showed themselves to be considerable; memory and comprehen-
siveness aided him remarkably in his study of modern languages.
He exhibited a love for "dumb" animals even as a child; he
went to much expense in fine horses and dogs; his magnificent
Danish dog, so faithful to him, long continued a distinguished
personage in the whole neighborhood of Kniephof. Riding and
hunting were his favorite pastimes. He has always been an in-
trepid and elegant horseman, without being exactly a " riding-
master." To this he added the accomplishment of swimming;
he was a good fencer and dancer, but averse to athletic sports.
The gymnastic ground of the Plamann Institution had caused
him to regard that branch of culture with profound dislike. As
a boy and youth he had grown tall, but he was slim and thin;
his frame did not develop itself laterally until a later time; his
face was pale, but his health was always good, and he was, from
his youth up, a hearty eater. A certain proportion of daring
was to be noticed in his carriage, but expressed in a kindly
way; his whole gait was frank and free, but with some reticence.
Thus we do not find that he retained many friends of his boy-
hood and pupilage, a time usually so rife in friendships for most
men. But such friendships as he did form, continued for life.
Among Bismarck's friends of the Gymnasium period, were, be-
sides Moritz von Blanckenburg, Oscar von Arnim, afterwards
his brother-in-law, William von Schenk, afterwards the possessor
of Schloss Mansfeld and Member of the Chamber of Deputies,
and Hans von Dewitz, of Gross Milzow in Mecklenburg. At

FAR FROM SUFFICIENT!"

121

the University he added to these Count Kayserlirtgk of Cour-
land, the American Lothrop Motley,* Oldekop of Hanover, after-
wards Councillor of War, and Lauenstein, subsequently pastor
of Altenwerder on the Elbe.

In conclusion, we should not omit to say that he from youth
preserved a proper attitude towards his domestics; they almost
all loved him, although his demands were heavy on them at
times. Afterwards, while administering the Pomeranian estates
with his brother, he censured one of his Junior inspectors very
severely. The inspector sought to turn aside the reproaches by
' pleading his own dislike to fanning, that he had been forced to it,
and so forth.

" I have long attested myself," the young man concluded.

" Far from sufficient !" replied Bismarck, dryly.

This reply brought the inspector to his senses; since that time
he has become an excellent agriculturist, and to this day thinks
gratefully of Bismarck's " Far from sufficient !"

This "Far from sufficient!'1 is associated in the Alt Mark with
the name of Bismarck from olden time ; in the country speech of
the district it is proverbial.

"Nochlange nicht genug ! (Far from sufficient!) quoth Bis-
marck."

" Ueber und liber! (Over an$ over !) quoth Schulenburg."

* Now (1869) American Ambassador to St. James's.

122 NOCH LANGE NIGHT GENUG! SAGT BISMARCK!

" Grade aus ! (Straight forward !) quoth Itzenplitz (Liide-
ritz?)."

" Meinetwegen ! (I care not!) quoth Alvensleben."
It would be interesting to trace the origin of these peasant
proverbs. The Alvenslebens since early times were reputed
" mild ;" they are the Gens Valeria (Valerius Poblicola) of the Alt
Mark. The Schulenburgs are " severe." the Gens Marcia (Mar-
tins Rex) of that country ; arid certainly we can perceive some af-
finity between these qualities and the proverbs; but what may
the "Noch lange nicht genug! sagt Bismarck!" mean? Per-
haps the energetic striving, the essential characteristic of the
whole family in a greater or lesser degree : an element of prog-
ress which ever, in their own and others' action, exclaims, "Far
from sufficient!"

CHAPTER IT.

UNIVERSITY AND MILITARY LIFE.
[1832-1844.]

•Gottingen. — The Danish Dog and the Professor. — Duels. — Berlin. — Appointed Ex-
aminer.— Anecdotes of his Legal Life. — Bismarck and his Boots. — Meeting with
Prince, now King, William. — Helene von Kessel. — Aix la Chapelle. — Greifswald.
— Undertaking the Pomeranian Estates. — Kniephof. — "Mad Bismarck/1 — His
Studies. — Marriage of his Sister. — Letters to her. — Norderney. — Saves his Servant
Hildebrand's Life. — "The Golden Dog." — A Dinner Party at the Blanckenburgs.
— Von Blanckenburg. — Major, now General, Von Ro'on. — Dr. Beutner.

TTO VON BISMARCK was anxious
to enter himself at Heidelberg, bat
his mother objected to it, because she
was afraid that at this University her
son would contract the habit, to her
detestable, of drinking beer; and she
therefore chose, at the advice of a
relative — the Geli. Finanzrath Kerl,
who was a great authority with her
in matters of. learning — the Universi-
ty of Gottingen, where Kerl had him-
self studied. Bismarck agreed to the change ; he longed for the
joys of academic freedom, the more delightful to him from the
strictness with which his education had hitherto been conducted,
as well as from his little knowledge of student life. In Berlin
student life was somewhat tame, obtruding itself nowhere ; and
Bismarck had also been withheld from all contact with it. He
entered into possession of his new liberty with enthusiasm, not
•easily comprehensible to the students of the present day. With

124 THE KED LINE OF BLOOD AND IRON.

the entire recklessness of a sturdy constitution he plunged into
its every enjoyment.

Even before entering at Gottingen he had fought his first duel
at Berlin. His opponent was a brave lad of the Hebrew persua-
sion, named Wolf. It is true he fought, but, like the ancient
Parthians, he fought flying. The arrangements must have been
somewhat unscientific, in fact quite out of form, for Bismarck
was wounded in the leg, while he cut off his Jewish opponent's
spectacles !

In the didactic epic " Bismarckias," by Dr. G. Schwetschke, of
which several editions have appeared at Halle, containing many
a good joke, the following aptly alludes to the present period
of the hero's life : —

From his boot soles now is shaken
All the school dust : higher wavelets
Bear the ship of the aspirant ;
Weighed on deck is every anchor,
And spread out is every canvass,
While the youthful flag of freedom,
Gaily fluttering in the breezes,
Bears, ' ' Nitimur in vetitum ! "

Jolly days of wild enjoyment !
Votaries now gay assemble
Of the nine Castalian sisters ;
Crowd together in new temples ;
Crowd around the fragrant altars
Of old Bacchus and Gambrinus :
And the neophyte so gayly
Brings the liquid sacrifices.

While the battle-loving Mavors
Opes the clanging doors of combat ;
Dost thou hear the clash of weapons ?
Dost thou mark the shouts of contest ?
Ha ! how gleam the flashing sword-blades j
With the tierce and carte resounding :
As the hewer hews so fiercely,
Hews, and his fellow-fighter heweth !

E'en then sped a slender red line
(A red line of blood and iron),
Through the life of our young hero
Gottingen, Berlin, and Greifswald
Echo deeds of noble daring,

STUDENT LIFE. 125

Done in years that now have fleeted ;
" Days departed, days all silent."
As old Ossian once out carolled.*

•

When Bismarck came to Gottingen, as we have said, he had
not the remotest notion of student life ; its customs were all un-
known to him, nor did he learn any thing of them immediately,
as he there found no friend of any degree of intimacy. By a cer-
tain Herr von Drenckhahn, whom he had formerly seen for a
short time, he was introduced to a circle of Mechlenbnrgers, who

belonged to no academical body, but passed a tolerably jolly life.
With these he travelled into the Harz, and on his return it was
agreed that the glories ot real student life should be opened to
him. Bismarck gave his fellow-travellers a breakfast in celebra-
tion of the journey, and here matters went on somewhat madly.
At length somebody threw a bottle out of the window. Next
morning the Dominus de Bismarck was cited to the Deanery,

* It is again necessary to explain that the translation is as close as the translator
can make, without violating sense and metre. The reader will find the original of
this, and other interjected poems in the Appendices. — K. R. H. M.

126 CITED BEFORE THE DEAN.

and, obedient to his academical superiors, he set forth on the way.
He came in a tall hat, a gay Berlin dressing-gown, and riding-
boots, accompanied by his enormous dog. The Dean stared at
this fantastic garb, and only dared to pass the huge creature
;when Bismarck had called him in. On account of this illegal
dog, his fortunate possessor was at once fined five thalers — then
•came- a painful investigation into the bottle-throwing matter.
The former official was not satisfied with the simple explanation
of Bismarck, that the bottle had been thrown out of the window;
it must have flown out. He was determined to know how this
had happened, and was not content until the culprit had clearly
shown him how he had held the bottle, and by proper muscular
action had given it the necessary impetus. Somewhat annoyed
by this inquiry, he set forth on his way home, and was greatly
incensed at the laughter with which he was encountered by four
young students of the corps of Hanover — although it was impos-
sible not to laugh at his dress. " Are you laughing at me ?" in-
quired Bismarck of the foremost of the party, and received as a
reply, " Hm ! that you must very well see!" In his inexperi-
ence Bismarck hardly knew how to proceed ; he felt that he 'was-
in the right way to encounter a duel, but he knew nothing of the
proper form. He was afraid of exposing himself, when suddenly
—happy thought ! — the " dummer Junge" (foolish fellow) occur-
red to him. He ;' growled," and felt exceedingly proud when he
was challenged by the four Hanoverians. He then took the nec-
essary steps, and obtained weapons from the corps of Brunswick-
ers. But not one of these four duels was destined to be fought ;
for a sly agent of the Hanoverians, who lived in the same house
with Bismarck, had seen that he was made of the stuff of which
good student-chums are formed, and induced his four companions
to revoke or receive suitable .apologies — in short, the Fuchs
(freshman) Bismarck " sprang," i. e.r joined the Hanoverians, and
became a member of their union. At this there was great rage
among the BrunswickersJ for it was contrary to etiquette to ob-
tain weapons from one corps and then join another; but of this
Bismarck knew nothing. , The Consenior of the Brunswickers
cha-llenged the Fuchs ; they at once engaged, and Mr. Consenior
was led off with a slash across the face, after he had roused Bis-
marck's wrath by several flat sword-strokes of a very ungentle

NOT GOOD AT LECTURE. . 127

kind. To this duel there succeeded during the first three terms
some twenty duels more. Bismarck fought them all with suc-
cess, and was only wounded in one instance by the fracture of
liis adversary's sword-blade. The scar is still to be seen on the
Minister-President's cheek. After a duello-dispute, this " blood 5>
was held not to be " good," as it was caused by accident, to the
great annoyance of his opponent. The latter still asserts that it
was "good ;" at least, being now the Deputy Biederwig, he held
an animated controversy with the Minister-President on the ques-
tion very recently in the White Saloon.

Amidst the stormy career pursued by Bismarck in Gottingen,
it is only natural that he had no leisure to attend the classes;
nevertheless he received very good testimonials as to his indus-
try ; but old Hugo remarked that he had never seen Hen* von
Bismarck at lecture. He believed that the lectures of the cele-
brated jurist would-be so well attended that he might safely omit
to attend; unfortunately, the old gentleman had onlv had three
hearers, and had observed the absence of Bismarck with pain.

Once Bismarck went home in the vacation, but in his velvet
coat, and with the student's manner; he found little approbation
at the hands of his mother, who did not find his whole appear-
ance in harmony with the picture of the diplomatist she fondly
•expected to see.

Fn Berlin, too, whither Bismarck returned in the autumn of
1833, he found the license of student life far too sweet to enable

128 "THE MAGISTKATE SHALL KICK YOU OUT!"

him to sever himself from it. When the examination was threat-
ening him like a terrible spectre, he summoned up determination,
and went to lecture for the first time ; he went a second, and the
last time ; he saw that, even under Savigny, he could not profit
as much from jurisprudence as he required for his examination,
in the short time remaining to him. He never reappeared at
lecture. But he passed his examination with credit at the ap-
pointed time, with the aid of his own industry, his great gifts,
.and by a clever memoria technica.

During his Berlin student life he resided with Count Kayser-
lingk, of Courland, who afterwards became Curator of the Univer-
sity of Dorpat; he learnt from him to set a value on music, and
often heard him perform; he was especially fond of Beethoven.
After Kayserlingk, an American named Lothrop Motley became
his companion. This gentleman won himself fame as the author
of a History of the Kise of the Dutch Kepublic, and other works,
was sent as United States Ambassador to Vienna, and is now Am-
bassador to Great Britain.

When Bismarck became sworn, after his examination about
Easter, 1835, in the ca-pacity of Auscultator (Examiner) he again
occupied apartments in the Behrenstrasse, jointly with his broth-
er Bernhard, who, about that time, after having served four years
in the Dragoon Regiment of Guards, exchanged the sword for
the pen, passed his examination in the following year, and be-
came Referendary in the government at Potsdam. During Bis-
marck's service as clerk in the City Police, he exhibited his sense
of humor by many pranks, of which we could give an account
were we able to vouch for their authenticity — these are, how-
ever, so numerous, that we are sure many are ascribed to Bis-
marck, properly the acts of others. The following anecdote we
know to be genuine: The Auscultator was taking the protocol
of a true Berliner, who finally so tried the patience of Bismarck
by his impudence, that he jumped up, and exclaimed, "Sir, be-
have better, or I'll have you kicked out!" The magistrate pres-
ent patted the zealous official in a friendly way upon the shoul-
der, and said quietly, " Herr Auscultator, the kicking out is my
business." They proceeded in taking evidence, but very soon
Bismarck again sprang to his feet, thundering out, "Sir, behave
yourself better, or the magistrate shall kick you out!" The face
of the Court may be imagined.

BISMARCK AND THE BOOT-MAKER. 129

Bismarck had a great deal to do in divorce cases, which were
then treated in a manner in Prussia — with a thoughtlessness
.still sadly remembered, although long since receiving a more
solemn and worthier attention. The young jurist was deeply
impressed by a lady with whom he had to arrange a divorce,
when she decisively refused to attest it. She had determined
otherwise. Bismarck, who had never met with such a refusal,
was disconcerted, and at last went and consulted with the senior
jurist, and requested his aid. Arrogantly shrugging his shoul-
ders at the inexperience of his young colleague, he entered into
the matter, and endeavored with all his wisdom and authority to
induce the poor woman to consent to the divorce. She, however,
continued her refusal; the matter ended without any result.
Bismarck never forgot this circumstance.

To the more amusing events of that time belongs the history
of how Bismarck taught a boot-maker in the Kronenstrasse punc-
tuality. This man, after many express promises, had neglected
him on several occasions. When this again occurred, the shoe-
maker was roused at six o'clock the next morning by a messen-
ger with the simple question: "Are Herr von Bismarck's boots
ready yet?" When the maker said, " No," he retired, but in ten
minutes another arrived. Loud rang the bell. " Are Herr von
Bismarck's boots ready yet?" "No;" and so it went on every
ten minutes until the boots were ready in the evening. The
shoemaker no doubt never disappointed him again.

To the social circles in which the brothers Bernhard and Otto
von Bismarck then moved, there belonged the intimately related
house of Madame General von Kessel. She was a sister of Bis-
marck's mother and resided in Berlin, possessing many daugh-
ters. Here he found pleasant and amiable society, and the affec-
tion of a relative. Another house he was very fond of visiting
was that of his cousin, the Count von Bismarck-Bohlan, who was
also accustomed to pass the winter in Berlin with his family.
During the winter of 1835-'6, Bismarck was also introduced to
the Court festivities, and took part in the usual amusements.

At a Court ball he first met the Prince William, son of H.M.
the King Frederick William III., as His Royal Highness was
then called, to distinguish him from the Prince William, brother
of H.M. the King. Bismarck was introduced to the Eoyal Prince

130 MEETING WITH PRINCE WILLIAM.

at the same time as a certain Herr von Schenk ; the latter was as
tall as Bismarck, and also a legal official. Looking at the two
stately forms of these youths, Prince William said merrily,
" Well ! Justice seeks her young advocates according to the
standard of the Guards."

This was the first meeting between the King William, after-
wards to be, and his Bismarck ; the first scarcely expected ever
to- wear a crown, but Bismarck most certainly never thought that
he should be that King's powerful Premier and most faithful
servant.

One evening Bismarck appeared in the saloons of Madame von
Kessel, quiet, in low spirits, his hair smoothly combed down, a
melancholy mode of " Frisur," wearing a long waistcoat of wool-
len stuff, in trowsers of large pattern, checked blue and green ; in

FOUR YOUNG FOXES. 131

•short, his plight was one of the most comical kind. In a gentle
conciliatory way he accepted all the jokes it created, and patient-
ly allowed a sketch of himself to be taken in this costume. This
caricature is still in the possession of the family, and is highly
characteristic. About a year afterwards, his cousin, Helene von
Kessel, herself a skillful artist, painted a portrait of him ; this very
excellent likeness displays his bountiful head of hair, and forms
a striking contrast to the " Three Hairs," with which the Berlin
Punch, " Kladderadatsch," usually endows the Premier. This
cousin, Helene von Kessel, at present a canoness at Lindow, re-
mained during her whole life on the most intimate terms with the
Minister-President. Once, on taking a journey for some weeks
into Pomerania, his cousin begged him to take a letter for her and
deliver it. He took it ; but when he returned, and she asked him
about it, he looked in his pockets ; he happened to have the
same coat on, and brought out the letter, but, with great presence
of mind, declared that he had not delivered it in order to en-
tirely cure his cousin of the habit of intrusting him with let-
ters. Among the surprises he delighted to prepare, some were
very curious. Thus, on one occasion, at Kniephof, he was in deep
conversation with his cousins, when the door suddenly opened,
and four young foxes dashed into the room, and in their terror
they jumped upon the sofas and chairs till they tore them to
rags. The company, after their first surprise, could not help
bursting into a scream of laughter.

In the year 1836, Eeferendarius von Bismarck left the Depart-
ment of Justice for that of Administration. As a future diplo-
matist, it was necessary to serve in that ; therefore he went to
Aachen (Aix la Chapelle) to the Crown Court. Count Arnim-
Boytzenburg was at that time President ; he possessed a great
reputation, and Bismarck hoped that he should be able to effect
a conjunction with this rising star, and follow in his course. He
was received by the Arnim family with great kindness, and at
first was very industrious ; but he soon was carried into the vor-
tex of society which existed during the season at the celebrated
baths of the Imperial city. He associated much with English-
men, Frenchmen, and Belgians, and in their company made sever-
al excursions to Belgium, France, and the Rhine province. He
was especially the favorite of the English, as they were delighted'

132 DIVISION OF THE ESTATES.

to find in him an amiable gentleman, possessing a perfect mas-
tery over their language. These connections, however, got him
into may scrapes.

He, in consequence, quitted " het ryk van Aaken " (the realm
of Aachen), and, in the autumn of 1837, had himself transferred
to the Crown Office at Potsdam. About the same time, in 1838,
he entered the Jager Guard, to fulfill his military duties. But
the merry mess-room life did not last long, and in the same year
he exchanged into the second battalion of Jager, at Greifswald,
hoping to attend the lectures of the Agricultural Academy of
Eldena.

To such studies he was compelled by the sad state into which
the administration of the paternal estates in Pomerania had fall-
en, and which threatened total ruin. On this account the sons
proposed to their father to grant them the Pomeranian estates, as
the only way in which the estates could be saved. His parents
acceded to the proposition, anjl retired to Schonhausen, under the
faithful care of Bellin, to there pass the evening of their lives.
His father continued to reside there until 1845 ; but his mother,
long an invalid, sought better medical attendance in Berlin, and
died in that city on the 1st of November, 1839.

At first, the elder brother, Bernhard von Bismarck, under-
took the sole administration of the estates, Otto remaining un-
til the end of his year of service, until Easter, 1839, at Greifs-
wald, but he soon perceived that it was impossible to combine
the military service with agricultural studies. He soon fell into
wild student ways again, there being nothing better to clo in
that place.

In the summer of 1839 Bismarck entered on the administration
of the Pomeranian estates, and carried it on, in conjunction with
his brother, until the summer of 1841. At this time the elder
brother was elected Landrath of the circle of Naugard, married,
and settled in the chief town. By this the common household
of Kniephof was broken up ; and they divided the estates in such
a manner that the elder brother retained Kiilz, the younger re-
ceiving Kniephof and Jarchelin.

The younger brother had already desired to divide the estates,
as he spent more than his elder brother, and the income of the
common treasury therefore fell short. Until his marriage, Bern-

"MAD BISMARCK" AT KNIEFHOE. 133

nard would not consent to this, the brotherly affection between
them having always been very sincere.

Bismarck became Deputy to the circle in his brother's place,
and in that capacity conducted the management of Naugard, and
was chosen representative in the Provincial Pomeranian Diet ;
but, after the first session, wearied by the unimportant duties as-
signed to him, he resigned his functions; his place was.filled by
his brother.

When Bismarck, at the age of twenty-three, in the most press-
ing circumstances, without credit or capital, undertook the con-
duct of the wasted estates, he evinced prudence and activity, and,
as long as bitter want pressed upon him, he found solace in agri-
cultural activity ; but when, by his means, the estates began to
rise in value, and every thing went on smoothly, and he was able
to rely upon able subordinates, the administration gave him less
satisfaction, and he felt the circle in which he moved too con-
tracted for him. In his youthful fancy, he had formed a certain
ideal of a country Junker ; hence he had no carnage, performed
all his journeys on horseback, and astonished the neighborhood
by riding six to 'ten miles * to evening assemblies in Polzin.
Despite of his wild life and actions, he felt a continually increas-
ing sense of loneliness ; and the same Bismarck who gave him-
self to jolly carouses among the officers of the neighboring garri-
sons, sank, when alone, into the bitterest and most desolate state
of reflection. He suffered from that disgust of life common to
the boldest officers at certain times, and which has been called
" first lieutenant's melancholy." The less real pleasure he had in
his wild career, the madder it became; and he earned himself a
fearful reputation among the elder ladies and gentlemen, who
predicted the moral and pecuniary ruin of "Mad Bismarck."

The mansion of Kniephof is pleasantly situated, but was built
in a very simple style by its first possessor, the brave Cavalry
Colonel Frederick August, who lay in garrison at that time at
G-ollnow, hard by, and who personally superintended its construc-
tion. The whole arrangements of the dwelling — little changed
to this day — are of the sober simplicity of the era of Frederick
William I. The then Major von Bismarck had purchased these
estates chiefly to gratify his passion for the chase, for game then

* In English miles about eighteen and thirty. — K. R. H. M.

134 EARLY POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS.

abounded on it, especially deer, very few of which remained
when his grandson, Otto, came to reside there.

Kniephof did not then behold stag huntings with horses and
mastiffs, as in the previous century. But strange scenes occurred
when the youthful owner, tortured by dark thoughts, dashed
restlessly, to kill time, through the fields, sometimes in solitude,
and sometimes in the company of gay companions and guests ;
so that Kniephof became a Kneiphof far and wide in the land.*
Strange stories were current about their nocturnal carouses, at
which none could equal " Mad Bismarck " in emptying the great
beaker filled with porter and champagne. Tales of a wild char-
acter were whispered in the circles of shuddering ladies — the
power of imagination being rife in dear old Pomerania. At each
mad adventure, each wild burst of humor, a dozen myths started
up, sometimes of a comical, sometimes a terrible character, until
the little mansion of Kniephof or " Kneiphof" was looked upon
as haunted. But the ghosts must have had tolerably strong
nerves, for the guests, slumbering with nightcaps of porter and
champagne, were often roused by pistol-shots, the bullets whis-
tling over their heads, and the lime from their ceilings tumbling
into their faces.

And yet the guests at this time relate that they were " misera-
bly " bored at Bismarck's nocturnal political discussions with his
intimate friends, Dewitz of Mesow and Billow of Hoffelde — so
different in character, but so inseparable from him. Young gen-
tlemen in those days were not so accustomed to political discus-
sions as the youth of our time, and political parties were then
nearly unknown. It should be stated, however, that Otto von
Bismarck, despite his wild life, stood in high consideration, and
he was heard with avidity, though the affair might be " miser-
ably " tedious. " He made an impression on all of us — and I
think at that time he was somewhat of a liberal !" a companion of
those days told us, who complained of being " wretchedly
bored " amongst the rest. The estimation in which Bismarck
was held was in nowise confined to youth ; grave men of posi-
tion, in a greater or less degree, felt that from this fermenting

* This requires explanation, the pun not being susceptible of translation. The deri-
vation of Kniephof is uncertain ; Kme is, however, Knee, and it might have come from
its being granted for knee-service. Kneipe is a pot-house : Hof, a court. — K. R. H. M.

RETURN TO GOVERNMENT SERVICE. 135

mass would be formed an excellent and strong wine. Many of
the electors desired to nominate him for the Landrath, but Bis-
marck, decidedly enough, refused this.

And then there came a day, on which the -furious revelry of
"Kneiphof" was silent; the old mansion, as if by enchantment,
grew quietand respectable, so that the world was first astonished
and then whispered, " A lady will become mistress of Kniep-
hof!"

But no lady appeared at Kniephof — it was a mistake, perhaps
a disappointment. It was then said, " Bismarck is going to In-
dia !" He did not go, though, perhaps, he for a time desired to
do so.

For the rest, it must be said that Bismarck fought chivalrously
with the demons around him. He read much, and continually
received parcels of books from his bookseller, chiefly historical
works, but also theological and philosophical works. Spinoza he
studied deeply. The melancholy he had contracted by the
events which befell him on the Rhine, he strove to dissipate by
travelling. About this time he visited France and England;
he even resumed the position of Referendarius under the Crown
at Potsdam, and was very industrious ; his friends, among
whom were Baron Senfft von Pilsach, afterwards Chief President
of Pomerania, and his brother, considering him remarkably
adapted for the services of the State, although at that time he as-
sumed a very surly attitude in reference to the bureaucracy. It
was probably about this time, at a party, where his President
somewhat slighted him, as he was inferior to him as an official,
that he begged the President in a friendly way to consider that
in society Herr von Bismarck was as good as Herr von Anybody
Else — which scarcely pleased the President. Another of his
chiefs once pretended not to notice the presence of Bismarck,
went to the window and began drumming with 'his fingers,
whereupon Bismarck went to the window and stood beside him,
drumming the Dessau March. It was very likely the same offi-
cial who allowed Bismarck to wait in the antechamber for an
hour, and received the answer to his short question " What do
you want? — " I came here to beg for leave of absence, and now
demand leave to resign." To about this time may be referred a
report of Bismarck's as to certain expropriations, which attained

136 BETROTHAL OF BISMARCK'S SISTER.

much celebrity. He might have been appointed Land rath in
Posen or Prussia Proper, had he been willing to go. In this re-
port Bismarck freely and faithfully spoke his opinion as to the
injustice of many expropriations, and his friends still quote the
classical phrase, " You could not pay it me in cash, if you were
to turn the park of my father into a carp lake, or the grave of
my deceased aunt into an eel swamp !"

He decided in the end to go to Schonhausen, and become
Landrath in the original seat of his race. His father was ready
to resign Schonhausen to him, but this plan also failed. In the
autumn of 1844, on the 80th of October, he had the delight, after
his return from a longer journey, to betroth his only sister Mai-
win, to whom he was ever affectionately attached, to the friend
of his youth, the Landrath of Angermiinde, Oscar von Arnim.
The affection of the brother and sister, people proverbially com-
pared to that of a bridegroom to a bride.

After the death of his father, which took place in November,.
1845, the sons so divided the property, that the elcusr retained
Kiilz and received Jarchelin, the younger retaining Kniephof
and adding to it Schonhausen. From that time Bismarck resided
in Schonhausen, became Dyke Captain there, and afterwards-
Knight's Deputy in the circle of Jerichow in the Saxon Provin-
cial Diet at Merseburg. In that capacity he attended the first
meeting of the United Diets in 1847, on which occasion he first
attracted the notice of the public to himself in more extended
circles.

We shall now give some letters written by Bismarck to his
sister at this troubled time, as they afford an insight into his
peculiarities. We called this a troubled time, as the manage-
ment of Kniephof and Jarchelin afforded him no satisfaction, for
we find him continually flitting about between Pomerania, Schon-
hausen, and ^Berlin. In Berlin itself he changed his residence
very often. On the morning of such removal he used to say
abruptly to his servant, "Bring all my things to No. so-and-so, in
so-and-so Street; I shall be there by bed-time." The things were
placed on tables, chairs, and sofa, spread out ; for Bismarck loved,
as he said, to hold a review of his worldly possessions.

We must add that the disquiet he then suffered had a particu-
lar reason, and we shall find some allusions to this in his letters.

CORRESPONDENCE. 137

MADEMOISELLE, — I have just received your boots from Glaser,
and while they are being packed up I write to say that I am fair-
ly amused here, and hope you enjoy your quadrille as much. I

was pleasantly surprised to hear you danced with . If the

boots are not properly made I am sorry, for you did not write
any thing to me on the subject, so I had them made like the old
ones. To-morrow I go with Arnim to Schonhausen, where we
propose to have a hunting-party. Father has given permission
to us to kill a stag, but it is almost a pity at the present time of
year. It has been freezing since yesterday. Among you Sa-
rnoyeds the snow ought to be as high as the house. There are
no news here — all is mourning — the King of Sweden also is dead.
I feel ever more how alone I am in the world. To your quad-
rille you will probably only see from here. I have been

able to excite jealousy. Take care that ice is brought in at
Kniephof, and as much as possible, or you will have to drink
lukewarm champagne in summer. Greet every one, especially
father. B.

Berlin, Wednesday, 1844.

II.

DEAR MALDEWINE, — Only because it is yourself, I will depart
from one of my principles, by writing a letter of congratulation
purement pour feliciter. I can not come myself to your birthday,
because my viceroy is not here to relieve me ; but I would risk
the assertion, that according to your incredulous bridegroom's
view, you would be convinced that I came to you on business,
and not for your own sake. Looking at it carefully, I don't
know what I can wish you, for you can remain as you are ; but
I could wish that you had two more sisters-in-law; one who is
gone, and one who will not arrive. Good-bye, my heart — greet
my father, Arnim, Antonie, etc. ; in about a fortnight I hope to
see you. Count the days till then, and kiss your affectionate
brother, BISMARCK.

Kniephof, 27th June, 1844.

138 LANDWEHB DRILL.

III.

DEAR LITTLE ONE, — Being too much engaged in packing to
attend the Landwehr drill, I will only just write a couple of
lines, as I shall have no time to do so after this, just now. Very
shortly after the wool-market I represented our vagabond of a
Landrath, have had many fires, many sessions in the burning
heats, and much travelling through sandy bramble moors, so that
I am completely tired of playing the Landrath, and so are my
horses. I am hardly at rest for a week, and now I must go
serve my country as a soldier! You see* "how men of merit
are sought after, the undeserver may," etc. I am sorry to say I
have had to buy another horse, as mine is not adapted for evolu*
tions; however, I must try it, with Grosvenor for a reserve.
The latter pulls the carriage like an old coach horse; I must
therefore pay for it, you can tell Oscar (as soon as the rape har-
vest is current), which I had firmly resolved not to do — if he did
not draw well. [Here a blot.] Forgive the preceding Arabic ;
I have not a moment's time to write this billet over again, for I
must set out in an hour, and much packing has yet to be done.
We shall remain for fourteen days in garrison at Criissow,
by Stargard, afterwards near Fiddichow and Bahn, opposite
Schwedt. If you write to me, address me at Stargard, Poste Res-
tan te ; I shall make no apologies for my long silence, and, if the
case arise, regard you in the same way. Grood-bye — my port-
manteau is yawning at me in expectation of being packed, and it
looks very blue and white and. military all around me.

When we reach Fiddichow, Oscar can visit me at Bahn. I
will let him know. Your faithful brother,

BISMARCK.

Kniephof, the 21st.

IV.

Norderney, 9th Sept., 1844.

DARLING LITTLE ONE, — A fortnight ago I intended to write
to you, without being able, amidst the throng of business and
pleasure, to do so. If you are curious to know the nature of the
business, I am really unable, with the sparseness of my time and

* The passage is written by Bismarck in English. I have put inverted commas. —
K. R. H. M.

LIFE AT NORDERNEY. 139

paper, to give you a complete picture, as its series and nature,
according to the change of ebb and flood, every day produces
the most manifold variety. Bathing, for instance, only takes
place at flood tide, the waves being then strongest; this hap-
pens between six in the morning and six in the evening, every
day one hour later, and is enjoyed with the advantages of a
breezy, rainy, summer morning, sometimes in God's beautiful na-
ture with the glorious impressions of land and water, sometimes
in my landlord's Mousse Omne Fimmen bed, five feet long, with
the delightful ideas inspired by a seaweed mattress. In the
same way, the table de'hote changes its times between one and
five o'clock, its component parts varying between shell-fish,
beans, and mutton on the odd days, and soles, peas, and veal on
the even days of the month, in which case sweet porridge with
fruit sauce accompanies the former, and currant pudding the lat-
ter. That the eye may not envy the palate, a lady from Den-
mark sits beside me, whose appearance fills me with sorrow and
longings for home, for she reminds me of the pepper at Kniep-
hof, when it is very thin. Her mind must be heavenly, or Fate
was very much unjust to her, for she offers me, in a sweet voice,
two helpings from every dish before her. Opposite sits the old

minister , one of those beings we only behold in dreams,

when we are somnolently ill ; a fat frog without legs, who opens
his rnouth before every morsel like a1 carpet-bag, right up to his
shoulders, so that I am obliged to hold on to the table for giddi-
ness. My other neighbor is a Eussian officer; a good fellow,
built like a bootjack, with a long slender body, and short crook-
ed legs. Most of the people have left, and our dinner company
has melted from two or three hundred down to twelve or fifteen.
My holiday at the baths is now over, and I shall leave by the
next steamboat, expected the day after to-morrow (the llth) for
Heligoland, and then by Hamburg to Schonhausen. I can not,
however, fix the day of my arrival, because it is uncertain that
the steamer will arrive the day after to-morrow ; the notices say
so, but they often retard the later passages if there are not suffi-
cient passengers to bear the expense. The Bremen steamships
have long since stopped, and I do not like travelling by land,
the roads being so bad that it is only possible to reach Hanover
by the third day, and the post - coaches are abominable. If,

140 BOATING AT NORDERNEY.

therefore, the steamer does not come the day after to-morrow,
I propose to go by sailing vessel to Heligoland; thence there
is a twice-a-week boat to Hamburg, but I do not know on
what days. Father wrote me word that you would go to Berlin
on the 15th ; if I therefore find, on reaching Hamburg, that I
can not reach you per steamer by the 15th, I shall try and get the
Potsdarn boat, and go direct to Berlin, to talk about art and indus-
trial matters with you. If you receive this letter in time, which,
considering the slowness of the post here, I scarcely think }^ou
will, you might send me a couple of lines to Hamburg — Old Stadt
London Hotel — to say whether father has changed his -travelling
plans. The bathing here pleases me, and I should not mind
stopping a few days longer. The shore is splendid — very flat,
even, soft sand, without any stones, and a surf such as I have
neither seen in the Baltic nor at Dieppe. Even when I am only
knee-high in the water, a wave comes as high as a house (but the
houses here are not so high as the palace at Berlin), turns me
over ten times, and fhrows me on the sand some twenty paces
off — a simple amusement which I daily enjoy, con amore, as long
as the medical men advise. I have made great friends with the
lake ; every day I sail for some hours, fish, and shoot at seals. I
only killed one of the last ; such a gentle dog's face, with large,
handsome eyes; I was really sorry. A fortnight ago we had
heavy storms ; some twenty ships, of all nations, came ashore
here, and for several days the shore was covered with innumera-
ble fragments of wreck, utensils, goods in casks, bodies, clothes,
and papers. I have, myself, had some sample of what a storrn is.
With a piscatorial friend, Tonke Hams, I had sailed in four hours
to the island of Wangeroge ; on our return we were tossed about
for twenty-four hours in the little boat, and in the first hour had
not a dry thread on us, although I lay in an apology for a cabin ;
fortunately, we were well provided with ham and port wine, or
the voyage would have been very distressing. Hearty greetings
to father, and thanks for his letter ; the same to Antonie and Ar-
nim. Farewell, my treasure, my heart. Your loving brother,

BISMARCK.

BISMARCK IN LOVE.

MADAME, — It is only with great difficulty that I withstand
my desire to fill a whole letter with agricultural complaints,
about night-frosts, sick cattle, bad rape and bad roads, dead
lambs, hungry sheep, scarcity of straw, fodder, money, potatoes,
and manure; in addition to that, John outside is, as continually
as badly, whistling a wretched Schottische, and I have not the
•cruelty to forbid him, as music may perhaps soothe his despair
in love. The ideal of his dreams, at her parents' desire, has late-
ly refused him, and married a frame-maker. Just my case, ex-
cept the frame-maker, who is rasping away in the bosom of the
future. I must\ the Devil take me! get married, I can again see,
plainly ; since, after my father's departure, I feel lonely and for-
saken, and this mild, damp weather makes me melancholy, and
longingly prone to love. I can not help it, in the end I must
marry - ; every body will have it so, and nothing seems more
natural, as we have both remained behind. She is somewhat
<jold to me, but that is the way with them all ; it is pretty not to
be able to change one's affections like one's shirt, however sel-
dom the last event may occur. That on the 1st I bore the visit
of several ladies with polite urbanity, our father will have in-
formed you. When I came from Angermiinde, I was cut off
from Kniephof by the floods of the Hampel, and as no one would
let me have horses, I was obliged to remain for the night at Nau-
gard, with many merchants and other travellers who also await-
•ed the subsidence of the waters. Afterwards the bridges over
the Hampel were carried away, so that Knobelsdorf and I, the
Regents of two mighty Circles, were surrounded here on a little
patch by the waters, and there was an anarchical interregnum
from Schievelbein to Damm. About one o'clock one of my
wagons with three casks of spirits was carried away by the
flood, and in my little river the Hampel, I pride myself to say, a
man driving a pitch-cart was carried away by the flood and
drowned.* Besides this, several houses in Gollnow fell in, a
criminal in the jail hanged himself for being flogged, and my
neighbor, the proprietor - , in - , shot himself on account

* It is obvious that this pride arose from the smallness of the river, not the loss of
the man and horse. — K. K. H. M.

142 COUNTRY CHAT.

of the want of fodder ; three widows and an infant mourn in
tearless sorrow beside the bloody coffin of the suicide. An
eventful time ! It is to be expected that several of our acquaint-
ance will quit the scene, as this year, with its bad harvest, low
prices, and the long winter, is difficult to be encountered by em-
barrassed proprietors. To-morrow I expect Bernhard to return,
and am glad to be quit of the District business, very agreeable
in summer, but very unpleasant during this weather and rain.
Then I shall, should Oscar not write otherwise, come to Kroch-
elndorf and thence to you.

I have nothing new to tell you from hence, except that I am
still satisfied with Bellin — the thermometer now at 10 P.M. marks
+ 10° (50° Fahr.). Odin still continues -lame of his right fore
paw, and enjoys the society of his Eebecca with touching affec-
tion all day, and I was obliged to chain her up for domestic mis-
behavior. Good-night, rrfamie, je t'embrasse. Thine, etc., etc.,

BISMARCK.

Kniephof, 9th April, 1845.

YI.

MOST DEAR CREUSA, — I have not taken the smallest key with
me, and can assure you from experience that it never leads to the
slightest result to look for keys; for which reason, in such cir-
cumstances— very rare with me, with my love of order — I at
once turn to the locksmith to have a new one made. With im-
portant ones, such as safes, one has the choice of altering the
wards and all the keys in use. I can see that I shall soon end
my letter ; not from malice, because you only wrote a page to
me — it would be terrible to think that you would consider me so
wretchedly revengeful ; but from sleepiness. I have been riding
and walking all day in the sun — saw a dance in Plathe yesterday,
and drank a good deal of Montebello ; the one gives me bile, the
other the cramp. Add to this, in swallowing, a painful swelling
of the uvula, a slight headache, cramped legs, and sun-burn, and
you can understand that neither my thoughts of you, my angel,
nor the melancholy howling of a shepherd dog, locked up for too
great a passion for hunting, can keep me longer awake. I will
only tell you that the Kranzchen (club) is not very much visit-
ed ; a very pretty little Miss , sister of , was there, and

ELECTED DYKE CAPTAIN. 143

that most of the young and old ladies are lying in childbed, ex-
cept Frau von , the little one who wore the light blue satin ;

and that I go to-morrow to an aesthetic tea in . Sleep well,

my idolized one — it is eleven o'clock.

BISMARCK.

K., 27th April, 1845.

VII.

MA S(EUR, — Je fecris pour Cannoneer that I shall be with you
at Angermiinde at the latest by the 3d March, if you do not write
to me before that you will not have me. I think then, after I
have enjoyed a sight of you for three or four days, to carry off
your husband to attend a meeting of the Society for the Improve-
ment of the Working Classes, on the 7th March, at Potsdam.
My journey, previously intended, has been delayed by all sorts
of Dyke suits, and Game cases, so that I shall leave here by the
28th at earliest. I am to be invested here with the important of-
fice of Dyke Captain, and I have also considerable chance of be-
ing elected to the Saxon (not the Dresden) Diet. The acceptance
of the first office would be decisive as to the settlement of my res-
idence— that is, here ! There is no salary, but the administration
of the position is of importance to Schonhausen and the other es-
tates, inasmuch as it very much depends upon this whether we
may occasionally get under water again or no. On the other

hand, my friend , who is determined to send me to East

Prussia, pushes me hard to accept the office there of H. M. Com-
missioner for Improvements. Bernhard urges me, contrary to
my expectation, to go to Prussia. I should like to know what
he thinks himself about it. He declares that by taste and educa-
tion I am made for Government service, and must enter it, soon-
er or later. Greet Oscar, Detlev, Miss , and the other chil-
dren heartily, from your devoted brother, BISMARCK.

Schonhausen, 25th February, 1846.

VIII.

DEAR ARNIMEN, — I have within the few last days been
obliged to write so many letters, that I have only left by me one
sheet, stained with coffee, which I will not, however, deprive you
of. My existence here has not been the most agreeable. To

144 BISMARCK'S FIRST DECORATION.

make inventories is tedious, particularly when the rascally valuer
has left one three times in the lurch for nothing, and one has to
wait in vain for several days. Besides this, I have lost a consid-
erable amount of corn by hail, on the 17th, and finally I am suf-
fering from a very annoying cough, although I have drunk no
wine since Angermiinde, and have taken every precaution against
catching cold, can not complain of want of appetite, and sleep like
a badger. At the same time every one laughs at me for my
healthy looks, when I declare I am suffering from the chest.
To-morrow, at noon, I will visit Kedekin, the next day go to
Magdeburg, and then, after a day or two's sojourn, throw myself
immediately into your arms. I can not tell you of any further
news here, except that the grass was fourteen days in advance, in
comparison with Angermiinde, and the crops, take them alto-
gether, very middling. The results of the inundation are very
annoyingly visible, I am sorry to say, in the garden. Besides the
many trees I took during the winter from the plantation as use-
less, it now appears that all the other acacias and the ashes are
dried up, so that little remains; seventeen of the limes at the low-
er end of the great avenue are either dead or appear dying visi-
bly. I shall have those showing a leaf anywhere topped, and
see whether this operation will save them. In fruit trees, and
especially plums, there has been a considerable loss. In the
fields, and more particularly in the meadows, there are many
places in which the grass has not grown, because the upper veg-
etative soil has been washed away. The Bellins and the rest of
the Schonhausers send their respects ; the former suffer much
from to-day's heat. Sultan not less. Thermometer 21° (68°
Fahr.) in the shade. Many greetings to Oscar. Your consump-
tive brother, BlSMARCK.
Schonhausen, 22d July, 1846.

In the course of this year Bismarck obtained his first decoration,
for many years the only one which graced his breast, but which he
wears to this day beside the stars of the highest Orders of Christen-
dom. In the summer of 1842, he was on duty as Cavalry Officer
with the Stargard Landwehr Squadron of Uhlans, in exercise at
Lippehne,in the Neumark, and one afternoon was standing with
other officers on the bridge over the lake, when his groom Hilde-

EXCHANGE INTO A UHLAN REGIMENT. 145

brand, the son of the forester on his estate, rode one of the horses
to water and for a bath in the lake, close by the bridge. Sud-
denly the horse lost footing, and as the terrified horseman clung
tight to .the bridle, it fell, and Hildebrand disappeared in the wa-
ter. A terrible cry of horror resounded ; Bismarck threw off his
sword in an instant, tore off his uniform, and dashed headlong
into the lake to save his servant. By great good fortune he
seized him, but the man clung to him so fast in his death agony,
that he had to dive before he could loose himself from him. The
crowd stood in horror on the shore ; master and servant were
both given up for lost — bubbles rose to the surface, but the pow-
erful swimmer had succeeded in releasing himself from the dead-
ly embrace of the drowning man ; he rose to the surface, raising
his servant with him. He also brought him safely to land, of
course in an inanimate condition ; but Hildebrand soon recover-
ed, and the following day was well. This little town, some of
the inhabitants of which had witnessed the brave rescue, was in
great commotion ; they expressed their feelings by the Superin-
tendent meeting the noble rescuer in full official dress, and wish-
ing him happiness for the mercy of the Almighty. Hence he ob-
tained the simple medallion " for rescue from danger," the well-
known Prussian Safety Medal, which may be seen beside so
many exalted stars on the breast of the Minister-President. Bis-
marck is proud of this mark of honor, and when on one occa-
sion a noble diplomatist, perhaps not without a tinge of satire,
asked him the meaning of this modest decoration, then his only
one, he at once replied : "I am in the habit sometimes of sav-
ing a man's life I" The diplomatist abased his eyes before
the stern look which accompanied the lightly spoken words of
Bismarck.

In the spring of 1843, Lieutenant von Bismarck sought and
obtained permission from the Landwehr Battalion of Stargard to
enter the 4th Uhlans (now the 1st Pomeranian Kegiment, Uhlans,
No. 4), then in garrison at Treptow and Greiffenberg, and do
some months' duty. Bismarck certainly aimed, when he entered
this regiment, to serve as an officer in the active army, and to be-
come acquainted with the regular routine of duty, although he
did not say so, and allowed the officers of Uhlans to believe that
he had only been induced by their agreeable society to join them.

146

CALEB.

It is trae he lived with them as a comrade, and often entertained
them, almost every Saturday, as his guests at Kniephof ; but they
had frequently been his guests before, and afterwards they be-
came so constantly. The Regimental Commandant, at that time,,
of the 4th Uhlans, was Lieutenant-Colonel von Plehwe, who fell
in a duel as General, a person well known in many circles, and of
a very distinguished character. Plehwe was one of the few im-
portant men, without an idea of what there was "in "the. wild
Landwehr Lieutenant, who joined his regiment in so strange a
manner, for he did not know how to deal with Bismarck in any
way. Half-way between Treptow, where the staff of the regiment
was quartered, and Greiffenberg, where Bismarck lay, was a ren-
dezvous known as " The Golden Dog" (Zum Goldenen Mops) ; to-
this place the severe Regimental Commandant was accustomed
to summon the officers of Greiffenberg when he wanted to treat
them to — compliments, or rather the very opposite to compli-
ments. Oh ! how often did Lieutenant von Bismarck ride to
"The Golden Dog" upon his Caleb!

Caleb was Bismarck's favorite charger; a dark chestnut, not
very handsome, but a good hunter; the warmer the work the
more furious his pace. Caleb has carried his master at such
speed impossible to relate without being supposed guilty of fab-
ulation ; but these rides were nevertheless true, according to the
most credible witnesses. It was Caleb who bore Bismarck on
that wild ride when the stirrup flew up to the epaulet. How it
happened, who can tell ? — but the fact is sure.

Although Yon Plehwe may have summoned Lieutenant von
Bismarck a few times too often to " The Golden Dog," although
he may have been commanded to appear in full regimentals on
more occasions than was necessary, Bismarck even now tells his
former comrades in the 4th Uhlans, "I spent a very pleasant
time with you !" He still chuckles with satisfaction at the little
practical joke when, in company with other officers, he seated
himself, smoking a cigar, on the bench before the Burgomaster
of Treptow 's house. This official was an enemy of tobacco, and
officers were even then forbidden to smoke in the streets. It was
in vain that the Burgomaster, who in other things was a very ex-
cellent man, informed them that it was no hotel, but the Burgo-
master's house ; Bismarck remained immovable, until the severe

MAJOR VON ROON.— DR. BEUTNER. 147

Commandant appeared in full uniform, and raised the tobacco
blockade.

During the Christmas holidays of 1844, there was a dinner-
party at the house of the youthful Frau von Blanckenburg, at
Cardemin in Pomerania. This pious and intellectual lady — born
a Yon Thadden-Triglaff — had great influence over Bismarck, and
had confirmed the ancient family friendship between the Blanck-
enburgs and the Bismarcks. After dinner four gentlemen sat in
the Eed Saloon under the lamp, who were to meet again after
many years, although in different positions, but still fighting on
the same side. Next to the host, the retired Examiner, Moritz
von Blanckenburg, sat Otto von Bismarck, then in the same of-
ficial position ; beside the latter, Major von Koon, whose cradle
was also in Pomerania ; and, last, Dr. Theodor Beutner, since
1855 editor-in-chief of the " New Prussian Gazette," popularly
known as the Kreuzzeitung, from the cross on the title-leaf.

CHAPTER III.

BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE.
[1847.]

Falls in Love. — Johanna von Putkammer. — Marriage. — Meets King Frederick
William IV. — Birth of his First Child. — Schonhausen and Kniephof with a New
Mistress.

*j N" the society and at the house of
his friend and neighbor, Moritz von
Blanckenburg, Bismarck had often
seen a friend of his noble hostess,
who greatly interested him. But
he first became more intimately ac-
quainted with Fraulein Johanna von
Putkammer on a trip which both of
them made in company with the
Blanckenburgs. Bismarck soon be-
came aware of the affection he felt
for the young lady, but he naturally
found many obstacles in learning —
as may be readily understood —
whether his affection was returned
by her. This would easily explain the inquietude of his beha-
vior, for even when assured of his attachment being returned,
there were still many difficulties to be surmounted.

We have already mentioned the reputation which " Mad Bis-
marck " had won for himself among the elder ladies and gentle-
men in Pomerania. -The consternation and horror may easily be
imagined, in which the quiet Christian house of Herr von Put-
kammer was plunged, on the receipt of a letter in which Bis-

BISMARCK'S MARRIAGE. 149

marck directly and frankly asked for the hand of his daughter.
But how much greater must have been his horror when the gen-
tle daughter of the house, in a modest but firm manner, acknowl-
edged her affection ! "It seemed as if I had been felled with an
axe !" old Herr von Putkarnrner said, in describing his feelings at
that time, in a drastic tone. Even the story of the wolf, which
always devours the meekest lambs, did not console him. How-
ever, he was far removed from playing the tyrant father, and he
gave his consent, although with a heavy heart — a consent he has
never had reason to regret. Her mother, of a more spirited na-
ture, protested until Bismarck appeared in person at Keinfeld,
and before her eyes clasped his bride to his heart. With a flood
of passionate tears, she then consented to their union, and from
that moment became the warmest and most zealous friend of the
man to whom she gave her beloved daughter after so severe a
struggle. Under the motto " All right,"* Bismarck announces
the fact to his sister, his "Arnimen."

Between this betrothal and his marriage falls Bismarck's first
appearance at the first United Diet.

On the 28th of July, 1847, Otto von Bismarck-Schonhausen
married Johanna Frederica Charlotte Dorothea Eleonore von
Putkammer, born on the llth of April, 1824, the only daughter
of Herr Henry Ernst Jacob von Putkammer, of Kartlum, and the
Lady Luitgarde, born Von Glasenapp of Keinfeld.

On the journey which Bismarck took after the wedding with
his young wife through Switzerland and Italy, he accidentally
met his King Frederick William IV., at Venice. He was at
once commanded to attend at the royal dinner-table, and his
royal master conversed with him for a long time in a gracious
manner, particularly concerning German politics, a conversation
not, perhaps, without its influence on the subsequent and very
sudden appointment of Bismarck to the post of Ambassador to
the Federation ; but it unquestionably laid the foundation for
the favor with which King Frederick William IV. always re-
garded Bismarck. For the rest, he was so unprepared to meet
his king and master at Venice, that he had not even had time to
take with him a court suit, and was obliged to appear before his

* So in Bismarck's letter.— K. R. H. M.

150

DOMESTICATED AT SCHONHAUSEN.

sovereign in borrowed clothes, which, considering his stature,
must have fitted him very badly.

Bismarck now set up his domestic hearth at tha old stone

mansion of Scnonhausen.
There, where his cradle
once stood, in the follow-
ing year stood that of
his eldest child, his
daughter Marie; and
though his actual resi-
dence in Schonhausen
only lasted a few years,
he took with him his do-
mestic happiness thence
to Berlin, Frankfurt, and
St. Petersburg. Nomi-
nally Schonhausen con-
tinued to be his resi-
dence until he became
Minister-President; and
though he now prefers
to live on his. Pomera-
nian estates to those in
the Alt Mark, during
his days of retirement^
this does not occur from any want of affection for his old home,
but from a feeling of delicacy towards his father-in-law, now a
venerable man almost eighty years of age, but still fresh and
hale, who lives in the vicinity of Varzin, and also because he
finds in Pomerania three things for which he would seek in vain
at Schonhausen. The forest is not at Schonhausen close round
the house, as at Varzin, for at Schonhausen he has an hour's ride
to reach the wood, and the forest he loves as an old friend. The
game about Schonhausen is also almost entirely destroyed, and
the heavy wheat soil there is either flat and hard, or cloddy, and
therefore little fitted for riding. Bismarck, .is he ever was, re-
•mains a great horseman and a zealous sportsman.

The marriage of Bismarck has been blessed with three chil-
dren— Mary Elizabeth Johanna, born the 21st August. 1848,

CHILDREN.

151

at Schonhausen ; Nicolas Ferdinand Herbert, born the 28th De-
cember, 1849, at Berlin ; William Otto Albert, born the 1st Au-
gust, 1852, at Frankfurt-on-the-Maine.

Amidst the severe battles of a time so rife in immeasurable
contradictions, Bismarck commenced his 'family life in a simple
but substantial manner, as befitting a nobleman of the Alt Mark
or Pomerania ; and so he has been able to maintain himself even
at the elevation at which God the Almighty has placed him for
the good of his native country. That he may ever maintain it is
the aspiration of every patriot, for in him the fountain ever fresh-
ly runs, whence he draws continual renovation for the service of
his King and country.

Book tlje ffiljirb.

LEARNING THE BUSINESS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

" UT SCIAT REGNARE."

Bismarck's Policy. — Its Gradual Growth and Political Character. — Contrast Avith Luc-
chesini. — Bismarck's Open Honesty. — Vassal and Liege. — Liberalism a Danger. —
Democracy a Danger. — The Relative Positions of Prussia and Austria in the Fed-
eration.— Gerlach's Ideal Conservatism.

ISMAKCK has now to

be politically tested, and
amidst all the strange
eventualities in the re-
markable history of Prus-
sia, we perceive, first as a
counsellor, then as an act-
or, and finally as a guide,
that the one man emerges,
a man ever the same, yet
ever appearing to change.
Otto von Bismarck is best
to be compared to a tree,
which continues the same,
although gaining in height
and strength by growth ;
whose lofty top, with its
wide-spreading leaves, al-
ters its appearance at each
new spring, to a greater or
lesser degree ; it remains
the same, even if the wind
the trunk, despite its toughest power of resistance, slightly

bends

158 "I HAVE LEAKNT SOMETHING!"

aside ; an imperfect twig may be broken off by the storm, or a
heavy rain-fall may bare one of the deep roots, and abandon the
growing power a prize to the effects of the breeze and the sun.

The altered appearance which Bismarck at different times has
presented, has blinded many eyes ; many thought he had grown
into another man, as he presented himself ever stronger, mightierr
and of greater stature! Of course, he has long since become too
great, too strong, and too mighty for his opponents, and some
have found, in a manner not so entirely agreeable, the influence
of the wide-spreading tree with its potent shadow.

There have certainly been alterations in the man, but none of
them inconsistent with the growth of the tree. The simile may
not be accurate, but it indicates the truth. Bismarck has himself
pointed out the changes which he has undergone very much bet-
ter by the modest sentence, " I have learnt something !" Per-
haps he did not always learn the best, but he has learnt more
than many who now turn maliciously from him, because they
could not keep step with him; some others, also, because they
would not.

We owe to Guizot the expression of the same thought, so mod-
erately phrased by Bismarck, in the pointed French remark,
" Uhomme absurde seul ne change pas!" The word, however, is
somewhat suspicious in the mouth of the French statesman, for its
utterance is pro domo,a,s an excuse for various political apostasies.

Now, in Bismarck there is no trace of apostasy throughout his
political life, and perhaps in no statesman can an enduring politi-
cal principle be more easily discovered, and followed into detail
— if we only adhere to facts, and do not allow ourselves to be di-
verted by absurd misinterpretations of his words, the diatribes of
political opposition, or the hollow declamation of foolish party
babblers.

This is the more easy, as Bismarck is precisely the opposite of
one of his predecessors in the Foreign Office of Prussia. The
cunning of the Marquis of Lucchesini,* a predecessor of Bis-

* Lucchesini, Girolamo, Marchese, was born at Lucca in 1752 of a patrician family,
and presented by the Abbe Fontana to King Frederick II., by whom he was appoint-
ed librarian and reader with the title of Chamberlain. He was sent to Borne* in 1787 to
obtain certain ratifications from the Pope, and thence to Warsaw, where he succeeded
in 1790 in bringing Poland and Prussia into a treaty of amity. He attended the con-
gress of Reichenbach as Minister Plenipotentiary in 1791. In 1792 he went to War-

BISMARCK'S POLICY. 159

marck, had become so well known, so proverbial, that none of his
negotiations ever led to any thing, because whoever was repre-
senting the other side always commenced with the conviction
that Lucchesini would, in the end, outwit him. A certain degree
of confidence, however inconsiderable, is necessary on both sides,
if political arrangements are to end in results. Bismarck, on the
other hand, is a thoroughly honest politician — honest to such a
degree that his political adversary is sometimes puzzled, and sus-
pects some snare in his very openness. Bismarck is a thorough-
ly honest man, who scorns every intentional deception on the part
of his opponents.

We are well aware that this assertion will be met in many
circles with scornful contradiction ; but it is nevertheless true, and
we will demonstrate the proposition. But they also err, who-
may perhaps believe that we are of opinion that we have, in this,
said something flattering, to the Minister-President; we merely
acknowledge that this honesty has been implanted in the nature
of Bismarck by the Almighty, that it could not but develop
itself and become a sustaining principle; but such acknowledg-
ment does not constitute flattery.

Bismarck rode into the political lists in 1847 as a courageous,
sensible, and honorable man, and has held his place in the arena
for more than twenty years as a loyal champion of the King, both
in single combat and general battle. He has made mistakes in
his innumerable contests, but he has learnt from them, has gal-
lantly paid 'in person, and never concealed or denied his colors or
insignia.

Even the most furious opponents of these colors and insignia
can not deny this.

We have not used the simile of the knightly tournament unad-

saw and destroyed the very treaty he had himself negotiated between Prussia and Po-
land. Hence the above strictures on him. He was Ambassador to Vienna in 1793,
but was generally with the King. In September, 1802, he was sent to Paris as Am-
bassador Extraordinary, and followed Napoleon to Milan. He was present at the
battle of Jena, and signed the truce at Charlottenburg with Napoleon. This not be-
ing sanctioned by the King, he resigned. He then became Chamberlain to Napoleon's
sister, the Duchess of Lucca, and died the 19th October, 1825, at Florence. He was
the author of some political works on the Rhenish Confederation and the like. He
seems to have been a shifty and unprincipled politician. His younger brother,
Cesare Lucchesini, was a distinguished author and antiquary. — K. R. H. M.

160 LIBERALISM A DANGER TO PRUSSIA.

visedly, for the whole political faith of Bismarck is founded on a
chivalric idea, in the deep immovable conviction of his personal
position towards the Prussian sovereignty. The ultimate foun-
dation of Bismarck's political action consists in his personal posi-
tion as an Alt Mark vassal and nobleman to his liege lord, the
Margrave of Brandenburg, the King of Prussia. It will be un-
derstood that this position is the ultimate, but not precisely the
only one ; it is only the least, but also the inmost circle, whence
the other principles around him have evolved themselves, accord-
ing to his consciousness. As the liegeman stood in personal rela-
tion to his lord, so the deputy stood to the King, and the relation
to the Regent was analogous to the relation of the Minister-Pres-
ident and Chancellor of the Diet to the King and Chief of the
North German Federation. From this strong consciousness of
the moral connection of his own person with that of the sover-
eign, his liege, Bismarck's whole political acts arise and may be
discerned.

King William is, however, aware of the construction which
Bismarck places upon their inter-relations, and in this, on the one
hand, lies the strength, on the other the weakness, of the position
held by Bismarck, as chief counsellor of the King. This hint
may here suffice.

And if we now contemplate, from this point of view, the whole
political life of Bismarck — his speeches, his letters, his dispatches
and ordinances, the result of his exertions everywhere, from the
beginning until now — what do we find? The same loyal Bran-
denburg statesman, who, in chivalrous and liege faith, has grown
greater in courage and self-sacrifice ; learning more how to per-
form his functions as year by year has passed away ; with great-
er self-possession and good-humor before the throne of his mon-
arch ; before that throne, in his conception, the bulwark of Prus-
sia and Germany, and defended by him with equal zeal against
inward detractors and outward foes.

At the first United Diet, in the year 1847, he was impressed
with the idea that liberalism might endanger the throne of his
liege; 'it was not a perfect conviction, but the daring phrase
roused him ; he supposed he saw danger, and he instantly
showed a firm front to it.

At that time he was but little acquainted with the use of par-

A LEADER OF THE CONSERVATIVES.

liamentary weapons ; his opponents were far more experienced
in eloquence than himself, and he stood, as it were, almost alone
before a multitude ; for those of his own opinions, with the ex-
ception of the two Manteuffels, perhaps, were still less experienced
.speakers than he ; but the bravery with which he encountered
the word " liberal " deserved all praise. The bold attitude with
.which he entered the arena revealed to his opponents that the
unknown Dyke Captain from the banks of the Elbe was not a
man to be undervalued by them ; this they did not do ; and the
fierce irony with which they, with more or less talent, over-
whelmed him, betrayed the fact that in this Junker the Crown
liad found a mighty defender.

"When the second United Diet took place, the enemy of the
kingdom was no longer liberalism, but democracy, and Bismarck
met this foe with the most unhesitating conviction. But the no-
bleman who honors in the King of Prussia his liege lord, is by
no means the Aga, or Pasha, of an Oriental Sultan, blindly obe-
dient and adoring. The manly words of Bismarck were a re-
bukej not only to the low, but the high.

In 1849-'ol Bismarck occupied a position in the Diet, as one
•of the chief leaders of the Conservative party against democracy.
He entered into the strife with ardor, both at Berlin and Erfurt;
wherever he saw the sovereignty of Prussia assailed, he sprang to
the breach with decision. He seemed to have a fine intuition
for every thing hostile to his beloved sovereignty.

When Ambassador at Frankfurt to the Federation, he at once
recognized the impending ruin of Prussia to consist in the false
position she there occupied, and he arrived at the conviction that
the jea'lousy of Austria would strive to retain Prussia in this po-
sition, and not only that, but would employ itself in active meas-
ures, by which it should end in the final destruction of Germany.
He therefore resolved upon opposition to Austria. This' was
not a very easy task ; the compact between Prussia and Austria
had descended to him from his fathers as a sacred tradition. He
would readily have held out his hand, he would have desired
earnestly to remain true to tradition ; nor did he remit in at-
tempts and offers, until he knew that there was a change coming
over the policy of Austria not tending to the good of Prussia
and Germany. He -then changed with military precision. The

162

OPPOSITION TO PARLIAMENTARIANISM.

vassal approached with full front before the throne of his liege,
even against Austria. He did not do it secretly, but openly and
honestly ; every one might be able to tell how it fared with him
everywhere. He defined his position in writing from Frankfurt,
from St. Petersburg, from Paris, both by his own hand and by
that of others.

And when, in 1862, he entered upon the conflict inherited by
him from the new era, the result ot the thorny fight, at the head
of the government, it was the mightiness of the kingdom, the- po-
sition of his liege lord, for which he fought for years with body

and soul against the pretensions of the parliamentary spirit, with
glorious devotion and tough Brandenburg tenacity.

The interior defense of the Prussian monarchy, in its inherent
integrity, the rehabilitation of the liberty of Germany, so impor-
tant for its own safety, and a dignified attitude towards foreign
nations, constitute the unity of the policy of Bismarck.

Liberalism, democracy, the inimical jealousy of Austria, the
envy of foreign nations, with its train of parliamentary spirit arid
specialisms — such are the enemies of the Prussian sovereignty ;
and Bismarck has, with equal courage and firmness, with as

ENEMIES OF BISMARCK'S POLICY. 168

much insight as success, fought openly and honestly against
these. And if all outward symptoms do not deceive us, he is
now powerfully preparing against another great foe of real sover-
eignty— that is, bureaucracy, still lying armed to the teeth be-
hind-the Table of Green Cloth as its stronghold. *

In these different contests it is quite possible that Bismarck
may often have erred ; he may not immediately have found the
right weapons, and he may also not have employed them in the
proper localities. It is certain there is much to blame, much to
deplore ; but accept him in all that is great and real, then most
persons will voluntarily bow before the man, who, for twenty
years, has fought so great a battle, with visor down, without false
deceit or any kind of malice. Nor has the man earned his hard
victories without having had to pay for them.

Bismarck has not destroyed the enemies of the Prussian mon-
archy ; this is in the power of no man — nor perhaps was it
within the sphere of his intentions ; but he has subdued them,
and in greater or lesser proportion made them serviceable to the
interests of the Crown.

One of the chief difficulties in his political action is, on the one
hand to discipline these elements which so very unwillingly
serve the Prussian monarchy, and on the other to spare the per-
fectly intelligible sensitiveness of ancient fidelity, and to conquer
the readily .understood want of confidence of his own old coad-
jutors in the gay ranks of his new allies. He is thus met with
the idealistic conservatism of Gerlach, whose organ was the
" Neue Preussische Zeitung " for so many years. Gerlach's
principal service consisted in the actual formation of a political
conservative party in Prussia — an idealism long revered by Bis-
marck, but certainly not to be contained within its own bounds
when opposed to those demands which are made on a guiding
statesman by the hard necessities of daily life. The old conser-
vative party of Prussia has made great sacrifices, and is making
them daily ; but she makes them to the glorious kingdom of
Prussia, and it is a high honor to be the regnant party when
a Bismarck is the King's first councillor. And, indeed, is it pos-
sible for the conservative party to be otherwise than the reign-
ing party in Prussia?

The tried Prussian patriotism of the conservatives will not al-

164

MIT GOTT FUR KONIG UND VATERLAND!1

low itself to be disconnected by details from the great statesman
who has emerged from their ranks; they know that Bismarck
not only is frequently compelled to pour his new wine into old
bottles, but also to pour his old wine into new bottles. The
good is not always the enemy of the better, but sometimes the
bridge to the best and highest. The lightning does not pursue
the course where it finds the best conductor, but that in which
the sum of conduction is the most powerful. Bismarck's real
policy consists in forcing parties unwilling to do so, to work an'd
strive for the monarchy. In royal Prussia no party can any
longer exist with the object of weakening the royal power.
There will always continue to be a number of those whose efforts
are more or less openly directed to such an end; but no party
dare, as such, to acknowledge such an aim.

If we, then, see the unity of Bismarck's policy to consist in
the defense of the sovereignty, it might almost seem as if this
policy were of a negative character ; but this is only apparent,
for such a defense leads to positive creations, although at first
sight they may appear as mighty beginnings — such as the North
German Confederation — and are not all so evident to the eye, as
may be seen on the map of the kingdom of Prussia since 1866.

We shall now accompany Bismarck to the Assembly of the
Three Estates of the first United Diet, then from battle-field to
battle-field at Berlin, at Erfurt, and at Frankfurt, until those of
Koniggratz and Nicolsburg, and still farther, for the great con-
test is not yet fought out — the last victory is not won. The
statesman whom God will yet awaken to enter upon the inherit-
ance of Bismarck, and continue his work, will find new and
mighty armor, the creation of King William and Bismarck, in
which to encounter the enemy with the ancient Prussian war-cry,
"Mit Gottfur Konig und Vaterland !"— " With God for King and
Country !"

CHAPTER II.

THE ASSEMBLY OF THE THREE ESTATES.
[1847.]

The February Constitution. — Merseberg. — First Appearance of Bismarck in the
White Saloon. — Von Saucken. — Bismarck's First Speech. — Conservatives and Lib-
erals.— The First of June. — Jewish Emancipation. — Illusions Destroyed.

WHEN King Frederick William IV. issued the February man-
ifesto, in 1847,* and summoned the United Diet with the Cham-
bers, he thought in his royal great-heartedness to have accorded
to his people a free gift of his affection and his confidence, and to
have anticipated many wishes ; but close behind the rejoicings
which welcomed the patent of February, there lay the bitterest
disenchantment for the noble King.

The honorable old royalists of Prussia, who had been educated
and had grown up in the honest Prussian absolutism of Frederick
William III., first looked with suspicion at this new royal gift ;
they could not at all understand why their own King of Prussia
should have thought it necessary to summon a Parliament some-
what on the model of England, and they foresaw all sorts of evils
in the future, as they thoughtfully shook their gray and honored
heads. To these men, who at that time were still very numer-
ous, and whose influence was considerable, succeeded those who
certainly felt that the abuses of bureaucracy were no longer cura-
ble by patriarchal absolutism, but who still thought that the King,
by this measure, had conceded the very utmost possible in that di-
rection. They saw in the patent the last fortress of the monarchy
which must be held against liberalism at any cost. In opposi-

* This Constitution is given in the Appendix, being an important state document.—*
K. R. H. M.

166 OPINIONS ON THE FEBRUARY CONSTITUTION.

tion to these royalists, the host of liberals unfolded their gay ban-
ner in different columns. They only could see in the February
patent the starting-point of a further movement, which, founded
on the patent, might transform the absolute state into a modern
constitutional monarchy. There existed even individuals who
perceived that the patent would prove an obstacle to their revolu-
tionary tendencies, and desired to refuse its acceptance.

We will not criticise these parties, but it is certain that none of
them regarded the patent in the spirit of the royal donor — unless
perhaps some who had understood that the King, basing his ac-
tion on the existing Provincial Assemblies, proposed in a similar
manner to erect a peculiar Prussian Eepresentative Monarchy.
They beheld the February patent to be no final measure, but the
beginning of States Government, which could only develop it-
self under specially favorable circumstances, and in course of
time.

Bismarck was one of the men who, although without absolute-
ly expressing the opinion, regarded the patent as the starting-
point of a new order of things, in common with the liberals, but
not in the sense of a constitutional monarchy, but comprehended
it, as the King did, as a step towards a peculiar and specifically
Prussian State Government.

The Saxon Provincial Diet at Merseburg had chosen the Dyke
Captain and First Lieutenant von Brauchitsch of Scharteuke, in
the Circle of Jerichow, as Deputy at the United Diet, and had
selected Dyke Captain von Bismarck of Schonhausen as his rep-
resentative. As Herr von Brauchitsch was very ill, his represent-
ative was summoned.

Bismarck appeared in the White Saloon of the Royal Palace at
Colin on the Spree, where the Three Estates' Assembly held its
Sessions, as a representative of the Knight's Estate of Jerichow,
and a vassal and chivalric servitor of the King. He was at that
time, however, as liberal as most of his associates; liberalism
then floated in the air and was inhaled ; it was impossible to
avoid it. Against many abuses it was also justifiable; hence its
mighty influence.

A conservative party, in the sense in which we wish it to be
understood, did not then exist ; nor did the general confusion of
opinions at the time allow of the formation of true parties. It is

BISMARCK AT THE THREE ESTATES' ASSEMBLY.

167

true that Bismarck met many men in the White Saloon, whose
opinions were well known to him ; of these were his brother, the
Landrath, his cousins, the Counts von Bismarck • Bohlen and
von Bismarck-Briest, his future father-in-law, Herr von Putkam-
mer, von Thadden, von Wedell, and many others — but unfor-
tunately these gentlemen in general, as Herr von Thadden once
bluntly said of himself, were not even bad orators, but no ora-
tors at all. Nor could the two Freiherrs von Manteuffel contend
in eloquence with the brilliant rhetoricians of the liberals, such
as Freiherr von Yincke, Camphausen, Mevissen, Beckerath, and
others.

Yery few persons now exist who can read those speeches of
the First United Diet, once so celebrated, without a melancholy
or satirical smile: those were the blossom-days of liberal phrase-
ology, causing an enthusiasm of which we can not now form any
adequate idea.

They acted with such an influence upon Bismarck, but he was
soon sobered, when he attained the conviction that these great
speakers, moved by their construction of the patent of Februa-
ry, advocated an end not contemplated by the spirit of the patent.
To him it did not seem honest to contend for modern constitu-
tionalism upon the judicial merits of the February patent, against
its sense and spirit.

An inimical inspiration acted on him in liberal phraseology,
and the more magnificent the oratory, the more repugnant it be-
came to him, especiall}' where he saw untruth clearly in view.
He employed some time in makin'g it evident to himself that
the liberal idea was the very fact under the government of
which men, otherwise of great honor, in the very best of faith,
brought forward matters in themselves quite false ; and the deep-
est want of confidence then made itself master of his mind. He
began to understand how dangerous a power so intangible might
become to the sovereignty.

At the sitting of the Three Estates on the 17th May, the Dep-
uty von Saucken made one of those wordy enthusiastic speech-
es at that time so popular, and declared that the Prussian people
had risen in the year 1813 for the sole end of obtaining a consti-
tution. This had previously been asserted by Beckerath and
others on several occasions.

168 BISMARCK'S FIRST SPEECH.

After the liberal speaker had descended amidst the plaudits of
the Assembly, the Deputy Bismarck, for the first time, appeared
upon the tribune. His stature was great, his plentiful hair was-
cut short, his healthily ruddy countenance was fringed by a
strong blond beard, his shining eyes were somewhat prominent,
a fieur de tete, as the French idiom has it — such was his aspect.
He gazed upon the assembly for a moment, and then spoke sim-
ply, but with some hesitation, in a strong, sometimes shrill voice,
with not altogether pleasing emphasis: — "For me it is difficult —
after a speech replete with such noble enthusiasm — to address-
you, in order to bring before you a plain re-statement." He
then glanced at some length at the real merits of a previous
vote, and continued in the following words : —

"To discuss the remaining points of the speech, I prefer to-
choose a time when it will be necessary to enter upon questions
of policy ; at present I am compelled to contradict what is stated
from this tribune, as well as what is so loudly and so frequently
asserted outside this hall, in reference to the necessity for a consti-
tution, as if the movements of our nation in 1813 should be as-
cribed to other causes and motives than those of the tyranny ex-
ercised by the foreigner in our land."

Here the speaker was assailed with such loud marks of dis-
approbation, hisses, and outcries, that he could no longer make
himself intelligible. He quietly drew a newspaper from his
pocket — it was the "Spenersche Zeitung" — and read it, leaning
in an easy attitude, until the President-Marshal had restored or-
der; he then concluded, still' interrupted by hisses, with these
words : — " In my opinion it is doing sorry service to the nation-
al honor, to conclude that ill-treatment and humiliation suffered
by Prussia at the hands of a foreign ruler would not be enough
to rouse Prussian blood, and cause all other feelings to be ab»
sorbed by the hatred of foreigners."

Amidst great commotion Bismarck left the tribune, ten or
twelve voices being clamorous to be heard.

It is not intelligible to us at the present day, how the casual
statement of a simple opinion, which, even had it been untrue,,
need have offended no one, could raise such a storm. Nor had
Bismarck personally offended any one, but he had protested
against liberalism, and at once the Mamelukes of this most evil

ATTACKS BY THE LIBERAL PARTY.

169

despot pounced upon him — upon this unfortunate member of the
chivalry of the province of Saxony. The elder gentlemen were es-
pecially offended, who had voluntarily taken the field in 1813, and
had now attributed the motive they thought then actuated them,
and perhaps they really entertained, to the nation. It was curious,

BISMARCK IN 1847-1848.

too, that they flatly denied the right of criticism to this member,
on the ground that he was not in existence in those great days.
When, with loud clamor, these gentlemen had given vent to their
moral indignation, Bismarck again ascended the tribune; but the

170 THE PASQUINADES OF THE PRESS.

anger of the liberals was so great that the Marshal had to use all
his authority to protect him during his speech.

Bismarck now spoke fluently, in the manner since so familiar to
us, but coldly and sarcastically : "I can certainly not deny that
I did not as yet exist in those days, and I am truly sorry not to
have been permitted to take part in that movement ; my regret
for this is certainly diminished by the explanations I have re-
ceived just now upon the movements of that epoch. I always
thought the servitude against which the sword was then used
was a foreign servitude ; I now learn that it lay at home. For
this correction I am not by any means grateful !"

The hisses of the liberals were now met by many voices with
"Hear, hear!" From this moment the hatred of the press was
concentrated upon Bismarck ; being without exception in the
hands of the liberals, it governed public opinion entirely, and it
assailed Bismarck even more unscrupulously and unconscien-
tiously than it had attacked Yon Thadden and Von Manteuifel.
As contradiction was impossible, the world probably thought
Bismarck was still one of the wild Junkers who, armed to the
teeth in steel, considered village tyranny and dissoluteness to be
the best kind of constitution, and in deep political ignorance was
still standing at about the mental mark of Dietrich von Quit-
zow,* or at the most of one of the Junkers of the time of Fred-
erick I. The liberal press certainly succeeded in producing a
caricature of Bismarck, composed of a kind of a black bogy and
a ridiculous bugbear ; the latter they were speedily obliged to
drop, but the bogy they have the more firmly retained, and
frightened political babies with it until very recent days.

No one has any idea at the present' time how the liberal press
of those days assailed men who were obnoxious to them. In the
year 1849, two gentlemen were introduced to each other in so-
ciety ; as ordinarily happens, they mistook their several names
on a hurried introduction. The elder gentleman spoke in an in-
tellectual, remarkable, exhaustive, and instructive manner con-
cerning the affairs of Hungary, whence he had recently returned,
and showed himself to be a person of thought, information, and
politeness. His interlocutor for a long time could not believe

* An account of this family has been given at p. 47 in a note. Those who wish to
pursue further details may consult Kloden's history, published in 1828. — K. R. H. M.

IN BATTLE ARRAY AGAINST THE LIBERALS.

that this was Herr von Thadden-Triglaff; the ridiculous carica-
ture the liberal press had sent broadcast into society of this em-
inent and singular man was so firmly fixed in his convictions.

We have laid some emphasis on this point, as it forms an ex-
planation of the obstinate suspicion with which, for many after
years, Bismarck was regarded by a section of the public. It is
also plainly evident that the young politician often defended
himself against this " world of scorn " with equal and biting
scorn, and covered himself with the shield of contempt against
mockery he did not deserve. He was continually assailed, some-
times in the rudest manner, and sometimes with poisonous acu-
men ; and he could not have been Bismarck had he borne it
with patience.

Thus it befell that he soon found himself in full battle array
against liberalism, and his speeches at the time show that he took
a serious view of the matter. He gave utterance to his convic-
tions and opinions in conformity wtih his natural fearless nature;
he adhered closely to- the matter at issue, but the form in which
he did so was that of the most cutting attack, whetted in general
by a cloud of contempt for his opponent, or of bitter ridicule.

In the debate of the Three Estates of the 1st of June, 1847,
known as the Periodicity Debate, Bismarck spoke as follows:

" I will not take the trouble to examine the solidity of the va-
rious grounds of right, on which each of us presumes himself to
stand ; but, I believe, it has become certain, from the debate and
from every thing which I have gathered from the discussion of
the question, that a different construction and interpretation of
the older estates legislation was possible and practically existent
— not among laymen only, but also among weighty jurists — and
that it would be very doubtful what a court of justice, if such a
question were before it, would decree concerning it. Under such
circumstances, the declaration would, according to general prin-
ciples of law, afford a solution. This declaration has become im-
plicit upon us, implicit by the patent of the 3d of February of
this year ; by this the King has declared that the general prom-
ises of former laws have been no other than those fulfilled by the
present law. It appears that this declaration has been regarded
by a portion of this Assembly as inaccurate, but such is a fate to
which every declaration is equally subject. Every declaration is

172

PRUSSIAN DIVINE RIGHT.

considered by those whose opinions it does not confirm, to be
wrong, or the previous conviction could not have been sincere.
The question really is, in whom the right resides to issue an au-
thentic and legally binding declaration. In my opinion, the
King alone ; and this conviction, I believe, lies in the conscience
of the people. For when yesterday an Honorable Deputy from
Konigsberg asserted that there was a dull dissatisfaction among
the people on the proclamation of the patent of the 3d of Feb-
ruary, I must reply, on the contrary, that I do not find the ma-
jority of the Prussian nation represented in the meetings which
take place in the Bottchershofchen. (Murmurs.) In inarticulate
sounds I really can not discover any refutation of what I have
said, nor do I find it in the goose-quills of the newspaper corre-
spondents ; no ! not even in a fraction of the population of some
of the large provincial towns. It is difficult to ascertain public
opinion ; I think I find it in some of the middle provinces, and it
is the old Prussian conviction that a royal word is worth more
than all the constructions and quirks applied to the letter of the
law. (Some voices : Bravo !) Yesterday a parallel was drawn
between the method employed by the English people in 1688r
after the abdication of James II., for the preservation of its rights,
and that by which the Prussian nation should now attain a simi-
lar end. There is always something suspicious in parallels with
foreign countries. Enssia had been held up to us as a model of
religious toleration ; the French and Danish exchequers have
been recommended as examples of proper finances. To return
to the year 1688 in England, I must really beg this august as-
sembly, and especially an honorable deputy from Silesia, to par-
don me if I again speak of a circumstance which I did not per-
sonally perceive. The English people was then in a different
position to that of the Prussian people now ; a century oi. revolu-
tion and civil war had invested it with the right to dispose of a
crown, and bind up with it conditions accepted by William of
Orange. On the other hand, the Prussian sovereigns were in
possession of a crown, not by grace of the people, but by God's
grace ; an actually unconditional crown, some of the rights of
which they voluntarily conceded to the people — an example rare
in history. I will leave the question of right, and proceed to
that concerning the utility and desirability of asking or suggest-

NO UNWILLINGNESS TO CONCESSION. 173

ing any change in the legislation as it actually now exists. I
adhere to the conviction, which I assume to be that of the major-
ity of the Assembly, that periodicity is necessary to a real vital-
ity of this Assembly ; but it is another matter whether we should
seek this by way of petition. Since the emanation of the patent
of the 3d of February, I do not believe that it would be conso-
nant with the royal pleasure, or that it is inherent with the posi-
tion of ourselves as estates, to approach His Majesty already with
a petition for an amendment of it. At any rate let us allow the
grass of this summer to grow over it. The King has repeatedly
said, that he did not wish to be coerced and driven ; but I ask
the Assembly what should we be doing otherwise than coercing
and driving him, if we already approached the throne with re-
quests for changes in the legislation ? To the gravity of this view
I ask permission of the Assembly to add another reason. It is
certainly well known how many sad predictions have been made
by the opponents of our polity connected with the fact that the
Government would find itself forced by the estates into a posi-
tion which it would not have willingly taken up. But although
I do not assume the Government would allow itself to be co-
erced, I still think that it is in the interests of the Government to
.avoid the slightest trace of unwillingness as to concessions, and
that it is in all our interests not to concede to the enemies of
Prussia the delight of witnessing the fact that, by a petition — a
vote — presented by us as the representatives of sixteen millions
of subjects, we should throw a shade of unwillingness upon such
a concession. It has been said that His Majesty the King and
the Commissioner of the Diet have themselves pointed out this
path. For myself, I could not otherwise understand this than
that, as the King has done, so also the Commissioner of the Diet
indicated this as the legal way we should pursue in case we
found ourselves aggrieved ; but that it would be acceptable to
His Majesty the King and the Government that we should make
use of this right, I have not been able to perceive. If, however,
we did so, it would be believed that urgent grounds existed for
it — that there was immediate danger in the future ; but of this I
can not convince myself. The next session of the Assembly is
assured; the Crown, also, is thereb}r in the advantageous position,
that within four years, or even a shorter period, it can with per-

174

POLITICAL CONFESSION OF FAITH.

feet voluntariness, and without asking, take the initiative as to
that which is now desired. Now, I ask, is not the edifice of our
State firmer towards foreign countries ? — will not the feeling of
satisfaction be greater at home, if the continuation of our national
polity be inaugurated by the initiative of the Crown, than by
petition from ourselves ? Should the Crown not find it good to
take the initiative, no time is lost. The third Diet will not fol-
low so rapidly upon the second, that the King would have no
time to reply to a petition presented under such circumstances by
the second. Yesterday a deputy from Prussia — I think from the
circle of Neustadt — uttered a speech which I could only compre-
hend as meaning that it was our interest to pull up the flower of
confidence as a weed preventing us from seeing the bare ground,
and cast it out. I say with pride that I can not agree with such
an opinion. If I look back for ten years, and compare that
which was written and said in the year 1837 with that which is
proclaimed from the steps of the throne to the whole nation, I
believe we have great reason to have confidence in the intentions
of His Majesty. In this confidence I beg to recommend this au-
gust assembly to adopt the amendment of the Honorable Deputy
from Westphalia — not that of the Honorable Deputy from the
countjr of Mark — but that of Herr von Lilien."

This speech is certainly a Prussian -Royalist confession of faith
as opposed to the constitutional doctrine, and was so accepted at
times with cheers, at other times with murmurs, and, finally with
a flood of personal opposition.

The political side of Bismarck's attitude is clear enough from
this speech. We will signalize another aspect of it by the fol-
lowing passages from a speech delivered by Bismarck on the oc-
casion of that debate known as the Jews' Debate, on the 15th of
June.

" On ascending this place to-day, it is with greater hesitation
than usual, as I am sensible that by what I am about to- utter,
some few remarks of the speakers of yesterday, of no very flatter-
ing tone, will have in a certain sense to be reviewed. I must
openly confess that I am attached to a certain tendency, yester-
day characterized by the Honorable Deputy from Crefeld as dark
and mediaeval ; this tendency which again dares to oppose the
freer development of Christianity in the way the Deputy from

THE JEW DEBATE. 175

Crefeld regards as the only true one. Nor can I further deny
that I belong to that great mass, which, as was remarked by the
Honorable Deputy from Posen, stands in opposition to the more
intelligent portion of the nation, and, if my memory do not be-
tray me, was held in considerable scorn by that intelligent sec-
tion— the great mass that still clings to the convictions imbibed
at the breast, — the great mass to which a Christianity superior to
the State is too elevated. If I find myself in the line of fire of
such sharp sarcasms without a murmur, I believe I may throw
myself upon the indulgence of the Honorable Assembly, if I con-
fess, with the same frankness which distinguished my opponents,
that yesterday, at times of inattention, it did not quite appear cer-
tain to me whether I was in an assembly for which the law had
provided, in reference to its election, the condition of communion
with some one of the Christian churches. I will pass at once to
the question itself. Most of the speakers have spoken less upon
the bill than upon emancipation in general. I will follow their
example. I am no enemy to the Jews, and if they are enemies
to me, I forgive them. Under certain circumstances I even love
them. I would grant them every right, save that of holding su-
perior official posts in Christian countries.

" We have heard from the Minister of Finance, and from other
gentlemen on the ministerial bench, sentiments as to the defini-
tion of a Christian State, to which I almost entirely subscribe;
but, on the other hand, we were yesterday told that Christian su-
premacy is an idle fiction, .an invention of recent State philoso-
phers. I am of opinion that the idea of Christian supremacy is
as ancient as the ci-devant Holy Eoman Empire — as ancient as
the great family of European States ; that it is, in fact, the very
soil in which these states have taken root, and that every state
which wishes to have its existence enduring, if it desires to point
to any justification for that existence, when called in question,
must be constituted on a religious basis. For me, the words ' by
the grace of God' affixed by Christian rulers to their names
form no empty sound ; but I see in the phrase the acknowledg-
ment that princes desire to sway the sceptres intrusted to them
by the Almighty according to God's will on earth. I, however,
can only recognize as the will of God that which is contained in
the Christian Gospels, and I believe I arn within my right when

176 CHRISTIANITY THE BASIS OF THE STATE.

I call such a State Christian, whose problem is to realize and ver-
ify the doctrine of Christianity. That our State does not in all
ways succeed in this, the Honorable Deputy from the county of
Mark yesterday demonstrated in a parallel he drew between the
truths of the Gospel and the paragraphs of national jurispru-
dence, in a way rather clever than consonant with my religious
feelings. But although the solution of the problem is not always
successful, I am still convinced that the aim of the State is the re-
alization of Christian doctrine ; however, I do not think we shall
approach this aim more closely with the aid of the Jews. If the
religious basis of the State be acknowledged, I am sure that
among ourselves the basis can only be that of Christianity. If
we withdraw from the State this religious basis, our State be-
comes nothing more than a fortuitous aggregation of rights, a sort
of bulwark against the universal war of each against all, such as
an elder philosophy instituted. Its legislation then would no
longer recreate itself from the original fountain of eternal truth,
but only from the vague and mutable ideas of humanity taking-
shape only from the conceptions formed in the brains of those
who occupy the apex. How such states could deny the right of
the practical application of such ideas — as, for instance, those of
the communists on the immorality of property, the high moral
value of theft, as an experiment for the rehabilitation of the na-
tive rights of man — is not clear to me ; for these very ideas are
entertained by their advocates as humane, and, indeed, as consti-
tuting the very flower of humanitarianism. Therefore, gentle-
men, let us not diminish the Christianity of the people by show-
ing that it is superfluous to the legislature; let us not deprive the
people of the^Delief that our legislation is derived from the fount-
ain of Christianity, and that the State seeks to promote the reali-
zation of Christianity, though that end may not always be at-
tained.

******

"Besides this, several speakers, as in almost every question,
have referred to the examples of England and France as models
worthy of imitation. This question is of much less consequence
there, because the Jews are so much less numerous than here.
But I would recommend to the gentlemen who are so fond of
seeking their ideas beyond the Yosges, a guide-line distinguish-

YOUTH AT AN END. 177

ing the English and the French. That consists in the proud
feeling of national honor, which does not so easily and commonly
seek for models worthy of imitation and wonderful patterns, as
we do here, in foreign lands."

It will be understood that this speech was much criticised ; but
it became a regular armory for his opponents ; it was taken for
.granted that Bismarck himself had stated that he stood in " the
-dark ages," that he had " imbibed reactionary ideas with his
.mother's milk," and other similar things, although he was only
ridiculing the ideas of his opponents ; there was seldom an op-
portunity lost, when he was twitted with "the dark ages" and
the " prejudices imbibed at the breast." Bismarck possessed hu-
mor enough to laugh at this pitiful trick, and once exclaimed
very well : " Deputy Krause rode in the lists against me on a
horse, in front the dark ages, behind mother's milk!" What a
picture Herr Krause, the Burgomaster of Elbing (if we are not
-misinformed), would make upon such a fabulous steed !

Bismarck left the United Diet with a thorn in his breast. He
shad lost many of the youthful illusions he had carried thither;
the Prussia he found in the White Saloon was as remote as heav-
•en from the Prussia he had hitherto believed in, and his patri-
otic heart was sorrowful. He perceived that the sovereignty of
Prussia was about to encounter severe contests; that his duty lay
with the monarch's idea, and that his native land must be res-
•cued from the insolent pretensions of the modern parliamentary
spirit, from the most dangerous of all paper governments. In
short, he arrived with hazy, but somewhat liberal, views, and he
returned a politician thoroughly acquainted with his duty and
his work, which consisted in aiding the King to restore the Es-
tates' Monarchy. It was a gift, but he received it with a sigh.
His youth was at an end.

Bismarck has ever remained true to his patriotic duties, every-
where in earnestness, and at no time has he withdrawn his hand
from the plough ; he went bravely on, when so many cast their
•weapons away and fled.

CHAPTER IT!

THE DAYS OF MARCH.

[1848.]

Rest at Home. — Contemplation. — The Revolution in Paris, February, 1848. — Prog-
ress of the Revolutionary Spirit. — The March Days of Berlin. — The Citizen Guard.
— Opening of the Second Session of the United Diet, 2d April, 1848. — Prince Solms-
IIohen-Solms-Lich. — Fr. Foerster. — "Eagle's Wings and Bodelswings. " — Prince
Felix Lichnowsky. — The Debate on the Address. — Speech of Bismarck. — Revolu-
tion at the Portal of the White Saloon. — Vaticinium Lehninense. — The Kreuzzei-
tung Letter of Bismarck on Organization of Labor.— Bismarck at Stolpe on the
Baltic. — The Winter of Discontent. — Maiiteuftel.

IN a previous section we have already recorded that, shortly
after the close of the First United Diet, on the 28th of July, 1847r
Herr Otto von Bismarck celebrated his wedding at Keinfeld, in
Pornerania, with Fraulein Johanna von Putkammer, and then en-
tered upon a journey with his youthful wife by way of Dresden,.
Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg, to Italy, meeting his sovereign,.
Frederick William IV., at Venice, and finally, returning through
Switzerland and the Ehine-Province, fixed his residence at the
ancient hearth of his ancestors at Schonhausen.

It was a short but happy time of rest, passed in rural retire-
ment. The ancient family traits of the Bismarcks, after a silent
activity in field and forest, became more strongly marked in
him than in many other branches of his race, and his wife also-
retained a charming reminiscence .of these peaceful days in
Schonhausen. She still preserves grateful recollections of that
happy time. The outward honors, the universal fame of her il-
lustrious husband, have brought no accession of domestic joy;
she loves the time in which she was only Frau von Bismarck,
without the Excellency.

COUNTESS VON BISMARCK-SCHONHAUSEN

FOREBODINGS.

181

It is not necessary to say that Bismarck, in the happiness of
his youthful marriage, had not forgotten his native land ; that he
still pursued the course of political events with keen appreciation,
and could not omit to join in its most serious eventualities.
Whether he sat in his libra-
ry amidst his books and
maps, roved as a solitary
sportsman through his pre-
serves in field or wood,
turned to agricultural pur-
suits with the eye of a pro-
prietor, or visited his neigh-
bors in Jerichow or Katten-
winkel, he felt an intuitive
perception of some great and
decisive event about to
come. Men so politically
eminent as Bismarck even
then was — although he had not, as yet, evinced it in public — bear
within them a certain foreshadowing of coming events not to be
under-estimated.

When the first news arrived of the revolution of February in
Paris, Bismarck knew for a fact that the signal for a struggle
with the Prussian Monarchy "had there been given ; he perceived
that the wave of revolution would pass over the Rhine, and dash
against the throne of his sovereign.

He determined upon manly resistance, and his virile courage
was not broken when the terrible truth more than fulfilled his
anticipations; when the waves of revolution shot with lightning
speed through all Germany ; when a want of presence of mind and
irresolute counsels, and at times crass cowardice, rather than ill-
will or treason, in almost every direction, lamed or broke down
the power of resistance.

He saw, sinking and destroyed, bulwarks and dykes he had
held to be unassailable ; his heart palpitated with patriotic ardor
and manly sorrow, but he lost neither courage nor clear insight,
like a true dykesman. It had hitherto been his office to pro-
tect the Elbe dykes against the floods, and in a similar charac-
ter it was his duty to act against the floods of revolution. Nor

182

THE DAYS OF MARCH.

has the valiant man unfaithfully acquitted himself of his severe

duty.

The March -days of
Berlin pressed hard upon
the heart of the sturdy

WlWV^a March -squire, and there

I ' lliS®\7c^^Hfir3ilifei ensued a long series of

days of grief; for he felt
as a personal insult every
thing spoken, written, or
enacted against his royal
master. He passed as in
a feverish dream through
the streets of the capital
of his King, filled with
threatening forms.* He
saw flags displayed and
colors fluttering unknown
to him ; Polish standards,
tricolors of black, red, and
gold, but nowhere the an-
cient honored flag of
Prussia, Even on the
palace of his deceased

lord and king the three colors flaunted, ever the battle-standard
of the enemies of Prussia, never those of the ancient German
realm. In place of the proud regiments of Guards, he only be-

* A short anecdote of the venerable Alexander von Humboldt, as illustrative of the
popular spirit, deserves preservation here. During the eventful days of March, when
barricades were the order of the day, a mob came rushing into the Oranienburger-
Strasse, where Humboldt resided. Materials for a barricade were required, and every
door was besieged for the purpose. One of these opened, and a venerable-looking
man presented himself and begged the excited mass not to disturb him. Such a re-
quest was not to be borne by the sovereign people, and he was asked menacingly who
he was, that he should use such language. "I am Alexander von Humboldt," was
the quiet reply. In a moment every hat was off. and with reverent greetings the
multitude swept forward and left the scholar and philosopher at peace. It is only
right to record such a fact, as it may serve to show that the fierce revolutionists at
least knew how to restrain themselves, even in the midst of their enthusiastic fury.
I give the anecdote on the authority of the admirable German newspaper Hermann
of the llth September, 1869.— K. K. H. M.

REOPENING OF THE UNITED DIET. 133

held citizen-soldiers watching in a half-ludicrous, half-dispirited
manner. Men had ceased to speak; all the world speechified
and declaimed ; vain folly and ignominious treason grasped each
other with dirty hands in an alliance against royalty, and those
who ought to have been defending the crown, and indeed de-
sired to do so, found themselves caught in the spider-webs of
liberal doctrines: trammelled themselves in the sere bonds of
political theories, scornfully rent asunder by the rude hands of
revolution.

It was sufficient to bring the burning tear to Bismarck's eye,
and his soul struggled in unspeakable torment ; but he manfully
wrestled insult and vexation down. With a pale but impassible
countenance he took his place, on the 2d of April, 1848, in the
first session of the Second United Diet.

The White Saloon still existed, but the bright days were gone
in which Vincke had sought to polish diamonds with diamond-
dust ; true, the same men were present, but it was a vastly differ-
ent assembly. In those former days, certain of victory and in-
toxicated with power, this assembly now meditated suicide ; it
•could scarcely be quick enough in transferring its legislative
functions to the new creation, the first-born of revolution, stand-
ing impatiently watching at the door.

The President was still the Marshal of the Guild of Nobles, the
Serene Prince of Solms-Hohen-Solms-Lich ; but the Royal Com-
missioner was no longer the Freiherr von Bodelschwingh- Vel-
mede ; his place was occupied by the new Minister of State, Lu-
•dolf Camphausen — one of the chiefs of the Ehine-land liberal
party.

Some weeks before, a liberal, F. Foerster, at the volunteer an-
niversary, had saluted the Minister von Bodelschwingh with the
•compliment that time did not fly with Eagle's ivings, but Bodels-
wings; but this very Bodelschwingh, the most faithful subject of
the King, was now despised by the revolutionary party as an
obscure reactionary. There was reason for laughter, had not the
crisis been so terribly grave.

Camphausen read the well-known Royal Decree of proposition,
after betraying, in his introductory oration, that liberalism no
longer felt itself entirely secure ; in fact these liberal ministers,
such as Hansemann, Auerswald, Schwerin, and Bornemann, were

184

LICHNOWSKY MOVES THE ADDRESS.

not the men able to steer the royal vessel with safety during this
severe westerly storm.

Prince Felix Lichnowsky moved the replicatory address. The
Marshal declared the proposition to be carried unanimously, as
he perceived the majority to be of his opinion.

" It is not unanimous. I protest against it !" exclaimed Herr
von Thadden-Trieglaff.

" Carried by an almost unanimous majority !" proclaimed, the
Marshal.

The next proceeding was to frame the address at once, and to-
accept the plenum at the same session. Most unseemly and dis-
creditable haste !

Upon this the Deputy von Bismarck-Schonhausen rose and
said : —

" It is my opinion that we owe to the dignity, ever upheld in
this Assembly, due discretion in the conduct of all its delibera-
tions ; that we owe it to all the simplest rules of expediency - es-
pecially on an occasion when we meet for the last time — by no
means to deviate from our fixed customs. Heretofore every lawT
however simple, has been referred to a committee, which has con-
sidered it with deliberation, and submitted it on the following day
to the Chamber. I believe at so serious a moment as this, that on
the expression of the sentiments of this Assembly, still having the
honor to represent the Prussian people, it is a sufficiently import-
ant procedure not to admit of such a hasty consideration of the
address — so far removed from the rules of expediency according
to my individual feelings."

Bismarck spoke with more than usual hesitation ; his features
appeared sharper than usual to his friends, his countenance was
pale, his white teeth were more visible and prominent, his man-
ner was stolid ; he presented the appearance of a man combating
a critical hour.

Yes — to him it was indeed a critical hour. He was unable to-
arrest the progress of events, but he was determined to do his
duty. The tumult of the streets might rage, the whirlpool of
thronging events might carry away with them men usually of
the utmost courage ; but Bismarck was not to be carried away
as well. He was unable to stem the rapidity with which the
address was draughted, considered, and accepted. Milde and com-

BISMARCK ACCEPTS THE ADDRESS. 185

pany pressed forward, and the Second United Diet could not be
in sufficient hurry to transfer its functions to the convention to be
assembled for the consolidation of the constitution.

It is impossible to pursue the progress of this session without
pain ; it passed over the ruins and fragments of all the royal
hopes which but a few months before had existed in all their
pride and glory, and appeared so instinct with happiness and
founded on such secure grounds.

In this debate on the address it would have been impossible
for Bismarck to speak, had not his political opponents, Yon
Saucken-Tarputschen and Milde, with much difficulty obtained a
hearing for him ; so madly was the Assembly determined upon
self-destruction.

Eevolution was knocking at the portals of the White Saloon.

Bismarck, however, said : — " I am one of the few who would
vote against the address, and I have only requested permission
to speak, in order to explain this disapproval, and to declare to
you that I accept the address, in the sense of a programme of the
future, at once ; but for the sole reason that I am powerless to da
otherwise. (Laughter.) Not voluntarily, but by stress of cir-
cumstances; for I have not changed my opinions during these
six months ; I would rather believe that this ministry is the only
one able to conduct us from our actual position into an orderly
and constitutional condition, and for that reason I shall give it
my inconsiderable support in every case within my power. But
the cause of my voting against the address consists in the expres-
sions of joy and gratitude made use of for the events of recent
days ; the past is buried, and I mourn it with greater pain than
many among you, because no human power can reawaken it —
when the Crown itself has scattered ashes upon the coffin. But
if I accept this from the force of circumstances, I can not retire
from my functions in this Diet with the lie in my mouth that I
shall give thanks and rejoice at what I must in any sense hold to
be an erroneous path. If it be indeed possible to attain to a
united German Fatherland by the new path now pursued, to ar-
rive at a happy or even legally well-ordered condition of things,
the moment will have come when I can tender my thanks to the
originator of the new state of things ; but at present this is be-
yond my power."

186 ARRANGEMENTS FOR CONSERVATIVE OPPOSITION.

This was the earnest language of a true statesman, and it was
not without its impression even then. When Bismarck ended,
no one dared to laugh. He accepted the situation because he
had no other course open to him ; but he could not return
thanks for that which appeared likely to militate against his rev-
erence for his King. He knew that the past was beyond recall,
now that the Crown had itself cast ashes upon its coffin — nor, in-
deed, was it at all within the thoughts of Bismarck ever to re-
awaken the past. He could mourn over the past, and this with
considerable affliction ; but he began to arm himself for the fu-
ture ; that future he resolved to conquer for the monarchy.

Such were the events of the 2d of April, 1848.

The immediate necessity was to strive against revolution,
which continued to advance with bloody feet and shameless
countenance. First, conferences were held with friends and
allies of equal rank and similar opinions; arrangements were
made in all directions. He exhibited a restless activity, at first
apparently without any hope, and which seemed to lead to no re-
sults for weeks, though it were destined in the end to bear fruit.
Such was the policy pursued by the faithful royalist in the terri-
ble spring and summer of 1848, passed by him alternately at
Schonhausen, Berlin, Potsdam, Reinfeld, and (on the occasion of
the presence of the Prince of Prussia) at Stettin.

Bismarck was one of those who labored most assiduously and
•successfully towards the erection of a barrier against revolution
€ven at the twelfth hour. A royal or conservative party could
not be conjured up out of the earth, but the elements for such "a
party, existing in great multitude, were assembled in clubs, united
by ties, gradually organized, and finally disciplined.

Nor did Bismarck ever falter in courage, for he trusted in
the Divine mercy and the kingdom of Prussia, but not in the
well-known prophecy of Lehnin, as the liberal historian, Adolf
Schmidt, asserted,* no matter whether the librarian La Croze in
1697 really saw a copy of this document in the hands of a Yon
Schonhausen at Berlin or no. The Herr von Schonhausen in
question could scarcely have been a Bismarck, as Professor
Schmidt would seem to infer, and our Bismarck was, in any case,

* "Preussen's Deutsche Politik"— " Prussia's German Policy," 3d edition (Leip-
zig, 1867, p. 236).

CLUB.S AND NEWSPAPERS. 187

sufficiently informed to know for what purpose the so-called Va-
ticinium Lehninense had been forged, and possessed other sources
whence to draw contidence and trust. The revolution had to be
combated by clubs and by the press — both so dangerous to the
monarchy. No one was more active in the organization of these
than Bismarck ; he entered ,with confidence on the ground
whither events had driven him. Thus arose the Prussian clubs,
the patriotic societies, and many others, and at last the club
which bore as its rnotto, "Mit Gott fur Konig und Vaterland " —
(With God for King and Country). The Neiu Prussian Gazette,
with Bismarck's aid, was founded, as well as many smaller peri-
odicals. There was also the Neiv Prussian Sunday News, which,
sent in thousands to the smaller towns and provinces, became a
powerful weapon.

Bismarck at the same time kept a vigilant eye upon the " Ver-
einbarungs" Society in Berlin, and the Parliament at Frankfurt,
but he never joined the meetings in the Church of St. Paul, nor
the Academy of Music, nor those in the Concert Room of the
Royal Theatre in Berlin. We do not know whether it would
then have been possible for him to have succeeded in getting
elected for Berlin or Frankfurt; at any rate, he never thought
of doing so, for he was firmly convinced that nothing stable
would be created in either place.

We will here give a highly characteristic example of the man-
ner in which Bismarck so powerfully and openly attacked the
malicious and silly aspersions upon the Junkers, then the order
of the day, showing with what acuteness and ability he could
encounter the hollow declamations of unconscientious sophists.
At the end of August he published the following address, in the
form then greatly in vogue, of a communique: —

" The Deputy for the Belgard Circle, Herr Jansch, asserted in
the debate of the 16th instant that the Pomeranian laborers only
obtained from 2-J to 4 silber groschen per day, and in addition to
this had to give 190 days' labor for nothing. If so, the 52 Sun-
days being subtracted, the earnings of a laborer in the other 123
days, calculated at an average of 3-J- sgr.. would represent 13 thlr.
D sgr. 9 pf.* That no man can live upon that every one must
see — even Herr Jansch, if he takes the trouble to think further

* About £2 sterling per annum. — K. R. H. M.

188 CONDITION OF THE LABORING MAN.

about it. I should therefore have characterized the statement
of this gentleman as a deliberate lie in his official capacity as a
national representative, had not the demand for a uniform wage
of 6 sgr. proved that Herr Jansch has either not been able, or
not had leisure, to make himself acquainted with the condition of
the most numerous class of the electors he represents. For with
a wage of 6 sgr. the Pomeranian laborer would be worse off than
he is now. The laborers on the estate of Kniephof, Circle Star*
gard, for the last eight years, during my residence at that place,,
were living under the following conditions, which are the same,
with very slight differences, common to the whole district — in-
deed, I could prove that in other places, such as Zimmerhausen
and Trieglaff, they are even better off. The daily wage certain-
ly is, in summer, 4 sgr. per man, 3 sgr. per woman, and in winter
1 sgr. less in each case ; and they have to give 156 man's days7
work and 26 woman's days1 work in the year without pay. But
each working family received from the proprietor the following
advantages free :—

"1. House, consisting of parlor, bedroom, kitchen, cellar, and
loft, stabling for their cattle of every kind, and the necessary
barn accommodation, which is all maintained by the proprietor.

"2. Three morgen (acres) plo'ugh-land, one for winter cornr
one for summer, one for potatoes, for which the laborer finds the
seed, but the estate furnishes the appointments, inclusive of ma-
nure; add to this one-half morgen (acre) of garden ground, near
the house, and one-half morgen (acre) for flax ; the whole profit
of this superficies belongs to the laborer.

" 3. Pasture for two cows, six sheep, and two geese with their
broods ; hay for one cow during the winter.

" 4. Firing, consisting of turf, and the right of gathering wood
through three morgen of forest.

" 5. Corn from the proprietor's land, five scheffel (sacks) ryer
one of barley.

" 6. On an average each laborer gets fifteen scheffel (sacks)
corn of each kind for threshing.

" 7. Medical attendance and medicines free.

" 8. If the husband dies the widow receives, until her children
are grown up, dwelling-room, one morgen of potatoes, one-half
morgen of garden, one-quarter morgen of flax, and one cow,

DEPUTY HERR JANSCH. 189

which feeds and pastures with the proprietor's herd, without any
kind of return on her part.

"Every day -laborer — those who have not grown-up daughters
— keeps one servant-girl, with wages of, say 10 tlialers (£1 10s.)
per annum, who, on account of the laborer, performs services to
the proprietor, which the laborer's wife never does, but takes
care of the children, and cooks.

"The pay in cash, which such a family, with servant, accord-
ing to the foregoing tariff, after deducting the produce, much of
which remains, for sale, is ascertained, according to the number
of children able to assist in the work, to be about 34 to 50 tha-
lers per annum.* A family without children receives, after de-
ducting the 190 non-paid days (including 60 days for threshing)
and the 52 Sundays = 242 days (inclusive of market-days and the
like), annually, in cash-paid days for man and maid— some of
these days being semi-labor days, and so justifying the apparent
difference — 52 days at 4 sgr., 178 days at 3 sgr., and 150 days at
2 sgr., in all 34 thalers 22 sgr. If this be added to the above-
named produce, it will not be astonishing that the Pomeranian la-
borers would not be disposed to exchange their present condition
for the poor 6 sgr. per day which Herr Jansch in his ignorance
would obtain for them.f I will not boast, but only state, as a mat-
ter of fact, that the greater number of the proprietors have hither-
to voluntarily adopted the usual practice of supporting the inhabit-
ants during calamity, cattle murrain, and years of famine — many
to a degree of .which the babbling philanthropists who declaim
against the Junkers have no idea whatever. In the past year of
famine, in which the Deputy Master Butcher Jansch made a dis-
turbance in Belgard, which, if I mistake not, obtained some no-
tice from the Court of Justice, the large class of proprietors he
has attacked by erroneous or fictitious statements made great
sacrifices to give the inhabitants of their estates no reason to in-
crease the class of the dissatisfied, at the head of whom Deputy
Herr Jansch now fights to attain tumultuary laurels. I have
added this personal remark in order to draw the attention of Herr
Jansch to the rest of the article, and thus afford him the opportu-

* £5 2s. to £7 10s.— K. R. H. M.

t We should think not. 6 sgr. per day at 213 days= 46.18. =£7 within a frac-
tion.—K. R. H. M.

190 BISMARCK AT STOLPE.

nity of learning something of the condition of the class he asserts
himself to represent ; a condition of which he ought to have
known, before he talked about them in the National Assembly.

" BISMARCK.

" Schonhausen, the 21st August, 1848."

The then Deputy for Belgard has never attempted to obtain
any advantage by a reply !

Immediately after the days of March, Bismarck, impelled by
his Prussian heart, addressed a letter to His Majesty ; not a po-
litical letter, full of counsels and plans, but an outpouring of the
feelings produced by the moment. Throughout the whole of
that summer this letter lay upon King Frederick William's writ-
ing-table, as a precious token of unchangeable Prussian fidelity.
During that summer, so fraught with weighty events, Bismarck
was often called to Sans-Souci, and the King took his advice in
many important affairs.

Stolpe, on the Baltic, was the residence of Bismarck for some
weeks of the summer. An incident of his life is furnished by a
spectator. After one of the concerts denominated "Navy Con-
certs"— for in those days an opinion was entertained that a fleet
could be built by means of beer-drinking, concert-pence, and
such similiar "miserabilities " of good intentions — Bismarck, draw-
ing himself up to his- full height, majestically addressed one of
the gentlemen who had been active in the concert, greeting him
as an acquaintance, and added: "You have taken pains to make
the work somewhat hotter for us !" It was one of the hottest
clays of the year. An anxious smile played upon his lips, but
bright daring spoke in the firm contour of the bearded face.
His hat alone bore the Prussian colors. It was indeed refresh-
ing to see such a man in those days.

And when the " winter of discontent " came for democracjr,
when the question of saving the construction of a ministry was
prominent, it was Bismarck who took the initiative concerning
the introduction of the elder Von Manteuffe], his partisan at the
United Diet, and thus drew the eyes of the people upon the man
who promptly restored order. He had discovered the right man
for the situation as it then existed.

CHAPTER IV.

CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP.
[1849-1851.]

The Second Chamber. — The Sword and the Throne. — Acceptance of the Frankfurt
Project. — The New Electoral Law. — Bismarck's Speeches. — The King and the
Stag. — Birth of Herbert von Bismarck. — " What does this Broken Glass Cost?" —
The Kreuzzeitung Letters. — The Prussian Nobility. — "I am Proud to be a Prus-
sian Junker!" — Close of the Session.

IMMEDIATELY after the publication of the December constitu-
tion of 1848, Bismarck was, in the same month, elected in Bran-
denburg the represent-
ative of West- Havel-
land, as a member of
the Second Chamber.
The Diet was open-
ed on the 26th of
February, 1849; and
Bismarck was among
the first members to
repair to the solemni-
ty in the White Sa-
loon. How many rem-
iniscences were asso-
ciated in Bismarck's-
mind with the White
Saloon! How mnny
more were to arise !
Memorials and landmarks still remain !

Without any special object, most probably, Bismarck took the

OPENING OF THE SESSION.

same seat in the Assembly he had formerly occupied as represent-
ative of the Knight's Estate of Jerichow, in the United Diet;
and here he held, as it were, as member for the electoral metrop-
olis of Brandenburg, a sort of court. It was at least something
of a court, for not only was he received by his former associates,
such as Count Arnim-Boytzenburg, the minister Yon Manteuffel,
and many others, but his opponents also addressed him — those
who bad been his opponents, and were to become so again.
Among these were Auerswald, Yincke, and Grabow ; at that
time they all stood with Bismarck on the right, in the terrible
crisis of the country. Bismarck received them with the perfect
confidence of a great-hearted gentleman, in that gracious manner
of which he was so perfect a master, but which he could, at any
moment, for the sake of a joke, frankly and freely abandon, with-
out in the 'least imperilling his position. On that day his face
remained serious, despite the anecdote related by Freiherr von
Yincke, who recounted in a humorous way that on alighting
from his carnage he had been hissed at the palace gate by the
Berlin mob, while plaudits were made to Temmes and D'Esters.
Bismarck did not allow himself any illusions as to the difficulty
of the position, although the royalists were in ecstasies at the re-
sult of the elections. Parties were at the time about equal in
numbers, if those were counted to the royalist side that had not
formally sided with the democrats. It was a very beggarly ac-
count, and yet this was to be regarded, after the events of the
spring, as a considerable gain — a gain greatly to be ascribed to
the endeavors of Bismarck and his immediate friends.

A conservative deputy from Pomerania, addressing the mem-
ber for West-Havelland, said : " We have conquered !"

"Not so !" replied Bismarck, coolly. " We have not conquer-
ed, but we have made an attack, which is the principal thing.
Yictory is yet to come, but it will come."

These words accurately and truly convey the nature of the sit-
uation, Bismarck being a master of short phrases in which situa-
tions are rendered in a perfectly intelligible manner. Yery fre-
quently his expressions appear as if a curtain had been suddenly
withdrawn to allow brilliant light to dissipate gloom. He is the
very opposite to those diplomatists who make use of language
only to conceal their thoughts. His clear perceptions are ever

DEFINITION OF THE WORD "PEOPLE." 193

•conveyed openly in definite language. Not only in politics is
this true, but in ordinary conversation. On one occasion the rel-
.ative positions of the Pomeranian Circles were under discussion.
Bismarck said, " The Principality of Cammin hangs like a pair
-of breeches over Belgard !" Of course his geographical studies
aided him. to this, but his expressions are equally applicable un-
der all circumstances.

Two of the deputies, on the occasion of this solemnity, display-
ed the cynicism of street democracy with childish vanity ; one
of them strutted about in a green frock-coat, and the other at-
tempted to draw attention to himself by continually fanning him-
self with his gray hat. These were not, however, the worst ene-
mies of the Prussian monarchy in the White Saloon on that
day ; under many a well-brushed black coat worse emotions were
on fire.

By accident the sabre of one of the officers of the Guards fell
from its scabbard on his suddenly turning ; the naked weapon
lay before the throne of Prussia, a circumstance which could only
be regarded by many, on both sides, as portending that the sword
.alone could now save the throne.

At the sessions immediately succeeding the opening of the
Second Chamber, Bismarck now found himself placed in the po-
sition of defending the constitution — although it did not fulfill his
aspirations, opinions, and convictions — against the attacks of de-
mocracy. He had accepted constitutionalism, from necessity, and
was bound to defend the sovereignty upon this basis. This he
did bravely -and openly, but in a spirit of self-consciousness and
dignity, which often drove his antagonists to despair, and fre-
quently aroused a storm of disapprobation.

" No word," he once exclaimed, " has been more wrongly used
in the past year than the word ' people.' Every body has held it
to signify just what suited his own view, usually as a crowd of
individuals, whom it was necessary to persuade."

To throw this phrase into the face of democracy, meant far
more in those days than at the present time.

He declared against a fresh amnesty with manly vigor and
deep insight; he straightforwardly said the King, on the 18th
March, 1848, had pardoned rebels, but such an act ought not
-to be repeated, because it would have the effect' of spreading an

194 THE EMPIRE OF GERMANY.

opinion among the people that the whole political rights of the
State depended upon the will of the population, as if any one
who armed a certain number of individuals, or assembled them
in unarmed crowds, to overawe a weak government, possessed
the right to overturn any law obnoxious to him. " There is no
accommodation possible with this battle of principles, which has
shaken Europe to its foundations ; these principles are founded
on contradictory grounds, opposed from the very •commencement.
One apparently seeks its justification in the national will, but
really in the brute force of the barricades ; the other is founded
in a sovereignty granted by Heaven, upon the supremacy of di-
vine right, and endeavors to accomplish its development by or-
ganically allying itself with constitutional jurisprudence and law.
One of these principles regards agitators of every kind as heroic
combatants for truth, freedom, and right ; the other classes them
as rebels. These principles can not be decided by parliamentary
debates ; ere long the Almighty, who is the arbiter of battles,
will throw the dice and so determine the controversy."

The Second Chamber adopted the Frankfurt Imperial Consti-
tution by a vote of 179 against 159. Bismarck spoke energeti-
cally against it, because it bore the broad impress of national sov-
ereignty, this being evident, as the Emperor retained nothing
more than a right of a veto of suspension. The Kadicals, he said,
would approach the new Emperor with the imperial arms, and
ask,—

" Think you that this eagle is given you merely as a present?"

" The Frankfurt crown," he continued, " may be very brilliant,
but the gold, which lends truth to its splendor, must be added by
melting into its composition the Prussian crown ; and I can not
believe that this recasting is possible by means of the proposed
constitution."

The course of the discussions in the Second Chamber gradual-
ly showed an increase in the power of the democrats, and they
would render a monarchical government impossible. They in-
sisted on the abolition of the state of siege in Berlin, as this ma-
terially impeded their projects ; and when they had finally suc-
ceeded in effecting this, the Government could do no otherwise
than dissolve the Second Chamber and prorogue the First. It
eeemed at one time that this dissolution would be the signal for

OPPOSES THE PROJECT OF UNION. 195

another insurrection, but the democratic mob was taken aback
when the Government showed the necessary severity. It was a
terrible exaggeration for a Paris newspaper to announce, "Le
canon gronde d Berlin.'1'' One volley in the Donhofsplatz, and
then, " Arms — to the right," and a cavalry charge in the Leip-
ziger-Strasse, were enough thoroughly to deprive the democrats
of all taste for another rising.

Bismarck was then residing at Wilhelm-Strasse, No. 71 ; in the
summer he went to Pomerania, and thence, in August, proceeded
to Brandenburg for the election, and finally to Berlin.

The new electoral law for the Second Chamber, and a decree
summoning both Chambers for the 7th of August, had already
been published, on the 30th of May. This new Chamber, which
had grown clearer as to the position of parties, was employed
with the revision of the Customs Constitution and with the Ger-
man policy of Prussia — in fact, with the plans for union proposed
by Herr von Eadowitz.

Bismarck, who now appeared more and more as one of the
leaders of the conservative party, declared against the projects .of
union and the triple allia'nce, because it was founded at the cost
of Prussia's specific interests, and, if successful, would, in the end
ruin her. On the 6th of September, 1849, Bismarck spoke as
follows : —

"I am of opinion that the motive principles of the year 1848
were far more social than national. National action would have
confined itself to a few, but prominent, persons, in more contract-
ed circles, if the ground had not been shaken under our feet,
drawing in the social element, by false representations as to the
ambition of the proletariat to acquire the property of others.
The envy the poor had of the rich was excited in proportion to
the continued feeding of a spirit of license from high quarters,
which destroyed the moral elements of resistance in the rninds of
men. I do not believe that these evils would be averted by
democratic concessions, or by projects of German unity ; the seat
of the disease is deeper ; but I deny that any desire has ever ex-
isted in the Prussian people towards a national regeneration on
the model of the theories of Frankfurt. The policy of Frederick
the Great has been frequently alluded to ; and it has even been
identified with the proposition for union. I rather am of opinion

196

PRUSSIA'S TRUE POLICY.

that Frederick II. would have turned to the most prominent pe-
culiarity of Prussian nationality, to her warlike element, and not
without a result. He would have known that to-day, as in the
era of our fathers, the sound of the trumpet which called to the
standard of the father of the country, has lost no charm for the
Prussian ear, whether the question concern the defense of the
frontier or the fame and greatness of Prussia. He would have
had the alternative, after the rupture with Frankfurt, to ally him-
self with our ancient ally, Austria, and then assume the brilliant
part enacted by the Emperor of Eussia, in alliance with Austria,
to destroy the common enemy — Eevolution ; or he would have
been free, with the same justification he possessed for the con-
quest of Silesia, after declining the Frankfurt imperial crown, to
decide what the nature of the German constitution should be, at
the risk of casting the sword into the balance. This would have
been a national Prussian policy ! In this way Prussia, in union
with Austria or alone, would have been able to arrive at the
proper position that would have endowed Germany with the
power it should possess in Europe. The plan of a constitutional
union, however, destroys the Prussian specific character."

We must draw especial attention to the reply which Bismarck
made to the argument of Herr von Radowitz, that the Frankfurt
Assembly had shielded Prussia against some dangers.

" I am not in the least aware," said Bismarck, " of such a
thing. I only know that the 38th Prussian Regiment, on the
18th of September, 1848, preserved us from that which the
Frankfurt Parliament, with its predecessor, had conjured up.
The specific character of Prussia actually accomplished this.
This was the remains of the heretic Prussiadom which had sur-
vived the Revolution ; the Prussian army, the Prussian treasury,
the fruits of Prussian administration accumulated through many
years, and the animated reaction exerted by King and people on
each other in Prussia. It consisted in the attachment of the
Prussian population to the established dynasty ; it consisted in
the old Prussian virtues of honor, fidelity, obedience, and brave-
ry, which inspire every Prussian soldier from the backbone —
from the officers to the youngest recruit. The army has no en-
thusiasm for the tricolor; in it, as in the rest of the people, will
be found no longing for national regeneration. The name of

"WE ARE PRUSSIANS!" 197

Prussia is all-sufficient for it, These hosts follow the banner of
black and white, and not the tricolor: under the black and white
they joyfully die for their country. The tricolor has been, since
the 18th March, recognized as the attribute of their opponents.
The accents of the Prussian National Anthem, the strains of the
Dessau and Hohenfriedberg March, are well known and beloved
among them : but I have never yet heard a Prussian soldier sing,
'What is the German fatherland?' The nation whence this
army has sprung, and of which the army is the truest represent-
ative, in the happy and accurate words of the President of the
First Chamber, Rudolf von Auerswald, does not need to see the
Prussian monarchy melt away in the filthy ferment of South Ger-
man immorality. We are Prussians, and Prussians we desire to
remain. I know that in these words I utter the creed of the
Prussian army, the creed of the majority of my fellow-country-
men, and I hope to God that we shall continue Prussians, when
this bit of paper is forgotten like the withered leaf of autumn !"

This love for the Prussian army, this enthusiasm for it, is a
red line which runs through the whole political life of Bismarck.
In it he recognizes the especial representative of the Prussian na-
tion, the pillar of the State ; and this was quite in the style of
Frederick ; for did not the great monarch say, " that the sky did
not rest more firmly on the shoulders of Atlas, than the Prussian
State on the regiments of the army." The German policy of
Herr von Radowitz had no more conscious and energetic oppo-
nent than Herr von Bismarck, unless in the excellent General
von Rauch, the Royal Adjutant-General, a remarkable and high-
ly gifted statesman, who opposed him on every opportunity in
his powerful way, even in the royal presence. Radowitz, on one
occasion, in his emphatic style, conjured the King, like Caesar, to
cross the Rubicon. General von Rauch replied, with a twang of
the Berlin dialect, " I do not know that fellow Caesar, nor that
fellow the Rubicon, but the man can not be a true Prussian who
counsels His Majesty thus !" Herr von Radowitz, it is known,
was not a born Prussian.

As to the revision of the constitution, Herr von Bismarck and
his associates strove actively to endow it with such a shape that
it would be possible for the King actually to govern with it.
Much was accomplished, but " Far from sufficient !" said Bis-

198 ENGLAND NOT PRUSSIA,

marck. Nor was it the fault of Bismarck that much more was
not done.

He was particularly zealous against the power of granting tax-
ation by the Diet. " The centre of gravity, the whole power of
the State, departs from the Crown to the Chambers, or their ma-
jorities, and nothing then will remain to the Crown but the pow-
er of carrying out the votes of the majority. It is true the Gov-
ernment can dissolve the Chambers, and proceed to new elections,
but the new Chambers might choose to pursue the way of the
old, and thus the conflict would become insoluble and eternal ;
there is no way of avoiding this. This would be overturning the
Prussian State Prerogative, he perceived, the effects of which
very easily would be of a more enduring nature than those of
the so-called March Revolution!"

The orator of 1849 seemed to have a perception of the con-
flicts which the Premier of 1862 would have to pass through : he
then did not see how he should emerge from such a state of
things, but in 1866 he found the way the via triumphalis.

Bismarck had been forced to accept constitutionalism, but he
did not unconditionally do so: it was at least to be a Prussian
constitution, or modelled on Prussian principles, not directly in-
imical to the Kingship.

Prussia, said he, must be distinguishable from other countries.
The downfall of German States kept tolerable pace with the con-
cessions made by their Governments to the people. A reference
to England was a mistake. " Give us ever}' thing English that
we do not possess; give us English piety, and English respect for
the law ; give the entire English constitution, but with this the
entire relations of the English landlords, English wealth, and Eng-
lish common-sense — then it will be possible to govern in a simi-
lar manner. The Prussian Crown must not be forced into the
powerless position of the English Crown, which appears more like
an elegant ornament at the apex of the edifice of the State. In
ours I recognize the supporting pillar."

England, he added, had given itself the leading principles of
the constitution of 1688, only after having been, for more than a
century, under the curatorship of an omnipotent aristocracy, con-
sisting of a very few families. Parliamentary Reform had now,
it was true, broken the power of the aristocracy, but it was yet to

SPORT AT LETZLINGEN.

199

be seen whether it would endure like the influence of the aristoc-
racy. " We are deficient in the very class which controls poli-
tics in England, the class of wealthy and thence conservative gen-
tlemen, independent of material interests, whose whole education
is directed to becoming statesmen."

Bismarck's words were no longer hesitating, as at the United
Diet, although there was always some slight impediment until his
language began to flow more readily. But, as now, we perceive
in his speeches that he had always to contend with the too rapid-
ly advancing flood of thought. In his outward appearance his
aspect was the picture of manly perfection ; the tall, strong-boned
frame was erect, but light and unconstrained; his attitude was
somewhat daring, but the blue-gray eye glanced forth earnestly
and sharply, when it was not animated with the light of sincere
friendship. It was not the contemplative eye of the thinker, but
the straightforward look of the man of action.

In the last days of autumn, Bismarck was commanded to the
royal hunting-parties
at Letzlingen, as he
afterwards always
continued to be, if not
too far away. Fred-
erick William IY.
treated him with es-
pecial favor on this
occasion ; it was also
with peculiar pleas-
ure that he hunted
on the moors and
among the forests,
centuries before the
proud heritage of his
race ; a heritage his
ancestors had sur-
rendered only under
the influence of affec-
tion for their princes,
and reverence for
their liege lord.

200 THE KING AND THE STAG-

These old Bismarckian preserves are the richest in Prussia: the-
red deer and bucks are counted by thousands, and the royal
hunts, which take place every winter since the restoration of the
mansion of Letzlingen by Frederick William IV., at the begin-
ning of his reign, are among the best in Europe. Frederick Wil-
liam IV., although familiar with the chase, was not at all times a.
keen sportsman. Once he leaned his gun against a tree, drew a
volume of Shakspeare from his pocket, seated himself on a stump,,
and was so absorbed in the poetry, that he never noticed that an
inquisitive stag, who wished to know what the King was reading,
crept up behind him and looked into the book over his shoulder.
This pretty scene was witnessed by several sportsmen, and among
these Bismarck, from a distance.

In this winter of 1849-'50 Bismarck established his family in
Berlin, although he retained his seat at Schonhausen ; his house-
hold lived on the first floor on Dorotheen-Strasse, No. 37 ; here
his second child and eldest son Herbert was born.

He was christened on the 13th February, 1850, by the well-
known and so highly esteemed preacher, Gossner. In the spring
of 1868 the heirs of Gossner, with other manuscripts, presented
the letter of Bismarck, in which he asked Gossner to christen his-
son, to a bazar for missionary purposes. A cousin of the Minis-
ter-President— General Count Bismarck-Bohlen. the Commandant
of Berlin — purchased the letter, and presented it to Count Her-
bert. This letter is as follows: —

Berlin, llth February, 1850.

KEVEREND SIR, — Although I have not the honor to be per-
sonally "known to you, I venture to hope, as we have friends in
common, that you will not refuse to baptize my first-born son ;
and I beg respectfully to ask whether it will be agreeable to your
engagements to perform this holy office on the day after to-mor-
row, Wednesday, the 13th current, at about half-past eleven, at
my residence, Dorotheen - Strasse, No. 37, and for this purpose
would honor me with a visit. In case of your consent, I trust you
will make an appointment for to-morrow afternoon or evening,
when I can visit you and make the further necessary arrangements.
With great respect, reverend sir, I remain faithfully,

VON BlSMARCK-SCHONHAUSEN, M. Sec. Ch.

THE BROKEN GLASS.

201

Among the friends who about that time visited Bismarck's
hospitable though simple household in the Dorotheen-Strasse (af-
terwards in the Behren-Strasse, No. 60), we may name Von Sa-
vigny, Andre, and Von Kleist-Retzow.

Bismarck's life in those days was almost entirely absorbed by
politics : sessions of the Chambers, commissions, committees,,
clubs, and appointments of all kinds occupied him, and politics
formed the theme of the conversations he held in the evening in
the beer -saloon of Schwarz (corner of Friedichs and Leipziger
Strassen), when he went in to drink a glass of Griinthaler beer.
This beer-saloon — it is still existent, although in another locality
and under other management — was a principal centre of the con-
servatives; it was jestingly said, that even the landlord's little
dog was so conservative that he barked at every democrat.

At another establishment, not that of Schwarz, Bismarck had a
little adventure. He had just taken a seat, when a particularly
offensive expression was used at the next table concerning a
member of the Koyal Family. Bismarck immediately rose to

his full height, turned to the 'speaker, and thundered forth:—
"Out of the house! If you are not off when I have drunk this
beer, I will break this glass on your hend !" At this there en-

202 "I SHALL HAVE TO PLUCK YOU!"

sued a fierce commotion, and threatening outcries resounded in
all directions. Without the slightest notice Bismarck finished
his draught, and then brought it down upon the offender's pate
with such effect that the glass flew into fragments, and the man
fell down, howling with anguish. There was a deep silence,
during which Bismarck's voice was heard to say, in the quietest
tone, as if nothing whatever had taken place : — " Waiter, what is
to pay for this broken glass ?" At this exclamations were heard,
but not against Bismarck; every one rejoiced and cried: — "That
was right ! That is the proper thing to do ! The wretch, richly
deserved it !" This deed had its intended effect, and Bismarck
went on his way unmolested.

There was something indescribably commanding in his firm
countenance, with its close beard, and the cold glance which lay
in his eyes, in his form and whole bearing, at this time. This a
certain Herr Nelke (Pink) or Stengel (Stalk) — we are not certain
of the name — one day learnt to bin cost. Bismarck was return-
ing from Potsdam with the venerable and worthy Lieutenant-
Colonel von Wolden, who is still remembered in certain circles.
In the coupe a silly bagman, or something' of that kind was mak-
ing a violent political speech, and at last ventured to ridicule and
libel the grizzly Lieutenant-Colonel to his face. Bismarck looked
at the man, who was continuing his insults, for a time, until the
train stopped at the station in Berlin. Bismarck paced along the
platform at his full height, and advanced in the firmest attitude
to the chattering gentleman, so that he involuntarily receded a
step with .alarm. Silently Bismarck approached and drove him
to the wall, and then simply asked him,

" What is your name ?"

"Nelke, my name is Nelke!" stammered the person addressed,
with a pale and anxious face.

"Then take care, you Nelke (Pink) you — or I shall have to
pluck you !"

He then turned and left the poor Pink in a crushed state — but
richer by a golden lesson — leaning against the 'wall.

Bismarck wore a long yellowish-gray overcoat, which to this
day is called in his house the " dyke coat," as he was accustomed
to put it on when he visited the dyke, for which purpose it had
done long -and faithful service. In Fritz Reuter's " Journey to

BISMARCK AS PARAGRAPHIST, 203

Constantinople" the Commerce Councillor Schwofel says: — "In
all Eisenach there are only three white hats ; His Royal High-
ness wears one when he is there ; Mr. O'Kelly wears the second ;
and I wear the third. Certainly there are plenty more white
hats in the place, but these are the most important." We might
say here that Berlin in those days only contained three yellow
overcoats ; Bismarck wore one of these ; the immortal Baron
von Hertefeld wore the second, until he died, the last of his
memorable race, as Hereditary Grand Huntsman, at Cleve, in
1867 ;. and the author of this book the third. There might be
many more yellow coats in Berlin, but these were the most im-
portant.

Bismarck very often, as did many members of the conservative
party, visited the office of the New Prussian Gazette, in the Des-
sauer-Strasse, No. 5, to learn the news. He was one of those,
however, who always brought more than he carried away. Bis-
marck is an admirable narrator, especially of anecdotes, which he
used to point with epigrammatic skill ; the under-current of lit-
tle traits of malice are generally invested with a dose of good hu-
mor, so that the subject of the stories were obliged to laugh
themselves. The Napoleonist Due de Persigny would no doubt
have laughed had he heard Bismarck in those days. Fialin de
Persigny at that time was intrusted with a political mission in
Berlin, which he no doubt carried through to the greatest satis-
faction of the higher powers ; but he exhibited such disinvolture
in the circles of the court society, and so naive an admiration for
female beauty, that a number of tales passed current at his ex-
pense. Bismarck's mode of narration was only tinged with good
humor in the majority of cases, not in all ; he could be exceed-
ingly peppery, and could give vent to severe sarcasms, and shoot
off arrows which pierced through and through.

He was, however, not only a teller of anecdotes in the editorial
room of the New Prussian Gazette; he supported the paper he had
contributed to found with original articles. These were mostly
written at the great round table where so many distinguished men
have taken their seats, from Yon Radowitz and Bethmann-Hollweg
to Count Arnim, Pernice, Stahl, Von Gerlach, and Huber ; and he
wrote in his peculiar firm, .but high and compact style. Some-
times he rushed into the room with hasty greeting, and stood at

204

AT ERFURT.

the high desk, retaining his hat and gloves in his left hand, and
threw some lines swiftly on to paper. "Put the national motto
to these," he would exclaim to the editor-in-chief, and ran off with
another salutation. He was always full of life and activity.

After the close of this
session, on the 25th of
February, 1850, he re-
turned for a short time
to Schonhausen, and in
the following April we
discover him again in
Erfurt, at the Union Par-
liament. He had, as we
know, been opposed from
the very beginning to
these attempts at union ;
they were not, in his firm
opinion, fraught with any
fortunate omen to Prus-
sia, The very next few
months proved that his
acute insight and his-
Prussian patriotism had
not erred. We need not
therefore be astonished
that he gave vent to his
patriotic sorrow at the
Erfurt project, .and the
humiliations contemplated to Prussia thereby, in unmeasured lan-
guage. He closed one of his speeches of that time with the
following sentences : —

" It has been a painful feeling for me to see here Prussians, and
not nominal Prussians only, who advocate this constitution, who
have defended it with ardor. . It would have been a humiliating
feeling to me, and so it would have been to thousands and thou-
sands of my fellow-countrymen, to see the representatives of
princes whom I honor in their own sphere, but who are not my
liege-lords, clothed with supreme power; a feeling the bitterness
of which could not be diminished by seeing the seats we occupy

BISMAKCK AND OPPERMANN. 205

decked with colors — never those of the German empire — but
which for two years have been the colors of rebellion and of the
barricades, colors worn in my native land by the democrat alone,
except when in sorrowful obedience by the soldier. Gentlemen !
If you make no more concessions than are contained in this con-
stitution to the Prussian — ancient Prussian spirit — call it obsti-
nate Prussian feeling if you choose — I do not believe it will be
realized ; and if you endeavor to force this constitution on this
Prussian spirit, you will find it to be a Bucephalus, who bears his
accustomed lord and rider with daring joy, but who will cast the
unwelcome Sunday rider with his black-red-gold harness to the
earth. I find one comfort against these eventualities in the firm
conviction that no long time will elapse ere the parties to this
constitution will stand, as, in the fable of Lafontaine, the two doc-
tors stood by the patient whose corpse they were abandoning.
The one said, ' He is dead, I said so from the beginning !' — the
other, * Had he followed my advice, he would have been alive
now.' "

The further debates of the Erfurt Parliament gave him leisure
enough, but this leisure brought no vigor with it, for the impres-
sion of a great political blunder sat heavy on the souls of Bis-
marck and his political partisans.

Bismarck wished to rein vigo rate himself by a thorough hunt-
ing-party ; he conferred with the Privy Councillor Oppermann,
one of the " mighty hunters " of Prussia ;. this gentleman joined
him with enthusiasm, and they communicated through the Ober-
forstmeister von Wedell, in Schleusingen, to obtain a woodcock
foray with the famous shot Oberforsters Klingner. Bismarck
and Oppermann left Erfurt one morning together. At the first
stage the travellers refreshed themselves at Arnstadt, as keen
sportsmen, thinking nothing of the caddish opinions of the day,
by a plentiful breakfast at eight o'clock, of delicate groundlings,
and drank 1811 Bocksbeutel therewith. At the succeeding sta-
tions they whetted their appetites with trout, and drank beer with
them, as the nectar of 1811 would allow no other wines to attract
the palate. On their arrival in Schleusingen at 3 P.M., they had
more trout and beer, then an interview and arrangements with
the Oberforster, and in the evening more trout, which Oppermann
ate with, wine sauce, Bismarck remaining true to beer despite of.

206

INDEPENDENCE AT EVERY PRICE.

urgent dissuasions. At night, about 12 o'clock, the Oberfdrster
made his appearance with a keeper, to take the gentlemen off to
the forest. Bismarck, however, was in a very lamentable plight ;
the mixture of fish and beer did not suit his constitution, and he
was in a feverish state. He was advised to have some pepper-
mint and stop in bed, but it was in vain ; the keen sportsman
was not afraid of stomach-ache ; he was soon dressed, and away
they went. Opperrnann fired and killed a bird, but Bismarck
returned home with nothing. He had put up two woodcocks,
but at the decisive moment he fired both times at the wrong in-
stant. The keeper showed him another woodcock, but Bismarck
was unfit for any further exertion ; he returned to Schleusingen
and went to bed. By eleven o'clock the mischief was ended by
some strong grog, and the sportsmen then went by the express
coach over the hills, and arrived very merrily in Erfurt by the
evening. Bismarck, however, has never taken beer upon trout
since.

During his stay in Erfurt, Dr. Stahl was presented with an al-
bum by his admirers. On its eleventh page, the album (which
was afterwards printed) contains the following inscription: —

" Our watchword therefore is not ' A United State at any price/
but, ' The independence of the Prussian Crown at every price.'

" BlSMARCK-SCHdNHAUSEN,

" Deputy for Brandenburg.
11 Erfurt, 24th April, 1850."

This expression, if we are not mistaken, was a quotation from a
speech made by Stahl, at that time in Erfurt. Evidently it came
from Bismarck's inmost soul.

After his return from Erfurt, Bismarck dedicated some weeks
to his business in Schdnhausen, and then travelled into Pome-
rania with his family. It is this journey of which such humorous
mention is made in the two following letters to his sister:

BISMARCK TO FRAU VON ARNIM.

Schonhausen, 28th June, 1850.

I write you a solemn letter of congratulation on the occasion
(I think) of your twenty-fourth birthday. (I won't tell any body
of this.) You are now really a major, or, rather, would have been

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

207

so, had you not bad the
misfortune to belong to
the female sex, whose
limbs, in the-eyes of jurists,
can never emerge from
minority — not even when
they are the mothers of the
lustiest of Jacks. Why
this apparent injustice is a
very wise arrangement I
will instruct you, when, I
hope some fortnight hence,
I have you d la portez de
la voix humaine before me.
Johanna — who at the pres-
ent time is in the arms of
Lieutenant Morpheus — will have written to you what is in pros-
pect for me. The boy bellowing in a major key, the girl in
minor, two singing nurse-girls, wet napkins and milk-bottles, my-
self in the character of an affectionate Paterfamilias. I resisted a
long time, but as all the mothers and aunts were unanimous that
poor little Molly could only be cured by sea-water and air, I
should, if I resisted any longer, have my avarice and my pater-
nal barbarity paraded before me on the occasion of every cold
the child will catch till it is seventy, with the words : " Don't you
see ! Ah ! if the poor child could but have gone to the seaside !"
The little being is suffering from the eyes, which are tearful and
sticky. Perhaps this arises from the salt baths, perhaps from eye-
teeth. Johanna is dreadfully excited about it, and for her satis-
faction I have sent to-day for Dr. Biinger, at Stendal, who is the
Fanninger of the Alt Mark. We take it for granted that you will
be at home next month, and do not contemplate an excursion
yourselves, in which event we would defer our visit until our
return. But we write in. order to settle time and place. I have
very unwillingly decided to abandon my country laziness here,
but now that it is settled, I see rose-colored hues in the affair, arid
am heartly delighted to seek you in the cavern, which I only
know to be situated some ten feet above the earth, and hope to
seize the herring myself in the depths of the Baltic. Johanna is

208 CORRESPONDENCE.

still asleep, or she would certainly send many greetings. For rea-
sons of health I now rise at six o'clock. Hoping soon to see you,
I invoke (rod's blessing on you and yours, for this year and all
those to come.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Schonhausen, 8th July, 1850.

Yesterday a letter arrived from Oscar, according to which he
will also be in Berlin to-morrow, but will not return until Thurs-
day. I am very sorry your horses will be kept at work for two
days together, but Oscar will not be able to set out on Wednes-
day, and it would be inconvenient for us to remain a day and a
half in Berlin without any business whatever, or any other mo-
tive. The children and servants, Oscar, Johanna, and I, could
not go in one carriage. I therefore remain, and my principal
reason for writing to you is in relation to my former letter, ac-
cording to which we should reach Angermiinde on Wednesday
and find horses at Grerswalde, unless you have arranged it your-
selves differently — in which case Oscar will let me know, and it
will be all right. I do not wish to propose any other route, or it
will bring the horses into confusion, from the little time before
us. This journey I perceive will give me an introduction to the
new Lunatic Asylum, or at least the Second Chamber, for life.
I already see myself on the platform at Genthin with the chil-
dren ; then both of us in the carriage with all sort of infantine re-
quirements, businesses at which one turns up one's nose — Johan-
na does not like to give the boy the breast, and he roars himself
blue — then come official crowds, the inn, with both howlers in
the Stettin railway-yard — at Angermiinde we shall have to wait
an hour for the horses, and pack ourselves up again. How shall
we get from Krochlendorf to Kiilz? If we have to remain a
night in Stettin it will be horrible. Last year I had to undergo
all this with Marie and her screaming. Yesterday I got so de-
spairing as to all these things that I positively determined to give
the whole journey up, and so went to bed, determined at least
to coach it right through or stop somewhere. But what do we
not do for domestic peace? " The young cousins ought to know
each other, and who can tell when Johanna will see you again ?"
In the night she attacked rne with the boy in her arms, and with

OLML'TZ. 209

the arts that lost us Paradise she naturally succeeded, and every-
thing remains as before. But I feel that I am myself the victim
of a terrible wrong; next year I shall be forced to travel about
with three cradles, nurses, sheets, and all the rest. I wake at
six o'clock in a mild rage, and can sleep no more, from the pic-
tures of travel which my fancy paints me in the blackest hues —
down to the picnics in the sandhills of Stolpmiinde. And even
were one's expenses paid ! But to throw away the ruins of a
once brilliant fortune by travelling about with suckling children !
I am very unhappy !

Therefore, on Wednesday we reach Gerswalde. Perhaps I
had in the end better have gone by way of Passow, and you
would not have had to send so far to Prenzlau as to Gr. How-
ever, it is a fait accompli; and the misery of choice is succeeded
by the rest of resignation. Johanna greets you and packs. We
shall send some of our things per freight ; Johanna is therefore
in some anxiety about her toilette, in case you Boitzenbiirgers
have company.

The period till the latter autumn of 1850 was very instructive
to Bismarck as a politician ; he continued to observe — we should,
had not his Prussian heart been in the task, have said with scien-
tific attention and curiosity — the effort made by Radowitz to
save the Union ; he was astonished at the dexterity of this states-
man, but he also saw clearly that all this dexterity would fail,
for want of real pressure. Bismarck learnt that it was as impos-
sible to create a German Unity as any other form of state, if one
is wanting in courage or power to exert a sufficient pressure
upon that which opposes. While Austria opposed, union was
not possible without war, nor did Bismarck forget this truth.

The triple alliance collapsed, war was forbidden by the politi-
cal facts of the time — the union was abandoned, Herr von Rado-
witz resigned, and Herr von Manteuffel, who then entered upon
his office as Minister of Foreign Affairs, went to Olmiitz.

What a terrible outcry was raised as to this visit to Olmiitz at
the time, nnd how greatly Herr von Manteuffel was censured on
the subject! Prussian feeling was deeply wounded, and was
worthy of much respect; it was a severe transposition — but
from Erfurt to Olmiitz was a necessity, if it were not resolved to

210 THE PRUSSIAN NOBILITY.

break the opposition of Austria by the sword. Herr von Man-
teuffel, however, who entered upon this severe task in patriotic
devotion to his country, certainly did not deserve the flood of
abuse which was heaped upon his head for many years. He, at
least, had not led Prussia to Erfurt.

On the 3d December, 1850, Bismarck in a long speech defend-
ed the policy of the Ministry respecting the negotiations at Ol-
miitz. He emphasized the community of interests existing be-
tween Prussia and Austria in reference to revolution, on the
community of action of both States in German affairs. He
censured war, by which Prussia would have set her existence
upon the hazard of the die, in view of the threatening attitude
abroad, and would have done so, not for herself, but for the lurk-
ing democracy. It will be understood that much of the so-called
disgrace of Olrniitz was cast upon Bismarck, and he was bitterly
censured until the year 1866 for having defended those negotia-
tions.

In the course of the session Bismarck had an opportunity of
pronouncing a brilliant defense of the Prussian nobility, then as-
sailed with unequalled license and malice. His words were
these : —

"You ought not to undervalue in these latter days the serv-
ices of that class, whether as officers of the army, or in such po-
sitions where landed propert}* enables it to fight against anarchy
and for the salvation of Prussia. The nobility of Prussia has in
these affairs been spinning no silk, take it as a whole; it will be
remembered that its immediate ancestry conquered the Westpha-
lian Land Tax in the Ehine Province, and that its grandfathers
paid for the Patow Promemoria with their blood in Silesia. In
like manner, you will find the sons of this class ever among the
truest servants of the country. It is true the Prussian nobility
have had their Jena ; in common with the political associates of
those who now attack it, they have had their Second United Diet.
If, however, I survey their history as a great whole, I believe
there exist no reasons for such attacks as we hear in this place,
and I do not think it necessary to despair of discovering within
this class worthy members of a Prussian peerage."

To the continually reiterated taunt concerning Junkerdom and
the Junker party, he fearlessly replied : —

I AM PROUD TO BE A PRUSSIAN JUNKER!"

211

" I am proud to be a Prussian Junker, and feel honored by the
appellation. Whigs and Tories were terms which once also had
a very mean signification ; and be assured, gentlemen, that we
shall on our part bring Junkerdom to be regarded with honor
and respect."

We here take leave of Bismarck's activity as a conservative
party leader in the Second Chamber. This volcanic earth in the
Hardenberg Palace, on the Donhoffsplatz, he only re-entered elev-
en years afterwards as a Minister, although in the winter of
1851-'2 he several times came from Frankfurt to Berlin, and also
appeared in the Chamber.

Book tlje JTourtl).

ON THE YOYAGE OF LIFE.

CHAPTER 1.

ON THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.
[1851-1859.]

Ambassador. — Interview with the King. — Lieut. -General von Rochow. — Anecdotes.
— Frankfurt. — Reception of the Prince of Prussia. — Society at Frankfurt. — The
King's Birthday.— Position of Prussia.— Correspondence.

T some resting-place
on a journey into
Pomerania which
Bismarck under-
took in the early
spring of 1851, he
heard from several
persons of his ap-
pointment as Am-
bassador to the Diet
in Frankfurt-on-the
Maine, where the
Diet was just then
re-assembling. That
this was not true he
knew, but that he

was very likely intended for the post he considered far from im-
possible. He thought deeply over the matter; the reflection
was a novel one, but by no means unwelcome ; to him a parlia-
mentary career had become the less pleasing the longer he had
followed it — he was not vain enough for that: his manly self-
confidence, however, was considerable, and perhaps he thought
of his mother's predictions. On his return to Berlin, after mi-

218

AMBASSADOR AT FRANKFURT.

nute self-examination, he determined to accept the position of
Ambassador to the Diet, should it be offered him.

We do not know whether the idea of intrusting Bismarck
with this office — unquestionably the most important which Prus-

sia at that time had to till — first occurred to Frederick William
IV. himself, or whether it was the thought of the Minister von
Manteuffel ; at any rate it was founded on the assumption that
Bismarck would be a persona grata to Austria, as it was then
Prussia's problem to treat of German politics with the best un-
derstanding towards Austria. It was the custom of Frederick
William IV., who more than proved how dear every thing that
concerned Germany was to his heart, to select his Ambassador to
the Diet with the utmost care ; and the delicate circumstances of
the time rendered the necessity for caution all the greater. Yet,
it will be said, on this occasion his choice fell upon a man who

DEPARTURE FOR FRANKFURT. 219

had hitherto never served in diplomatic matters. We certainly
know from the mouth of a Minister of State, on very confiden-
tial terms with the King, that the latter " was much attached to
Bismarck, and expected great things at his hands."

Bismarck paid a visit to He IT von Manteuffel ; the latter soon
told him that His Majesty the King desired to speak with him,
and then, without any circumlocution, asked him in what his
views concerning the ambassadorship consisted. The cautious
Minister was not a little surprised when Bismarck, in so many
words, declared himself prepared to undertake it. He was evi-
dently not without hesitation at so rapid a decision, desiring him,
however, to wait upon His Majesty the King without delay.

Bismarck was received by his King, at Sans-Souci, with that
favor and grace which he ever evinced towards him ; but the
King was even perhaps more astonished than his Prime Minis-
ter, when Bismarck frankly and honestly declared — l If your
Majesty is desirous of trying the experiment, I am ready to fulfill
your wishes !"

Frederick William IY. perhaps thought there was a certain
degree of temerity in the rapid decision of Bismarck, and drew
his attention to the significance and difficulty of the position.

"Your Majesty can surely try me,'' replied Bismarck, "if it
prove a failure, I can be recalled in six months, or even sooner
than that!"

Despite all- the* doubts and hesitation which arose in his mind,
the King remained firm to his intention, and in May, 1851, Bis-
marck was appointed to the post of First Secretary of the Em-
bassy to the Diet, with the title of Privv Councillor.

He immediately departed for his post. He here found himself
on new, and, to him, entirely strange ground, and his duty was
certainly not rendered easy for him. Lieut-General Theodor
jhus von Rochow, who was to introduce him to his new posi-
tion, kept him at a distance from actual business, with the well-
known and intelligible jealousy which most men entertain to-
wards their successors in office. Herr von Gruner was a liberal
md an opponent of Bismarck's, but the other German represent-
itives felt a sort of virtuous shudder at the famous reactionary
Bunker. Perhaps the Presiding: Deputy, Count von Thun-Ho-
lenstein, who thought to see in Bismarck the thorough partisan

220

GENERAL VON ROCHOW.

of Austria, was the only person who bid him welcome, at the
same time with the intention of causing him to see what marked
influence Austria possessed. This was a rather strong diplo-
matic blunder, for Bismarck knew precisely how to take and re*
tain his proper position.

A pretty anecdote was related at the time, for which certainly
we can not absolutely vouch, but if not true, it might have been.
Bismarck one clay paid the Presiding Deputy a visit. Count
Thun received him with a sort of brusque familiarity, went on
coolly smoking his cigar, and did not even ask Bismarck to take
a chair. The latter simply took out his cigar-case, pulled out a
cigar, and said, in an easy tone, " May I beg a light, Excellency?"
Excellency, astonished to the greatest degree, supplied the de-
sired light. Bismarck got a good blaze up and then took the
unoffered seat in the coolest way in the world, and led the way
to a conversation.

Bismarck never allowed any liberties with himself, but still
less would he tolerate them when they were offered to him as
the representative of his Sovereign.

In the August of the same year he received the rank of Am-
bassador. The Councillors at the Embassy consisted of the Le-
gations— Rath Otto Wentzel, and as Attaches, the Count Lynar,
and Count Theodor of Stolberg-Wernigerode.

General von Rochow continued his jealous behavior to the
end. On the day of his departure he pretended to send Bis-
marck the current papers in a green portfolio ; but Bismarck
found it empty. Bismarck immediately went to the station,
which Rochow had not expected, and was accordingly much em-
barrassed. In the choicest expressions, Bismarck thanked him
for all the delicate kindnesses he had experienced from him, and
added, that he presumed to ascribe it to the friendship that Ro-
chow had entertained for his deceased father. These few mo-
ments could scarcely have been very pleasant to the poor General.

During this first visit to Frankfurt, Bismarck resided with his
friend Count Lynar (who subsequently died at Paris), in the
house of M. Krug, a merchant, in the Hoch-Strasse, whose wife
was a native of Berlin. He was unable to work much at the
Bills of the Bund, and General von Rochow, famous for his wit,
jested not a little at Bismarck's late habits of rising, although he

LITERARY ACTIVITY.

221

was far more industrious than was generally apparent, being en-
gaged in an active correspondence with his political friends in
Berlin, especially with the Actual Privy Councillor, Freiherr
von Manteuffel II. Before dinner he usually rode out, and, in
order to feel his ground, visited the neighboring Courts of Darm-
stadt, Biebrich, and Karlsruhe, where his old friend Yon Savigny
was then Prussian Envoy. An acute, sometimes a severe, judge

of character, as well as an observer of passing events; Bismarck
had, at the desire, or, at any rate, with the consent of Rochow,
undertaken an immediate part in the press. The articles con-
tributed" or suggested by him created much attention ; they pos-
sessed wit and point, often destroying the arguments of his oppo-
nents;, this became his peculiar province. At other times, as a

new man in diplomacy, he assisted at the discussions in the so-

222

VISIT OF THE PKINCE OF PKUSSIA.

cietj of Herr von Rochow, in order to become familiar with UK
coarse of business and the exterior formalities of diplomacy.

On the llth of July, 1851, the then Prince of Prussia (now
King) visited Frankfurt, and was received by the body corporate
of the Bund, and the general staff. The Prince was graciously
inclined towards Bismarck, but made some observations during
his passage to the terminus to Herr von Rochow, on the anomaly
of this militia-lieutenant — for Bismarck had appeared in uniform,
being a Deputy of the Bund. General von Rochow, however,
who was wise enough not to undervalue Bismarck's importance,
although he did not always testify the liveliest friendship
towards him, replied, " The selection is worthy, novel, and vigor-
ous; your Royal Highness will certainly find all your require-
ments fulfilled."

The Prince could reply nothing to this, and, in fact, he certain-
ly entertained the most favorable opinion of this still somewhi
youthful champion of the justice and the honor of Prussia.

"I believe," General von Rochow said at the time, uhe onl

COUNT THUN. 223

wished him to have possessed gray hair and a few additional
years ; but it is questionable whether the plans of the Prince
would be much nearer their fulfillment for those."

This is all very characteristic, considering the relation destined
at a future time to subsist between King William and Bismarck.
Personal good-will in the highest degree he entertained for him,
but want of confidence in his youth and inexperience.

The Prince of Prussia frequently alluded to this view, but
Rochow found rneana of quieting his fears. Otherwise he was-
fond of having Bismarck about him, conversed with him freely,
drove about, and soon went to the theatre with him. The Prince
exhibited real friendship for Bismarck, and, on the occasion of
the birth of a son, in the following year (2d August, 1852). be-
came its sponsor. Bismarck's younger son is named William
after his royal godfather, although his usual name has continued
to be "Bill." General von Eochow also, on his return to his post
at St. Petersburg, freely stated his anticipation of great things
from the talents and decision of character of his successor at
Frankfurt.

When Bismarck became Envoy to the Bund, on the 18th Au-
gust, 1851, he rented a villa of the younger Rothschild of Naples,
distant some quarter of an hour from the city gate on the
Bockenheimer Chaussee, close to the frontier of Hesse; the same
dwelling previously inhabited by the Archduke John in his offi-
cial capacity as Imperial Curator. In the garden, as upon the
flight of steps, the most magnificent flowers were arranged; it is
said there were more than one thousand camellias. Bismarck's
house, after the arrival of Madame von Bismarck with her chil-
dren, became the most prominently hospitable house in Frank-
furt.

He soon became intimate with the Austrian Ambassador.
Count Thun was a noble cavalier, and his very handsome wife,
born a Countess Lamberg, knew how to invest his house with
great attractions. Bismarck also managed to keep on terms with
Count Thun's successor, the well-known Freiherr Prokesch von
Osten, whose hatred of Prussia was so little a secret that his nom-
ination to the office was regarded as a demonstration against
Prussia ; and this Bismarck did without in the least lowering the
lignity of Prussia — a problem somewhat difficult, considering the

224

LIFE AT FRANKFURT.

reputation of this entirely Eastern diplomatist. Of a much more
friendly character were his relations to Count Kechberg, who re-
placed Prokesch.

The other representatives with whom Bismarck came into
more intimate contact were, Von Scherff, who represented the
King of the Netherlands as Grand-duke of Luxemburg, Von
Fritsch (Grand-duke of Saxony), Von Billow (King of Denmark
as Duke of Holstein and Lauenburg), Von Oertzen (Mecklen-
burg), and Von Eisendecher (Oldenburg). Bismarck farmed
some sporting in conjunction with the English Ambassador, Sir
Alexander Malet.

Besides enjoying the society of the diplomatists, Bismarck
liked to mingle with the Prussian and foreign higher military
officers; to his dinners, soirees, and balls, he also invited musi-
cians, authors, and artists— a fact not of very frequent occurrence
among the chief diplomatists in Frankfurt, and one which cre-
ated some notice. His intercourse with these circles was princi-
pally conducted by the highly esteemed artist Professor Becker,
who, with his wife and handsome daughters, belonged to the

THE KING'S BIRTHDAY.

225

most intimate society of bis house. The excellent portrait of
Bismarck which hangs in the room of the Countess at Berlin, is
by Professor Becker.

Still more remarkable than this intercourse with painters and
sculptors were certain domestic festivals, of which the people of
Frankfurt had never even dreamt before, and in which he was
imitated by no one. He used to give a feast to the domestics of
his Pomeranian and Alt Mark property on Twelfth Night, in the
old Pomeranian style — about which there was much curiosity.

The most brilliant festival of the year was that of the 15th
October, on the birthday of the
King. In the morning there was
solemn service in the large Re-
formed Church in the Corn-mar-
ket, at which Bismarck attended
with the whole suite of the Em-
bassy in full gala dress. Then
followed a magnificent dinner, and
in the evening he was accustom-
ed to visit the Prussian soldiers,
who lay in garrison in Frankfurt,
amidst their festivities.

Bismarck will never be forgot-
ten by the Prussian soldiers who
were in ' Frankfurt during his
days ; they all knew him, for at
every solemnity he appeared in
his uniform as Landwehr Lieuten-
ant, with the " Safety " Medal, to
witness the parades and exercises.

The soldiers always called him
41 His Excellency Herr Lieutenant
von Bismarck ;" they loved him
sincerely, because they felt that he loved every Prussian soldier.

The "Safety" Medal was no longer solitary upon his breast;
the time had arrived when stars and grand crosses were sent to
him from every side.

Prussian travellers on their journey were hospitably received
at his house, and many of those who were returning from the

226

POLITICAL ANXIETIES.

Khenish Baths, he not only invited to dinner, but, in the discreet-
est manner, aided with loans, often of the greatest necessity to
them. In short, Bismarck not only represented his Sovereign in
the most brilliant but the wisest manner.

When with considerable rapidity he had familiarized himself
with the duties of his office, he began to work with assiduity and
continuity. After tea, at ten o'clock, he often dictated for three
or four hours, and so well, that there was seldom any necessity
for altering a word, so that dispatches could be forwarded to Ber-
lin by half-past six.

After business and receptions, which latter often rendered
quiet necessary, his recreations consisted of hunting and riding.
He often had his horse saddled at four in the morning, and rode
for miles into the country.

< The more brilliant the social position of Bismarck had become,
the more difficult and thorny the political position remained.
He was conscious — we may say, to his great sorrow — from the
very beginning, that the equal rights of Prussia which he had- al-
ways assumed, in speaking of going hand-in-hand with Austria,
as to German affairs, were not recognized by Austria, but, on the
contrary, she endeavored, with suspicious and inimical feelings, to
increase the difficulties which Prussia had to fight against with
all her might. Bismarck, by his personal influence, had now ob-
tained a few advantages, and worked decisively through the
press, on which he not only fixed his attention, but to which he
devoted his personal activity. In the matters of the Zollverein,
he had a severe and especial battle to fight, against the machina-
tions of Austrian politics. The Hanover Zietung published angry
articles against the ratification of the treaty of 7th September,
1851, just concluded with Prussia, It was the personal influence
of Bismarck alone upon the Hanoverian Ambassador, Yon
Schele, that caused the opposition against the ratification of this
treaty to be abandoned.

In the Diet itself, Bismarck was successful in establishing such
an order of business, to some extent limiting the arbitrary action
of the President, and finally led to some method in the debates
of the Diet. It might even be said that he soon attained a lead-
ing power in the Diet, and thereby worked blessings for Prus-
sia ; but even all this could not alter the unfortunate position of

THE POSITION OF PRUSSIA. 227

Prussian Germany, founded as it was upon the principles of the
Diet and the Zollverein. Had Austria given its good- will, all
this might have been effected, but in the teeth of its ill-will, the
whole negotiations could only terminate in ruin or in a rupture.
The position of Prussia consisted in the fact, that the constitu-
tion of the Diet had only become possible through the policy of
Prince Metternich. This policy, which advocated a probable
segregation of Austria from Germany, and at least left Prussia
free room to act in North Germany, ever moved in the most lim-
ited grooves. "As Prince Schwarzenberg adopted a policy dia-
metrically opposed to this, which consciously and deliberately
determined upon the humiliation of Prussia, in order afterwards
to destroy it, and violated every form with the uttermost care-
lessness, the conflict could only be a matter of time.

Bismarck was therefore necessarily made an antagonist of
Austria by the Schwarzenberg policy, continued by Count Buol
Schauenstein; and opposition against the anti-Prussian policy of
the Vienna Cabinet became the watchword for his political ac-
tivity. This was soon very apparent, nor did he conceal it the
less, as his vigorous patriotism impelled him to bring his opposi-
tion actually to bear; his frankness also rendered any equivoca-
tion impossible. In such a course he could hardly depend upon
any co-operation from the King and the Prime Minister, Von
Manteuffel, who both hoped, discouraged by the failure of the
Union negotiations, that Austria might still revert to the earlier
pro-Prussian policy of Prince Metternich. Bismarck himself,
although he could scarcely hope this, ardently desired it. A po-
sition worthy of the Prussian kingdom in Germany was that for
which he had to strive — a position it ought to occupy, if it were
to worthily maintain its place in Europe ; and desired to secure
to the German people those, ad vantages, to be resigned by no
people unless at the peril of political death. Bismarck was de-
termined to devote his life to aiding the Prussian Crown in the
attainment of this position. He would rather have gone hand-in-
hand with Austria; if this were an impossibility, then without

Austria ; but should it prove necessary, then antagonism to Aus-
tria. It must not be overlooked how, in the sequel, Bismarck in
5 very political struggle attempted to accomplish it in union with

.ustria, in which, he was sometimes successful, and how, when it

228 CORRESPONDENCE.

was impossible, he continued the effort without Austria, and
finally in opposition to Austria. It were superfluous here to
pursue Bismarck's political career in the details of his German
policy.

'The following correspondence (rearranged by the translator in
their proper chronological order) passed during these years.

Frankfurt, 18th May, '61.

Frankfurt is wretched!}^ wearisome ; I am so spoilt with hav-
ing so much affection about rne, and a great deal to do ; and I
now first perceive how unthankful I have been towards many
people in Berlin — for I will not take you and yours into the
question. Even the coolness of fellow-countrymen and party as-
sociates I had in Berlin is an intimate connection compared with
the relations one makes here ; being, in fact, nothing more than
mutual suspicious espionage. If one had any thing indeed to de-
tect or to conceal ! The people here worry themselves about the
merest trifles ; and these diplomatists, with their important noth-
ings, already appear more ridiculous to me than a Deputy of the
Second Chamber in his full-blown dignity. Unless outward
events take place — and those we clever members of the Diet can
neither guide nor predetermine — I now know accurately what
we shall have done in one, two, or five years, and could bring it
about in twenty-four hours, if the others would for a single day
be reasonable and truthful. I never doubted that they all made
soup with water ; but such a simple, thin water-gruel, in which
you can't see a globule of fat, astonishes me ! Send rne Justice
X. or Herr von?arsky hither from the toll-gate, when they are
washed and combed, and I will lord it in diplomacy with them.
I am making enormous progress in the art of saying nothing in
a great many words. I write reports of many sheets, which read
as tersely and roundly as leading articles ; and if Manteuffel can
say what there is in them, after he has read them, he can do more
than I can.

Each of us pretends to believe of his neighbor that he is fall
of thoughts and plans, if he would only tell ; and at the same
time we none of us know an atom more of what is going to hap-
pen to Germany than of next year's snow. Nobody, not even
the most malicious skeptic of a democrat, believes what quackery

OPENED LETTERS. 229

and self-importance there is in this diplomatizing. Well, I have
railed long enough, and now I will tell you that I am very well.
Yesterday I was in Mainz : the neighborhood is lovely. The rye
is in full ear, although it is infamously cold all night and in the
mornings. Excursions by railroad are the best here. One can
reach Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Odenwald, Homburg, Soden,
Wiesbaden, Bingen, Kiidesheim, and Niederwald comfortably in
one day, stop five or six hours, and return here in the evening.
Until now I have not gone much about, but shall do so, that I
may take you about when you come. Eochow started yesterday
for Warsaw — he went off at nine o'clock in the evening ; the
day after to-morrow he will be there, and probably back in a
week. As to politics and people, I can not write much, as most
of the letters are opened here. When they know your address
on mine, and your handwriting on your letters, they will very
likely find out they have no time to read family letters.

Frankfurt, 3d July, 1851.

The day before yesterday I thankfully received your letter and
the news that you were all well. But do not forget, when you
write to me, that the letters are not only read by myself, but by all
sorts of postal spies ; and do not inveigh against certain persons in
them, for that is all set down to the 'husband — to my account;
besides, you do the people injustice. As to my appointment or
non-appointment, I know no more than was told me at my de-
parture: all other things are possibilities and conjectures. What
is irregular in the matter is the silence of the Government to-
wards me, as it would be as well to let me know for certain, and
indeed officially, whether I am to live here or in Pomerania with
wife and child next month. Be prudent in all you say to people,

then, without exception — not only against , particularly in

opinions of persons, for you can not conceive what one has to en-
dure if one once becomes an object of observation ; be assured

that whatever you say in the or the bathing-machine is

served up with sauce either here or at Sans-Souci. Forgive me
for scolding you so, but after your last letter I must take up the

diplomatic hedge-knife. If and others could sow distrust in

our diplomatic camp, they would thereby attain one of the chief
ends of their letter robberies. I went the day before yesterday to

230

REFLECTIONS.

Wiesbaden to , and, with a mixture of sadness and wisdom,

we went to see the scene of former folly. Would it might please
God to fill this vessel with his clear and strong wine, in which
formerly the champagne of twenty-one years of youth foamed use-
lessly, and left nothing but loathing behind. Where now are

and Miss ? How many are buried with whom I then

flirted, drank, and diced ? How many transformations have taken
place in my views of the world in these fourteen years, among
which I have ever looked upon the actually Present as the True?
How little are some things to me that then appeared great?
How much is venerable to me now, that I then ridiculed ? How
much foliage may bud, grow green, give shadow, rustle, and
worthlessly fade within the next fourteen years, till 1865, if we
live to see it? I can not understand how a man who considers
his own nature, and yet knows nothing of God, and will know
nothing, can endure his existence from contempt and wearisome-
ness. I know not how I could formerly support it; were I to
live as then, without God, without you, without rny children
I should not, indeed, know whether I had not better abandon life
like a dirty shirt ; and yet most of my acquaintances are in that
state, and live on! If I ask of an individual, what object he has
in living on, in laboring and growing angry, in intriguing and
spying, I obtain no answer. Do not conclude from this tirade
that my mood is dark ; on the contrary, I feel like a person who
looks, on a fine September morning, on the yellowing foliage; I
am healthy and cheerful, but I feel some melancholy, some long-
ing for home, a desire for forests, ocean, wilderness, for you and
my children, mingled with the impressions of sunset and of Beet-
hoven. Instead of which I have to pay dreary visits to

and read endless ciphers about German steam corvettes and can-
non-balls, rusting and eating up money in Bremerhaven. I
should like to have a horse, but I could not ride alone — it is too
wearisome; and the society with whom one rides is also weari-
some. And now I must go to Rochow, and to all sorts of -ins
and -offs, who are here with the Archduchess Olga.

Frankfurt, 8th July, 1851.

Yesterday and to-day I have been anxious to write to you, but
in the whirl of business could not get so far until the evening

SWIMMING. 231

late, on my return from a walk during which I blew away the
dust of business with the summer night's breeze, moonlight, and
the rustle of poplar foliage. On Saturday afternoon I went with
Rochow and Lynar to Eiidesheim. I there took a boat, went out
on the Rhine, and swam in the moonlight, eyes and nose only
above the tepid water, to the Rat Tower, near Bingen, where the
bad bishop met his end. There is something strangely dreamy
to lie in the water on a still night, slowly driven by the stream,
seeing the heavens, with moon and stars, above, and on either
hand the wood-capped mountains and city spires in the moonlight,
without hearing any thing but one's own gentle splashing. I
should like to swim like that every night. I then drank some
very decent wine, and sat for a long time smoking with Lynar
on the balcony, the Rhine below us. My small Testament and the
starry night led to some conversation on Christianity ; and I shook
earnestly at the Rousseau-like virtue of his soul, only reducing
him to silence. As a child he has been ill-treated by nurses and
tutors, without really knowing his parents, and has emerged from
his youth with similar ideas, founded on a similar education, to
my own, but bears them with more content than ever has been
my case. Next, day we went in the steamer to Coblenz, break-
fasted there for an hour, and returned in the same way to Frank-
furt, wh^re we arrived in the evening. I undertook the journey
with the object of visiting old Metternich, at Johannisberg, at his
invitation ; but the Rhine delighted me so much, that I preferred
a trip to Coblenz, and postponed the visit. We saw the river, on
our immediate journey to the Alps, in the finest weather ; on this
fresh summer morning, and after the dusty weariness in Frank-
furt, it rises much in my esteem. I look forward with real de-
light to spending a couple of days with you, at Riidesheim ; the
place is so calm and rural, the people pleasant, and nothing dear.
We would then take a small rowing-boat, and go quietly down,
climb the Niederwald, and this and the other castle, and return
by the steamer. One can leave here in the morning early, stay
eight hours at Riidesheim, Bingen, Rheinstein, and so forth, and
return hither by the evening. My appointment here seerns now
to be certain.

232

A STATE DINNER.

Frankfurt, 13th August, 1851.

I worked very hard to-day and yesterday about the King's
journey, and a multitude of petty details concerning the minor
Courts, and I am now in hourly expectation of a tiresome ambas-
sadorial visit; so that this letter must be very short, and yet
serve as a love-token. Who has started this nonsense about St.
Petersburg? I heard the very first of it from your letters.
Will you not go to Nicolai? I should not think one winter
there at all disagreeable ; but I am tired of these separations, and
the climate might not suit you and the babies. I yesterday took
a long and solitary walk into the mountains, deep into the won-
derful night. I had been at work from eight o'clock till five,
then dined, and luxuriated in the fresh evening mountain air of
the Tan n us, after leaving this dusty hole, by half an hour's rail-
way to Soden, some two miles behind me. The King passes
through here on the 19th, and returns, by way of Ischl and
Prague, to Berlin about the 7th of September. I shall meet him
at Coblenz, as I have much to say to . If he brings my ap-
pointment, as I expect, I shall immediately hire quarters, and
then we can talk of your coming.

Frankfurt, 23d August, 1851.

In the midst of my business post time has arrived, an£ I will
rather write you a hasty note than not at all. Since Monday I
have been still going on. First, there was a great State dinner
here to the Emperor of Austria — twenty-thousand thalers' worth
of uniforms at table ; then I went to Mainz to receive the King;
he was very gracious to me, for the first time after a long inter-
val harmless and merry. Next came a grand supper, then work
with Manteuffel till two ; then a cigar with dear old Stolberg ;
at half-past six parade, and a great theatrical representation. I
went on as far as Darmstadt ; there we clined. The King then
went to Baden, and after three weary hours I reached this place

in the evening with . On Wednesday I was summoned from

my bed to the Duke of Nassau at Bieberich, and there dined.
Late in the evening I returned, to be waked very early next
morning by the President Gr. and I., who took possession of me
and led me off to Heidelberg, where I remained the night, and
enjoyed some delightful hours with them at Castle Wolfsbrunn

JOURNEYS. 238

and Neckarsteinsach, and last night returned from this excess.
G. was pleasanter than ever, did not dispute, grew enthusiastic,
poetical, and generous. At the Castle we saw a sunset the day
before yesterday like that one at Kigi. We breakfasted up
there, walked to Wolfsbrunn, where I drank some beer at the
same table I did with you ; then boated up the Neckar to Stein-
ach, and parted in the evening at Heidelberg. Gr. goes to-day to
Coblenz, I. to Italy.

Bismarck was so often summoned to Berlin during his resi-
dence at Frankfurt, that it would be wearisome to relate all these
journeys here. In one year, we do not exactly remember which,
he travelled between Berlin and Frankfurt no less than 2600
miles. His counsel was often required by the highest authority,
and very often Bismarck was very nearly becoming a Minister,
even then ; nor was it the powerful influence of both sides which
conclusively prevented his entry into the Ministry, but his own
aversion to become a Minister so soon. He declared to an ac-
quaintance in those days that he would prefer to be first an am-
bassador for ten years, and then a Minister for ten years more,
that he might close his days as a country nobleman thereafter in
peace. King Frederick William IV., who regarded it as neces-
sary for Bismarck's- political education that he should go to Vien-
na, intrusted him in the May of 1852 with an important mission
thither ; but above this was his desire to restore a complete un-
derstanding between Austria and Prussia. We already know
that in this Bismarck was likely to become wrecked upon the
Schwarzenberg policy. In a personal sense, however, on follow-
ing the Imperial Court into Hungary, Bismarck received very
pleasing impressions, as to which he speaks in the following let-
ters to his wife : —

-' « Halle, 7th January, 1852.

I have never, as well as I can recollect, ever written to you
'from hence, and I hope that it will not happen again. I have
really been tEinking whether, after all, yesterday- was not Friday,
on which I set out ; it was certainly a dies nefaslus (N. K. will tell
you what this means). In Giessen I got a room as cold as ice,
with three windows that wouldn't shut; a bed too short and too

234

CORRESPONDENCE.

narrow ; it was dirty, with bugs ; infamous coffee — never knew
it so bad. At Guntershausen ladies came into the first class ;
there was an end of smoking. A high lady of commerce (N. N".
will tell you what that, is), with two lady's maids; sable furs;
they spoke alternately with a Russian and English accent in Ger-
man, French very well, a little English, but in my opinion they
came from the Reezen Alley in Berlin, and one of the lady's
maids was her mother, or elder lady 'of commerce (N. N., etc.).
Between Guntershausen and Gerstungen a tube in the engine
burst, so gently ! The water all ran away ; so there we sat
for an hour and a half .in the open — very pretty neighborhood,
and a warm sunlight I got into the second class to srnoke,
and fell into the hands of a Berlinese Chamber and Privy Coun-
cil colleague, who had been drinking Homburg waters for a
fortnight, and asked me a lot of questions before a number of
Jews coming from the fair, until, in despair, I took refuge with
the Princess from the Reezen Alley. By this stoppage we
reached Halle three hours too late; the Berlin train was gone
a long time. Here I must sleep, and travel with the luggage-
train at half-past one to arrive at two. In the station-yard
there are two hotels; by accident I'm in the wrong one; a gen-
d'arme walked up and down the saloon, and seemed very
thoughtful about my beard, while I ate a tough beefsteak. I am
very unhappy, but will finish my bit of goose, drink some port
wine, and then to bed.

Berlin, 1st May, 1852.

I have just returned from an infinitely tedious dinner at Le
Coq's, where I sat between L. G. and the younger M. — two per-
sons widely different in nature. I tried in vain to settle some
dispute about what is now agitating the King and the Chamber.
The one was dry, wise, and practical; the other delightful, enthu-
siastic, and theoretical ; he might really have forgotten the 'world
and its government, in his own views about them, but the air of
the Chambers has stimulated this impractical direction in him,'
and in this gymnastic exercise of soul and tongue he forgets, or
holds cheap, what is necessary to be done. There is really
something quite demoralizing in the atmosphere of the Cham-
bers— the best people grow vain without perceiving it, and get

VIENNA. 235

accustomed to the tribune as to a toilet-table, by means of which
they exhibit themselves to the public. Forgive this political
avalanche.

Berlin, 3d May, 1852.

I am really tired of being here, and long for the day of depart-
ure. Chamber intrigues I find terribly shallow and undignified;
if one lives always amongst them, one deceives one's self, and they
seem wonders. When I come straightforwardly from Frankfurt
I feel like a sober man who has suddenly fallen amongst tipplers,
I wish they would send me to Constantinople ; it would not be
necessary to be returning here every minute.

Vienna, llth June, 1852.

" 'Sg'fallt mer hier gar net'1 (I don't like this place at all) as
Schrenck says, although it was so pleasant with you, anno '47;
but I not only miss you, but I find myself not wanted, and that
is worse than I can make plain to your unpolitical mind. If I
were here, as I was there, for amusement, I could not grumble:
all those whom I have become acquainted with are remarkably
charming people, and the town is rather hot with narrow streets,
but still a splendid town. In business, however, there prevails
great nonchalance ; either the people don't want to arrange with,
us, or they think we look upon it as more important than ap-
pears to them. I fear that the opportunity of coming to an un-
derstanding is gone, which will prove a bad result for us ; for it
was thought that a very great step towards reconciliation was
taken in sending me, and they will not soon send another here so
desirous of coming to an understanding, and who at the time can
deal so freely. Forgive me for writing polities to you, but when
the heart is full, etc. I am really drying up in this mishmash,
and I am afraid I shall begin to take an interest in it. I have
just come from the opera with old Westmoreland ; Don Giovanni,
played by a good Italian Opera troop, in hearing which I felt the
wretchedness of the Frankfurt theatre doubly. Yesterday I
went to Schonbrunn, and thought of our romantic moonlight ex-
pedition, as I looked at the tall hedges and the white statues in
the green thickets, peeped also at the private garden which we first

236

OFEN.

got into — quite forbidden ground — so, that the Jager sentinel,
who was at his post, would not allow its even being looked into.

Ofen, 23d June, '52.

I have just come from the steamboat, and clo not know how to
employ the interval until Hildebrand follows with my luggage,
better than in giving you some account of this very eastward
but very beautiful world. The Emperor graciously assigned me
quarters in his palace, and I am seated at an open window in a
spacious vaulted hall, listening to the evening bells of Pesth..
The view is charming. The castle stands high ; beneath me
flows the Danube, spanned by the suspension bridge ; beyond is-
Pesth, and in the far distance is an endless plain melting away
into the purple twilight. Next to Pesth, on the left, I see the
upper course of the Danube ; far, very far off from me, viz., on
the right bank, the river is fringed by the town of Ofen ; behind
this are mountains, blue and bluer, and then tinged with brown-
ish-red in the evening, heaven glowing behind them. In the
midst of the two cities the broad sheet of water lies, like Linz,
broken only by the suspension bridge and a woody island. The
passage hither, at least from Gran to Pesth, would have delighted
you. Think of the Odenwald and the Taunus brought close to-
gether, and the interval filled with the waters of the Danube.
The shady side of the voyage was the sunny side, for the sun
burnt us as if Tokay were to grow on the ship, and the number
of travellers was very great ; but only fancy, not a single Eng-
lishman amongst them — they can hardly have discovered Hun-
gary as yet. Otherwise these were queer folks — from every ori-
ental and occidental nation — greasy and washed. My chief
travelling companion was a very delightful General, with whom
I sat for the most part on the paddle-box and smoked. I am
getting somewhat impatient as to where Hildebrand can be ; I
am lying in the window, half enthusiastic at the moonlight, half
waiting for him, as for one's beloved — for I feel a marvellous
disposition for a clean shirt. If you could be here for a moment,
and could see the silvery stream of the Danube, the dark mount-
ains on a pale red ground, and the lights twinkling up from
Pesth, Vienna would sink in your estimation as compared with
Buda-Pesth, as the Hungarian calls it ; you see I am also an en-

PESTH. 237

thusiast for nature. I will now calm my excited blood with a
oup of tea, as Hjldebrand has really arrived, and then soon go to
bed.

Last night I only had four hours' sleep, and the Court is very
early here. The young Duke rises at five ; I should then be a
very bad courtier if I thought of sleeping longer. Therefore,
with a glance at a gigantic tea-urn, and a seductive dish contain-
ing ices, amongst other things, as I see, I waft you a good-night
from afar. What can that song be which has haunted me all
•day long ?

" Over the blue mountain, over the white sea foam,
Come, thou beloved one, come to thy lonely home ! "

I can not tell who it was who sang this to me in " Old lang
syne."

The 24th June. — After a good night's rest although upon a
flinty bed, I wish you a good morning. The entire landscape be-
fore me swims in bright burning sunshine, so that I can not look
out without being dazzled. Until it is time to begin my visits, I
am sitting here alone at breakfast and smoking in a very spa-
cious apartment, four rooms — all vaulted massively — two about
the size of our dining-room, thick walls like Schonhausen, giant
walnut- wood cabinets, furniture of blue silk, on the floor a num-
ber of yard-wide black stains, that a more excited imagination
than mine would take for blood, but which I, decidement, declare
to be ink. An incredibly unskillful writer must have lived here,
or another Luther must several times have thrown very large
inkstands at the Adversary. A very obliging old servant in a
bright yellow livery shares the duties of the household with Hil-
debrand ; indeed they are all very obliging. In honor of the
King's representative, the steamer yesterday hoisted the great
Prussian standard, and, thanks to the telegraph, a royal carriage
was in waiting at the landing-place. Don't tell N. N"., or he will
write articles about it. Below, on long rafts, are floating the
queerest brown broad-hatted and broad-breeched figures along
the Danube. I am sorry that I am not an artist; I should like
to have introduced you to these wild faces, with heavy mus-
taches and long hair, flashing black eyes, and their picturesque
draperies, ns I beheld them yesterday. I must now make an
•end and begin my visits. I do not know when you will receive

238

NIGHT AT PESTH.

these lines; perhaps I shall send a courier to-morrow or next
day to Berlin, who can take them with him. B

Evening. — I have not had any opportunity as yet of forward-
ing this, The lights again are twinkling up from Pesth ; to-
wards the horizon, near the Theiss, there is lightning; above us
the heavens are full of stars. I have been in uniform the greater
part of the day, in private audience ; I handed my credentials to
the youthful ruler of this land, and have been agreeably im-
pressed. After dinner the whole Court made an excursion into
the mountains, to the "pretty shepherdess;" who is long since
dead ; some centuries ago King Matthew Corvinus loved her.
Thence there is a prospect of Ofen, its mountains and plains,
over woody Neckar-like rocks. A national feast had brought
thousands forth, thronging around the Emperor, who mingled
freely with them; with resounding eljen evviva they danced Csar-
das, waltzed, sang, played music, climbed the trees, and crowded
round the Court. Upon a grass slope there was a supper-table
laid out for some twenty people — only on one side, the other
being left free for a view of the forest, castle, city, and country ;
above us were tall beeches with climbing Hungarians on the
branches ; behind us dense crowds of people thronged together
and pushing each other about; in the distance wind instruments
mingled with song, wild gypsy music. Illuminations, moonshine,
and the rosy twilight, torches flitting through the forest — the
whole might have figured unchanged as a great scene of effect in
a romantic opera. Next to me sat the venerable Archbishop of
Gran, the Primate of Hungary, in a black silk talar with a red
cape ; on the other a very charming and elegant cavalry general.
You see that the picture was a variegated one, rich in contrasts.
Then we drove home in the moonshine by torchlight. Tell
Frau von V. that her brother was a most delightful man, as I
could not but expect from her two sisters whom I already knew.
I had just received a telegraphic dispatch from Berlin; it con-
tained only four letters— Nein (No!). A word full of signifi-
cance. I was told to-day of the storm of the castle three years
ago by the insurgents ; at this the brave General Hentzi and the
whole garrison, after a wonderfully courageous resistance, were
cut down. The black stains upon my floor are partly the result
of fire, and where I am writing bursting grenades were then

BISMARCK'S ONLY SISTER.

fFrau von Arnini.)

JOUKNEY INTO HUNGARY. 241

•iLuicing, and the fight went on over smoking ruins. It has only
been restored a few weeks ago, before the arrival of the Emperor.
It is very quiet and peaceful up here now. I hear nothing but
the ticking of a clock, and the sound of distant carriage-wheels
below. May angels watch over thee — a bearskin-capped grena-
dier does so with me — I can see six inches of his bayonet at a
couple of arms' length from me above the window-sill, and the
reflection of a foot. He stands on the terrace by the Danube,
and is probably thinking of his Nanny.

Szolnok, 27th June, 1852.

In your atlases you will find a map of Hungary, and on this a
river Theiss, and, if you follow up the source towards Szegedin,a
place named Szolnok. Yesterday I went by railway from Pesth
to Alberti-Josa, where a Prince W. lies in garrison. He is mar-
ried to a Princess M. I paid him a visit in order to inform

of the state of his health. This place lies on the edge of the
Hungarian steppes between the Danube and the Theiss, which I
desired to see by way of a joke. I was not allowed to ride with-
out an escort, as the district is overrun by cavalry robber bands,
here called Betyars, and is therefore unsafe. After a comfortable
breakfast under the shade of a Schonhausen lime, I got upon a
low wagon with sacks of straw and three horses ; the Uhlans load-
ed their carbines, mounted, and away they went at full gallopo
Hildebrand and a Hungarian servant occupied the front seat, and
our coachman was a dark brown peasant, with a mustache, a broad-
brimmed hat, long hair shining with fat, a shirt only reaching to
the stomach, leaving a broad band of dark brown skin visible, to
where the white trowsers begin, each leg of which would make a
woman's gown, and reach to the knee, where boots and spurs
complete the costume. Only think of firm grass plat, as level as
a table, on which nothing can be seen for miles towards the hoir
zon, except the tall naked beams of the wells dug for the half-
wild horses and oxen ; thousands of whity -brown oxen, with long
horns, as timorous as deer; rough, disreputable-looking horses,
watched by half-naked shepherds on horseback, with lances ; end-
less herds of swine, among which you see a donkey carrying the
fur-cloak (bunda) of the herdsman, and sometimes himself; huge
swarms of bustards, hares, rabbits, and other small deer; near a

2±<2 KOBBERS.

salt- water pool, wild geese, ducks, and lapwings ; such were t lie-
objects we flew by, and which flew by us during our three hours'
journey of seven miles to Ketskemet, with a slight halt at a csarda.
(inn). Ketskemet is a village, the streets of which, if the inhabit-
ants are left out, reminds one of the small end of Schonhausen..
It has, however, forty-five thousand inhabitants, unpaved streets,
low houses, closed on the eastern side against the sun, with huge
cattle-yards. A foreign ambassador was such an unusual sight
there — and my Magyar servant rattled out the " excellency " to
such a degree — that I immediately obtained a guard of honor, the-
village authorities announced themselves, and a change of horses
was required. I spent the evening with a delightful set of officers,
who insisted upon my taking an additional escort, and entertained
me with a number of robber stories. In the very neighborhood
into which I was going the worst robber-nests exist ; on the Theiss,
the morasses and wilds render their destruction almost impossible.
They are splendidly horsed and armed, these Betyars; they at-
tack travellers and farms in bands of fifteen or t.wenty strong, and
next day are twenty miles away. They are polite to respect-
able people. I had left the greater part of my ready rrroney with
Prince W., and only had some linen with me, and really felt a.
desire to make the nearer acquaintance of these mounted brig-
ands, in their great fur dresses, with double-barrelled guns and
pistols in their girdles. Their captains wear black masks, and
sometimes belong to the small country gentry. Some days ago
the gens-d'armes had a skirmish with them, and some were kill-
ed ; two robbers, however, were caught, and shot, with all the hon-
ors, in Ketskemet. We don't hear of such things in our tiresome-
districts. About the time you woke this morning, you little-
thought that I was flying over the steppes of Cn mania, in the-
neighborhood of Felegyhaza and Csonygrad, with Hildebrand at
full gallop, a delightful sunburnt Uhlan officer by my side, loaded
pistols lying in the hay before us, and a squadron of Uhlans with
ready carbines in their hands wildly dashincr after us. Three

. \D

swift horses drew us, called Kosa, Csillak (star), and Betyar (vag-
abond). The driver unintermittingly called them by name, in a
piteous tone, until he got his whip handle well over their heads,
and with a cry of " mega! mega f (hold on !) the gallop changed
into a wild career. A delightful sensation ! We saw no robbers ;

HUNGARIAN PEASANTS. 243

:is my light-brown lieutenant told me, they knew before daylight
that I was travelling under protection ; certainly some of them
were among those worthy-looking and dignified peasants who
gazed seriously at us at the stations, in their sleeveless sheepskin
cloaks reaching to the ground, and greeted us with an honorable
" istem adiamek" (praised be God !) The sun's heat was scorching
all day — I arn as red as a crab in the face. We made eighteen miles
in twelve hours, to which must be reckoned two or three hours, if
not more, in putting-to and waiting, as the twelve horses I required
had first to be caught for myself and escort. A third of the dis-
tance was shifting sands and downs, like those of Stolpmiinde.

At five I reached this place, the streets of which are animated
by a gay crowd of Hungarians, Slowaks, and Wallachians, who
fill my chamber with a din of the wildest and maddest gypsy
melodies. (Szolnok is a village of some six thousand inhabit-
ants, but there is a railway and steamboat station on the
Theiss.) At times they sing through the nose, with gaping
mouths, in a weak minor discord, histories of black eyes, and of
the brave death of some robber, in sounds that remind one of
the wind howling Lettish songs down a chimney. The women
are generally well grown, a few remarkably handsome; they all
have raven hair, bound in tresses behind with red ribbons. The
married women wear either bright green and red cloths, or red
velvet caps on their heads; about their shoulders and bosoms a
handsome yellow silk shawl ; black or pure blue short gowns,
and red Turkey leather shoes, reaching up under the petticoat?.
Their faces have a yellowish brown hue, with lustrous black eyes;
a group of these women present a play of colors that would please
yon ; every color is as distinctly expressed as possible. Since
my arrival at five I have been swimming in the Theiss, while ex-
pecting dinner. 1 have seen Csardas danced ; it vexes me that
I can not draw, to bring these fairy-tale forms on paper for you.
I then had paprika, st'drl (fish), and tick for dinner, drank a good
deal of Hungarian, and now shall go to bed, if the gypsy music
will let me sleep. Good night. Istem adiamek.

Pesth, the 28th.

Again I see the mountains of Ofen, this time from the Pesth
side, from below. From the plains I have just left, -the dim out-

244 ON THE PESTH SIDE.

lines of blue Carpathian ridges, distant some twelve or fifteen
miles, are in some places, when the air is very clear, barely dis-
tinguishable. To the south and east the plain was fathom less;
in the first direction it stretches»far away into Turkey, in the sec-
ond towards Siebenburgen. The heat to-da}' was again scorch-
ing, and has peeled all the skin from my face. A heat-storm is
now raging, driving so fiercely over the steppes that the houses
tremble. I swam in the Danube, saw the magnificent suspension
bridge from beneath, paid visits, heard very good g}rpsy music on
the parade, and shall soon go to bed. The parts on the edge of
the Pusta, where it' is beginning to be cultivated, remind me
of Pomerania, in the neighborhoods of Rommelow, Romahn, and
Coseger. The g}rpsies have grayish-black complexions. Their
costume is fabulous; the children quite naked, except a string
of glass pearls about their necks. Two women had handsome,
regular features, and were cleaner and more ornamented than the
men. When the Hungarians Want a dance over again, they
shout in a surprised tone, " Hody wol? HodyT"1 ("What was
it? What?"), and look at each other interrogatively, as if they
had not understood, although they know the music by heart. It
is, indeed, a singular people, but pleases me very well. It was
just as well I had the escort of Uhlans. At about the same
time I left Ketskemet for the south, sixty-three wagons went off
in a northerly direction towards Koros. Two hours later they
were stopped and plundered. A colonel, who was by accident
driving before this wagon-train, had some shots sent after him,
as he would not halt. One horse was shot through the neck,
but not enough to bring it down, and as he returned the fire,
with his two servants, flying at full gallop, they preferred to be
satisfied with the other travellers. They did no other harm to
any one, and only plundered some individuals, or rather ransom-
ed them, for they do not take all a person has, but only in pro-
portion to property, and according to their own needs; for in-
stance, they will quietly receive forty florins out of a thousand,
without touching the remainder. Thieves with whom one can
talk!

DUKE OF AUGUSTENBURG. 245

Vienna, the 30th.

Here I am again at the "Roman Emperor." While you were
looking from the Castle of Coblenz on the Rhine in attendance on
our King and Lord, I was looking from the Castle of Ofen upon
the Danube, and had an after-dinner conversation with the young
Emperor upon the Prussian military system ; and, oddly enough,
on the same afternoon on which you visited Ehrenbreitstein and
Stolzenfels, I took a drive through the Citadel above the palace,
and into the forest district of Ofen. The view from the first is
admirable. It reminds one of Prague, only there is more back-
ground and distance, therefore rather resembles Ehrenbreitstein,
and the Danube is grander than the Moldau. I reached here
last night, per the Pesth train, about half-past six.

Bismarck, as usual, was invited to the royal hunting-party in
the autumn, as we perceive by the following letter to his wife : —

Blankenburg, 1st Nov., 1852.

A very unusual early rising, caused by the circumstance that
my room is a passage for some Court servants still asleep, gives
me time for these lines. Our Queen is also here, and is just be-
ing awakened by soft music of horns. I have not had such good
sport in Letzlingen this time as three years ago; it was on Fri-
day. Only three stags, voild tout; one of them I hope will reach
you. Eat the wild boar devoutly, and pickle some of it. His
Majesty shot it with his own gracious hand. Otherwise, things
went off very well ; and, as I found N". N. there, I need not go to
Berlin, and hope to reach you by the evening after to-morrow,

of which please inform , as well as that his appointment for

Berlin at our Court may be regarded as certain. B.

The band if still playing very well from the Freischiitz, —
" Ob auch die Wolke sie verhulle " (If the cloud still doth sur-
round her); very apt in this doubtful weather.

In the following year he received many visits from the Duke
of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, for whom he
was engaged at the time, at the instance of the King's Govern-
ment, in obtaining a pecuniary settlement of the Duke's claims
with Denmark, Bismarck was able, with great difficulty, to ex-

246

OSTENl).

tract from very unwilling Denmark a handsome compensation.
At this the Duke was so rejoiced, that he devoted himself and
followers, with the entire gratitude of the House of Augusten-
burg, to the policy of Bismarck, as is well known.

In the summer of 1853 Bismarck first visited Ostend and Hol-
land, then Westphalia and Nordeney. He then had a mission
to Hanover, of which he rendered an account at Potsdam. In
the autumn he spent a considerable time with his family in
Switzerland, at Villeneuve, on the Lake of Geneva, and thence
visited Upper Italy, especially Aosta and Genoa. In October he
was summoned to Potsdam by His Majesty the King ; was pres-
ent at the hunting-parties of Letzlingen, and then returned for
the winter to Frankfurt ; some time, however, he spent in Berlin.

During the summer trip, which Bismarck made alone, he wrote
the following letters to his wife: —

Ostend, 19th August, 1853.

Up to the present time, besides the one of to day, I have taken
three baths, with which I have been well pleased ; there is a
strong sea and soft bottom. Most people bathe close under the
pier forming the parade, ladies and gentlemen all together ; the
first in very unbecoming long gowns of dark woollen, the last in
a tricot, being jacket and trowsers in one piece, so that the arms
above and the legs beneath are almost free. Only the conscious-
ness of possessing a perfectly well-proportioned form can allow
one of us to produce himself in ladies' society thus.

Brussels, 21st August, 1853.

I have left Ostend with sorrow, and really wish myself back
again: I found an old sweetheart of mine there, and as un-
changed and charming as on our first acquaintance. I really
feel the sorrow of separation deeply at this moment, and look
forward impatiently to the instant when I shall cast myself on
her heaving bosom at Nordeney. I can hardly understand why
people can not always live by the sea, and why I have been ca-
joled into passing two days in this parallel ogrammatic stone
heap, to see bull-fights, Waterloo, and pompous processions. If
I had not to keep that most unlucky appointment with N. N"., I
should stay several weeks longer in Ostend, arid give N. N. up.

AMSTERDAM. 2i7

I shall only remain till noon to-morrow, and then start, or early
the next morning, for Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam ;
thence by steamer to Harlingen, and through Friesland to Nor-
deney. I am afraid N. N. will soon disturb me there, and if I
once get to Bremen with him, I hardly know whether I ever
shall accomplish the tiresome journey to N. again, but shall make
rny way by Hanover, Hamm, Kassel, and Frankfurt to the place
you inhabit. If you write to me, direct to Nordeney.

Amsterdam, 24th August, 1853.

In Brussels and Antwerp I have never had a quiet minute on
.account of feasts and sight-seeing. I have passed a detestable
night on a camp-stool, in a crowded boat from Antwerp, starting
.at one in the morning. By an angular labyrinth of arms of the
Scheldt and Maas, and the Rhine, I reached Rotterdam early,
about eleven, and about four arrived here. That is a singular
town: many streets are like Venice, some with water right up to
the walls, others like -canals with a towing path, and with narrow
walks planted with limes before the houses. The latter have
fantastic gables, strange and smoky, almost ghostly — the chim-
neys like men standing on their heads and stretching out their
legs. That which does not savor of Venice is the busy life, and
the massive handsome shops — one window close to the other,
and more magnificently than I remember those of Paris or Lon-
don. When I listen to the bells, and, with a long clay pipe in
my mouth, look through the forest of masts, across the canals
into the twilight towards the romantically confused gables and
chimneys, all the Dutch ghost stories of my childhood come back
to me, of Dolph Heylinger, and Rip van Winkle, and the Flying
Dutchman. To-morrow morning I go by steamer to Harlingen
on the Zuyder Zee, and to-morrow evening I hope to be in Nor-
deney, the farthest point from you I propose to touch ; and then
the time will not be far off when I hope to encounter you unex-
pectedly on a glacier. I have nothing from Berlin since I left
Ostend, and therefore conclude that the storms are all laid, and
the waters returned into the old bed — the pleasantest event that
could happen for us. I arn very glad I have seen Holland; from
Rotterdam to this place there is one continual verdant and level
meadow, upon which there are many bushes, much grazing cat-

248

NORDERNEY.

tie, and some old cities cut out of picture-books ; no arable land
anywhere.

Norderney, 27th Aug., 1853.

Last evening I arrived here on a stout Dutch sloop, amidst
thunder, lightning, and rain — have, after an abstinence of a week,
taken another glorious sea-bath, and am sitting in a fishing hut
with a feeling of great loneliness and longing for you — partly
heightened by the clamor of mine host's children, partly by the
piping scream of the storrn against the roof and flagstaff. It is
really tiresome here, and that suits me, as I have a long piece of
work to finish. I wrote to you last from Amsterdam, previously
from Brussels. Since then I have seen a charming little country
— West Fnesland ; quite flat, but so bushy green, hedgy, every
farm-house surrounded by its little wood, that one seems to envy

the peaceful independence reigning there. will probably

ascribe this satisfaction to the circumstance that, as at Linz and
Gmiinden, all the girls are pictures of beauty, only taller and
more slender, fair, colors like milk and roses, and a very becom-
ing helmet-like golden head-dress.

In the spring of 1854 we find Bismarck at Potsdam, in the
summer at Munich and Stuttgart. On the 28th of June he wrote
to his sister from Frankfurt, thus:

I should have liked under all circumstances to have brought
you my good wishes in person, particularly as I know my roving
wife is with you. But unfortunately we seem too important to
ourselves here, to deprive confused Europe of the light of our
wisdom. Whoever speaks of holidays now is regarded as a trai-
tor to the wo rid -important problem of the Germanic Confedera-
tion. I long deeply for the country, the forest and laziness, with
the obligate addition of affectionate wives and well-conducted
clean children. If I hear one of these hopefuls crying in the
street, my heart is filled with parental feelings and educational
maxims. How do our descendants agree, and are mine good? I
have been obliged to write these few lines at three intervals, be-
cause K N. and 1ST. K East and West disturbed me during the
time, and Z. is just announced : he won't go for an hour, so I say

HOLSTEIN QUESTION. 249

farewell. I want to go fishing with the Englishman to-day, but
it rains too much, so instead I am a victim of visitors. Farewell,
and live long. Your faithful brother.

Bismarck then accompanied the King, who grew continually
more attached to him, to the island of Riigen ; by Pomerania,
Berlin, and Baden he returned to Frankfurt.

During the summer of 1855 he visited the Exhibition at Paris,
residing with the Prussian Ambassador, Count Hatzfeld, and was
introduced to the Emperor of the French. Afterwards he went
to Stuttgard and Munich, and then visited the King and Queen
at Stolzenfels. The year 1856 was comparatively quiet, and he
passed his summer at Stolpmiinde.

Reinfeld, in Pomerania, llth Sept., 1856.

The Diet will, I think, in November, devote its sessions to the
Holstein question with greater good-will than results. Outwardly
all the governments will appear united in this matter. Austria
will, however, secretly remain an adherent of the Danes; its
press will teem with German phrases, and Prussia will be sad-
dled with the error of inaction. The centre of gravity of the af-
fair actually does not lie at Frankfurt, but in the question wh^th-
er Denmark is secure from the assaults of one or more of the
extra German States. If she be, then she will look upon the de-
cision of the Diet as a sufficient settlement.

From Courland Bismarck returned to Berlin and Potsdam^
and thence went to Baden; afterwards he was at Hohendorf in
East Prussia, and Keinfeld in Pomerania. These were certainly
years of apprenticeship, but still more years of journey. In the
following years he was frequently summoned to the Prince of
Prussia in Baden-Baden ; he then went to Stolpmiinde, and re-
mained in Berlin throughout October and November. During
these years the following letters were written to Frau von Ar-
nim, the two last containing some notices of the Ministry of the
so-called " new era" — Bismarck speaking in a very intelligible
way as to his own position.

250

OFFICIAL PARADE.

BISMARCK TO FBAU VON ARNIM.

Reinfeld, 15th October, 1856.

It looks as if I never was to reach Krochlendorf. Harry will
no doubt have told you how I intended to do so. I should al-
ready have been with you, but last week my poor little Marie
was seized with some kind of chicken-pox, and so I could not
well leave Johanna until the symptoms were declared. She is
still as variegated as a trout, but decidedly better. I wanted to
set off to-day for Passow direct, but yesterday had a letter from

• , by which he lets me know that he wants to see me by the

18th at . As a diplomatist I can not refuse to meet our

trustiest companion, and one of the Olympian deities of our
Frankfurt Pantheon. If I receive no letter from Berlin in be-
tween, I hope to rest in your sororial arms by the 19th. Should

I be able to get away from on the evening of the 18th, I

shall leave by the early train from Stettin. If I can not do this,
I still hope to reach Stettin by the twelve o'clock train, if the
postillions can be got to a trot. But do not wait dinner for me.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Frankfurt, 26th Nov., 1856.

Bernhard will have told you by what unexpected chain of in-
fantine disease and royal mandates I have been deranged in my

•chronological calculations, and how , who has claims upon

my ideas of the service, also abridged my lecture, so that it hap-
pened, a few hours before we were about to set out for Krochlen-
dorf, all together, that I had to announce to the male as well as
the female Bernhard that I could only escort them as far as Pas-
sow. At that frontier of the Uckermark I met , and in An-

germiinde we were joined by , so that I was gradually pre-
pared, by ministerial conferences and three hours of smokeless-
ness, for my Berlin strait- waistcoat. It seemed as if I was never
to get to Krochlendorf. I had plenty of time and desire to do
so, after the terminations of the Berlin marriage festivities, and
only after a conference with did I decide first to go to Rein-
feld, and on my return, to you, in order to stop a week with him
there ; because he only got his holiday in October, and our ar-

THE UPPER CHAMBER. 251

rangernent was that I should come hither with him about the
15th, and return to Berlin about the 22d. On the llth my child
was taken ill, at first severely ; then I had to attend to official pa-
rade. Then I was summoned to his Majesty at Berlin, where, on
the 25th of October, I found myself early enough. And now I
am here, have only seen the sun twice in the last month, and
every day I say to myself that it is impossible in November to
live without wife and children. From sheer ennui I give dinner
parties. In the evening one rout succeeds another, and I shall
soon begin to gamble if Johanna and the children do not occupy
this vacuum. She thought of starting from Beinfeld on Saturday
the 22d, but on the 20th wrote me a plaintive letter about cold
and snow, which I received on the 23d. Since then I have no
idea whether she is on the other side of the Gollenberg or
this side of the Randow. I begged her generally to inform you
•of her confinement in Berlin beforehand, and to let you know
from Coslin by telegraph when she would actually arrive there.

The last time I lived in very fairly, but it appeared to rne

this youthful undertaking must either not have taken place, or
already been "over." If Johanna should by accident be in Ber-
lin, greet her from me. Perhaps I shall get there by Saturday.
I am summoned to the Upper Chamber, but the contents do not
assure me whether His Majesty wishes me to be there myself per-
sonally, or only desires to see his most humble servant en bloc.
In the latter case I should not consider myself called to leave
my important business, and the stove in the red study, to sit up
to the neck in snow at Halle, and next heighten the effect of
the White Saloon by a flying costume under the rubric of " Peo-
ple, nobility, detectives, and priests." I expect an answer from
Berlin about this, as to whether I am wanted as an ornament or
-a coadjutor. In the latter case I should reach Berlin early on
•Saturday. I should be very glad on that occasion to see you, as
.some recompense for Krochlendorf; otherwise, I am glad to re-
main away from Berlin, and receive my own folks here.

TO FRAU VON ARNIM.

Frankfurt (without date.)

While I was forced to hear an almost incredibly long speech
by a highly esteemed colleague on the anarchical condition of

252

FRANKFURT.

things in Upper Lippe, I thought how I could use the time, and
the most prominent want of my heart seemed to be a desire to-
pour forth fraternal feelings. A very highly respectable but
slightly amusing company surrounds me, at a green-covered cir-
cular table, some twenty feet in diameter, in the ground floor of
the Prince of Tour and Taxis's palace, with a view of the garden.
The average appearance of these folks is somewhat that of N.
and Z. in Berlin — they have quite a Federal Diet cut!

I go out shooting pretty regularly, when a single individual
shoots some six to fifteen hares and a few pheasants — very sel-
dom a roe or a fox — and a head of red deer is sometimes seen in
the far distance. Time for this I have been able to spare from
being far more lazy, as my industry in Berlin led to no results.

N". N. is by no means as charming as he1 used to be ; he listens
to all kinds of lying stories, and allows himself to be persuaded
that I am anxious for his heritage, although I am glad to be left
where I am. I am getting accustomed, in the consciousness of
yawning innocence, to submit to all symptoms of coldness, and!
permit a spirit of entire indolence to possess me, after having, I
flatter myself, gradually brought the Diet to a knowledge of its
piercing nihilism. The well-known song of Heine, " 0 Bund, du
Hund, du bist nicht gesund" (O Diet, you dog, you are not well),
will soon be unanimously adopted by resolution as the national
anthem of the Germans.

Nobody troubles themselves about the East here. The Kus-
sians or the Turks may put what they like in the newspapers;
nobody believes either in land or sea fights, and doubts the exist-
ence of Sinope, Kalafat, and Schef ketel.

Darmstadt has at last stopped reading — and I fall, full of emo-
tion, into your arms, and wish you a pleasant feast. Many greet-
ings to Oscar. Your faithful brother, B.

TO THE SAME.

From Paris, Hotel de Douvres, April, 1857.

I have five stoves, and am freezing — five clocks, and never
know how late it is — eleven great looking-glasses, and my necktie
is always awry. I shall probably have to remain here until Tues-
day evening, although I am anxious to be at home. Since No-

COPENHAGEN. 253

vernber I have not emerged from this Bohernianisrn — since No-
vember, and I have not had a sensation of regular and lasting
domesticity since you went last summer with Johanna to Schwal-
bach. Now they want to summon me to Berlin about the salt
tax ; if I had the time, I could not take part in this debate. I
•can not, according to my conviction, vote for the Government ;
but, if I vote for the Opposition, it is hardly proper to ask for
leave of absence on such an account ; and, considering the rumors
as to my eventual entry into the Ministry, of which Johanna, on
account of your statements, writes despairingly, one could think I
had some ideas of joining in the swindle. Hearty greetings to
Oscar. B.

In the spring of 1857 we again find Bismarck in Paris, and it
was then that he had his first special political conference with
the Emperor Napoleon. In the summer he made a journey to
the North — went to Denmark and Sweden, ending by field-sports
in Courland ; on his return he found his family at Stolprniinde.

While on this journey he wrote the following letter to his
wife : —

Copenhagen, 6th August, 1857.

This morning at seven I safely arrived here, after a very pleas-
ant passage; rnild air, a red moon, the chalk cliffs lighted by tar-
barrels ; two storms at sea, and a little wind ; what more can one
want? The night prevented my sleeping, and when the rain
drove me from the deck about two o'clock, it was so hot and
reeking of humanity below, that about three I went on deck with
cloak and cigar. I have now taken a sea-bath, eaten some lob-
ster, and about half-past one I must attend at the Court — so now
I will sleep a couple of hours.

Kasbyholm, 9th August, 1857.

You will have already received the few lines I wrote directly
I reached Copenhagen. Since then I have been occupied for two
days with museums and politics, yesterday was ferried over to
Mai mo, and driven some eight miles to the north-eastward, and
am at the above-named place, in a white castle situated very high
on a peninsula surrounded by a large lake. Through the win-
dow, and the thicket of ivy, that admit of some view of the water

254

TOMSJONAS.

and hills beyond, I perceive that the sun is shining and flies are
buzzing. Behind me sits - — ; he is reading and dozing; broad
Swedish is spoken under the window, and from the kitchen I can
hear a pestle grinding away like a saw. That is all I can tell
you of the present. Yesterday we stalked roebucks, one was
killed, but I did not shoot ; we got thoroughly drenched ; then
we took hot wine, and slept soundly for nine hours. Roebucks
are more plentiful than I have ever seen anywhere, and the
neighborhood is prettier than I thought. Magnificent beech for-
ests, and walnut-trees the size of a man's body, in the garden.
We have just visited the pheasantry ; after dinner we are going
on the lake, and may perhaps shoot a duck, unless we fear to dis-
turb the Sunday rest of this lovely solitude by a shot; to-morrow
we are to have a regular day, next day we return to Copenhagen,
and from there to N. N., and a stag-hunt on Wednesday ; Thurs-
day by Copenhagen to Helsingborg, some twenty miles into Swe-
den. We shall seek woodcocks and moorfowl in the wilderness;
we shall lodge in farm-houses ; our provisions we take with us.
This will last for about a week, and then I hardly know what I
shall do; either proceed by way of Jon kepi ng, at the south end
of Lake Wetter, and so to Stockholm, or by Gotheborg and Lake
Wener, or to Christiania, abandoning Stockholm, or perhaps via
Mernel to Courland. This depends on a letter I expect from —
in Copenhagen.

Tomsjonas, 16th Aug., 1857.
I again employ the quiet of Sunday to give yo\\ some sign of
life, although I do not yet know on what day we shall find an
opportunity of reaching the post from this wilderness. For some
fifteen miles have I driven into the depths of the woods to reach
this place, and before me lie some twenty-five miles ere we shall
get to cultivated provinces. There is no town, no village, far or
near — only isolated settlers and plank-huts, with a little barley
and potatoes, strewn irregularly between dead trees, rockr,, and
thickets, over a few rods of ploughed land. Think of the wildest
region near Viartlum,* for some hundred of square miles, tall
heather, varied by short grass and moorland, beset with birch,,
juniper, pines, beech, oaks, and alders, sometimes impassably

* One of the Putkammer estates in Pomerania. — K. R. H. M- •

SHOOTING IN SWEDEN. 255

thick and sometimes very sparse, the whole sown with innumera-
ble stones to the size of houses, smelling of wild rosemary and
firs ; and between them strangely formed lakes, surrounded by
sand and forest — and you will see Srnaland ; where I now am,
Eeally the land of my dreams, not to be reached by dispatches,
colleagues, and N. N., but unhappily also for you ; I should like
to have a hunting-box on one of these quiet lakes, and people it
for a few months with all the dear ones I now fancy are assembled
at Keinfeld. It would be impossible to winter it out here, par-
ticularly amidst the dirt of the rain. Yesterday we started about
live, and hunted in the burning heat, up hill and down dale,
through bog and bush, until eleven ; but found nothing at all.
It is very tiring to walk through moors and impassable thickets
of juniper, over great stones and underwood. We slept in a hay
barn till two, drank a great deal of rnilk, and continued the chase
till sunset, killing twenty-five woodcocks and two snipes. We
then dined at the lodge — a wonderful structure of wood — on a
peninsula by the lake. My room, with its three stools, two tables,
and bedstead, presents the same uniform tint of rough pine
planks, as does the whole house and its walls. The bed is very
hard, but after all this exertion one sleeps without rocking. From
my window I see a knoll with birch-trees, whose branches rustle
in the breeze ; between these the mirror of the lake, and beyond
it fir forests. Beside the house is a tent for huntsman, driver,
servants, and peasants ; then the carriage-house and a little dog
of a village of some eighteen or twenty huts, on both sides of a
little street, and from each of these a tired beater is looking out.
I propose to remain in this oasis till Wednesday or Thursday,
then leave for another expedition on the shore, and return this
day week to Copenhagen, on account of miserable politics. What
next, I do not know as yet.

The \lth. — This morning early six wolves have been here and
have torn up a poor bullock ; we found their fresh traces, but
personally we did not see them. From four in the morning till
eight in the evening we have been in motion, have shot four
woodcocks, slept for two hours on mown heather, and now, dog-
tired, to bed.

The 19^. — It is impossible to send a letter to the post from
here, without sending a messenger twelve miles ; I shall therefore

256

A DOCTOR IN THE FOREST.

take tins to the coast myself to-morrow. Yesterday, when the
dog pointed, and I was looking more at him than at the ground
1 was treading on, I fell and hurt my left shin. Yesterday we
had a very tired day's sport, long and rocky ; it produced me a
woodcock ; but has tamed me so completely, that to-day I am sit-
ting at home with bandages, so that I should be ready to travel
to-morrow and shoot the next day. I really am astonished at
myself for stopping at home alone in such charming weatht-r, and
can scarcely refrain from the abominable wish that the others
will shoot nothing. It is a little too late in the year, the birds
are shy, or sport would be more plentiful. We shot through a
charming place yesterday ; great lakes, with islands and shores,
mountain torrents, over rocks, plains for miles without houses or
plough-land; every thing just as God created it, forest, field,
heath, morass, and lake. I shall certainly return hither some
day.

'Two gentlemen of the Danish Chambers are already back ; it
was too hot for them, and they have gone to sleep. It is about
half-past five ; the others will only arrive about eight. I have
been amusing myself all day in learning Danish from the doctor
who applied the bandages. We brought him with us from Co-
penhagen, for there are no doctors here. Since a report has
been spread of the presence of a physician in the woods, every
day some twenty or thirty inhabitants of the huts- come stream-
ing in to take his advice. On Sunday evening we gave a very
amusing dance to the inhabitants of the five square miles of for-
est ; the music was played and sung by turns. Then they heard
of the " wise man," and now cripples of twenty years' standing
come and hope to be cured by him.

Konigsberg, 12th Sept., 1857.

I found to my great joy your four letters at Polangen (which,
by-the-by, is not in Prussia but Russia), and find from them that
you and the children are well. I got on very well; the Cour-
landers were all touchingly kind to me, in a way seldom found
by a foreigner. Besides several roebucks and stags, I shot five
elks, one a very fine stag, measuring roughly six feet eight, with-
out his colossal head. He fell like a hare, but as he was still
alive, I mercifully gave him my second barrel; scarcely had I

BISMARCK'S PURCHASES. 257

done so ere a second came up, still taller, so close to rne that En-
gel, my loader, had to jump behind a tree to avoid being run
over. I was obliged to look at him in a friendly way, as I had
no other shot. I can not get rid of this disappointment, and must
complain to you about it. I shot at another — no doubt he will be
found — but one I missed entirely. I might, therefore, have kill-
ed three more. The night before last we left Dondangen, and in
twenty-nine hours made forty miles without a road, through the
forest and desert to Memel, in an open carriage, over stock and
stone; we were obliged to hold on, so that we should not be
thrown out. After three hours' sleep at Memel, we started this
morning in the steamboat for this place, whence we leave for Ber-
lin to-night and arrive to-morrow. "We" means Behr and my-
self. I can not stop in Hohendorf ; I ought to have been in Ber-
lin to-morrow, my furlough being up. I should, however, have
been obliged to give up my best sport at Dondangen, with the
enormous stags, or, as they call them there, bolls ; nor should I
have seen how the axle of a great wagon broke under the enor-
mous creature. On Monday the Emperor arrives at Berlin, there-
fore I am obliged to be there "some days" before. I hope to
return from Berlin to Hohendorf and Keinfeld ; but if the King
goes to Frankfurt, this is unlikely.

Frankfurt, 19th December, 1857.

Your true sisterly heart has offered in so friendly a manner to
look after Christmas exigencies, that I will not apologize if I now
allow you to carry out the seductions of Gerson and other ras-
cals once more, and ask you sans phrase to make the following
purchases for Johanna :—

1. Jewelry: she wishes to have an opal heart, like yours, and
"the mind of man his kingdom is." I am willing to pay some
two hundred thakrs for it. If for that price it is possible to ob-
tain a pair of earrings, each consisting of one clear brilliant, I
should think it more tasteful. You have some like it, but they are
much dearer, and should you think the opal heart preferable, I
will try later to find a pair of fitting earrings founded upon
pearls.

2. One dress, at about one hundred thalers — not more. She
wants to see herself " very light and bright," d deux passes, moiree

258 ZOLLVEREIN.

antique, or something of that kind : she requires ten rods — about
twenty ells.

3. Should you discover a valuable and pretty gilt fan, rustling
a great deal, buy it also. Ten thalers are quite enough. I can't
bear the things.

4. A large warm rug to lay over the feet in the carriage,
with designs of tigers, glass eyes in their heads; might be a
fox or a hippopotamus — any ferocious animal. 1 have seen one
at — — 's, of very soft wool ; won't cost ten thalers. If you
want to remain a charming sister, buy me all this, and send at

once by express luggage train; address, Hofrath ^Prussian

Embassy.

I have so much to write about Holstein, Mainz, the bridge of
Kehl, and all sorts of things in Berlin, that I have been obliged
to decline two capital days of sport, to-day and to-morrow, after
red deer. Johanna and the children are well, and the former
would send love if she knew I wrote; but do not let her know
any thing about it, my heart, and so farewell. Greetings to
Oscar. The money I will send through Fritz, the receiver, by
the new year.

Frankfurt o. t. M., 2d April, 1858.

I quite agree with you that our position in the Zollverein is
blundered. I go further than this, being firmly convinced that
we must give notice to the whole of the Zollverein, as soon as
the term has arrived. The reasons for this conviction are far
too stratified to be developed here, and the}' are too closely con-
nected to be named one by one. We must terminate the treaty
in view of the danger of remaining alone with Dessau and Son-
dershausen. It is, however, not to be desired that this last should
be the case, or that such a state of things should long subsist;
therefore we must render it agreeable — if possible, an unavoida-
ble necessity- — to the other states of the Zollverein, during the
period yet to run, that after proper notice has been given they
should seek adherence to our conditions. One portion of this sys-
tem would be to allow them to draw higher riett revenues than
they could obtain by frontier customs without Prussia. Another
thing is, that they must not.be allowed to think that the continu-
ance of a Zollverein with Prussia is impossible in fact; this

GERMAN CUSTOM POLICY.

259

would, however, be the case if, besides the twenty-eight govern-
ments, some fifty class corporations, guided by particular interests,
should be able to exercise a liberum veto. If the Prussian Cham-
bers begin with this, the equality vertigo of the German govern-
ments will riot allow the rest to remain behind ; they will desire
to make themselves also of importance.

In order to avoid these rocks in a Zollverein to be reconsti-
tuted by Prussia, after 1865, for the exercise of corporation elector-
al rights, I think we shall have to adopt one feature of the Union
project of 1849, and erect a sort of Customs Parliament, with
conditions for itio in paries, if the others demand it. The Gov-
ernments will object gravely to such a course ; but if we are
daring and consequent we could effect much. The idea express-
ed in your letter, to make the Prussian Chambers a means, by
their representation of all German taxpayers, to found a hege-
mony, is from the same point of view. The most powerful aids
of our foreign policy might consist in the Chambers and the
Press. In the present state of things, which may be confirmed
by the vote, the Zollverein policy, the evil of the Verein for
Prussia, would render the necessity for the termination a matter
for the most circumstantial and closest debate, that a recognition
of it should take place; your letter ought to appear as an article
in the Kreuzzetiung, instead of lying upon my table here. The
German Custom policy should be broadly and unreservedly dis-
cussed from the Prussian stand-point by the Chambers and the
Press — then the flagging attention of Germany would be drawn
to it, and our Chambers would become a power for Prussia in
Germany. I should like to see the Zollverein and the Bund,
with Prussia's relations to both, subjected to the scalpel of the
acutest criticism in our Chambers. This would only be an ad-
vantage to the King, his Ministers, and their policy, presuming
them to know their business. At the same time, I could wish,
as the result of such a discussion, that the proposition should be
adopted by a small majority. For the Zollverein desires at the
present moment rather to fetter the German governments to their
flesh-pots, than for them to win the sympathies of their subjects.
The latter are powerless, as, so far as they are concerned, a pow-
erful, business-like, and honorable debate would do the same as
the chance of the results of a vote.

260 DOUBTS.

Frankfurt, 12th Nov., 1858.

Your letter was an unexpected pleasure : the address looked
just like one of Johanna's, and I wondered how she could have
got to the Uckermark. I have not been able to answer before :
business, a cold, hunting, has partly taken up all my time, nor did
I quite know what to write to you about the new phenomenon in
the political heaven, that I could not have written as well about
the comet — an interesting phenomenon wholly unexpected by
rne, the object and nature of which is yet unknown to me. The
orbit of the comet our astronomers are pretty well able to calcu-
late, but it would be difficult for them to do the same by this new
political septasterism. Johanna reached here safely with the
children this morning; God be praised, they are well, but not in
good spirits. She is upset by all the political terrors they have
filled her with in Pomerania and Berlin, and I try in vain to ren-
der her more light-hearted. The natural distress of the lady of a
house also influences her, when it becomes doubtful whether one
remains in a new house set up with care and expense. She
came hither with the idea that I was about to take my leave. I
do not know whether my resignation will be forced on rne with-
out my own will, or whether I must seek it for decency's sake.
Before I do it voluntarily, I shall wait to see what the ministerial
colors are.

If the Upper Chamber retain their feelings for the conserva-
tive party, and sincerely strive for a good understanding and
peace at home, they may rely upon a healthy state in our foreign-
affairs, and that is of great importance to me, for " we had fallen,
and did not know how." That is what I especially felt. I think
that the Prince has been especially placed at the head to secure
a guarantee against party government, and against any conces-
sions to the Left. If I am mistaken in this, or if they wish to
dispose of me as an office seeker, I shall retire behind the cannon
of Schonhausen, and observe how Prussia can be governed by
majorities of the Left, and also endeavor to do my duty to the
Upper Chamber. Change is the soul of life, and I shall feel my-
self ten years younger if I find myself in the same attitude as in
1848-'9. Should I not find the parts of gentleman and diplomatist
consistent, the pleasure or the burden of fulfilling a prominent po-
sition will not cause me to err for a moment in my choice. I have

"PIETSCH COMES!" 261

enough to live upon according to my wants, and if God keeps
my wife and children healthy, as they have been, I say, " vogue la
galere" no matter what water we swim in. It will be very unim-
portant to me, after thirty years, whether I play the diplomatist
or the country Junker; and hitherto the prospect of an honest
contest, without being confined by any official trammels — partic-
ularly in political swimming-baths — has almost as much charm for
me as the prospect of a regime of truffles, dispatches, and. grand
crosses. " After nine, all is over," says the player. I can not tell
you more than these personal opinions — the enigma stands before
me unsolved. I have one great satisfaction here at the Diet.
All those gentlemen who six months ago demanded my recall
as a necessity for German unity, now tremble at the thought of

losing me. To the phantom of 1848 is a terror; and they

are all like pigeons who see the hawk — afraid of democracy,
barricades, Parliament, and ... - — sinks into my arms
touchingly, and says, with a cramped shake of the hand, " We
are again forced into one field. The French naturally, but the
English also, look upon us as firebrands, and the Kussians fear
that the Emperor will be led astray by our plans of reform. I
say to every one naturally, "Only be cairn, and all will come
right;" and they answer, "Yes, if you were going to stay, then
we should have a guarantee, but . ." If he doesn't feel Frank-
furt singing in his ears, he has no ear-drums. In a week he has
been degraded from a worthy liberal conservative in the imagina-
tions of his eventual colleagues, to a scarlet tiger — helper's help-
er of Kinkel and D'Ester. The Bamberg diplomatist talks of a
•continental assurance against Prussian firebrandisrn, growls of a
tri-Imperial alliance against us — a new Olmiitz with effectual op-
erations. In short, the political world is getting less tiresome.
My children cry, " Pietsch comes !" in the joy at my having a
servant of that name at Schonhausen ; and it would seem that the
arrival of this Pietsch and the comet are not without significance.
Heartily farewell, my very dear one, and greet Oscar. He must
not hang down his head — it's all gammon.

262

VIEWS ON PETERSBURG.

Frankfurt, 10th Dec., 1858.

You had rightly guessed in your letter to Johanna, that your
kindness would be asked for a Christmas commission. I should
like to give Johanna a bracelet. The kind of thing flitting be-
fore me is broad, smooth, mailed, bending, made of chessboard-
patterned little four-cornered gold pieces — without jewels — pure
gold, -as far as two hundred thalers will go. If you find some-
thing that pleases you better, I have every confidence in your
taste. The exact thing in the fashion is not, therefore, pleasing
to me — such things last longer than the fashion. Be so good,
and have it directed to "Privy Councillor , Prussian Em-
bassy," with an inclosed letter for me, or the old gentleman may
think it a delicate attention for himself.

Johanna will have written you as to the child complaints we
have had, and how I have suffered from colds and coughs. I do
not know whether much or little sleep, diet or excess, house-
keeping or hunting, improves or hurts, but I turn from one
to the other, from ideas of health. As to my transfer or recall,
all is still again ; for a time, Petersburg seemed very certain, and
I had grown so accustomed to the idea, that I felt quite disap-
pointed when the rumor went forth that I was to remain here.
There will be some bad political weather here, which I should be
very glad to weather out in bear-furs, with caviar and elk-shoot-
ing. Our new Cabinet is still looked upon abroad with suspi-
cion ; Austria alone, with cunning calculation, gives it a meed of

praise ; while , behind his hand, warns us ; and so do his

colleagues, at all the courts. The cat won't let the mice alone.
But, in the end, the ministers must show a policy ; merely curs-
ing the Kreuzzeitung will not last forever. I shall hardly come
to Berlin in the winter; it would be very agreeable if you would
visit us here before I am " put out in the cold " on the Neva.

St. Petersburg, 12th May, 1859.

I have become convinced, by the experience of the eight years
of my official life in Frankfurt, that the settlement by the Diet,
made in those days, forms a pressing, and, in critical times, a vi-
tally dangerous fetter for Prussia, without giving, in return, such
equivalents, enjoyed by Austria, under an unequally large mass-

AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA. 263

of free self-action. The two greater Powers do not attain an
equal measurement from the Princes and Governments of the
smaller States ; the construction of the object and the law of the
Diet is modified according to the requirements of Austrian pol-
icy. I need not, considering your knowledge, enter upon more
circumstantial arguments respecting the history of the policy of
the Diet since 1850, and hence confine myself by naming the
paragraphs concerning the restoration of the Diet, the question
of the German Navy, Customs disputes, the laws respecting com-
merce, the press, and the Constitution, the Diet fortresses of Ras-
tatt and Mainz, and the questions of Neuenburg and the East.
We have always found ourselves face to face with the same compact
majority, with the same demand for concessions from Prussia. In
the Eastern question, the power of Austria has ever proved so
superior to ours, that even the identity of the wishes and aspira-
tions of the Diet governments, with the efforts of Prussia, have
presented for her an ever-receding obstacle. With scarcely any
exception, our associates in the Diet have given us to understand,
or have even openly declared, that they were unable to maintain
the Diet with us, should Austria pursue her own course; al-
though it is unquestionable that federal law and real German
interests were side by side with our peace policy ; this, at least,
was then the opinion of almost all the Princes. Would the latter
have ever brought their own interests and wishes as a sacrifice
to the wants, or even the safety, of Prussia? Certainly not: for
their attachment to Austria is founded on outbalancing false in-
terests, which prescribe to both a coalition against Prussia, a re-
pression of all further development of* the influence and power
of Prussia, as a foundation for their common policy. A develop-
ment of federal relations, under Austrian leadership, is the nat-
ural end of the policy of the German Princes and their Ministers;
according to their opinions, this can only be accomplished at the
expense of Prussia, and is necessarily directed against Prussia,
so long as Prussia will not confine herself to the useful problem
of providing for her equally entitled associates in the Diet an
assurance against the preponderance of Austria, and is willing to
bear the disproportion of her duties towards her rights in the
Diet, being resigned to the wishes of the majority with untiring
complacency. This tendency of the policy of the Central States

264

THE DIET.

will reappear with the constancy of the magnetic needle after
every evanescent variation, because it represents no arbitrary
product of individual events or persons, but is, in fact, a natural
and necessary result of federal relations for the smaller States.
There are no existing means by which we can maintain the ac-
tual federal treaties in an intimate manner.

Since our associates in the Diet, some years ago, began, under
the guidance of Austria, to bring to light, from the hitherto neg-
lected arsenal of the constitution of the Diet, the principles that
would give prominence to their system — since it has been en-
deavored, in a partial way, to stifle the policy of Prussia by
propositions which could only possess one signification in the
sense of their proposers, in so far as they apply to the unanimity
of Prussia and Austria — we have been obliged to endure the
stress of the situation that the Diet and its whole historical de-
velopment has forced upon us. We could say to ourselves,
that in peaceful and orderly times we could weaken the evil in
its results by skillful treatment, but we should be powerless to
effect a cure; it is only too natural that in dangerous times,
such as the present, the other side, in possession of all the advan-
tages of the Diet settlement, should willingly confess .that much
has taken place of an improper nature, but should at the same
time declare, in the " general interests," that the present juncture
is highly inapplicable for the discussion of past matters and "in-
ternal" disputes. But such an opportunity, if we do not make
use of it at once, may not so speedily recur; and in the future
we shall be forced to our normal resignation, which allows of no
changes in the condition of things in orderly times.

His Royal Highness the Prince Regent has taken up a posi-
tion commanding the unqualified approval of all those who are
entitled to form any judgment of Prussian politics, and who
thence have not allowed themselves to be disturbed by party
feeling. Some of our associates in the Diet seek to blind us, by
thoughtless and fanatical efforts, as to this attitude. If the
statesmen of Bamberg are so frivolously ready to follow the first
war outcry of an uncritical and mutable public opinion, if it does
not take place probably quite without a comforting after-thought
of the easiness with which a.small state can change its colors in
case of need ; but if, in order to send a power like Prussia under

INFLUENCE OF AUSTRIA. 265

fire, they desire to make use of the treaties of the Diet; if it be
supposed that we shall substitute property and blood for political
wisdom, and the thirst for action on the part of governments, to
whom our defense is absolutely necessary for their existence ; if
these States think they are to dictate the guiding impulse, and re-
gard theories concerning the rights of the Diet as means to such an
end, then with such recognition all Prussian political autonomy
•would be over ; then, in my opinion, it would be time for us to re-
member that the guides, who imagine we should follow them,
serve other interests than those of Prussia, and that they under-
stand the interests of Germany they talk so much about as non-
identical with the interests of Prussia, if we decline to accede to
their desires.

Perhaps I am going too far when I express it as my opinion,
that we should seize every justifiable opportunity, presented by
our associates in the Diet, to arrive at the revision of our mutual
relations, necessary to Prussia, by which she can exist in defined
relations to the smaller German States. I think we should will-
ingly take up the gauntlet, and regard it as no misfortune, but as
real progress, a crisis leading to improvement, if a majority at
Frankfurt .should decide upon such a vote, which we could look
upon as a transgression of competency, an arbitrary change in
the object of the confederation, a violation of its treaties. The
more unmistakable this violation the better. We shall not easily*
find conditions of such a favorable nature in Austria, France, and
Hussia, by which we can alter our own position towards Germany
for the better. Our allies are on the high road towards giving
us perfectly justifiable motives for such a course, without our
stimulating their insolence.* Even the Kreuzzeitung, as I see by
the number of last Sunday, is becoming somewhat startled at the
thought that a Frankfurt majority could immediately dispose of
the Prussian army. Not in this newspaper alone have I hitherto
perceived with sorrow how Austria has established an autocracy
over the German press by the skillfully laid net of her influ-
ence, and how well she knows to use the weapon. Without this,
so-called public opinion could scarcely have risen to this height;
I designate it so-called, for the real mass of the population is nev-
er inclined for war, unless the demonstrable suffering of real op-
pression has aroused it. To such a pitch has it risen, that even.

266

PRUSSIAN" OR "GERMAN."

under the cloak of general German opinion, any Prussian news-
paper can hardly declare itself in favor of Prussian patriotism.
General Twiddle-twaddle plays a great part in this, nor must we-
omit the Zwanzigers (cash) that never fail Austria for this aim.
Most newspaper correspondents write for their bread and cheese,
most newspapers look to their incomes, and an experienced read-
er may easily see, by our newspapers and others, whether they
have received, or speedily anticipate, or wish by threatening pan-
tomime to force, a subsidy from Austria.

I think we should produce an admirable revulsion in public
opinion if we were to sound the chords of independent Prussian
policy in the press, in opposition to the exaggerations of our Ger-
man allies. Perhaps things may happen at Frankfurt which
may give us full reason to do so.

Under these circumstances the wisdom of our military precau-
tions might be extended in other directions, and impart signifi-
cance to our attitude ; then Prussian self-respect would speak
perhaps with a more conclusive tone than the Diet. / should
only then care to see the word " German" in place of "Prussian"
inscribed upon our standard, when we should have become more in-
timately and effectually bound up with our German fellow-country-
men than we have hitherto been ; the word loses its charm in prox-
imity to the ideas of the Diet.

I fear that your Excellency will interrupt me in this epistola-
ry digression into the field of my former activity, with the cryr
"Ne sutor ultra crepidam;" nor was it my intention to hold an
official oration ; I desired only to present the testimony of an ex-
perienced person against the Diet. / see in our position in the
Diet, a defect of Prussia, which we shall have sooner or later to healr
ferro et igni, unless we adopt in time, and at a proper season cf
the year, measures for a cure. Were the Confederation abolish-
ed this very day, without substituting something in its place, I
believe that this negative acquisition would soon form better and
more rfatural relations between Prussia and her German neigh-
bors, than have hitherto existed. BISMARCK.

A BALL AT BISMARCK S.

PETERSBURG. 269

TO A PRUSSIAN DIPLOMATIST.

Petersburg, 1st July, 1859.

I thank you for your letter, and hope you will not allow the
first to be the last. Among the matters which interest me, the
Frankfurt negotiations, next to immediate necessities, occupy the
first place with me, and I am very much obliged for any news
from thence. I regard our policy, up till now, as correct ; but I
look mournfully into the future. We have armed ourselves too-
soon and too strongly, and the heavy load which we have as-
sumed is dragging us down an inclined plane. There will be
intervention in order to occupy the Landwehr, as people do not
like simply to send them back home. We then shall not even
be Austria's reserve, but shall sacrifice ourselves directly for
Austria, and relieve her of the stress of war. The first shot on
the Rhine brings with it a German war as the chief circumstance,,
from its threatening Paris. Austria will get breathing time;
and will she make use of her freedom to aid us in playing a bril-
liant part? Will her efforts not rather be directed so to shape
the measure and form of our success as it may serve specific
Austrian interests? If we are worsted, the Federal States will
all desert us, like faded plums in the wind ; and each State, the
capital of which receives a French garrison, will save itself in a
patriotic way on the raft of a new Khenish Confederation. Per-
haps it will be possible to attain a combination of measures on
the part of the three great neutral Powers. We are too expen-
sively armed to be able to wait the result as patiently as Eng-
land and Russia, and our intervention will scarcely bring to light
that quadrature of the circle — a peace basis agreeable to France
and Austria. The public voice in Vienna is said to be very bit-
ter against their own Government, and is stated to have reached
the pitch of hissing their national hymn. Our enthusiasm for
war seems also to be only of a moderate character, and it will be
difficult to convince the nation that war and its evils are an un-
avoidable necessity. The proof of this is too artificial for the
comprehension of a Landwehr man.

In a business point of view, my position here is very pleasant;
but there is a great dral to do to manage forty thousand Prus-
sians, for whom one has to be police, advocate, judge, assistant,

270

ARRIVAL AT ST. PETERSBURG.

and councillor — every day there are twenty to fifty signatures,
without passports. I am still, as it were, in camp, with a few
beds, towels, and caps, bought in a hurry ; without cook and
kitchen, as all utensils are wanting — and, in all this heat, without
summer clothing! My house is large enough, and handsomely
situated on the Newa ; three great saloons, two of them larger
than those at Seufferheld's; I have had the Chancery placed in
one, with a good flooring, looking-glass doors, and silver chan-
deliers. All that I have as yet received from Frankfurt are my
weapons, unfortunately packed under some crown chandeliers in
such a way that three guns were quite broken to pieces, and the
barrels ruined. I wonder what wiseacre packed them ! If the
rest of the things have been packed so, I may perhaps congratu-
late myself if they have been lost. The insurance is small, if the
plate is with it; the premium high, because the fool has insured
against "war risk!"

Hohendorf, 3d February, 1860.

I still hear with pleasure, and with a sort of longing for home,
all intelligence concerning the state of things and persons at
Frankfurt; and when I read the papers, I often feel a desire to
hurry into the midst of battles at the sessions. The campaign
over the war constitution was capital. Let them proceed openly
and daringly to urge our demands ; they are too just not finally
to be, although slowly, recognized. The Sovereign States, by
grace of the Rhenish Confederation and the Diet, can not rely
upon their particularity for any duration against the stream of
events. As in my recovery, there may occur a time of standing-
still and relapse occasionally ; but it still will go forward, when
we courageously dare and are not ashamed of our daring any
more, but openly proclaim in the Diet, in the press, and, above
•all, in our Chambers, that which we desire to represent in Ger-
many, and what the Federation has hitherto been for Prussia —
an Alp and a noose about our necks, with the end of it in the
hands of the enemy, that only waits the proper moment to run it
tight. But enough of politics.

I hope soon to be in trim for my journey — am perhaps already
so. My wife and the physicians conjure me to go south — to

GORTSCHAKOFF. 271

Heidelberg or Switzerland. I long for Petersburg, that I may at
last live quietly in my own bouse.

Petersburg, 16th June, 1860.

We are pretty well at present, and I am much better than if I
were in Germany without being wanted. Eest and the comforts
of domestic life are doing their best. It^is 24° in the shade,*
but always cool nights. Business proceeds, thanks to so delight-
ful a Minister as Gortschakoff, without annoyance — in short,
cela va bien, pourvu que cela dure. Our relations here are excel-
lent, no matter what the newspapers may fable about it.

The Augsburger people and Company are still afraid lest I
should become Minister, and think they can prevent it by abus-
ing me and my Franco-Kussian ideas. It is a great honor to be
•dreaded by the enemies of Prussia. My political flirtations in
the spring, at the Court, and with the Ministry, have, further-
more, been so accurately sifted that they are well aware of what
the state of the case is, and how I am believed to find precisely
in the national aspirations powers of resistance and strength. If
I am written down a devil, it is a Teutonic one, and no Gallic
iiend. 's lie factory might attack me much more to the pur-
pose on other grounds than on Bonapartisrn, if they wish to
make an impression at our Court, as among the Augsburgers.

St. Petersburg, 22d August, 1860.

I am quite excluded from home politics, for with the exception
•of newspapers, I only receive official statements, which do not
give me the groundwork of things. According to these, we
have promised nothing definite at Teplitz, but have made our
support of Austria dependent upon that practical demonstration
of her good-will towards us in German politics ; when this has
been done, she may reckon on our gratitude. I should be very
•content with this; and if we only see the Vienna soap in a lather,
we should be glad to return the service. Certainly the indirect
accounts we receive from other courts sound otherwise. Accord-
ing to these, if true, though we have not concluded any guarantee
treaty, we have, at any rate, bound ourselves verbally to assist
Austria, under all circumstances, should she be attacked by France
* 74° Fabr.— K. R. H. M.

272

ATTACKS OF THE PKESiS.

in Italy. Should Austria find it necessary to act on the offen-
sive, our consent would be requisite, if our co-operation is to be
anticipated. This version appeal's more unprejudiced than it
would, in fact, be. Austria having security that we should fight
for Venice, she will know how to provoke the attack of France —
it has been asserted that since Teplitz, Austria has come out
boldly and defiantly in Italy. Viennese politics, since the Gari-
baldian expedition, desire to make things in Italy as bad as they
can be, in order that if Napoleon himself should find it necessary
to declare against the Italian Revolution, movements should com-
mence on all sides and former conditions be assimilatively re-
stored. This reckoning with and upon Napoleon may be very
deceptive, and it would seem as if, since Teplitz, it has been given
up, and there were hopes of attaining results by opposing Napo-
leon. The restless, passionate character of Austrian politics en-
dangers peace in both ways. What will the Chamber say to
Teplitz — to the organization of the army? All sensible men
will naturally agree with Government as to the latter. But the
influence of foreign politics can first be estimated, when it is
known what the meaning of Teplitz really is. A well-informed
but somewhat Bonapartist correspondent writes to me from Ber-
lin, "We were prettily taken in at Teplitz by Viennese good-
humor; sold, for nothing, not even a mess of pottage." God
grant that he errs in this! In speaking of the Bonapartists, it
occurs to me that some kind of general rumors reach me, that the
press, National Verein, Magdeburger, Ostpreussische Zcitung, carry
on a systematic war of calumny against me. I arn said to have
openly supported Russo-French pretensions respecting a cession
of the Rhine province, on the condition of compensation nearer
home ; I am a second Borries, and so on. I will pay a thousand
Fredericks-d'or to the person who will prove to me that any
such Russo-French propositions have ever been brought to my
knowledge by any one. In the whole period of my German res-
idence I never advised any thing else than that we should rely
on our own strength, and in the case of war, upon the aid of the
national forces of Germany. These foolish geese of the German
press do not see that in attacking me they are losing the better
part of their own efforts. I am informed that the fountain-head
of these attacks was the Court of Coburg, in a writer who has

QUIXOTISM. 273

personal spite against me. Were I an Austrian statesman, or a
German Prince and Austrian reactionist, like the Duke of Mein-
ingen, our Kreuzzeitung would have protected me as it has him ;
the mendacity of these assaults is unknown to some of our polit-
ical friends. As I am, however, an old member of their party,
entertaining particular ideas upon certain points, well known to
him to his misfortune, I may be slandered to their hearts' con-
tent. I hear of the whole affair principally from the officious ad-
vocacy of the Elberfeld Zeitung, which is sent to me. There is
nothing like inquisitors among themselves, and friends, who long
have partaken of the same cup, are more unjust than foes. I am
satisfied. One ought not to rely on men, and I am thankful for
every breath which draws me inward.

Stolpmunde, 18th Sept., 1861.

In reference to the Conservative programme, 1 fully subscribe
to your observations. The negative construction prevailing
throughout of the propositions should have been avoided from
the first. A political party can never stand, much less conquer
position and adherents, by a mere languid defensive policy.
-Every party professes to abhor the dirt of the German Kepublic,
and the Opposition now forming give themselves honest trouble
not to have it — that is, the dirt. A figure of speech so much
wider than the requirements of the time, either means nothing,
or conceals what people do not desire to say. I myself am in
doubt whether the authors of the programme do not really stand
at the pure Wiirzburg point of view. Among our best friends,
we have so many doctrinaires who ask from Prussia an identical
duty of protecting foreign princes and countries as she protects
her own subjects. The svstem of the solidarity of the conserva-
tive interests of all countries, is a dangerous fiction as long as the
fullest and most honest reciprocity does not exist between the
rulers of all countries. Were Prussia to carry it out in isolation,
it would become Quixotism, which would only weaken our King
and his Government in the solution of the most important ques-
tion, viz., that defense of Prussia confided to the Crown of Prus-
sia by the Almighty, against injustice coming from within or
without. We are gradually making the whole unhistorical, un-
godly, and illegal sovereignty swindle of those German princes

274

POPULAR REPRESENTATION.

who use the Confederation as a pedestal whence to play at beinj
European powers, into the nurse-child of the Conservative party
of Prussia. Internally our Prussian Government is liberal
abroad it is legitimist. We respect foreign crown rights with
greater constancy than we do our own, and become enthusiastic
about those lesser sovereignties created by Napoleon and sanction-
ed by Metternich, to blindness against all the perils with which
the independence of Prussia and Germany is threatened in the
future, as long as the nonsense of the present Confederation en-
dures, which is nothing more than a hothouse of dangerous and
revolutionary efforts. I could have wished that, instead of vague
expressions against the German Republic, it had been openly stated
in the programme what we desire to see changed and restored
in Germany, whether by justly directed efforts towards alterations
in the constitution of the Confederation, such as definite associa-
tions like the Customs Union, and the Military Treaty of Coburg.
We have the double task of giving evidence that the existing
Confederation is not our ideal, but that we purpose to attempt
the necessary alterations openly in a legal way, and that we do
not intend to go beyond these in confirming security and pros-
perity. To us the necessity of a firmer consolidation of our
defensive powers is as patent as that of daily bread ; we require
a new and plastic system of customs, and a number of institutions
in common, to defend material interests against the evils result-
ing from the unnatural interior configuration of German frontiers.
There should be no doubt as to the sincerity and earnestness with
which we ask for these objects. Nor do I see, moreover, why we
should recoil so prudishly from the idea of popular representation,
whether in the Diet, or in any customs, or associative parliament.
Surely we can not combat an institution as revolutionary which
is legally established in every German State, and which we Con-
servatives even would not wish to see abolished, even in Prussia.
Tn national matters we have hitherto regarded very moderate
concessions as valuable. A thoroughly conservative national
representation might be created, and yet receive the gratitude of
the liberals.

I am interrupted by the sounds of packing. In case you still
have an opportunity of conferring with our friends on the sub-
ject, I enclose you the sketch I read to you with the request, how-

DENMARK. 275

ever, that it shall not become public, as I am unaware whether
the King would like that this hasty memorandum of the conver-
sation I had with His Majesty, and which I committed to writing
at his command, should become known, as I hear several discus-
sions have taken place about it.

Berlin, the 2d Oct., 1861.

In Koblenz and here I have been active for German politics,
and in the present state of things not quite without results. I
wrote about the 19th of last month from Stolpmiinde to your
residence here, and enclosed in my letter the draught of the short
.sketch I had presented to the King. I am to carry this matter
into greater detail. If, therefore, the letter and enclosure, as I
hope, has reached your hands, I beg of you to send it me to
Eeinfeld, that I may work it up more completely there. I arn
really home-sick for my household on the English Quay; with the
tranquil view of the Neva ice. On the 13th, it will be neces-
sary to meet at Konigsberg.

Berlin, the 16th May, 1864.

I can understand your hesitation against the address, which,
however, in my opinion, at the present time seizes the diplomatic
position with useful pressure. I may certainly be mistaken in
this, for the longer I act in political affairs the less is my confi-
dence in human calculation ; and if you feel an inward opposition
to it, I speak the less of it, as I would rather be able to declare
with a good conscience that the Government has not inspired the
idea mirrored in it. The actual state of things, however, is such,
that it appears very necessary to let loose all the dogs willing to
give tongue (forgive this sporting simile) against Denmark at the
conference; the general cry of the pack will effect a conviction
on the part of alien Powers that the subjection of the Duchies
to Denmark is an impossibility, and the latter will be obliged to
consider projects which the Prussian Government can not present
to them. Among alien Powers in this last category I class the
Holsteiners themselves, together with the Augustenburg,aud all the
eternally ignoble down to Konigsau. The Duchies have hitherto
played the part of the birthday child in the German family, and
have accustomed themselves to think that we are willing to bring

276

ATTITUDE OF AUSTRIA.

every sacrifice to the altar of their particular interests, and are
willing to risk the existence of Prussia for every individual Ger-
man in the north of Schleswig. The address will especially
counteract this frenzy; I do not fear that it will have so strong
an effect as to bring us into any difficulty. If Prussian ambition
were to rise to such a height among the nation, so that the Govern-
ment, instead of stimulating, would have to moderate the feeling,.
I should not at all regret such a condition.

You will perceive from this how I comprehend the matter from
a human point of view. As to the rest, my impression of grati-
tude for God's assistance till now vises into a conviction that the
Lord knows how to turn even our errors to our benefit. I daily
observe this with salutary humility.

To clear up the situation I will conclude by saying that to me-
Prussian annexation is not the chief and necessary end, but prob-
ably the most agreeable result.

With hearty salutation to your honored household, I am yours,.

BISMARCK.

That Bismarck not only followed the German policy of Aus-
tria, but also her whole political action, with the lynx eyes of an
opponent, is a matter of course, and he soon perceived on what a.
dangerous error this was based. Relying upon the apparent
power which Prince Schwarzenberg's daring moves, and Radetz-
ky's victories over Sardinia had obtained, Austria desired to at-
tain to a European hegemony for herself by diplomatic trickery.
By amity with France she wished to keep Italy down ; by amity
with England to overawe Turkey: by the alliance of both, as-
well as by the pressure she thought to exert over Prussia and
the other German States, to humble and lame Russia, in whom
she saw the sole antagonist of her visionary hegemony. This-
plan, however, which explains- the attitude of Austria during the j
Eastern war, was condemned to failure, as the massive power of
Russia, under the most favorable circumstances, could only be
transitorily shaken by the temporary alliance of England and
France; was condemned, as France certainly did not remain
quiet in the west, out of pure friendship for Austria, after meas-
uring swords with Russia in the East; was condemned because
England scarcely would do any thing for Austria after attaining

INCREASE IN THE ARMY. 277

Ler ends in the East ; finally it was most certainly condemned, as
Austria undervalued the power of Prussia to an almost incompre-
hensible degree. Bismarck foresaw this failure, and, in his opin-
ion, Prussia ought to make use of the crisis which had arrived to
save herself and Germany from Austria. Hence at Berlin he
continually urged the uttermost possible increase in the strength
of the army. Nor were his warnings neglected, but, to his deep
sorrow, circumstances took such a form that when the crisis ac-
tually came Prussia made no use of the situation. When the
Italian war broke out, when Prussia did not declare against Aus-
tria, the Ministry thought the presence of Bismarck in Frankfurt
had become an impossibility, and he was recalled. It was re-
served for Bismarck himself, eight years afterwards, to carry
through his German policy, by which Prussia was alone to ac-
complish her proper position, although at that time it was in
alliance with France. Bismarck, in 1858, left the scene of his
activity in Frankfurt with a heavy heart. He was convinced it
was only there, where he was so accurately acquainted with the
ground, that he could render his King and country important
services. He departed with patriotic indignation at the con-
tempt which Austria openly showed towards Prussia, but he also
knew that a time of retribution would arrive.
. His position at Frankfurt gave Bismarck an advantage not
lightly esteemed by the statesman. Frankfurt lies like a great
hotel on the road into which the great European travelling guild
especially loves to call in the summer time. Not only did the
representative of Prussia entertain princely guests, related or
friendly to the Royal House of Prussia, but gradually became
acquainted with a great number of the ministers and diplomatists
of all European States. Among the princely personages whom
he received in Frankfurt, and to whom he afterwards paid his re-
spects in the watering-places close at hand, we should especially
name the Grand-Duchess Helena of Russia, a born Princess of
Wiirtemberg and widow of the Grand-Duke Michael Paulo-
witsch, a lady of extraordinary abilities, and well informed in po-
litical matters, whose influence is said to be very great, and that
not alone in Russia.

Among the statesmen whose acquaintance Bismarck made
upon the Rhine, we must first name the venerable Prince Met-

278

PRINCE METTERNJCH.

ternich, to. whom he
paid a visit, shortly
after his arrival in
Frankfurt in the
summer of 1851, at
the Castle of Johari-
nisberg. He had
many conversations
with the man who
had so long conduct-
ed the policy of Aus-
tria, in more than
one respect, in so-
masterly a manner,,
and, in contradis-
tinction to Schwar-

zenberg, had ever evinced a statesmanlike amenity towards-
Prussia, and continued to do this in a very distinct manner.

Metternich and Bismarck seated together at the Johannisbergl
The one venerable with age, who had been every thing; the oth-
er a man who was to become every thing. The representative

THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. 279

of the past, and the representative of the future; the past had
been allotted to Austria, the future was to be the heritage of
Prussia. The present and the Johannisberg constituted the neu-
tral ground where the last remains of Austrian good-will to-
wards Prussia, and the last fragments of traditional reverence
for Austria in Bismarck's patriotic heart, were to meet. The two-
statesmen parted from each other with mutual respect.

CHAPTER II.

BISMARCK ON THE NEVA.
[1859-1862.]

Ambassadc1* to St. Petersburg. — Illness. — Journey. — Hunting. — The Coronation of

William I.

WE have already stated that Bismarck would have preferred
to remain at Frankfurt, because he hoped to be useful to Prussia;
and he personally complained to the Prince Regent of his trans-
ference. The Prince Eegent, on the other hand, demonstrated to

ILLNESS. 281

liim that such an official position in St. Petersburg was one of
the first in the diplomacy of Prussia, and that he ought to regard
Ins mission there as a distinction. It was, perhaps, fortunate for
Bismarck that thus placed in a remote position from the party
spirit of those clays, he was able as from an observatory to watch
the course of political events, both inwardly and outwardly, and
.allow his views to assume distinctness, his plans to ripert. To his
many journeys was also due the preservation of personal inter-
ests. The peculiar good- will with which he was received by
the Czar, and especially by the Empress-Mother at that time, he
knew how to preserve, at the same time winning the respect of
the Russian statesmen. Of his life in these days, his letters,
which we shall presently communicate, addressed to his wife and
sister, afford us most characteristic traits. From this time for-
ward, sadly enough, several attacks of indisposition appear, which
•dull the picture of manly strength and health we have hitherto
beheld in him. In March he set forward on his journey to St.
Petersburg, and assumed his new office on his birthday, the 1st of
April, 1859 ; in May he went to Moscow, but upon his return he
became seriously ill, and suffered greatly frorn a rheumatic attack
in the left leg, which was very painful to him.

He there placed himself in the hands of his physicians. One
•evening a blister was applied to the calf of the leg, and Bismarck
went to sleep, but soon awoke in raging tortures, which increased
to such a degree that he tore away the blister, and with it some
portion of the flesh. Perhaps in the end this proved his salva-
tion, but such remarkable symptoms of illness appeared that it
was necessary for him to ask permission for leave of absence in
Berlin. The Emperor was terrified at the alteration in Bismarck,
when he came to present his letters of recall. After a miserable
journey Bismarck arrived in Berlin, but' in a pitiable state. He
remained there at the Hotel d'Angleterre in a hopeless condition ;
the physicians treated with him iodine, without, however, any re-
sult, and in this condition he was found by his wife, whom he sum-
moned from Pomerania. Madame von Bismarck, in every thing
touching her husband, possesses the greatest energy and affec-
tion; herself instructed in the healing art, she had all the iodine
bottles thrown away, and devoted herself to the sick-bed. From
this time the condition of Bismarck visibly improved, and al-

282 REINEELD.

though much still remained ere he could regard himself.as fully
convalescent, he was at any rate enabled to seek further health
and strength at Wiesbaden and Nauheim. The cure, however,
was very incomplete, and it cost him a great effort to perform the
duty of receiving the Emperor Alexander at Warsaw, and at-
tending him to Berlin. After this he sought retirement for a
while with his family at Reinfeld, whence he proposed to return
to his post in St. Petersburg in November.

Reinfeld has been so often mentioned in these pages, and that
spot of ground has so much significance for Bismarck, that some
few notes concerning it can not be unwelcome to the reader.
Reinfeld lies in the undulating hill country slanting from the
Baltic land-ridge towards the Eastern Ocean, close to the left
bank of the Stolpe, in a very pleasant part of Pornerania. The
mansion of Reinfeld presents that peculiar type of Christian ami-
ability,* which, in its un affectation, produces so pleasant an effect
on the visitor. There is nothing artificial about it. In the court-
yard no oaths are heard, but in place of these the venerable Herr
von Putkamrner raises his velvet skull-cap, and from his lips
come the peaceful words, "Let us all return our thanks unto the
Lord," etc., when at harvest-home the- reapers enter with the
corn-wreath of increase.

Bismarck had often fled to these fragrant Hinder Pomerania
thorn-thickets for rest and refreshment in the surnmer-tirne, from
busy official life and the social saloon of office. Hitherward he
bent his steps cheerfully from Berlin and Paris, from Frankfurt
and St. Petersburg. Here, with heartfelt contentment, he greet-
ed his ancient friend, the forest ; and in the neighborhood of
Reinfeld there are many select localities remaining as proofs of
his never-resting spirit of enterprise — as green trophies of his
creative power. Frau von Bismarck, too, had grown up in Rein-
feld. There she lived, at the service of all, with words of comfort
and active aid, as well as with medical counsel, prudent enough
to amaze many an experienced physician. Nor has Frau von
Bismarck denied herself such a sphere of helpful activity in her
town life. Like a true woman, she has forgotten her own sor-
rows to take care of the humblest persons around her, and thus

* See Wangemann's "Ringen und Regen," ("Strife and Activity"), on the Ostv
see Shore.

LIFE AT ST. PETERSBURG. 283

she has ever been a true helpmate for her consort in heavy la-
bors and in dark hours. Fran von Bismarck possesses a fine ear
for music. Her passionate performance has often delighted and
soothed her husband amidst his cares, when the storms of life as-
sailed him, and the waves ran high. How often has he sat still
at night and listened to her melody, receiving the mighty influ-
ence of music into his heart of hearts !

On his journey from Reinfeld to St. Petersburg, in the Novem-
ber of 1859, Bismarck was taken dangerously ill at the house of
his friend Alexander von Below, a Member of the Upper House,
at Hohendorf in Prussia, beyond Elbing. The next station on
the Eastern Railroad is Giildenboden (Goldbottom), which gives
some conclusion as to the prolificacy of the Hohendorf district
and agricultural system. After his illness there was a long period
of reconvalescence, but Bismarck was comforted by having all
his dear ones at hand. Herr von Below and his excellent sister,
Mademoiselle Jeannette von Below, evinced princely hospitality.
Besides Bismarck, his wife and children, his father and mother-
in-law, Herr and Fran von Putknmmer, remained for weeks at
Hohendorf, together with Miss Fatio, the friendly home-spirit of
the Bismarck family, and the boy's tutor, Candidate Braune, now
preacher at Strausberg-on-the-Barnim.

On the recovery of his health, Bismarck went, in March, 1860,
to Berlin, where he took part in the Sessions of the Upper
House ; in May he returned to Hohendorf, whence he conducted
his family to St. Petersburg. They started for Konigsberg on the
30th May, slept at Marienpol on the 31st, at Wilkomierz on the
1st June, on the 2d at Diinaburg, on the 3d at Regitza, and on
the morning of the 5th the travellers arrived in St. Petersburg.
The railway was not completed at the time, so that some portion
of the journey between the frontier and Diinaburg was perform-
ed in carriages.

Bismarck had hired the house of Countess Stenbock, on the
English Quay, with a fine view of the Neva, the quarter of Was-
sili Ostrov, and the Nicholas Bridge. When Bismarck had his
family about him, he felt at home on the Neva. He also took a
special master, in order to learn the Russian language; and it is
said to have verv much pleased and astonished the Emperor Al-
exander when Bismarck first answered him in Russian. It is no

284 COMPANIONS AT PETERSBURG.

trifling task to learn Russian ; we know persons who have fre-
quently attempted to do so, but have always abandoned the task
in despair. Bismarck was much in society, 'at the Court of the
witty Archduchess Helena. There was no lack of sporting
parties; he hunted the elk, the bear, and the wolf. At Varzin,
as at Berlin, may be seen many trophies of his skill from the
North. These bear-hunts were very contributive to his conva-
lescence, and he warded oft' many a cold on these expeditions, in
the bitter weather. Bismarck, who was always a friend to dumb
animals, had much amusement in some young cubs he kept in
the house, until they grew into the ornaments of the Zoological
Gardens at Frankfurt and Cologne, at a later age. Mischka
(such is the Russian name of the young bear) often made his ap-
pearance, as did the foxes at Kniephof, to the great amusement
of the guests at the dinner-table; and walked about among tin
plates and glasses on the cloth, nipped the servant in the calf oi
the leg, or slid about on the slide in the dining-room.

During this Petersburg time, Bismarck was able to devote
himself more fully to the education of his children. Every Sat-
urday they appeared before their father with their exercise-
books, and reported what progress they had made during the
week. Then followed a short examination, which evinced his
minute accuracy in scholastic teaching, and even the tutor who
was present learned something — the method of education. In
later years Bismarck has been unable to spare time for such ex-
aminations, the duties of his office having entirely absorbed him.

Among the gentlemen who then frequented the house of Bis-
marck, we will mention the then Royal Prussian Commissioner,
Freiherr von Loen (now General); Captain von Erkert (now
Colonel); the historian Legation Councillor von Schloezer ; the
Prince von Croy and his old friend, Count von Kaiserling; Bar-
on Nolde; and Count Yxkull. In the aristocratic circles of Rus-
sian society Bismarck was very greatly prized and esteemed, and
this not alone on account of the favor accorded to him and his
wife by the Imperial family. The Chancellor, Prince Gortscha-
koff, at all times regarded him with the greatest interest, and
stood in continued and agreeable relations with him. Bis-
marck's sporting skill and fortune became almost proverbial in
the Court circles of Petersburg. From an authentic, although.

BADEN-BADEN. 285

Suabian, source, the following anecdote was related to us, how
Bismarck and seven others went a bear-hunting : — " On their re-
turn, one of the seven was asked, ' How did things go?' and he
replied, 'Very ill for us, father. The first bear trotted in ; the
Prussian fired, and down fell the bear. Then came the second,
and I fired, missed, and Bismarck shot him dead at my very feet.
Then came the third bear ; Colonel M. fired twice and missed
twice ; then the Prussian knocked him over with one barrel.
So Bismarck shot all three, and we could get no more. It went
very ill for us, father!' ' Bismarck, in his Russian hunting-coat,
high boots, and big brown juff's leather cloak, was a magically
imposing sight.

The following year, 1861, Bismarck spent the most of the sum-
mer i'n Pornerania, and part of it in Baden-Baden, where he was
considerably consulted by King William in political affairs. In
the large coronation painting by Menzel, he forms a conspicuous
and significative object. From Konigsberg he returned to his
post at Petersburg.

His outward appearance had much changed : he looked much

286

THE CORONATION.

more like what we see him now. His once rich hair has grown
somewhat thin, which makes the forehead very prominent; his
enormous beard had disappeared in Frankfurt ; the features are

very marked, but a humor-
ous smile still plays about
his lips ; his eyes retain their
fire, and his firm bearing is
still preserved. In his let-
ters the old hearty spirit still
is evident in all its fresh-
ness, nor is good - humor
wanting ; but sometimes
there is a feeling of mourn-
fulness, which, although
slightly toned, still shows
that he had not come un-
wounded from the fierce
contest.

The following letters be-
long to this period of his
career : —

BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

Pskow, 28th March, 1859.

Russia lengthened herself out under our wheels, and at each
station the versts gave birth to young; but we have now run
into the haven of the railway. From Konigsberg we travelled
for ninety-six hours without intermission ; at Kowno we slept
four hours, and three in Egypt (a station near Diinaberg), I
think, the day before yesterday. I am now very well, but my
skin is still burning, as I was outside almost all night, and we
changed from 1 to 12 degrees of cold, R. The snow was so deep
that we literally remained sticking with six to eight horses, and
had to descend. The slippery hills were worse, particularly in
going down ; it took us an hour to go twenty paces; the horses
fell down four times, and all eight got the harness complicated
together. Add to this night and wind — a real winter journey.
It was impossible to sleep in consequence of the cold ; yet it was
better to be in the air. Sleep I shall recover. The Niemen was

RUSSIAN TRAVELLING. 287

free; but the Wilna, a river yo a scarcely would know, as broad
as the Maine — the stream like a torrent, with blocks of ice. The
Diina was only fordable at one place, where we were able to
cross, with four hours' waiting and three hours' labor. The
whole region resembles Hither Pomerania, without villages, chief-
ly like the district of Biitow and Bohren ; some good forests, but
the majority like the coast of ' New-Kolpizlow. Many birch
woods, morasses for miles, the road straight as a line ; a post-sta-
tion at from every 14 to 22 versts, like Hornskrug, very well ar-
ranged, every thing to be had, and plenty of warmth — every
body very civil, and the service punctual. Beyond Diinaberg
there was a want of horses ; at one station near Kowno we waited
•three hours, and then only obtained tired animals. Where the
road was good they went excellently — at half-mile pace, with our
-heavy, ponderous carriage ; but through the heavy parts they
oould not draw, skillful fellows as the postilions were. The com-
mon class of man pleases me at first sight. It is now six — we
have just dined. Opposite to me, az I write on the table-cloth,
is sitting, meditatively smoking.

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

Petersburg, 19 (31) March, 1859.

Since early the day before yesterday, I have been warmly and
dryly. lodged here, in the Hotel Demidoff ; but I did not get here
without great exertion. Scarcely had I left Kdnigsberg, eight
days ago, than a lively snow storm began, and since then I have
not seen the natural color of the earth's surface. At Insterburg
we began only to make a mile an hour with couriers' horses.
At Wirballen I found a mail-post carriage, the interior of which
proved too narrow for my stature; I therefore changed places
with Engel, and made the whole journey on the outer seat, open
in front: a narrow bench, with an acute-angled back, so that it
was impossible to sleep at night, without reckoning the tempera-
ture, which reached 1.2°. In this condition I remained from
Wednesday morning early until Monday evening, and, except
during the first and last nights of railroad, I have only slept once
for three hours, and once for two hours on the post-station sofa.
The skin of my face peeled of when I arrived. The journey
was so long, in consequence of the deep snow, which had newly

288 THE EMPRESS-MOTH Eli.

fallen, and tlie want of a sledge-road; several times we were-
obliged to get out and walk, eight horses being unable to drag
the carriage forward. The Diina was frozen, but about half a mile
farther up there was free water, by which we passed; the Wilna
drifted with ice, the Niernen was open. Horses, however, were
scarce, as each post required eight and ten instead of the usual
three and four. I have never had less than six, although the
carriage was not heavy. The guard, postilions, and outriders did
their utmost, so that I set my face against horse-slaughtering.
The icy hills were the greatest obstacle; the four hindmost
horses, on one occasion, all tumbled over into a tangle — but the
outriders on the right of the two foremost never stumbled — and
hardly had they arisen than they went forward, in full careerr
with the fully-laden carriage, down hill and over bridges, at the
top of their wind, amidst shouting and whipcord. They fell,
only at -step ; but had they stumbled amidst the verst-long gal-
lops on any declivity, we should have been the real - - of
Prince - — ! Well! it is over, and I enjoy the fun of having
passed through it. The Neva here is like granite; but since
yesterday there has been sunshine and thaw. It is well known
that the town is handsome; but were I to abandon myself to
the sentiment of wonder, it would arise from the extraordinary
animation of the streets; despite their width, it requires good
drivers to wind their way at a proper pace, carriages are so nu-
merous; the sledges disappeared yesterday. My commissions-
were completed the day before yesterday ; my address for was-

written down the Chancery, as I had arrived unexpectedly.

1st April. — On writing this date, it occurs to me that to-day is-
my birthday, the first I ever spent amidst a rattling frost — for
that has again set in — and, for twelve years, without Johanna-
Yesterday I had a long audience of the Empress-Mother, and
was delighted with the aristocratic nobility of the venerable
lady. To-day I saw the Czar ; so that on my birthday I enter
upon my new functions. The day before yesterday the Em-
peror shot two bears. Unfortunately, it is now all over with
Petz ; he will not allow himself to be attacked, or rarely. The
new snow has been, as it were, swept away by three days of
thaw ; the whole country is said to be free. Business is just be-
ginning. Loving letters to-day from Johanna and the children.

MOSCOW. 289

BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

Moscow, 6th June, 1859.

I will try to give you a sign of life, at least, hence, while I
am awaiting the samovar (tea-urn), and behind me a young
Kussian, red-shirted, is troubling himself with entirely fruitless
.attempts to heat the stove; he sneezes and sighs, but it won't
burn. After having recently complained so much of the scorch-
ing heat, I woke up this morning, between Twer and here, and
thought I was dreaming when I saw the country, with its fresh
verdure, covered, far and near, with snow ! I never wonder at any
thing now ; so, when I had satisfied myself that there was no doubt
About it, I turned quickly on the other side to sleep and roll on,
.although the play of colors, green and white, was not without
their charm in the redness of the dawn. I do not know whether
it has melted away at Twer, but here it is gone, and cold driz-
zling rain is rattling on the green leads of the roofs. Green, tru-
ly, is the body-color of the Kussian. I slept some forty miles
•out of the hundred to this place; but the other sixty miles show-
ed me nothing but every shade of green. I did not notice cities
-and villages, or even houses, excepting at the stations ; thick-set
woods and birches cover morass and hill ; some fine grass crop
between, and long meadows. Thus it is for ten — twenty — forty
miles. I do not remember to have noticed the bramble, and no
sand ; but lonely cows or horses grazing raised an idea that men
were not far off. Moscow, from above, looks like a sown field —
the soldiers green, the cupolas green, and I do not doubt that the
eggs before me were laid by green hens. You probably know
why I am here ; I have asked myself, and immediately received
the reply that change is the soul of life. The truth of this pro-
found remark becomes remarkably intelligible after living ten
weeks in a sunny hotel apartment, with the aspect of paving-
stones. Besides, the joys of changing apparel, when they repeat
themselves frequently, become somewhat deadened ; I therefore
letermined to deny them to myself, gave all the papers to ,

Engel my keys, declared that I would return in a week to the
>tenbock house, and drove to the Moscow terminus. This oc-
curred yesterday at noon, and at eight this morning I descended
it the Hotel de France. I will now visit a pleasant friend of

290

AKCHANGELSKL

earlier days, living some twenty versts off in the country ; to-
morrow evening I shall be here again ; Wednesday and Thurs-
day I shall devote to the Kremlin and such matters ; and Friday
or Saturday shall sleep in the beds which Engel will purchase in
the mean time. To harness slowly, and drive rapidly, lies in th<
character of this people ; I ordered the carriage two hours ago ;.
to every inquiry I have had put at ten minutes' interval, for th(
last hour and a half, the reply is, " Directly !" with stolid, friend-
ly quietness ; and so it remains. You know my pattern-like
patience in waiting, but every thing has its bounds : present^
we shall dash along, so that carriage and horses will breal
down in these bad roads, and we shall end our journey on foot
In the interval I have had three glasses of tea, destroyed sever;
eggs, and the requirements of fuel have been so fully answem
that I feel a desire for fresh air. Had I a looking-glass, I should
shave from very impatience. This city is very spacious, and
very strange, with its churches with green roofs and innumerable
cupolas ; far different from Amsterdam, although both are the
most original cities I have ever seen. The amount of luggage-
brought here in the coupee no German conductor could divine,
No Kussian travels without two pillows, children in baskets, and
masses of provisions of every kind. From politeness, I was com-
plimented with a sleeping coupee, where I was worse situated
than in my arm-chair. I am really astonished at making a jour-
ney under such circumstances.

Archangelski, late in the evening.
A year ago this very day I never even dreamt that I shoul<
be sitting here. On the river by which Moscow stands, some-
three miles away, amidst spacious gardens, lies a mansion ii
the Italian style. In front there is a broad, terraced, sloping
lawn, surrounded by hedges like those of Schonbrunn, to th(
fiver side, and to the left of it a pavilion, in the six rooms oi
which I wander alone. On the other side of the water is a broac
moonlit plain ; here, grass-plats, hedges, and orangeries. Th<
wind howls, and the flame flickers in the stove; old pictui
look in a ghostly manner at me from the walls, and white marbl<
statues from without. I return to-morrow, with my host, to M<
cow ; the day after to-morrow, by way of St. Petersburg, to Bei

THE STREETS OF MOSCOW. 291

lin. I shall remain, if it be the will of God, until Friday, to " see
what is to be seen." My pen is very bad. I shall go to bed,
though it looks broad and cold. Good-night. God be with you,
and all those sheltered by Kienfeld !

The 7th. — Despite the broad cold bed, I slept well — had a capi-
tal fire made up, and am looking over the steaming tea-urn out
to the somewhat clearer, but still grayish, horizon, and into the
entirely green surroundings of my pavilion. It is a pleasant
spot of earth, and I have the comfortable feeling that I am be-
yond the reach of telegraphs. My servant, like a true Russian,
has, as I perceive, slept in my antechamber on a silken divan,
and this would seem to be a domestic arrangement, servants not
being provided with special sleeping accommodation. My pavil-
ion has an orangery, now empty, attached to it, about 150 feet
long, at the least — the winter inhabitants of which are at present
planted out in the hedges in stately grandeur. The whole with

its appurtenances is something like a very magnified with

rococo appendices in the way of furniture, hedges, terraces, and
statues. I am now going out walking.

Moscow, 8th June. — The city, as a city, is certainly the hand-
somest and most original in existence; the environs are friendly,
neither pretty nor ugly ; but the prospect above from the Krem-
lin, over the surrounding houses, with 'green roofs, gardens,
churches, towers of the most extraordinary shapes and colors —
most of them green, red, or bright blue, usually crowned by «i
gigantic golden ball, many with five or more on a church, un-
questionably a thousand towers — something so curiously beauti-
ful, as it appears in the setting sun, can not be seen elsewhere.
The weather is again clear, and I should remain here some days
longer, had there not arisen rumors of a great battle in Italy
which may lead to diplomatic work ; so I will make haste to be
at my post. The house in which I write is very remarkable, as
being one of the few remaining from 1812, with ancient thick
walls like those of Schonhausen, of Oriental architecture — great
Moorish courts.

292

PETERHOF.

BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

Peterhof, 28th June, 1859.

By the preceding date, you can see I am again up. I drove
'here early, to take leave of the Empress-Mother, who sails to-mor-
row. Her charming sincerity has truly for me something of
a character of maternity, and I can explain myself to her as if I
had known her from a child. She conversed with me to-day for
a long time on many subjects ; she was lying in a chaise-long^
dressed in black, knitting at a white and red woollen shawl with
long needles, on the balcony looking to the country. I could
have listened to her deep voice and honest laugh and scolding
for many an hour longer, I felt so at home. I had only come for
two hours in undress ; but as she finally said she did not wish to
say farewell, but that I must have a great deal to do, I assured
her nothing at all, and then she said, " You had better remain
till to-morrow, when I leave." I accepted the invitation joyfully
as a command, for here it is delightful, and in Petersburg so
stony. Only imagine the heights of Oliva and Zoppot all laid
out as parks, with a dozen palaces having terraces, fountains, and
lakes between, with shady walks and lawns down to the sea-line,
blue sky, and warm sun with white clouds, and beyond the green
ocean of foliage, the real blue sea with ships and seagulls. I have
not enjoyed any thing so much for a long time. In a few hours
the Emperor and Gortschakow will be here, and then some busi-
ness will penetrate the idyl; but, God be thanked, the world
seems more peaceful despite our mobilization, and I need make
myself less anxious at certain conclusions. I am sorry for the
Austrian soldiers ; how can they be commanded, that they are
always beaten ? On the twenty-fourth again. It is a lesson for
the ministers, which, in their stupidity, they will still not take to
heart. I should fear France rather than Austria from the mo-
ment we took up arms.

28^A, Evening. — After a drive for three hours in an open carriage
through the gardens, and having seen all their beauties seriatim,
I am drinking tea and looking at the golden evening sky and
green woods. The Imperial family desired last night to be alone,
for which I can not blame them, and as a reconvalescent I sought

ILLNESS. 293

solitude, and quite enough of it for this trip. I smoke my cigar
in peace, drink excellent tea, and through the smoke of both gaze
at a sunset of rare magnificence. The inclosed jasmine I send
you as a proof that it really does grow in the open air and blos-
soms here. On the other hand, I must confess that I was shown
the common chestnut in espalier as a rare plant, wrapped up in
the winter. But there are very fine oaks, ashes, limes, poplars,
and birches as thick as oaks.

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

Peterhof, 29th June, 1859.

I wished to send you my good wishes in a pair of slippers by
the steamer of the 25th, so that you would have received them
this very day, but I could not even do it the week before, I lay
so exhausted on my back. Since January in Berlin I have nev-
er been quite well, and anxiety, climate, and colds increased my
originally unimportant rheumatism to such a pitch some ten days
since, that I could not breathe without very great pain. The
complaint, rheumatico-gastric-nervous, had settled in the liver, and
was attacked by large cupping-glasses like saucers, and canthari-
des and mustard everywhere, until I succeeded, after having
been half won for a better world, in convincing the physicians
that my nerves, by eight years of uninterrupted anxiety and con-
tinual excitement, had been weakened, and that more tapping of
blood would lead to typhus or idiocy. A week ago vesterday
was the worst, but my good constitution soon came to my rescue,
after moderate quantities of canary were ordered. I came hither
yesterday — my first trip — to take leave of the Empress-Mother,
who is goodness itself towards me, and at her desire I have re-
mained here till her departure, which takes place to-day about
noon, to enjoy myself with green and sea and country air after all
my sufferings. Do not write to Johanna about these details of sick-
ness; I will tell her myself; I have till now only told her of or-
dinary witchcraft. As soon as I am at rest I will write especial-
ly to Oscar ; I was deeply touched by his long letter, and should
have replied long since, but before my illness I was for a week in
the neighborhood of Moscow, and the conduct of much business
is doubly difficult by the presence of the Court and Ministers in

291 PETERSBURG.

Zarskoe-Selo. I hope to obtain my furlough in the first third of
July, and shall then go to Berlin, and I hope by Krochlendorf to
Pornerania.

BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

Petersburg, 2d July, 1859.

Half an hour ago a courier awakened me with tidings of war
and peace. Our politics are sliding more and more into the
Austrian groove, and if we fire one shot on the Khine the Italo-
Austrian war is over ; and in place of it we shall see a Prusso-
French war, in which Austria, after we have taken the load from
her shoulders, will assist, or assist so far as her own interests are
concerned. That we should play a very victorious part is scarce-
ly to be conceded. Be it as God wills ! it is here below always a
question of time; nations and men, folly and wisdom, war and
peace, they come like waves and so depart, while the ocean re-
mains! On this earth there is nothing but hypocrisy and jug-
glery, and whether this mask of flesh is to be torn off by fever or
a cartridge, it must fall at last, and then the difference between a
Prussian and an Austrian, if of the same stature, will be so small
that it will be difficult to distinguish between them. Fools and
wise men, as skeletons, look very much like one another ; specific
patriotism we thus lose, but it would be desperate if we carried it
into eternity.

BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

Saturday, Petersburg.

Until half-past three this morning I was engaged in writing.
The sun then rose, and I went to bed, and have been at the ink-
bottle from before nine again ; in half an hour the steamer starts ;

is behind me. For three days together I have been obliged

'to go to Zarskoe-Selo, always taking up the whole day. I dined
with the Emperor recently, in the clothes of four different people,
not being prepared for dress ; I must have looked very odd. Here
people are very good to me ; but in Berlin, Austria and all our
dear allies are intriguing to get me away ; and yet I am such a
well-behaved person ! Be it as God wills ! I had as lief live in
the country as not.

BUSINESS. 29$

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

Berlin, 14th Sept., 1859.

Forgive me for not answering your letter as yet. I thought I
should be able to stay a few days longer at Keinfeld, but was yes-
terday suddenly telegraphed for. Formerly it took twenty-eight
hours to reach here, but since the railway has been opened it
takes thirty-two, and one has to get up at four o'clock. I have
just arrived here at six o'clock, have satisfied my appetite, and
now propose to sleep. I am to receive the Kegent very early to-
morrow morning at the station ; thence probably to Potsdam, to
receive letters and commissions ; to-morrow evening off to War-
saw. I shall very likely return with the Emperor to Breslau,
-and thence come back here; perhaps we shall then be able to
.see each other for one day at last. A fourteen-seated carriage
arrives at Tauroggen for me to-day; how long it will remain
there Heaven knows — this vagabondizing in the autumn chills
•ending in the goal of winter is far from amusing.

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

Berlin, 24th Sept., 1859.

After I learnt from that you had passed through Berlin,

^ind had probably reached Krdchlendorf again, I made enormous
-exertions to be free by six to-morrow morning and reach Stettin
to-morrow night by way of Krochlendorf. After having talked
myself hoarse with mechanics and statesmen, I have become al-
most idiotic with anxiety, hunger, and business. I now at eleven
o'clock do not know how to write either a short or simple letter
to on the business of the day ; to rise to-morrow at half-
past five, and commit some financial and legal matters to paper.
«7e suis au bout de mes forces and must sleep, painful as it is to me
to be compelled to dispense with my intended surprise for you
to-morrow. I have already torn up two letters to Baden I had
-commenced. I can not keep my thoughts fixed to the political
cothurnus, and must defer my journey to Stettin till to-morrow
night. There I shall sleep. The day after to-morrow I have to
meet Bernhard at Freienwalde ; he will accompany me as far as
Labes, where the trains join ; at night I shall sleep at Keddentin,
.and early on the 27th I start for Reinfeld, or Johanna will scratch

296

LAZIENKI.

my eyes out. It is her father's birthday, and horses are already-
ordered. If I thought this letter would reach you in time, I
should try to persuade you to go to Keinfeld at the same time,
but you would be worn out with the journey. I have greatly
recovered, particularly during the fortnight at Baden. My left
leg is still weak and swollen from walking, my nerves not yet re-
covered from the iodine. I still sleep badly, and after the many
people and things I have seen and spoken to to-day, I am tired
and angry ; I do not know what at, but I have very different ideas
to those of six weeks ago, when I cared little for living longer,
and the people who then saw me here say that they did not believe
to have had that pleasure to-day. Every Prussian ambassador-
dies or goes mad, says , with a look which vouches for the

truth of his words. Other people, however, do the same. I hope-
to remain a fortnight at Reinfeld, and then leave for the North.
It is possible that I may be called back here after the Regent's re-
turn, and my journey may be delayed by that of the Emperor.
In any case it will be a winter journey ; in Petersburg there is-
already snow and two degrees of frost. I can not even wish for
another post, as according to medical advice I am to be lazy — and
that is only possible at Petersburg — unless I desire to resign alto-
gether. I shall wrap myself in bear-skins and be snowed upr
and see what remains of me and mine next May in the thaw. If
there are too few I shall return to agriculture and close with poli-
tics, as Gischberg does in his fourth picture. It would be very
•pleasant, however, if we could see each other before the winter
sleep ; should I return in a fortnight this would be easy, other-
wise we must seek other means, visit Danzig or the Gollenberg;
together.

BISMAKCK TO HIS WIFE.

Lazienki, 17th Oct., 1859.

So far have they got me! Early this morning I sought in the-
first Polish station for the ticket-office to take my place as far as
here, when suddenly a benevolent Fate, in the shape of a white-
bearded Russian General, seized me; this angel is named P.,
and before I recovered consciousness, my pass was recovered
from the police, my luggage from the custom-house officer, and I
was transplanted from the luggage- train to the express, seated in

THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER.

one of the Imperial saloon carriages, over a cigar, with this agree-
able gentleman, and, after a good dinner at Petorkan, arrived at
the station here, where I was parted from Alexander and lug-
gage by the golden throng. My carriage was ready, and my
questions, shouted in various languages, as to where I was to
stay, were lost in the carriage roll, with which two fine horses
galloped me into the night. For some half an hour I was roll-
ing in mad haste through the darkness, and now am sitting here
in uniform with my orders on, which we all donned at the last
station. Tea is beside me, a mirror before me, and I know no
more than that I am in the Pavilion of Stanislaus August in La-
zienki, but not where it is situated, and I live in hopes that
Alexander will soon find traces of me in more comfortable attire.
By the noise there should be tall trees or a fountain in front of
the windows; except many people in Court liveries, I do not
discover any one. The Emperor reaches Breslau early on the
23d, remains there a week, and then, after two days, I shall be
with you.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Lazienki, 19th Oct., 1859.

I can only tell you in so many words that I am well. Yester-
day I was the whole day en grandeur ; breakfasted with the Em-
peror, then an audience, was very graciously and kindly re-
.ceived ; dinner with H. I. M. ; theatre in the evening, a very good
ballet, and the boxes filled with handsome ladies. I have slept
excellently ; tea is on the table, and when I have taken it I am
going to drive out. The Emperor reaches Breslau early on the
23d ; on the morning of the 25th we shall probably start for Ber-
lin. The tea I mentioned consisted not only of tea, but of coffee,
six eggs, three kinds of meat, biscuits, and a bottle of Bordeaux ;
and from the breach I made this morning you would see that the
journey has not hurt me. The wind is rushing over the Vistula,
and rages among the chestnuts and limes surrounding me, whirl-
ing the yellow leaves against the windows ; but here inside, with
double windows, tea, and thoughts of you and the children, I
smoke my cigar in great comfort. Unfortunately all comfort in
this world has its bounds, and I am only awaiting the end of the

298

PETERHOF.

breakfast of those in the antechamber (I hear Alexanders voice
calling out loudly for a corkscrew!) to jump into the carriage,
and first drive to several castles and mansions, and then into the
city.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Lazienki, 21st Oct., 1859.
I shall only just give you a sign of life this morning, for I have
slept too long. Yesterday there was a grand dinner, a water and
forest illumination which transcended every thing I had ever
seen of the kind, and a ballet with mazurka. Whatever can be
done is done, and for gay people this is Abraham's bosom. I
should enjoy this more had I any news of you. You have, no
doubt, in the uncertainty of my journey, not ventured to write to
me here, or the letter is delayed. To-morrow about nine we go
to Skianiawicze, where there is to be a hunting-party in the
park ; in the evening on to Breslau. With God's assistance this
day week I shall be in Keinfeld, and shall, I hope, find you and
the little ones in good health, and ready to travel. I long for the
moment when we shall sit quietly at the tea-table in our winter
quarters, be the Neva as frozen as it may.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Skianiawicze, 22d Oct., 9 P.M.

For five hours I have shot deer, hunted four hares, rode for
three hours — every thing went off well. We are just getting
into the coupe for Breslau, where we shall be early to-morrow.

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

Peterhof, 1st (13th) July, 1860.

As in former times, during the sessions of the Diet, I can find
no pleasanter employment for a leisure moment than to write
you a line as to the state of my health. Under the impression
that at eight o'clock a steamer left for Petersburg, I remained at
table till half-past six — just long enough to be detained till ten.
The plan is altered to-day ; instead of eight, they start at half-past
six and ten. But it is very pleasant here. There is charming
weather to day ; a fine view of the green and the sea from a well-
arranged corner room of the palace; music in honor of the birth-

ZARSKOE-SELO. 299

day of the Empress- Mother ; and a good carriage, in which I shall
take a drive for an hour. Peterhof is the jewel of this neighbor-
hood, and delightful also for a west European, both as a park and
landscape — something like the neighborhood of Danzig and Zop-
pot, of which you naturally know nothing, nor of Kiigen ; the
latter is in the same style, but prettier. My health is unexpect-
edly good since I have lived in my own house. Your kindness
in Berlin to some extent replaced this want; but the green hotel
saloon, and the provisional character of my existence, still some-
what oppresses my memory. I feel like an old pensioner who
has done with the business of this world, or like a formerly am-
bitious soldier, who has reached the haven of a comfortable com-
mand ; and I feel that I could travel towards my end through
long contented years. Till twelve I am employed with the
Carlsbaders, walking, breakfast, dressing ; from then till five offi-
cial life gives me just enough regular work to feel that I am not
superfluous in the world. Dinner I enjoy perfectly, particularly
such things as I ought not to eat. From eight to ten I ride,
also par ordonnance du medecin, and then read the newspapers
and dispatches — enjoying some peaches the while — till twelve.
I shall be able to endure this for a long time, provided I succeed
in retaining the position of an observant natural philosopher in
our politics. Yesterday Johanna made her first appearance in
society. As I had to be in bed by twelve, and no one comes till
eleven, it did not last long. My health is a welcome excuse for
keeping out of all company. I dined here to-day. Such are the
only irregularities that have taken place since my first reception
at Court. The Emperor was very hearty on seeing me again, em-
braced me, and evinced an unquestionably sincere pleasure at my
return. Johanna finds the life far pleasanter than she expected.
Some slight cold somewhat upset her a few days since, but thank
God all is right again, as with your Marie.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Zarskoe-Selo, 4th Oct., 1860.

I must be withdrawn from the clock-work of business, and by
imperial command obtain an hour of leisure, to take thought and
write to you. My daily life is taken up from the hour of break-
fast until four without rest — work of all kinds, on paper and

300 AUTUMN IN RUSSIA.

among men. I then ride till six ; i>ut after dinner, by order of
the physician, I approach the ink-bottle, .with caution, and only
under extreme necessity. On the other hand, I read every thing
which has arrived in dispatches and newspapers, and retire to
rest about midnight, generally in good spirits, and in a contem-
plative mood as to the singular demands the Prussian in Eussia
makes upon his ambassador. Before sinking to sleep, I think of
the best of sisters; but to write to this angel is only possible
when I am sent for to an audience at one, and I have to take the
railway for that purpose about nine. I thus have two hours re-
maining, during which I am quartered in the vacant rooms of the

handsomest of all grandmothers, the Princess , .where I write

to you and srnoke paper cigars until a visit or breakfast disturbs-
me. I look from the table, down hill, over birches and planes,
where red and yellow are already predominating over green
leaves. Behind them are the grass-green roofs of the village,
over which, to the left, a church stands, with five golden towers
in the shape of onions ; and the whole is framed in on the hori-
zon by the endless bushes, meadows, and forest plains, behind
whose brown-grayish blue shadows a telescope would show the
Isaac's Church in Petersburg. A characteristic landscape, but
under the cold gray sky more than autumnal — at any rate, a
very northern autumn landscape. Yesterday the young Arch-
duke Paul was born, and in a week the long delayed journey to
Warsaw will be commenced. I hope to remain here ; at least,
I have written that I did not consider the custom of a reception
on the frontier necessary, and should only come if specially com-
manded. I feel, thank God, much better than in the spring; but
I do not trust in my health so entirely, and the Court life there,
with diurnal balls until three o'clock, and all its restlessness, will
be a severe trial even for people in perfect health. After my
many journeys since the beginning of 1859, the feeling of really
living anywhere with my own family is so beneficial that I am
loath to tear myself away from domesticity. I should like to re-
main, like the badger, in my lair, at least until summer returns,
Johanna and the children, thank God, are well, although Bill
gave us some anxiety for a time, as Johanna will have informed
you. The tutor and Josephine, the nurse, are, however, in bed.
Quite without sickness we never are, and the doctor is a daily

WINTER IN RUSSIA.

301

guest. God grant that all sufferings are at an end in your
house! The Chamberlain is just announced, and I do not know
whether I shall be able to finish these lines here, or the day after
to-morrow in Petersburg, when the Eagle sails, having many dis-
patches to write till then.

Petersburg, 12th Oct. — On taking up my letter-case, among my
preparations for departure I found the foregoing, of which I was
guilty at Zarskoe-Selo, and will not withhold it from you. Since
then I have been ordered to go to Warsaw, and obey with some-
what of a heavy heart, after having somewhat evasively declined
an invitation of the Emperor's to that place. I am well enough
for business, but not for pleasure. When you read this, proba-
bly on Wednesday, I shall, if God will, already be in Berlin. On
Thursday I leave for Warsaw, and thence, by way of Wilna,
hither. I shall not therefore have the pleasure of seeing you, un-
less by chance you should be in Berlin. I hope to do so next
summer. The sea voyage will not be comfortable, but the land
journey is too monotonous.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Petersburg, 9th Dec., 1860.

I take it for granted that you are already in Berlin, as I do
not know what you could do in the long evenings at Krochlen-
dorf, although they are not so long as here, where lights are now
brought punctually at three o'clock, to see to read and write. On
some of our foggy days it is hardly possible, despite of the dou-
ble windows and distance from the cold, to enter upon such pur-
suits after noon. But I can not say that my evenings or nights
are too long ; my anger at the swift progress of time is as great
in the evening when I go to bed, or in the morning when I rise.
I have just now a great deal to do; we are not at all social —
my means do not permit it. I catch cold in other people's
houses, and generally an ambassador with 30,000 thalers salary
is condemned to greaj economy. I receive visitors at dinner, i. e.,
I give them according to fortune de pot, but no evening parties.
Evening parties, theatres, and so forth, are interdicted by the
mourning carriages; coachmen, jagers, are all dressed in black.
I have been out hunting once, but found the wolves wiser than
the huntsmen ; I was glad, however to be able to do so once

302 CHRISTMAS PRESENTS.

more. The cold is not very intense ; three, five, seven, seldom
eleven degrees of frost; there has been good sledging for some
weeks.

I am in the midst of Christmas plagues, and find nothing for
Johanna that is not too dear. Please buy her some twelve or
twenty pearls at Friedberg's, suitable for her necklace, i. e. for the
largest ; say about 300 thalers. I should also like some picture-
books, in Schneider's Library ; if you are unable to get them, ask

to do so. I should like "Diisseldorf Magazines" of last

year, " Dusseldorf Art Albums " of last and this year, Miinchen
Fliegender Blatter of last year, and Miinchen Bilderbogen of this
year and the last ; also Kladderdatsch Almanac, and such non-
sense.

Please get all this as soon as you can, and send it me by the
aid of Harry with the next dispatch-bag—also the pearls, so that
they may be here by Christmas; a courier will probably start
before then. Put a few boxes of confections with them, but not
too many, for the children are in a customary state of digestion
without them.

The death of old Bellin makes a breach at Schonhausen, and
puts me into some doubt as to my arrangements there. I do not
know whether the widow will remain in the mansion, or whether
she will prefer her little cottage — the ice-house — which the old
man arranged for her. The garden I shall have to resign to the
farmer, but will reserve a right of resumption by a notice from
year to year, should I return thither. The accounts I must give
to my attorney ; I do not know any one there.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Petersburg, 26 (14) March, 1861.

I first congratulate you on my birthday ; this disinterested
step, however, is not the only reason of the unusual appearance
of an autograph letter from me. You know that on the llth
April the basis of my domestic bliss was ^orn ; it is not, how-
ever, as well known to you that I signified my delight at the re-
turn of this day last year by the present of a pair of earrings,
brilliants, purchased of Wagner Unter von Linden, and that they
have recently disappeared from the possession of the charming
owner, and have probably been stolen. In order to soften the

LIFE AT PETERSBURG. 303

sorrow of this loss, I should be glad to receive by the llth—
there is sure to be a courier or some other traveller before that
time — a pair of similar decorations of the conjugal earshells.
Wagner will know about what they were and cost ; if possible I
should like them similar ; a simple setting like your own, and
they may be a little dearer than those of last year. The equal-
ity of my budget can not be maintained, whether the deficit be a
hundred thalers more or less. I must await the restoration of
my finances, when I take wife and children to Pornerania, and
send the horses to grass in Ingermanland in the summer. Expe-
rience alone can tell how great the saving will be by such an op-
eration. Should it prove insufficient, I shall next year leave rny
very pleasant house, and put myself on a Saxo-Bavaro-Wiirtern-
berg footing, until my salary is raised, or the leisure of private
life is restored me. Otherwise I have grown friendly with the
existence here, do not find the winter so bad as I thought, and
require no change in my position, until, if it be God's will, I can
sit down in peace at Schonhausen or Beinfeld, to have my coffin
made without undue haste. The ambition to be a minister dies
away nowadays from a multitude of causes, not all fitted for
epistolary communication ; in Paris or in London I should live
less pleasantly than here, and have no more to say; and a re-
moval is half a death. The protection of two hundred thousand
vagabondizing Prussians, one-third of whom live in Russia, and
two-thirds of whom visit it annually, gives me enough to do not
to get bored. My wife and children endure the climate very
well ; there is a certain number of people with whom I associate ;
now and then I shoot a bear or an elk, the latter some two hun-
dred versts hence ; there is charming sledging; high society —
whose daily visits are without the slightest advantage for the
royal service — I avoid, because I can not sleep if I go to bed so
late. It is impossible to appear much before eleven; most peo-
ple come after twelve, and about two go to a second soiree of
supper-eating folks. This I arn unable yet to endure, and per-
haps never shall again, and I arn not angry at it, as the ennui of
a rout is more intense here than anywhere else, because one has
too few circumstances of life and interests in common. Johanna
goes out often, and answers without annoyance all questions
about my health, as the necessary manure on the unfertile soil of

304 LETTER TO COUNT ARNIM.

conversation. I wish Johanna, for economical reasons, would go
to Germany as soon as possible, but she will not! I mean to
Pomerania, and I would follow her as soon and for as long as I
can get leave of absence. I will take the waters somewhere, and
then above all take a sea-bath, to get rid again of this intolerable
tenderness of skin. There is nothing heard from and seen of

; couriers seem to have left off travelling. For months I

have had no express dispatches from the Ministry, and what
come by post are tiresome. Farewell, dear heart ; greet Oscar.
The Neva still bears carriages of every kind, although we have,
had a thaw for weeks, so that no sledges can pass in the city, and
carriages are daily broken in the deep fissures in the ice which,
covers the pavements ; it is like driving over a frozen ploughed
field. You, no doubt, have green leaves about you.

BISMARCK TO OSCAR VON ARNIM.

Reinfeld, 16th August, 1861.

I have just received the news of the terrible misfortune which
has befallen you and Malwine. My first thought was to come to
you instanter, but I had overestimated my strength. The cure
has commenced, and the thought to break it off suddenly was so
definitely contradicted, that I determined to let Johanna travel
alone. Such a blow is beyond the power of human consolation ,
and yet it is a natural desire to be near those whom one loves, in
sorrow, and to join in their lamentations. It is all we can do.
A greater sorrow could scarcely have befallen you — to lose so
charming and joyfully growing child in this way, and with it to
bury all the hopes which were to become the joys of your old age.
As to this, mourning can not depart from you as long as you
live in this world. This I feel with you in deeply painful sym-
pathy. We are without counsel, and helpless in the mighty
hand of God — in so far as He will not help us — and can do noth-
ing but bow in humility under His behest. . He can take away
from us all that He gave us, and leave us entirely desolate ; and
our mourning over this would be the more bitter the more we
rise against the Omnipotent will in anger and opposition. Do
not mingle bitterness and murmuring with your just sorrow, but
remember that you still have a son and daughter left you, and
tbat-you must regard yourself as blest with them, and even with *

LETTER TO COUNT ARNIM. 305

the feeling of having possessed a beloved child for fifteen years,
in comparison with the many who have never had children and
known paternal joys. I will not burden you with weak grounds
for comfort, but assure you in these lines that as a friend and
brother I feel your sorrow as my own, and am cut to the heart
by it. How do all the little cares and troubles which beset our
daily lives vanish beside the iron advent of real misfortunes!
And I feel the recollections of all complaints and desires, by
which I have forgotten how many blessings God gives us, and
how much danger surrounds us without touching us, as so many
reproofs. We should not depend on this world, and come to re-
gard it as our home. Another twenty or thirty years, under the
•most favorable circumstances, and we shall both have passed
from the sorrows of this world ; our children will have arrived
.at our present position, and will find with astonishment that the
life so freshly begun is going down hill. Were it all over with
us so, it would not be worth while dressing and undressing. Do
not you remember the words of a Stolprniinder fellow-traveller?
The thought that death is but the passage to another life may
perhaps diminish your sorrow but little, but you might believe
that your beloved son would have been a faithful and true com-
panion for the time you have yet to live here, and would have
•continued your memory. The circle of those whom we love
grows narrower and receives no increase until we have grand-
children. At our years we make no new connections which can
replace those who have died away. Let us therefore hold each
other closer in affection, until death parts us also, as your son is
now parted from us. Who can tell how soon ! Will you not
•come with Malle to Stolpmiinde, and live quietly with us for a
few weeks or days? In any case I shall come in three or four
weeks to you to Krochlendorf, or wherever you may be. I greet
my beloved Malle from my heart. May God grant her, as also
yourself, strength to endure and patient resignation]

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

Petersburg, 17 (5) Jan., 1862.
I wished last night to go shooting some fifteen miles hence on

the road to , where some wild quadrupeds, already purchased

by me, are awaiting me. I therefore wrote in great haste all

306 MINISTERIAL CHANGES.

that to-day's courier was to take with him. Brotherly love ii>
this case, however, would have suffered. Then it grew so cold
again that the nocturnal sledging would have put my nose in a.
dilemma, and the chase would have been cruel for the beaters.
I therefore gave it up, and won a little time to write you a.
few loving words — especially to thank you for your excellent,
purchases and letters. The dress is everywhere admired ; and
in the little brooch also your good taste has evinced itself.
Christmas, with God's grace, has passed " away from us in quiet-
ness and content, and Marie is making satisfactory progress. It
would, therefore, be unthankful to complain of the cold, which
has remained fixed at 18° to 28° with a persistency remarkable
even for Eussia, which would give 22° to 32° for the little hills-
to the south-west, where I usually shoot. For fourteen days the-
temperature has never been less than 18°. Usually, it is seldom
longer than thirty hours consecutively over 20°. The houses are
so frozen that no fires are of any use. To-day it is 24° at the
window in the sun ; a. bright sun and blue sky. You write in,

your last letter of imprudent words spoken by , in Berlin.

Tact he has not, and never will have; but that he is intentionally
my enemy I do not consider. Nor does any thing take place
here that every body might not know. If I were disposed to-
continue my career, it might perhaps be the very best thing if a
great deal were heard to my disadvantage, for then I should, at
least, get back to Frankfurt; or if I were very idle and preten-
tious for eight years, that would do. This is far too late a thing
for me; I shall therefore continue to do my duty. Since my ill-
ness I have become so mentally weak, that the energy for excit-
ing circumstances is deficient. Three years ago, I might still
have been a useful minister, but now I regard myself, mentally,,
as a sick circus-rider. I must remain in the service some years,
if ever I am to see it. In three years the Kniephof lease will be-
out, in four years that of Schonhausen : until then I should not
know exactly where to live, if I resigned. The present revision
of posts leaves me out in the cold. I have a superstitious dread
of expressing any wish about it, and afterwards to regret it by
experience. I should go to Paris or London without sorrow,
without joy, or remain here, as God and His Majesty please ;
the cabbage will grow no fatter for our policy, nor for me, which-

CHANGES. 307

ever should happen. Johanna wishes for Paris, because she
thinks the climate would suit the children better. Sickness hap-
pens everywhere, and so does misfortune; with God's help, one
gets over them, or one bends in resignation to His will ; locality

has nothing to do with it. To I concede any post; he has

the material. I should be ungrateful to God and man, were I to
declare I am badly off here, and anxious for a change ; but for.
the Ministry I have an absolute fear, as against a cold bath. I
would rather go to one of those vacant posts, or back to Frank-
furt, even to Berne, where I lived very well. If I am to leave
here, I should like to hear of it soon. On the 1 (13) February
I must declare whether I retain rny house, must, en cos que si,
stipulate for buildings and repairs; expensive horses and other
matters would have to be purchased, which requires months
here, and causes a loss or saving of thousands. To move in win-
ter is scarcely possible. After some interruptions, I read my
letter again, and it makes a melancholy impression; unjustly so,
for I am neither discontented nor tired of life, and, after careful
consideration, have discovered no wish unfulfilled, except that it
should be 10° less cold, and that I should have paid some fifty
visits which press upon me. Modest wishes! I hear that I am
expected in the winter to the Diet. I do not think of coming to
Berlin without special orders from the King, unless in summer,
upon leave. Johanna and the children will, I think, go to Ger-
many in about four months. I shall follow, if God will, in some
four or six weeks, and shall return about as much sooner. By
reason of the cold, the children have not been out of the house
for nearly three weeks. All Russian mothers observe this rule
so soon as it is more than 10°; it must therefore be a matter of
experience, although I go to 15°, but no farther. Despite this
want of air, they look very well, notwithstanding matters of diet
• — which is constitutional — and their Christmas feastings. Marie
has become a sensible little person, but is still quite a child,
which I am glad to see. By my side lies Varnhagen's Diary. I
can not understand the expenditure of moral indignation with
which this needy mirror of the times, from 1836 to 1845, has
been condemned. There are vulgarities enough in it, but people
conversed in that manner in those days, and worse; it is drawn
from life. V. is vain and malicious, but who is not? It is mere-

308

FAMILY LIFE.

ly a question how life has ripened the nature of one or another
with worm-holes, sunshine or wet weather, bitter, sweet, or rotten.
During the whole time at my command, there has been humbug
of all sorts ; so I have written away up to two o'clock, and at
three the messenger must be on the railway.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Petersburg, 7th March, 1862.

I make use of an English courier to send you a greeting of a
few lines; a groan at all the illness with which God afflicts us.
We have had scarcely a day all this winter on which we were all
well in the house. Johanna has a cough just now, which quite
exhausts her, so that she must not go out ; Bill is in bed with
fever, pains in body and throat — the physician can not tell us yet
what will come of it; our new governess scarcely hopes to see
Germany again. She has been lying prostrate for weeks, daily
weaker and more helpless; the doctor thinks probably gallop-

PARIS. 309

ing consumption will be the end of it. I am only well when out
shooting ; directly I enter a ball-room or a theatre I catch cold,
and neither eat nor sleep. As soon as the climate is milder I
shall send them, stock, block, and barrel, to Keinfeld. The in-
difference with which I contemplate a transfer is much dimin-
ished by these facts : I should scarcely have the courage to face
next winter here. Johanna will scarcely be persuaded to allow
rne to return hither by myself. If I am not transferred I shall
perhaps seek a longer leave of absence. I have recently had a

letter from ; he believes he is intended to be sent here, but

would rather go to Paris; he thinks me intended for London,
and I have somewhat familiarized myself with the thought.
Letters from the Prince spoke of— — 's resignation and my suc-
cession ; I do not think this is the intention, but should decline
were it so. Independently of political exigencies, I do not feel
myself well enough for so much excitement and labor. This
feeling also causes me some thought; if I were offered Paris,
London is quieter; were it not for climate and my children's
health, I should doubtless prefer to remain here. Berne is also
a fixed idea of mine ; tiresome places in pretty neighborhoods
suit old people, but there is no sporting there, as I do not care
for climbing after chamois.

CHAPTER III

BISMARCK ON THE SEINE.
[1862.]

The Premiership ahead. — Ambassador to Paris. — Unveiling of the Brandenburg
Statue.— Uncertainty. — Delivers his Credentials to Napoleon III. — Description of
the Embassy House at Paris, and of Prussia House, London. — Journey to the South
of France*. — Trouville. — Bordeaux. — Bayonne. — San Sebastian. — Biarritz. — Lu-
chon. — Toulouse. — End of his Journeyman Days.

WE have arrived at the last section in Bismarck's political
apprenticeship and journeymanship — to his embassy in Paris.
This only comprises a period of a few weeks, but it has become
very important, by reason of the distinguished acquaintances that
Bismarck then made, by the more accurate knowledge he then
obtained of French relations, which grew more extensive subse-
quently, on his later journeys to the waters of Biarritz. We
know from one of the letters already given that Bismarck had
already received an intimation at St. Petersburg that his King
intended to appoint him Minister-President, and put him at the
head of the Government. This intimation was probably not the
only one ; the relations between the King and himself had for a
long time been very intimate. The events of those days are too
near to us to admit of the veil being entirely drawn aside;
probably it was King William's intention to have appointed him
Minister-President in the spring of 1862 at once. We do not
know what hindered the appointment at that time ; the result
showed that it was a fortunate circumstance in several respects
that Bismarck was first Ambassador in Paris before becoming
head of the Government. Whether Bismarck had misgivings
about assuming so great a responsibility, who can tell? He
would have ripely tested himself, but certainly he would not
have hesitated for an instant to respond to the call of his King

BISMARCK AS CHANCELLOR.

AMBASSADOR AT PAKIS.

313

with patriotic zeal, for he saw the reorganization of the army
threatened by the liberal opposition, and in that for him was the
sole hope of obtaining for Prussia at the right hour her just posi-
tion, and the future of Germany. He certainly knew that severe
struggles were before him, but he also knew they had to be
fought through — that Parliamentarianisrn should be rendered in-
noxious to the kingdom of Prussia, and that the black-and-white
standard should float from unassaulted battlements.

On the 23d May, 1862, Bismarck was appointed Ambassador
to Paris, and set out thither.
He had previously remained
.a few weeks at Berlin, where
it is certain several confer-
•ences took place as to his ac-
.ceptance of the office of Min-
.ister-President; a passage in
a letter to his wife below al-
ludes to this.

On the 17th May the
.statue of the Count of Bran-
denburg was dedicated on
the Leipziger Platz, in the
presence of King William.
At that time, as it may be
said, the Ministry of Bismarck was in the air. Bismarck was
present. ' When the cover of the statue had fallen, amidst the
strains of the Hohenfriedberg March, H. R H. the Prince Carl
advanced to him, and shook him by the hand, with a " Good-
morning, Bismarck !"

"Salute the new Minister-President!" said a member of the
former Ministry of Manteuffel, in a very animated manner, to a
representative of the new era.

The acclamations for the King, and the trumpet-call of the
trumpeters of the Cuirassiers, accompanied the prophecy.

The three following letters to his wife show that he felt him-
self painfully oppressed by the uncertainty of his then position :

Berlin, 17th May, 1862.

Our future is still as obscure as in Petersburg. Berlin is more;

314:

UNCERTAINTY.

in the foreground. I do nothing for or against it, but shall drink
a good drop when I have my credentials to Paris in my pocket.
Nothing at all is said about London just now, but things may
change again. I go to the dedication of Brandenburg, and then
to , at , to dinner. I have not been able to detach my-
self all day from Ministerial conversations, and do not find these
gentlemen at all more united than their predecessors.

Berlin, 23d May, 1862.

From the newspapers you will already have seen that I am ap-
pointed to Paris. I am very glad of it, but the shadow remains
in the background. I was already as good as taken prisoner for
the Ministry. I shall start for Paris as soon as I can get loose,
to-morrow or next day; but I can not direct our "uncertain"
things to that place as yet, for I can not but expect that in a few
months or weeks they may recall me and keep me here. I do
not come to you first, as I wish to take possession in Paris first;
perhaps they will find another Minister-President, when I am out
of their sight. I will not go to Schdnhausen for the same rea-
son, that I may not again be seized. Yesterday I rode about for
four hours in a major's uniform, and received my credentials for
Paris in the saddle. The roan mare is here, and has been my
joy and refreshment in the Thiergarten ; I shall take her with
me. The bears went off to Frankfurt yesterday. I have my
hands full in order to render my journey possible.

BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

Berlin, 25th May, 1862.

You write very seldom, and no doubt have more time for it
than I have. Since I have been here I have not had time to
sleep one night through. Yesterday I went out about eight
o'clock in the morning, came home five times to change my dress
in a hurry ; at eight again I went to Potsdam to Prince Freder-
ick Charles, and returned at eleven. Now, at four, I have my
first free moment, and use it for heaping fiery coals upon your
black head. I think of leaving to-morrow — at latest on Tuesday
— for Paris ; whether for long, God only knows — perhaps only
for months or weeks. • They have all conspired to keep me here,

PARIS.

315

and I shall be very glad when I have found a point of rest on
the Seine, and a porter at the door who will let nobody see me
for some days. I do not know, indeed, whether to send our fur-
niture to Paris at all, for it is possible that I may be recalled be-
fore they arrived. I am rather seeking a Hegira than a new
dwelling-place. I have been obliged to be very firm, to get rid
of the hotel life of waiting here. I am ready for every thing that
God sends, and only regret that I am separated from you, with-
out being able to say when we shall meet again/ If I find a
prospect of remaining in
Paris till the winter, I
think you will soon fol-
Jow me, and we will set-
tle, if it be only for a
.short time. The course
-of June will decide
whether I return hither
before the end of the
session of the Diet, or
remain in Paris longer,
and long enough to send
for you. I shall do what
I can towards the latter
result, and in any case I

should like you to come to Paris, were it only for a short time,
-and without a regular residence, in order that you might see it.
Yesterday there was a grand military dinner, where I appeared
as a major. First there was a parade. The mare is my daily
delight in the Thiergarten, but not quiet enough for military
service.

As to his residence in Paris, the following letters give the best
account :

BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

Paris, 31st May, 1862.

Just a few lines amidst the throng of business, to tell you I am
"well ; but I feel somewhat lonely with the prospect of green, with
•dull rainy weather, the humming of bees, and twittering of spar-
rows. To-morrow I have a grand audience. It is annoying that

31(3 RECEPTION BY THE EMPEROR.

I have to buy linen — napkins, table-cloths, and sheets. Do not
have the " uncertain " things sent as yet from Petersburg; those
for Schonhausen and Reinfeld send to Stettin, both to Bernhard's
exporter, D. Witte's successor, to whom I have written. Those
for Reinfeld go by ship from Stettin to Stolpmiinde. My stay
here is not certain, until the Ministry has another President in
place of Hohenlohe, and London is filled up. Farewell ! I greet
you heartily. Pray write.

THE SAME TO THE SAME.

Paris, 1 st June, 1 862.
To-clav I was received by the Emperor, and delivered my cre-
dentials. He received me in a friendly manner, looks well, has-
become somewhat stronger, but by no means fat and aged, as he
is caricatured. The Empress is still one of the handsomest wom-
en I know, despite Petersburg; she has even grown handsomer
within these five years. The whole affair was official and sol-
emn. I was fetched in an imperial carriage by the Master of the
Ceremonies, and shall probably soon have a private audience. I
am anxious for work, because I do not know what to do. To-
day I dined alone; the young gentlemen were out. The whole
evening there was rain, and I was alone at home. To whom
could I go? I am more lonely in the midst of great Paris than
you are at Reinfeld, and sit here like a rat in an empty house.
My only amusement was to send away the cook for cheating me
in the accounts. You know how narrowly I look after such
things ; but - - was a child in this respect. I shall dine for the
present at a cafe. How long this is to last, God knows ! In
from eight to ten days I shall probably receive a telegraphic
summons to Berlin, and then dance and song is over. If my op-
ponents only knew what a benefit they would confer upon me
personally by their victory, and how sincerely I wish them suc-
cess, - — would then, perhaps, from malice, do all he could to-
bring me to Berlin. You can not detest the Wilhelm Strasse more
than I. do, and if I am not convinced that it mmt be, I will not
go. To leave the King in a dilemma during illness, I regard as-
cowardice and infidelity. If it is not to be, God will raise up,
for those who seek, some who will consent to be a sauce-
pan-lid. If it is to be, then forward ! as our coachmen said when

THE PARIS EMBASSY-HOUSE. 317

they took the reins. Next summer we shall then probably live
at Schonhausen. Hurero! I shall get into my canopy bed, as
broad as it is long — the only living being in the whole house, for
I do not think any body lives in the parterre.

BISMARCK TO HIS SISTER.

Paris, 16th June, 1862.

If all has happened according to the programme, you will to-
day have reached Landeck, where I wish you happy and healthy
days. On the completion of your twenty-ninth year I hope to
present myself with good wishes, although I do not accurately
know in how short a time the post goes between here and Lan-
deck. The barometer is always at changeable, as during the
past year, and will long continue so, whether I live here or in
Berlin. There is rest in the grave — at least I hope so. Since
my departure from Berlin I have not heard a word from any

body about the Ministerial question. 's leave of absence is

out, and he does not again enter on his duties ; this 1 knew be-
fore. The end of June I wait quietly for; if I do not then know
what is to become of me, I will urgently ask for certainty, so as
to settle myself here. If I seem likely to remain here till Janu-
ary, I think I shall fetch Johanna in September, although a do-
mestic establishment of four months is very provisional and un-
comfortable. In packing and unpacking, a small fortune is bro-
ken up in glass and china. Besides my wife and children, the
mare is what I chiefly want. I have tried some hired horses,
but I would rather never ride again. The house is well situated,
but is dark, damp, and cold. The sunny side is spoilt with stair-
cases and non-vcdeurs ; every thing lies to the north, and smells
musty and cloacic. There is not a single piece of furniture one
can sit upon, nor a single corner in which one can sit; three-
quarters of the house is shut up as "state rooms," covered up,
and, without a great change in arrangements, not suitable for
daily use. The nurses would live on the third-floor, the children
on the second. The principal staircase (first-floor) only leads to
a bed-chamber, with a large bed, also an old-fashioned saloon
(style of 1818) next to it, many staircases and anterooms. Ac-
tual living room is on the ground-floor northward towards the
garden, where I warm myself, when the sun shines, for some

318

FONTAINEBLEAU.

hours, at most three times a week. You will see it
in the margin: 1. Dressing-room, spongy and unin-
habitable, darnp^ 2. Study, dark, stinking ; 3. Recep-
tion-roorn ; 4. A view from the house to the garden,
with bookcases ; 5. Dining-room; 6. My bedroom ; 7-
Office; 8. Garden, where the lines are, Quai D'Orsay
and the Seine ; 9 and 10. Chancery ; 11. Hall ; 12.
Staircase. Add to this, on the first floor one bed-
room, and no more, and all the domestic offices two-
stories high ; narrow, dark, steep stairs, which I can
not mount upright, on account of the breadth of my shoulders,,
and without crinoline. The principal staircase only goes to the-
first-floor, but there are three ladder-stairs at both ends to the
upper rooms. Hatzfeld and Pourtales existed thus their whole
time, but died over it in the prime of life; and if I stay in the
house, I shall die sooner than I wish. I would not live in it for
nothing, on account of the smell.

Please send Joharfna the address where you had such good
cakes (Baumkuchen) made two years ago, for the birthday. I
promised one to the Archduchess Marie. Or rather, send me-
the address, and I will order the cake by letter from here, and

will inclose a letter for , which the confectioner can send

with the thing by ship from Stettin. I am somewhat afraid if
we stay here that Johanna will be but little pleased. In a few
days I am to go to Fontainebleau. The Empress is a little-
stronger, and thus handsomer than ever, and always very delight-
ful and cheerful. Afterwards I shall go to London for a few
da}-s. A number of agreeable Russian ladies who were here
have mostly disappeared. Who has got my mare, if I want it
here ?

At the end of June, Bismarck took a short trip to the Exhibi-
tion in London, and returned to Paris on the 5th of July. On
the 14th he wrote to his wife: —

From your letter of the 9th of this month I have learnt with-
joy that you are well, and I hope to read the same again to-mor-
row morning. To-day the courier at last arrived, on whose ac-
count I left London more than a week aero. I should like to-

PKU6SIA HOUSE. 319

have remained there some days longer — I saw so many pretty
faces and fine horses. But the Embassy is a horror ; well fur-
nished, but on the ground-floor, besides the staircase, there are
only three apartments, one a chancery, another a dining-room,
and between both, serving as a common rendezvous for dinner,
without a corner in which to take off a dressing-gown, the study
of His Excellency. If wash-hand basins, etc., are wanted there,
it is necessary to mount the high, tall stairway, and pass through
the principal bedroom into a little dog-hole of a living-room.
On the first-floor is one great saloon, a small ball-room ; next to
it the afore-mentioned sleeping-roorn and dog-hole; that is the
whole of the living-room. Two stairs higher there are two rooms
for the secretary, and five small places for children, tutor, gover-
ness, etc. On the third-floor, under the roof, room for the serv-
ants, the kitchen in the basement. I get quite miserable at the
idea of being cooped up in such a place. On my application for
leave of absence, I have to-day received a reply from Berlin, that
the King could not yet determine whether he could give me.
leave, because the question whether I should accept the Presi-
dency would be held in suspense for six weeks, and I might
write whether I thought it necessary to enter the present session
of the Chambers, and when, and whether before the commence-
ment of my leave I would come to Berlin. The latter I shall en-
deavor to avoid — shall propose that I be left here in peace till
the winter, and during the interval, say the day after to-morrow
or Thursday, go to Trouville, west from Havre-on-the-Sea, and
there await the winter. I can always get here from that place
in five hours. Since yesterday we have had fine weather ; until
then it was miserably cold, with endless rain. Yesterday I em-
ployed in dining at St. Germain, a fine wood, two versts long, a
terrace above the Seine, with a charming view over forests, hills,
towns, and villages, all green up to Paris. I have just driven
through the Bois de Boulogne in the mildest moonlight — thou-
sands of carriages in a Corso file, water-surfaces with gay lights,
an open-air concert; and now to bed. Our carriages have
reached Stettin ; I shall have them housed there or in Kulz.
All my colleagues are gone, and the only acquaintance with

whom I have any intercourse is old , which neither of us

dreamt of twenty years ago. My servants are Lemburg, a Eus-

320

TKOUVILLE.

sian, an Italian Fazzi, who was footman to Stolberg in Morocco,
three Frenchmen (chancery -servant, coachman, and cook), and an
Electoral Hessian, with a Belgian wife, as porters.

Bismarck went first to Trouville, as he announces ; but he was
so uncomfortable there that he left in a very few days. On the
25th of July he entered upon that beautiful journey to the south-
west of France into Spain, where he found strength for the im-
portant problem which fell, two months later, to his lot — that
great task he did not seek, but did not refuse. He enjoyed the
pleasure of this refreshment with keen appreciation, for he well
knew what was before him. He enjoyed the sea-baths of San
Sebastian and Biarritz particularly ; he was all " sea-salt and
sun ;" he lived " as in Stolpmiinde, only without sack." He
climbed the Pyrenees, and delighted in the mulberries, olives, and
red grapes of Avignon, and was so industrious a correspondent
towards his wife, that the blue envelopes, in which his letters
flew from the Spanish frontier to Farther Pomerania, did not last.
How many of these letters were written in the open air, upon
a rock, upon the grass, with a newspaper underneath them !
Some of these may find their place here.

Bordeaux, 27th July, 1862.

You can not refuse me the testimonial of being an industrious
correspondent ; this morning I wrote to your birthday child from
Chenonceaux, and this evening I write from the city of red wine.
These lines, however, will arrive a day later than those, the mail
only going at noon to-morrow. I have only left Paris the day
before yesterday, but it seerns to me a week. I have seen some
very beautiful castles. Charnbord, of which the plans torn from
a book give a very imperfect idea, in its desolation corresponds
to the fate of its possessor. In the spacious halls and magnifi-
cent saloons, where kings and their mistresses held their couH
amidst hunting scenes, the childish playthings of the Duke of
Bordeaux are the only furniture. The guide thought I was a
French legitimist, and repressed a tear when she showed me
the little cannon of her master. I paid for the tears, according
to tariff, with an extra franc, although I have no calling to sub-
vent Carl ism. The castle courts were as quiet in the sun as de-

BORDEAUX. 321

serted churchyards. From the towers there is an expansive
prospect; but on all sides there are silent woods and broom to
the utmost horizon — no town, no village, no farm either near the
castle or around it. From the inclosed examples of broorn you.
will hardly recognize how purple these plants, so beloved by me,
grow there — the only flower in the royal gardens, and swallows
almost the only living tenants of the castle. It is too lonely for
sparrows. The old castle of Amboise is magnificently situated j
one can see from the top six miles either way down the Loire.
Thence one gradually passes into the south. Wheat disappears,
and gives place to maize ; in between rank woods of vines and
chestnuts, castles and forts, with many towers, chimneys, and
gables, quite white, with high pointed slate roofs. The heat was
glowing, and I was glad to have half a coupd to myself. In the
evening, splendid sheet lightning in the east, and now a pleasant
coolness, which, in our own land, we should think somewhat sul-
try. The sun sets at 7.35. In Petersburg one would be able to
.see now, about eleven, without lights. Till now, no letter has
arrived for me ; perhaps I shall find one at Bayonne. I shall
stop here some two days, to see where our wines grow.

Bordeaux, Wednesday, 29th July, 1862.

Your letter of the 23d yesterday reached me safely, and I
thank God you are well. Yesterday, with our Consul and a
General, I made a charming tour through Medoc. I drank La-
fitte, Mouton, Pichon, Laroze, Latour, Margaux St. Julien, Branne,
Armeillac, and other wines in their original names, in the cellar.
Thermometer 30° in the shade, 55° in the sun ; but with good
wine inside this is not felt at all. I am just starting for Bayonne,
and will write thence more quietly than now, in the custody of
the railway.

Bayonne, 29th July, 1862.

I employ the time in which my things are coming from the
railway station to perfect my short epistle of this morning from
Bordeaux. The country I have just passed through transports
me at first sight most vividly into the Government Pskow, or
-Petersburg. From Bordeaux to this place there are uninterrupt-
ed pine forests, broom, and moorland, sometimes like Pomerania

322

BAYONNE.

— as in the Strandwald behind the downs — sometimes Russia.
But when I used my glass the illusion vanished ; instead of the
Scotch fir, it is the long-haired sea-pine, and the apparent mix-
ture of juniper, raspberries, and such plants covering the ground
is dissolved into all sorts of foreign-looking shrubs, with leaves
resembling myrtle and cypress. The magnificence with which
the broom develops its violet-purple blossoms here is astonishing;
in between there grows a very yellow furze with broad leaves,
the whole forming a gay carpet. The river Adour, on which
• Bayonne lies, is the frontier of this B flat of heath, which, in its
softer idealization of a northern landscape, sharpened my home-
sickness. From St. Vincent the view stretches over the moor
and pine-trees to the blue outlines of the Pyrenees, a sort of
giant Taunus, but more bold and jagged in profile. The post-
office is closed during the hot time of day, until four o'clock, so
that I can only receive your letter in an hour, and should be
doubly impatient had I not yesterday received your letter of the
23d ; and the one lying here is older. I think of driving to Bi-
arritz towards evening, and bathing there to-morrow, and then
continuing my journey to the frontier. In Fuent Arabia I await
intelligence as to whether G. is in St. Sebastian, then I shall vis-
it him ; but if he has returned to Madrid I shall content myself
with having crossed the Bidassoa, shall return hither, and then
proceed along the mountains to Pau ; thence I shall turn to the
right among the mountains, first to Eaux Bonnes and Eaux
Chaudes, and next to Cauterets, St. Sauveur, Luz, Barreges, and
Bagneres de Luchon. I can not say that I am bored; a number
of new impressions rise up within me, but I feel like a banished
man, and in thought am rather on the Kamenz than the Adour.
German newspapers I have not seen for six days, nor do I miss
them.

San Sebastian, 1st Aug., 1862.

The road from Bayonne to this place is magnificent. To the
left are the Pyrenees, something like Dent du Midi and Moleson ;
here, however, called Pic and Port, a .changing Alp panorama.
To. the right the sea, a shore like Genoa. The transition to
Spain is surprising. In Behobie, the last French place, one
could believe that one was still on the Loire. In Fuent Arabia

EUENT ARABIA. 323

is a steep lane twelve feet wide ; every window has its balcony
and curtain, every balcony its black eyes and mantillas, beauty
and dirt. On the market-place drums and fifes, and some hunr
•dreds of women, old and young, dancing among themselves,
while the men stand by smoking and draped. The neighbor-
hood up to this place is extraordinarily beautiful ; green valleys
and woody slopes, above them fantastic lines of forts, row after
row. Bights of the sea with very small inlets, which, like the
Salzburg Lakes in Bergkesseln, cut deep into the land. From
my window I am looking at one of these, cut away from the sea
by a rocky islet, steeply fringed by mountains, with forest and
houses to the left, below the town and harbor. At about ten I
bathed, and after breakfast we walked or slouched through the
heat to the mount of the citadel, and sat for a long time on a
bank. Some hundred feet beneath us was the sea ; next to us a
heavy fort battery, with a singing sentinel. This mountain or
rock would be an island, did not a low isthmus connect it with
the mainland. The isthmus divides two arms of the sea from
each other, and thus from the citadel towards the north there is a
fine view of the sea. To the east and west are the two arms, like
two Swiss lakes; to the south is the isthmus, with the town on
it, and behind- towards the land, mountains stretching skyward.
I should like to have a picture painted of it for you, and were
we fifteen years younger we would both come hither. To-mor-
row or next day I return to Bayonne, but shall remain a few
days at Biarritz, where the shore is not so beautiful as here, but
still prettier than I had thought, and the life is somewhat more
civilized. To my great content, I hear nothing from Berlin and
Paris. I am very much sunburnt, and should have liked to lie
in the sea for an hour. The water buoys me up like a piece of
wood, and it is just cool enough to be pleasant. One is almost
dry by the time one reaches the dressing-hut; then I put mv
hat on and take a walk en peignoir. Fifty paces off the ladies
bathe, after the custom of the country. The customs and pass-
port business are infinite, and the tolls incredible, or I should re-
main here longer, instead of bathing at Biarritz, where it is nec-
essary to assume a costume.

324 BIAKlilTZ.

Biarritz, 4th Aug., 1862.

I fear that I have made some confusion in our correspondence,
as I have led you to write too early to places where I arn not.
It will be better to write to Paris, just as if I were there; the
Embassy will then forward them, and I can give quicker infor-
mation then as to any change in my travelling plans. Last
evening I reached Bayonne from St. Sebastian, where I slept for
the night, and am now sitting in a corner room of the Hotel de
1'Europe, with a charming view of the blue sea, which drives its
foam between wonderful cliffs against the light-house. My con-
science reproves me for seeing so nmch that is lovely without
you. Could I bring you here through the air, we would imme-
diately return to St. Sebastian. Think of the Siebengebirge wkh,
the Drachenfels placed on the sea-shore ; next to it Ehrenbreit-
stein, and between both an arm of the sea, somewhat broader
than the Ehine, stretching into the land, forming a round cove
behind the mountains. Here one4 bathes in transparent clear
water, so heavy and salt that one floats, and can look through,
the broad rock entrance into the ocean, or landward, where the
mountain chains rise ever higher and more azure. The women
of the middle and lower classes are remarkably pretty, some of
them handsome; the men are surly and uncivil; and the con-
veniences of life to which we are accustomed are wanting. The
heat here is not worse than there, and I think nothing of it — on
the contrary, thank God, I am very well. Yesterday there was
a storm, the like of which I have never seen. On a stair of four
steps on the harbor dam I had to try to mount thrice before I
could get up ; pieces of stone and halves of trees were flying
through the air. Unfortunately, this led me to retract my place
on a sailing vessel to Bayonne, little thinking that in four hours
all would be quiet and serene. I thus lost a charming sea pas-
sage along the coast, remained another day in St. Sebastian, and
yesterday left in the diligence, somewhat uncomfortabl}'' packed
between dainty little Spanish women, with whom I could not in-
terchange a word. They understood enough Italian, however,
for me to make it clear to them that I was pleased with their out-
ward appearance. I looked over a travelling plan this morning,
how I could get from here, i. e., Toulouse, by railway, through Mar-
seilles to Nizza, then by ship to Genoa, thence by Venice, Trieste,

BIARRITZ.

825

Vienna, Breslau, Posen, Stargard to Coslin ! — if Berlin were only
passable. Just now I can not well get by.

326 LUCHON.

Luchon, 9th September, 1862.

The day before yesterday we ascended the Col de Venasque
from this place; first two hours through magnificent beech woods,
full of ivy, rocks, and waterfalls ; then to a hospice, then two-
hours of steep riding on horseback in the snow, with great views,
quiet deep lakes between snow and cliffs, and at a height of 7500-
feet a narrow portal opened in the sharp comb of the Pyrenees-
by which Spain is entered. The land of chestnuts and palms-
here shows itself as a rocky basin, surrounded by the Maladetta,
which lay before us, Pic de Suavegarde, and Pic de Picade ; to
the right rushed the waters to the Ebro,.to the left to the Ga-
ronne, and towards the horizon one glacier and snow-cap after
another stared at us, far into Catalonia and Aragon. There we
breakfasted, pressed closely to the rocks — red partridges without
salt and water; and then rode down again upon giddy declivities,
but with .splendid weather. Yesterday we had a similar expedi-
tion to Superbagneres and to the gates of hell (le gouffre tfenfer),
into the abysses of which a magnificent waterfall precipitated it-
self between beeches, oaks, chestnuts, and ashes. The waterfalls-
of the Pyrenees are certainly superior to those of the Alps, al-
though the latter are decidedly more imposing. To-day we saw
the Lake of Oo, a rock basin like the Obersee, near Berchtesga-
den, but animated by a tremendous waterfall which tumbles into-
it. We rowed upon it, singing French chansonnettes, alternately
with Mendelssohn — i. e., I listened. We then rode home in a
pouring rain, and are now dry again and hungry. No day pass-
es without being six or eight hours on horseback. To-morrow
the jest is over, and " How so soon it vanishes," etc., was the or-
der of the day. To-morrow evening we shall be in Toulouse,
where I hope to find letters from you, via Paris. The last I re-
ceived was yours of the 29th, sent to me by K. It is my fault,
as I had appointed that they were only to send on from Paris
from the 4th, and then to Toulouse. I thought I should have
left Luchon on the 6th, and arrived at T. I know nothing from
Berlin ; have not read a newspaper for a fortnight, and rny leave

is up. I expect a letter from in Toulouse, and that I shall

be sent for to Berlin, without definitive conclusion.

TOULOUSE.

327

Toulouse, 12th September, 1862.

By some blunder of my own, and post-office pedantry, I some-
how got into a -mess with your letters, and I am very rejoiced and
thankful to receive here your dear letter of the 4th, with good
news. I also anticipated a letter from , with some clear indi-
cations of the future, but only got one from . I had no notion

of the King's journey to Doberan and Carlsruhe; in happy forget-
fulness of the world have I ranged mountains and forests, and
am somewhat upset at finding myself, after six weeks, for the first

time in a large city. I am going in the first instance with —
to Montpellier, and must reflect whether I shall proceed thence to

Paris to make purchases, or whether I shall accompany to

Geneva, and thence make direct for Berlin. My leave is up ;

writes that the King would be in Carlsruhe on the 9th, but

according to your letter it is the 13th. The best thing would be,
if I requested extension of leave from here for further — weeks
to Pomerania, and await the answer in Paris, as well as the return
of the King to Berlin, before I set out, for certainty is now a ne-

328 RECALL TO BERLIN.

cessity, or I shall send in my resignation. At this moment I am
not in a state to decide; I will first take a walk, and perhaps I
shall get an idea what to do. I wonder my letters have not
reached you regularly. The longest interval I have ever, allow-
ed was four days between my last letter from Luchon and the
last but one from Bayonne, because we were riding every day
from morning till night, eating or sleeping, and paper was not
always at hand. Yesterday was a rainy day, fitted for railway
travelling, bringing us from Montrejeau to this place — new and
bad, a flat country with vines and meadows. I am now writing
to and . If possible, I shall remain in Paris.

With these letters the Apprentice and Journeyman years of
Bismarck are at an end ; the next few days conducted him from
Avignon to Berlin, to prove his Mastership.

look tlje liftl).

MINISTER -PRESIDENT AND COUNT.

CHAPTER I.

THE CRISIS.

The Crisis of 18G2. — Bismarck Premier. —
The Party of Progress. — The Liberals. — The
Conservatives. — Bismarck's Determination.
— " Voila mon Medecm /" — Anecdotes. —
Attitude of the Government. — Refusal of the
Budget. — Prudence of the Minister-Presi-
dent.— Official Presentation of Letters of Re-
call at Saint Cloud.

TWIN-BORN with the active, restless life
and labor so typical of our modern days,
with the rapid course of political events,
we note the natural sisterhood of swift

33-j, THE CRISIS.

forgetfulness. Most of us would have some difficulty in forming
any thing like a clear picture of the decidedly involved situation
in which Prussia stood in the autumn of 1862. It is beside our
purpose to attempt any definition of this situation here, without
taking into consideration the difficulties surrounding the solution
•of such a problem at that time; we must, therefore, content our-
selves with cursory hints and indications.

The Liberal Ministry, which had just resigned, had left the
conflict with the Electoral Chamber of the Diet as an inheritance
to the Conservative Government now in power.

King William did not desire a coup d'etat ; he therefore un-
weariedly strove to bring about a good understanding, and found
his efforts seconded throughout this stormy crisis by the loyal
.zeal and devotion of the Conservatives as well as the Liberals —
especially by his ever-faithful War Minister General von Eoon;
but all endeavors, to the deepest sorrow of the paternal-hearted
monarch, proved unavailing.

It was at last necessary to find some guiding Minister, suffi-
ciently possessed of devotion, energy, daring, and circumspection,
to carry on the business of the State, despite of the crisis, until, in
the course of time, the action of history should have reconciled
these fiery opponents.

The choice of the King fell upon his then representative at
Paris — upon Bismarck, who was summoned by telegraph from
the Pyrenees to Berlin.

It was well known to King William that the selection of this
statesman, at any rate for the moment, would tend to heighten
the sharpness of the strife ; for, in the eyes of his opponents, Bis- ,
marck then was, and long remained, the Hotspur of the Junker
party — the fiery and energetic Conservative party leader. Very
few knew to what a statesman Bismarck had ripened in Frank-
furt, where he had thoroughly learnt to know the fox-trap, so
dangerous for Prussia, of German small-statism, with its innumer-
able corners and windings ; as also in St. Petersburg, where he
had studied under a politician of the first rank, Prince Gortscha-
koff ; and finally in the hot atmosphere of Paris.

" Bismarck ! that is the coup d'etat /" a democratic organ ex-
claimed ; and this was re-echoed in an undertone by many Con-
servatives, who, perhaps, only saw safety in a coup d'etat But

GENERAL VON ROON. 333

Bismarck was by no means a coup d'etat, but a statesman ; and a
statesman in whom the King reposed confidence.

After long and well-considered deliberation, the King carne to
this difficult determination. The appointment of Bismarck,
under existing circumstances, was doubly and trebly difficult, for,,
though Bismarck was intelligible enough to him, the majority of
the nation did not understand him, and in every direction, in
all circles, and under every political form, opposition arose, with
wild cries of resistance.

And when he had actually been summoned, the question pre-
sented itself on the other side — What conditions would Bismarck
impose ? With what programme would he enter upon the situa-
tion ?

On this, General von Boon, whom Bismarck had known as a
boy, and whom he had accompanied in surveys through Pome-
rania, with his little gun, was sent to meet him. And lo ! all this
hesitation was perfectly unnecessary; for the Brandenburg liege
faith of Bismarck responded to the appeal of his feudatory lord
with the simple answer : " Here I am !"

Bismarck imposed no conditions, came forward with no pro-

THE PARTY OF PROGRESS.

gramme; the faithful vassal of Electoral Brandenburg placed
himself simply at his King's disposal, with that chivalric devotion
which contemplates the most difficult position as self-intelligible.
The beloved kingdom of Prussia had to be upheld against the
parliamentary spirit ; the new organization of the army, on which
the future of Prussia and Germany depended, had to be saved ;
such was the task imposed upon Bismarck.

When Bismarck arrived in Berlin, about the middle of Septem-
ber, 1862, he found opposite himself the party of progress, almost
certain of victory, clashing onward like 'a charger with heavy
spurs and sword, trampling upon every thing that came in its
path, setting up new scandals every day, and acting in such a
manner that the wiser chiefs of that very party shook their heads.
Besides the party of progress, and partially governed and towed
along by it, was the Liberal party, in the greatest confusion after
their recent amazing catastrophe, but possessed, with the excep-
tion of a minority, of an almost still greater dislike for Bismarck
than was entertained by the Progressists : very easily might this
be understood, as it was this party more than any other that
Bismarck had opposed since the first United Diet.

Bismarck had only the Conservative party in his own favor,
but, during the new era, this had fallen away to an almost van-
ishing fraction in the Electoral Chamber; its political activity'
was maintained only by the Upper House and by the Neue
Preussische Zeitung, together with a portion of the provincial
press, and was just then once more beginning to express its views
in a louder tone by the revival of the conservative associative
principle. The new era had shown Conservative politicians that
a Conservative party in Prussia, although possessing perfect indi-
viduality upon single questions, could only as a great whole be a
Government party. " With the Government in courage, without
the Government in sorrow, if needs be against the Government
with humility; such is the path of the Conservative party!"
Such was once the fine and proud axiom of the Conservatives,
but only true so for as it concerns special questions. Conserva-
tive Prussia can only go hand in hand with the Koyal Govern-
ment ; but, on the other hand, it is equally certain that a truly
Royal Government in Prussia can only be a Conservative Gov-
ernment. The proofs to the contrary imported from France or

THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY. 335

England are not applicable to the peculiar circumstances of Prus-
sia, and hence act in a manner productive of confusion.

The support which the Conservative party could then give to
Bismarck was, as it were, that of a vanquished army, and its ranks
required reorganization ere it could be led against the foe. But
Conservative support was tendered voluntarily, and with perfect
devotion, even by that fraction of the party which was piqued
with Bismarck since he had, at Frankfurt, shown a front against
Austria, which, indeed, was almost in open hostility towards him,
since he had proposed more friendly relations with France, had
supported the unpopular doctrine of international interests, and
had declared himself for Italy. The acute rnen of Hochkirchen,
the intelligent representatives of conservative idealism, the firm
pillars of the policy of the Holy Alliance, the enthusiastic de-
fenders of all legitimacy, from whose ranks Bismarck himself
had emerged, had partly become his antagonists ; but at the
ominous hour when he assumed the head of the Government, they
did not deny themselves to him, and " our azure blues," as the
late Baron von Hertefeld used to call them, in his peculiar tone
of admiration and malice, have honestly stood by Bismarck
through difficult years, in the good fight he had fought for the
Prussian monarchy.

What a battle, however, this was may be judged from the fact
that many of the best fellow-soldiers of Bismarck no longer con-
tended for victory, but, so to speak, sought only a chivalric death.
In all Conservative circles it was everywhere said that the fight
was only continued from a sense of duty : the victory of progress
and parliamentariariism over the old Prussian monarchy was now
only a question of time, but it was necessary to die standing.
The last advocates of the Prussian monarchy at least desired to
win the respect of their antagonists. Such was the phrase of
those days ; most of them have probably long since forgotten it,
but it is fitting that they should sometimes be reminded of it.
In the year 1863, one of the most zealous personal partisans of
Bismarck determined to accept an important mission offered by
him, with the certain conviction that in so doing he was prepar-
ing for an honorable fall. Certainly there also existed in those
days fresh undejected minds who stood to their imperishable be-
lief in the Prussian monarchy as in an impregnable fortress, and

336 BISMARCK'S FAITH IN PRUSSIA.

flung the flag of hope merrily to the breeze; but of these the
number was very small.

Did Bismarck belong to these? Yes. He believed in his
Prussian monarchy, had faith in the future of Prussia and Ger-
many ; but he was also perfectly conscious that he was engaged
in a mortal conflict.

He has riot publicly expressed himself on this, but several iso-
lated remarks which he has, in his characteristic mariner, let drop-
to various friends, place this beyond a doubt. Several times he
said —

" Death on the scaffold, under certain circumstances, is as hon-
orable as death on the battle-field 1" and, " I can imagine worse
modes of death than the axe !"

Only six years lie between that time, in which such words-
were fraught with such terrible significance, and to-day, when that
time seems to us like a frightful dream ; but that it wears such
an aspect to us, is due, under God's mercy and the valor of King;
William, to the faithful devotion and energetic policy of Count
Bismarck.

For the rest, Bismarck entered upon office with strong confi-
dence ; he really hoped at first to arrive at some solution of the
crisis. All those who saw or spoke to him in those September
or October days, remember the unwearied bearing and joyful as-
surance with which he went to work. " He looks thin, healthy,
and sunbrowned, like a man who has traversed the desert on a
dromedary !" was the description given of him by a friend at the
time. At first he thought it not impossible to win over the hos-
tile party leaders, and he conferred with many of them : whether
they were Liberals or Progressists, in the end they were, at any
rate, Prussians. He appealed to their Prussian patriotism ; they
could not fail, although they sought it by different ways to him-
self, to have their country's fame and glory as a common goaL.
But if they desired the well-being of Prussia and Germany, they
could not but also desire the. means to that end— the newly or-
ganized army. No doubt that many of those with whom Bis-
marck negotiated, or who were negotiated with by others at hia
instance, felt their hearts beating loudly at this appeal ; but he
succeeded only in winning a very few. With the majority, the
rigid party doctrine prevailed as an insurmountable barrier ; with

EARLY OBSTACLES. 337

others, every attempt at an understanding was rendered unsuc-
cessful by unvanquishable suspicion ; many well understood the
Joints — and more than hints it was impossible for Bismarck to give
—but they did nothing more. He thus finally attained to a sum-
mation of undeceptions, which did not discourage him, although
this gradually filled his patriotic heart with the deepest sorrow.

But at first, as we have said, he came forward fresh and full of
hope; nor did his first failures arid undeceptions disconcert him
in any way. His tone towards his opponents was that of recon-
ciliation. For his sovereign's sake he took many a step towards
conciliation with sad reluctance, although without desistance.

His wife, who was residing in Pomerania with her parents, he
could furnish with meagre reports. The lovely season of the
"blue "was past, and the fullness of labor began to increase with
rapidity. On the 7th of October he wrote to her at a session of
the House of Deputies in the following terms: — " I am sitting at
the table of the Chamber, with a speaker, who talks nonsense to
me, on the tribune just before me, and between one explanation
just given, and another one I shall have to give, I write to you
to say I am well. Plenty of work — somewhat tired — not sleep
•enough — the beginning of all things is difficult. With God's
help things will go better, and it is very well so, only it is some-
what uncomfortable, this life on a tray! I dine every day with
•our good-natured Roon, who will be a real support for you. I
•see I have commenced on the wrong side ; I hope it is not a bad
omen." [The letter is written on the inner side of the paper.]
41 If I had not R and the mare I should feel very lonely, although
I am never alone."

Bismarck was provisionally living at the Ministry of State, in
the " Auerswaldhohle," and only moved to the Foreign Office
when the family had returned from Pomerania.

The following letter was also written during those days to his
sister. The Bismarckiari humor is likewise to be traced in it : —

Berlin, 18th Oct., 1862.

Such good black-pudding I never ate, and seldom such good
liver ; may your slaughtering be blessed : for three days I have
l^een breakfasting upon the results of it. The cook, Rimpe, has
arrived, and I dine at home alone when I am not at His Majes-

338 VOILA MON M^DECIN!

ty's table. I got along very well at Paris. At Letzlingen I shot
one stag, one sow, one badger, five brockets, four head of deer,
and blundered tolerably, if, perhaps, not as much as my neigh-
bors. But the amount of work here is growing daily. To-day,
from eight to eleven, diplomacy ; from eleven to half-past two,
various Ministerial squabble conferences; then, till four, report
to the King; from a quarter past to three-quarters, a gallop in
the rain to the Hippodrome ; five o'clock, dinner ; from seven
till now, ten, work of all sorts. But health and sound sleep —
tremendous thirst !

It ought not, and could not, remain so long. The strong self-
consciousness and feeling of victory with which the Progressist
party advanced — and that in a manner the most abrupt, and
sometimes even personally insulting — could not fail to convince
Bismarck that he would not succeed in solving the crisis. He
had now to resolve to leave — in accordance with the King's will
— time to solve matters, but, despite of this, to continue, within
the constitution, to conduct the Government. With a firm step-
he pursued this difficult path, and he was able to inspire others
with his confidence. Yes ; even King William, whose gentle
heart suffered severely in this arena of contention, refreshed him-
self at his Minister's sure bearing — so much so, that on one occa-
sion, when a lovely Russian princess was congratulating him on.
his healthy appearance, he pointed to Bismarck, and replied,.
"Vbild mon medecinf"

An old acquaintance, who met Bismarck at this time, and ask-
ed him how he was, received for reply, "How should I be?
You know how I love to be lazy, and how I have to work !"

The chief of one of the numerous deputations of those days, at
which opponents mocked so much as loyalty deputations, al-
though they were of no little significance, was introduced to Bis-
marck. He summed up the personal impression which the Min-
ister-President made upon him, in his singing Saxon dialect, in
the admiring phrase: — " D'ye hear ! one can't talk nonsense when
one meets that man !"

"%Then I suppose you've never been in the Chamber?" the
Berlin friends of the worthy inhabitant of Wettin, or Ldbejuhn,.
observed in reply.

THE OLIVE-TWIG.

339

It is certainly evidence in favor of Bismarck's conciliating ten-
dency, that at a session of the Commission he took a twig from
his pocket-book and showed it to his antagonists, merrily adding,
in a chatty way, that he had plucked this olive-branch at Avi-
gnon to present it to the Progressist party in token of peace ; but
he unfortunately had been forced to learn there that the time for
that had not yet arrived.

On the 29th September, 1862, he announced the withdrawal
of the budget for 1863, " because the Government considered it
their duty not to allow the obstacles towards a settlement to in-
crease in volume." He then announced his intentions, his aims,
as clearly as he dared. " The conflict has been too tragically un-
derstood," he said, "and too tragically represented by the press;
the Government sought no contest. If the crisis could be hon-
orably surmounted, the Government would gladly lend a hand.
It was owing to the great obstinacy of individuals that it was dif-
ficult to govern with the constitution in Prussia. A constitu-
tional crisis was no disgrace, it was an honor. We are, perhaps,
too cultured to endorse a constitution ; we are too critical. Pub-
lic opinion changed ; the press was not public opinion ; it was
well known how the press was upheld. The Deputies had the

sk of determining its opinions, and to stand above it. Germa-
iy does not contemplate the Liberalism of Prussia, but her pow-
Bavaria, Wiirternberg, and Baden might indulge Liberalism ;

340

IRON AND BLOOD!'

but they are not therefore called upon to play the part of Prus-
sia. Prussia must hold her power together for the favorable op-
portunity which has already been sometimes neglected ; the fron-
tiers of Prussia were not favorable to a good State constitution.
The great questions of the day were not to be decided by speech-
es and majorities — this had been the error of 1848 and 1849 —
but by iron and blood !" \

But the Opposition understood this frank language so little,
that there was nothing more than plenty of jesting about the
iron-and-blood policy, without end.

When the Chamber answered these conciliating steps with the
resolutions of the 7th October, by which all expenditure was de-
clared unconstitutional if declined by the national representatives,
Bismarck replied with this cutting declaration : —

" According to this resolution, the Eoyal Government can not
for the present anticipate any result from the continuance of its
attempts to arrive at some settlement, but rather expect from
any renewal of the negotiation a heightening of party differences,
which would render any understanding in the future more dif-
ficult."

On the next clay, the 8th of October, 1862, Bismarck, who had
been named Minister of State and President of the Ministry, ad
interim, on the 28d September, was appointed President of the
Ministry of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On the 13th of October the session of the Diet was closed, and
on this occasion Bismarck again took an opportunity of exprej
ing his views on his position with great moderation and gentli
ness. He said : — " The Government is perfectly aware of the
sponsibility which has arisen from this lamentable crisis; but, at
the same time, it is also observant of the duties it owes to the
country, and in this finds itself strengthened to press for the sup-
plies— until the State is settled — necessary for existing State in-
stitutions and the furtherance of the common weal, being assured
that, at the proper time, they will receive the subsequent sanction
of the Diet."

This was the beginning of the loudly-assailed " bndgetless "
Government; at the present day, no one will deny that this was
precisely the mildest form of opposition. A budget had certain-
ly not come into existence, but the Government wasxconscien-

CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

841

tiously carried on according to the principles of the constitution,
as the King desired. It was a severe and endless battle which
now ensued — a strife wearying both body and soul ; but the
Government never appealed to physical force ; it was a war of
opinions and convictions, a war of intellectual weapons, such as
had never been seen in the political region of the world's history,
and such as was really only possible in Prussia.

Perhaps this is the most fitting place to draw attention to one
point of Bismarck's policy, that to us does not seem to have been
sufficiently valued in general, but which at the same time is
highly characteristic of Bismarck's method ; we allude to the
great prudence with which he ever upheld the Sovereignty itself
above the conflict. Certainly he fought for the Prussian mon-
archy, on which depended the future of Prussia and Germany ;
but the conflict was between him, between the State Government
and the Chamber of Deputies, not between the Crown and the
Diet, still less between the King and the people. If the King
could have dispensed with the reorganization, it was only neces-

342

FAREWELL AUDIENCE OF NAPOLEON.

sary to dismiss Bismarck, and the crisis existed no longer. Bis
marck was personally identified with the crisis ; in this he might
fall, but the Crown remained perfectly secure. But in such d<
votion the constitutional fiction of the irresponsibility of th<
King had no part whatever; it was the Brandenburg vassal's
lealty which covered the feudatory lord with its knightly shield.
At the end of October, Bismarck again went to Paris, to take an
official leave at the Tuileries; on the 1st of November he had his
farewell audience of the Emperor Napoleon at Saint Cloud. It
could scarcely have failed that the conversation turned upon the
great task, the accomplishment of which Bismarck had so cour-
ageously undertaken. Napoleon had then but little belief in
success, and probably pointed to the fate of Prince Polignac. Bis-
marck, however, was fully aware of the difference between the
situations of 1830 in France, and 1862 in Prussia.
Immediately after the audience he returned to Berlin.

CHAPTER II.

THE MAN AT THE HELM.

iNegotiations with Austria. — Circular of the 24th of January, 1863. — Conversation
with Count Karolyi. — Prusso-Russian Convention. — The Party of Progress. — Con-
gress of Princes. — Conditions of Prussia. — War in the Distance. — The Danish
Campaign. — Treaty of Gastein, 14th August, 1865. — Bismarck elevated to the
Rank of Count. — Bismarck and Pauline Lucca. — Correspondence with his Family.
— Hunting at Schoubrunn. — Biarritz.

THE action of history would not fail to solve the conflict, but
this was only possible if Prussia entered energetically on this ac-
tion ; and thus we see Bismarck, the man at the helm, steering
the Prussian vessel of State, undismayed by the daily attacks of
the Progressists, through shallows and rocks, firmly and safely to-
wards open water, on which, driven by the breath of God into
history, it was to fly in full sail towards the sunrise of victory.

Immediately after assuming the Ministry, in December, 1862,
Bismarck entered upon negotiations with Austria. If Austria

NEGOTIATIONS WITH AUSTRIA.

could decide upon the dismissal of that enemy of Prussian
policy, Schwarzenbergj and give Prussia her proper position in
Germany and thus insure the same to Germany as her right.
Bismarck was prepared to enter into a coalition with Austria;
but if Austria could not rise to such a policy, Prussia was deter-
mined alone to give the coup de grace to the unhealthy, troubled,
state of things which lay like an Alp on German life, thus ter-
minate the unnatural hesitation, and create for Germany a new.
and healthy body corporate.

With perfect frankness, as was his peculiar wont, Bismarck ex-
plained himself to Austria. The latter was at this time engaged
with the project of the so-called delegations to the Bund, i. e.,
with a reform which was no reform, but an entirely meaningless-
absurdity, not even an apparent something.

In the famous circular dispatch of the 24th of January, 1863,.
Bismarck says :—

u In order to bring about a better understanding of the two-
Courts, I took the initiative in the form of negotiations with
Count Karolyi, in which I brought the following considerations,
under the notice of the Imperial Ambassador. According to my
convictions, our relations to Austria must unavoidably change for
the letter or the worse. It is the sincere wish of the Eoyal Gov-
ernment that the former alternative should arise ; but if we
should not be met by the Imperial Cabinet with the necessary
advances as we could desire, it will be necessary for us to contem-
plate the other alternative, and prepare for it accordingly.

" I have reminded Count Karolyi that, during the decennial
period preceding the events of 1848, there had been a tacit un-
derstanding between the two high Powers, by virtue of which
Austria was insured the support of Prussia on European ques-
tions, and, on the other hand, allowed us to exercise an influence
in Germany, unfettered by the opposition of Austria, as manifest-
ed by the formation of the Customs Union. By these arrange-
ments the German Diet rejoiced in a degree of internal unity
and outward dignity, which has not since then been reached. I
have not alluded to the question as to whose error it was that-
analogous relations were not re-established on the reconstitution
of the Diet, as I was concerned, not with recriminations for the-
past, but with a practical development of the present time. In

CIRCULAR DISPATCH OF JANUARY, 1803. <jJ-5

the latter we find, in those very States with which Prussia, by
her geographical position, is interested in maintaining special
friendly relations, an opposing influence, promoted by the Im-
perial Cabinetj with signal results. I put it strongly to Count
Kaiolyij that Austria in this manner might, perhaps, win the
sympathies of the governments of those States, but would
estrange from herself those of Prussia, to the detriment of the
common interests of the Diet. The Imperial Ambassador con
soled himself with the certainty that, in the event of any war
dangerous to Austria, the two greater powers would, under any
circumstances, be found together again as allies.

"In this assumption, according to my view, there exists a dan-
gerous error, which may, perhaps, not become apparent until the
decisive moment, with a fatal clearness for both Cabinets, and I
therefore besought Count Karolyi urgently to use all his powers
to contradict this in Vienna. I pointed out that already, in the
last Italian war, the alliance had not been so valuable to Austria
as it might have been if the two powers had not, during the pre-
ceding eight years, contended with each other in the field of Ger-
man politics, in^ a manner only conclusively advantageous to a
third party, and so undermined all mutual confidence. Never-
theless, the fact that Prussia did not seek for any advantage in
consequence of the difficulties of Austria in 1859, but rather
armed to assist Austria in need, clearly shows the results of the
former more intimate relations. But should these last not be re-
newed and revivified, Prussia would, under similar circumstances,
be as little debarred from contracting an alliance with an antagonist
of Austria, as, under opposite circumstances, from forming a faith-
ful and firm alliance with Austria, against common enemies. I,
at least, as I did not conceal from Count Karolyi, under such cir-
cumstances could never advise my gracious Sovereign to neutrality.
Austria is free to choose whether she prefers to continue her
present anti-Prussian policy, with the leverage of the coalition of
the Central States, or would seek an honest union with Prussia.
That the latter may be the result, is my most sincere desire.
This can, however, only be obtained by the abandonment of Aus-
tria's inimical policy at the German Courts.

u Count Karolyi replied that the Imperial House could not
relinquish her traditional influences on the German Governments.

346

CIRCULAR DISPATCH OF JANUARY, 1863.

I denied the existence of any such tradition by pointing out that
Hanover and Hesse had, for a hundred years — from the com-
mencement of the Seven Years' War — been principally guided
by Prussian influences; and that, at the epoch of Prince Metter-
nich, the same States had also been guided from Vienna, specially
in the interest of the understanding between Prussia and Austria;
•consequently that the assumed tradition of the Austrian Imperial
House dated only from the time of Prince Schwarzenberg, and the
system to which it pertained has not hitherto shown itself con-
ducive to the consolidation of the German Confederation. I laid
stress upon the fact that, on my arrival in Frankfurt, in 1851,
after circumstantial conversations with Prince Metternich, then
residing at Johannisberg, I had anticipated that Austria herself
would see the wisdom of a policy which would obtain us a posi-
tion in the German Confederation, consonant with the interest of
Prussia to throw all her strength into the common cause. In-
.stead of that, Austria has striven to embitter and impede our
position in the German Confederation, and, in point of fact, to
force us to seek for allies in other directions. The whole treat-
ment of Prussia on the part of the Vienna Cabinet seems to rest
upon the assumption that we, more than any other State, are fully
•exposed to foreign attaclcs, against which we need foreign assistance,
and that hence we are bound to put up with contemptuous treat-
ment from those States from whom we expect aid. The task of
a Prussian Government, having the interests of the K<ryal House
-and of the country at heart, would therefore be, to prove the erro-
-neousness of this assumption by deeds, if words and aspirations are
neglected.

" Our dissatisfaction with the condition of things in the Con-
federation has received fresh aliment during the last few months,
from the obstinacy with which the German Governments more
•closely allied with Austria have offensively stood out against Prus-
sia on the delegate question. Before 1848 it had been unheard
of that questions of any magnitude should have been introduced
in the Confederation, without the concurrence of the two great
Powers previously being secured. Even in cases where the op-
position had come from the less powerful States, as in the matter
of the South German fortresses, it had been preferred to allow
objects of such importance and urgency to remain unfulfilled for

CIRCULAR DISPATCH OF JANUARY, 1863. 347

^years, rather than seek to overcome opposition by means of a
•majority. At the present day, however, the opposition of Prussia,
not only to a proposal in itself, but in reference to its unconstitu-
tionally, is treated as an incident undeserving of notice, by which
no one should be prevented from pursuing a given progress in a
•deliberately chosen course. I urged upon Count Karolyi to
communicate the contents of the preceding conference to Count
Rechberg with the utmost accuracy, although in a confidential
sense, expressing at the same time my conviction that the
wounds sustained by our mutual relations can only be healed by
•unreserved sincerity.

" The second conversation took place on the 13th of December
of last year, a few days after the former, in consequence of a dis-
patch of the Eoyal Ambassador at the Federal Diet. I visited
•Count Karolyi in order to draw his attention to the serious state, of
things at the Diet, and did not conceal from him that the further
advance of the majority in a course regarded by us as unconstitu-
tional, would bring us into a position we could not accept, and that
in the consequences of it we foresaw .the violation of the Confedera-
tion; that Herr von Usedom had left the Freiherr von Kiibeck
and Baron von der Pfordten in scarcely any doubt as to the con-
struction which we placed upon the matter, but had received re-
plies to his intimations whence we could draw no inferences as to
•any wish for a compromise, as Freiherr von der Pfordten pressed
strenuously for a speedy delivery of our minority vote.

" Upon this I objected that, under such circumstances, a feeling
of our own dignity would not admit of our evading any longer
the conflict induced by the other side, and that I had therefore
telegraphed the Royal Ambassador to deposit his minority vote.
I indicated that the passing over the border of legitimate competency
by resolutions of the majority, would be regarded by us as a breach of
•the federal treaties, and that we should mark our sense of the fact by
the withdrawal of the Royal Ambassador to the Diet, without
nominating any successor; and I drew attention to the practical
•consequences likely to ensue upon such a situation in a compara-
•tively short time, as it would naturally occur that the activity of an
assembly, in which, from just causes, we no longer took part,
would be regarded by us as inauthoritative on the whole business
-.sphere of the Diet.

348

PRUSSO-RUSSIAN CONVENTION.

"A few days after this I was confidentially informed that the
Imperial Austrian Ambassador at St. Petersburg (Count Thun)
was about to return to his post by way of Berlin, and would con-
fer with me upon the pending question. When he arrived, I did
not hesitate, despite the recently named lamentable experiences
of an endeavor to meet his communications — made for the pur-
pose of some understanding — in the most straightforward man-
ner. I therefore declared myself ready to enter upon different
projects, agreed between us, for the settlement of the Frankfurt
difficulties. . . . On this Count Thun proposed to me that an in-
terview between Count Rechberg and myself should be arranged,,
with a view of a further discussion of the matter. I declared
myself ready to meet him, but in the next few days received
from Count Karolyi confidential communications, according to-
which, Count Rechberg anticipated, before our interview, the
declaration of my adhesion to the reform project in the Diet, re-
garding which, in rny opinion, it was necessary to have longer
and more minute negotiations. As the time extending up to the
22d of December was too short for these, I presumed that it was-
only possible to employ the proposed conference for the consid-
eration of previous and binding treaties. . . . As Count Rech-
berg hereupon declared that Austria could not give up the fur-
ther negotiation of the project in reference to the assembly of
delegates without some assured equivalent, the interview until
this time has not taken place."

Clearly as it is here stated, so it happened with all negotia-
tions. Prussia ever sought to go hand-in-hand with Austria, but
Austria ever evaded the opportunity. She alleged that it was-
her intention to pursue her German policy alone, in her solitary
path — the way of Schwarzenberg — which was to lead, over the
entire insignificance of Germany, to the humiliation and oppres-
sion of Prussia. Of course Prussia then had no other alternative
than to follow its own mission its own way. To this period be-
longs the conclusion of the Prusso-Russiari treaty on the common
measures to be pursued for the suppression of the Polish insur-
rection. This Convention, by which the friendly relations of
Prussia and Russia were confirmed, has been frequently and un-
intentionally misinterpreted. The internal meaning of this, and

THE CONGRESS OF PRINCES. 349

its reaction, require some farther explanation which it is not de-
sirable at present to give.*

The diplomatic campaign, which the other Powers commenced
at the ^instance of the Convention, it is well known, had no re-
sult, and was lost in the sands.

But the saddest figure in this business was played by the party
of progress, who, in their blind zeal, had seized upon the Con-
vention, on the plea that Prussia by this would become nothing
higher than an outpost of Russia. The idea of such a baseless
absurdity — had it been so — would have been laughable, if it had
not been too sad to see that the opposition to Prussia abroad had
again, been instigated by an allied party in the actual Prussian
camp. This, however, unfortunately was doomed to be fre-
quently repeated on later occasions.

In the summer of 1863 Bismarck had accompanied his King
to Carlsbad, and thence to Gastein, when Austria emerged with
her new and useless projects of reorganization, in which there
was a tinge and tendency of the inoperative Federal principle,
as opposed to Prussian Unionistic efforts. King William re-
ceived the invitation to the Congress of Princes at Gastein, and
the Emperor Francis Joseph himself personally handed him a
minute memorial on these projects of reform. This contained,
although of course it was not acknowledged by Austria, very
little more than the project of delegates long since opposed by
Prussia, and which in no way could content the pretensions of
Prussia or the wants of the German people.

King William, who had gone with his Premier from Gastein,
by way of Munich and Stuttgart, to Baden-Baden, declined to
attend the Princes' Congress at Frankfurt, which was then put
up upon the scene with skill worthy of recognition, even with
taste, but had not the slightest result, although the princes pres-
ent at it had accepted the fundamental principles of the Austrian
project.

And how came it that this illustrious princely congress should
have departed to Orcus without any lamentation, so that in only
a few weeks no one ever mentioned it again ? Simply because
Prussia had taken no part in it.

* Why not ? I really must here join issue with a writer who assumes too much, and
hides his own very small personality, possessing no personal courtesy, behind weighty
cloudiness and the Dermission to copy Bismarck's correspondence. — K. R. H. M.

350 THE PRELIMINARY CONDITIONS.

la Vienna it had been thought that Prussia would have been
carried away by it. When that proved unsuccessful, withdrawal
was thought undesirable, and every one had to learn, by bitter
experience, that nothing was possible in Germany without Prus-
sia. Prussia, as usual, had been undervalued, and thus it was-
revenged ; but, nevertheless, Prussia continued to be slightly es-
teemed, and the vengeance was to be still greater.

At the present time, the simplest eyes can see that the rivalry
of Prussia and Austria was now first corning into public sight,.
ere it was possible to think of any reconstruction of Germany..
Austria had declined all the propositions of Prussia, which aimed
essentially at a peaceable separation of Austria from the German
Federation, and led to a federal union of the newly constructed
union, under the leadership of Prussia, with Austria, but had re-
plied with the Reform Act, containing within itself a nullification
of Prussia. Austria, and the Central States allied with her, had
given Prussia the alternatives of unconditional submission, imme-
diate nullification, or the exclusion of herself from the new Fed-
eration.

Prussia, with quiet dignity, perfected this act of self-exclusion ;
and, lo! matters did not go on, and the Viennese Reform Act
was a blank.

In his report to the King's Majesty of the 15th of September,
1863, and in the Royal reply to the members of the Princes*
Congress on the 22d of the same month, Bismarck promulgated
a series of " preliminary conditions " as to the part Prussia might
take in further negotiations.

He demanded — 1. The " veto of Prussia and Austria at least
upon every federal war not undertaken in resistance of an attack
upon federal territory;" 2. The t: entire equality of Prussia with
Austria in the presidency and government of federal concerns ;"'
and 3. "A national representation, not to consist of delegates,
but of directly chosen representatives, in the ratio of the populations
of single States, the powers of which, in resolution, should, in any
case, be more extensive than those in the project for the Frankfurt
Reform Act." As a plea for this condition he especially insisted,
in his report to the King, that "the interests and requirements
of the Prussian people were essentially and indissolubly identical
with those of the German people, wherever this element attained its

A SEPARATE FEDERATION. 35 L

true construction and value; Prussia never need fear to be drawn
into any policy adverse to her own interests." Besides these
three points, he also maintained that the " German sovereigns "
were bound either " to learn the opinion of the nation itself by
the means of chosen representatives, or to adduce the constitutional
sanction of the Diets of each individual /State"

But that Bismarck had fully understood the final and actual
ends of the Austro-Central policy, may be seen from the follow-
ing sentence of his report to the King's Majesty : —

" In the entirely remarkable attitude observed by Austria in
this transaction, it is impossible to avoid the impression that ap-
parently the Imperial Austrian Cabinet from the commencement
contemplated, not the co-operation of Prussia in the common enter-
prise, but the realization of a separate federation as an end, already
visible in the first propositions of the 3d of August, in case that
Prussia .would not join in the Austrian plans."

There can be no doubt that Bismarck, by his firm attitude to-
wards the Congress of Princes and the Austro-Central policy,,
has not only saved the future of Prussia, but also that of Ger-
many. At that time people were so confused and dazzled that
it was not at all seen. The small fights in the Chamber had
robbed people of any understanding of the great things there ac-
complished. Bismarck was plainly of opinion that war was im-
minent, as may be clearly read from the report on which he
founded the dissolution of the Electoral Chamber of the Diet
It is here said : — "On the basis of the German Federal Constitu-
tion attempts have come to light, the unmistakable object of which
is to set down such a power of the Prussian State in Germany
and in Europe, which forms a well-earned heritage of the glori-
ous history of our fathers, and which the Prussian people has not
at any time resolved to allow to be alienated from it Under these
circumstances, it will be a necessity for his Majesty's subjects at
the same time to give expression to the fact, at the forthcoming
elections, that no political difference of opinion is so deeply rooted
in our country that, in the face of an attempt to bring down ffie in-
dependence and dignity of Prussia, the unity of the nation and its
unalterable fidelity to the governing house can be shaken."

Perhaps they in the camp of Austria and its allies reckoned on
— decidedly they believed in — war ; and war certainly came at the:

352

THE DANISH WAR.

time, but in a remarkable way, not between Prussia and Austria,
but, to the inexpressible surprise of the world, Prussia and Aus-
tria, hand-in-hand as allies, took the field against Denmark.

It is utterly impossible clearly to state how Bismarck suc-
ceeded in inducing Austria to enter upon this war, how he man-
aged to get their old rival to draw the sword for Prussia's inter-
est, in exact contradiction to her entire previous policy. It is
quite true to say that the energetic initiative of Bismarck carried
away Austria with him, but the matter does not grow at all
clearer for that. It is also not inexact, most certainly, to affirm
that Austrian diplomacy might assert that she was obliged to
join, in order to watch over Prussia and bridle her; but it was
by no means false when the Viennese exclaimed, " That Bis-
marck drags us by the halter!" when Austria went into Hoi-
stein, to Schleswig, to Jutland, in the interest of Prussia and Ger-
many. No doubt the magic of Austria's burning desire to re-
trieve the Imperial army's lost prestige, after the misfortune of
1859, contributed to this political wonder — the desire of hanging
fresh laurels on the black and yellow standard. Such a crown
the warriors of Austria honestly won there in the North. Per-
haps the circumstance that the Emperor of Austria always felt a
friendly feeling towards Bismarck personally, had additional in-
fluence; and there might be a not altogether groundless feeling
in existence that the conservative policy of Bismarck was not un-
likely in some way to exert a favorable influence in Austria.
It is said that on one occasion the Ernperor Francis Joseph in-
voluntarily exclaimed, when Bismarck was severely blamed in
his presence, "Ah ! if /but had him !"

If, however, Bismarck thus led Austria to the North as the
ally of Prussia, and thus prevented interferences from other
quarters, he also created new difficulties for himself in the se-
quence of events, which were to assume far higher proportions
than they usually assumed. He knew very well that, after the
victory over Denmark, the old quarrel with Austria would break
out again — must break out again ; nor could he have omitted to
see that a victorious war, carried on in conjunction with Austria,
could not fail mightily to increase all kinds of sympathies pos-
sessed by Austria in the army, and in conservative Prussia. The
deep abhorrence against any rupture with Austria which Bis-

PRUSSIAN PATRIOTISM. 353

marck had to combat in his own camp, emerged still more into
light after the war in a more animated way, and rendered his po-
sition more difficult from day to day. All the traditions of glori-
ous alliance of the great period of the War of Freedom had be-
come revivified in the hut as in the palace, and they possessed
real power ; for it is an unquestionable fact that Austria would
be the best ally for Prussia from that moment when it determines
to allow Prussja to take her proper position in Germany without
malice or envy. It was the destiny of Germany that Austria
could not resolve to give Prussia what was Prussia's right ; Bis-
marck's great political task, however, was to compel the surrender
from Austria of that which is the meed of Prussia and Germany.
That, however, to which we have alluded, could only become
of value after victory. In the beginning of the Danish campaign
it passed only as a fresh breeze through the sultry political at-
mosphere of Prussia. The Progressist party certainly continued
in their inimical position, but the people themselves began to see
daylight ; those minds not entirely blinded by political passion
gradually obtained some glimpse of the meaning of Bismarck.
The cannon storm of Missunde had awakened Prussian patriot-
ism ; Prussia had never been deaf when the royal trumpet sound-
ed to battle, and the Prussian heart has ever stirred when the
eagle standards have been unfolded. This should, however, be
attributed to the advantage of the Minister whose policy led to
the battle-field and the victory.*

* The Austro-Prussian Campaign in Denmark receives so little notice on the part of
Bismarck's biographer, that I shrewdly suspect he does not approve of it as a just act
on the part of the hero of this book. Opinions are much divided on the merits of this
annexation ; in any case, the limit of aggression seems to be too great, as the German
party has not dared to appeal for justification to any plebiscite. In the end, when
animosities are healed, it must be confessed that substantial benefit may accrue to the
new subjects of Prussia. It is worth while in this place to preserve a political squib,
extensively posted in the towns of the Duchies during the war ; probably rather an in-
stigation of the Austrians, whom it indirectly compliments, than a spontaneous out-
of Danish satire. All the walls were covered with it one fine morning, thus :
"Es giebt nur eine Kaiserstadt,

Und die heisst Wien ;
Es giebt nur ein Raubernest, I

Und das ist Berlin 1"

u There is but one Emperor's town, that is called Wien ;
There is but one robbers' nest, and that is Berlin !"

But perhaps annexation was better than such a kinglet as the Prince of Augusten-
irg.— K. R. H. M.

354 SAXONS AND HANOVERIANS REMOVED.

When Prince Frederick Charles had planted Prussia's stand-
ard victoriously on the walls of Diippel in April, 1864, King
William himself went to the North to honor his brave warriors.
On this triumphant progress Bismarck accompanied him, and
there he might have learnt that he was no longer the universally
hated Minister-President, but that this victory had greatly in-
creased the number of those who honored him.

In the summer of the same year he accompanied his royal
master to Carlsbad, and at this time he put the "new companion-
ship of Austria to a severe trial. Saxon and Hanoverian troops
then held the Duchy of Holstein in the name of the German
Confederation. It is fortunate for us that we need not enter any
farther upon the terrible Schleswig- Holstein question. Bis-
marck considered it necessary to remove the Saxons and Han-
overians from the Duchies, which Prussia and Austria had won
with the sword, and that at the peace of Vienna had been ceded
to Prussia and Austria by Denmark. By the removal of the
troops of the Central States the matter was much simplified, and
the question brought a step nearer to solution. It was to be ex-
pected that Austria, considering her secret treaties with the Cen-
tral States, would receive this step with very evil grace; but Bis-
marck put it into execution, and on the Austrian side it was al-
lowed to be carried out, although the press was enraged at it — of
which Bismarck, who went from Carlsbad through Prague to
Vienna, and then to Gastein, was well aware on his journey.

From Gastein Bismarck returned in the King's train, at the in-
vitation of the Emperor of Austria, to Vienna, where he took a
share in the great hunting-parties in the wild park, and had rea-
son to congratulate himself on his skill. On this visit he was re-
ceived with great distinction by the Emperor Francis Joseph,
and received from him the Exalted Order of St. Stephen.

From Vienna he accompanied the King to Baden, and then
went to his peaceful Eeinfeld in Pomerania, but returned again
to Baden before going to Biarritz, where he took sea-baths up till
November. After a short stay in Paris he returned to Berlin.
Here he resumed his old battle with the party of progress, wrhose
hatred against the Minister-President, as may be very readily un-
derstood, grew more intense as he showed himself the more distin-
guished and greater.

L So lang sis VOITI lorste dieRefyer w\\ treibeiiJ

BISMARCK'S ESTATE IN FARTHER

BISMAKCK INVESTED WITH THE BLACK EAGLE. 357

After this " elegantly " conducted war — which was at once an
experiment on the newly reorganized army and the needle-gun,
and had roused the patriotically warlike, i. e., the real, spirit of
Prussia, the King invested his Minister-President with the high-
est mark of honor Prussia can bestow — the Exalted Order of the
Black Eagle. Among those who felt obliged epistolarily to con-
gratulate Bismarck on this well-earned distinction, was his for-
mer preceptor, the Director, Dr. Bonnell. One evening Bismarck
•called on him personally to thank him ; he sat pleasantly chat-
ting with Bonnell's family at the tea-table. In his decisive man-
ner he related a great deal about Biarritz, where he had enjoyed
himself thoroughly ; lightly alluded to the numerous threatening
letters and warnings of assassination with which he had been in-
•commoded, but which he despised, as no political party had ever
yet received any benefit from murder. He then related a dream
which he had had in Biarritz. In this dream he thought he as-
cended a mountain path which continually grew narrower, until
he found himself before a wall of rock, and beside him a deep
abyss. For an instant he paused, thinking whether he should
retrace his steps ; but he then made up his mind and struck the
wall with his cane, on which it immediately disappeared, and his
road was free again. After talking of many things in old and
new times, he rose and said, " I must go now, or my wife will be
uneasy again?"

" Dreams are seems," says the proverb, but perhaps not always,
and at the present time every one knows what the wall was
which vanished before Bismarck's blow.

The following year, 1865, arrived. By the Vienna peace of
the 30th October, 1864, the Duchies of Holstein and Schleswig
were ceded to Prussia and Austria — that is to say, they had re-
turned whither they belonged, to Germany. This was, however,
especially the result of the daring and skillful policy of Bismarck,
for such a conquest was quite against the intention and desire of
Austria. It was necessary now to deal with this acquisition, and
it soon appeared that Austria was about to substitute, in place of
the great national policy of Bismarck, the ultimate end of which
was very openly expressed — to have a German Confederation
under the leadership of Prussia — the wretched detail of a new
Schleswig-Holstein minor state. No doubt that in such a policy

358 CONTEST WITH THE PROGRESSISTS.

Austria only thought of contravening Bismarck's German policy
— of rendering the realization of the Bismarck thought of union
an impossibility. Nor was it remarkable that the Central States-
did not support the policy of Bismarck, as they would certainly
have to sacrifice a part of that sovereignty they had so recently
acquired to the nation, if Bismarck's policy should prove victori-
ous. These sovereigns could not determine to recede to the po-
sition they had so long held as German Princes of the Empire;
they desired to assert their apparent sovereignty, and they were
unable to perceive, that in case Austria should prevail, they
would become Austria's vassals at the expense of the German
nation — at the price of Germany's future. It was in vain that
Bismarck exerted himself at the Federation, as well as at the-
German Courts, to introduce more healthy opinions — he could
not get forward ; and the continually abrupter forms in which
Austria acted in the conquered Duchies, admitted of no doubt on
his part that the Viennese politicians, with the whole of their
partisans in Germany, were determined to force Prussia to sub-
mission ; to the abandonment of her saving union policy, to the
acceptance of the Austrian Federation — in fact, to her humiliation
and dependence. •

It was sad enough that Austria, in her inimical action, also*
reckoned upon the internal conflict in Prussia, which was the
more zealously stimulated, in proportion as it became clear to the
party of progress that the heart of the nation was more and more
turning to the statesman who fought his victories, to the greater
fame of Prussia and happiness of Germany, upon a field whither
they were unable to follow him — upon the field of honor and of
deeds. Of what use in the end was it, that they succeeded in
victoriously maintaining, by their high-spiced speeches, a majori-
ty in the Chamber against the Ministry — that they embittered
the daily life of Bismarck and the other Ministers — and rendered
their labors more disagreeable, if this Ministry, despite of all,
went victoriously on in the world's history? — and that Bismarck,
though he might not get the votes of the majority, won the
hearts of the people ?

We have no doubt that Bismarck, in the summer of 1865, al-
ready believed the hour of the great battle between Prussia and
Austria to have arrived, and that he was determined to stand up

THE TREATY OF GASTEIN. 359

manfully for his sound policy, and with this conviction we ar-
rive at a great riddle — the episode of Gastein.

Bismarck had accompanied the King, in the summer of 1865,
to Carlsbad, thence to Gastein and Salzburg, and so to the Em-
peror of Austria at Ischl.

The deepest veil of secrecy still covers the events which there
took place; it is true the historian, A.Schmidt,* assures us that
already, on the 15th of July, Bismarck; at Carlsbad, had said to
the French Ambassador at the Court of Vienna, the Due de
Grammont, that he considered war between Prussia and Austria
to be unavoidable — even that it had become a necessity. But
this is unquestionably untrue — as untrue as the further statement
of the same historian, that Bismarck, on the 23d July, said open-
ly to the Prime Minister of the King of Bavaria, the Freiherr
von der Pfordten, that " in his firm opinion war between Prussia
and Austria was very likely and close at hand. It was a question,
as the matter appeared to him, of a duel between Austria and
Prussia only. The rest of Germany might stand by and contem-
plate this duel as passive spectators. Prussia had never contem-
plated, and even now did not think of extending its power beyond the
line of the Maine. The settlement of the controversy would not long
have to be awaited. One blow — one pitched battle — and Prussia
would be in the position to dictate conditions. The most urgent
need of the Central States was to range themselves on her side.
Neutrality, even that of Saxon soil, would be observed by Prus-
sia. A localization of the war, and that localization confined to
Silesia, was not only determined, but, according to the already as-
certained opinions of the most competent military authorities, it
was possible. The Central States, in addition to this, by the proc-
lamation of neutrality, were an additional means towards secur-
ing this centralization of the war. Bavaria ought, however, to
weigh well the fact that she was the natural heir of the posi-
tion of Austria in South Germany."

What Bismarck really might have said to Freiherr von der
Pfordten is not recognizable in this acceptation at all.

On the 14th of August the treaty of Gastein was concluded,
which divided the co-domination of Prussia and Austria in Hoi-
stein and Schleswig. This treaty compelled Austria to leave the

* "Preussen's Deutsche Politik" — "Prussia's German Policy," p. 273.

360 BISMARCK MADE A COUNT.

Central States a second time in an ambiguous position ; the Cen-
tral States might have learned from the fact how little really was
cared for them at Vienna. This knowledge they had dearly to
pay for a year later !

What could have induced Bismarck to conclude this truce —
for the treaty of Gastein was nothing else? Who can positively
say ? To the present time it is an enigma not yet solved. Did
military exigencies influence the matter? was the season too far
advanced? did European politics stand in the way? or the un-
concluded negotiations with Italy? was there a threat of inter-
vention on the other side? had the old sympathies for Austria
in Prussia, so greatly stimulated by the recent common campaign,
to be respected? did King William follow up the old traditional
partiality for Austria? did the King and his Minister wish to
give Austria a last term of grace, hoping that Viennese politics
might change at the twelfth hour? or did the purchase of the
Duchy of Lauenburg afford any loophole of escape?

Perhaps all these questions should be answered in the affirma-
tive. As a matter of fact, the treaty became a last experiment,
as to whether it was possible for Prussia to go hand-in-hand with
Austria. It must not, however, be forgotten that this much-dep-
recated treaty was very favorable to Prussia. Despite the co-
domination, Prussia already, by geographical position, remained
master in the Duchies, and was always stronger.

From Austria, Bismarck went with the King, by way of Mu-
nich and Frankfurt, to the Ehine, visited Baden-Baden and Hom-
burg, attended the great review in the province of Saxony, near
Merseburg, and then set out for the Duchy of Lauenburg, the
special Minister of which he is, and finally sought for recreation
at Biarritz.

On the 15th September, 1865, he was raised to the rank of a
Prussian Count.

A short time after he had returned to Berlin by way of Paris
he was taken ill, and remained an invalid throughout the winter,
although he carried on business during the whole time with his
accustomed energy.

To this period belongs a little episode, which we should not
mention at all, did it not show very thoroughly how idle it is to
trust rumor, and had, on the other hand, given Bismarck an op-;

LETTER TO ANDRE VON ROMAN 361

portunity to write a letter to his old friend Andre von Roman,
which soon appeared in the Berlin newspapers. A photogra-
pher at Gastein had issued a picture of Count Bismarck, and be-
side him the royal singer, Pauline Lucca. At this conjunction
many friends of Bismarck were very angry ; all sorts of nonsense
was talked on the matter, and at last M. Andre felt himself com-
pelled to write to Bismarck about it. Bismarck thus replied : —

Berlin, 26th December, 1 865.

DEAR ANDRE, — Although my time is very much taken up, I
can not refrain from replying to an interpellation made by an
honest heart, in the name of Christ. I am very sorry if I offend
believing Christians, but I am certain that this is unavoidable for
rne in my vocation. I will not say that in the camps politically
opposed to me there are doubtless numerous Christians far in ad-
vance of me in the way of grace, and with whom, by reason of
what is terrestrial to us in common, I am obliged to live at war;
I will only refer to what you yourself say.

"In wider circles nought of deeds or idleness remains concealed."

What man breathes who in such a position must not give of-
fense, justly or unjustly? I will even admit more, for your ex-
pression as to concealment is not accurate. I would to God that,
besides what is known to the world, I had not other sins upon
my soul, for which I can only hope for forgiveness in a confi-
dence upon the blood of Christ ! As a statesman, I am not suf-
ficiently disinterested ; in my own mind I am rather cowardly,
and that because it is not easy always to get that clearness on the
questions coming before me, which grows upon the soil of divine
confidence. Whoever calls me an unconscientious politician
does me injustice; he should try his own conscience first him-
self upon this arena. As to the Yirchow business, I am beyond
the years in which any one takes counsel in such matters from
flesh and blood ; if I set my life on any matter, I do it in the
same faith in which I have, by long and severe strife, but in
honest and humble prayer to God, strengthened myself, and in
which no human words, even if spoken by a friend in the Lord
and a servant of His Church, can alter me. As to attendance at
church, it is untrue that I never visit the house of God. For seven

362 LETTER TO ANDRE VON ROMAN.

months I have been either absent or ill ; who therefore can have
observed me ? I admit freely that it might take place more fre-
quently, but it is not owing so much to want of time, as from a care
for my health, especially in winter; and to those who feel them-
selves justified to be my judges in this, I will render an account
— they will believe, even without medical details. As to the
Lucca photograph, you would probably be less severe in your
censure, if you knew to what accident it owes its existence. The
present Frau von Radden (Mddle. Lucca), although a singer, is a
lady of whom, as much as myself, there has never been any
reason to say at any time such unpermitted things. Notwith-
standing this, I should, had I in a quiet moment thought of the
offense which this joke has given to many and faithful friends,
have withdrawn myself from the field of the glass pointed at us.
You perceive, from the detailed manner in which I reply to you,
that I regard your letter as well-intentioned, and by no means
place myself above the judgment of those with whom I share a
common faith. But, from your friendship and your own Chris-
tian feeling, I anticipate that you will recommend to my judges
prudence and clemency in similar matters for the future — of this
we all stand in need. If among the multitude of sinners who are
in need of the glory of God, I hope that His grace will not de-
prive me of the staff of humble faith in the midst of the dangers
and doubts of my calling, by which I endeavor to find out my
path. This confidence shall neither find me deaf to censorious
words of friendly reproof, nor angry with loveless and proud
criticism. In haste, yours,

BISMARCK.

Although this letter may have become public by an indis-
cretion which, under other circumstances, we should have de-
plored, we openly declare here that we do not regret the publica-
tion; and our readers will be of our opinion, without its being
necessary to say more on the subject, or to qualify the contents
of the letter.

We will close this chapter with some letters of Bismarck, writ-
ten by him in his summer journeys of 1863, '4, and '5, when chief-
ly in attendance on the King, to his family, and generally to his
wife.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Carlsbad, 7th July, 1863.

— has my warmest sympathy ; to lose children is worse than
dying, it is so against the order of things. But however long it
may last, one follows them. I have to-day had a very sunny
walk, from twelve to two, along the Schweitzerthal, behind the
Military Hospital, upward, and by Donitz on the Eger, above
Carlsbad and the hills; then to the King, who, thank God, is
getting on well, with three glasses of the waters. I am now
living at the "Schild," right opposite the Hirschen Sprung, and
from my back windows I can see Otto's Hohe, Drei Kreuzberg,
etc. It is very fine, and I am very well, but sometimes have a
longing for home ; to be with you in Eeinfeld, and leave the
whole Minister-world behind me.

Carlsbad, 13th July, 1863.

I think I shall to-morrow go to Schwarzenberg, and thence to
the dusty Wilhelm Strasse, and remain there two days, and then
meet the King either at Eatisbon or Salzburg, and go with him
to Gastein. How long I shall remain there we shall see. I shall
often long to be here again, amidst Aberg, Esterhazy weg, Ham-
mer, Kehrwiederweg, and Aich, and I always knew how to get
comfortably rid of acquaintances, or, when I met any, to hide my-
self in the bushes. To-day I have been at work nearly all day.

Berlin, 17th July, 1863.

Since the evening of the day before yesterday I have been
vegetating in our empty halls, smothered under the avalanche of
papers and visits which tumbled in upon me as soon as my arri-
val was known. I am now going into the garden for half an
hour, and just give you this sign of life. Yesterday I had a
Russian dinner, to-day a French one. To-morrow I leave by
way of Dresden, Prague, and Pilsen, for Ratisbon, back to the
King, and stay with him at Gastein.

Nurnberg, 19th July, 1863.

I do not know whether I shall send this thick paper off' from
here, but I happen to have an unemployed moment, which I use
to tell you that I am well. I yesterday went from Berlin to-
Dresden, have visited B. and K., who desire their best remem-

364 CORRESPONDENCE.

brances (Countess -R. also); I then slept at Leipzig for three
hours only, but very well, and after five o'clock came on here,
where I must await a train which is to bring me, about eleven at
night, to the King at Eatisbon. N. N. has desired the presence
of all sorts of people here, with whom I wish to have nothing to
do, and for this purpose he has engaged the best hotel. I there-
fore selected another, which, as yet, has made no very favorable
impression on me; better paper than this it does not possess.
Add to this, that Engel has not a clean shirt in the bag, and my
things are at the station, so that I sit here in railway dust and
•discomfort, waiting for a dinner, most probably bad of its kind.

Travelling agrees with me admirably ; but it is very annoying
to be stared at like a Japanese at every station. Incognito and
its comforts have passed away, until some day, like others, I shall
have had my day, and somebody else has the advantage of being
the object of general ill-will. I should have been very glad to
go via Vienna to Salzburg, where the King will be to-morrow. I
could have lived our wedding-tour over again, but political rea-
sons dissuaded me; people would have attributed God knows
•what plans to me, if I had reached there at the same time as

• . I shall, no doubt, see K. by chance at Gastein or Salzburg.

I must finish this although my soup has not yet come; but I can
not get on upon this paper, with a steel pen besides, or I shall
get cramp in the fingers.

Salzburg, 22d July, 6 A.M.

From this charming little town I must write you the date at
least, in the moment of my departure.- The Roons are all below,
waiting to say good-bye. Yesterday we were at Konigsee, Edel
and Bartholornaus.

Gastein, 24th July, 1863.

I wanted to send you Edelweiss herewith, but it is mislaid.
Salzachofen I thought more imposing ten years ago. The
weather was too fine. The road hither, which you did not see,
is pretty, but not imposing. I here live opposite the King at the
Waterfall — a child to that at Golling. I only saw two finer in
the Pyrenees, but none greater. I have taken two baths, very
pleasant, but tiring afterwards, unfitting one for work. From to-

CORRESPONDENCE. 365

morrow I shall bathe only at midday, and write before. The air
is charming, but the neighborhood rather imposing than friendly.
The King is well.

Gastein, 28th July, 1863.

As this day sixteen years ago brought sunshine into my wild
bachelor life, so to-day it has rejoiced this valley, and I have seen
it on a morning walk for the first time in all its beauty. Moritz.
would call it a giant dish full of cabbage, narrow and deep, the
edges set round with white eggs. Steep sides, some thousand
feet high, covered with furze and meadow-green, and huts of
thatch, strewed here and there up to the snow-line, the whole
surrounded by a wreath of white peaks and bands, richly pow-
dered with snow during five rainy days, and the lower frontier
of which the sun is causing gradually to grow higher. Dozens-
of silver threads run through the green from above — little water
streams, tumbling down hastily, as if they were too late for the
great fall which they make with the Ache close before my dwell-
ing. The Ache is a river with somewhat more water than the
Stolpe has near Strellin, and waltzes swiftly through all Gastein,
falling down at different levels some hundreds offset between
rocks.

It is possible to live here in such weather, but I should prefer
to have nothing to do, only to walk about on the heights, and sit
down upon sunny banks, smoke, and look at the rocky snow-
peaks through the telescope. There is little society here. I
only mix with the retinue of the King, with whom dinner and
tea bring me in daily contact. The rest of the time scarcely suf-
fices for work, sleeping, bathing, and walking. I yesterday even-
ing visited old with the Emperor, who is expected on the

second. N. N. will come, and will complain to me that lying is
the curse of this world. I have just heard that the King (who is
very well, only he has hurt his ankle, and must sit still) keeps the
courier till to-morrow, and this letter will not reach by post any
sooner, as it would lose a day by being opened. I shall there-
fore leave it. Good Prince Frederick was yesterday released from
his sufferings : the King was much overcome.

366 CORRESPONDENCE.

Gastein, 2d Aug., 1863.

Bill's day was kept by me in fine weather, and the King was
informed ; he asked how old he was, and how industrious his
godson might be. To-day the Emperor is coming, flags and gar-
lands are the order of the day, the sun is shining, and I have not
yet been out of my room; have been writing for three hours,
therefore no more than hearty greetings. If I do not write by
way of Berlin, I fall into the hands of the post-office here — cer-
tainly I write no secrets, but it is very unpleasant. The mare is
in Berlin again. I bathe every day ; it is agreeable, but tiring.

Gastein, 12th Aug., 1863.

I am very well, but the couriers are in terror in all directions.
Yesterday I shot two chamois at an elevation of seven thousand
feet — quite cooked, despite the height. On the 15th we leave
here for Salzburg— the 16th, Stuttgart — 17th, Baden. On ac-
count of the Frankfurt nonsense I can not leave the King.

Gastein, 14th Aug., 1863.

In order that you may see whether it is really quicker, I send
this letter by the post, the courier starting at the same time. I
have been writing for four hours, and have got so tired that I can
hardly hold my pen. There has been a hot sun for a week,
in the evenings storrn. The King is well, but the baths have
shaken him ; he bathes daily, and works as if he were in Berlin ;
there is no saying any thing to him. God grant it may go well
with him ! To-day I take my last bath — twenty or twenty-one
in all, in twenty-six days. I am very well, but worked to death.
I am so engaged that I can see very few people. To-morrow
evening we sleep at Salzburg — on the 16th, probably at Munich
— the 17th, at Stuttgart, Constance, or Baden ; it is uncertain.
Write to Baden, where I shall probably stay a few days. A let-
ter came from at Spa; perhaps I shall visit her there, but who

knows ce qu'on devient in a week ? Perhaps every thing will be
different.

Baden, 28th Aug., 1868.

I really long to spend a lazy day among you ; here, on the
most charming days, I never get away from ink. Yesterday 1

CORRESPONDENCE. 367

went for a walk till midnight, in the loveliest moonlight, through
the fields, but can not get business out of my head ; society also
gives no rest. N. N. is charming to see, but talks too much poli-
tics to me ; naturally is always full of rumors; , who is

usually so delightful to me, has people about her who disturb my
satisfaction ; and new acquaintances are very troublesome. A. is
especially pleasant. With him and E., who is here for two days,
I yesterday dined in my apartment. The King is well, but be-
sieged by intrigue. To-day I dine with Her Majesty the Queen.
Schleinitz is here, Hohenzollern expected, Goltz gone to Paris.
I think the King will not leave here till Sunday ; a few days later
I must be in Berlin; perhaps I shall have time in between for a
trip to Spa, where I shall find 0. Perhaps I shall have to go
to the Queen of England, whom the King proposes to visit at
Eosenau, near Coburg. In any case, I hope to have a few days
free in September for Pomerania. I wish that some intrigue
would necessitate another Ministry, so that I might honorably
turn my back upon this ewer of ink, and live quietly in the
country. The restlessness of this existence is unbearable ; for ten
weeks I have had secretary's work at an inn, and again at Berlin.
It is no life for an honest country nobleman, and I regard every
one as a benefactor who seeks to bring about my fall. \Yith this
the flies are humming and tickling and stinging all over the room,
so that I really want a change in my position, which in a few
minutes the Berlin train will certainly bring me, by a courier with
fifty empty dispatches.

Berlin, 4th September, 1863.

At last I find a moment to write to you. I had hoped to have
a few days of recreation at Krochlendorff, but it is all the old
treadmill over again ; last night work till one o'clock, and I then
poured the ink over it instead of sand, so that it ran down over
my knees. To-day the Ministers were here at nine, and for the
second time at one, and with them the King. The question for
discussion was the dissolution of the Chamber, for which I had
no heart. But it could not be otherwise; God knows what the
use of it is. Now we shall have the Electoral swindle! With
God's help I arn well through it all ; but an humble reliance on
God is required, not to despair of the future of our country.

368 CORRESPONDENCE.

May He, above all, grant our King good health ! It is not very
pleasant in this empty house, but I do not notice it on account
of work. The horses have arrived to-day in much better condi-
tion. The trouble about the mare was groundless.

Bukow, 21st September, 1863.

I wished to-day, on the last day of summer, to write you a
very comfortable and reasonable letter, and full of this idea lay
down on the sofa three hours ago, but only woke a quarter of an
hour before dinner, which is about six. At seven I had gone
out to ride until half-past one, in the capacity of " Herr Oberst-
wachtmeister," to see our brave soldiers burn powder and form
attacks. I first joined Fritz, who commanded three regiments of
cavalry, then went over to Jhe Garde du Corps, stormed like a
man over stock and block, and for a long time have had no-
pleasanter day. I am living next to the King, and two adjutants-
in a nice old house of Count Hemming's ; it is a pretty neighbor-
hood, with hillocks, lakes, and woods, and, above all, there ia

nothing to do, after finishing my business with yesterday.

To-morrow, I am sorry to say, I must go on the treadmill again :
and now to dinner, having slept myself quite stupid, and wrench-
ed rny neck on the steep sofa. We had twenty persons at table,
all sorts of foreign officers, Englishmen, Russians, besides the
whole Federation in the house. I have no mufti clothes with
me, so for forty-eight hours am wholly a major.

Berlin, 29th September, 1863.

I was so far ready on Saturday that I had only an interview
with the King before me, and hoped to be with you on Sunday
at noon. But the interview led to my having four hours of au-
tograph work, and the necessity of seeing the King before his de-
parture for Baden. There was just time for one day at Kroch-
lendorff, whither I repaired on Saturday evening, after writing
myself crooked and lame, to reach there at midnight. Yester-
day morning drove to Passow, reached the King by five, and at
a quarter to eight attended him to the railroad. To-day I ac-
company Moritz and Roon to Freienwalde, must see Bernhard
about Kniephof, and hope to come to you the day after to-mor-
row, if there should remain time enough to make it worth while.

CORRESPONDENCE. 369

I am to follow the King to Baden ; the " when " will be first
known from our correspondence and the business in hand. If
there should be time enough for me to remain two or three days
at Eeinfeld, I will come ; if not, the harness-makers will prepon-
derate over my rest, and I shall see you again here in Berlin.
On the 17th I then shall probably return with the King from
Cologne. M. is sitting opposite, and is working out at my table
a joint matter.

Berlin, 27th October, 1863.

It is bitterly cold, but I am quite well. Are you also making
fires up at Reinfeld ? I hope so ; we have been doing so here
for more than a week. Yesterday, after dinner, I sat with K. in
the blue saloon, and he was playing when I received your letter
of Sunday. Indeed, the letter you wrote was written in quite a
holiday humor. Believe in God, rny heart, and on the proverb
that barking dogs do not bite. I did not accompany the King
to Stralsund, it being a tiring journey, and would retard my
work for two days. This evening His Majesty has returned : the
threats against his life are far more menacing than those directed
against me ; but this, too, is in the hands of God. Do not allow
the last few fine days to be dimmed by care ; and if you are com-
ing, send some feminine being in advance to arrange every thing
as you wish it. I must go to work. Farewell ! This morning,
at nine, only three degrees,* and a hot sun. The inclosed f I
have twice received this morning from two different quarters.

Babelsberg, 1st November, 1863.

I employ a moment in which I am awaiting the King, who is
dining at Sans-Souci, to write a line as if from Zarskoe or Peter-
hof, only to say that I am well, and am heartily rejoiced that I
shall soon see you ruling again in the empty apartments at Ber-
lin. On the 9th comes the Diet, with all its worry ; but I think,
on the day of the opening, I shall go with His Majesty to Letz-
lingen, and pass two days in the woods. Daring that time you
will, I hope, have done with the hammering and dragging, the
necessary accompaniment of your beloved advent, and on my re-
turn I shall then find every thing in the right place.

* 35° Fahr.— K. R. H. M. t A copy of the ninety-first Psalm.

CORRESPONDENCE.

For the last few days I have been living alone, and industrious,
have generally dined alone, and, except for a ride, have not left
the house; have been quiet and bored; occasionally there has
been a Council of Ministers. This week we shall probably have
them daily in the matter of our dear Chambers ; and as the King
has been a week in Stralsund and Blankenburg, plenty of work
has accumulated. I just hear his carriage- wheels, and close with
hearty greetings.

Carlsbad, Tuesday, 1864.

God be thanked that you are all well ; so am I, but more than
ever engaged. At Zwickau on the Perron I met Kechberg ; we
came on together in one coupe and carriage to this place; thus
we talked politics for six hours, and for the first time here. Yes-
terday evening at tea with the Grand Duchess, King Otho, Arch-
duke Charles Frederick, many diplomatists, and much work
with K.

Carlsbad, 20th July, 1864.

The King has just set out for Marienbad, through espaliers of
beautiful ladies, with giant bouquets, which more than filled his
carriage. R with " Vivats" " hurrah !" great excitement. For
me there is now some leisure, all my acquaintances being gone.
To-rnorrow morning early for Yienna ; we shall sleep at Prague.
Perhaps in a week we shall have peace with the Danes ; perhaps
this winter again war. I shall make my stay in Yienna as short
as possible, to lose as few baths as possible at Gastein. After
that, I shall probably accompany the King again to Yienna, then
to Baden; then the Emperor of Eussia is coming to Berlin in the
beginning of September. Before that time there is no prospect
of rest — if then.

Vienna, 22d July, 1864.

Yesterday morning I came with and and two others,

who lend me their calligraphic aid, from Carlsbad, in a carriage
as far as Prague ; thence by railway hither to-day ; unfortunately
this time not to go by water to Linz, especially to worry myself

and others. I am living with for the present ; have seen

nobody but R I was rain-bound for two hours in the Yolks-

CORRESPONDENCE. 371

garten, and listened to music. Stared at by the people as if I
was a new hippopotamus for the Zoological Gardens, for which I
consoled myself with some very good beer. How long I shall
remain here I can not tell ; to-morrow I have many visits to pay •
dine with E. in the country ; then, if possible, conclude peace
with Denmark, and fly as swiftly as possible to the mountain in
Gastein. I wish it were all over. The two days of journeying
have somewhat mentally rested me, but in body I ana very tired,
and say good-night to you.

Vienna, 27th July, 1864.

I have received one letter from you here, and long for the sec-
ond. I lead an industrious life — four hours a day with tough
Danes, and am not at the end yet. By Sunday it must be settled
whether we are to have peace or war. Yesterday I dined with

M ; a very agreeable wife, and pretty daughters. We

drank a good deal, were very merry, which is not often the case
in their sorrow, of which you are aware. He has grown gray
and has cut his hair short. Yesterday, after the conference, I

dined with the Emperor at Schonbrunn, took a walk with E

and W , and thought of our moonlight expedition. I have

just been for an hour in the Volksgarten, unfortunately not incog-
nito, as I was seventeen years ago — stared at by all the world.
This existence on the stage is very unpleasant when one wishes
to drink a glass of beer in peace. On Saturday I hope to leave
for Gastein, whether it is peace or no. It is too hot for me here,
particularly at night.

Gastein, 6th August, 1864.

Work gets continually worse ; and here, where I can do noth-
ing in the morning after the bath, I do not know when to get
time for any thing. Since my arrival on the 2d, in a storm with
hailstones as hard as bullets, I have just been able, in magnificent
weather, for the first time, to go out by rule. On my return, I
wish to employ the half-hour at my disposal in writing to you.
A was, however, here immediately, with plans and tele-
grams, and I must be off to the King. I am, however, by the
blessing of God, quite well. I have had four baths, but shall
hardly get more than eleven, as the King sets out on the 15th]

372 CORRESPONDENCE.

Since yesterday I have been very comfortably lodged, as a large
cool corner room, with a magnificent landscape, was vacant ;
until then I had been living in a sun-blinding oven, at least by
day. The nights are pleasantly fresh. The King probably goes
hence to Vienna in short day journeys, by way of Ischl, and
thence to Baden. Whether I shall accompany him to the latter
place is uncertain. I still hope to get away for a few days to my
quiet Pomerania ; but what is the use of plans ? — something al-
ways comes in between. I have not a gun with me, and every
day there is a chamois-hunt ; certainly, I have also had no time.
To-day seventeen were shot, and I was not there ; it is a life like
that of Leporello : —

"Neither rest by day or night,
Naught to make ray comfort right."

7th August.

Just now I had the whole room full of ladies, flying from the
rain, which relieves guard with the sun to-day. Fr— — from

K , with two cousins, Frau von P , a Norwegian. I have

long since heard no feminine voice, not since Carlsbad. Fare-
well!

Schonbrunn, 20th August, 1864.

It is too strange that I should be living in the rooms on the
ground-floor, abutting on the private reserved garden where,
very nearly seventeen years ago, we intruded in the moonlight.
If I look over my right shoulder I can see, through a glass
door, the dark beech clump-hedge by which we wandered, in the
secret delight of .the forbidden, up to the glass window behind
which I am living. It was then inhabited by the Empress, and
I now repeat our walk by moonlight at greater ease. The day
before the day before yesterday I left Gastein ; slept at Kadstedt..
The day before yesterday went, in misty weather, to Aussee — a
charmingly- situated place; a beautiful lake, half Traunsee and
half Konigssee ; at sunset reached the Hallstadtersee ; thence, by
boat, in the night, to Hallstadt, where we slept. Next morning
was pleasant and sunny ; at noon we reached the King at Ischl,
and so, with His Majesty, over the Traunsee to Grmunden, where
we passed the night, and I thought a great deal of L , H r

CORRESPONDENCE.

373

and B , and all those times. To-day, by steamer, hither, ar-
riving about six, passing two hours with K , after convincing

myself that is one of the most beautiful women, of whom

all pictures give a false idea. We stay here three days ; what
follows, whether Baden or Pomerania, I can not yet foresee. I
am now heartily tired, so wish you and all of ours good-night.

Schonbrunn, Thursday.

The King went early this morning to Salzburg ; I follow him
to-morrow. This morning I killed fifty-three pheasants, fifteen
hares, and one karinckel ; and yesterday eight stags and two mouf-
flons. I am quite lame in hand and cheek from shooting. To-
morrow evening it will be decided whether I am to go to Baden,
but now I go to bed. Good-night all, for I am very tired.

374 CORRESPONDENCE.

Baden, 1st September, 1864.

The King arrived this morning from Mainau, well and cheer-
ful, having been through the rain with the Queen to the races.
A.'s busy hand continually shakes over me new blessings of proj-
ects, as soon as I have worked through the old ones. I do not
know whence I wrote to you last; I have hardly come to my
senses since Vienna; slept one night in Salzburg, the second at
Munich ; conferred much and lengthily with N. N., who has
grown thin. I then slept at Augsburg, and thence came, by way
of Stuttgart, to this place, in the hope of passing two days in lazy
rest, but only had two hours' intermission in the forest yesterday
morning. Couriers, ink, audiences, and visits, constantly buzz.

round me without interruption. is also here. I dare not

show myself on the promenade ; no one leaves me at peace.

Frankfurt, llth September, 1864,

It is long since I have written to you hence, and never from the
Zeil. We alighted at the Eussian Embassy ; the King has driv-
en to the Emperor Alexander at Jugenheim ; thence he visits the
Empress Eugenie at Schwalbach, and I have got myself free for
a day. which I spend with K. at Heidelberg. I accompany her
to Heidelberg, shall be back here about two or three — time
enough to devote myself to the Diet; to-morrow morning early
to Berlin, whence, after the necessary cavilling, I shall start for
Pomerania.

Bordeaux, 6th October, 1864.

Excuse this scrawl, but I have no paper at hand, and only
wish to apprise you that I have reached this place safely. It
seems almost like a dream to be here again. Yesterday morning
I started from Baden, slept very well at Paris, set out this morn-
ing about eleven, and now at eleven P.M. 'am here. I think of
leaving for Bayonne to-morrow morning at eight, to. reach Biar-
ritz by two. In Paris it was still cold ; in Baden yesterday there
was an early frost ; on this side of the Loire things grew better ;
here it is decidedly warm — warmer than any night this year. I
am, in fact, already quite well, and would be quite cheerful if I
only knew that all was well with you. At Paris I felt very
much inclined to live there again; he had arranged the house

CORRESPONDENCE. 375

there very well, and the life I lead in Berlin is a kind of penal
servitude when I think of my independent life abroad. If it
agree with me, I think I shall take about fifteen baths, so that
on the 21st or 22d I shall set out on my return journey ; if God
wills, you will then be — or perhaps somewhat earlier — at Berlin.
In his care, Engel has locked me in ; there is no bell, and this
letter will lose a day, as it can not be sent to the post to-night.
It is so warm that I have the window open.

Biarritz, 9th October, 1864.

When I remember how assiduously we lighted fires in Baden,
and even in Paris, and that here the sun graciously requests rne
to take off my paletot and drawers, that we sat till ten by the sea
in the moonlight, and this morning breakfast in the open air, and
that I am writing to you at the open window, looking at the blue
and sunny sea, and on bathing folks who are wandering about in
very slight costumes, paddling with naked feet in the water, I
can not help saying that southern nations possess a peculiar grace
of God in their climate. I shall not yet bathe more than once,

but shall soon venture upon two, if not, d la , upon more.

The only comfort I require is to hear from you. If we were free
people, I should propose to you to come with child and baggage
to this place, and remain here the whole winter, as many of the
English do, from reasons of economy, which prevails here in the
winter season.

Biarritz, 12th October, 1864.

MY DEAR SISTER, — I am so delightfully disengaged that I can
send a few lines in the direction of my thoughts ! I am well, par-
ticularly since I have yesterday and to-day at last received news
of Johanna's gradual recovery. I reached here on the forenoon
of the 7th — in Paris we still had fires, from Bordeaux an agree-
able temperature, and here heat so that summer clothing was nec-
essary. Since yesterday there has been a north wind, and it is
cooler, but still warmer than I have felt it all the summer. A
very light summer coat was too hot for me on my evening's walk
by the shore. Until now I have taken seven baths, and now pro-
ceed with two per diem. I am writing to you by the open win-
dow, with flickering lights, and the moonlit sea before me, the

376

CORRESPONDENCE.

plash of which is accompanied by the carriage bells on the road
to Bayonne. The lighthouse in front of rne changes its light
from red to white, and I am looking with some appetite at the
clock, to see whether the dinner hour of seven has not arrived.
I have not for a long time found myself in such comfortable
climatic and business conditions, and yet the evil habit of work
has rooted itself so deeply in my nature that I feel some disquiet
of conscience at my laziness — almost long for the Wilhelm Strasse,
at least if my dear ones were there. " Monsieur, le diner est servi"
is the announcement.

The 13th. — I could not yesterday write any further. After
dinner we took a moonlight walk on the southern shore, from
which we returned, very tired, at about eleven o'clock. I slept
till nine ; about ten bathed in water of 14° warmer* than ever I
had found the North Sea in August ; and now we are going to-
gether to Fuent Arabia, beyond the frontier ; shall dine on our
way back at St. Jean de Luz. The weather is heavenly to-day,
the sea quiet and blue; it is almost too hot to walk in the sun.

* 55° Fahr.

CORRESPONDENCE. 377

Izazu, 17th October, 18G4.

Although I have this morning sent you a letter by the courier,
pour la rarele du fait, I must write to you from this remarkable
place. We breakfasted here, three miles to the east of Biarritz,
in the mountains, and are seated in charming summer weather at
the edge of a rushing stream, the'name of which we can not learn,
as nobody speaks French — nothing but Basque. There are high
narrow rocks before and behind 'us, with heather, ferns, and chest-
nuts all around. The valley is called Le Pas de Eoland, and is
the west end of the Pyrenees. Before we went off we took our
baths— the water cold, the air like July. The courier dispatched,
we had a charming drive through mountains, forests, and mead
ows. After eating and drinking, and climbing ourselves tired,
our party cf five are sitting down reading to each other, and I
am writing myself on the lid of the box in which were the grapes
and figs we brought with us. At five we shall return with the
sunset and moonlight to Biarritz, and dine about eight. It is too
pleasant a life to last. The 20th, the evening before last, we
went to Pau. It was heavy and sultry there, and at night storm
and rain ; we were in the railway, but came from Bayonne hither
by carriage ; the sea magnificent. After it had been as smooth
as a duck-pond for some days with the land winds, it now looks
like a boiling caldron, and the wind is warm and moist with it;
the sun alternates with rain — very Atlantic weather.

To-day I take my fourteenth bath ; I shall hardly get more
than fifteen, for it seems I must to-morrow leave this warm shore.
I am still striving between duty and taste ; but I fear the first
will conquer. I will first take my bath, and then decide wheth-
er it shall be the penultimate one. Anyhow, the fourteen days I
have spent here have done me good, and I only wish I could
transport you, without travelling discomfort, hither or to Pau.

Paris, 25th October, 1864.

Before going to bed, after a tiring day, I will announce to you
my fortunate arrival here. Yesterday noon I left dear Biarritz ;
they were making hay in the meadows when I started in the hot
sun. Friends accompanied me as far as Bayonne ; at about 6 A.M.
I arrived here. Plenty of politics, audience at St. Cloud, a din-
ner at Drouyn de Lhuys's, and now I am going to bed tired out.

378

CORRESPONDENCE.

Carlsbad, 12th July, 1865.

I am ashamed that I did not write to you on your birthday ;
but there is so much of " must " in my life that I scarcely ever
get to " will." The treadwheel goes on from day to day, and I
seem as if I were the tired horse in it, pushing it along without
getting, any forwarder. One day after the other a courier arrives,
one day after the other another departs — between whiles come
others from Vienna, Munich, or Eome; the burden of papers in-
creases, ministers are all at odds, and from this centre I am ob-
liged to write to each of them singly.

The review I hope to stop ; as far as I know, the actual return
has not yet reached the King ; but I have brought the matter
forward, and His Majesty has promised to examine into the pro-
vision question for man and horse. To-morrow I will inquire
in the military cabinet as to how far the writing has got.

Late in the evening, the 13th.

The whole day I have been writing, dictating, reading, going
down and up the mountain as to the report to the King. The
courier's bag and my letter are both closing. Across the table I
see the Erzgebirge, along the Tepl by the evening twilight, very
beautiful ; but I feel leathery and old. The King starts from
here on the 19th, five days off, for Gastein, whither the Emperor
designs to come. On the road I will see . somewhere in Ba-
varia. " Neither rest by day nor night." It looks ugly for
peace — it must be settled at Gastein.

Gastein, 4th August, 1865.

I begin to count the da}^s I shall have to sit through in this
fog-chamber. As to what the sun looks like, we have only dark
reminiscences from a better past. Since this morning it has at
least been cold ; until then sultry moist heat, with a change only
in the form of rain, and continued uncertainty as to whether one
gets wet with rain or perspiration, when one stumps up and down
the esplanade steps in the mud. How people with nothing to do
can endure it I do not .understand. What with bathing, work,
dinner, reports, and tea at His Majesty's, I have scarcely time to
realize the horrors of the situation. These last three days there
has been a theatre of comedians here; but one is almost ashamed
to go, and most people avoid the passage through the rain. I

CORRESPONDENCE.

379

am very well through it all, particularly since we have had Kal-

tenhaiiser beer. and are dreadfully cast down from

not knowing what to drink. The landlord gives them bad beej
in order to force them to drink worse wine. Other news than
this there is none from this stearn-kitchen, unless I talk politics.

Gastein, 14th August, 1865.

For some days I have had no time to send you any news.
Count Blome is here again, and we are zealously laboring at the
maintenance of peace, and the repair of the fissures in the build-
ings. The day before yesterday I devoted a day to the chase.
I think I wrote you word how fruitless the first was. This time

380

CHAMOIS-HUNTING.

I have at least shot a young chamois, but saw no others in the
three hours during which I abandoned my motionless self to the
experiments of the most various insects ; and the prattling activity
of the waterfall beneath me convinced me of the deep-rooted feel-
ing which caused some one before my time to express the wish,
" Streamlet, let thy rushing be !" In my room, also, this wish is
justified both by day and by night — one breathes on reaching
any place where the brutal noise of the waterfall can not be
heard. In the end, however, it was a very pretty shot, right
across the chasm ; killed first fire, and the brute fell headlong
into the brook, some church-steeple's height beneath me. My
health is good, and I feel myself much stronger. We start on
the 19th— that is Saturday — for Salzburg. The Emperor will
probably make his visit there, and one or two days will be spent
besides at Ischl. The King then goes to Hohenschwa.igau. I
go to Munich, and join His Majesty again at Baden. What next
may follow depends upon politics. If you are in Homburg long
enough, I hope to take a trip over to you from Baden — to enjoy
the comforts of domesticity.

Baden, 1st September, 1865.

I reached this place the day before yesterday morning, slept
till half-past twelve, then had much hard work ; dinner with the
King — long audience. In the evening a quartette at Count
Flemming's with Joachim, who really performs on his violin in a
most wonderful way. There were many acquaintances of mine
on the race-course yesterday whom I did not very well remem-
ber.

September begins rainy. Two-thirds of the year are gone just
when one has grown accustomed to write 1865. Many princes

are here. At four wants to see me ; she is said to have

grown very beautiful. The King leaves at five— it is undecided
whether to Coblenz or Coburg, on account of Queen Victoria,
whom he desires to meet. I hope in any case to pass by way of
Frankfurt on the 5th or 6th. Whether, or how long, I can be in
Homburg, will soon be seen — longer than one day in no case, as
I must be with the Kino- in Berlin.

QUEEN VICTORIA. 331

Baden, Sunday.

That you may see what a husband you have, I send you the
route. We go to-morrow morning, at six o'clock, to Coburg, to
the Queen of England. I must go too, and I am sorry to say
Spa is all over for me ; but it can not be otherwise.

CHAPTER III.

THE GEE AT YEAE 1866.

Disputes with Austria.— The Central States.— Mobilization of the Army.— Bismarck
shot at by Kohn-Blind, 7th May, 1866.— Excitement in Berlin.— War Imminent.
— Declaration. — The King sets out on the Campaign. — Sichrow. — Litschen. — Bat-
tle of Sadowa, 3d July, 1866. — Bismarck with His Majesty on the Battle-field.—
Negotiations of Nicolsburg.— Treaty of Prague.— Illness of Bismarck.— Consolida-
tion of Prussia. — Triumphant Entry of the Army into Berlin. — Peace.

ERE the year 1865 was at an end, Bismarck had become firmly
convinced that Austria had lapsed from the Treaty of Gastein
and had returned to the Central State policy, the advocate of
which was the Freiherr von Beust. This policy, which could
only ultimate in eternizing the old vacillating system at the
Federation between Prussia and Austria, as this was the only
way in which the existence of the Central State sovereignties
•could be prolonged, was skillfully guarded by the Freiherr von
Beust, and always presented the seductive appearance of modera-

DISPUTES WITH AUSTRIA. 383

tion, as it neither conceded any thing to Prussia nor Austria, but
kept the one constantly in check against the other. That Ger-
many was certainly being imperilled by it, politicians entirely
overlooked. At the moment Prussia had the preponderance, not
only actually, as Bismarck in fact and truth pursued a national
policy, but also formally, as it had separated Austria by the
Treaty of Gastein from the Central States. According to the
principles of the Central States, Prussia had now to be depressed,
and Austria elevated. Here was the point at which Bismarck
awaited his diplomatic opponents. Had they been the German
patriots for which they were so anxious to pass — and perhaps
they quite honestly deemed themselves such — they would have
come to the material point, and demanded more from Austria for
Germany than Prussia had offered. Austria was in the position
to accede to the German princes — perhaps to the German people
— more than Prussia could do, whose whole position was much
more awkward. Austria did not imperil her entire autonomy as
Prussia did. Bismarck, however, knew his Pappenheimers — the
Central State policy did not go upon the material, but the formal
point — and only used their federation with Austria to force. Prus-
sia to the acceptance of a new Augustenburg minor State north
of the Elbe.

So little a policy necessarily would come to destruction in face
of the energy with which Bismarck clung to his national pro-
gramme. This also became very ominous for Austria, for she
saw herself obliged to give battle upon a basis which tottered
under her. Faithful to the traditions of her old policy, Austria
sought to win the Courts by promises, and she succeeded ; but she
knew very well that little or nothing was gained thereby. The
result has shown how little worth Austria set upon the German
Confederation. Prussia, while she asked, promised nothing.
Bismarck adhered to his policy, which only demanded sacrifices
-on the part of the princes — sacrifices for Germany, not for Prus-
sia, who was ready to bring far greater ones than any minor
State.

Thus approached the hour of decision — a decision whether
in future the German people, under the leadership of Prussia,
should assume its proper place in Europe, or whether it should
coalesce into a weak federation of impuissant territories, under

384

WAK OR PEACE?

Austrian satraps, and be blindly obedient to every signal from
Vienna.

Preparations were made in every direction ; but it was certain
that in Vienna, in a scarcely credible misapprehension of Prussia,
the authorities had armed for a long time only because it was be-
lieved that Prussia was to be terrified by such armaments. At
Vienna, the peaceable disposition of the venerable King William,
who, to the last moment, hoped for a peaceful termination, which
was indeed possible until the firing of the first cannon-shot, was
looked upon as fear. Was it impossible for Austria, without any
stain upon her honor, to concede to Prussia and Germany in May
all that which she had solemnly acknowledged at Prague in Au-
gust?

It would be far beyond the limits of this book to enter upon
the fomented quarrels in the Elbe Duchies and at the Diet on the
diplomatic recriminations concerning the earlier or later arma-
ments. We conceive that we have already sufficiently set forth
Bismarck's policy ; for our purpose it is quite unimportant
whether Austria really desired war, or whether her object was
to terrorize. King William did not wish for war ; but he wished
to be free from Austria, for the present and future, in the inter-
ests of Prussia and Germany. Prussia had seriously armed ; for
whoever desires to attain an end must have the means to attain
it, and Bismarck had not forgotten what had caused the fall of
the Eadowitz policy. But Radowitz had not been wrecked upon
the insufficiency of the Prussian military system of his day, but
on the actual course of foreign policy.

How had this changed since the days of Erfurt and Olmiitz? '

In judging of the rupture with the Diet, it must be here again
borne in mind, what had become of it since 1851, what position
it had assumed towards Prussia. Count Bismarck, on the re-es-
tablishment of the Diet in 1851, had been sent to Frankfurt as a
friend of Austria. Prussia desires to co-operate openly and free-
ly with Austria, and that this was also the endeavor of Count
Bismarck, his whole political behavior had testified at the very
time, in the most unequivocal manner, when Austria, weakened
by internal revolution, was obliged to resort to foreign assistance.
He soon perceived, however, that such co-operation was impossi-
ble. The necessary condition of it was the equalization of Prus-

AUSTRIA'S WISH FOB A HEGEMONY. 387

sia with Austria, and this had also been promised at Olmiitz.
Count Bismarck could not allow Prussia to be the second German
power. He used to say that as Austria was " one/' so also Prus-
sia was "one;" nor could he interpret the treaties in any other
way than as they were understood until 1848 ; that Prussia, no
more^ than Austria, could subordinate herself to resolutions of
the majority.

But this principal condition Austria allowed only to herself: a
hegemony over Germany was the policy of Prince Schwarzen-
berg, and his successors adhered to this word. Count Bismarck
soon convinced himself that all federal complaisance only called
forth further demands, that gratitude and sympathy in the policy
of the empire were as little thought of as national feelings and
German interests.

Austria did not desire any nearer approach to Prussia ; she
would come to any understanding. She began by securing to
herself an obedient majority at the Diet, and believed that she
could dispense with extending the competency and sphere of ac-
tion of the Federation, after making the Diet, by the institution
of the influence of the majorities, and the suppression of the right
of protest in the minority, a serviceable instrument of Viennese
policy, and thus gradually do away with the right of protest and
the independence of the individual States, and thus also that of
Prussia. The Austrian Ministers went so far as to- assert that
Austria alone in the Federation had any right to a foreign
policy ; and this Austrian policy should be endowed with the
semblance of legality by the resolution of the servile majority in
the Diet. In such an aspiration Austria found from the Central
States, an only too willing sympathy. To the ambition and thirst
for action of the Ministers of the latter, the territorial dimen-
sions of their own country and the circle of activity assigned to
them seemed not important or distinguished enough. It flattered
them to be engaged in questions of European policy. This, in-
deed, they could enter upon without danger or a necessity for re-
ciprocity ; and they speedily found a natural consequence of the
principle of federal law in the fact, that the members of the Fed-
eration need follow no foreign policy of their own, but would
only have to follow such as might be dictated by the majority.

But the mediatization of the foreign policy of Prussia was not

388

THE CENTRAL STATES.

the only object held in view. If the course of European politics
admitted of it, it was proposed as a further consequence to de-
clare as an undoubted issue of federal jurisprudence, that the con-
stitution and laws of Prussia should, be subject to the determina-
tion of the majority.

The Central States saw themselves placed on an equality with
Prussia with the highest satisfaction.' They were ready to make
any sacrifice otherwise so obstinately refused, except independ-
ence, if Prussia were only subjected to the same. They could
not forgive Prussia her greatness and high position, and therefore
they experienced an especial delight in making Prussia feel the
importance of the Federation. The securer they felt of the ma-
jority, the less concealed and bold were their pretensions, and
every demand of Austria on Prussia, however unjust, found ready
support from the Central States, especially if the question were to
combat the estimation and influence of Prussia in Germany.
The majority was always to decide, even as to the question of
their own right of decision, and'there was no hesitation in doing
violence to words and sound common sense to prove a. anited
vote as to such a proceeding. They endeavored to deceive the
world and themselves by the fallacy that "Federal Diet" and
" Germany " were identical ideas, and the opinions of Prussia were
stigmatized as being non-German, while Prussia was accused of
stirring up strife in the Federation, when she declined uncondi-
tionally to submit to the arbitrary decisions of the majority in the
Diet, while Austria allowed herself to be praised to the skies in
her paid press as the exclusive representative of Germany and
German interests. But even at that time did many believe this?
Had not Austria betrayed her real views and intentions in the
secret dispatch of the 14th of January, 1855, in a most unequivo-
cal manner? Openly and without any reticence she had de-
clared in that document that she would have no hesitation in de-
stroying the Federation to carry through her policy. She had
invited the Federal Governments, in contravention of the articles
of federation, to enter into a warlike alliance with her and place
her troops at the disposition of the Emperor of Austria, and prom-
ised them advantages at the expense of those who refused such
an alliance — that is, by way of territorial aggrandizement.

The political life of Count Bismarck in Frankfurt was an unin-

BISMARCK'S DIFFICULTIES. 389

terrupted fight against such, a system as above described. He
was never weary in pointing out and warning them that the ele-
ments ruling at the Diet were tending towards conditions which
Prussia could not accept as permanent. He had also predicted
at Frankfurt that the plan took a direction towards placing Prus-
sia, as soon as the fruit was believed to be ripe, in the position
that it would have to reject a resolution of the majority, then to
commit a breach of the Federation, which should be ascribed to
Prussia.

So also was the event. Prussia remained faithful to the Fed-
eration till it was violated by others, and when they had done,
they blamed Prussia with the breach of the Federation.

The spring of the great year 1866 was the most difficult in
Bismarck's life. The terrible load of responsibility pressed
heavier and heavier upon him. Serious and well-intentioned, as
well as perfidious, attempts at peace, lamed and impeded his ac-
tivity. Intrigues of all kinds hovered abottt his person. His
position was now openly assailed, now secretly undermined.
More than once he felt the ground trembling beneath him — he
could not get forward ; and in addition to this he was corporeally
ill ; rheumatic pains increasing in an alarming way. Doubt very
often, it is probable, assailed the strong mind of Bismarck, the
ghastly ray of suspicion fell upon his courageous heart. The
man who had to fight for his King and country, with all the
powers, the traditions of ancient brotherhood in arms, the ties of
princely relationship, the intrigues of diplomatists, the falling
away of old friends, with the wrong-headedness, cowardice, low-
mindedness of others, down to the pacific overtures of his oppo-
nents, in so superhuman a manner, now gradually grew into a
more and more intensified battle with himself. On this the Al-
mighty, the Lord of him and of Prussia, had mercy on him. He
gave him a great sign.

On the 7th of May, 1866, at five in the afternoon, Count Bis-
marck was walking abroad for the first time after his severe ill-
ness, returning from an interview with the King, and proceeding
up the centre allee of the Unter den Linden. Almost opposite
the Hotel of the Imperial Kussian Embassy, he heard two rapid-
ly following reports behind him. As it was afterwards found,
one bullet had just grazed his side. Count Bismarck turned

390

BISMARCK SHOT AT.

swiftly round, and saw a young man before him, who was raising
his revolver to fire a third time. Bismarck met the man quickly,
and seized him by the arm and by the throat ; but before he
reached him the man fired the third shot. It was a glance shot
on the right shoulder, which Bismarck felt for a long time after-
wards. Then the wretch passed the revolver, as quick as light-
ning, from the right to the left hand, and close to him fired two
other shots at the Minister-President. One shot missed him in
consequence of a quick turn, only burning his coat ; but the
other struck him; and at this moment Count Bismarck believed

himself mortally wounded, for he felt that one of the bullets had
struck him right on the rib. The rib probably feathered, as they
say in deer-shooting — i. e., it bent elastically. Count Bismarck at
once mastered the sensation of weakness which had come over
him by the concussion of the vertebras through the rib for an
instant. He handed over the criminal — whom he had held with
an iron grasp — to the officers and men of the first battalion of the
Second Foot Guard Regiment, who were just marching down the
street, and walked on in the direction of his house in the Wil-
helms-Strasse, where he safely arrived before the news of the at-
tempt was known.

BISMARCK'S BEHAVIOR. 391

During the whole period preceding the war there was nothing
extraordinary in the Minister-President's being with the King
longer than usual, so that the dinner usually fixed for five was
often half an hour late, or even longer. Nobody, therefore, was
surprised at the Count's late appearance on this occasion. No
one in the house had even an idea of the terrible attempt at mur-
der on the Unter den Linden — of the wonderful preservation of
the master of the house. There was some company assembled in
the salon of the Countess, awaiting the Minister-President; at
last he entered. Nobody noticed any disquietude or excitement
in his manner; it only seemed to some as if his greeting were
heartier than usual. Saying, " Ah ! what a pleasant party !" he
went to his study, where it was his habit to remain for a few mo-
ments before sitting down to table. He this day made a short
report of the event to His Majesty the King. Then he returned
to the dinner-party, and said, as he very often did when he came
late, in a merry scolding tone to his wife, "Why don't we eat our
-dinners to-day ?" He approached a lady to lead her to the din-
ing-table, and then, as they went out of the salon, he went up to
his wife, kissed her on the forehead, and said, " My child, they
have shot at me, but there is no harm done !"

Tenderly and prudently as this was said, terror naturally dis-
played itself on all countenances. Every one crowded round the
honored gentleman in trembling joy at his wonderful escape.
He, however, would not delay, entered the dining-room, and, after
a short grace, sat down to his soup, which no doubt tasted all the
better to him the less that he, in all human probability, seemed
likely to have any right to it again half an hour before. The
surgeon who was called in said afterwards, when all sorts of the-
ories were attempted to account for the non-success of the at-
tempt, with great justice: — "Gentlemen! there is but one ex-
planation. God's hand was between them !"

In fact, the dinner on that day was frequently interrupted ;
nobody ate any dinner at all except Bismarck himself. Before
six o'clock, only half an hour after the crime, the King himself
arrived, having risen from his own dinner to congratulate his
Minister. Bismarck received his royal master on the stairs, and
remained alone with him for a short time. No doubt it was a
touching meeting for both of them ; for the dear Lord who still

392

OVATION ON BISMARCK'S SAFETY.

could press his tried servant by the still warm hand, as for the
Minister, ready at any moment to die for his King, be it on the
battle-field or in the street! There was very little ceremony at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that day. Scarcely had the
King departed ere, one after the other, the Princes of the Eoyal
House who happened to be in Berlin appeared, and sat down at
the family table, drinking a glass of wine to Bismarck's safety.
The company increased as the news of the criminal deed grew
known farther off; the venerable Field-Marshal Count Wrangel
was one of the first who hastened to express sympathy. Gener-
als, ministers, ambassadors, friends, and all who respected him,
even political opponents, thronged round the precious personage
so wonderfully preserved to his native land. At the threshold
of the door crowds of persons of all conditions were assembled,,
who inscribed their names in lists prepared for the purpose, in
token of their sympathy. Supplements of the Gazettes then ap-
peared, telling in brief periods what had taken place ; and rejoic-
ing multitudes thronged the Wilhelms-Platz and Wilhelrns-
Strasse' till far into the evening. Conservative clubs serenaded
him, and, for the first time in his life, Bismarck addressed from
the window the people of Berlin.

From that day all vacillation in Bismarck was at an end.
The Lord God, in his wonderful salvation^ had vouchsafed him
a sign, and he again felt the full and strong conscience of his his-
torical mission; he knew that he was the sentinel whom God
had placed at a post, from which alone He could relieve him,
Nor was this a Divine signal to Bismarck alone.

It is known that the political enthusiast who attempted the
murder, the step-son of a democratic fugitive named Blind, whose
name he had assumed, ended his career by suicide before any ex-
amination could take place. There were traces of a conspiracy
certainly discovered, but they were not pursued ; the attempt at
assassination therefore can not be regarded as the crime of an
individual. It was sad enough to see that the fanatical hatred
of Bismarck went so far in Austria and South Germany ; that
voices were raised, trying to elevate the murderer into a martyr.
The Austrian press dishonored itself by the publication of an ad-
vertisement in which an obscure advocate set a price on Bis-
rnarck's head. It was very silly that the Bitter von Geist in Vienna

"MIT GOTT FUR KON1G UND VATERLAND!" 393

endeavored to account for Bismarck's wonderful escape by chang-
ing his shirt into a suit of chain mail, and then with wonderful
wit declared that the Prussian Minister-President bought his
linen from the ironmonger !

The times were growing more serious ; minds began to feel
that stillness which precedes the storm.

"Hit Gottfur Konig undVaterland !" — " With God for King and
Fatherland!" — the ancient royal battle-cry of olden time, first
crept softly and then louder and louder from heart to heart, from
mouth to mouth, until at last it thundered in the roaring of a
thousand cannon throughout the trembling world. It seems
sad that in those very days a valiant archduke in Italy, most infe-
licitously altering our old dear Prussian cry, closed an order of the
day with the words: "For God with Emperor and Fatherland!"

It was just during these days of omen that Bismarck, although
very serious, was more gentle and kind than ever to his relatives
and friends. There was expectation, often expectation to the
greatest tension, but no vacillation, no doubt in him ; he was a
brave man from head to foot. In the later hours of evening he
was often in the beautiful garden of the Minister of Foreign Af-
fairs, of which garden he was very fond ; under its old trees he
used to take counsel with Moltke, with Eoon, and others ; there
he often walked up and down restlessly for hours, in deep
thought, waiting for a royal message. There, too, the eventful
thought flashed upon him, in the night of Thursday to Friday,
from the 14th to the 15th of June, to set the Prussian columns in
motion twenty-four hours sooner than had been intended. Im-
mediately General von Moltke was sent for, and the telegraph
was at work.

In the enthusiasm at the first results, and in the restless activi-
ty of those days, Bismarck seemed to have lost every trace of ill-
ness. An old partisan of his, who was invited to dinner by him
in those days, found him fresher and more vigorous than ever.
During the most animated conversation, the news came in that
telegraphic communication with Italy was broken off. Bismarck
turned to Legations Councillor von Keudell and said, " Dear Keu-
dell, please give directions that telegrams be sent via London, "
and continued his conversation. Immediately after dinner Gen-
eral von Moltke was announced. Bismarck went out, but re-

394

FIRST NEWS OF VICTORY.

turned in ten minutes, quite at ease, and invited his guest to ac-
company him into the garden, although no doubt those ten min-
utes had been spent in a conference of the most important event-
ful character. General von Werder was announced. Another
•conference, and then Bismarck related, in strolling about the gar-
den, how on that forenoon, worn out by continued exertion to
the greatest extent, and waiting in the antechamber of the King,
he had fallen asleep on a sofa. He delighted in his garden, and
got on the ice-house, from which he could overlook the whole of
the green thickets of the fine large garden behind the palace in
the Wilhelms-Strasse.

A few days later, on Friday, the 29th of June, the first news
of victory arrived. No one, no one will ever forget that day !
As if by enchantment, the whole of Berlin was dressed in black-
and-white flags; in every street resounded, in joy, "Ichbin ein
Preusse, Jcennt HIT meine Farben?" — "I am -a Prussian; do you
know my colors?"* In thousands the multitude pressed to the

* See the Appendix for this stirring national song, and a version I have attempt-
ed.—K. K. H. M.

FIRST BLOOD FOR PRUSSIA! 395

palace of the King, who greeted his faithful people from the win-
dow, while the General-Intendant von Hiilsen read the victorious
news from the balcony. There was no end to the rejoicings
bursting joyfully from full hearts. It was indeed a Prussian
day!

When Count Bismarck, at about 2 P.M., left the royal palace,
he was besieged on all sides. Every one wanted to shake hands ;
on that day, in that hour, every one felt and knew what Count
Bismarck was to Prussia; some have already forgotten it, and
there are others who would fain have it forgotten.

Bismarck was visibly in deep emotion, but he maintained his
serious carriage. The first victories did not intoxicate him ; his
prudence, indeed, had apparently increased in power. In this
hour he thought of the sacrifice, and was humble in his heart.

In the evening, the multitude returned to the palace of the
King, and sang Luther's hymn — u Einfeste Burg ist unser Goti" —
41 A fortress firm is our God." The King returned thanks. Only
the few persons close to him could hear the words — the roaring
ocean of human voices drowned them — and yet every man knew
what the King had said. Prussia's King could only express what
every Prussian felt and thought at this moment. Thence the
multitude rushed to the Crown Prince's palace, and greeted with
hoch and hurrah the victorious leader of the second army, which
had stood so well against the enemy ; thence to the palace of
Prince Charles, the eldest Prince of the royal house, whose son,
Prince Frederick Charles, had penetrated so gloriously into Bo-
hemia with the first army, and had won "first blood " for Prussia
in this war. Next the mass stood head to head in the Wilhelms-
Strasse, before Bismarck's hotel ; the never-ending cry of triumph
forced the Minister-President to the window. He raised his hand
in token that he would speak; all were silent beneath; from the
distance on both sides the muffled roaring of the shores of this
popular mass toned along. For the second time Count Bismarck
addressed the people of Berlin, in powerful but proudly moderate
words; he ended with a salute to the King and his army. At
the moment a tremendous peal of thunder reverberated over the
royal city, a flash of forked lightning illuminated the scene, and,
with a strongly ringing voice, Bismarck shouted above the mul-
titude, " The heavens fire a salute !"

396

BISMARCK LEAVES BERLIN.

No one will ever forget it who heard that peal of thunder. The
reply was returned as with one voice; then the rejoicing mass
got again into motion to greet "old Koon," the faithful warrior,
at the Ministry of War.

On the 30th of June Bismarck left Berlin in the suite of the
King, with Generals von Koon and von Moltke./ The King was
also accompanied by the General Feld Zeugmeister, Prince Charles
of Prussia, Herrenmeister of Bailey Brandenburg, for the seat of
war. The carriages rolled by the statues of the Great Frederick,
the heroes of the War of Freedom, and the great Elector on the
Long Bridge. Bismarck was serious and firm, looking like an
iron statue, and more taciturn tban ever. The first night's quar-
ters the King passed at the Castle of Eeichenberg — a few days
before the head-quarters of his victorious nephew, Prince Fred-
erick Charles, who had already penetrated far into Bohemia, and
was encamped in the fields, where Prussian hearts were throb-
bing to the Almighty, and their arms smiting the foe, according
to the brave phrase of the Maccabees, which the Prince had used
in General Orders, but which contradictory ignorance could not
find, and still prates enough about it to this day, as a Prussian

REICHENBERG. 397

"Bible forgery."* Count Bismarck, at the first night's lodging
at Keichenberg — and, it is said, not without reason — evinced
great anxiety as to the safety of his royal master. Of himself he
thought much less; perhaps he does not know,, to this moment,
that it was only towards the morning it was found possible to
disembark his horses and bring them up. We have heard that
a surprise of the royal head-quarters by a strong body of cavalry
advance was not beyond the bounds of possibility. Sufficient
reason for Bismarck's anxiety ! From Sichrow and Jitschen,
Bismarck wrote the following letters to his wife : —

Sichrow, 1st July, 1866.

To-day we have started from Reicheriberg, and have just
reached this place. It is uncertain whether we shall remain here
or proceed to Turnau. The whole journey was dangerous. The
Austrians, yesterday, had they sent cavalry from Leitmeritz,
might have caught the King and all the rest of us. Charles, the
coachman, has had a severe fall with the mare, which ran away
with him. At first he was thought dead ; he is lying in the hos-
pital here, near Sichrow, in the next village. Kurt had better
come for him.

Everywhere we meet prisoners ; according to the returns there
are already above fifteen thousand. Jitschin was yesterday
taken by us at the point of the bayonet by the Frankfurt Divis-
ion ; General Tiimpling was severely wounded in the hip, but
not mortally. The heat is terrible. The carriage of provisions
is difficult. Our troops suffer from weariness and hunger. There
are not many traces of war here, except the down-trodden corn-
fields. The people are not afraid of the soldiers ; they stand in
their Sunday clothes at their doors, with wife and children, in
astonishment. At Trautenau the inhabitants murdered twenty
defenseless oboists of ours, who had remained behind the front
after the passage of their regiments. The criminals are at Glo-
gau, before court-martial. At Miinchengratz a brewer enticed
twenty-six of our soldiers into the spirit vault, made them drunk,
and set it on fire. The distillery belongs to a convent. Except
such things, we learn little more here than you do in Berlin.
This castle, which is very splendid, belongs to Prince Eohan,
whom I saw every year at Gastein.

* 1 Maccabees iii., 58, 59.— K. R. H. M.

398

JITSCHEN.

Jitschen, not Gitschin, 2d July, 1866.

We have just arrived from Sichrow ; the battle-field here was
still full of corpses, horses, and arms.- Our victories are much
greater than we thought; it seems we have already more than
fifteen thousand prisoners, and with dead and wounded the Aus-
trian loss is stated at a higher figure — about twenty thousand
men. Two of their corps are completely dispersed, some regi-
ments destroyed to the last man. Till now I have seen more
Austrian prisoners than Prussian soldiers. Send me cigars by
the courier every time — a thousand at a time, if they can be had,
price twenty dollars, for the hospitals. All the wounded beg
them of me. Then by clubs, or our own resources, subscribe for
some dozens of Kreuzzeitungs for the hospitals — for instance, the
one at Reichenberg ; the other places can be learnt at the Minis-
try of War. What is Clermont-Tonnere about ? is he not com-
ing? I have no news by the post. Send me a revolver of wide
calibre, a saddle-pistol. Charles, the coachman, is better ; he will
not suffer permanently, but for some time will not be fit for serv-
ice. Charles B. is much to be praised ; he is the active principle

THE KING AT THE HOSPITALS.

399

of our travelling household. I greet you heartily. Send me a
French novel to read, but only one at a time. God keep you.

Your letter with the Homburg inclosure has just arrived; a
thousand thanks. I can understand how you feel the quiet of
our departure. In our hurry here one feels nothing of the posi-
tion— perhaps a little in bed at night.

On the road to Jitschen, on the battle-field, Prince Frederick
Charles came to meet his royal uncle. What a meeting! The
Prince drove into Jitschen with the King about 2 P.M., where the
King alighted at the Golden Lion. The guard of honor here
consisted of Pomeranian Grenadiers of the regiment of the late
King.

We are not here writing a history of the famous campaign ;
we will only observe that on the 2d July no battle was expected
at the royal head-quarters for the next day ; the King visited the
wounded, and Bismarck accompanied him.

About 11 o'clock P.M. the chief of the staff of Prince Freder-
ick Charles, General von Voigts-Kheetz, arrived in Jitschen from

400

THE THIRD OF JULY.

Kamenitz, the head-quarters of the Prince, bringing with him the
plans and positions of battle, settled by the Prince in consequence
of the daring reconrioissance of an officer on his staff, Major von
linger, which plans were submitted to the King. Immediately
upon the arrival of General von Voigts-Kheetz the Council of
War was summoned to the King, the battle dispositions of the
Prince were entirely accepted, all arrangements made, and Count
Finck von Finckenstein rode off on his historical ride to the
army of the Crown Prince, to summon it up. The plan was ex-
ceedingly simple. Prince Frederick Charles was to throw him-
self on the front of the enemy, seize it, and if possible overcome
it, until the Crown Prince arrived with the second army, to give
the coup de grace.

Very simple — alas ! how much looks simple upon paper !

On the 3d July, amidst fog and rain, Prince Frederick Charles
set out to battle against the overwhelming force of the enemy :
in the first dawn of the day his troops were in their assigned
position. At eight the Prince began the battle. " Too early !"
critical voices have said ; but military authorities have said, " at
the right moment !" for any longer delay would have allowed
General Benedek to take up a much stronger position. The
Prince bravely took the enormous responsibility on himself, and
commenced the battle. At nine a ringing shout of joy announced
the arrival of the King on the battle-field, and with him came
Count Bismarck, the great Major of Landwehr.

Certainly it created a fine impression, to see the faithful First
Councillor on the mare Veranda — since that time known as " Sa-
dowa" — on the field of honor, "where the bullet whistles, and
the lance is couched, and death is rushing round in every shape "
— behind the venerable King. Whoever had seen Bismarck only
under the cross-fire of the disdainful speech of a political opposi-
tion in the debates of the Chamber, firm, half-contemptuous, and
mighty, had never seen him as a whole ; he was seen to best ad-
vantage amidst the bullets of Sadowa. There he sat, his high
form upright in the saddle, upon a very tall roan, with a plain
paletot over his uniform, while his piercing eyes scanned each
movement from beneath his helmet. And thus he sat and rode
for hours, for momentous hours, behind his royal master, in thun-
der and in smoke. Behind him again the musical and gallant

ADVANCE OF THE SECOND ARMY. 4Q1

Legations Kath von Keudell, also an officer in the Landwehi
cavalry. ISToon arrived, but no decisive news from the Crown
Prince. The battle went burning on, and many a brave heart
feared at that time for beloved Prussia. Dark were the looks in
the neighborhood of the King ; old Eoon, and Moltke of the
bright face, sat there like two statues of bronze. It was whis-
pered that the Prince would have to loose his Brandenburgers —
his own beloved third corps, whom he had till now held in re-
serve; his stormers of Diippel — against the foe, which meant that
he would have to set his last hazard on the die to gain the vic-
tory. Suddenly Bismarck lowered the glass through which he
had been observing the country in the direction from which the
Crown Prince was approaching, and drew the attention of his
neighbors to certain lines in the far distance. All telescopes
were pointed thitherward, but the lines were pronounced to be
ploughed fields. There was a deep silence, and then the Minis-
ter-President lowered his glass again and said, decidedly, " Those
are not plough furrows; the spaces are not equal; 'they are
marching lines!" Bismarck had been the first to discover the
advance of the second army. In a little while the adjutants and
intelligence flew about in every direction— the Crown Prince and
victory were at hand !

402

THE KING ON THE BATTLE-FIELD.

Prince Frederick Charles sent forward his major, Yon linger-
Manstein, and the Brandenburg brigade of Diippel marched for-
ward, playing, " Heil dir im Siegerkranz T*

* At the important battle of Konigsgiatz, according to a recent number of the
Preussische Jahrbiicher, the Prussians lost in dead, wounded, and missing, 359 officers,
and 8, 794 men ; the Austrians 1, 147 officers and 30, 224 men. The proportions seem
thus to have been : for the Prussians, ^ ; for the Austrians i ; average loss on both
sides 5*3-. In the battle of Malplaquet (1709) proportion of losses, J; at Rossbach
(1757) Jg. . at Leuthen (1758) ^ ; at Zorndorf (1758) | ; at Austerlitz (1805) J ? at
Eylau (1807) J ; at Wagram (1809) |; at Borodino (1812) i ; at Leipzig (1813) £ '; at

HOHENMAUTH.

403

The rest need not be told here. Bismarck followed his King
in the battle. The warlike monarch dashed into the grenade fire
of the enemy, on which Bismarck made him pause, and said, "As
a major I have no right to counsel your Majesty on the battle-
field, but as Minister-President it is my duty to beg your Majesty
not to seek evident danger!" With a friendly smile, the royal
hero replied, "How can I ride off when my army is under fire?"

In the evening Bismarck
reached Horitz ; there he
thought to pass the night on
the open road, and had al-
ready laid himself down un-
der an open colonnade, when
the Grand Duke of Mecklen-
burg, who heard of the cir-
cumstance, sent for him to
his quarters. Who could
tell, even remotely, what
were the feelings and
thoughts of Bismarck that
took their course through
his heart and head on that
eventful night ? And on the following day he rode behind his
victorious monarch, deeper and ever deeper into the land of the
vanquished enemy, from Bohemia into Moravia. Certainly Bis-
marck was grateful for the great victory ; but a deep seriousness
sat upon his countenance, for he knew that he was riding towards
the silent battle-field where he was commander-in-chief, and where
he had to be the victor.

On his road he wrote the following letters to his wife : —

Hohenmauth, Monday, 9th July, 1866.

Do you remember, my heart, how, nineteen years ago, we
passed through here on the road from Prague to Vienna? No
mirror showed the future — not even when I passed over this rail-
way, in 1852, with the kind Lynar. We are all well. If we do

Belle Alliance (1815) | ; at Solferino (1859) J. The three greatest battles were
those of Leipzig (460,000 men) ; Konigsgratz (430,000 men) ; and Wagram (320,-
000 men). At Leipzig were lost 90,000 men, at Borodino 74,000, and at Belle Alli-
ance 61,000 men.— K. R. H. M.

404 BEHAVIOR OF THE KING.

not become extravagant in our demands, and do not imagine that
we have conquered the world, we shall obtain a peace worth the
having. But we are as easily intoxicated as cast down, and I
have the unthankful office of pouring water into this foaming
wine, and to cause it to be understood that we do not inhabit
Europe alone, but with three neighbors. The Austrians are en-
camped in Moravia, and we are already so daring as to affirm
that our head-quarters will to-morrow be where theirs are to-day.
Prisoners are still arriving, and cannon since the 3d to the num-
ber of one hundred and eighty. If they bring up their southern
army, with God's gracious assistance, we will beat that also.
Confidence is general. Our people are worthy to be kissed ;
every man is brave to the death, quiet, obedient, moralized, with
empty stomachs, wet clothes, little sleep, boot-soles falling off —
friendly towards every one, no plundering .and burning, paying
what they are able, and eating mouldy bread. There must exist
a depth of piety in our common soldier, or all this could not be.
It is difficult to obtain any news of friends. We lie miles away
from each other; no one knows where the other may be, and
there is no one to send — that is to say, plenty of men, but no
horses. For four days I have been seeking for Philip,* who has
been slightly wounded in the head by a lance-thrust, as G. wrote
me word, but I can not discover where he lies, and now we have
proceeded eight miles farther. The King exposed himself very
greatly on the 3d, and it was well that I was with him, for all the
warnings of others were in vain, and no one else would have
dared to have spoken as I did on the last occasion, when I suc-
ceeded, after a knot of ten cuirassiers and fifteen horses of the 6th
Cuirassier Regiment were rolling around in their blood, and
bombs were flying about in very unpleasant proximity to our
Sovereign. The worst of them, fortunately, did not explode.
Yet I would ra'ther have it so than that he should be over-pru-
dent. He was full of enthusiasm at hi-s troops, and justly; so
that he never remarked the noise and fighting around him, and
sat quiet and comfortably, as if at Kreuzberg, continually coming
across battalions whom he had to thank and say " Good-night "
to, until we had got under fire again. He had to listen to so
much on the subject, however, that he will let it alone for the

* Bismarck's nephew.

NICOLSBURG. 405

future, and you may rest quite tranquil. I hardly believe in
another real battle.

If you receive no news from any one, you may be assured that
he is alive and well, for any wounds to friends we hear of in less
than twenty-four hours. We have not as yet come into contact
with Herwarth and Steinmetz ; therefore I have also not seen
Sch., but I know that both are well. G. leads his squadron
quietly forward with his arm in a sling. Farewell. I must go
to duty. Your most faithful V. B.

Zwittau in Moravia, llth July, 1866.

I am in want of an inkstand, all being in use ; otherwise I am
well, after sleeping well on a field-bed and air-mattress, and
awakening at eight to find a letter from you. I had gone to bed
at eleven. At Konigsgratz I rode the tall roan ; was thirteen
hours in the saddle without fodder. He behaved very well, was
frightened neither .at the firing nor the corpses, ate corn-tops and
plum-leaves with satisfaction at the most difficult moments, and
went thoroughly well to the end, when I seemed more tired than
the horse. My first bed for the night was on the roadway of
Horic, without straw, with the aid of a carriage cushion. Every
place was full of the wounded ; the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg
found me, and then shared his chamber with me, R., and two ad-
jutants— which, on account of the rain, was very welcome to me.
As to the King and the bombs, I have already informed you.
The generals all were full of the superstition that, as soldiers,
they dared not speak to the King of danger, and always sent me
to him, although I am a major. The rising trigger of the revolv-
er covers the sight point, and the notch in the top of the cock
does not show in the line of sight. Tell T. of this. Good-bye?
my dearest ; I must go to S. Your faithful Y. B.

Nicolsburg! It was there that Bismarck fought his quiet bat-
tle, there he accomplished his Sadowa, and chivalrously strove
for victory and peace, not alone against the diplomacy of his an-
tagonists, but against the proud daring of triumph in his own
camp, which encircled him in so heart-warming and so seductive
a manner. Perhaps Bismarck never showed himself a greater
statesman than in those days ; the billows of victory could not

406

PEACE.

overthrow him, mightily as they dashed over him ; he stood like
a tower in the torrent of rancor, anger, even of most malicious
suspicion, which rose up against him. But he perceived the hol-
low-eyed ghost of pest silently creeping through the armies, and
pitilessly strangling out the life of the victors ; he knew what
the climate of Hungary was in August, and he looked boldly at
the cloud which was rising, pregnant with calamity, in the far-
west. Hail to the faithful and brave hearts who in so terrible an
hour clung firmly to Bismarck !

It was a strange coincidence that the magnificent castle of Nic-
olsburg had passed through the female line from the inheritance of
the great house of the Princes of Dietrichstein to General Count
von Mensdorff-Ponilly, of Lothringian descent, like the Austrian
Imperial House itself, so that peace was actually negotiated in
the very mansion of the Imperial Minister for Foreign Affairs
himself. Has not the Count Mensdorff-Ponilly, as the heir of the

Dietrichsteins through his
wife, been recently raised
to princely rank under the
title of Nicolsburg ?

As Napoleon the First
resided here after the bat-
tle of Austerlitz, so did
William I. reside here af-
ter the battle of Sadowa ;
the castle has historical rec-
ollections enough. Count
Bismarck contemplated the
magnificent pile on his
arrival intently, and then
said with grave mirth to
his companions: "My old
mansion of Schonhausen
is certainly very insignifi-
cant in comparison with this splendid building, therefore I am
better pleased that we should be here at Count Mensdorff's, than
that he should now be at my house !"

In these final days of July the preliminaries of Nicolsburg
were completed, which resulted in the peace of Prague.

PRAGUE. 407

* # # * * •*

The battle was over, victory had been attained ; then weak-
aiess and illness assailed Bismarck worse than ever. The old
pains of nervous rheumatism came more terribly than before ;
but he kept himself up by the power of the will, for his King
was still in want of him.

On the 3d of August Bismarck wrote to his wife, on his re-
turn from Prague — "that fated city, where heroes sicken" — as
follows : —

Prague, 3d August, 1866.

I have stolen away from the railway station, and am waiting
here alone, and without luggage, until the King arrives, and after
him my packages. This moment of compulsory inactivity I
employ in greeting you from hence, and telling you that I am
well, and hope to be in Berlin to-morrow night. The King is in
•excellent health. The multitudes between here and the station
.are so packed that I fear there will be accidents.

Evening. — The King came quicker than I expected, and since
then we have had business of all kinds, and then dinner. I
have just returned from a drive with His Majesty through
Hradschin, the Belvedere, etc., and have seen all the beauties of
the Prague neighborhood. In a few days it will be just nineteen
years since we saw all these things together. How many won-
ders had to take place ere I should find myself to-day in the same
place, without B. Hei cerstiua! I had remembered to my coach-
man's great satisfaction. To-morrow we hope to be in Berlin.
'There is great controversy as to the speech from the throne. The
little people have all of them not enough to do ; they see no far-
ther than their own noses, and exercise their powers of natation
•on the stormy waves of eloquence. One can manage to settle
with one's enemies — but alas for one's friends! They have all
.got blinkers on, and only see a spot of the earth.

This reference to the speech from the throne in the letter
probably touches especially on the question of indemnity.

There was something peculiar about this indemnity which
Bismarck demanded and obtained from the Diet which was im-
mediately summoned after the war. The word sounded very
harsh to the ears of the victors ; and there are many honorable

408 CONSOLIDATION.

men at the present day who still painfully feel that Bjsmarck
considered it necessary then to obtain this indemnity. Cer-
tainly the wearied statesman did not fight this new fight for the
indemnity from any affection for the doctrine of Constitution-
alism.

On the 4th of August Bismarck returned, in the suite of the
King, to Berlin, amidst the nameless rejoicings of the nation. On
the next day came the solemn opening of the Diet, and a torrent
of work overwhelmed the Minister-President. Then ensued the
peace-treaties with individual States, the consolidation .of the con-
quered provinces, the formation of the North German Confedera-
tion, cares as to envious malice; and through all this the suffer-
ing man held himself up, pale, but firm, sustained by his high
sense of duty, by the consciousness of his supreme mission. For
days and hours the powers of Bismarck, stretched to their utmost
tension, gave way, but he always recovered himself, presenting an
undaunted front in every direction.

This, indeed, was necessary ; for the victorious war had brought
him no rest. The relations towards the West were growing more
and more menacing ; the cloud he had perceived from Nicolsburg
was assuming form. It could no longer be compared at will to-
a weasel or a camel. Had the cloud obtained a name, a new war
on the Khine was almost unavoidable, a war in which Prussia,
would unquestionably have to shed her blood only for the laurels,
without winning the fruits, of victorj^. Such a war, however^
Bismarck desired — was indeed forced — to avoid from a sense of
duty. Let us allow a Frenchman to relate in what manner he-
accomplished this task.

A long essay was published in the Revue Moderne of Paris, by
J. Vilbort, under the title of "Germany since Sadowa." Con-
tained in this is the speech on territorial compensations, de-
manded by France in August, 1866, at the very time when the
rejoicings in Prussia were at their height.

" On the 7th of August," says M. Vilbort, " we took our leave
of M. de Bismarck, from whom we had received, before, during,,
and after the war, a consistently kind reception, for which we are
bound to express our liveliest acknowledgments. About 10'
P.M. we were in the study of the Premier, when M. Benedette,
the French ambassador, was announced. ' Will you take a cup

GERMANY SINCE SADOWA.

of tea in the salon?' M. de Bismarck said to me. 'I will be
yours in a moment.' Two hours passed away ; midnight struck ;
one o'clock. Some twenty persons, his family and intimate
friends, awaited their host. At last he appeared, with a cheerful
face and a smile upon his lips. Tea was taken ; there was-
smoking and beer, in German fashion. Conversation turned,
'pleasantly or seriously, on Germany, Italy, and France. Kumors
of a war with France were then current for the tenth time in
Berlin. At the moment of my departure, I said : — ' M. le Mi-
nistre, will you pardon me a very indiscreet question ? Do I take
war or peace with me back to Paris?' M. de Bismarck replied,
with animation, 'Friendship, a lasting friendship with France f
I entertain the firmest hope that France and Prussia, in the fu-
ture, will represent the dualism of intelligence and progress/
Nevertheless, it seemed to us that at these words we surprised a
singular smile on the lips of a man who is destined to play a dis-
tinguished part in Prussian politics, the Privy Councillor Baron

von . We visited him the next morning, and admitted to-

him how much reflection this smile had caused us. ' You leave
for France to-night,' he replied ; ' well, give me your word of
honor to preserve the secret I am about to confide to you until
you reach Paris. Ere a fortnight is past we shall have war on
the Ehine, if France insists upon her territorial demands. She
asks of us what we neither will nor can give. Prussia will not
cede an inch of German soil ; we can not do so without raising
the whole of Germany against us, and, if it be necessary, let it
rise against France rather than ourselves.' This step of the Cab-
inet of the Tuileries, especially impolitic and unskillful at such a
moment, served M. de Bismarck, on the other hand, in all his-
German undertakings. He found in it an irresistible argument
to prove the necessity of great armaments against France, while,,
at the same time, his refusal to give up the smallest portion of
German territory elevated the dignity of Prussia in the eyes of
all patriots; nor did it benefit the Minister less, who thus upheld
the national standard high and firmly in the sight of the foreign-
er. Thus it happened that, after half a century, the Napoleon-
istic policy for the second time divided two great nations, whor
by their intellectual, moral, and material development, by all
their interests and aspirations, are destined to form a fraternal

410

BISMARCK AND BENEDETTE.

alliance, and thus insure the freedom and peace of Europe on an
infrangible basis."

On the 20th of September, 1866, Bismarck, after a short rest,
was able to assume the place of honor which was his due in the
memorable triumphant entry of the troops to Berlin, as Major-
Oeneral and Chief of the Seventh Heavy Landwehr Kegiment of
Horse, to which his grateful Sovereign had appointed him. Im-
mediately before the King there rode, in one rank, Count Bis-
marck, the War Minister General von Eoon, General von Moltke,
the Chief of the General Staff, General voij Voigts-Rheetz as
Chief of the General Staff of the First Army, and General von
Blumenthal as Chief of the General Staff of the Second; while
the King was immediately followed by the Eoyal Princes and
other commanders. There was a great and intelligent recogni-
tion in this Koyal order of arrangement.

KEJ01CINGS IN BERLIN.

411

As may be understood, the loud rejoicings on the occasion of
this magnificent festival of victory were in honor of the Army
and its Koyal Commander-in-Chief ; but many an eye followed,
with grateful admiration and emotion, the powerful form of the
Minister-President, in the white uniform, with the yellow collar
and accoutrements of his regiment, wearing the orange sash of
the Exalted Order of the Black Eagle on his broad chest, his

flashing helmet being deeply pressed over his forehead, astride of
liis tall horse, riding along in so stately a manner, and occasional-
ly saluting a friend, here and there, in a courteous way. Scarce-
ly one of the multitude whose acclamations met his ear even sus-
pected that the mighty man, in intolerable pain, could scarcely
keep himself upright in the saddle.

Nor could Bismarck altogether withdraw himself from the pa-

412

PEACE.

triotic festivals which accompanied and followed the triumphant
entry of the army. Too much was wanting where he was ab-
sent. We then saw him at the monster dinner which was given
in honor of him, and to Generals Yon Boon and Yon Moltke, by
an enthusiastic assembly, formed of men of all parties. Zealous
democrats then applauded the great statesman, and whoever was
present on that occasion would have believed that Bismarck was
also popular, in the ordinary sense of the word. When the Min-
ister-President, in the pithy speech in which he acknowledged
the toast pledged in his honor, said that the Berlin people, as this
war had shown, had their hearts, words, and hands in the right
place, the enthusiasm knew no bounds, and the guests rushed
from all quarters to pledge him again. When the storm had be-
come somewhat allayed, the Director, Dr. Bonnell, of the Fried-
rich's Werder Gymnasium, was seen to step forward.

Bismarck seized his early teacher by both hands, and thanked
him heartily for a poetic greeting with which he had presented
him on his return, merrily regretting that he had not been able
to reply in Alcaic verse. The Chief Burgomaster, sitting oppo-

PEACE.

site him, asked whether the Minister-President sent his sons to
the same institution. " Certainly," answered Bismarck ; " and I
myself was also a scholar of Bonnell !" And so introduced his
old teacher in the heartiest manner.

After this festival, Bismarck's last strength failed him. He
went into the country to Patbus, when he fell very ill, and only
gradually recovered after a long time, and then not wholly, but
just enough to admit of his return to business at Berlin in De-
cember.

CHAPTER IV.

MAJOR-GENERAL AND CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERATION.

Conversation with M. de Vilbort.-— Appearance as Chancellor. — M. Bamberger's
Views. — Bismarck as an Orator. — The Luxemburg Question. — Fall from his
Horse. — Citizenship of Billow. — Visit to Holstein. — Speech to a Torchlight Pro-

FROM the Paris journal, Le Siecle, we extract the following re-
port of a conversation which Count Bismarck had with a Paris-
ian journalist on the 10th of June, 1866 :

" On my arrival at Berlin, I was informed that M. de Bismarck
was quite inaccessible. I was told, ' Do not attempt to see him ;
you will only lose time. He receives no one, but lives in the re-
cesses of his cabinet, shut in with treble-locked doors. He only
leaves it to wait upon the King, and his closest advisers can
scarcely obtain access to him.' Nevertheless, I ventured to re-
quest an audience of the Prime Minister of the King of Prussia,
M. de Bismarck immediately sent word that he would receive me
in the evening.

" When I entered that study — where the peace of Europe, as
it were, was hanging by a thread, but which I found was only
guarded by a bolt — I saw before me a man of tall stature, and of
animated countenance. On his broad, high, and smooth fore-
head, I perceived with some surprise the presence of much be-
nevolence, mingled with persistency. Monsieur de Bismarck is-
fair and somewhat bald ; he wears a military mustache, and
speaks rather with soldier-like brevity than with diplomatic cau-
tion. His air is that of the aristocrat and courtier, improved by
all the charm of the most polished courtesy. He advanced to re-
ceive me, took me by the hand, led me to a seat, and offered me
a cigar.

-~ \o '^\ *^- •'

•sv

MAJOR-GENERAL AND CHANCELLOR OF THE CONFEDERATION.

CONVERSATION WITH MONS1EUU DE VIUBOET. 417

"* Monsieur le Ministre,' I said to him after a little prelimin-
ary conversation, ;I, like many of my countrymen^ am most
anxious to be thoroughly enlightened on the true interest* of the
German nation. Permit me, therefore,, to express myself with
entire frankness. I am glad to confess that, in her foreign pol-
icy, Prussia seems, at the present timer to be pursuing objects
with which the French nation sympathizes in no ordinary man-
ner, such as the complete emancipation of Italy from Austrian
influence, and the establishment of an united Germany,, based on
universal suffrage. But is there not a flat contradiction be-
tween your Prussian and German policies? You declare a
national parliament to be the only fountain in which Germany
can find rejuvenescence, the only form of supreme authority by
which she can realize her future destiny. Yet, at the same time,
you treat the Second Chamber at Berlin in the manner of Louis
XIV., when he entered the Houses of Parliament whip in hand.
In France we do not admit the possibility of any association be-
tween absolutism and democracy ; and, to speak the whole truth,
allow me to state to you that in Paris your plan of a national
parliament has not been considered as a serious one. It has
been looked upon as an acutely constructed engine of war, and it
is generally believed that you are quite the man to break it up
when it has served your purpose, the moment it seems to have
become inconvenient or useless.'

" 1A la bonne heure,you. go at once to the root of things, 'replied
M. de Bismarck. * In France, I know, I am as unpopular as in
Germany. Everywhere I am held responsible for a state of
things I did not create, but which has been forced upon me as
upon every one else. I am the scapegoat of public opinion ; but
that does not much trouble me. I follow out a plan, with a per-
fectly calm conscience, which I consider useful to my country and
to Germany.

" i As to the means to this end, I have used those within my
reach, for want of others. Much might be said as to the internal
condition of Prussia. To judge of it impartially, it is necessary
to study the peculiar character of the people of this country in
the most thorough way. France and Italy are now compact
social polities, each animated by one spirit and one sentiment;
while, on the contrary, Germany is given up to individualism

418

INDIVIDUALISM.

Here, every one lives apart in his own narrow corner, with his
own opinions ; his wife and children round him ; ever suspicious
of the Government, as of his neighbor; judging every thing from
,his personal point of view, and never from general grounds.
The sentiment of individualism and the necessity for contradic
tion are developed to an inconceivable degree in the German.
Show him an open door, and, rather than pass through it, he will
insist on breaking a hole in the wall at its side. No government
however it may act, will be popular in Prussia ; the majority in
the country will always be opposed to it; simply from its being
the Government, and holding authority over the individual, it is
condemned to be constantly opposed by the moderates, and de-
cried and despised by the ultras. This has been the common
fate of all successive governments since the beginning of the
dynasty. Neither liberal ministers, nor reactionary ministers,
have found favor with our politicians.'

" And while thus passing in review the various governments
and forms of rule which have existed since the foundation of the
monarchy, M. de Bismarck strove to prove to me, in brilliant,
graphic language, sparkling with wit, that the Auerswalds and
the Manteuffels had shared the same fate as himself, and that
Frederick William III., surnamed the Just, had succeeded as
little as Frederick William IV. in satisfying the Prussian na-
tion.

" * They shouted/ he added, ' at the victories of Frederick the
Great, but at his death they rubbed their hands at the thought of
being delivered from the tyrant. Despite this antagonism, there
exists a deep attachment to the royal house. No sovereign or
minister, no government, can win the favor of Prussian individ-
ualism. Yet all cry from the depths of their hearts, " God save
the King !" And they obey when the King commands.'

" ' Yet some say, M. le Ministre, that this discontent might
grow into rebellion.'

" * The Government does not believe this need be feared, and
does not fear it. Our revolutionists are not formidable. Their
hostility exhausts itself in invectives against the Prime Minister,
but they respect the King. It is I who have done all the evil,
and it is with me alone that they are angry. Were they a little
more impartial, perhaps they might see that I have not acted

PRUSSIAN CHARACTER. 419

otherwise, simply because I could not. In Prussia's present po-
sition in Germany, and with Austria opposed to her, an army was
an imperative necessity. In Prussia it is the only force capable
of discipline. I do not know if that is a French word ?'

" ' Certainly, M. le Ministre,and in France can also be applied.'

" 'A Prussian who got his arm broken in a barricade,' contin-
ued M. de Bismarck, ' would go home crestfallen, and his wife
would look upon him as a madman ; but in the army he is an ad-
mirable soldier, and fights like a lion for the honor of his coun-
try. A party opposed to the Government has not chosen to rec-
ognize the necessity imposed on us by circumstances of maintain-
ing a large military force, evident as that necessity has been.
But I could not hesitate, for rny own part ; by family, by educa-
tion, I am the King's man ; and the King adhered to the idea of
this military organization as firmly as to his crown, being con-
vinced, heart and soul, of its indispensability. No one could
make him yield or compromise the point. At his age — he is
seventy — and with his traditions, people persist in an idea;
above all, if they feel it to be good. On the subject of the army,
I should add, I entirely agree with his view.

"'Sixteen years ago I was living as a country gentleman,
when the King appointed rne the Envoy of Prussia at the Frank-
furt Diet. I had been brought up in the admiration, I might al-
most say the worship, of Austrian policy. Much time, however,
was not needed to dispel my youthful illusions with regard to
Austria, and I became her declared opponent

" 'The humiliation of my country; Germany -sacrificed to the
interests of a foreign nation ; a crafty and perfidious line of policy
— these were not things calculated to give -me satisfaction. I
was not aware that the future would call -upon me to take any
part in public events, but from that period I conceived the idea,
which at the present day I am still pursuing, the idea of snatch-
ing Germany from Austrian oppression, or at least that part of
rermany whose tone of thought, religion, manners, and interests,
identify her destinies with Prussia — Northern Germany. In
plan which I brought forward, there 'has been no question of
>verthrowing thrones, of taking a duchy from one ruler, or some
itty domain from another ; nor would the King have consented

such schemes. And then there are all the interests of family

420 UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.

relationship and concessions, a host of antagonistic influences,
against which I have had to sustain an hourly warfare.

" ' But neither all this, nor the opposition with which I have
had to contend in Prussia, could prevent my devoting myself,
heart and soul, to the idea of a Northern Germany, constituted in
her logical and natural form, under the aegis of Prussia. To
attain this end I would brave all dangers, exile, the scaffold it-
self! I said to the Crown Prince, whose education and natural
tendencies incline him rather to the side of parliamentary gov-
ernment, what matter if they hang me, provided the rope by
which I am hung bind this new Germany firmly to your
throne ?'

" 'May I also askrM. le Ministre, how you reconcile the prin-
ciple of freedom,, embodied in the existence of a national parlia-
ment,, with the despotic treatment to which the Berlin Chamber
has had to submit ? Howr above allr have you been able to in-
duce the King, the representative of the principle of divine right,
to accept universal suffrage, which is par excellence the principle
of democracy T

" M. de Bismarck answered with animation : * That is a victo-
ry achieved after four years of struggle. When the King sent
for me, four years agoT the situation of affairs was most critical.
His Majesty laid before me a long list of liberal concessions, but
not one of these concerned the military question. I said to the
King, " I accept; and the more liberal the Government can prove
itself the stronger it will be." The Chamber has been obdurate
on one side, and the Cr-own on the other. In the conflict I have
remained by the King. My respect for him, all my antecedents,
all the traditions of my family, made it my duty to do so. But
that I am, either by nature or from principle, an adversary of
national representation, a bom enemy of parliamentary govern-
ment, is a perfectly gratuitous supposition.

"* During those discussions, when the Chamber of Berlin set
itself in opposition to a line of policy imposed on Prussia by cir-
cumstances of most pressing necessity, I would not separate my-
self from the King. But no one has a right to insult me by th<
supposition' that I am only mystifying Germany in bringing foi
ward rny project of a parliament. Should the day come whei
my task Being accomplished, i find it impossible to reconcile nr

"JUNKER HOTSPUR." 421

duties to my Sovereign with my duties as a statesman, I shall
know how to retire without denying the work I have done.'

" Such are substantially," says M. Vilbort in conclusion, " the
political opinions expressed to me by M. de Bismarck. His
thoughts conveyed by my pen, in another form, may have lost to
some extent their emphasis; but I have anxiously endeavored
faithfully to reproduce them."

We have placed this report of the intellectual Frenchman here
on purpose, because Count Bismarck, independently of other in-
teresting remarks, has given indications as to the course of his
future policy not easily to be misunderstood ; for it may readily
be conceived that we do not feel called upon to enlarge upon
Bismarck's policy in the last three years. What he has done in
this period, and how he lias done it, is vivid before the eyes of
every one, and fresh in every one's memory, and there is scarcely
time yet to incorporate it with history. Our readers will have
convinced themselves, that in contradistinction to others, we do
not find the last deeds and speeches of Bismarck inconsistent
with his earlier acts and speeches; and we think we have dem-
onstrated that the Bismarck of to-day has developed consequently
from the Bismarck of 1847 — that the great aristocratic statesman
is still the " King's man," as he then was the "Junker Hotspur,"
or conservative party leader. The demand for the so-called in-
demnity, the amnesty, the direct elections, and%all those things
which are sometimes praised and sometimes blamed and desig-
nated "Bismarck's contradictions," are only apparent contradic-
tions, at once to be explained if thoroughly examined. It is very
easy to hold very different opinions on many points from those
of Bismarck, and warmly as we admire him, we do not regard
him as infallible; but we think that it is necessary to be very
careful in censuring his individual political acts, even where such
unpleasant surprises occur, for actually a quite incomparable po-
litical instinct has fitted him for leadership, and has caused him
to discover ways and means not existing in any programme,
sometimes coming into severe collision with theory, but in prac-
tice either have or will have great blessings in them for the
Russian kingdom and the German people.

We have depicted Bismarck in person at various ages; of lat-

r years he has altered but little at first sight. Those who have

422

BISMAKCK AS CHANCELLOR.

only seen him in the distance at the Chamber or the Diet, look-
ing round with his eye-glass, looking through papers, or playing
with his pencil, will only have seen the tall form in the King's
plain blue uniform, with a single Order — a cross hanging from
the neck. It is necessary to draw nearer to observe that time has
done more than pass with a friendly greeting by the Chancellor

of the Diet. Such years of service as those of Bismarck, in this
period of his life, count double, like soldiers' years. Bismarck,
according to this calculation, is more than fifty-four years of
age.

As an orator, too, the Chancellor of the Diet is almost the same
as of old, only he has grown quieter. A member of the Diet,

BIoMARCK'S ORATORY. 423

Herr L. Bamberger, describes him in his book as -follows:* —
"Count Bismarck is certainly no orator in the usual sense of the
word, yet, in spite of many defects in his delivery, he commands
the attention of his audience by the evident force with which his
thoughts work within him. It seems, besides, as if the habit of
speaking in public, and especially the certainty which is so req-
uisite, and which he now possesses of obtaining the ear of his au-
dience, has materially contributed of late years to the develop-
ment of his parliamentary faculty. Yet in the year 1866, one of
his admirers, who had attended a sitting of the Keichstag. drew
his portrait in the following terms: — 'No oratorical ornamenta-
tion, no choice of words, nothing which carries the audience away.
His voice, although clear and audible, is dry and unsympathetic,
the tone monotonous"; he interrupts himself, and stops frequently ;
sometimes even he stutters, as if his recalcitrant tongue refused
obedience, and as if he had difficulty in finding words in which
to express his thoughts. His uneasy movements, somewhat loll-
ing and "negligent, in no wise aiQ the effect of his delivery. Still,
the longer he speaks, the more he overcomes these defects; he
attains more precision of expression, and often ends with a well-
delivered, vigorous — sometimes, as every one is aware, too vigor-
ous— peroration.' " " It should be added," observes Herr Barn-
be rger,f " that his style, although unstudied, is often not wanting
in imagery. His bright and clear intellect does not despise col-
oring, any more than his strong constitution is free from nervous
irritability."

The same author says at another part of his book,J " To an
opponent he can be provoking, malicious, even malignant; but
he is not treacherous ; he offends against morality and justice,
but against good taste, by pathetic appeals, never. He is not of
the tribe of paragraph writers who imagine that the world is
governed by fine phrases, and that public evils are to be mas-
tered by wrapping them up in pompous commonplaces. On the
contrary, he is one of those who delight in heightening a contrast
by exaggeration, and who thus overshoot their mark. What in-

* L. Bamberger. Monsieur de Bismarck, Paris, 1868. Graf von Bismarck, Bres-
lau. Count Bismarck, London, 1869, p. 39, sq. t Count Bismarck, p. 41.

t Count Bismarck, p. 117. It should be named here that though I have quoted
the authorized English translation, I do not agree with its exactitude. — K. R. H. M.

424 BLOOD AND IKON.

duced him to confess his principle of blood and iron at that
committee meeting?" The instance is very unhappily chosen,
without considering that by a blunder the so-called blood-and-
iron theory is written, Principe du frr et dufeu* for Bismarck
never proclaimed this theory, with which Puilisters are made to
shudder, at all. In an actually peaceable sense there was a ref-
erence at that committee meeting of the 1st September, 1862, as
to sparing the effusion of blood and the use of iron. But it is
useless to say this, and to reiterate it; Bismarck has been credit-
ed with the blood-and-iron theory, and his it will remain, for it
has been proverbial as a, " winged word."f

Another description of Bismarck as an orator (by GrlognU) we
extract from the Daheim.

" The chivalrous personality of Count Bismarck, his easy car-
riage, and, above all, his universal fame as a diplomatist and
statesman, lead us to expect him also to be a brilliant speaker;
either one who could bring forth a deeply meditated, well ar-
ranged speech without hesitation or trouble, in an elegant flow,
or, still more, a speaker of natural eloquence, whose thoughts and
figures arise in the soul during Jiis speech, the play of whose
words and rhetorical figures, born of the moment, leap in winged
dance from the lips, who poetizes in his speech like an improv-
isatore, whose lightning thoughts and catchwords hit the mark,
moving, and burning the hearts of his auditors. Neither of these.
Certainly, a few moments before, with a swift pen, he has written
a few notes on a narrow slip of paper, which looks like a recipe,
over which he, while turning his thumbs one over the other, bal-
ancing the upper part of his body backwards and forwards, and
speaking to the House, occasionally casts a glance ; but, neverthe-
less, he stops, and hesitates, even sometimes stammers and repeats
himself; he appears to struggle with his thoughts, and the words
clamber over his lips in a half-reluctant way. After two or three
words he 'Continually pauses, and one seems to hear an inarticu-
late sob. He speaks without gestures, pathos, and intonation,
without laying a stress on any particular word ; sometimes he
accentuates the final syllable or the halting verb in a manner to-
tally wrong. Can this be the man who has now a parliamentary

* But not so in the English edition as quoted. — K. E. H. M.

t See Buchmann, Gefliigelte Worter (Winged Words), 4th edition, p. 224.

ADDRESSING THE REICHSTAG.

425

career of twenty years behind him ? — who already belonged in
the Diet of 1847, as Deputy of the Saxon chivalry, to the leaders
and promptest speakers of the then exceeding extreme right;
who set the liberal majority into excitement and rage in 1849
and 1850, as a member of the Second Chamber and of the Erfurt
Union Parliament; who, finally, has, almost singly, opposed a
closed phalanx of progressists, as Minister-President, since 1862,
repaying their emotional speeches, full of self-confidence and se-
curity, in almost the same coin, replying to their mocking and
malicious attacks upon him on the spot, and with flashing pres-
ence of mind even exciting them to the combat by witty im-
promptus and cutting sarcasms, often wounding 'them to the
soul?

426 GRADUAL WARMTH OF SPEECH.

" Yes, it is the same man ; and, when requisite, he is as acute
and biting as of yore, although, since his great victories, he has
adopted more of statesman-like earnestness, quiet objectivity, and
a conciliating carriage, corresponding to his present universally
admitted greatness. Gradually his speech begins to flow and to
warm, and soon unfolds its especial charm — that original and
fresh, free and straightforward mode of expression to which we,
in our commonplace days, were quite unaccustomed. Hence it
has been called by his opponents * paradoxical,' * frivolous,' and
' scholastic.' We are indebted to them for a whole vocabulary
of sentences, such as ' Cataline existences,' ' People who have
missed their vocation,' ' Blood and iron,' 'Austria should transfer
her centre of gravity to Ofen,' ' This conflict must not be taken
too tragically,' and which soon became proverbially current, and,
in the mean time, have revealed their deep truth and apposite
precision. How true and exact, and, at the same time, how col-
ored and tangible, is his definition of the national character of the
Germans, on the occasion of the introduction of the Bill for the
Constitution of the Confederation, which has hitherto prevented
the attainment of a great united fatherland. t It is, as it seems
to me,' says Count Bismarck, 'a certain superfluity in the feelings
of manly self-consciousness which in Germany causes the indi-
vidual, the community, the race, to depend more upon their own
powers than upon those of the totality. It is the deficiency of
that readiness of the individual and the race to merge itself in fa-
vor of the commonwealth, that readiness which has enabled our
neighbor nations to secure, at an earlier period, those benefits af-
ter which we are striving.' And when the orator, at the end of
his speech, exhorts the House to fulfill their task as soon and as
perfectly as possible, he continues: — 'For the German nation,
gentlemen, has a right to expect from us that we should preclude
the possibility of a recurrence of such a catastrophe (i. e., a Ger-
man war); and I am convinced that you, together with the allied
government, have nothing so nearly at heart as to fulfill this just
anticipation of the German nation.' With this beautiful exhort-
ation, simply, but worthily and warmly, uttered, like the greatest
of orators, he electrified the whole assembly, for tumultuous ap-
plause resounded from all the benches."

Next to the Reichstag of the North German Confederation, the

VARZIN. 427

Luxemburg question, in the year 1867, principally drew attention
to Bismarck. Probably many of those who in the pride of re-
cent victory then demanded war for the former Federal fortress,
have become convinced that Bismarck's measured attitude was
full of high political wisdom. At Bismarck's dinner-table, a short
time after Luxemburg had been declared neutral, a learned man
gave it as his opinion that Prussia ought to have made it a casus
belli with France. Bismarck answered very seriously : — " My
dear Professor, such a war would have cost us at least thirty
thousand brave soldiers, and in the best event would have
brought us no gain. "Whoever has once looked into the break-
ing eye of a dying warrior on the battle-field, will- pause ere he
begins a war." And, after dinner, when he was walking in the
garden with some guests, he stopped on a lawn, and related how
he had paced to and fro upon this place in disquiet and deep
emotion in those momentous days of June. He awaited the roy-
al decision in an anguish of fear. When he came indoors again,
his wife asked what had happened that he looked so overcome.
" I am excited for the very reason that nothing has happened,"
he replied, and went into his study. A few minutes later, short-
ly before midnight, he received the royal decision — the declara-
tion of war.

From the 5th to the 14th of June, 1867, Count Bismarck re-
mained at Paris in the suite of the King, where he became an
object of general attention. The Parisians could not picture our
Minister-President in any other way than in his white uniform
of Cuirassiers. A regular flood of generally horribly bad pic-
tures of him were sold at a sou per copy — the white uniform
alone showing that Bismarck was the subject.

From the end of June to the beginning of August he visited
his family at Yarzin, an estate in Farther Pomerania, which he
had bought in the spring.

On the 14th of July, 1867, he was appointed Chancellor of the
North German Confederation, went in the beginning of August
to the King at Ems, and on the 15th of August opened the ses-
sion of the Council of the Federation at Berlin. On the 15th of
November the Diet was opened, and on the 29th of February,
1868, it was closed. On the 23d of March the Reichstag of the
North German Confederation was opened, and to this the Cus-

428

FALL FROM HIS HORSE.

toms Parliament was added ; it was no wonder, therefore, that
under the gigantic load of work the strength of the Minister-
President at last gave way altogether. In the June of 1868 he
was taken seriously ill, and it was only at the end of the month
that he was able to go to Yarzin, where, in complete retirement
and entire abstinence from all regular business, he very slowly
mended ; but was not able to regain his strength, in consequence
of nervous sleeplessness. He seemed to feel the obstacles to his
activity even more than all his illness. " Send me no secretary
hither, or I shall go to work again !" he was heard querulously
to exclaim. Despite of all public notifications, a flood of letters
pursued him to Varzin ; the whole correspondence, as might be
naturally supposed, had to be returned unopened to Berlin, where
it was estimated that during this stay at Varzin the Minister-
President had been solicited for aid to the extent of not less than
a million and a half of thalers.*

When at last he had grown somewhat better, Bismarck had
the misfortune, on the 21st of August, to have a dangerous fall
from his horse. He had gone out riding with his friends, Mo-
ritz von Blankenburg and the Legation's Rath von Keudell, on
a meadow near Puddiger, one of his farms, a German mile and a
quarter from Varzin ; his horse put his foot into a hole, fell, and
fell with all its weight upon his body. So severe a fall might
have had still sadder results, but such as they were they were sad
enough, and weeks of severe pain again had to be endured, often
not unmixed with many fears. At the very time when the for-
eign newspapers were picturing the most secret and wonderful
activity in the Chancellor, he was lying prostrate in the most
dangerous state. It need hardly be said that most anxious looks
were directed towards Varzin — that general excitement eagerly
anticipated news from thence, and that mtiny hearts breathed
lightly again when better intelligence arrived. The news was
better than, properly speaking, it had any right to have been,
but, fortunately, it has been justified by time.

The delight at the good news from Varzin was shown in the
most various ways, especially in presents of remedies against
sleeplessness. Bismarck was particularly amused with an old
soldier, who advised him to smoke a pound of Porto Kico tobacco

* Say £225,000.— K. R. H. M.

VISIT TO HOLSTEIN. 429

every day : he sent the old warrior a pipe and a quantity of to-
bacco, with the request that he would be so good as to smoke for
him.

On the 1st of October the Burgomaster of Billow arrived, with
a deputation of the magistracy and town council, and brought
the Minister-President the honorary diploma of the citizenship
of the town. Bismarck received the gentlemen from Billow
with special friendliness, and said, among other things, that he
accepted the diploma with the greater satisfaction, as Biilow had
ever shown itself a patriotic and loyal city. After dinner, he
offered the deputation the hospitality of his house for the night.
But the respectable citizens declared that they had promised
their careful arid inquisitive wives to return before midnight, and
that they must, therefore, keep their words. On this the Count-
ess turned merrily to her husband and said: " As you are now
also a citizen of Biilow, I should be very glad if you would, from
this time, follow the good example of your colleagues of Biilow!"
Bismarck laughed and shrugged his shoulders, but returned no
answer.

The fresh and vigorous manner with which Bismarck has
since returned to his duties, allows us to hope that his long and
severe illness is quite at an end. He has certainly never thought
of sparing himself when duty called ; but he takes part freely in
hunting parties, for the free air of the forest is his best medicine,
and in the month of December he was present at several parties
in the Province of Saxony, in the Mark, and even in Holstein.
In Holstein, at Ahrensburg, where he hunted for two days with
Count Schimmelmann, a brilliant torchlight procession was form-
ed in his honor.

On the 13th of December, shortly before the Count's departure,
a long train of several hundred people, young and old, with two
hundred flaming pitch torches, appeared in the castle-yard, pre-
ceded by a band, and followed by sixty mounted yeomanry. Af-
ter the leader of the procession had announced that they had come
to pay their respects to the Minister-President, Count Bismarck
approached the window, before the crowd, and spoke to the fol-
lowing effect: —

" I arn rejoiced that you thus salute me as a fellow-country-
man, and I thank you for the honor you do me. I see in it a

430

HURRAH .

proof that the feeling of solidarity has also grown stronger and
stronger with you ; and of this I shall joyfully inform the King.
We have always belonged to each other as Germans — we have
ever been brothers — but we were unconscious of it. In this
country, too, there were different races : Schleswigers, Holsteiners,
and Lauenburgers ; as, also, Mecklenburgers, Hanoverians, Lii-
beckers, and Hamburgers exist, and they are all free to remain what
they are, in the knowledge that they are Germans — that they are
brothers. And here in the north we should be doubly aware of
it, with our Platt Deutsch language, which stretches from Hol-
land to the Polish frontier : we were also conscious of it, but have
not proclaimed it until now. But that we have again so joyfully
and vividly been able to recognize our German descent and soli-
darity— for that we must thank the man whose wisdom and en-
ergy have rendered this consciousness a truth and a fact, in
bringing our King and Lord a hearty cheer. Long live His
Majesty, our most gracious King and Sovereign, William the
First!''

A threefold cheer was heard throughout the castle-yard. The
torch-bearers and pedestrians then accompanied the honored man
to the railway station hard by, where the farmers, who had led
the procession on horseback, were introduced to the Count, and
were greeted by him in friendly accents. A hurrah of many
hundreds of voices followed the train as it glided away.

CHAPTER V.

A BALL AT BISMARCK'S.

Beauty and might,

With honor bedight,

Assembled by night,

Shining so bright :

And what was not flower a plant would be —
Come not for dancing, but just to see.

Interior of Bismarck's House at Berlin. — Arrival of Guests. — The King. — The
Queen. —The Royal Princes. — The Generals. — Committee of Story-tellers in the
Refreshment Room. — Supper. — The Ball. — Home.

WE have entitled this chapter, " A Ball at Bismarck's," for rea-
sons of brevity and alliteration, for in truth, at these great evening
assemblies, with supper after midnight, the ball is a secondary
object for the majority of the guests. This arrangement, entirely
imported from England, pleases us as little as the English expres-
sion "rout," for the principal peculiarity of it is that double the
number of guests are invited than can find room in the apart-
ments, and such a system is very much at variance with our old-
fashioned notions of German hospitality. The institution of a
"rout" is only tolerable when the greater number of the guests
only come for a quarter of an hour, and then disappear to attend
another " rout." The continual arrival of fresh individuals, the
continual variation in the faces, may then possess a charm of its
own. But this does not take place at Bismarck's, for when the
" Minister-President and the Countess of Bismarck-Schdnhausen "
send out their invitations, no house in Berlin has the courage to
vie with them and open its door on the same evening. The con-
sequence of this is, that all the guests arrive early and stop as
long as ever they can. Now, as we have already said, the apart-

432

A BALL AT BISMARCK'S.

ments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are exceedingly small,
and thus there is a crush of which it is impossible to form any
idea unless one has seen it. Add to this the temperature of* the
dog-days in the brilliantly lighted saloons, and the impossibility
of sitting down ; an enjoyment only appreciated to its full extent
by the members of the Keichstag and Deputies of the Diet, who
here find ample opportunity, after their long plenary and com-
mittee sittings, to stand.

The guest reaches the first saloon by the stairs, through a for-
est of tropical plants and orange-groves, with livery servants
sprinkled in, to the place where the Minister-President, in his
white uniform, with the star and collar of his Order, aided by his
wife, receives the guests, interchanging a few friendly expres-
sions with them, and then they enter. But after this the guest
literally founders in the ocean of dazzling light and crowds of
people; it is only after a considerable interval that a person, un-
less accustomed for years to these parties, recovers his self-pos-
session. At first he hears single words in the noise around him ;
gradually he learns to understand them; and then come long
sentences which he is able to comprehend. Next comes the sec-
ond stage; he observes that he is swimming between rosy red
and pale blue, clouds of garments of various textures; he recog-
nizes with absolute ecstasy the golden threads which pass through
these clouds; the soft sounds of the yielding substances are va-
ried by the sharp rustling of silk and the brilliant gleam of
crackling satin; then he perceives rounded shoulders, shining
necks, wavy locks, smiling faces — the happy man sees them all,
for he is walking towards a group of ladies. He walks? No,
he rather creeps, or pushes himself forward without lifting his
feet. Beautiful Mother Nature in her wisdom has instinctively
taught him that he must necessarily tread upon some lady's train
if he raise his foot a quarter of a line from the floor. Thus he
shoves himself along on the left flank of the battalion, whence
beautiful eyes are flashing in competition with gold and jewels.
This danger he can encounter, for all this fire is not directed at
him, the worn-out man of fifty. He is looking round in aston-
ishment, and then comes a sudden block, for it is impossible to
break through the new group standing right in front. Court
gala uniforms, black coats with broad bands of various orders,

RECEPTION BY BISMARCK. 433

civil uniforms with golden embroidery, and officers with silver —
every place is taken up, and the wearers are standing shoulder to
shoulder in humming conversation. Nothing but strange faces!
Suddenly a very large hand, but of course in a delicate glove,
certainly specially made for this great, good hand, is laid upon
the arm of the anxious undecided one, a well-known face greets
him in a friendly way, and a well-known voice says, " Good-even-
ing, dear old fellow !" But he scarcely recognizes his tried pa-
tron and friend, for he had never seen him in full uniform with
the orange and white sash. When, however, he sees who it is,
a, great feeling of satisfaction comes over him — he is no longer
alone, and he is safe. Other acquaintances appear, remarks are
interchanged, there is even recreation, but under difficulties.
People push here and there, and are pushed in return ; it is im-
possible to penetrate to the ball-room, but the music of the Cui-
rassier Guard Regiment can be heard very well, and sometimes
-a servant with a tray full of ices is captured by the more daring —
a real grace in this heat. It is very comical to hear every one
•complaining of want of room and heatr and yet none of the com-
plainants seem to have any idea of getting rid of these disagree-
ables in the simplest manner in the world, by going away !

Suddenly all the heads, decked with feathers, flowers, and jew-
els, bow slowly and then rise again ; it is as if the evening breeze
passed gently over the meadow, the flowers .all bending up and
•down, hither and thither.

King William is entering, conducted by the Minister-President.
The stately royal man bows -with chivalrous politeness, now to
this lady, now to that; he pronounces kind wor,ds, which are
really more kind and fewer in number than is usually the case.
Here he shakes hands with one general, there he nods to another
gentleman — the path by which the King has passed is marked
by proud and happy faces. Those who feel disposed to jeer, can
not in the least know how a Prussian feels when the King's hand
touches his own, and the King's eye looks so grandly and mildly
into his.

But to enjoy a really heart-warming sight, King William and
Bismarck must be seen together. The great hero, Prince Eu-
gene, or Eugenio von Savoye, as he wrote it in Italian, German,
and French, once said of the three Emperors whom he had

434

ENTRANCE OF THE KING.

served — " Leopold was my father, Joseph my friend, Carl is my
sovereign !" In Bismarck's conduct towards the King may be-
seen the reverence for a father, the attachment of a friend, and
the fullest respect for a sovereign. An unique spectacle, this !

Now the Queen passes through the brilliant throng, dressed
with royal simplicity ; she speaks with several of the members of
the Keichstag. When the sailing boat passes through the waves
of the sea, when the swan glides over the shining mirror, a silver
line marks the passage they have taken. Such a line denotes
the path which the Queen had followed through the throng.

The whole Koyal House is present.

The tall stately man yonder, with the brave handsome counte-
nance, who looks still taller in his light blue dragoon uniform
with the yellow collar, in which he is not often seen, is the Crown
Prince. He is engaged in animated conversation with a foreign
diplomatist, in a golden full dress, and is evidently in the best of
tempers. Prince Albrecht, the King's younger brother, passes
swiftly in a frank military manner, shaking one or the other per-
son cordially by the hand. His elder brother, Prince Carl, the

THE KOYAL PRINCES.

435

Commander-in-Chief, is a singular contrast to him. He stands
erect and proudly in the middle of a circle, but without stiffness.
A mocking smile plays over his features ; there is a remarkable
intermixture in his eyes of sharp observation and indifference.
How he brings first this person and then that to his side, without
raising his hand! This is the reproachless manner of a grand
seigneur of days gone by ; one can not but feel that Prince Carl
still retains whole and undivided the princely consciousness of
former times. In his eyes every one — not of princely rank —
stands on the same level. Bank, titles, honors, have no distinc-
tion in his eyes. He is as gracious to the ministers and high
dignitaries, as to the author whom he has just summoned to him.
He alone really exercises the metier de prince.

•

Yonder stalwart form, with the good brave countenance, in the
admiral's uniform, is Prince Adalbert, a cousin of the King; he is
talking with Herr von Selchow, the Minister of Agriculture, who
at a distance looks like an officer in the cavalry. All the princes
of the Eoyal House wear the Cross of the Order pour le merite,
and therefore have all been under fire.

Prince Frederick Carl yonder is talking with Count Eulen-
burg, who has made his way through typhoons and Japan to the

436

THE GENERALS.

Ministry of the Interior. The Prince, with his high forehead,
firm bearded countenance, large eyes with their lonely quiet ex-
pression, and spare form, in
the red jacket of the Ziethen
Hussars, is the hero of Diip-
pel and Sadowa, also a mem-
ber of the -North German
Reichstag.

All the faces in yonder
group are well known, for
their portraits hang in every
window ; they have written
their names in the book of
history with the sword. At
every step here one may
greet a hero. Certainly, de-
signed and undesigned mis-
takes sometimes happen,
as, for instance, that pretty
young lady can not suffi-
ciently wonder that the val-
iant old Steinmetz, the fa-
mous hero of Nachod and Skalitz, is still so young, and dresses in
private clothes. They had pointed her out a Reichstag Deputy
from Pomerania as the famous General, and left her in the error.
Through the brilliant throng and excitement, in the dazzling
illuminations and heat, children wise in their generation, and
lucky dogs who know every thing, have discovered the way to
obtain a thorough course of refreshments, which is hidden in a
dark thicket yonder., and slyly wins in semi-concealment. In
noble silver vases there is cool — deliciouslv cool — beer. All
the thirsty souls who drink at this fount sing the praises of
Bismarck, for he has introduced this innovaton. Bismarck first
made beer fashionable in Berlin salons. And so readily has it
been received within a short time, that even tender ladies and
high princes no longer hesitate to pay their court openly to
King Gambrinus.

There is lively conversation over the beer. A wit has spread
a rumor that the delicious drink has come from Schwechat, and

ANECDOTES. 437

is a present from the Austrian Imperial Chancellor to the Chan-
cellor of the North German Confederation. Some give a friend-
ly assent to this, others kindly add, that Bismarck has already,
in return, sent some Neunaugen and Flunder from Pomerania, to
his colleague in Vienna ; and why should it not be believed ?
Formerly, at any rate, the most friendly and social relations ex-
isted between Bismarck and Beust.

An old Colonel D mutters something like " timeo Danaos"

but swallows the rest of the words, as he can not immediately
find the Latin terminations in the lumber-room of his memory,
but instead, enjoys another goblet of the supposed gift. He is
almost frightened when his neighbor remarks, that Beust as well
as Bismarck is a descendant of an Alt Mark family ; Biiste, the
family seat of the Beust family, is only distant a few miles from
Bismarck ; certainly, the family had not lived there for a long

time. Colonel D begins to have a better opinion of the

Austrian Chancellor, and drinks up his beer in comfort.

Another is telling how Bismarck laughingly said, that " his
colleague, the Minister of Finance, would to-day convince him-
self that this dwelling was much too small for the Minister-Pres-
ident, and would think of how he could get him out of the diffi-
culty." Thus the little circle got happily into the downward
way of telling anecdotes, whence there is no return.

To a somewhat complaining deputation from the new prov-
inces, Bismarck good-humoredly explained that Prussia was like
a woollen jacket, very unpleasant at first, but when people got
accustomed to it they found it very comfortable, and at last came
to think it a great benefit.

Bismarck allowed another deputation to whine for a long time
about universal military service and the weight of taxation ; he
then said, very seriously and in a tone of the greatest astonish-
ment, " Dear me, these gentlemen probably thought they could
become Prussians for nothing !"

A well-known politician promulgated a very paradoxical state-
ment at Bismarck's dinner-table; some one present started for-
ward to refute it. " Pray don't trouble yourself," exclaimed Bis-
marck ; " if you will only have patience for two minutes, the
learned Herr Professor will at once contradict himself in the
most brilliant manner I"

438

ANECDOTES.

In the year 1848 there was a great deal rumored about a fall*
ing away of the Ehine Provinces. " Where are they going to
fall to ?" asked Bismarck.

" And in France they no longer say, ' travailler pour le roi de
PrusseJ to indicate a lost labor of love, but ' travailler pour le
maitre de M. de Bismarck /' " whispered a fat diplomatist cau-
tiously to his neighbor.

" How is it," King William merrily once asked the Minister-
President and his cousin Herr von Bismarck-Briest, " that the
Bisrnarcks of Schonhausen are all such tall, strapping fellows,
and those of Briest the contrary ?" Count Bismarck replied, " Be-
cause my ancestors all served the King as soldiers in battle, while
my cousins were engaged in civil affairs !" Herr von Bismarck-
Briest added, with presence of rnind, " That is why I have put
my seven sons into, the army."

It was true that six Bismarck-Briests fought in the last war
under the King's standard ; a pity that the seventh was not
there, but as a Landrath he was " exempt."

" But," whispered a pale assessor, who has been guilty of in-
numerable verses, " Bismarck is deficient in aesthetic culture ; I
have heard from the best authority, that once at Frankfurt, when
Goethe's pearl, ' Happy he who closes up his door without hatred
of the world !' was performed on the piano, Bismarck burst out
with, ' What a tailor's soul this Goethe had !' "

The pale assessor looked as if such barbarism froze him ; some
laughed, others shrugged their shoulders.

" The ideas of the moment were confused with opinions or
meaning !" said a Provincial Government Councillor, who knew
how to combine his reverence for Bismarck with his aesthetic as-
pirations ; for in fact he only knew Bismarck and Goethe.

"I remember you in my boyish days very well," said Bis-
marck, in 1864, to the Body-Physician of Prince Albrecht, the
Privy-Councillor Dr. von Arnim ; " you then enormously struck
me with your energy."

"This is completely altered now," replied Arnim, quietly;
"you now strike me enormously with yours."

The negroes in America are very fond of assuming fine names
of famous men, such as Caesar, Scipio, Hannibal, Aurelius, Wash-
ington, King James, Abraham Lincoln, and so forth. One of

A NEGRO COUNT BISMARCK.

439

these black gentlemen got very drunk, and shouted like a mad-
man ; he was seized and put into prison, but brought sober be-
fore the magistrate the next morning. " What is your name ?"
The negro answered, with great dignity, "Count Bismarck."
'There was Homeric laughter. The magistrate said, " You are
•discharged ; one must overlook a little from any one bearing so
:great a name ; but for the future take care to do your illustrious
god-cousin in Berlin more credit !"

There was no end to this. Anecdote succeeded anecdote, one
joke the other ; each departing story-teller leaving another in his
place, until the circle round the altar of Grambrinus was broken
up by the news that their Majesties and the Court, after having
partaken of supper in the Countess's salon, had taken their de-
parture. This was the signal for supper for the rest of the
.guests.

A buffet supper is the saddest conclusion of a "rout" — it is
almost somewhat humiliating to stand with one's hat under one's
.arm and the plate in one's hand, after having had great difficul-
ty to procure knife, fork, and all the other utensils employed in
•civilized nations for the business of eating ! But humanity can
•even support this, and with a little care and patience it is possi-

ble gradually to get a complete supper, from a cup of soup to a
fruit-ice. Modest minds content themselves certainly by absorb-
ing a gigantic portion of ham-pie with a spoon — or whatever the
fortune of war has favored their plates with — ask for nothing

440

A SMOKING-ROOM.

more — but " go in " for the wine, which is foaming in any quan-
tity.

In the mean time the dance music is beginning again, and with,
it the actual period of enjoyment for dancers, and the terrible-
hour for chaperonizing mothers and aunts, who sit out the last
cotillon with a heroism brave unto death.

The non-dancing guests now really begin to enjoy themselves.
— the crowd being no longer so thick, there is more room, as the
saloons reserved for the Court are now open, and there are plen-
ty of seats. Presently a smoking-room suddenly opens — a smok-
ing-room with noble cigars, iced champagne, and hot coffee.
Everywhere one sees the Minister - President busy among his-
guests, conversing in the most agreeable tone, seeing that there is-
nothing wanting, inviting every one to drink, and himself rejoic-
ing in the gayety he disperses. And whoever departs at about
five in the morning, with a hearty shake of the hand from Bis-
marck, will certainly carry away with him the impression that
the First Minister of Prussia is also the most delightful host ir*
Prussia.

CHAPTER VI.

BISMARCK'S HOUSE AT BERLIN.

Tis but a hut or little more,
The threshold narrow, slim the door —
And yet within this space so wee,
Proudly uprears the laurel-tree.

Bismarck's House in ordinaiy Costume. — Its History. — "Sultan Uilem and Grand
Vizier Bi-Smarck."-" Bismarck, grand homme, Bakschisch!" — The Cuckoo Clock.
— Daily Habits.— Sunday at Bismarck's.

IN that portion of the Wilhelms-Strasse at Berlin, which has
remained comparatively quiet, although it is bounded on one side
by the animated and famous street Unter den Linden, and on the
other by the noisy and busy Leipziger-Strasse, one of the arte-
ries of Berlin circulation, not far from the Wilhelms-Platz, stands
a plain one-storied house, with twelve windows in the front — the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs — since 1862 the official residence of
Count Bismarck.

It is the most modest ministerial residence in Berlin ; in no
large State of Europe does the Foreign Minister live so quietly
as Count Bismarck does here. To the right of the Minister-
President is the Hotel of Prince Eadziwill — entre cour et jardin —
with its railings and stately front court ; to the left is the build-
ing of the Koyal Privy Court Printing-office of Messrs. Von
Decker ; opposite the former Palace of the Order of St. John of
Bailey Brandenburg, so magnificently restored by Schinckel, and
now the property oi Prince Carl of Prussia. One advantage Bis-
marck's dwelling enjoys, with all the aristocratic houses of the
Wilhelms-Strasse — it has a large garden with fine old trees in it,
which extends as far as the Konigsgratzer-Strasse.

The whole extent of the Wilhelms-Strasse, from the Linden to
the Leipziger-Strasse, formerly belonged to the Thurgarten — the

442

BISMARCK'S HOUSE.

freehold being the King's. On the enlargement of the city by
Frederick William L, this site was given to the generals and
higher officials as free building-ground, and was supported by
the King with his well-known energy by building materials and
other subventions. The present site of Wilhelms-Strasse and
Konigsgratzer-Strasse, by the privilege of the 21st of September,
1736, was covered by a free house, respecting the builder of
which there is still some question. It was unquestionably the
work of one General von Pannewitz ; probably Wolf Adolf von
Pannewitz, born the 13th March, 1679, at Great-Gaglov. in Low-
-er Lausitz, who had been Page and Equerry to King Frederick
I, and had joined the regiment of Gensdarrnes in 1714, from the
disbanded Garde du Corps. He became lieutenant-colonel of
this regiment in 1719, in 1725 commander, and in 1728, after the
•death of Field-Marshal General von Natzmer, its Chief. Panne-
witz had gained renown on the Khine, in Italy, and Brabant, and
had so distinguished himself in the first Silesian war, that the
.great King allowed him to retire from the service on account of
bodily illness, very honorably, with a pension of three thousand
thalers. How the ownership of this old hero, who had honestly
served three Kings of Prussia, passed to the well-known Count-
ess Barbara Campanini, the married Presidentess von Cocceji, we
can not tell ; but according to the register she sold the house on
the 10th April, 1756, to the Actual Privy State and Directing
War Minister and Grand Master of the Robes, Herr Count von
Eickstedt. After the death of this nobleman it became the prop-
erty of his widow, the Countess von Eickstedt-Peterswaldt, Caro-
line-Friedrike, born von Grumbkow; then that of her daughter,
the widowed Obermarshallin von Wangenheirn, Philippine Ju-
liane, born Countess von Eickstedt-Peterswaldt. This lady was,
however, Bismarck's grand-aunt, having been married first to the
Royal Captain Ernst Friedrich von Bismarck, at Schonhausen
(born 1729, died 1775), a grand-uncle of the Minister-President —
•so that in the last century a Bismarck lived both at Schonhausen
and in the Wilhelms-Strasse. In the year 1804 the Hanoverian
Councillor of Finance, Johann Crelinger, bought the house, but
soon sold it to the wife of the Russian Imperial Minister and
Ambassador at the Royal Prussian Court, Herr Maximilian von
Alopeus, Luise Charlotte Auguste Friedrike, born a Von Yelt-

HISTORY OF BISMARCK'S HOUSE. 443

helm. From her it passed into the possession, in 1815, of her
husband, Baron Alopeus, who sold it in 1819 to the Government.

The family of Alopeus, originally derived from a learned fam-
ily of Finland, have long played a great part in Berlin society.
Baron Maximilian was thrice Kussian Ambassador, for several
years in 1790, 1802, and 1813 at Berlin, and was succeeded in the
post by his younger brother, who has been raised to the rank of
Count — Daniel Alopeus, who died here in 1831. Public atten-
tion has been very recently drawn to this younger Alopeus by a
book which has passed through dozens of editions in France, and
has been translated into almost all languages. The principal per-
sonage of this specifically Roman Catholic book is Alexandrina,
Countess Albert de Laferronays, the only daughter of Daniel Alo-
peus and the lovely Johanna von Wenckstern, who married for the
second time the Prince Paul Lapuchin, of Korsie in the Ukraine.

The Fiscal Board bought the house originally for the then
Minister of State, Count von Bernstorff, together with all its fur-
niture and fittings. Since that time all the Foreign Ministers of
Prussia have resided there, with the exception of Ancillon, who
remained in a private house, Unter den Linden.

It has been long known that the apartments are not sufficient
for the requirements of the service. The Ministerial bureaux,
grown too unwieldy for the ground-floor, had to be transferred to
another building, scarcely saving much trouble in the transaction
of business. The apartments form a very fitting dwelling-place
for a nobleman in private life, but are by no means suitable for
the Prussian Prime Minister and Chancellor of the North German
Federation. Bismarck has naturally felt this inconvenience more
than any one else ; but, as far as we know, he has taken no steps
towards any alteration, but usually contents itself with a good-
humored joke about it.

To the left, on the first floor, are two spacious saloons, having
a view of the court and garden. These are very convenient, and
are decorated with old family portraits, some of which we have
mentioned in our previous chapter on Schonhausen. It is not
usual to decorate official residences with ancestral portraits ; but,
as every thing of the kind was wanting, Bismarck had his por-
traits brought from Schonhausen. In the second saloon stands
the Countess's piano, and here there is an excellent likeness of

444

SULTAN UILEM" AND "BI-SMARCK."

Bismarck's sister, Fran von Arnim, as a child. Next to this is-
the sitting-room of the Countess, with a good picture of Bismarck
in the Frankfurt period. From the first saloon one passes to the
right into a large reception-room, where the ministerial council is-
also held. This is very simply decorated by a portrait of the
King, and a gigantic porcelain vase, presented by the King to
Bismarck. To the right of this saloon is Bismarck's dining-
room, with its old carpet, of which so much has been said in
Berlin, although we really can not say why. Next to this is a
ball-room, over the hall, where the very large dinners also are
served. To the left, next to the ministerial saloon, is the com-
fortable but simple study of Bismarck. A double writing-table
with a low-backed chair on either side, is the principal object.
In the corner, by the stove, is a chaise-longue, with a lion's skin
over it. This lion's skin was brought to the Minister-President
by the celebrated traveller Rohlfs, from Africa. We are indebted
to him also for the following anecdote : — Rohlfs was on board an
Egyptian ship, and was obliged to tell the officers a great deal
about " Sultan Uilern " and his Grand Yizier " Bi-Smarck," which
seemed like a new edition of Haroun-ar-Reschid and the Vizier
Djaffar to the Orientals. The name Bismarck pleased them
wonderfully, as Bi-Smarck in Arabic signifies " Swift Fire,'"
"Rapid Action."

In the " Wochenblatt der Johanniter Ordens-Balley-Branden-
burg," another traveller thus relates his ride from Cairo to the
Pyramids — we there read : " Every one who has been in the
East or has read a book of travels knows the events of the next
hour. The visitor to the Pyramids is seized like an irresponsible
being by four brown shapes, each clad in a single garment ; two-
of them drag him up the irregular steps of the Pyramid of
Cheops, while the two others assist by shoving and pushing. It
is of no use to beg and pray — always forward, forward! The
eye roves giddily on the depths, and anxiously glances up the
uneven steps, the worn and slippery blocks of stone — upward,,
upward, until one falls exhausted on the little platform, and with-
out any power of assembling moral courage. The guides then
dance round with the customary cry of ' Bakschisch ! bak-
schisch P (Money ! money !) Dark traditions concerning an Eng-
lishman who declined to pay, and was precipitated into the

"BISMARCK! BAKSCHISCH!" 445

depths, do not make the situation any the pleasariter ; and had I
not understood the Arab people, having left my companions far
^behind, I should have felt very uncomfortable. But I alleged
weariness, and would bind myself to nothing. But when all
appeals in German, Arabic, English, and Italian had failed (for
these fellows smatter all languages), the tallest fellow, who had
guessed my nationality, placed himself before me, and, holding up
his forefinger, pathetically exclaimed, ' Signor ! Bismarck grand
homme ! Bakschisch /' At this appeal to my patriotic feelings,
laughter got the upper hand, and I divided my copper money
among these gentlemen, just as the heads of my companions be-
came visible at the edge of the topmost stone ridge."

In this study hang pictures of the Great Elector and the Great
King, with some other portraits of King William. Otherwise
the room is quite without decoration. A side door leads into the
boudoir of the Countess, another into Bismarck's bedroom, and
the dressing-room beyond.

Beside the door leading from the study to the bedroom, is a
•cuckoo clock, which every quarter of an hour reminds those
whom Bismarck receives here, in an appealing and unmistakable
manner, that they are not to forget they are in the presence of a
man whose precious time belongs to his King and country.
With some this warning is unnecessary, but in other cases it is
very useful, and should any one neglect its appeals, the possessor
•of the cuckoo clock is quite the man to support them in the po-
litest manner in the world. Softly and cautiously various stories
are whispered of the important influence this cuckoo clock has
•exercised on the fates of many.

Such are the apartments inhabited by Prussia's Premier; his
•children live in a wing of the house.

W'hen at Berlin, Bismarck is accustomed to breakfast, entirely
•dressed in a blue uniform overcoat, about ten o'clock At this
time he opens all the letters which have come in, runs through
the telegraphic dispatches and the latest news of the morning
papers, and then receives his councillors in the study, rides for an
hour, and then proceeds to the royal presence. At his return
from the palace, about five, the family dines ; but it is a rare cir-
cumstance not to find friends present. Bismarck has always an
excellent appetite, and prefers the red wine of Bordeaux, which

446

BISMARCK IN PRIVATE.

he once on the tribune of the Second Chamber called " the natu-
ral drink of the North German,'7 to Ehenish wine. The greatest
punctuality prevails at his table. He especially delighted in ex-
horting his sons, while they were young, to sit upright ; and a
person who for a long time had the honor of being Bismarck's,
table companion, asserts in full seriousness, that owing to the-
continual directions Bismarck gave his sons on this point, which
he also profited by himself, he had, according to his own calcula-

tion, himself grown two inches taller in the time. Conversation-
is sparkling, open, and almost always illustrated by the humor-
ous manner of the host and the witty animation of the Countess.
The language employed is always German, very seldom a little
French or English. Bismarck's family table has an especial
charm at Christmas time, when a great tree stretches its branches-
over the guests. After dinner the Minister-President stays for a
short time in his wife's salon, where he drinks a cup of coffee and

BISMAKCK HIDING.

44T

smokes, during which time he runs through the Kreuzzeitung and
the Norddeutsche Allgemeine. He then retires to his study and
receives the Ambassadors, or a Council of Ministers is held, and
after that he works by himself. About midnight he returns into-
the salon to his wife, and is pleased if he finds any company there.
This rarely fails, especially
when the Diet or Reichstag
is assembled. It may be
very well understood that
this arrangement is often
altered, according to cir-
cumstances : the Council
of Ministers often sits in
the morning, and then the
Count can scarcely find
time, after his audience of
the King, to get his accus-
tomed ride in the Thier-
garten.

In the warmer seasons of
the year he often goes into
the garden after dinner,
where the trees are; he
was very commonly here
every day with Roon and
Moltke, before the war of
1866. The trees could tell

some strange mysteries, but of course they are
proper with ministerial trees. Sometimes Bismarck mounts the
ice-house ; there he gets a " view " — it certainly is not very ex-
tensive, but still green and pleasant — over the large neighboring
gardens. The Minister-President attends divine service with his
family in the Holy Trinity Church, in which he was once con-
firmed. The Communion he receives at the hands of the Consis-
torial Councillor Souchon, who has also confirmed his children.
If Bismarck, from personal illness, is unable to attend public
worship, he likes to have a private service read for him and his
by some young divine. But it is a rule to receive no one in the
morning — for it is Sunday in Bismarck's house.

"sworn," as

CHAPTER VII.

VARZIN.

Purchase of Varzin. — The Verandah. — The Park. — The name of Bismarck famous. -
House Inscriptions.— Popularity of Bismarck.— In an Ambush of School-girls. -
Conclrsion.

IN the April of 1867 Count Bismarck went to see the Estates
of Varzin (consisting of Varzin, Wussow, Puddiger, Misdow, and
Chomitz), near Schlawe, in Farther Pomerania, and soon after-
wards purchased them. In the autumn of that year, as we have
said, he spent some weeks at Varzin, but in the following year
he remained there, unfortunately in great illness, from June to
December. He soon made himself at home there, and is fond of

/Jf"!

VARZIN. 451

Varzin, as may be readily understood from its being close to the
birthplace of his wife — beloved Keinfeld. Nothing is wanting
there to his enjoyment — there are trees, and plenty of good rid-
ing and hunting. He converses with every one who meets him,
in forest and field, in a friendly manner, and is fond of talking
" platt ?' with the country people. Eecently he said to an old
laborer known to him, who had been ill : "Nu seid Ihr wohl wie-
der ganz auf dem Tiige f" (You're all right on the main again ?)
" J/a," replied the old man, "Sie sollten man ok hie blieven, denn
wiirden Sie nodi mal so frisch!" (Ay ! oh, you'd a vast deal
better ztop 'ere ; yow'd be eer zo mooch vresher !) Bismarck
laughed. " Yes— if one could be as you are, and always stop in
Varzin, I believe you !"

If one turn south on the Coslin-Danzig road, by the large vil-
lage of Carwitz — recently marked as a station on the railway
from Coslin to Danzig — after a short drive on a good road, some
three German miles, one reaches the Bismarck estates with great
ease. It is a very pleasant neighborhood, alternating with wood-
ed hillocks, meadows and waters, wood and plough-land. There
is nothing very magnificent about it, nothing very pretentious ;
but it is a pleasant spot, and the Countess Bismarck once merrily
called it, very appropriately, "a pretty little humpy countrykin."

Varzin can not be seen from the distance; it is hidden by
woods. The descending road divides the mansion, to the right,
from the farm-buildings on the left, forming a long parallelogram.

Varzin does not look nearly so aristocratic as Schonhausen,
which Bismarck calls his " old stone-heap." A building of one
story, with two wings, all painted pale yellow, surrounds a some-
what roomy courtyard, open to the road. On the principal build-
ing, on the gable, are the arms of Blumenthal. The steps of the
stairway are occupied by orange-trees, myrtles, and laurels. We
saw a young donkey running about, who was eating the fallen
laurel-leaves with a very good appetite. The possessor of Varzin
must feel very much flattered that laurels abound so much in his
house that there are enough to feed donkeys !

On this open staircase, or rather verandah, Bismarck receives
his guests, like a simple country nobleman, in a green coat, white
waistcoat, and yellow neckcloth, and with a hearty shake of the
hand makes them free of the hospitality of his house. On this

452

BISMARCK SHOOTING.

verandah the Countess stands with her daughter, and looks with
beaming eyes and happy face after the three sportsmen who are
proceeding towards the forest and wave their hands in greeting
back to her. And for others — for every one — it is a pleasant
sight to see Count Bismarck walking between his sons, his rifle
over his shoulder, or riding on horseback. On this verandah

also the last farewell takes place between mother and sons. Af-
ter the longest possible holiday, they return to school at Berlin,
while Bismarck himself orders the postillion to make haste, that
he may not lose the mid-day train at Coslin. The honest Pome-
ranian, with the well-fed face above his orange collar, has no idea
that there exists an intimate bond between himself arid the great

INTERIOR OF VARZIN. 453

Minister — that in his capacity, as Chancellor of the North Ger-
man Confederation, he is his highest representative.

The interior of the mansion of Varzin is habitable and comfort-
able, but there is nothing otherwise remarkable about it. To
the right of the hall on which you enter, is the dining-room,
which is connected with the kitchen and servants' rooms in the
left wing; to the left is the Count's room, the large centre-table
of which is covered with maps. Maps, especially those of a mi-
nute kind, are an old hobby of Bismarck's ; if a trip is projected,
or guests are departing, the road is accurately measured off be-
forehand on the map. This zealous study of maps has always
seemed to us very characteristic of Bismarck's whole nature ; he
always desires to know the road he is travelling in the most ac-
curate manner ; he considers the advantages, and weighs them
against the annoyance. The windows of this apartment look out
on the courtyard. To the right again is the Countess's room, the
windows opening on the park, and thence there is a really mag-
nificent view : in the bright summer moonlight nights, one
would think that one had, by enchantment, some fragment of
early French court life, from Meudon or Kambouillet. On the
other side of a prattling little brook, crossed by a pretty little
bridge, the park, with its fine old trees — oaks and beeches — rises
in terraces up the hill-side, and the white statues contrast well
with the green foliage. At such a sight, one thinks of the " En-
chanted Night " of Tieck ; and indeed there is somewhat of the
" wondrous world of faerie " in the whole aspect of the scene —
in its aritique but eternally youthful splendor.

Our readers know, from the letters we have given, how pas-
sionately Bismarck loves such scenery. There is a great deal
more of the romantic poet and sentimental German in the great
statesman, than would appear at first sight. He sometimes rec-
ognizes this himself with a smile.

The park of Varzin by moonlight has indeed a peculiar old-
fashioned appearance; very little imagination is necessary to peo-
ple it with gentlemen in court uniforms and swords, hats under
their arms, and ladies with towering head-dresses, hoops, and
high shoes. On these terraces, over the pretty flower-banks, and
round the white statues, there breathes the whole inspiration of a
life which, for a long time, was unjustly contemned, and after-

454

BISMARCK'S NAME.

wards was properly derided, when fashion became its distinguish-
ing trait, after the petit maitre style — a life we can not wish back
again, but which we can not but love, it having been that of our
grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and containing in it, with
many traits of insignificance, some great and admirable features.
We may laugh at it, but it contains some pretty ideas !

To return to our description. Next to the Countess's drawing-
room are the bedrooms, and to the right of these again is a hall,
where an enormous black-oak staircase, reminding one of the
other staircase at Schonhausen, leads to the upper story. In
this hall, and in the ante-chamber, one sees the horns of two im-
mense moufflons, two tremendous stag-antlers, and some others of
different ages. These all belong to Bismarck's hunting expedi-.
tion in the park at Schonbrunn, when he hunted there after the
Danish war, with his royal master, as the guest of the Emperor of
Austria. The Emperor Francis Joseph at that time very gra-
ciously sent these trophies to Bismarck at Berlin.

On the other side of this hall, by way of a small room, one
passes behind the dining-room into a large garden saloon and
conservatory, with a pretty pavilion. In one of the guest-cham-
bers of the right wing, on the ground-floor, there is a picture
ghastly to look upon, of the master of the house, in life-size,
which, as Friedrich Gerstacker, the unwearied traveller, informs
us, is sold in great numbers in Venezuela. A worthy transat-
lantic Correggio, the name not yet known to fame, has depicted
the Count in a sky-blue miller's coat and bright green trowsers,
red neckerchief, and rosy red gloves, such as the dandies of Ca-
raccas probably wear, after a photograph. There is not a trace of
likeness in the face, and yet there is something so characteristic
in the attitude, that one immediately knows who one has before
one — something so like that the very dogs bark at it. Bismarck,
it is well known, is an especial favorite among the Germans in
America. Several new cities have been named after him ; there
is a Bismarck on the Conchos in Texas, and a Bismarck in Mis-
souri ; the locality of a third we do not recollect. A considerable
trans-oceanic trade is carried on in terribly bad photographs of
the Minister-President, and a German cutler has made himself
a little fortune by his Bismarck knives; these knives are distin-
guished by a very sharp and strong blade. Nor has the old

HOUSE INSCRIPTIONS. 455

world remained behind the new in its admiration. German ves-
sels bear Bismarck's name and likeness, under the black and
white and red flag, to the farthest shores. Acute champagne-
makers compete with Veuve Clicquot and the Due de Montebel-
lo under the designation of Bisrnarck-Schonhausen, and from
Cannes, in Southern France, to Kugenwaldermiinde, in Farther
Pomerania, speculative hotel-keepers announce that "Rooms have
just been engaged here for Count Bismarck." After the English
style, the name of Bismarck has been bestowed as a baptismal
name; we ourselves know a little Fraulein von X., named Wil-
helmine Bismarck Sadowa, born the 3d of July, 1866. In Spain
the lucifer-match boxes significantly bear the portraits of Bis-
marck and his royal master.

We have been especially pleased at finding Bismarck's name
in the true German household phrases. Thus, a dear and lately
deceased friend, the Privy Councillor Dr. von Arnim, wrote over
his door : —

Lang lebe und bliihe Kb'nig Wilhelm, mein Held ;
Mit ihra soil behalten Graf Bismarck das Feld !

Long live and flourish King William, my hero ; with him shall Count Bismarck
fceep the field.

Several house proprietors in Berlin have adopted this sentence ;
but still more apposite is the following inscription on the house
of a master weaver : —

Als Wilhelm wirkt und Bismarck spann,
Gott hatte seine Freude dran. 1866.
As William worked and Bismarck spon,
God had his joy thereon. 1866.

Gardeners have started a Bismarck rose, and a giant Bismarck
strawberry, and the fashionable world attires itself in Bismarck
brown. At our request, the management of the Bazar, the most
competent house for such things, has kindly shown us fourteen
shades of this color in silk, and informed us at the same time
that there are many more of such Bismarck shades ; that Bis-
marck/once is not nearly so dark as Bismarck courrouce. This
color originally was called hanneton (May beetle), and soon drove
the Vert Metternich from the field ; while in Austria a small cake
(semmel), strewn with a little poppy-seed, shaped like a pigtail,
holds its sway with the Eadetzky Kopfel. On the Parand

456 IS BISMAKCK POPULAR?

and Paraguay the steamer Count Bismarck runs up and down
the river. At Alexandria the passage Bismarck is full of brown
and black forms. At Blumberg, in the South Australian colony
of Adelaide, the Germans assemble in the Bismarck Hall, and to-
keep up their national enthusiasm over a drink, they smoke-
cigars " Conde de Bismarck." These are considered highly ele-
gant, but cost one hundred and thirty dollars a pound, although
there is a cheaper medium Bismarck cigar.

In the Grand Duchy of Poserf, by a Cabinet Order of the King,,
the four places Karsy, Bobry, Budy, and Zwierzchoslaw, in the
circle of Pleschen, have been, at the desire of the inhabitants, in-
corporated as Bismarcksdorf.

In Berlin the Bismarck-Strasse unites the Eoon-Strasse with
the Moltke-Strasse ; while in 1865 the malice of the Berlin wits-
wanted to change the name of the Wasserthor-Strasse. when the
terrible fall of the houses took place there, into Bismarck-Strasse.

In South Germany the belief that Bismarck does every thing
and can do every thing, down to the Spanish Revolution, and
perhaps even directs the weather, is continually spreading.
Oddly enough, the Ultramontane enemies of Bismarck especially
take care to spread the name of the Minister-President. They
certainly paint black over black, but they make the nation famil-
iar with his fame, and though they may ever depict him as a sort
of devil, truth will break through at last.

Is Bismarck really popular? This may be a curious question
to ask, but it may still be legitimately put, for in the ordinary
sense of the word Bismarck is not popular, despite his world-
wide fame. For instance, he is not popular as in our days Ca-
vour and Garibaldi have been. He has not the popularity of
the ruling party opinion and that of the day, but, in place of itr
his is the historical popularity which will preserve' his memory
to a grateful posterity. A correspondent of the liberal Paris pa-
per, Le Temps, very excellently expresses our meaning in rthe fol-
lowing remarks: — "The Chancellor of the North 'German Con-
federation is not what we can call a popular man ; the Prussians,
or at least the Berlinese, entertain for him a similar feeling to
that entertained by the other Germans for Prussia. They do not
love him; they love to exercise their wit upon him, and you
know how bitirig and salted the Berlin wit is; but they ac-

LOCAL POPULAKITY. 457

knowledge him and wonder at him, showing him tolerance.
They look upon him as the greatest statesman of the present
day ; are proud of him, although he often presses hard upon
them. M. de Bismarck has for the Prussians an incomparable
magic, particularly since he opposed the policy of Napoleon.
Since 1866, a change has taken place which has surprised me,
although there is nothing very surprising in it. Before 1866, the
Premier in every thing he did had the world pretty much against
him — to-day every impulse is expected from him, and if he gives
it, almost every one is at his back."

The question of popularity, as far as the great world is con-
cerned, may well be left here ; but in Varzin and the neighbor-
ing districts it has long since been determined. Only ask his
farmers and laborers ! And with the daring blacksmith — (or was
it a miller?) — who secretly poaches on Bismarck's preserves, the
Minister-President is, perhaps, the most popular of any.

It is a real pleasure to see Bismarck at Yarzin among his trees ;
not during those restless nocturnal wanderings in the park, to
which his sleepless illness only too frequently impels him, but
when he is pleasantly pointing out his favorites to his guests.
It was an event when the North German Chancellor, the sum-
mer before last, discovered three magnificent beeches in the
midst of a thicket.

On a declivity with a beautiful view, there is a rich deer pre-
serve. Bismarck might even erect a falconry, and hunt with
hawks — there are plenty in the Netherlands still. But this Im-
perial and Royal amusement is for him too — reactionary.

One day Bismarck thought, as he was riding to the Crangener
frontier, whither he had sent his gamekeeper, that he caught a
glimpse of a peculiar blue animal which fled before him. But
when he came up with it, it proved to be a blue parasol, and he
himself had fallen into an ambuscade, for he found himself sud-
denly surrounded by a crowd of young ladies, who received him
with songs. The pastor in Crangen kept a young ladies' school,
who, having heard that Bismarck was coming, thus paid their re-
spects to him in so unexpected a way, and left him, delighted
with his amiability. Crangen, an ancient hunting castle of the
Dukes of Pomerania, standing picturesquely, with its four stately
towers and high gables, between three lakes and high mountains,

458 NEIGHBORHOOD OF VARZIN.

is, without doubt, the most beautiful spot in this neighborhood.
It belongs to the Royal Major Retired Rank Freiherr Hugo von
Loen, who is Bismarck's nearest neighbor in that direction.

The long residence of Bismarck at Varzin during the summer
before last has directed the eyes of all Europe on this modest
seat in Farther Pomerania. Varzin was an old fief of the family
of Von Zitzewitz, who possessed many estates in this neighbor-
hood. It is said that it came per fas et nefas into the possession
of the very powerful Privy Minister of State and War and Prin-
cipal President of Pomerania, Caspar Otto von Massow, who then
sold it to Major General Adam Joachim, Count of Podewils.
Count Podewils and his brothers received a renewal of the fief,
and it was a heritage in their family, until in this century it
passed through an heiress to a Von Blurnenthal, Werner Constan-
tine von Blumenthal, who was raised to a Countship in 1840.
Bismarck purchased the Varzin estates from the younger sons of
this Blumenthal. They form, with Varzin, Wussow — where the
church is situated, Puddiger, Misdow, Chomitz, and Charlotten-
thai, a considerable property. The soil is not equal throughout ;
the forests are very fine and stately ; the wood in good condition.
The game is very plentiful — few stags, but plenty of roes, hares,
and smaller game. The Wipper, which falls into the Baltic at
Riigenwaldermiinde, five German miles from Varzin, serpentines
through the forests of the Bismarck property, and in part forms
the boundary of the estate, and is very useful for the transporta-
tion of the timber.

Formerly there were considerable glass factories in Misdow
and Chomitz, but they are no longer worked, nor is any spirit
distilled there ; but a wood factory it is said is in use — certainly
a profitable business in this neighborhood, so full of wood.

APPENDIX A.

IT has been thought desirable to give the originals of the two
poems translated respectively at pages 70-72, and pages 124.
125, by the present Editor, for the benefit of those who may like
to see them.

Das Blatt, das grun und kraftig

Des Wandrers Blick entzuckt,

In purem Golde prachtig

Den Schild der Bismarck schmiickt ;

Das Kleeblatt gtilden leuchtend,

Das 1st im blauen Feld

Von Nesselblattern drauend

Gar scharf und blank umstellt.

Es was vor alten Zeiten

Ein Fi aulein wonnesam,

Durch die der Nessel Zeichen

Ins Schild der Bismarck kam.

Um Fi aulein Gertrud warben

"Viel Edle, kampferprobt,

Die auf Geheiss des Vaters

Dem Vetter schon verlobt.

Da kam ein Fiirst der Wenden

Herab vom nord'schen Meer,

Er kam mit hundert Pferden —

Jung Gertrud sein Begehr ;

Jung Gertrud lehnte hoflich

Die hohe Ehre ab,

Der Fiirst, erziirnet hochlich,

Erhub den giild'nen Stab ;

Er winkte seinen Knechten

.Und rief, von Zorn entbrannt :

"Ich will das Kleeblatt brechen

Mit meiner eignen Hand !

Ja, war's noch eine Nessel,

Gab's doch ein kleines Weh,

Doch lustig ist's zu brechen,

Grim oder gold den Klee!" —

Und noch am selb'gen Tage,

Da stiirmt mit reis'gem Tross

Der Fiirst vom Wendenstamme

Jung Gertruds festes Schloss.

Der Burgvogt, iiberfallen,

Fiel fechtend in dem Tross,

Und iiber Wall und Graben

Der Wende drang ins Schloss.

Des leichten Siegs frohlockend

Der Fiirst schaut freudig drein,

Und trat mit stolzem Worte

In Gertruds Kammerlein :

" Ich komme, Dich zu brechen,

Du giildner Herzensklee,

Du brennst ja nicht wie Nesseln,

Das Kleeblatt thut nicht weh !"

Drauf that er sie umarmen,

Wie briinst'ge Liebe thut,

Doch plotzlich schrie er : " Gnade 1'

Und sank ins heisse Blut.

Jung Gertrud, wunderpi achtig,

Schwang iiber ihm den Stahl,

Den Dolch stiess sie ihm kraftig

Ins Herz zum andem Mai,

Und rief: " Das sind die Nesseln,

Die Nesseln brennen, weh !

Wer hat noch Lust zu brechen

Der Bismarck giildnen Klee ! "

Und seit Jung Gertruds Zeiten

Diaut in der Bismarck Schild

Der Nesseln blankes Zeichen,

Rings um des Kleeblatts Bild :

Mit scharfem Stahl sie haben

Ihr Kleinod stets bewahrt ;

Ja, seit jung Gertruds Tagen

Blieb das der Bismarck Art!

460

APPENDIX.

From Dr. Gr. Schwetschke's " Bismarckias." See pages
124.

Abgeschiittelt von den Sohlen
1st der Schulstaub ; hohe Wogen
Tragen jetzt das Schiff des Jiinglings.
Alle Anker sind gelichtet,
Alle Segel aufgezogen,
Und der Burschenfreiheit Flagge
Lustig flatternd zeigt die Inschrift :
" Nitimur in vetitum !"

Schone Tage wilder Freiheit !
Frohlich sammelt ihr die Jtinger
Der kastalischen neun Schwestern
Auch in andrer Gotter Hallen.
An den duftenden Altaren
Eines Bacchus und Gambrinus,
Edler Safte milder Spende,
Opfert froh der Neophyt.

Auch des kampfesfrohen Mavors
Heiligthum erschliesst sich prangend.
Hort ihr dort den Schall der WafFen ?
Hort ihr dort des Kampfes Tosen ?
Hei ! wie blitzen scharfe Klingen,
Hei ! wie pfeifen Terz und Quarten,
Wie so Mancher haut so Manchem
Ueber's Maul, und wird gehau'n.

Und so schlang ein rother Faden
(Namlich der von Blut und Eisen)
Damals schon durch unsres •' Burscheit
Erdenwallen " sich ; es melden
Gb'tting^n, Berlin und Greifswald
Kuhnen Muthes hohe " Thaten
Von vergangner Jahre Tagen " —
Wie einst Ossian es sang.

APPENDIX B.

THE PRUSSIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1847.
(Page 166.)

THE great interest and importance of the following documents,
from their forming the absolute point of departure of Bismarck's
political activity, has induced their republication in this volume,
together with some few other papers bearing upon various mat-
ters in relation to German and Prussian politics. At the present
day they can not fail to be read with interest, inasmuch as they
illustrate in a remarkable degree the impolicy of hasty conces-
sions. The Prussia and Germany of 1847 was hardly prepared
by political education and enlightenment for such concessions,
and the immediate effect, which the English editor of these
pages personally witnessed, was a stimulant to the ultra party to
demand more and more at the hands of the King. The text
amply illustrates the excited state of public opinion at the time,
which culminated in the days of March, 1848, and has required
the steady and fearless hand of Count Bismarck to rein in. Po-
litical students can make their own comments.

The following is a translation of a decree dated Berlin, Febru-
ary 3d, 1847 :—

We, Frederick William, by the grace of God, King of Prussia,
etc., give notice, and herewith ordain to be known : —

Since the commencement of our government we have constant-
ly applied particular care to the development of the relations of
the States of our country.

We recognize in this .matter one of the weightiest problems of
the kingly calling bestowed on us by God, in the solution of
which a twofold aim is marked out for us — namely, to transmit

462 APPENDIX.

the rights, the dignity, and the power of the Crown, inherited
from our ancestors of glorious memory, intact to our successors.
on the throne ; but at the same time to grant to the faithful
States of our monarchy that co-operation which, in unison with
those rights, and the peculiar relations of our monarchy, is fitted
to secure a prosperous future to our country.

In respect whereof, continuing to build on the laws given by
His late Majesty our Royal Father, now resting with God, par-
ticularly on the Ordinance respecting the national debt of the
17th of January, 1820, and on the law respecting the regulation
of the Provincial Diets of the 5th of June, 1823, we decree as fol-
lows : —

1. — As often as the wants of the State may require either fresh
loans, or the introduction of new taxes, or the increase of those
already existing, we will call together around us the Provincial
Diets of the monarchy in an United Diet, in order, first!}', to call
into play that co-operation of the Diets provided by the Ordir
nance respecting the national debt ; and secondly, to assure us of
their consent.

2. — We will for the future call together at periodical times the
Committee of the United Diet.

3. — To the United Diet, and, as its representative, to the Com-
mittee of the United Diet, we intrust —

(a.) In reference to counsel of the Diet in legislation, the same-
co-operation which was assigned to the Provincial Diets by the
law of June 5tb, 1823, Sec. 3, No. 2, so long as no general as-
semblies of the Diet take place.

(b.) The co-operation of the Diets in paying the interest on,
and liquidation of, the State debts, provided by the law of Janu-
ary 17th, 1820, in so far as such business is not confided to the
Deputation of the Diet for the national debt.

(c.) The right of petition upon internal, though not merely
provincial, matters.

All the above, as is more closely defined in our Ordinances of
this day respecting the formation of an United Diet, the periodical
assembling of the committee of the United Diet and its functions,,
and the formation of a deputation of the Diet for the national
debt.

While we thus far refer to the promises of that Gracious Sov-

APPENDIX. 463

ereign our Royal Father, on the raising of new loans, as well as-
the increase of existing taxes, which are founded on that system
of the German Constitution, bound up with the assent of the
States, and in thereby giving to our subjects a special proof of
our royal confidence ; so we expect in return the like confidence
from their often-proved fidelity and honor, as was shown when
we ascended the throne of our father, and also we expect that
they will support us and our efforts directed solely to the welfare
of the country, on which efforts success under God's gracious as-
sistance can not fail to await.

Officially authenticated by our own subscription, and sealed
with our royal seal.

FBEDEIUCK WILLIAM.

Given at Berlin, Feb. 3d, 1847.
(L.S.)

ORDINANCE OF THE THIRD OF FEBRUARY, 1847, FOR THE FORMA-
TION OF THE UNITED DIET.

We, Frederick William, by the grace of God, King of Prussia,
etc., having taken the opinion of our Ministers of State, make the
following Ordinance, in pursuance of our letters patent of this
day, in the matter of the affairs of the Diets, respecting the forma-
tion of an United Diet : —

Section 1. — We shall unite the eight Provincial Diets of our
monarchy in one Diet, as often as is necessary, according to the
tenor of our letters patent of this day, or on any other occasion
when we think it needful on account of urgent matters of State.

With regard to the place of assembly, and the continuance of
the Session of this United Diet, as well as with regard to its
opening and close, we will make a special determination in each
particular case.

Section 2. — We grant to the Princes of our Koyal House, as
soon as, according to the prescriptions of law, they have attained
majority, the right of sitting arid voting in the Estate of Princes,
Counts, and Lords, at the United Diet. The Estate of Nobles in
this Diet is composed, besides, of the Princes and Counts of the
old Imperial Constitution, who have seats in the Provincial Diets,

464 .APPENDIX.

as well as of the Silesian Princes and noblemen, and all other
.founders, Princes, Counts, and Lords of the eight Provincial
Diets who are entitled either to a single or collective vote in
those Assemblies.

The Princes of our House may, under our sanction, in case of
hindrance, intrust some other Prince of our House with the dis-
posal of their votes.

Single members of the Estate of Nobles, who are invested with
full powers in the Provincial Diet, retain this privilege in like
manner for the United Diet.

In respect to the organization and enlargement of the Estate of
Nobles, we reserve to ourselves the right of further regulations.

Section 3. — The Deputies of the Estate of Knighthood, and the
Commoners of the eight Provinces of our monarchy, are to ap-
pear in the United Diet in the same numbers as in the Provincial
Diets.

Section 4. — To the United Diet we intrust the co-operation
reserved to the Provincial Diets in case of State loans by Article
2 of the Ordinance relative to the national debt, dated January
17th, 1820 ; and, accordingly, no new loans, for which the collec-
tive property of the State may be assigned as security (Article 3
of the Ordinance of January 17th, 1820), shall be contracted with-
out the concurrence and guaranty of the United Diet.

Section 5. — If new loans, of the nature mentioned in Section 4,
are required for covering the expenses of the State in time of
peace, we will not contract them without the consent of the
United Diet.

Section 6. — If, however, in the event of expected war, or war
already broken out, the funds in our Treasury, and other reserve
funds, are insufficient for the requisite purpose, extraordinary sup-
plies and loans must therefore be raised ; and if urgent political
circumstances should not admit of our appeal. to the United Diet,
the said loan shall be raised with the concurrence of the deputa-
tion for the national debt, which concurrence shall stand in lieu
of the co-operation of the States. Loans for the above-mentioned
objects, contracted with the concurrence of the deputation, will be
raised on the same security as that which, in Article 3 of the Or-
dinance of January 17th, 1820, is assigned for the national debt.

Section 7. — Should a loan be raised, in the manner mentioned

APPENDIX. 465

in Section 6, we will, on the removal of the obstacles which pre-
vented an appeal to the United Diet, call it together, and explain
the object and application of the loan.

Section 8. — Moreover, the United Diet, conformably with:
Article 9 of the Ordinance of .January 17th, 1820, must propose
to us the candidates for vacant posts in the chief department for
the administration of the national debt; and, conformably with
Article 13 of the said Ordinance, the accounts for the administra-
tion of the national debt, drawn up by the deputation, must be
carefully examined by the United Diet, and submitted to us for
discharge in separate resolutions.

When the United Diet is not sitting, this business must be
transacted by the Committee of the United Diet.

Section 9. — Without the consent of the United Diet, we will
not introduce any new imposts, nor increase the amount of the
existing taxes, either generally or in any particular province.

This condition does not, however, extend to import, export, and
transit duties, nor to those indirect taxes, the specification, levy-
ing, or administration of which may be the subjects of an under-
standing with other Powers ; neither does that condition refer to
domains or royal property (whether the arrangements relate to
income or to substance), or to taxes for objects relating to prov-
inces, circles, or communes.

Section 10. — In the event of a war, we reserve to ourselves the
right of levying extraordinary taxes without the assent of the
United Diet, when urgent political circumstances do not permit
us to call it together. In such cases, however, we will, as soon as
circumstances permit, or at latest on the termination of the war,
make known to the United Diet the object and application of the
extraordinary taxes which may have been levied.

Section 11.. — Should the Diet be called together on any of the
occasions specified in Sections 4-10, copies of the finance esti-
mates and the accounts of the State for the intervals between the
sittings of the Assembly shall be submitted to the members for
their information.

The fixing of the finance estimates, as well as determining the
employment of the State revenue, and the application of the sur-
plus to the wants and welfare of the State, remains an exclusive
privilege of the Crown.

466 APPENDIX.

Section 12. — Conformably with a law of the 5th of January,
1823, we reserve to ourselves the right of demanding extraordi-
nary counsel from the United Diet in framing laws relating to al-
terations in the rights of persons and property, or on other mat-
ters than those alluded to in Section 9, which have for their ob-
ject alterations in the taxes, whether those laws concern the whole
monarchy or several provinces. The Diet is authorized to give
the required counsel, with full lawful effect.

Should we deem it necessary to seek counsel of the Diet con-
cerning changes in the constitution of the Diet — changes which,
not being limited to any particular province, are not to be ar-
ranged by the Diet of that province — we shall demand an opin-
ion from the United Diet, for whose consideration changes in
such matters of State are exclusively reserved.

Section 13. — To the United Diet belongs the right of laying
before us petitions and complaints relating to the internal affairs
of the whole kingdom, or of several provinces; on the other
hand, petitions and complaints which concern merely the inter-
ests of particular provinces must be referred to the provincial
Diets.

Section 14 — When the United Diet has determined on raising
new State loans (Section 5), or the introduction of new taxes, or
increasing the existing rate of taxes (Section 9), the Estate of the
Nobles must take part with the other estates in the discussion
and decision. In all other cases the deliberations and votes of
the Estate of the Nobles in the United Diet are to take place in
a separate assembly.

Section 15. — Every member of the Estate of the Nobles is en-
titled to a full vote in the United Diet, but when (as mentioned
in Section 14) the Estate of the Nobles is united with the other
estates in one Assembly, the members of that Estate, taking part
in the discussions of the United Diet, have only that number of
votes which belongs to them in the Provincial Diets.

Section 16. — Resolutions are to be carried by the majority of
votes.

Petitions and complaints are only to be brought under our cog-
nizance when they have been deliberated on in both Assemblies
(that is, in the Assembly of the Estate of Nobles, and in the As-
sembly of Deputies of the Knighthood and Commoners), and

APPENDIX. 467

when in each of these Assemblies at least two-thirds of the votes
have been in. favor of such petitions or complaints.

When the two above-named Assemblies, or one of them, after
the discussion of a law, or of certain articles of a law, shall decide
against that law by a majority less than that above-named, the
views of the minority shall be submitted to our consideration.

Section 17. — If on a subject in respect to which the interests
of two different estates or provinces may be at variance with
each other, a particular estate or province should have reason to
complain of a resolution according to the terms of Section 16, a
separation of the Assembly into its component parts takes place,
if a majority of two-thirds of the said estate or province be ob-
tained.

In such case the estate or province must discuss the matter
separately, or pass a separate vote, and the various views enter-
tained on the subject will afterwards be submitted to our decision.

Also, in other cases, we reserve to ourselves the privilege of
requiring, when we think fit so to do, a separate opinion from
each of the estates and provinces.

Section 18. — For the Estate of Nobles of the Assembled Diet,
as well as for the Assembly of the Knighthood and Commoners,
we will appoint a Marshal to conduct the business and to act as
president. The places of both these Marshals may, in the event
of their being disabled from attending, be supplied by Vice-
Marshals.

When, as mentioned in Section 14, the Estate of "Nobles and
the other estates unite together, the Presidency of the Assembly
devolves on the Marshal or Vice-Marshal of the Estate of Nobles.

Section 19. — The United Diet is not connected in its functions
with those of circles, communes, or corporations ; its functions
are likewise independent of the classes or persons which it repre-
sents; and these are not allowed to give to the Deputies either
instructions or commissions.

Section 20. — Petitions or complaints must not be presented or
delivered by any except the members of the United Diet.

Section 21. — Petitions and complaints which we have once re-
jected must not again be presented to us by the said Assembly,
and must only be renewed when new causes give occasion for
them.

468 APPENDIX.

Section 22. — In all deliberations of the United Diet, or of sin-
gle estates or provinces of the same (Sections 14 to 17), our Min-
isters of State, and also such of our high officers as we appoint
to attend -during the whole sitting, or for particular occasions,
shall be present, and shall take part in the discussions when
they think necessary. They are not, however, to vote, except
when they are authorized to do so as members of the Diet.

Section 23. — The business of the United Diet is to be regula-
ted according to rules approved by us.

Given under our autograph signature and royal seal.

FKEDERICK WILLIAM.

Berlin, Feb. 3d, 1847.

ORDINANCE OF THE THIRD OF FEBRUARY, 1847, RESPECTING THE
PERIODICAL ASSEMBLING OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED
DIET AND ITS PRIVILEGES.

We, Frederick William, by the grace of God, King of Prus-
sia, etc., after having taken the opinion of our Ministers of State,
make the following Ordinance, in pursuance of our letters patent
of this day, in the matters of the affairs of the Diet, respecting the
periodical assembling of the Committee of the United Diet and
its functions : —

Section 1'. — The Committees of the Provincial Diets are to be
convened to form the Committee of the United Diet, according
to the regulation laid down by the Ordinances of June 21st, 1842.
The former Princes of the Empire in the province of Westpha-
lia, as well as those in the Ehine Province, are to be entitled to
depute from amongst themselves two members each to the Com-
mittee of the United Diet, who may participate in its proceedings
either in person or through plenipotentiaries from the members
of the Estate of Nobles of the United Diet. Besides this, a Dep-
uty is to proceed to the Committee of the United Diet from each
of the provinces of Prussia, Brandenburgh,Pomerania, and Posen,
to be elected by and from the members of the First Estate enti-
tled to single or collective votes. As regards the province of
Pomerania, the Prince of Putbus is to assume this post without

APPENDIX. 469

election, so long as he remains the only nobleman in the province
possessed of the qualification specified.

The election of the other members of the. Committee is to take
place at the United Diet, in accordance with the Ordinances of
the 21st of June, 1842, through the representatives of the several
provinces ; but in the interval between one United Diet and an-
other as hitherto, viz., at each Provincial Diet.

Section 2. — The Committee of the United Diet will be con-
vened by us as often as a necessity arises therefor, but, at .the
farthest, four years after the close of the last assembly of the
same; or, if a United Diet has been held in the mean time, within
the same lapse of time after the close of the latter.

We shall require, as a general rule, from the Committee of the
United Diet, requisite advice, according to the general law of the
5th of June, 1823, respecting the laws which have for their ob-
ject alterations in the rights of persons and property, or others
than the alterations in taxation designated in Section 9 of the
Ordinance of this day, upon the formation of the United Diet, if
these laws concern the whole monarchy or several provinces;
and we hereby confer upon it the privilege of giving such advice,
with full legal effect. The regulation in Article 3, No. 2, of the
above-mentioned law is annulled by the present regulation.

As, however, we have already reserved to ourselves, in the
Ordinance concerning the formation of the United Diet, the right
to acquire from it opinions of the same kind, in appropriate cases,
we will equally reserve to ourselves the right to submit laws of
the above-mentioned description which concern the whole mon-
archy or several provinces, in exceptional cases, for the opinion
of the Provincial Diets, if this should appear advisable for partic-
ular reasons — for example, for the sake of dispatch.

Section 4. — The Committee of the United Diet, as the repre-
sentative of the United Diet, is to attend to business relating to
the State debts, pointed out in our Ordinance of this day, on the
formation of the United Diet.

Section 5. — The right of petition appertains to the Committee
of the United Diet to the same extent as to the United Diet itself.
Herefrom are excepted, however, all proposals having alterations
of the constitution of the Diet in view.

Section 6. — Should we find ourselves induced to make com-

470 APPENDIX.

munications to the said Committee of the United Diet upon the
State finances, the regulations of the llth Section of the Ordi-
nance on the formation of the United Diet are to come into full
operation.

Section 7. — The conduct of business and the presidency of the
Committee of the United Diet is to be assumed by a Marshal, to
be appointed by us, who will be represented, in case of need, by
a Vice-Marshal, to be similarly appointed.

Section 8. — The Committee of the United Diet is to deliberate
as an undivided assembly. Its resolutions are, as a general rule,
to be adopted by a simple majority of votes.

Petitions and complaints are only to be laid before us if they
have been voted by at least two-thirds of the members.

If the Committee of the United Diet declares itself, on the
deliberation of a law, against the law, or some of the provisions
of the same, by a less majority than that above mentioned, the
views of the minority are also to be laid before us.

Section 9. — The Provincial Diets are to communicate to their
several Committees no instructions or proposals for the Committee
of the United Diet.

Section 10.— The regulations of the 17th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22d,
and 23d Sections of the Ordinance of this day, on the formation
of the United Diet, are also to eorne into full operation in the
Committee of the United Diet.

Given under our royal hand and seal, at Berlin, Februarv 3d,
1847. FREDERICK WILLIAM.

ORDINANCE FOR THE FORMATION OF A DEPUTATION OF THE DIET
FOR THE AFFAIRS OF THE STATE DEBTS.

"We, Frederick William, etc., ordain as follows: —
1. In the execution of the co-operation proposed in the 6th
Section of the Ordinance of this day, relative to the formation of
the United Diet, in the contraction of State loans in times of war,
and for the current co-operation of the Diet in the reduction and
extinction of the State debt.

APPENDIX. 471

A deputation of the Diet shall be formed for the affairs of the
State debt.

2. This deputation to consist of eight members, of whom one
is to be chosen in each of the eight provinces, by the States of
the province, for a period of six years.

The election to take place at the United Diet, but in the inter-
val 'between one Diet and another, at the Provincial Diets, ac-
cording to the regulation relative to the proceedings in election
of Diets of the 22d June, 1842. The election must only Ml on
persons who are members of the Diet in question. If one of the
elected members loses the qualification before the lapse of the
sexennial period, he is also to secede from the deputation. If,
however, his secession is caused by his not having been re-elect-
ed as a Deputy of the Diet, he is to remain a member of the dep-
utation till the next Diet.

To each member of the deputation two locum tenentes are to be
chosen, of whom one is to replace him in case of emergency, as
well as in the event of a vacancy occurring in the interval be-
tween one Diet and another. The choice of these locum tenentes
is to be made conformably with the regulations respecting the
actual members.

3. The members of the deputation are to be sworn to the ful-
fillment of their duties in their summons.

Section 4. — To the province of the deputation appertain the
following duties, exclusively of the co-operation in the contrac-
tion qf war loans conferred by the six sections already mentioned.

1. The deputation is to take charge of the redeemed State debt
documents, according to the regulation of Article 14 of the Or-
dinance of 17th January, 1820, and to effect their deposit in the
Judicial Chamber.

2. It is to audit the annual accounts of the interest and extinc-
tion of the State debts, after they have been previously revised
by the upper chamber of accounts, and to cause them to be pre-
sented to us for our approval by the United Diet, or the Com-
mittee thereof, on its next assembly, according to the 14th Arti-
cle of the Ordinance of January 17th, 1820.

3. It is authorized to undertake extraordinary revisions of the
fund for the extinction of the State debts and the control of the
State papers, on the occasion of its meeting.

472 APPENDIX.

The deputation for the affairs of the State debt will regularly
meet once a year, and besides this, as often as occasion demands ;
the summons to be made by the Minister of the Interior.

6. The deputation is to elect a President at each meeting, who
must be presented to the Minister of the Interior.

The presence of at least five members will be requisite to con-
stitute a valid act of the deputation.

Given under our hand, etc.,

FREDERICK WILLIAM.

Berlin, Feb. 3, 1847.

OPENING- OF THE PRUSSIAN DIET.

THE KING'S SPEECH.
APRIL, 1847.

[King Frederick William IV., on opening the Diet, made the
following speech, of sufficient importance to be added here,
when the circumstances of the grant of the Constitution are
considered.]

ILLUSTRIOUS noble Princes, Counts, and Lords, my dear and
trusty Orders of Nobles, Burghers, and Commons, I bid you from
the depth of my heart welcome on the day of the fulfillment of a
great work of my father, resting in God, never to be forgotten.
King William III., of glorious memory.

The noble edifice of representative freedom, the eight mighty
pillars of which the King of blessed memory founded deep and
unshakably in the peculiar organization of his provinces, is to-
day perfected in your Assembly. It has received its protecting
roof. The King wished to have finished his work himself, but
his views were shipwrecked in the utter impracticability of the
plans laid before him. Therefrom arose evils which his clear
eye detected with grief, and, before all, the uncertainty which
made many a noble soil susceptible of weeds. Let us bless, how-
ever, to-day the conscientiousness of the true beloved King, who
despised his own earlier triumph in order to guard his folk from
later ruin, and let us honor his memory by not perilling the ex-

APPENDIX. 473

istence of his completed work by the impatient haste of begin-
ners.

I give up beforehand all co-operation thereto. Let us suffer
time, and, above all, experience, to have their way ; and let us
commit the work, as is fitting, to the furthering and forming
hands of Divine Providence. Since the commencement of the
operation of the Provincial Diets, I have perceived the defects of
individual portions of our representative life, and proposed to
myself conscientiously the grave question, how they were to be
remedied ? My resolutions on this point have long since arrived
at maturity. Immediately on my accession I made the first step
towards realizing them by forming the Committees of the Pro-
vincial Diets, and by calling them together soon after.

You are aware, Lords and Gentlemen, that I have now made
the days for the meeting of those Committees periodical, and that
I have confided to them the free working of the Provincial Diets.
For the ordinary run of affairs their deliberations will satisfac-
torily represent the desired point of union. But the law of Jan'
uary 17th, 1820, respecting the State debts, gives, in that portion
of it not as yet carried out, rights and privileges to the Orders
which can be exercised neither by the Provincial Assemblies nor
by the Committees.

As the heir of an unweakened crown, which I must and will
hand down unweakened to my descendants, I know that I am
perfectly free from all and every pledge with respect to what has
not been carried out, and, above all, with respect to that from
the execution of which his own true paternal conscience pre-
served my illustrious predecessor. The law is, however, carried
oat in all its essential parts; an edifice of justice has been built
upon it, oaths have been sworn on it, and it has, all unfinished as
it is, maintained itself as a wise law for seven-and-twenty years.
Therefore have I proceeded, with a cheerful heart indeed, but
with all the freedom of my kingly prerogative, to its final com-
pletion. I am, however, the irreconcilable enemy of all arbitrary
proceedings, and must have been a foe, above all. to the idea of
bringing together an artificial arbitrary assembly of the Orders,
which should deprive the noble creation of the King, my dear
father — I mean the Provincial Diets — of their value. It has been,
therefore, for many years my firm determination only to form

474

APPENDIX.

this Assembly, ordained by law, or by the fusion together of the
Provincial Diets. It is formed ; I have recognized your claim to
all the rights flowing from that law ; and, far beyond — yes, far
beyond — all the promises of the King of blessed memory, I have
granted you, within certain necessary limits, the right of grant-
ing taxes — a right, gentlemen, the responsibility of which weighs'
far more heavily than the honor which accompanies it. This
august Assembly will now denote important periods in the ex-
istence of our State, which are treated of in my patent of Feb-
ruary 3d. As soon as those periods occur, I will assemble the
Diets on each separate occasion round my throne, in order to de-
liberate with them for the welfare of mv country, and to afford
them an opportunity for the exercise of their rights. I have,
however, reserved the express right of calling together these
great Assemblies on extraordinary occasions, when I deem it
good and profitable ; and I will do this willingly and at more
frequent intervals, if this Diet gives me proof that I may act thus
without prejudice to higher sovereign duties.

My trusty and free subjects have received all the laws which
I and my father have granted them for the protection of their
highest interests, and especially the laws of the 3d of February,
with warm gratitude, and woe to him who shall dare to dash
their thankfulness with care, or to turn it into ingratitude.

Every Prussian knows that for twenty-four years past all laws
which concern his freedom and property have been first discussed
by the Orders, but from this time forward let every one in my
kingdom know that I, with the sole necessary exception of the
occurrence of the calamity of war, will contract no State loan,
levy no new taxes, nor increase existing ones, without the free
consent of all Orders.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, I know that with these rights
I intrust a costly jewel of freedom to your hands, and that you
will employ it faithfully. But I know, as certainly, that many
will mistake and despise this jewel — that to many it is not
enough. A portion of the press, for instance, demands outright
from me and my Government a revolution in Church and State,
and from you, gentlemen, acts of importunate ingratitude, of ille-
gality— nay, of disobedience. Many also, and among them very
worthy men, look for our safety in the conversion of the natural

APPENDIX. 475

relation between Prince and people into a conventional existence,
granted by charters and ratified by oaths.

May, however, the example of the one happy country, whose
constitution centuries and a hereditary wisdom without a par-
allel, but no sheets of paper, have made, not be lost upon us, but
find the respect which it deserves. If other countries find their
happiness in another way than that people and ourselves, name-
ly, in the way of " manufactured and granted" constitutions, we
must and will praise their happiness in an upright and brotherly
manner. We will, with the justest admiration, consider the sub-
lime example, when a strong will of iron consequence and high
intelligence succeeds in delaying, in mastering, and allaying every
crisis of serious importance ; arid above all, when this tends to the
welfare of Germany, and the maintenance of the peace of Eu-
rope. But Prussia, gentlemen, Prussia can not bear such a state
of things. Do you ask why? I answer, cast your eyes at the
map of Europe, at the position of our country, at its component
parts; follow the line of our borders, weigh the power of our
neighbors, throw before all an enlightened glance on our history.
It has pleased God to make Prussia strong by the sword of war
from without, and by the sword of intellect from within ; not,
surely, by the negative intellect of the age, but by the spirit of
moderation and order. I speak out boldly, gentlemen. As in
the camp, unless in cases of the most urgent danger or grossest
folly, the command can only be rested in the will of one, so can
the destinies of this country, unless it is to fall instantly from its
height, only be guided by one will ; and if the King of Prussia
would commit an abomination, were he to demand from his sub-
jects the subserviency of a slave, so would he commit a far great-
er abomination were he not to demand from them the crowning
virtue of freemen — I mean obedience for the sake of God and
conscience. Whoever is alarmed at the tenor of these words,
him I refer to the development of our laws for a century back,
to the edicts of the Orders, and finally, to this Assembly and its
rights ; there he may find consolation if he will.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, I am forced to the solemn dec-
laration, that no power on earth will ever succeed in moving me
to change the natural — and, in our own case, so imperatively
necessary — relation between Prince and people, into something

476 APPENDIX.

merely conventional or constitutional ; and that, once for all, I
will never suffer a written sheet of paper to force itself in, as it
were a second providence, between our Lord God in Heaven and
this people, in order to rule us with its paragraphs, and to replace
by them our ancient and time-hallowed trusty reliance on each
other. Between us be truth. From one weakness I feel myself
entirely free — I strive not for idle popular favor ; who could do
so if he has read history aright ? I strive alone to fulfill my
duty, so as to satisfy my understanding and my conscience, and
to deserve the thanks of my people, even though it be never my
lot to obtain it.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, it has often caused me care
and impatience during the first years of my reign, that I could
not remove hinderances which opposed an earlier convocation of
your Assembly. I was wrong. On both sides we should have
been poorer by many experiences, poorer by experiences in part
of a costly nature ; but all of them, if not always good, yet for us
of priceless worth. We have now lying open before us the ex-
periences of seven years, and, by God's good pleasure, not in vain.
The working of parties on one side, and the temper of my people
on the other, are now clear and indubitable. It is a splendid priv-
ilege of the kingly office, that it can on all occasions call things
by their right names without fear. I will do this to-day before
you, as a duty which I have to fulfill. I beg you now to follow
me a moment, while with a sharp eye we consider the state of
things at home.

The dearth which has visited Europe of latter years, has also
penetrated to us, if with less severity than in other countries. It
has, however, found us well prepared, and I can give my Govern-
ment the honorable testimonial that it has honestly done its part
towards alleviating the calamity. There are, also, means further
to resist it, if God spares us from new failures in the crops.
Here I must mention private benevolence, which, in these times,
has manifested itself anew so nobly, so cheeringly; and I pay it
here, before you, the tribute of my admiration and my gratitude.

The extinction of the national debt-is progressing. The taxes
are diminished, the finances are put in order. I have to-day the
happiness to offer the provinces, for the use of their treasuries, a
donation of 2,000,000 rix-dollars.

APPENDIX. 477

The management of affairs, and the administration of justice,
are with us in a purer condition than almost in any other coun-
try ; publicity is established in our Courts; roads, canals, all
kinds of improvements of the land are proceeding to an extent
before unknown ; science and art are in the most flourishing con-
dition ; the national prosperity is increasing; trade and industry,
if, alas ! not -protected against their European vicissitudes, are
comparatively satisfactory ; paternal care and good-will are cer-
tainly nowhere to be mistaken ; the press is as free as the laws
of the Confederation permit ; the freedom of confession is associ-
ated with animating power to our old liberty of faith and con-
science; and our just pride and strong shield, my army of the
line and militia, may be called incomparable.

With our neighbors and with the Powers on this and the other
side of ;the ocean -we stand on the best terms, arid our relation to
our allies, in combination with whom we once freed Germany,
and from the happy concord of whom depends the maintenance
of a thirty-two years' peace in a great part of Europe, is firmer
and closer than ever.

I could add much which would be calculated to bend our
knees in thanks towards God, but this will suffice. For it is
quite sufficient to found this gratitude, and a state of content-
ment, which in an honest comparison, in spite of many just wish-
es, appears quite natural. Before all, one would think that the
press must diffuse gratitude and contentment on all sides, for I
venture to say that it is the press which, to a particular extent,
owes me thanks. Noble Lords and faithful States, I require your
German hearts to grant me those thanks. While recognizing the
honorable endeavor to elevate the press by a noble and conscien-
tious spirit, it is yet unquestionable that in a portion of it a dark
spirit of destruction prevails, a spirit that entices to revolution,
and that deals in the most audacious falsehood, disgraceful to
German fidelity and Prussian honor. I know that the genuine
sense of the people remains firm, but we do not deceive ourselves
as to the evil fruits of the evil tree, which meet us in the shape
of dissatisfaction and want of confidence, attended by still worse
facts, such as open disobedience, secret conspiracy, a declared re-
volt from all which is sacred to good men, and attempted regi-
cide. Even in our churches are seen those fruits, together with

478 APPENDIX.

the twofold death in indifference and fanaticism. But ecclesiasti-
cal matters do not belong to the States. They have their legiti-
mate organs in the two confessions. One confession of faith I
am, on this day, unable to suppress, bearing in mind the fright-
ful attempt to defraud ray people of its holiest jewel — its faith in
the Redeemer, Lord and King of itself and of us all. This avowal
is as follows. [Here his majesty arose, and spoke the word stand-
ing, and with right hand uplifted] " I and my house, we will
serve the Lord."

I turn my troubled glance from the aberrations of a few to the
whole of my people. Then does it grow bright with tears of
joy ; there, my lords, amid all the heavy troubles of government,
is my consolation. My people is still the old Christian people —
the honest, true, valiant people — which has fought the battles of
my fathers, and the honorable qualities of which have only grown
with the greatness and fame of their country, which -once, like no
other, in the days of trouble, bound itself to its paternal King,
and bore him, as it were, upon its shoulders from victory to vic-
tory,— a people, my lords, often tempted by the arts of seduction,
but always found proof against them. Even out of the strongest
of these trials it will come forth pure. Already is the impious
sport with Christianity, the abuse of religion as a means of dis-
tinction, recognized in its true form as sacrilege, and is dying
away. My firm reliance upon the fidelity of my people, as the
surest means of extinguishing the conflagration, has been ever no-
bly rewarded both by the older and the younger sons of our Prus-
sian country, even where another language than ours is spoken.

Therefore, hear this well, Lords and faithful States, and may
all the country hear it through you. From all the indignities to
which I and my Government have been exposed for some years,
I appeal to my people! From all evils which perhaps are still
in reserve for me, I appeal beforehand to rny people! My peo-
ple knows my heart, my faith and love to it, and adheres in love
and faith to me. My people does not wish the association of
representatives in the Government, the weakening of rank, the
division of sovereignty, the breaking up of the authority of its
kings, who have founded its history, its freedom, its prosperity,
and who alone can protect its dearest acquisitions, and will pro-
tect them, God willing, as heretofore.

APPENDIX. 479

Know, my lords, I do not read the feelings of my people in the
green arches and huzzahs of festivity ; still less in the praise and
blame of the press, or in the doubtful, sometimes criminal, de-
mands of certain addresses which are sent to the Throne, and
States, or elsewhere. I have read them with my own eyes in the
touching thanks of men for benefits scarcely promised, scarcely
begun ; here, where broad districts of land stood under water •
there, where men scarcely recovered from hunger. In their
grateful joy, in their wet eyes, did I read their feelings three
years ago, when the lives of myself and the Queen were so won-
derfully preserved. This is truth — and in my words is truth,
when I say, that it is a noble people; and I feel entirely the hap-
piness of presiding over such a people. And your hearts will
understand rne and accord with me, when in this great hour 1
urgently call upon you — " Be worthy of this people !"

Illustrious Princes, Counts, and Lords, you will have recog-
nized in the position assigned to you by law in this United Diet,
my intention that that position should be a dignified one, at once
answering to the conception of a German order of nobles, and
also beneficial to the whole community. I rely upon your deep-
ly feeling at this hour, and in these times, what is meant b}' be-
ing the first of a nation, and also what is required at your hands.
You will repay my confidence.

You, my Lords of the nobility, and my faithful Burghers and
Commons, are, I am firmly persuaded, impressed with this truth,
that on this day, and in this hour, you are the first of your re-
spective Orders; but, therefore, also the protectors of your an-
cient renown. Look at this throne ! Your fathers and mine —
many princes of your race, and of mine, and myself — have fought
for the preservation, the deliverance, and the honor of that
throne, and for the existence of our native land. God was with
us ! There is now a new battle to be fought on behalf of the
same glorious possessions — a peaceful one, indeed, but its com-
bats are not a whit less important than those of the field of war.
And God will be with us yet again, for the battle is against the
evil tendencies of the age. Your unanimity with me, the prompt
expression of your wish to aid me in improving the domain of
rights (that true field for the labor of kings), will make this Diet
a pitched battle gained against every evil and lawless influence

480 APPENDIX.

that troubles and dishonors Germany ; and the work will be to
your renown and that of the country, and the contentment and
satisfaction of the people.

Kepresentatives of the Nobles, be now and for the future, as of
old, the first to follow the banner of the Hohenzollerns, that for
three centuries has led you on to honor. And you, Burghers,
give to the whole world a living testimony that the intelligence
—the great mass of which you are proud to represent — is, among
us, that right and true one which ennobles by the development
of religion and morality, and by the love of your King and coun-
try. And you, representatives of the Commons, you and your
Order are never the last when your country and your King call
on you, whether it be in peace or in war. Hear the voice of
your King, that tells you they require you again !

In my kingdom, neither of the three Orders ranks above or
beneath the other. They stand beside each other on an equality
of rights and honor, but each within its limits, each with its own
province. This is a practicable and reasonable equality. This
is freedom.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, a word more on the question
— yes, the question of existence between the Throne and the dif-
ferent Orders. The late King, after mature consideration, called
them into existence, according to the German and historical idea
of them ; and in this idea alone have I continued his work. Im-
press yourselves, I entreat you, with the spirit of this definition.
You are German Orders, in the anciently received sense of the
word — that is, you are truly, and before all, "representatives and
defenders of your own rights," the rights of those Orders whose
confidence has sent here the far greater portion of this Assembly.
But after that you are to exercise those rights which the Crown
has recognized as yours ; you have, further, conscientiously to
give the Crown that advice it requires of you. Finally, you are
free to bring petitions and complaints, after mature deliberation,
to the foot of the throne.

Those are the rights, those the duties, of German Orders ;
this is your glorious vocation. But it is not your province to
represent opinions, or bring opinions of the day, or of this or that
school, into practical operation. That is wholly un-German, and,
besides, completely useless for the good of the community, for it

APPENDIX. 481

would lead necessarily to inextricable embarrassments with the
Crown, which must govern according to the law of God and the
land, and its own free, unbiased resolution, but which can not and
dares not govern according to the will of the majority, if " Prus-
sia" would not soon become an empty sound in Europe. Clear-
ly recognizing my office and your vocation, and firmly resolved
to treat that recognition faithfully under all circumstances, I have
appeared among you, and addressed you with royal freedom.
With the same openness, and as the highest proof of my confi-
dence in you, I here give you my royal word that I should not
have called you together had I had the smallest suspicion that
you would otherwise understand your duties, or that you had
any desire to play the part of* what are called representatives of
the people. I should not have called you together for that pur-
pose, because, according to my deepest and most heartfelt convic-
tion, the Throne and State would be endangered by it, and be-
cause I recognize it as my first duty, under all circumstances and
events, to preserve the Throne, the State, and my Government,
as they at present exist. I remember the axiom of .a royal
friend, "Confidence awakens confidence." That is this day my
brightest hope. That my confidence in you is great, I have
proved by my words, and sealed by my act. And from you,
gentlemen, I expect a proof of confidence in return, and an answer
in the same manner — by your acts. God is my witness, I have
summoned you as your truest, best, and most faithful friend ; and
I firmly believe that, among the hundreds before me, there is not
one who is not resolved, at this moment, to preserve that friend-
ship. Many of you were at Konigsberg on the 10th of Septem-
ber, 1840 ; and I can even now hear the thunder of your voices
as you pronounced the oath of fidelity, that then penetrated my
soul. Many of you, on the day on which I received the homage
of my hereditary estates, joined with thousands in the still echo-
ing "Yes!" with which you replied tp.my demand whether you
would, u in word and deed, in heart aftd spirit, in truth and love,
help and assist me to preserve Prussia as it is , and as it must re-
main, if it would not perish : that you would not let or hinder
me in the path of considerate but vigorous progress, but endure
with me through good days and through evil." Now redeem
your word — now fulfill that vow !

482

APPENDIX.

You can do it by the exercise of one of your most important
duties — namely, by choosing from among you faithful and up-
right friends of the Throne and of our good purpose for your
Committees — men who have comprehended that at this time it is
the first duty of the Orders to encourage and support the good
disposition and fidelity of the country by their own example, and,
on the contrary, to strike down and discountenance every kind
of many-headed faithlessness — men who, enemies of every kind
of slavery, are, above all, enemies of that shameful yoke which a
misguiding opinion (branding the name of freedom of thought)
would lay upon your necks. This selection is a very critical act
— one pregnant with consequences. Weigh it in your hearts,
and choose conscientiously.

Eernernber, also, that the day of uncertainty as to the form
which the activity of the Orders is to take is passed. Many
things, which, under this uncertainty, forbearance could excuse,
have henceforth no excuse remaining. The 3d of February of
this year, like the 3d of February, 1813, has opened to the real
children of our fatherland that path they have now to pursue :
and the same unspeakable happiness which then fell to the lot of
my glorious father is now also mine — mine in this moment. I
speak, as he did, to the hearts of German — of Prussian men !

Go, then, illustrious Princes, Counts, and Lords — dear and
faithful Orders of Nobles, Burghers, and Commons — proceed,
with God's help to your task. You will, I am certain, in this
moment, when all Europe is gazing on you, and through all the
future labors of the Diet, prove yourselves true Prussians; and
that one thing, believe me, will not be absent — namely, God's
blessing, on which all things depend. Out of our unanimity it
will descend on the present and future generations, and, I hope,
on all our glorious German fatherland, in one broad stream, be-
side which we may dwell in peace and safety, as by the shores
of the blessing-bringing rivers that water the earth. And now,
once more, and out of the fullness of my heart, — welcome !

APPENDIX C.

(Page 394.)

ICH BIN EIN PREUSSE!

Ich bin ein Preusse, kennt ihr meine Farben ?

Die Fahne schwebt mir weiss und schwarz voran ;
Dass fur die Freiheit meine Vater starben,
Das deuten, merkt es, meine Farben an ;
Nie werd' ich bang verzagen ; wie jene will ich's wagen:
Sei's triiber Tag, sei's heitrer Sonnenschein :
Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein !

Mit Lieb' und Treue nab.' ich mich dem Throne,
Von welchem mild zu mir ein Vater spricht ;
Und wie der Vater treu mit seinem Sohne,

So steh' ich treu mit ihm und wanke nicht.
Fest sind der Liebe Bande : Heil meinem Vaterlande!
Des Konig's Ruf dringt in das Ilerz mir ein ;
Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein !

Nicht jeder Tag kann gliihn im Sonnenlichte,

Ein Wolkchen und ein Schauer kommt zur Zeit ;
Drum lese Keiner mir es im Gesichte

Dass nicht der Wiinsche jeder mir gedeiht.
Wohl tauschten nah' und feme mit mir gar Viele genie.
Ihr Gliick ist Trug, und ihre Freiheit Schein ;
Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein !

Und wenn der bose Sturm mich einst umsauset,

Die Nacht entbrennet in des Blitzes Gluth ;
Hat's doch schon arger in der Welt gebrauset,

Und was nicht bebte, war des Preussen Muth.
Mag Fels und Eiche splittern, ich werde nicht erzittern ;
Es sturm und krach ; es blitze wild darein !
Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein !

Wo Lieb' und Treu' sich so dem Konig weihen,

Wo Fttrst und Volk sich reichen so die Hand :
Da muss des Volkes \vahres Gliick gedeihen,

Da bliiht und wachst das schone Vaterland.
So schworen wir auf 's Neue dem Konig Lieb und Treue !
Fest sei der Bund ! Ja, schlaget muthig ein !
Wir sind ja Preussen, lasst uns Preussen sein !

THIERSCH.

484

APPENDIX.

This noble song, perhaps, emphatically — but rather in the
sense of England's "Rule Britannia" than its "God save the
Queen " — may be regarded as the national anthem of the Prus-
sians. The air to which it is sung is wild and martial ; derived
undoubtedly from an ancient Polish hyrnn, to which it bears a
striking affinity, and of which it may be regarded as a musical
synonym. The present editor offers a version which 'is tolerably
close, although he can not hope to preserve the actual tone of the
original author.

1 AM A PRUSSIAN.

I am a Prussian ! see my colors gleaming —

The black- white standard floats before me free ;
For Freedom's rights, my fathers' heart-blood streaming,

Such, mark ye, mean the black and white to me !
Shall I then prove a coward ? I'll e'er be to the toward !
Though day be dull, though sun shine bright on me,
I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be !

Before the throne with love and faith I'm bending,

Whence, mildly good, I hear a parent's tone ;
With filial heart, obedient ear I'm lending —

The father trusts — the son defends the throne !
AiFection's ties are stronger — live, O my country, longer!
The King's high call o'erfl"ows my breast so free,
I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be !

Not every day hath sunny light of glory ;

A cloud, a shower, sometimes dulls the lea ;
Let none believe my face can tell the story,

That every wish unfruitful is to me.

How many far and nearer, Avould think exchange much dearer ?
Their Freedom's naught — how then compare with me ?
I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be !

And if the angry elements exploding,

The lightnings flash, the thunders louder roar,
Hath not the world oft witnessed such foreboding?

No Prussian's courage can be tested more.
Should rock and oak be riven, to terror I'm not driven ;
Be storm and din, let flashes gleam so free —
I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be !

APPENDIX.

Where love and faith so round the monarch cluster,

Where Prince and People so clasp firm their hands,
'Tis there alone true happiness can muster,

Thus showing clear how firm the nation's bands.
Again confirm the fealty ! the honest noble lealty !

Be strong the bond, strike hands, dear hearts, with me,
Is not this Prussia ? Let us Prussians be !

KENNETH E. H. MACKENZIE.

485

PRINCE OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.

CHAPTEE I.

THE WATCH ON THE RHINE.

[1866-mO.]

Bismarck's Triumph in the Creation of the North
German Federation. — The Unification of Germany.
— Jealousy of the French. — Napoleon's Necessities,
Wars of Prestige, and Intrigues. — Luxembourg. —
Belgium. — Benedetti. — The Hohenzollern Candi-
dacy in Spain. — Excitement in Paris. — Declaration
of War.

OUBTLESS when King William re-
turned victorious from the cam-
paign of 1866, few believed that
his chief adviser, Bismarck,
would or could celebrate a great-
er political triumph than the
erection of Germany into the
North German Federation after
the overthrow of Austria. Yet
it was at that time unknown to most that this
triumph was much greater than it appeared to
be. Who was aware that the man who obtained from the Lower
House of Prussia " indemnity" for his successes had refused the
offered alliance of the Emperor of the French in the conflict
with Austria, and had marched into that war with the rejected
ally growling in his rear ? The deed of deliverance, the rescue
from Austria, had been a feat the adventurous boldness of
which remained a secret between the King and his most trusted
advisers.

In the North German Federation Germany was once more

490 GERMAN UNIFICATION.

established. Even in the German states which did not yet belong
to it, King William already exercised, through the military com-
rnandership-in-chief,' a power much greater than the emperors of
the old Roman Empire of the German nation had ever wielded in
the territories of the imperial princes. The union of Germany
was achieved ; what was yet wanting needed not to be forcibly
taken, but would gravitate to the Federation in time, of itself.
The feeling of union would necessarily grow stronger in princes
and peoples ; and in the warmth of this feeling the beautiful
fruit would ripen.

The great and bold achievement which consummated Bis-
marck's long and laborious preparatory work had been gloriously
accomplished, — by King William himself, by his princes and
commanders, and by the army ; now came for Bismarck the
period of weighty, silent, anxious, and difficult toil, to assure and
fortify the work of the unification of Germany.

At home, it was his task to fix the forms of reconstruction, to
enhance perpetually the lively consciousness of unity in the Ger-
man people ; abroad, to obtain for this unity security, and a recog-
nition which must be more than merely diplomatic : and both
these objects, either of which was enough to demand a man's
whole power, Bismarck must pursue together and simultaneously.

If the first encountered great difficulties in the peculiarity, or,
to speak more frankly, the caprice and obstinacy of the German
character, and in the doctrinaire bigotry of political parties —
elements which scarcely submit to discipline — the other of these
tasks was almost more thorny and painful by reason of the fact
that it involved a complete political revolution in the international
relations of Europe. True, there was no cry of " Foes on all
sides ;" but the aggrandisement of Prussia by the incorporation
of Hanover and Hesse, Nassau and Hoi stein, Schleswig and
Lauenburg, had created an abundance of distrust, discontent,
envy, and hatred, which expressed itself now here, now there, in
the most diverse forms, but in quite unmistakable ways. The
new Germany had, however, one open enemy ; and this enemy—
we have now become accustomed to underrate him unjustifiably
— might be able to combine against us in a terrible alliance the
whole sum of this distrust, jealousy, discontent, envy, and hatred.

FRENCH JEALOUSY. 491

Bismarck knew well that by the annexations he was driving
these allies to the Emperor of the French ; but the Prussian nu-
cleus of the new Germany must be increased to this size, in order to
be adequate to its function. It must be strong enough to offer the
other Germans a sure support. The North German Chancellor
probably did not himself expect to succeed in securing for Ger-
many its due position in Europe without a war with France ; for
he knew the position of the Emperor of the French. But in
exalted conscientiousness he held himself, as a statesman, bound to
preserve peace by all the means at his command ; and the same
conscientiousness obliged him to provide that Prussia and Germany
should not be defenceless in case war should become unavoidable.
Hence he arranged first by treaty stipulations that King William
should be the commander-in-chief, even of those German armies
whose princes were not yet in the Federation.

It is quite easy to conceive of circumstances under which two
nations like the German and the French could live peaceably,
side by side. True, it has always passed for a subtle French
maxim of state, that the safety and fame of France should be
sought in the discordant and dissevered condition of Germany ;
but even the French are accustomed to think twice before they
begin a great war on account of an idea. The covetous longing
for the German Rhine-land was indeed strong in France ; but
the chauvinists usually exhaust themselves in newspaper articles,
pamphlets, and empty speeches, before they proceed to action.
Probably in this case also the French would have acquired for
the fait accompli of a united Germany, the respect which their
sound practical judgment would ordinarily dictate ; and they
would at last have become resigned to it, upon discovering that
nobody in Germany dreamed of an attack, a war, upon France.
But this could not be, because the Emperor of France was a
usurper.

It was necessary for Napoleon III., in order to justify in some
measure his usurpation, to perform great and mighty achieve-
ments. The usurper is moreover inevitably possessed by the
thought of fortifying the rulership which he has obtained by
violence and surprise ; for he also may one day be taken by sur-
prise. Napoleon III. could execute the great deeds to which he

492 NAPOLEON'S NECESSITIES.

was forced, only by war and the extension of territory. He
needed to keep the attention of the people constantly upon fame
and conquest, in order to turn it away from internal political ques-
tions. His government, based upon a coup cPetat, could not
permit discussion of its origin. Hence it was not reconcilable
with the institutions of France, with freedom of speech and of
the press — for which, think of their value what we may, France
had poured forth streams of blood, for which the best treasures
of the nation had been offered through generations. Thus the
Emperor was doomed to seek in his foreign policy both fame for
himself and occupation for the public sentiment of France.
Hence all the wars of the Empire have the same artificial — even
theatrical — character. They were " wars of prestige" What
was accomplished by the Crimean War? Prestige' nothing
more. The war in Italy was, it is true, nominally undertaken for
Italian unity — that is, for an idea ; but the result — ? The
idea was a mere rag, the gain a rag, and the prestige really noth-
ing more than a rag. Then came the war against Mexico, which
brought a heavy defeat ; even prestige was turned to disgrace
when France, obeying the command which came from Washing-
ton, evacuated America. The unfortunate Archduke who was
shot at Queretaro, and the- Archduchess who became insane, stand,
illustrious victims of the third " war of prestige" at the turning-
point of the fortunes of Napoleon. It was necessary to keep
secret the extravagant outlays required by this war, lest they
should become weapons in the hands of the opposition ; and the
effort to hide them led to a niggardly economy in all branches of
the imperial administration, which produced deficiencies destined
to be, in the year 1870, most disastrous to France.

Napoleon had apparently given up, after his Mexican experi-
ence, his "wars of prestige ;" but now he sought to obtain
through political intrigues, without war, what he must have —
prestige for himself and occupation for the public sentiment of
France. He would have been glad to bring about events among
which he could have played the part of the umpire of Europe.
Then there might have fallen out, to a skillful hand, a bit of
territorial plunder ; affairs would thus have acquired once more a
tolerable appearance, and the dynasty would be confirmed afresh.

THE RHINE AND LUXEMBOURG. 493

He wished to operate with the " principle of nationality ;" a re-
vision of the map of Europe had been his fixed idea ; as he had
formerly at Plombieres and Montcalier haggled and bargained
over states with Camillo Cavour, so now he thought to haggle
and bargain with Otto Bismarck. He considered King William
to be a kind of soldier-king, like Yictor Emmanuel, and though he
probably rated Bismarck higher than Cavour, yet he regarded
him nevertheless as a statesman of the same school. But the
Prussian King and his minister were of a totally different stuff
from those subalpine dignitaries ; and therefore Napoleon, in
spite of his great subtlety, always found a mistake in his calcula-
tion concerning them, no matter how often it was revised.

Bismarck emphasized everywhere the love of peace, which he
really cherished ; and because he really cherished it, the tempta-
tion to accept the alluring offers of France was for him enormous.
It would be so great an achievement to secure the unification of
Germany without a war ! True, the first demands of Napoleon
III. could in no case be complied with ; the request for the Ger-
man possessions on the left bank of the Rhine, whether with or
without Mayence, was so outrageous that it could be explained only
by the Napoleonic lust for territory. But the matter was put in
a different light when Napoleon proposed to acquire the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg, not by conquest, but by purchase from
its rightful sovereign. Luxembourg was not a German state.
Only the extremest partisans could assert that — people whose
audacity was their only capital. But at the first glance, it did
appear as if it were German territory ; and, deceived by this
appearance, many people raised a great cry. Bismarck was in-
deed determined that not even Luxembourg should fall into the
hands of Napoleon ; but he would not wage war for the Prussian
right of garrison in Luxembourg — a right which, moreover, had
lapsed with the old German confederacy, in the name of wrhich it
had been exercised by Prussia. Prussia had no rights there for
which the sword could in honor be drawn. The strategic import-
ance of Luxembourg for the protection of German territory was
disputed on high authority. It was the interest not of Ger-
many alone, but of all Europe, that France should not gain pos-
session of the grand duchy. Hence Bismarck logically made of

494

BARGAINING FOR BELGIUM.

the Luxembourg negotiation a European question. Had Europe
been willing to go to war about Luxembourg, Prussia would not,
have held back ; but it did not come to that. Napoleon had no
desire for a war on that question ; he yielded ; the grand duchy
was declared neutral, and the Luxembourg negotiation ended with
the satirical epigram, " What cannot be annexed we call simply
a neuter, that's all !" * This was a diplomatic victory of the
first rank, for which Bismarck indeed received but little praise,
though only one orator of the Communists — the party without a
country — who subsequently reproached him, on the conclusion of
peace, for the re-conquest of Alsace and Lorraine, dared to accuse
him in the Imperial Diet of having surrendered German territory
in Luxembourg. Bismarck doubtless consoled himself with the
consciousness that he had in that affair gained more by negotiation
than it would have been possible to gain by war.

Napoleon III., foiled as to Luxembourg, immediately proposed
a third bargain. He- wished to annex Belgium, and to have in
this scheme the aid of Prussia, which should in compensation be
allowed to work unhindered in Germany. At this price the work
of German unification could be completed in peace without blood.
We believe that this proposition presented a great temptation ;
yet certainly a feeling must have been aroused in Bismarck
which caused him to hesitate at even this advantageous bargain.
Should Napoleon III. acquire Belgium by strategy and force,
Prussia alone was certainly under no obligation to defend Bel-
gium ; but the shining sword of King William ought not to be
drawn, even in appearance, to assist in the subjugation of a weak
neighbor. We say, in appearance ; for Napoleon was powerful
enough to conquer Belgium ; he desired Prussia's help only in
order that he might afterwards roll upon Prussia the odium of
the violent act. Then it would be the ambition of Prussia alone
which had forced the magnanimous Emperor of the French to
accept Belgium as compensation for the Prussian acquisitions in
Germany. For the French and for all enemies of Germany this
would have sufficed ; and it would have become a dangerous
weapon against us.

* Was man nicht annectiren kann, das sieht man als ein Neutrum an.

NAPOLEON'S .MISTAKE. 495

Indeed, it was really used against us at the beginning of the
war of 1870. Did not the loud wail then resound over the sly
trickery of ambitious Prussia ? Did not a tempest arise in the
newspapers, which threatened to kindle to flaming enmity the
surrounding neutral powers, already not over-friendly ? Who
can say what disaster might have resulted, if Bismarck had not
been in a position to dispel the dangerous phantom by publishing
the original draft of Benedetti, and the circular of July 29, 1870?
In this document, which may be deemed unique in history, Bis-
marck not only showed clearly that Napoleon had continually
since 1864 been proposing to Prussia transactions looking to the
territorial enlargement of both powers, but he also gave an extract
from the French plan of May, 1866, for an alliance against Aus-
tria, and declared openly, concerning Benedetti's draft of a treaty
for the annexation of Belgium, that the Emperor had fallen back
upon Belgium, after he had become convinced that no bargain
could be made with Prussia. Finally the circular says, verbatim :
" I have indeed reason to believe that if the publication in ques-
tion [that of the treaty] had not been made, France, after the
completion of our and the French military preparations, would
have proposed to us to carry out jointly in the face of a then
unarmed Europe the plans already suggested to us — that is, be-
fore or after the first battle to conclude peace on the basis of the
Benedetti proposals, at the expense of Belgium."

Certainly Count Bismarck in these words struck the nail on the
head. Such had been the subtle calculation of Napoleon ; but it
contained the old mistake, that the Emperor understood neither the
King of Prussia nor his minister. Bismarck had kept silence con-
cerning all these allurements of France, because every postpone-
ment of a rupture left room for the hope that changes might take
place in the constitution and policy of France which would relieve
the two great neighbor nations from the necessity of war. This
circular produced even during the war a profound sensation, and
caused the righteousness of the cause of Prussia and Germany to
shine forth so clearly that only bitter enmity and absolute per-
versity could any longer believe in the existence of an immoral
Prussian lust of conquest.

It is peculiar that an incidental circumstance in this connection

496 BENEDETTI'S BLUNDER.

made an almost deeper impression tlian the main fact. Namely,
Bismarck, in order to cut off the French from their usual favorite
road of bold denial, declared in his circular that Beriedetti's
draft was written from beginning to end in Count Benedetti's
own hand on the stamped paper of the Imperial French Embassy
at Berlin, and that the ambassadors and ministers of Austria,
Great Britain, Russia, Baden, Bavaria, Belgium, Hesse, Italy,
Saxony, Turkey, and Wtirtemberg, who had seen the original,
had recognized Count Benedetti's handwriting.

Hereupon French diplomacy would have done well to be
silent ; but Count Benedetti u accomplished the incredible,"
and publicly declared in a letter of July 29, 1870, to the Due de
Gramont that he had written this memorandum, so to speak, at the
dictation of Bismarck, in order to gain an accurate knowledge of
the combinations of the latter. Such a monstrous assertion can
really be met only with the dry question, " Did the ambassador
of the Emperor of the French always bring his own stamped
paper with him when he called upon Count Bismarck, or did he
only happen to have it with him on this occasion ?"

The thing was so clear that not even the most evil-disposed
could doubt any longer ; but it was, to be sure, a thing so extra-
ordinary, eo unusual, that it made an indelible impression, and
gave rise to £he wildest inferences on the part of ingenious souls.
In England it was even declared by somebody that Bismarck
had made use of demonic powers. Now we can conceive that the
power which every strong mind exerts over weaker ones may be
called a demonic power ; and we freely admit that, in this
sense, Bismarck also may be called a demonic man ; but that
this power and influence went so far as to force the ambas-
sador of a great state not only to write from dictation the
draft of a treaty, but also to bring with him for the purpose
the paper stamped with the imperial eagle — that wre do not be-
lieve!

The climax of the demonic version is found in the utterance
of the wounded sensibility of a perverse dissenting soul which
we read at the time in the English papers : " Bismarck is justified
before men, but Benedetti before God !"

Concerning such folly indeed nothing more is to be said : we

BISMAKCK AT WORK. 497

think it useful, however, that just this kind of utterance should
not be forgotten.

While Bismarck thus in silence defended himself against these
French temptations, he was unwearied in the great work of Ger-
man unification. At Federal Diets, State Diets, Customs-Parlia-
ments, etc., everywhere he was the leader, demanding and urging
in one place, moderating and restraining in another. Unifi-
cation did not proceed fast enough to suit the National-Liberal
party ; and their leader, who might be compared with Herr
Vielgeschrei* of Holberg's old comedy, wished to carry out,
willy-nilly, the incorporation of Baden into the North German
Federation.

In the constituent Federal Diet, in the spring of 1867, Bis-
marck had expressed his well-known views concerning the spirit
of the constitution of the North German Federation. The federal
treaties with the South German States, the Customs-Union ancl
Customs-Parliament, belong to this period. In the first session of
the Federal Diet, in the autumn of 1867, the Luxembourg and
Schleswig questions were debated ; but the principal business was
with the administrative affairs of the Federation, such as the con-
sular system, free emigration, liability to military service, military
conventions and the navy. The session of the Prussian Diet of
1867-8 brought up the beginning of the subject of the foreign
relations of Germany and Prussia, and the speech of Bismarck
concerning Waldeck-Pyrmont and the cartel-convention with
Russia. The session of the Federal Diet in 1868 saw the victory
of Bismarck on the question of allowances. Then came the first
Customs-Parliament in April and May, 1868. The session of the
Prussian Diet of 1868-9 gave Bismarck opportunity to declare
himself concerning the position of Prussia towards the dethroned
sovereigns, the King of Hanover and the Elector of Hesse, and
the agitation in their behalf. The Federal Diet of the spring of
1869 was almost wholly occupied with internal affairs. Then
followed another session of the Customs-Parliament, the session,,
of the Prussian Diet of 1869-70, and finally the last session of the
Diet and the Customs-Parliament of the North German Federa-
tion.

* Literally, Mr. Much-sliouting.
32

498 THE WAR CLOUD.

These are the significant points indicating the activity of
Bismarck during the period referred to. After the close of the
Diet, at the end of May, Bismarck betook himself, as in the two
preceding years, to Yarzin, in order to recover in rural repose
from his exertions, and to receive medical treatment for his ever-
recurring nervous attacks.

The repose was to be of brief duration ; the cure was to be
interrupted in very violent fashion. As we have said above,
Bismarck knew very well that, unless some special event should
intervene, Napoleon III. would find himself forced to make war,
and it was only in the hope of such an event that he postponed
the conflict as long as possible. It could not escape the keen and
far-seeing statesman that the hour was near in which the French
Emperor would have to yield to the coercion inherent in his situ-
ation. Napoleon, weakened by disease, had played his last
trump. He had sought by the formation of the Ollivier min-
istry to surround his empire with the earlier liberal institutions
of France, and had thereby with his own hand thrown the torch
into his political edifice. Of this he was well aware, and he had
again resorted for help to universal suffrage. The Plebiscite was
faithful to him ; but the aid which it brought was but apparent.
Only war could give him fresh prestige, and by great territorial
acquisitions establish him anew in the opinion of France.

Such was the situation which Bismarck, from his quiet
country-seat in Farther Pomerania, doubtless kept clearly in view,
but could scarcely consider immediately dangerous, since he was
in general advised that France was by no means yet prepared for
a great war.

There appeared in the sky a little cloud. The well-known
Correspondence Havas of Paris reported on the 3d of July, 18TO,
that the Spanish ministry of Prim had offered the crown of
Spain to the hereditary prince of Hohenzollern ; and the official
Constitutionnel of July 4 repeated the news, adding that the prince
had already accepted the crown. The article said that the offer
was to be considered, so far, as an intrigue of Marshal Prim, but
that if the Spanish nation should approve the course of its minister,
while the will of a people must be respected, it would be impos-
sible to suppress a feeling of surprise at seeing the sceptre of

THE SPANISH CANDIDACY. 499

diaries V. intrusted to a Prussian prince. And already on the
same day, July 4, Le Sourd, the French charge d? affaires at Berlin,
appeared at the Foreign Office to express the painful feelings
which the acceptance by Prince Leopold of the candidacy for the
throne had produced in Paris. Secretary of State von Thile
replied to him that the affair had no existence for the Prussian
Government, which was consequently not able to give him any in- '
formation concerning the negotiations. The Hohenzollern can-
didacy was thus brought into publicity, but not for the first time
into existence. However much surprise was pretended in Paris,
the matter had long been known. The candidacy had been pro-
posed by Marshal Prim, who was a friend of the Emperor
Napoleon III., and who, on the occasion of his last visit in France,
had doubtless advised the Emperor of it. Nor had it been sur-
rounded with any special secrecy, which would indeed have been
superfluous. It had simply not been published. To King
William, as chief of the house of Hohenzollern, it had been com-
municated ; and he had advised neither its acceptance nor its re-
jection— precisely as he had, some years before, left Prince Carl
of Hohenzollern perfectly free with regard to the offered
sovereignty of Roumania. Through the King, Bismarck also had
received notice of the Spanish candidacy. "We do not believe
that Bismarck suspected at first what tremendous significance this
Spanish business would one day assume for Germany and France.

But the public had even yet no suspicion of the great storms
heralded by this cloud. And why should it have been disquieted ?
What concern had Prussia and Germany with the Spanish choice
of a king ? The prince chosen belonged indeed to a branch of
the Hohenzollern line, of which the house of Brandenburg formed
another branch. But the hereditary prince of Hohenzollern was
not a Brandenburg-Prussian prince ; he was not even a blood-
relative of the King ; and though the latter might have the power,
he had certainly no right, to forbid the prince to accept the
Spanish crown. And France had as little right as Prussia to in-
terfere in the choice of a king by the sovereign Spanish nation.
There was no ground at all for apprehension.

But in France monstrous things occurred, blow upon blow.

On the 4th of July Le Sourd had expressed -in Berlin the

500 EBULLITION IN FRANCE.

painful solicitude of France. As early as the 5th, the French
ministers selected the deputy Cochery to introduce in the Assem-
bly an interpellation concerning the candidacy of a prince of
Hohenzollern for the Spanish throne. And on the 6th of July the
Due de Gramont, the minister of foreign affairs, made to this in-
terpellation a reply which was received with stormy applause, and
in which he said, " We do not believe that respect for the rights
of a neighboring nation requires us to permit a foreign power, by
placing one of its princes on the throne of Charles Y., to disturb
for its own advantage the existing balance of power in Europe,
and thus to imperil the interests and the honor of France." The
peroration contained an open threat of war. " He hoped," said
the minister, " that this eventuality would not be realized ; but if
the contrary should come to pass, they [the ministers], strong in
the support of the Chambers and of the nation, would have to dis-
charge their duty without hesitation and without weakness."
But Minister Ollivier expressed himself still more unfortunately
than Gramont. He declared indeed that he did not wish for
war ; but he referred boldly to the moral support and approval of
Europe, and concluded by saying that if war was inevitable, he
would, with the aid of the Chambers, engage in it.

On the 7th of July appeared a circular from the Spanish
minister Sagasta, and on the 8th the History of the Hohenzol-
lern Candidacy by Salazar y Mazarredo, both of which must have
relieved the French Government from all apprehensions, if it
had ever cherished any, concerning this candidacy. But France
had never cherished such apprehensions ; she had only, in a man-
ner as unskilful as it was frivolous, put them forward as a pre-
text for war. Already on the 6th of July Olozaga, the Spanish
ambassador in Paris, reported to Madrid that he considered the
declarations of the minister in the Chamber to be a sure herald
of war between France and Prussia. On the 8th of July he
received instructions from Madrid to declare that the candidacy
had originated in no hostility to France, that Prim had not com-
municated with Bismarck, that the negotiations had been con-
ducted with Prince Leopold exclusively, and that no relations
existed in the matter, on the part of Spain, with Count Bismarck.

But all this was of no use. The Paris press raved with a rage

GERMAN QUIETUDE. 501

of battle which seemed to us insane. On the 8th of July the
Liberte demanded the Rhine ; and on the same day the Pays
had " the Samnian yoke" ready for the Prussians. " They will
bow beneath it, conquered and disarmed without a fight, unless
they should dare to accept a fight the issue of which is not doubt-
ful. Our battle-cry remains thus far without an answer. The
echoes of the German Rhine are still dumb. Had Prussia used
to us the language which France is speaking, we would have
been on the way long ago."

In the face of this challenge, the strongest that could be hurled
into a nation's face, and rendered still more significant by the
foregoing declarations of the ministers, moderation was main-
tained on our part. The calm attitude of the Prussian press was
admitted even by the French Government. But most moderate
and calm of all remained Bismarck, who stood firm on impreg-
nable ground, and caused it to be declared at every court, " Prus-
sia has with the whole affair nothing to do ; Prussia will not
interfere !"

The withdrawal, on the 12th of July, of the candidacy of the
hereditary prince of Hohenzollern, which was officially announced
by Spain in Paris on the same day, left to the French Govern-
ment not the weakest pretext for further proceedings against
Prussia. All will remember how that government nevertheless
pressed forward in the most frivolous manner, and impudently
demanded of our King the absurd promise that the hereditary
prince of Hohenzollern should not revive his candidacy. The
days of Ems no German heart forgets, although the ridicule which
those days fastened on the name of Benedetti may be less de-
served than it then appeared. Benedetti had not been prudent
enough in the choice of his masters at Paris. What drove France
into war with such unseemly haste was not the curse of the usur-
per's position — Napoleon, in spite of his sufferings from age and
disease, would have set the scene with more refinement and style.
Nor was it the Empress Eugenie, ruled by ultramontane priestcraft,
even though she really spoke the terribly thoughtless words
which have been ascribed to her, " This is my war !" The nar-
row and bigoted but otherwise good-natured Spanish lady may
have said that, but who knows in what sense ? Consulted she

502

GRAMONT AND OLL1TIER.

was not, in these proceedings ; and it is susceptible of proof that
she did nothing. The war was inevitable, as we have repeatedly
remarked ; but the senseless haste, the lack of form, the cynical
brutality of its outbreak, must be laid exclusively to the charge of
the two ill-omened ministers, the Due de Grarnont and Ollivier.
Scherer, one of the best political writers of France, has conclu-
sively proved in the Temps that France was plunged into war in
July, 1870, simply because Gramont, an empty pretender, and
Ollivier, a shallow and intriguing knight of the tongue, knew no
other means to cover the blunders they had committed. This,
however, lightens but little, in our eyes, the guilt of France ; for
the war was rendered possible only by the crazy jubilee with
which its crazy declaration was greeted, the insane uproar with
which it was accompanied, the war-intoxication of the French
themselves.

As events assumed a more threatening form, Bismarck had
been summoned by the King to Ems, to report upon the desira-
bility of calling together the Federal Diet. He set out so
promptly that, as a newspaper reported, one hour after his recep-
tion of the dispatch, only the Diplomatic Councillor L. Bucher
remained in Yarzin to pack up the records. At midnight Bis-
marck arrived in Berlin, conferred with the Ministers of War and
Internal Affairs, and intended to continue on Wednesday, July
13th, his journey to Ems. But when on that evening the official
announcement of the withdrawal of the Hohenzollern candidacy
became known, and the pretext for the rage of France was taken
away, Bismarck gave up the prosecution of his journey, and
awaited the further commands of the King.

Bismarck decidedly regarded the declaration of war as post-
poned, though for a brief period only ; for he expressed very
plainly on the 13th of July to the English ambassador, Lord Lof-
tus, in Berlin, his doubt whether the withdrawal of the candi-
dacy would prove a solution of the dispute, referring to the
hasty arming of France, and hoping that England, by a public
recognition of the moderation of Prussia, would act in the in-
terest of peace. But French precipitation permitted no further
efforts for peace ; and already on the 15th of July occurred in
Paris that famous session of the Corps Legislatif in' which, by a

WAR DECLAEED. 503

lying story of insult offered to the French ambassador, the minis-
ters aroused a passionate excitement, and the deputies, by an
immense majority, voted money and soldiers for the war against
Prussia. This was the actual declaration of war ; the formal one
followed three days later.

Under date of the 18th of July, Bismarck issued a dignified
but very calmly-worded diplomatic circular, in which the facts,
which had been completely distorted by the French ministers,
were correctly stated.

On the 15th the King had returned. The Crown-Prince, with
Bismarck, Eoon, and Moltke, had gone as far as Brandenburg to
meet him. In Berlin the King was received as no king, even in
similar circumstances, was ever received before. Those memora-
ble days of most beautiful enthusiasm for King and Fatherland
which followed no one will forget who had the happiness to ex-
perience them. It was not Berlin only that rose in such might,
it was all Prussia ; it was, for the first time again, all Germany ;
for even the German princes and peoples in the south answered
"Here!" with lips and hearts to the powerful appeal of King
William.

On the same night the King ordered the mobilization of the
army and the assembling of the Federal Diet on the 19th of July.

On this 19th of July, the day of the death of Queen Louise,
the French charge $ affaires, Le Sourd, delivered to Count Bis-
marck the French declaration of war. The King opened the
Federal Diet, re-established the ancient Order of the Iron Cross,
and then went to Charlottenburg, to pray at the tomb of his
ancestors. Count Bismarck wrote the diplomatic circular above
mentioned, as a reply to the French declaration of war.

All Prussia, all Germany, was a camp. In hundreds of songs
the storm of enthusiasm swept from the mountains to the sea ;
all hearts beat louder; with wet eyes men looked into one
another's faces ; but no one knew whether it was tears of joy or
tears of parting that dimmed their glances.

On the 31st of July the King spoke to his people the memor-
able farewell : " My people knows, with me, that the peace-break-
ing and hostility were in truth not on our part. But being
challenged, we are resolved, like our fathers, and in firm reliance

504 ONWARD, INTO FRANCE.

upon God, to wage the war for the deliverance of the Father-
land."

So King William left his capital : a rainbow arched itself over
the departing King and his people. And with the departing King
there went to the war Major-General Count Bismarck. Onward,
into France !

CHAPTER II.

WAR.

August, 1870.— Gravelotte.— Bismarck's Activity.— His Staff.— Metz.— On the
Road. — Bivouac and Camp Life.— Private Cares. — Sons of the Prussian
Ministers.

-s

THUS WAR was begun with all its horrors. Bismarck rode,
tall and solemn, after his King over the bloody fields of victory
•of the hot August of the year 1870 ; he sat with him in
the bivouac of the 18th of August upon that bench the seat
of which was a ladder, while a dead horse formed its support
at one end, and a tottering cask at the other. At Gravelotte shells
also were not wanting, which whistled in the immediate neigh-
borhood of the King ; but this time it was not, as at Koniggratz,
Bismarck, but the venerable Roon, who took the liberty to re-
mind the gray old hero that it was not exactly his business to get
himself shot then and there. According to the assertion of an
English correspondent, however, Bismarck lost at Gravelotte his

506

usual equanimity. The Englishman saw him leaning far forward
on his saddle, his features, at other times so unmoved, now full of
passionate excitement. But for his care for the King, he would
undoubtedly have spurred forward under fire. So the English-
man assures us ; and it is not incredible. According to another
account, the minister-president was seen on the evening after the
fight searching, seeking, upon the battle-field : it was the father
looking for his son.

Amid the great conflicts and daily excitements of the zigzag
strategic road which the grand headquarters of his Majesty the
King pursued into France, General von Bismarck did not lack
for useful and necessary occupations — the North German Federal
Chancellor and the Prussian Minister of Foreign Affairs took
good care of that ! For such business he had at hand a tolerably
numerous general staff, which often to its own astonishment
found the peaceful routine of daily bureau-service transferred to
the camp, and with industry and devotion discharged its civil
duties in uniform. Scarcely two or three could be seen in citi-
zen's dress, for even the servants were represented, it must be
confessed, with more zeal than brilliant success, by soldiers of
the train.

How matters went on at Bismarck's headquarters is described
in the following letter, written from Clermont-en-Argonne, a
village 011 the road which the Prussians followed, in the latter
part of August, 1870, from Metz to Sedan :

" The perils and hardships of the campaign are shared by us
who accompany the Federal Chancellor quite as much as by the
gentlemen in the suite of his Majesty the King ; and of work too
there is a plenty for us. Travelling yesterday over six miles*
from Bar-le-Duc, part of the way in a heavy storm of hail and
rain, we arrived at twilight in this little overcrowded mountain
hamlet, where the Chancellor and we with him were quartered
in the boys' school of the place. In the first story an office,,
which serves also as a bedroom, is assigned to the Chancellor.
We have our dwelling, bureau, and lodging in the dormitory of
the school-boys, in the second story — a large, low room. Here

* German miles, each of which is about 4.6 English statute miles.

CAMP LIFE.

the minister takes his meals with us and with the privy council-
lors. The deficiency of necessary furniture is quickly made
good. The servant has skilfully constructed a field-table out of
a barrel, a saw-horse, a kneading-trough, and a dismounted door ;
candles, stuck in two empty wine-bottles as candlesticks, shed
light upon us. Chairs are not at hand. Some are obtained ; and
chests and trunks furnish seats besides. Beds are a superfluous
luxury. I am lucky in having a bag of straw to lie on, with my
rubber cloak as a coverlet. The confusion around us is pictur-
esque. Open trunks and portmanteaus, official portfolios, envel-
opes on the floor, paper, waste-paper, and straw, form a variegated
picture. One wash-basin is enough for all. Unfortunately there
is a hole in it. With praiseworthy skill, one of the servants
stops the hole with hot sealing-wax. Our chief is no better off.
We work very hard and fast, writing dispatches, instructions,,
telegrams, newspaper reports, while lively conversation goes on
about us. Chasseurs, cabinet-couriers, letter-carriers, orderlies,,
staff guards and officers, pass in and out. Our Federal Chancel-
lor shines before us in it all as a model of activity and simplicity."

Bismarck in the school-house of Clermont, meditating in this-
confused hurly-burly on the solution of the most difficult political
problems ! It became from day to day more evident that the
great and brilliant victories of the Prussian and German arms had
not rendered the attitude of the neutral powers more favorable.
Not only in England, but also elsewhere, and particularly in Bel-
gium and Switzerland, countries the position of which gave them
strategic importance, a sentiment in favor of the French was so
loudly expressed as to give cause for anxiety.

And Bismarck had also as a man his private cares : his two
sons had taken horse for the war ; the eldest he had already left
behind, wounded. God preserved them both ; each of the young
officers of dragoons won for himself the Iron Cross. The
sons of the Prussian ministers generally distinguished themselves
in this war. The only son of Minister of State Count Itzenplitz
died at Mars-la-Tour " the beautiful trooper's death " for king
and fatherland ; in like manner fell to the green earth, in the face
of the foe, a son of the faithful old War Minister von Roon, and
two brothers of the fallen hero bear honorable wounds ; but also-

510

GERMAN NOBLES IN ARMS.

the sons of other ministers, the Selchows and the Leonhardts,
won fame and honor with the sword in the struggle for their be-
loved king and for their dear fatherland. Dr. Olearius, who, in
Goethe's " Godfrey with the Iron Hand," pronounces the pro-
verb, " industrious as a German nobleman," would have found it
easier to justify a proverb, " brave as a Prussian minister's son" —
especially if he should include also the sons of former Prussian
ministers, like Brandenburg, Manteuffel, Arnim, Stollberg, etc.

CHAPTER III.

BISMARCK BEFORE SEDAN.

ON the 1st of September, at about six o'clock in the morning,
began the tremendous battle for Sedan. Around this stronghold
stood in a wide circle our Army of the Maas, under the command
of the Crown-Prince of Saxony, and the fifth and eleventh Prussian
and the first Bavarian corps of the Third Army (that of the Crown-
Prince of Prussia). These bodies advanced concentrically, drove
the French into the fortress, and forced them to surrender.
Towards noon of this day, the battle having thundered for hours,
& brilliant troop of horsemen was seen to halt upon a hill about
half an hour's walk from Sedan — which lies on the Maas, several
hundred feet below the elevation referred to. It was King Wil-
liam of Prussia with his general staff, among whom were also
Generals Sherman and Forsyth of the army of the great North
American republic. It was as if the republic of the New World
had sent representatives to witness the great victory of the Prus-
sian monarchy and the downfall of the French Empire.

In the rear of King William were the three who scarcely need
to be named — Bismarck, Roon, and Moltke — whom nobody now
describes, because every child knows them. The double trefoil
in Bismarck's scutcheon, and the motto, " In Trinitate Robur,"
are capable of various meanings.

Hotly raged the battle. In silence the eyes of the King and
his suite watched the bloody struggle. Shortly before twelve,
old Roon, removing his great field-glass from his eyes, announced
that the junction of the Saxons and the Prussians behind Sedan
had surely been completed. Hearts beat more lightly, for the
French were thus closely surrounded ; and soon after, the French
infantry was seen flying in dense masses over the hills between

512

WATCHING THE BATTLE.

Florny and Sedan, while a Prussian battery in front of St.
Menges operated with shells upon the retreating crowd. Towards
one o'clock the Prussian columns advanced to the attack on the

ON THE HEIGHT BEFORE SEDAN.

(After a Sketch taken from Life by L. PIETSCH.)

heights of La Garenne, which on that side was the key to the
French position. Prussian riflemen appeared on the heights of
Garenne, above Torcy. Many an eye gazed doubtfully ; and the
American General Sherman, whose neutrality was outwardly indi-
cated by the circumstance that no sword hung in his scabbard,
exclaimed, " Ah ! the poor devils ! They are too weak ; they can

SU1J RENDER OF THE FRENCH. 513

never hold that position against all the French !" They were in-
deed driven away ; but in iive minutes they were "back again, in
somewhat stronger force. u Heaven help them," exclaimed the
American general again, " the French cuirassiers will charge upon
them !" But now occurred something which the American
general had never witnessed — something unique in the history of
war. A French cuirassier regiment formed in sections by squad-
rons, and rode down upon the riflemen, helms and breast-plates
flashing in the sun. But the latter, without forming in line, re-
ceived the cuirassiers with a terrible volley at 150 paces ; horses
and riders 'went down by hundreds, and the cavalry of the enemy
retired, as hastily as it had come. The Prussians, who were
continually reinforced, repulsed a French infantry charge. The
French chasseurs, who next attacked, had no better fortune than
the infantry ; and when the Prussians had once brought up the
hill a couple of pieces of field-artillery, every new charge of the
French was evidently in vain. At about four o'clock the Bava-
rians also advanced, gaining with a sharp struggle the heights
above Bazeilles. This decided the battle. Sedan and the French
army lay beneath the Prussian cannon; both could be completely
annihilated, to the last man, to the last stone ; — but the cannon-
ade was hushed at the command of King William.

Up the steep acclivity of the hill on which the King was sta-
tioned there came from Sedan, accompanied by two lancers, a
French colonel with a flag of truce — a handkerchief upon a stick.
He asked for conditions of surrender. The King gave his instruc-
tions to General von Moltke, and the Frenchman received his
answer : the governor of the fortress must come at once to the King
of Prussia ; if he did not come within an hour, the cannonade would
recommence. No conditions could be granted ; he must surrender
unconditionally. The messenger rode back. Towards seven o'clock
a loud hurrah arose. General Reille, in company with the Prus-
sian Lieutenant-Colonel von Bronsart, whom the King had sent to
Sedan, came with a letter from the Emperor Napoleon, of whom
up to that time it had not been known with certainty that he was
in Sedan. A double line of cuirassiers and dragoons was formed,
in advance of which the King stood as he received the letter
from the hands of General Reille. The King said, as he opened

514 CAPITULATION.

the letter, " But i demand as the first condition that the arrny
shall lay down its arms." The letter contained the well-known
message, that the Emperor resigned his sword into the hands of
the King, since it was not permitted to him to die at the head
of his troops.

A brief consultation was now held by the King, the Crown-
Prince (who had meanwhile arrived from the left), Bismarck,
Roon, and Moltke. Then the King wrote upon a chair held
by an aid the answer, in which he invited the Emperor to come
to his headquarters at Yendresse. The King gave the letter
to General Reille. himself, and spoke with him, as with an old
acquaintance, a few friendly words. When Reille had ridden
away, the King gave Moltke full authority for further negotia-
tions, and directed Bismarck to remain, since political questions
might come up. Then he drove back to his headquarters in
Yendresse.

Bismarck and Moltke remained in Donchery, where the nego-
tiations for capitulation soon began. Concerning what occurred
on the following morning we will let Bismarck himself speak..
His report to the King was as follows :

" After I had yesterday evening, at the command of your
royal Majesty, betaken myself to this place in order to take part
in the negotiations for capitulation, proceedings were delayed until
about one o'clock A.M. by the granting of an interval for reflection,
begged by General Wimpfferi — General von Moltke having defi-
nitely declared that no other condition than the laying down of
arms would be accepted, and that the bombardment would recom-
mence at nine o'clock in the morning unless the capitulation
should have been arranged before that time. This morning about
six o'clock General Reille was announced. He reported to me
that the Emperor wished to see me, and was already on the way
from Sedan. The general returned immediately to inform his
Majesty that I would follow ; and soon after I found myself, about
half way between here and Sedan, in the presence of the Emperor.
His Majesty was in an open carriage with three officers of high
rank, and as many more on horseback in attendance. Of the offi-
cers there were personally known to me Generals Castelnau, Reille,
Moskwa (who seemed to be wounded in the foot), and Yaubert^

515

On meeting the carriage, I dismounted, advanced to the door at the
side of the Emperor, and inquired as to the welfare of his Majesty.
The Emperor first expressed a wish to see your Majesty, apparently
thinking your Majesty to be likewise in Donchery. After I had
replied that your Majesty's headquarters were at the moment
fourteen miles distant, in Vendresse, the Emperor asked whether
your Majesty had designated a place to which he should first go,
and, finally, what was my opinion on that subject. I replied that
I had arrived in perfect darkness, and the region was therefore
unknown to me, and placed at his disposal the house occupied by
me in Donchery, which I would immediately vacate. The Em-
peror accepted this, and drove at a walk towards Donchery. But
a few hundred paces from the Maas bridge leading into the town
he stopped, in front of a very lonely workman's house, and asked
me if he might not alight there. I ordered Councillor of Lega-
tion Bismarck-Bohlen, who in the mean time had followed me, to
inspect the house ; and upon his report that the interior was very
small and scantily furnished, but that the house contained no
wounded, the Emperor alighted and called upon me to follow
him within. Here, in a very small chamber, containing a table
and two stools, I had a conversation of about an hour with the
Emperor. His Majesty emphasized especially the wish to obtain
for the army favorable terms of capitulation. I declined from
the beginning to discuss this matter with his Majesty, since, as a
purely military question, it' must be settled between General von
Moltke and General Wimpffen. On the other hand., I asked the
Emperor whether he was inclined to treat for peace. The Em-
peror replied that, as a prisoner, he was not now in a position to
do so ; and on my further question as to who in his judgment
would represent the political power of France, his Majesty re-
ferred me to the existing government in Paris. After the clear-
ing up of this point, which could not be certainly decided by yes-
terday's letter of the Emperor to your Majesty, I perceived, and
did not conceal from the Emperor, that the situation to-day, as
yesterday, presented no other practical aspect than the military
one ; and I emphasized the necessity arising on our part there-
from, to obtain in our hands, above all, by the capitulation of
Sedan, a material pledge for the security of the military results

516 BISMARCK AND NAPOLEON.

already gained. I had already yesterday evening discussed with
General Moltke on all sides the question whether it would be
possible without injury to German interests to grant to the mili-
tary sense of honor of an army which had fought bravely, more
favorable conditions than those we had demanded. After con-
scientious consideration, we both were forced to abide by our
negative answer to this question. That General von Moltke,
who had in the mean time come out from town, betook himself to
your Majesty in or<ier to report to your Majesty the wishes of
the Emperor, occurred, therefore, as your Majesty is aware, not
with the intention of advocating those wishes.

" The Emperor then went out into the air, and invited me to
sit down with him in front of the door of the house. His Majesty
asked me the question whether it would not be possible to let
the French army go over the Belgian frontier, to be there dis-
armed and interned. Of this alternative also I had already spoken
with General von Moltke the evening before ; and I declined, giv-
ing the reasons above indicated, to enter with the Emperor upon
the discussion of this mode of settlement. In reference to the
political situation, I on my part took no initiative ; and the Em-
peror did so only so far as to mourn over the misfortune of the
war, and to say that he himself had not wished war, but had been
forced into it by the public sentiment of France.

" By inquiries in the town, and especially by reconnoissances
of officers of the general staff, it was' ascertained, between nine
and ten o'clock, that the chateau of Bellevue, near Fresnois, was
fit to receive the Emperor, and moreover was not yet filled with
wounded. I reported this to his Majesty, under the form of
naming to him Fresnois as the place which I would propose to
your Majesty for a meeting, and thereupon I represented to the
Emperor that he might, if he chose, go there immediately, since
the sojourn within the laborer's small house was unpleasant, and
the Emperor was perhaps in need of some rest. His Majesty
readily acceded to this proposal, and I accompanied the Emperor,
who was preceded by an escort of honor from the cuirassier regi-
ment of your Majesty's body-guard, to the chateau of Bellevue,
where in the mean time the rest of the Emperor's suite had arrived
from Sedan with his equipages, the sending of which from the

DIGNITY OF THE FRENCH GENERALS. 517

town seemed to have been considered unsafe up to that time.
General von Wimpffen likewise arrived, with whom, while
awaiting the return of General von Moltke, the negotiations for
capitulation, suspended the day before, were renewed by General
von Poddielski, in the presence of Lieutenant-Colonel von Yerdy
and the Chief of Staff of General von Wimpffen, which two officers
prepared the memorandum. I took part in the introduction of the
matter by stating the political and juridical bearings of the situa-
tion according to the standard furnished me by the communications
of the Emperor himself; and, immediately after, I received
through Count von Nostiz, by direction of General von Moltke,
the news that your Majesty would see the Emperor only after
the conclusion of the capitulation of the army — tidings at which
the enemy abandoned the hope of obtaining more favorable
terms than those already exacted. Thereupon I rode to Clichery
to meet your Majesty, in order to report to your Majesty the
situation of affairs. On the way I met General von Moltke,
with the text of the capitulation approved by your Majesty.
This, after we had reached Fresnois with it, was accepted
and signed without further protest. The behavior of General
von Wimpffen, like that of the other French generals the
night before, was full of dignity. This brave officer could
not forbear, in talking with me, to give expression to his deep
pain that he particularly should be called, forty-eight hours after
his arrival from Africa, and half a day after his assumption of
command, to set his name to a capitulation of such ill omen for
the French arms ; nevertheless he felt that the lack of provisions
and ammunition, and the absolute impossibility of any further
defence, laid upon him as general the duty of bidding his per-
sonal feelings to be silent, since the further shedding of blood
could change nothing in the situation. The granting of release
to the officers upon their parole d?honneurwa,s accepted with lively
thanks, as an expression of the intention of 'your Majesty not to
violate, beyond the line which the dictates of our political and
military interests have necessarily drawn, the feelings of troops
who had fought bravely. This feeling was also subsequently ex-
pressed by General von Wimpffen in a letter expressing to
General von Moltke his thanks for the considerate manner in

513 BISMARCK TO HIS WIFE.

which, on the part of the latter, the negotiations were con-
ducted.

" COUNT BISMARCK."

On the following 3d of September the King announced at
dinner in headquarters at Yendresse this toast :

" We must to-day, out of gratitude, drink the health of my
brave army. You, War Minister von Roon, have sharpened our
sword ; you, General von Moltke, have guided it ; and you,
Count von Bismarck, have for years, by your conduct of political
affairs, been bringing Prussia to its present height. Let us then
drink the health of the army, of the three whom I have named,
and of every one of those now present who has contributed
according to his power to the successes thus far achieved."

In the otherwise quite temperate headquarters of the King an
exceptional quantity of champagne was drunk that day.

On the same day Bismarck wrote from Yendresse (whither
he had returned in the evening) a letter to his wife, which, how-
ever, did not reach its address, but was captured on the way,
together with a whole German mail, by francs-tireurs, and was
afterwards published in a French newspaper. It was as follows :

" VENDRESSE, September 3.

" MY DEAR HEART : Day before yesterday, before dawn, I left
my quarters here ; to-day I return. In the mean time I have gone
through the great battle of Sedan 011 the 1st, in which we took
about 30,000 prisoners and drove the rest of the French army,
which we had chased from Bar-le-Duc, into the fortress, where
they were forced, together with the Emperor, to surrender them-
selves prisoners of war. Yesterday morning at five o'clock, after
I had been treating with Moltke and the French generals till one
o'clock in the morning about the contemplated surrender, General
Reille, whom I know, awoke me to say that Napoleon wished to
speak with me. I rode unwashed and unbreakfasted towards
Sedan, found the Emperor halting on the highway, before Sedan,
in an open carriage with three aides, and three others on horse-
back alongside. I dismounted, saluted as politely as if in the
Tuileries, and asked his commands. He wished to see the King.
I told him, according to the truth, that his Majesty's headquarters

BISMAKCK AND NAPOLEON, AFTER SEDAN.

519

DETAILS OF SEDAN. 521

were three [German] miles away, at the place where I now
write.

"Upon Napoleon's question where he should go, I offered him,,
since I was unacquainted in the neighborhood, my quarters in
Donchery, a small place in the neighborhood, close by Sedan.
He accepted the offer, and, accompanied by his six Frenchmen, by
me, and by Carl (who had in the mean time ridden after me), he
drove through the lonely morning towards our lines. Before
reaching the town he felt disinclined, on account of the possible
crowd, to enter, and asked me whether he might alight at a
lonesome workman's cottage by the way. I had it examined by
Carl, who reported it poor and dirty. < N'importej said N". ;.
and I mounted with him a tottering narrow staircase. In a cham-
ber ten feet square, with a deal table and two chairs, we sat an
hour ; the others were below. A tremendous contrast, compared
with our last meeting, in '69, in the Tuileries. Conversation wa&
difficult, if I would not touch upon things which would give pain
to one overthrown by the mighty hand of God. I had sent Carl
to bring officers from the town, and to beg Moltke to come. One
of the first who arrived was sent out to reconnoitre, and discovered
in Fresnois, about half an hour away, a little chateau with
a park. Thither I accompanied the Emperor with an escort,
brought up in the mean time, of cuirassiers of the body-guard ;
and there we concluded with Wimpffen, the French general com-
manding, the capitulation by which from 40,000 to 60,000 French-
men (I do not yet know more exactly how many), with all that
they had, became our prisoners. Yesterday and the day before
cost France 100,000 men and an emperor. This morning early,
the latter departed for Wilhelmshohe by Cassel, with all his-
attendants, horses, and carriages.

" It is a world-historical event — a victory for which we will
humbly thank God the Lord, and one which decides the war,
even though we must continue to wage the latter- against France
without an emperor.

" I must close. With hearty joy I perceived to-day from thy
letters and Maria's that Herbert had reached you. I spoke to-
Bill yesterday, as I have already telegraphed, and in the pres-
ence of his Majesty, bending down from my horse, embraced him

.522 A FRENCH VIEW OF BISMARCK.

as lie stood stiff in the ranks. He is very healthy and happy. I
.saw Hans and Fritz Karl, both the Billows, well and cheerful.
" Farewell, my heart. Greet the children.

" Thy Y. B."

The French General von Wimpffen, who had the misfortune
to come from Africa to Paris when nothing was left to save,
and from Paris to Sedan when the battle was already lost, and he,
.as appointed commander, was forced to merely set his name to the
•capitulation, draws in his book, " Sedan" (Paris, 1871), a portrait
of Bismarck, from which we take the following :

" It must be said that this celebrated man, a diplomatist with-
out an equal, possesses also all physical advantages. Tall and
well built, with high, broad forehead and clear glance, he is good-
natured when he chooses, but also cold and contemptuous, often
impenetrable. He speaks easily and elegantly in foreign languages.
Every word he utters appears to be chosen .with special care, in
order to attain without exertion the purpose wThich he has in view.
The Count, whom I have twice seen in very critical circum-
stances, seems to me the most seductive and dangerous man with
whom one could have to deal. Quite as inflexible as General
von Moltke, he knows how, as he judges best, to show himself
obliging or to withdraw himself, to be conciliatory or rigid and
stiff, to drive his adversaries from hope to despair, and, amid the
alternations which necessarily result, to divine all that he wishes
to discover. To this is added a boldness which is astonished by
nothing and daunted by nothing, and which enables him to indi-
cate suddenly, without any circumlocution, the object at which
he aims, as soon as his penetrating mind has calculated the means
which will bring him to his end."

We think that in these words the French general has sketched
very accurately some features in the portrait of the great Prussian
minister.

CHAPTEK IV.

BISMARCK AND FAVRE.

French Phrases. — German Facts. — Bismarck's Demands. — Interview with
Favre. — Severe Conditions of Peace. — No Result of the Interview. — Bis
marck's Peculiarities. — The Interview renewed.— The French Character.
— Public Opinion. — Bismarck desired Peace.— Favre urges a National
Convention. — Bismarck opposes a Truce. — Guarantees discussed. — Next
Day's Interview. — Bismarck and the Bonapartists. — Truce conditionally
granted. — Elections to be protected. — Impossible Conditions. — The French
Government refuses. — Bismarck's Report. — His Views sustained.

" SEDAN means Peace !" said healthy common-sense at that
time ; but Prance said, " Sedan means the Republic !" That is
not in itself a contradiction in terms ; but the third French re-
public, that of the 4th of September, 1870, meant War. It is
a, well-known peculiarity of the French to make high-sounding
speeches, and with high-sounding speeches mutually to rejoice and
intoxicate each other — to believe every thing saved, every thing
won, by a sonorous phrase. If then they come face to face witli
the hard, naked reality, they make much ado about betrayal.

Such an ado they made concerning the betrayal of Sedan ; then
executed the rising of September, allowed the Empress Eugenie
to be escorted out of Paris by Prince Metternich without hinder-
ing her, overthrew the empire, and proclaimed the Republic. A
proclamation — and they thought quite seriously that every thing
was thereby saved and won. King William was not at war with
the Republic ; therefore the Prussians would go home, and France
would perhaps pay the costs of the war. When the world declined
to be humbugged by the word " republic," the French became
angry and felt themselves insulted in earnest. They did not at all
comprehend that Germany would not have poured out its blood
in streams, merely in order to bow before a high-sounding name.

" Bismarck is the brutal fact," cried M. Picard ; and M. Tliiers
cried, "Bismarck is a great man, but also a great barbarian."

524: FRENCH PHRASES. — GERMAN FACTS.

Both, however, while they spoke thus, felt themselves greatly
superior to Bismarck, and expressed themselves in the full con-
sciousness of surpassing culture. "We pronounced Victor Hugo's
frightful dithyrambics to be simply crazy ; but they were in reality
only somewhat lively outbreaks of that rhetorical refinement to
which almost every body in France attaches the highest import-
ance. We did not march into France as Goths and barbarians >
nevertheless we did indeed, in many respects, find there the
Greeks of the Byzantine Empire. There also, in their day, the
vanquished looked superciliously down upon the victors. Only
the brutal fact of defeat was admitted ; in spite of that, they re-
mained beings of a higher order, far superior to their conquerors.

Between the barbarians — Goths, Teutons, and Prussians — on
one side, and these higher beings on the other side, the govern-
ment of the British queen sought to bring about, after Sedan, a
peace, or at least a -truce — an undertaking which was certainly
praiseworthy, but by no means easy, since the advocate and rheto-
rician M. Jules Favre, as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the third
Kepublic, had on the 6th of September, in a very beautiful circu-
lar, declared that France would surrender not a stone of her for-
tresses, and not a foot of her territory.

This was another sonorous phrase, which had an immense suc-
cess in France, but was doomed to break in pieces on the simple
reality, that about one quarter of France, including several for-
tresses, already lay in King William's hands.

King William's headquarters were in the archiepiscopal palace
at Kheims, the old coronation city of the French ; by the 7th of
September his armies were advancing on Meaux and Chateau-
Thierry. But his Bismarck saw to it that the local civil tribunal
should be able to administer justice as usual, and caused assurance
of complete freedom to be given to the press — verily, quite in the
correct barbarian manner! The French, on the other hand,
beings of a superior class, blew up bridges, destroyed gardens,,
cut down groves, and transformed into a desert — of course in the
most artistic manner — the rich and .blooming environs of Paris.
But this was properly also a mere phrase ; it did not delay the
stalwart march of the German warriors.

More out of respect for the government of the British queen.

BISMARCK'S DEMANDS. 525

who proposed the negotiation, than in the hope of attaining its
object, Bismarck acceded to a conference with Favre, but in two
dispatches, dated Kheims, Sept. 13, and Meaux, Sept. 16, declared
frankly the conditions upon which King William would make
peace.

On that point the language of the former of these docu-
ments is as follows :

" Such exertions as those of to-day must not be permanently
expected of the German nation ; and we are therefore obliged to
secure material guarantees for the safety of Germany against the
future attacks of France — guarantees at the same time for the
peace of Europe, which has no disturbance to fear from Germany.
These guarantees we have to demand, not from a transitory gov-
ernment of France, but from the French nation, which has shown
itself ready to follow any rulers to war against us, as the series of
offensive wars waged for centuries past by France against Ger-
many incontrovertibly proves. We can therefore only direct oui
demands and conditions of peace to one object — namely, to render
difficult for France the next attack upon the German, and partic-
ularly the hitherto defenceless South German, border, by moving
this boundary, and with it the starting-point of French attacks,
further back, and by seeking to place in the power of Germany,
as bulwarks of defence, the fortresses with which France threat-
ens us."

The second circular says :

" We are far from having any desire to interfere with the
internal affairs of France. What sort of a government the
French nation may give itself is indifferent to us. The govern-
ment of the Emperor Napoleon is the only one hitherto formally
recognized by us. Our conditions of peace, whatever may be
the government properly legitimated for that purpose with which
we may have to negotiate them, are entirely independent of the
question how and by whom the French nation is governed. They
are prescribed for us by the nature of things and the law of self-
defence against a violent and belligerent neighbor-nation. The
unanimous voice of the German Government and of the German
people demands that Germany should be protected by better
boundaries than heretofore against the threats and assaults which

526 STRASSBURG AND METZ.

have been directed against us for centuries by all French govern-
ments. So long as France remains in possession of Strassburg-
and Metz, its offensive is strategically stronger than our defensive,
with reference to the whole south, and to that part of the north
of Germany lying left of the Rhine. Strassburg in the possession
of France is a sally-port always open towards the south of Ger-
many. In German hands, on the contrary, Strassburg and Met&
acquire a defensive character. In more than twenty wars we
have never been the assailants of France, and we have nothing to
ask of her but the safety in our own land which she has so often
endangered. France, on the other hand, will look upon any
peace now concluded as merely a truce, and, in order to take re-
venge for her present defeat, will attack us again in a spirit as
quarrelsome and reckless as in this year, so soon as she feels her-
self strong enough in her own power or in foreign alliances.

" In rendering the assumption of the offensive difficult for
France, from whose initiative alone every disturbance of Europe
has hitherto proceeded, we act at the same time in the interest of
Europe, which is that of peace. No disturbance of European
peace is to be feared from Germany. Now that, in spite of our
love of peace, the war which for four years we avoided with care —
suppressing our national feeling, which was perpetually challenged
by France — has been forced upon us, we shall demand future
safety as the reward of the tremendous exertions which we have
been obliged to make in our defence. ~No one can reproach us
with lack of moderation, if we adhere to this righteous and reason-
able demand."

On the 19th of September, the Berlin author, Hans Wachen-
husen, a well-known war-correspondent, who has written from all
the battle-fields of Europe since the Crimean War, saw in Conilly,
near Meaux, a carriage containing several gentlemen in civilian's.
dress with white neckties. He was told that one of them wa&
Jules Favre, who sought Bismarck. In the neighborhood of
Quincy he met the Councillor of Legation von Keudell, Bis-
marck's faithful companion in this war, as in the former, and
immediately afterward he saw also the familiar white cuirassier' &
cap of the Chancellor-Major-General. Bismarck extended his.
hand to the correspondent, and said, " I must bring this column.

BISMARCK ESP THE SADDLE.

527

BISMARCK AND FAVRE. 529

here into order" — namely, the headquarters column, which
was moving toward Ferrieres. Wachenhusen expresses his
pleasure at this meeting, and confesses frankly that 'Bismarck
communicated to him no political secrets. O the modest Ger-
man character ! What a magnificent " Interview with Bismarck"
would not his colleagues of New York, Messrs. Uncle Samuel and
Brother Jonathan, have drawn from such an encounter ! How
would the great Chancellor have hastened to unbosom himself to
these honorable gentlemen !

The negotiations between Bismarck and Favre took place at
Haute-Maison and at Ferrieres, in three different conversations.
We give here the report of Jules Favre concerning them, accord-
ing to his work, " Gouvernement de la Defence Nationale,,"

" The heat was oppressive ; we could advance but slowly. It
was half-past three o'clock. We were ascending a hill, when a
rider overtook us at a gallop. It was Count von Hatzfeld, chief
secretary to Count Bismarck. He said that the King had that
morning left Meaux to go to Ferrieres. M. von Bismarck, who
had preceded him, had crossed us on the way, and begged us to
come back, as he would do the same. We turned about and pro-
ceeded to Montry, where we stopped at a farm-house. Soon
after, we saw three riders approach with a numerous escort. One
of them, a tall man, wore a wrhite cap with silken border. It was
Count Bismarck. He dismounted at the entrance, where I was
standing.

" * I regret,' said I to him, ' not to be able to receive your
Excellency in a place more worthy of you. Perhaps, however,
the ruins about us form a proper surrounding for the interview
which I had the honor to request of you. These ruins are
eloquent witness to the evils to which I would put an end. If
your Excellency permits, we will commence our conversation here.'

" ' No,' replied the Count, ' we can probably find in the neigh-
borhood a house suitable for our conference.'

" A peasant standing near remarked that the Chateau Haute-
Maison was in the immediate neighborhod, and offered his services
to guide us there. We set out upon the way, M. von Bismarck
and I, and our secretaries followed at some distance. The

530 FAVRE'S REPORT.

Chateau Haute-Maison is a very modest house, situated upon a
wooded height. A tolerably steep path leads to it from Montry
through the bushes. 4 This region,' said Graf Bismarck to me,
' is as if made on purpose for the francs-tireurs, who swarm all
about here. We hunt them without pity, for they are no
soldiers ; and we treat them as common murderers.'

" ' But,' I replied, < they are nevertheless Frenchmen, who
defend their soil, their homes, their, hearths. They offer resistance
to your invasion, and have certainly a right to do so. It is you
who do not recognize the laws of war, since you refuse to apply
them to these poor people.'

" ' We know only soldiers, who are subject to regular disci-
pline,' rejoined the Count ; .' the rest are outside the law.'

" I reminded him of the edict issued in Prussia in the year
1813, and of the crusade that was preached at that time against
the French.

" 6 That is true,' said Count Bismarck, * but our trees still
show the marks of those inhabitants whom your generals caused
to be hanged upon them.'

u We entered a low room, which opened upon a rising court-
yard. Count Bismarck was about to sit -down, when he made to
me the following remark :

" 4 We are very badly located here. Your francs-tireurs can
shoot at me through the windows.' When I expressed thereupon
my surprise and my doubts, he added, ' I beg you to say to the
people in this house that you are a member of the government,
and command them to take care, and that they will pay with their
heads for any treacherous attempt.'

" I went out to give the directions requested, quite convinced
that Count Bismarck had no other intention than to make me
believe in assassinations which would justify the barbaric proceed-
ings of some commanders of German corps. I was, however,
more than quieted when I saw posted around the house Prussian
sentinels, who certainly had not come there by accident. I re-
turned as if I had seen nothing. We seated ourselves, and the
conversation began. In my report of the 21st of September to
my colleagues of the Government of National Defence I gave an
analysis of this conversation. Besides this analysis, I had written

ALSACE AND LORKALNE. 531

out in detail my interview with Count Bismarck ; and it is this
detailed memorandum which I shall now give. I took pains to
make it as full as possible, and I omit a few passages only, which
seem to me too confidential to be communicated.

" The first that I said to Count Bismarck was, ' I believe that
before a decisive struggle begins under the walls of Paris, it
would not be impracticable to attempt an honorable arrangement,
by which incalculable misfortune might be averted ; and I desired
to ascertain the views of your Excellency in this regard Our
position, although somewhat irregular, is perfectly clear. We did
not overthrow the government of the Emperor ; it fell of itself ;
and in taking the power into our hands, we merely obeyed a law
of extreme necessity. It will be for the nation to decide concern-
ing the form of government which it will give itself. It will be
for the nation to fix the conditions of peace. For this purpose
we have called the electors together. I came to you to ask
whether you wish that the nation shall speak, or whether it is against
the nation that you wage war, with the intention to destroy it or to
force a government upon it. In the latter case I would observe to
your Excellency that we are determined to defend ourselves to the
death. Paris and its forts can resist for more than three months.
On the other hand, your country naturally suffers by the presence
of your armies on our soil. A conflict which should assume the
character of a war of annihilation would be ominous of evil for
both countries ; and I believe that we could, with the exercise of
some good- will, forestall it by an honorable peace.'

" The Count answered, < I ask nothing else than peace. It
was not Germany that disturbed it. It was you who declared war
against us without reason, for the sole purpose of taking away
from us a piece of our territory. In that you were true to your
whole past history. Since the time of Louis XIY., you have not
ceased to aggrandize yourselves at our expense. We know fchat
you will never give up this policy, that you will never gather
strength again for any other purpose than to declare a new war
against us. Germany did not seek this opportunity ; but she has
seized it in the interest of her own safety, and this safety can
only be confirmed by a cession of territory. Strassburg is a per-
petual threat against us ; it is the key to our house, and we mean
to have it.'

532 FRKNCH IRRITABILITY

" ' And Alsace and Lorraine also ? ' I replied.

" The Count answered, ' I have not spoken of Lorraine ; but
so far as Alsace is concerned, I will say to you frankly that we
consider it absolutely indispensable to our defence.'

" I remarked that this sacrifice would inspire France with
feelings of revenge and hate which would inevitably and speedily
lead to another war ; that Alsace wished to remain French ; that
it could be conquered, but not assimilated, and that it would
therefore be to Germany a heavy embarrassment, and perhaps even
a source of weakness.

" This the Count did not deny ; but he repeated that France,
whatever happened, and even though she were treated with the
greatest magnanimity by the conqueror, would think only on war
with Germany. She would accept the capitulation of Sedan as
little as "Waterloo and Sadowa. ' All our families are in mourn-
ing. The sufferings of our industry are great ; we have made
immense sacrifices. We are by no means willing to begin again
to-morrow.'

" I observed hereupon to Count Bismarck that he left out of
consideration two essential elements — namely, the change which
had taken place in national manners, and the views of European
cabinets. I remarked further that he would at once acknowledge,
under the first head, liow the advance of industry, the establish-
ment of railroads, the interlacing of interests, tended more and
more to make wars impossible ; that this war was for France a
terrible lesson, which would be the more useful since France
had been plunged into it recklessly and quite against its own
will.

" At these words Count Bismarck interrupted me to say that,
on the contrary, France had desired the war with Germany. He
reminded me of the old jealousy of France, of the behavior of
our* press, of the enthusiasm of the Corps Leyislatif, and the
warlike demonstrations, on the part of the populace, with which
the declaration of war had been greeted.

" I sought to disprove each of these assertions. The old
hatred, I said, would have died out if the governments on both
sides had not systematically raked it up. France had in the elec-
tions repelled every thought of war : even the plebiscite was proof
of this, . The war was exclusively the work of the Emperor, and

GERMAN PERSISTENCY. 533

of that party which shared his power. Hence the irritating
articles of the press belonging to that party ; hence the noisy
assent of the Corps Leyislatif, the majority of which was an
emanation from the empire. After war had been declared, the
nation believed that her honor was involved in it ; but the war
itself she always looked upon with dislike. To-day there was
only one means to establish peace and to unite the two countries,
and that was the abandonment of the old policy of conquest and
of military fame, and the unreserved acceptance of the policy of
the union of peoples and freedom. If other language should be
used, it would arouse the suspicion that Prussia was seeking not
only a territorial booty, but also a Bonapartist restoration.

" Count Bismarck earnestly disclaimed this. ' What have we
to do,' said he, ' with the form of your government ? If we were
of the opinion that our interests would be better served with
Napoleon, we would put him back again. But we leave to you the
choice of your own government. What we want is our own
safety, and this we can secure only when we have the key of the
house in our hands. This condition is absolute, and I regret
that I am not able to modify it.'

" After the conversation had taken such a turn, I emphasized
the great responsibility which so serious a decision laid upon the
one as well as the other of the governments. I spoke of the utter-
most resistance of Paris and Provence. I said that the German
armies might remain six months far from home, and that they
would suffer enormous losses on our soil. All considerations of
military fame should be subordinated to the duty of avoiding
such great catastrophes.

" ' We have made up our minds to it,' answered the Count,
' and prefer to make these sacrifices now rather than leave them
as a legacy to our children. For the rest, our position is not so
difficult as you think. We can content ourselves with the taking
of one fort, and none of the others can resist longer than four
days. From this fort we shall dictate the law to Paris.'

" I protested against the horrors of a bombardment. £ Neces-
sity may cause such a thing to appear justifiable,' replied Count
Bismarck. ' Besides, I have not said to you that we shall take
Paris by storm. Perhaps it will be more convenient for us to

534

SEVEKE CONDITIONS OF PEACE.

reduce it through hunger, while we spread ourselves in the pro-
vinces where no army can hinder our movements. Strassburg will
fall next Friday ; Toul perhaps still sooner. Bazaine has eaten
his mules ; soon it will be the turn of the horses in Metz ; and
that fortress will be obliged to capitulate. Without investing
Paris, we shall, with 80,000 cavalrymen, cut off all its armies of
supply ; and we are determined to stay in France as long as it is
necessary.'

" ' Then,' I rejoined, ' it must be your will to destroy us
utterly. For, to obtain a peace,, you will necessarily have to give
us a government. For that you will be responsible to Europe,
which will probably not wish to permit such proceedings ; and
you will produce frictions and conflicts, the end of which cannot
be foreseen. I propose to you a simple means of extrication from
this cul-de-sac. Permit us to call together a National Assembly.
You will negotiate with it ; and if you are a politician, you will
propose to it conditions which can be accepted, and thus arrive at
a stable peace.'

" ' For that purpose,' rejoined he, ' a truce would be necessary ;
and that I do not wish on any account.'

" ' If you will not have,' said I, ' that which in my judgment is
indispensable, to arrive at a solution, then I infer that you mean
to use your advantages in order to snatch from us what we would
not yield, even if we were regularly empowered. I call your
attention once more to the impossibility, in our position, of accept-
ing such severe conditions. We offer to compensate you with
money for the evils of the war ; but, as matters now stand, we
cannot grant more.'

" It had become evening. It was more than three hours' dis-
tance, through a desolated and depopulated country, to our night
quarters. I asked the Count whether he was willing, in spite of
our absolute disagreement, to receive me late that evening in Fer-
rieres. He observed that it would give him pleasure, and bade me
farewell with the words, c I acknowledge that the policy which
you defined in my presence to-day has always been your policy ;
and if I were sure that it was also the policy of France, I would
persuade the King to retire without touching your territory and
without requiring of you a penny or a farthing. And I know

NO RESULT OF THE INTERVIEW. 535

the magnanimity of my king so well that I could guarantee you
his consent in advance. But you are the representative of a
scarcely perceptible minority. You have been elevated by a
popular movement which may precipitate you again overnight.
We have therefore no certainty. Nor would a government suc-
ceeding to yours be able to give us certainty. The evil lies in
the fickleness and recklessness which are characteristic of your
people. The remedy lies in a material guarantee, of which we
have a perfect right to take possession. You would have had no
scruples whatever in taking the bank of the Rhine away from
us, although the Rhine is by no means your natural boundary.
We, on our part, only take back our natural boundary, and
believe that in this manner we shall make peace secure.'

" The Count was not to be diverted from this line of thought,
and we parted, after arranging a further meeting at a late hour

of the caning

" As I repeat this story, all the details of the interview are
present to my mind. Above all, I see before me my terrible in-
terlocutor, who played the principal role, and whom I encountered
for the first time. Although already in his fifty-eighth year,
Count Bismarck appeared to me a man in the complete prime of
his strength. His great stature, his mighty head, the boldly-
marked features of his countenance, imparted to him an appear-
ance at once imposing and severe, which was nevertheless mit-
igated by a natural simplicity, I might almost say bonhomie.
The manner in which he received me was- courteous and serious,
absolutely free from all stiffness and affectation. As soon as the
interview began, he assumed a friendly and sympathetic air which
did not forsake him during the entire continuance of the conver-
sation. Assuredly, I appeared to him a negotiator quite unworthy
of him. But he was so polite as not to allow me to observe this ;
and my frankness seemed to inspire him with sympathy. As for
me, I was immediately struck by the clearness of his ideas, the
strict logic of his sound understanding, and the originality of his
mind. Plis complete lack of self-assumption was no less remark-
able. I recognized in him a political man of business, far supe-
rior to every thing which one can imagine in this respect. He
seemed to deal only with that which is, to direct his aim at posi-

536 BISMARCK'S PECULIARITIES.

tive and practical solution only, indifferent to every thing which
does not lead to a useful end. I have often seen him since. We
have discussed with one another a great many questions of detail.
I found him always the same. The great power which he holds
in his hands inspires him neither with pride nor with illusions ;
but he holds it fast, and by no means conceals what great sacrifice
he makes in order to retain this power. Thoroughly convinced
of his personal value, he is determined to complete the work in
which he has so wonderfully succeeded ; and if, in order to accom-
plish this, he must go further than he is otherwise obliged to go,
he will do it. Accessible to every impression, and nervous in
temperament, he is not always master of his impetuous emotions.
I witnessed in him a forbearance, as well as a mercilessness, which
I am not able to explain to myself. I had heard a great deal of
his extreme adroitness ; but he never deceived me. He often
wounded and revolted me by his demands and his severities ; but
in great things as in small, I always found him straightforward
and precise.

" When I left him at Haute-Maison, I had little hope. Never-
theless I would not give up my negotiations without having ex-
hausted every thing. I knew that I should be considerately lis-
tened to. I even went so far as to hope that M. von Bismarck
would be less immovable in a second interview. Moreover, I
was obliged to go to Ferrieres. The plain was covered with
troops and stragglers ; it was impossible to spend the night there.
We therefore took the road at sunset, arrived at Ferrieres at
eight o'clock in the evening, and at nine o'clock I proceeded to
the chateau.

" We were received in a large salon on the ground-floor,
called the Salon des Chasseurs. The Prussian post-office was in-
stalled there. The records, the stamps, the pigeon-holes, were
already established, and every thing went on with the same pre-
cision and quiet as in Berlin. All was done in silence, no confu-
sion anywhere, every man at his work. Count Bismarck was still
at table, and invited me to take part in his meal, which I declined.
Half an hour later we resumed the conversation of Haute-Maison.
I thought it, however, necessary above all to hiake Count Bis-
marck aware of the exact object of my mission, and I said :

THE INTERVIEW RENEWED. 537

" 1 1 am come to you, without authority to assume binding
obligations, but as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Govern-
ment of National Defence, and consequently the sole official
representative of the foreign policy of France. I am therefore
bound to render a report to my government of every thing which
I hear from you, and, indeed, to communicate it to the public,
which is our supreme judge. I shall therefore beg you to permit
me, as soon as our interview is ended, to prepare a resume which
we will jointly approve, in order that no misunderstanding may
take place.'

" ' Do not give yourself that trouble,' replied he ; * I leave
entirely to you the representation of my expressions, and I rely
upon you for the accuracy of the details.'

" ' If that is the case,' I rejoined, 4 1 must return to that which
we have already discussed, since I cannot assume that your
declarations have the definite character which you appeared to
give them. I recognize the justice of a portion of the considera-
tions which you have urged ; but I believe that you have left out
of view several very important ones, and that our inferences
might turn out contrary to our intentions. We find ourselves in
harmony upon one important point : the necessity and the benefit
of peace. I hold that this peace would be permanent ; you
object that it can be precarious only.

" ' The way to substantiate my view consists in taking away
from the peace every thing which could make your opinion cor-
rect. That opinion is based solely upon the notion which you
form concerning the French character and our fixed determination
to disturb you perpetually. This character is at once sensitive and
magnanimous. Our nation falls easily into excitement ; it is
quickly conciliated again by generous treatment. What fairer
opportunity, then, to make it permanently inclined to you, than
to deal with it to-day not as with a vanquished nation, but as
with a natural ally which has only strayed for a moment upon a
false road, that it now abandons ? What more do you wish ?
You have established your predominance while destroying ours,
Fou have earned, in the eyes of the world, a military fame that
would satisfy the most ambitious.'

" ' Do not speak to me of that,' he replied, ' that is a paper that

538

THE FRENCH CHARACTER.

is not known among us. That is not — He paused, seeking for
an expression.

" ' A broker's term,' he said.

" ' Quoted ? ' I suggested.

" < Yes, that is it. It is a stock that is not quoted, and of
which our people think very little. We demand nothing more
than to live peaceably at home. We never have attacked you,
and never shall attack you. But with you it is quite a different
matter : you dream of revenge only, and we shall be forced to
bear that. Our interest alone is what we consult; and the
necessity of protecting ourselves is so evident that we should be
culpable if we gave way to a chimerical hope.'

" < I take the liberty,' I remarked to him, ' to dispute this
opinion, which is, in my view, quite erroneous. You appear to
me to confound the official and military France with that France
which is the proverb of the scientific and intellectual movement
of our recent years. This movement has brought about a pro-
found change, which you recognize. The majority of the nation
will necessarily be borne along by that irresistible current which
is carrying it towards a new policy and a better fate. It will com-
prehend that the support of all nations, and particularly of Ger-
many, is indispensable to it ; and it will seek that support, not
through fruitless conquests, but through the blessings of labor
and of mutual exchange ; and it may be asserted that if the
movement is favored by wise statesmen, all war will soon be ren-
dered impossible.'

" 6 The only question is, where these statesmen are to be
found,' replied the Count, ' and I am convinced that they do not
exist in France. You utter noble thoughts ; and if you were lord
and master, I would be of your opinion, and would at once nego-
tiate with you. But you find yourself at odds with the true
sentiment of your country, which still adheres to its love of
quarrels. Not to go beyond the present, you are the product
of a revolt, and may be dashed to earth to-morrow by the mob
of Paris.'

" Here I interrupted him eagerly with the remark : i There
is no mob in Paris, Count, but an intelligent, loyal population,
I know that it is easily impressible and excitable ; but be assured

PUBLIC OPINION. 539

that under its apparent thoughtlessness is hidden true courage
and an endless magnanimity. This population endured the
empire, and rose against it only when it was no longer possible.
It has, by acclamation, charged us with the mission of defending
our soil ; and it supports us by maintaining an order which will
not be seriously disturbed. As to its peace-loving spirit, I can
guarantee that ; and if all France were like Paris, it would give
me no trouble to regard as accepted the ideas which you pro-
nounce to be those of a minority.'

" ' You reason on the subject like a Frenchman,' the Count
allowed himself to say ; i permit me to remain a German. What
is the meaning of the violence of your press, the insulting carica-
tures, all these scoffs and boasts directed against us? They are
homage offered to public sentiment, and hence they possess a
significance which contradicts your assumptions.'

" 6 But,' I urged, ' the same takes place on the other side of
the Rhine also ; and yet you tell me, and I am ready to believe,
that you do not wish to attack us. Look upon these utterances,
then, as merely the outbreak of over-excited emotions, occasioned
by a few hot-blooded men, and perhaps too favorably received,
but touching, after all, only the surface. For the rest, let us re-
turn to the present situation, which alone should occupy us. You
have conquered the armies of the empire ; the empire exists no
more, and the nation asks of you the termination of a war which
has no longer an object. If you refuse this, you justify the nation
in believing that it is you who act from malice. And — will you
permit me to speak with perfect frankness ? — you are, as I be-
lieve, only the instrument of the imperial policy, which you in-
tend to force upon us.'

" ' You deceive yourself entirely,' replied M. von Bismarck.
' I have no serious reason whatever to love Napoleon III. I do
not deny that it would have been more convenient for me to see
him maintained ; and you yourself have done your country a very
poor service in overthrowing him. It would have been, doubt-
less, possible for us to treat with him ; but personally I have
never taken any special interest in him. If he had wished, we
should have been two honest allies, and together we would have
controlled all Europe. But he undertook to betray every body,
and I never trusted him. Yet I did not wish to fight him, as I

54:0 BISMARCK DESIRED PEACE.

proved in 1867 in the Luxembourg affair. Every body about the
King demanded war. I was the only one who emphatically
opposed it. I even offered my resignation, inflicting upon my
influence a serious wTound. All this I repeat to you for the pur-
pose of convincing you that war was not after my taste. I would
certainly never have begun one, if it had not been declared
against us. And I still could not believe it : France acted as if
according to a previously-decided plan. When I learned of the
challenge which had been thrown down to us, with reference to
the candidacy of the Prince of Hohenzollern, I was disquieted by
the obstinacy of your ambassador in negotiating with the King
only. This ambassador wearied the King ; and knowing this, I
advised a policy which should give satisfaction to you, and this
was adopted. When I learned that the King, according to my
advice, had secured the withdrawal of his cousin from the candi-
dacy, I wrote to my wife that every thing was over, and that I
would come to stay with her in the country. How great, then,
was my surprise, when I found that every thing must begin again
at the beginning. On our part, therefore, there has been no sys-
tematic hostility ; it was the French Government which desired
war. It took for a pretext the humiliation prepared for our King,
which he could not suffer. But even now, at this hour, when I
am talking with you, I cannot comprehend such a blunder. Such
a decision made by men like Gramont and Ollivier ! The for-
mer was never any thing but the most commonplace of all diplo-
matists. That was the opinion which Napoleon III. had of him.
As to M. Ollivier, he is an orator, but no statesman. 1 have
already said to you that if it were our interest to have the dynasty
of Napoleon maintained, we should re-establish it. The same is
true of the Orleanists. The same of M. de Chambord, a person '
very much to the taste particularly of the King, who naturally
holds to his old traditions. For my part, I am, in this respect,
without any prejudices ; in fact, I am a republican, and give my
allegiance to the doctrine that there are no good governments
which do not come from the people ; only, each of them must
be suited to the necessities and the habits of the nation. We
must therefore occupy ourselves, above all, with that which is
useful to our respective nations ; and, of course, it is the interest
of mine which I consult.'

FAVRE URGES A RATIONAL CONVENTION. 541

" c Agreed,' said I to him ; i I do the same on my side. Only,
/ would reconcile, and you would rule — that is to say, divide.
But in making reference to this question of the interest and of
the will of the nations, allow me to call to your recollection what
I said to you at our first meeting : that we cannot effectively ne-
gotiate without the co-operation of the French nation. I assume,
for example, that you acquire definite advantages. You have
marched as victor on to Paris ; you find there only the ruins
which you have produced : no government, not even an apparent,
to say nothing of a real one. I do not know your plans, but or-
dinary common-sense tells me that you will be forced to call the
nation together. This necessity the Emperor experienced in
Mexico when it was desired to place Maximilian upon the throne.
He created the phantom of a popular representation. If he had
called about him a true and honest representation of the people,
he would have ascertained the wish of the country and saved us
from great disasters. You would expose yourself to the same
danger, directing your course toward the same abyss. I assume
that you go to work otherwise, that you cause a real National
Assembly to convene. But why not do this at once? Permit
me to add that, on this ground, we are forced by necessity to
agree. Our power is essentially provisional. It does not permit
the possibility of the conclusion of a definite treaty. Yet be-
sides us there is nothing. Now, you must have a competent
contracting party, in order to conclude a binding treaty. Permit
us, then, to convene the Assembly which AVC have called, mani-
festing thereby our own political disinterestedness and our desire
to offer you the only possibly security — namely, the whole nation.
You are placed in this difficult situation, which certainly will not
pass unnoticed by Europe : that you must either give us this satis-
faction of our interests, to which we are fairly entitled, or, if you
refuse it, you must openly reveal plans of conquest which will
arouse opposition against you. The Convention of the National
Assembly is therefore for you, as well as for us, the only means
for extrication from the cul-de-sac in which we find ourselves,
and of reconciliation of all interests.'

" The Count reflected a moment, and then replied :

" ' You are perhaps right. What restrains me is the necessity,

542

BISMARCK OPPOSES A TRUCE.

in such a case, of a truce, essentially injurious to our military
operations, and, on that very account, precious to you. Every day
helps you and hurts us. When I said to you before that I would
not by any means permit a truce, it was because the King's
Council of War absolutely refuse it, and I obey their judgment.'

" i And yet,' I returned, ' one must will what one wills, and
not place himself on an exclusive stand-point which makes every
solution impossible. You recognize, with me, that there is no
other power competent to negotiate with you, save that which
legally proceeds from a regularly-constituted Assembly of the
nation. You do not fail to recognize, also, that the choice and
the gathering of this Assembly cannot possibly be effected in
the condition of invasion and war in which France now h'nds her-
self. It is therefore necessary to command a moment's pause
in military operations, and permit the citizens to take counsel
together, which naturally leads you to an unavoidable truce.'

" ' That may be,' said the Count ; ' but in that case we should
have a right to demand some security from you.'

" To this I replied : i Every thing depends upon the nature
and proposed conditions of such security.

" ' I do not possess full authority,' rejoined the Count, i to
discuss this subject finally, since I lack the consent of the King.
In this respect I must make a distinct reservation. Nevertheless
I can say to you, now, that a truce must include the occupation
by our troops of the fortresses of the Yosges and of Strassburg.
We would leave Metz as it is — and since I am speaking of Metz,
it would not be entirely inappropriate to remark to you that
Bazaine does not adhere to you. I have strong reason to believe
that he has remained faithful to the Emperor, and would there-
fore refuse to obey you.'

" Here I eagerly interrupted the Count with the words :

" ' I believe I have better reasons for assuming the contrary.
I cannot discuss yours if you do not make them known to me ;
mine may be easily divined by one who is well informed concern-
ing the most recent events and the character of the brave com-
mander who played a part in them. May I take the liberty of
asking whether M. Bazaine is advised of the capitulation of Sedan
and the captivity of the Emperor? '

GUARANTEES DISCUSSED. 543

" ' Perfectly,' replied the Count.

u < That is sufficient for me,' I continued. ' If we conclude a
truce, it is clear that I cannot ask of you what I nevertheless
most earnestly desire—the liberation of Bazaine ; but it would
appear only fair that permission should be given to him to supply
himself with provisions for a number of days corresponding with
the duration of the truce.'

" < That I cannot grant you,' returned the Count. ' Not even
an interruption of the military operations in that direction can be
permitted. Each party would retain his freedom of action.
Bazaine could attack us, and we could repulse him. As to your
National Assembly, tell me your ideas concerning that, in order
that I may consider them and communicate them to the King.'

" i In my opinion,' I answered, ' Paris would have to be de-
clared neutral. On notice to that effect from us, you would issue
letters of protection and passes to all candidates who were about
to offer themselves in the departments, and to all deputies who
should be elected. I would require for Paris the conditions for
provisioning the city which I mentioned to you just now with
respect to Metz. The truce should alst, according to my judg-
ment, fourteen days ; and I believe that we, after the lapse of
this interval, retiring before the National Assembly, would be in
a position to place you in relations with a commission elected by
the latter, and clothed with regular plenary authority.'

" < The neutrality of Paris, under such conditions,' said the
Count to me, ' appears to . me not impossible; only, I shall be
obliged to require from you a material guarantee for Paris. But
these are points concerning which we had better negotiate to--
morrow, since it is in any event necessary that we have another
interview. I regret to delay you ; I will take care that this shall
be the case for as short a time as possible. If the King were not
already gone to bed, I would immediately have sought his opinion
concerning these difficulties. If you will be here at eleven o'clock
to-morrow forenoon, we will close our negotiations.'

" I thanked him, and left him about half-past twelve at night.

" On the following day, Tuesday, the 18th of September, at
eleven o'clock in the forenoon, I was in the chateau. The Count
was still closeted with the King ; at half-past eleven o'clock he
caused me to be informed that he was at liberty.

544

NEXT DAY'S INTERVIEW.

" I mounted to a large and splendid salon in the first story,
where he sat before a writing-table.

" Upon my arrival he arose, led me to his writing-table, and
showed me a Journal pour Rire and anqther paper, which were
lying there not without reason.

" ' You see,' said he, ' here is a specimen of your peaceful and
moderate intentions.'

" And lie held before me a caricature which represented
Prussia as a sick old woman in agony, threatened and tormented
by a zouave.

" ' If any thing gives me astonishment,' said I, ; it is that you
can occupy yourself an instant with such a trifle. We politicians
— I speak of those of the present day — take no notice of such
things. We are the first victims of the malice or the bad taste
of the artist's pencil ; and we do not even think of pausing to
consider it. That is a kind of license with which one must keep
on friendly terms, without laying it in the scales of statesman-
ship.'

" ' That is a great mistake,' said the Count ; ' public sentiment
is allowed to become demoralized by such indulgence ; and we
shall arrive at nothing good if we do not pursue a more earnest
system. But what do you say to this one ? ' he added, as he
showed me a large photograph representing the shore of the
ocean, upon which was a watering-place for sea-bathing. On the
border below I read in manuscript : ' This is the view of Hast-
ings which I have selected for my good Louis.' Signed,
' Eugenie?

u 4 1 do not perceive,' replied I, < what js the significance of
this domestic memento.'

" < It was,' he answered, ' the letter of introduction for a per-
son who this morning commenced negotiations with me.'

" ' Then I was right,' I replied, < and when you, yesterday, de-
fended yourself against the suspicion of serving the Bonapartist
policy, you were not altogether in harmony with the facts. It is
clear that they establish relations with you, and that you permit
it. They have come here with the purpose of obtaining your
support ; and this conference, whatever it may be, of which you
do me the honor to notify me, proves that you hold yourself open
for all contingencies.'

BISMARCK AND THE BONAPARTISTS. 545

" i I can say neither Yes nor No,' lie answered ; < I liave
already expressed myself on that point with sufficient frankness.
The person referred to has invited me to an interview with the
Emperor. I have replied that, if the Emperor wishes it, nothing
will be easier. To tell the truth, he is not our prisoner, he is our
guest. We must protect him against annoyances, and give him
all practicable facilities to do what he thinks proper.'

" ' Permit me,' said I, * to remark, on my part, that your
language is perfectly clear, and that I understand its scope. If
that which the Emperor thinks proper should be his return to the
throne, and he should meet your approval, you would bring him
back to us.'

" l That is what I told you,' he said, ' but we have come to no
decision in this respect ; and the person to whom I refer, appear-
ing to me not to be in earnest, was sent away.'

" ' Let us then leave this subject,' I rejoined, ' which concerns
me very little, and only leads us away from the point on which I
would be definitely informed. You have spoken with the King,
and I come to learn the result of this interview.'

" f The King,' said the Count to me, ' accepts the truce, upon
the conditions determined between us. As I said to you, we re-
quire the possession of all the besieged fortresses in the Vosges,
the occupation of Strassburg, and the surrender of the garrison
of that place as prisoners of war.'

" I restrained myself with difficulty, and, interrupting him
almost violently, said :

" c M. le Comte, I have promised you to report to my govern-
ment without omitting any thing of the conversation of your Ex-
cellency ; but I do not know that I shall have the strength to
make known to it what you have just declared to me. The gar-
rison of Strassbnrg has aroused by its heroism the admiration of
the world. Voluntarily to surrender it to captivity would be a
cowardice which no man with a heart can advise.'

" ' I cannot share your opinion,' answered the Count. •' The
reason of my demand is very simple : Strassburg is exhausted ;
we need only to attempt one final assault. It would be very
welcome to me if this could be avoided ; but if you and I do not
come to any understanding about it, the fortress will be certainly
in our hands by Friday, and its garrison will belong to us.'

546

TRUCE CONDITIONALLY GRANTED.

" ( Certainly, Count,' said I, ' is a word which it is difficult to
speak in war.'

" ( Add, then, if you choose,' he replied, ' so far as it lies in
human calculations. It is a matter of engineering, and, always
with the above reservation, I am sure that I do not deceive my-
self.'

" f In that case,' answered I, f the garrison will yield to force.
I, for my part, will never deliver it over. But let us put this
condition aside, to occupy ourselves with the others. What
does your Excellency understand by the guarantee concerning
Paris, of which you spoke to me yesterday ? '

" i Nothing simpler,' said the Count : < a fort which com-
mands the city.'

" i It would be far better,' I returned, < to give up the city to
you out and out. That is much shorter and plainer. How
could you assume that a French Assembly would be capable of
deliberating under the Prussian guns ? This, again, is a condi-
tion which I cannot at all bind myself to bring to the knowledge
of my government.'

" c Let us attempt, then, some compromise,' remarked the
Count.

" I observed to him that, if the idea of the neutrality of Paris
must necessarily be abandoned, the Assembly might be convened
in Tours, where the government had already established its capital.

" f That I accept,' he answered ; i and, in that case, it would
be considered as settled in accordance with what you said to me
yesterday, that we would facilitate, with perfect impartiality, the
electoral meetings, and the elections, even in the departments
occupied by us, with the exception of Alsace and of that part of
Lorraine which we are going to take back.'

" ' There could not be a better confession,' I observed, ' that
the sentiment of the populations is adverse. You admit thereby
that if you should ask them, they would unanimously repulse
you.'

" < I know that perfectly,' replied the Count ; c we shall give
them no pleasure, and ourselves still less. This will involve for
us a distasteful and a troublesome piece of work. Nevertheless,
it is necessary for the security of the German territory, and for our
success in the war which you will not fail to plan against us.

ELECTIONS TO BE PKOTECTED. 547

We therefore do not include these populations among the elec-
tors whom, you call to council, since we intend to govern them ex-
clusively. But if you permit me, I will seek the King, in order
to submit to him this new idea, of which he is still ignorant. At
the same time I will speak to him of your opposition to the sur-
render of the garrison of Strassburg.'

" The Count went out, and, left alone, I was fain to give free
course to the tumultuous feelings which surged within me. My
patience was ready to forsake me, and I felt that I should still
need it. I paced with long steps up and down in the richly-
decorated cabinet. The beauty of the scenery over which my
glance wandered seemed to me to add a keener edge to the tor-
ture which I endured. This park shaded with trees so happily
distributed, these peaceful waters, this lawn, these flowers, were
like so many mockeries of the misery of a land overspread by re-
lentless and materialistic enemies. Unable to bear this contrast,
I seated myself before one of the tables in the chamber, and
the thought occurred to me to prepare immediately an incon-
trovertible proof of the incredible proposition which had been
made to me. No paper, however, was at hand. Upon the
back of a letter which I drew from my pocket, I wrrote the
essential substance of these propositions, which drove the blush
of shame into my countenance. I waited about twenty mi-
nutes, excited but not confused, and knowing very well that
this would end all.

" The Count returned, a paper in his hand. He read me what
was written upon it, translating as he went along ; but he would
not give me the document. Before he began to read, I said to
him that I had, on my part, written down the conditions which
he had just laid before the King. With reference to the pledge
for Paris, I had used the expression, f a fort in the line surround-
ing the city.'

" l That was not the meaning,' remarked the Count. ' I did
not speak of one fort ; I can require several from you. The
main thing is a fort which commands the enceinte — as, for in-
stance, Mont Valerien?

" I remained dumb, and let him go on to the end. c The King
accepts the proposition of the convention of the National Asseni-

548 IMPOSSIBLE CONDITIONS.

bly at Tours ; but lie insists that the garrison of Strassburg shall
surrender as prisoners of war.'

" I was done ; my role was played, and my strength forsook
me. I arose in violent emotion ; a cloud dimmed rny eyes, and I
turned to seek at the window-shutter a support for my head,
which felt as if it would burst, and to choke down my tears. In
a second I collected myself, and said :

" i Pardon me, M. le Comte, this moment of weakness. I am
ashamed to have betrayed it to you ; but the pain which I have
suffered is so great that you will excuse me if I have allowed
myself to be carried away. Permit me to retire. I was mis-
taken in coming here, but I do not repent it. I obeyed my sense
of duty, and this imperative necessity was required to enable me
to endure the tortures involved in the undertaking. I will ren-
der to my government an exact report of the details of our inter-
view. Personally, I thank you for the friendly feeling you have
shown. 1 will never forget it. Should my government be of
opinion that any thing can be done for peace under the conditions
exacted by you, I shall overcome my reluctance, and shall be here
again to-morrow. In the contrary case, I shall have the honor to
write to you. I am very unhappy, but I hope.'

" Count Bismarck appeared to be somewhat moved. ILe gave
me his hand, spoke a few courteous words ; and, with a* heart
overflowing with pain and anger, I descended the great staircase
of the chateau."

On the 23d of September the government in Paris declared
the proposed conditions of truce to be inadmissible, and sought
to justify its refusal in the eyes of Europe by a document in
which it exaggerated the demands of Bismarck. He was even
said to have declared that he would reduce France to a second-
rate power. Bismarck corrected these falsehoods in a circular
dated Ferrieres, September 27th, as follows :

" Our first interview in the Chateau of Haute-Maison, near
Montry, was altogether kept within the limits of a philosophic
elucidation of the present and the past, the practical substance
of which was confined to the declaration of M. Favre offering
every possible amount of money (tout V argent que nous cwons\

THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT REFUSES. 549

but, on the other hand, refusing of necessity cessions of territory.
When I characterized the latter as indispensable, he declared
the negotiations for peace to be hopeless, starting from the
opinion that cessions of territory would humiliate arid even dis-
honor France. I did not succeed in convincing him that condi-
tions the fulfilment of which France had demanded of Italy and
of Germany, without having been at war with either of these
countries — conditions which France would undoubtedly have laid
upon us if we had been defeated, and which would be the result
of almost any war, even of the latest times — could have, per se,
nothing dishonorable to a country defeated after brave resistance,
. and that the honor of France was not differently constituted from
that of all other countries. It was equally impossible to make
JVL Favre understand that the restoration of Strassburg would
have, in point of honor, no other significance than that of Landau
or Saar-Louis, and that the violent conquests of Louis XIV. were
no more intimately interwoven with the honor of France than
those of the first republic or of the first empire.

" It was in Ferrieres that our discussions first took a more
practical turn. There they were devoted to the question of a
truce ; and the fact that this was their exclusive subject is suffi-
cient to disprove the assertion that I had declared that I would
not under any circumstances permit a truce.

" The reason for declaring a truce was recognized on both
sides to be the necessity of giving the French nation the oppor-
tunity to choose a representative body, which alone could be com-
petent to complete the legitimation of the present government
far enough to permit the negotiation with it of an internation-
ally valid peace. I pointed out that, to an army in the midst
of a victorious advance, a truce must always involve mili-
tary disadvantages, and that in this case it would secure to
France a most important interval for defensive preparations
and for the reorganization of the army ; hence that we
could not grant a truce without receiving a military equiva-
lent. As such I named the surrender of the fortresses which
hindered our communications with Germany ; because before
prolonging by a truce the period during which we must supply
our army, we must require as a condition the means of great ease
of supply. Strassburg, Toul, and some smaller places were

550

the points in question. With reference to Strassburg, I pointed
out that the capture of the place, after the glacis had been
reached, must necessarily follow in a short time ; and that we
therefore thought it due to the military situation that this garri-
son should surrender itself, while those of the other fortresses
would be allowed to evacuate them.

" Another and more difficult question concerned Paris. After
completely cutting off that city, we could consent to reopen
its sources of supply on one condition only, that the new pro-
visioning of the place thus rendered possible should not
weaken our own military position and prolong the subsequent
period required to starve it out. After consulting with the
military authorities, I therefore finally offered, by command
of his Majesty the King, the following alternatives with regard
to Paris :

" ' Either the position of Paris is to be yielded to us, by the
surrender of a commanding part of the fortifications, in consider-
ation of which we are ready to permit complete freedom, of com-
munication with Paris, and the provisioning of the city to any
extent ;

" ' Or, the position of Paris is not to be yielded to us, in which
case we cannot consent to raise the siege, but must make the
maintenance of the military status quo before Paris the basis of
the truce, since otherwise the sole result of a truce would be that,
at the end of it, Paris would confront us, freshly provisioned and
armed.'

" M. Favre declined the first alternative, involving the evac-
uation of a portion of the fortifications, as decidedly as he did
the condition that the garrison of Strassburg should be surren-
dered as prisoners of war. On the other hand, he promised to
consult with his colleagues in Paris concerning the second alter-
native, according to which the status quo before Paris was to be
maintained.

" The programme which M. Favre carried to Paris as the re-
sult of our conferences, and which was there rejected, contained
accordingly nothing whatever about future conditions of peace ;
but, on the other hand, the concession, for the purpose of conven-
ing a national assembly, of a tmce of from two to three weeks,
under the following conditions :

HIS VIEWS SUSTAINED.

551

" 1. In and around Paris the maintenance of the military
status quo.

"2. In and around Metz the continuance of hostilities about
that place within a circuit to be more particularly denned.

" 3. Surrender of Strassburg, with the captivity of its garrison,
and of Toul and Biche by simple evacuation."

Since both Strassburg and Toul fell a few days later, even
hostile critics were obliged to confess that the demands of Bis-
marck were by no means exorbitant. It was, however, already
at that time a " comedy secret " that the Paris government de-
sired no truce and no national assembly ; because it was well
aware that in such an assembly it would not have a majority.

CHAPTER V.

BISMARCK AT VERSAILLES.

Public Appearances. — Fall of Metz. — Bismarck on the Situation. — The Danger
threatening Paris. — Bismarck and Thiers. — Terms of Truce offered. — De-
clined.— The Struggle of Despair. — Proclamation of the German Empire.
— The End approaching. — Capitulation of Paris. — The Free Elections.

THE grand headquarters of II.M. the King of Prussia had
been, since the end of September, 1870, in Versailles, the city of
Louis XIV., the sunny chateau of which, with its proud device,
Nee pluribus impar ! had been for generations the seat of all the
" glories" of France. But King William inhabited the prefec-
ture ; the sunny chateau de la gloire was devoted to the wounded
warriors of Germany ; the colossal museum of French fame be-
came a German hospital, care being taken, however, as may be
well imagined, that no harm should- be done by this occupation
to the pictures and treasures of art.

Count Bismarck resided at No. 12 Rue de Provence, and hung
out the black-white-red flag from the balcony of this house. Here
the order of business was soon arranged as in the Wilhelmsstrasse
in Berlin. Here he received the French negotiators, as well as
the bearers of the contributions of affection from home ; the
musical corps who wished to offer him their melodious homage,
as well as the diplomatists of almost all the nations of Europe.
The French negotiators, his enemies and opponents, became
almost his admirers ; the bearers of offerings nearly always
brought, also, something for him, particularly those from the Elbe
region, who looked with special pride upon their " countryman
of the Elbe," the former Dike Captain of Schoenhausen, as
standing nearer to them than others. If the diplomatists were
not always satisfied with him, the musicians always were so ; for
he spoke friendly words to them, and never dismissed them un-

PUBLIC APPEARANCES. 553

rewarded. • The tall and serious appearance of the mighty Chan-
cellor was soon familiar everywhere in Versailles. The French
followed him with stolen glances of fear and of hatred, since in
him they saw incarnated the primary cause of their unexampled
defeat. The powerful forehead, the features carved as if in
wood, the tall figure of Bismarck, were always imposing.
Whether he drove in a simple open wagon through the streets
once traversed by the gilded carosses which only the talons
rouges, the nobles having the right to enter the carriages of the
King, were allowed to use ; or whether he went on foot to the
prefecture to report to his 3£ing, as in the palace under the Lin-
dens at Berlin ; or whether, cigar in mouth, he rode out on his
long-legged horse, as Camphausen has painted him, with a white
cap, simple blue coat with yellow collar, and high riding-boots,
he was certain never to be overlooked. Bismarck rode chiefly a
light brown mare nine years old, a horse of Prussian blood, which
Captain von Rosenberg had ridden in 1866. It had been
wounded at Sadowa by the thrust of a lance.

Heavy hours, heavy days, did Bismarck experience in Ver-
sailles. The struggle for the high reward of victory was hard.
On the one hand, the aged Thiers went from court to court, and
sought assistance for his country, arousing all the envy, discon-
tent, and distrust against Prussia and Germany, and tempting the
disaffected neutral powers to dwarf for us, as far as possible, the
victory which they could no longer wrest from our grasp. On
the other hand, the revolutionary energy of the dictator, Gam-
betta, had brought the nation into wild excitement. His impro-
vised national armies buzzed like malicious swTarms of hornets
about our besieging forces before Paris, attempting to break the
iron circuit and to rescue the city. Gambetta and his companions
held firmly to the tradition of the first revolution, that a popu-
lar host inspired with fanaticism was superior to a disciplined
army. This tradition became the destruction and the death of
many thousand Frenchmen. The fanaticism of the national hosts
may have overcome formerly the bravery of enlisted regiments ;
but it failed miserably before our army, which is indeed itself
also a national host.

And it was in this most critical period, at the end of October,

554

FALL OF METZ.

that Bismarck negotiated with the ministers and ambassadors of
the German Prince concerning the unification and political recon-
struction of all Germany.

At last Prince Friedrich Carl of Prussia reduced to submission
the proud virgin fortress of Metz. He captured at one blow
three marshals of France and one hundred and seventy thousand
Frenchmen ; and thereupon the first General Field-Marshal
among the princes of the Prussian house led his soldiers, with a
rapidity bordering upon magic, from .the Moselle to the Loire,
from Metz to Orleans, there to protect, with swift and victorious
blows, the besiegers of Paris against the malicious hornets that
swarmed out of the south and the west.

Now it was possible to breathe easier at Versailles. It is true,
Gambetta attempted to weaken the terrible impression pro-
duced by the fall of Metz, by the lying declaration that Bazaine
was a purchased traitor ; and the deceived masses were ready and
willing to believe him ; but the fact that the strongest fortress
of the country had fallen, and that a second great French army
had been carried captive into Germany, was of itself overwhelm-
ing enough.

Although the blinded Gambetta still desired neither truce nor
peace, nevertheless the government at Tours, upon receiving the
news of the negotiations for surrender at Metz, resolved to send
M. Thiers upon a mission to Versailles. They did not dare,
under the pressure of the fall of Metz, to repulse the English
mediation, which had again been very actively offered during the
past few days. Bismarck can scarcely have believed that these
negotiations could be successful, for a papal count by the name
of Chaudordy, who acted as Gambetta' s foreign minister, had
issued, on the 8th of October, a memoir, .in which he had claimed,
with colossal impudence, that France had never cherished desires
of conquest, and had never threatened Germany.

" It is established that France did not threaten the integrity oi
Germany ; her history proves it in every direction. France in-
tended no conquests."

Such a sentence could only be addressed by French reckless-
ness and shamelessness to French ignorance and perversity.

To this Bismarck answered on the 10th of October :

BISMARCK ON THE SITUATION. 557

" The conditions of truce proposed to M. Jules Favre, on the
basis of which the arrangements for the orderly reorganization of
France might be attempted, were rejected by him and his col-
leagues.

" This was to declare for the continuance of a struggle which,
judging by the course of events hitherto, is hopeless for the
French people. The chances for France in this ruinous struggle
have grown still worse since that time. Toul and Strassburg
have fallen, Paris is closely surrounded, the German troops are
spread to the Loire, and the considerable forces which were occu-
pied before the fortresses above named are now set free for the
further prosecution of the campaign. The country has to bear, in
a conflict d routranee, the consequences of the decision formed
by the Frenchmen in power at Paris ; its sacrifices will still fur-
ther be uselessly increased, and social conditions will become
disintegrated to a more and more perilous extent.

" The German military authorities are, unfortunately, not in
a position to counteract these evils. But they see, with perfect
clearness, the results which will follow from the resistance which
the Frenchmen in power choose to continue, and they feel bound
particularly to call general attention beforehand to one point.
This concerns the special conditions in Paris.

" The important battles already fought before this capital on
the 19th and 30th of last month, in which the flower of the
enemy's troops there gathered was not able to drive back the fore-
most line of the ' besieging forces, justify a conviction that the
capital must sooner or later fall.

" Should this period be, by the Gouvernement Provisoire de
la Defence Nationale, postponed until the immediate danger of
lack of provisions forces a capitulation, frightful consequences
must necessarily ensue.

" The preposterous destruction by the French of railroads,
bridges, and canals, within a certain distance of Paris, did not
suffice to delay for a moment the advances of our armies ; the
land and water communications necessary for these were re-estab-
lished in a very short time.

" These new constructions naturally have reference to purely
military necessities only. But the destruction elsewhere will

558 THE DANGER THREATENING PARIS.

hinder for a long time, even after a capitulation of Paris, the
communication of the capital with the provinces.

" In the case supposed, it will be a positive impossibility for
the German military authorities to supply with the means of
life, even for a single day, a population of nearly two million
men. The neighborhood of Paris, since its resources are necessa-
rily required for the support of the troops on our side, will also
be, by that time, for many a day's march, destitute of necessary
supplies, and will therefore not even permit the inhabitants of
Paris to depart by the country roads.

" The inevitable consequence would be that hundreds of thou-
sands would die of starvation. The Frenchmen in power must
perceive these consequences as clearly as do the German military
authorities, while to the latter nothing remains but to accept the
challenge and to fight it out. If the parties mentioned are will-
ing that it shall go to such extremes, they must also be held re-
sponsible for the consequences."

There was a brutal rage in the documents which now ap-
peared, the one a memorandum of the papal count from Tours,
and the other a reply of M. Favre from Paris. The latter even
blundered so far as to say that the present condition of France
was still preferable to that of Prussia.

Bismarck could not believe that negotiations with such per-
verse men would lead to any result ; but his magnanimous King
authorized him to negotiate with Thiers concerning a truce, for
the purpose of electing a National Assembly.

And so, then, the little old man, of whom it must be honestly
admitted that in a dark time he faithfully exerted himself for
his fatherland, arrived in Versailles on the 28th of October. He
had an interview with Bismarck, arid then betook himself to
Paris, in order to receive authority for this' mission from those in
power at that city also. The negotiations which commenced on
the 28th of October, after his return from Paris to Versailles,
lasted until the 6th of November, and remained without result,
simply because the French Government desired neither truce .nor
peace.

Concerning these negotiations, the following account is given
in a circular dispatch by Bismarck :

BISMARCK AND TRIERS. 559

"VERSAILLES, November 8, 1870.

" It is known to your Excellency that M. Thiers had expressed
the wish to be permitted to visit headquarters for the purpose of
negotiations, after he should have put himself in communication
with the different members of the Government of National De-
fence in Tours and in Paris. By the order of his Majesty the
King, I declared myself ready for such a conference ; and M.
Thiers was permitted on the 30th of last month to enter Paris,
whence he returned to headquarters on the 31st.

".The fact that a statesman of the eminence and the business
experience of M. Thiers had accepted authority from the Paris
government caused me to hope that propositions would be made to
us, the acceptance of which would be possible, and would tend to
the establishment of peace. I received M. Thiers with the re-
spectful cordiality to which his distinguished character, to say
nothing of our previous relations, fully entitled him.

" M. Thiers declared that France would be willing, at the re-
quest of the neutral powers, to accede to a truce.

" His Majesty the King had to consider, in view of this
declaration, that any truce, in and of itself, involved for Germany
all the disadvantages connected with every prolongation of the
campaign for an army the support of which depended upon a
remote base of supplies. Moreover, we should assume, with the
truce, the obligation to halt the German troops made available by
the capitulation of Metz in the positions which they might occupy
on the day of the signature ; and thus to forego the occupation
of a large hostile territory which could at present be effected
without a blow, or by the suppression of insignificant resistance.
The German armies have no substantial increase to expect in the
next few weeks. On the other hand, the truce would have offered
to France the possibility of developing domestic resources, of
completing organizations already in progress, and of opposing to
us, if hostilities should recommence after the expiration of the
truce, bodies of troops capable of resistance which do not now
exist.

" Notwithstanding these considerations, his Majesty the King
permitted himself to be controlled by the desire of taking a
tirst step toward peace ; and I was authorized to meet M.

560 TERMS OF TRUCE OFFERED.

Thiers in this direction at once, with the grant of a truce for
twenty-five, or, as he subsequently desired, for twenty-eight, days,
on the basis of the simple military status quo of the day after the
signature. I proposed to him to limit the positions of the troops
on both sides by a line of demarcation to be determined as they
might be on the day of signature, to suspend hostilities for four
weeks, and during this period to undertake the elections and the
organization of the national representation. The only military
result of this truce on the French side would have been the
abandonment of small and always unsuccessful sallies and the
cessation of a useless and incomprehensible waste of artillery
ammunition by the guns of the fortifications, during the continu-
ance of the armistice.

" With respect to the elections in Alsace, I was able to de-
clare that we would not insist upon any stipulation which could
place in question, before the conclusion of peace, the title of
France to the German departments, and that we would call to
account no inhabitant of the latter for appearing as a Deputy of
his fellow-citizens in a French National Assembly.

" I was astounded when the French negotiator declined these
propositions, in which all the advantages were on the French side,
and declared that an armistice could be accepted only in case it
included in its terms the permission for a general provisioning of
Paris. I replied that this permission would contain a military con-
cession going so far beyond the status quo, and beyond every
reasonable expectation, that I must ask whether he was in a
position to offer any equivalent therefor, and, if so, what ?
M. Thiers declared himself empowered to offer no military
equivalent, and obliged to demand from us the provisioning of
Paris without being able to tender us any thing in return save
the readiness of the Paris government to facilitate the choice by
the French nation of a representative body, out of which an
organized authority would probably arise, with which it would
be possible for us to negotiate concerning the peace.

" In this situation of affairs, it was my duty to submit to the
King and his military advisers the result of our conference.

" His Majesty was naturally surprised at military demands so
extravagant, and disappointed in the expectations which he had

DECLINED. 561

•cherished by reason of the negotiation with M. Thiers. The in-
credible requirement that we should surrender the fruit of all
the exertions we had made and all the advantages we had achieved
for two months past, and that affairs should be restored to the
position which they had occupied at the beginning of the invest-
ment of Paris, could only furnish once more the proof that parties
in Paris were seeking for pretexts to refuse elections to the
nation, not for an opportunity to hold them without disturbance.

" In consequence of my desire to make, before continuing
hostilities, one more attempt to arrive at an understanding upon
some other basis, M. Thiers held, on the 5th of this month, at
the picket line, another conference with the members of the
Paris government, for the purpose of proposing to them either
a briefer armistice, based upon the status quo, or the simple
announcement of the elections without a formal convention of
truce, in which case I could promise that the voting should be
unhindered, and that all facilities should be afforded which our
military safety would in any way permit.

" As to the details of this conference with MM. Favre and
'Trochu, Thiers did not speak freely with me. He could only
•communicate to me as its result the notice which he had received
to break off negotiations and to leave Versailles, since an armistice
permitting the provisioning of Paris could not be obtained.

" This departure for Tours took place on the morning of the
7th.

" The course of these negotiations has left me only the con-
viction that the parties at present holding power in France have,
from the beginning, by no means earnestly desired to allow the
voice of the French nation to find expression of a free choice of
a representative assembly ; and that it was equally far from their
intention to bring abont an armistice, but that they demanded a
condition which they must have known to be inadmissible,
merely to escape the appearance of repelling the suggestions of
the neutral powers, from which they hoped for support.

" v. BISMARCK."

Thus, for a second time, our King's love of peace was de-
feated by the obstinate perversity of the French demagogues.

562 THE STRUGGLE OF DESPAIR.

Military affairs took their course ; one French army after another
was defeated ; one fortress after another fell ; but the struggle
of despair still continued. Slowly the fall of Paris approached,.,
but it approached visibly, particularly after the commencement, on
the 5th of January, 1871, of the bombardment of the southern
forts of Paris. During this period, the attention of Bismarck
was more than ever occupied by German affairs. But this period
includes also his circular letters of December 14th, 1870, concern-
ing the scandalous violation of parole on the part of captured
French officers, and his dispatch of January 9th, 1871, concern-
ing the German and the French conduct of the war. Bismarck
found it necessary, also, to justify the bombardment of Paris
against the criticisms and remonstrances of neutral diplomatists,
who deemed it incomprehensible and contrary to international
law. This he did in an. elaborate dispatch of the 17th of Janu-
ary, 1871, to the Swiss ambassador, Dr. Kern.

On the 18th of January, 1871, the solemn proclamation of the
German Empire took place at Versailles. Such an assembly of
sovereign princes, famous statesmen and commanders, the Hall
of Mirrors had never seen, even in the most brilliant days of
Louis the Fourteenth. It was on the one hundred and seventieth
anniversary of the establishment of the Kingdom of Prussia that
Wilhelm the First now assumed the imperial crown as Friedrich
the First then assumed the royal crown. The earlier coronation
took place at Konigsberg on the Pregel, a river of home ; the
later one at Versailles, in the heart of an enemy's country. Pro-
phetically had King Friedrich Wilhelm once made the memor-
able declaration, u The imperial crown can only be won through
victories with the sword !" Through victories with the sword his
brother Wilhelm had now won it.

And following Wilhelm, the Emperor and King, appeared
the Chancellor of the new empire, doubtless deeply moved at
heart, yet with a marble countenance ; and he, the mailed knight
of the kingdom, read aloud the first imperial proclamation of his
King. Then the Grand Duke of Baden led the first hurrah in
honor of Emperor Wilhelm.

There is, in other respects, a wide gulf between the
Prussian King Wilhelm and Louis XIV., whom the French, not

PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN" EMPIRE.

563

without reason, have named, par excellence, " The Grand Mon-
arch." But he who witnessed this procession of January 18th,
1871, in the Hall of Mirrors, was obliged to confess that King
Wilhelm bore the honors of empire, as of royalty, with a dignity

PROCLAMATION OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE.

equal to that of Louis XI Y. And he that heard the names of,
the men who on this occasion followed the King, comprehended
that Wilhelm possesses indeed, in a greater degree than Louis
XI Y., the truly royal gift of choosing the right men for the ser-
vice of the country.

564 THE END APPROACHING.

In the Hall of Peace, at the side of the gallery, were placed
the musicians, who greeted their beloved sovereign in good
Prussian style, with the Jlohenfriedberger Marsch.

When King Wilhelm visited the palace and his wounded
soldiers who were there, he was accustomed not to allow the
bands of passing troops to play, lest it should disturb the sufferers.
Such characteristic action is not at all surprising in Wilhelm I. ;
but Louis XIV., with all his glory, would not have been capable
of this tenderness. It may be added that all the detachments
which marched incessantly past the prefecture of Versailles
greeted the King with the Wacht am RJiein, so that after some
months this, his favorite piece, was almost disagreeable to him.
Arrangements were quietly effected to bring it to pass that he
should at least now and then hear something else than the
Wacht am RJiein.

The imperial day was glorified by the great news of victory
from the east. General von Werder, the valiant champion, had
completely routed Bourbaki, the last general of Gambetta, Napo-
leon's former General of the Guard. The revolutionary Bellona
was crippled ; and General von Manteuffel, in a few days more,
drove the army of Bourbaki over the Swiss boundary.

The mighty victories of General Field-Marshal Prince Fried-
rich Carl in the west, the heroic deeds of "Werder and the bold
marches of Manteuffel in the east, cut off all further 'hopes for
the French. Nevertheless there was still so much pride in Paris
that Favre, wishing to go to London, haughtily rejected the cour-
tesy of Bismarck, who offered him a passport. But the end was
at hand. The defeat of the Parisians at the fortress of Mont
Valerien aroused to the most threatening height the evil passions
of the mob in the city ; and then occurred unexpectedly, at last,
that which had so long been awaited.

On the evening of the 23d of January flags of truce waved
upon the bridge of Sevres, and, about eight o'clock, M. Favre,
accompanied by his son-in-law as secretary, came to Versailles.
He arrived in a carriage which General von Voigts-Rhetz, the
commandant of Versailles, had sent to bring him. An escort of
dragoons- accompanied the carriage. Favre immediately held a
conference with Bismarck. At eleven o'clock in the evening the

CAPITULATION OF PARIS. 565

Chancellor repaired to the King at the prefecture. The next
morning, January 24th, Bismarck paid a visit to M. Favre, after
which there was a council at the quarters of his Majesty. There
were present the Crown Prince, Bismarck, the Minister of War,
Count Moltke, and General von Boyen. Favre had come to
hear our conditions with reference to the eventual capitulation of
Paris. Having received them, he set out, after three o'clock,
upon his return.

On the 25th of January, Favre reappeared, and his conference
with Bisma,rck closed on the 26th of January, with the arrange-
ment that French officers should come to Versailles in order to
determine the military conditions of the capitulation. It was
also arranged provisionally that the firing on both sides should
cease at midnight. Favre returned to Paris, and at midnight
the firing ceased. People had become so accustomed to the unin-
terrupted rolling of the thunder of cannon that the sudden silence
made them almost uncomfortable. On the 27th of January,
about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, Favre returned once more
with General Count Beaufort and several other gentlemen.
They had an interview of four hours with Bismarck, followed by
a conference of some length, with Moltke, in which the military
details were arranged.

Thus took place at last the capitulation of Paris, which, to
spare the wounded vanity of the French, was called the Conven-
tion of Versailles. Bismarck and Favre signed it on the 28th of
January. By virtue of this convention, in which Bismarck,
while firmly insisting on every thing essential to us, had been,
according to the intentions of the King, very magnanimous
toward the French in matters of incidental or formal character,
the Paris forts and St. Denis were surrendered on the 29th of
January ; so that King Wilhelin was able on the 30th to tele-
graph to Queen Augusta, " Yesterday I saw the Prussian flag
float over Issy. Hessen-Nassauer of the eleventh corps had
occupied the fort."

The joy which found expression at home upon the receipt of
this news is not to be described. The terms of capitulation are
well known. The armistice was primarily concluded for twenty-
one days ; by the fifteenth day of this period, Paris was obliged

566 THE FREE ELECTIONS.

to pay two hundred millions of francs ; it was shrewdly stipulated
that a " freely-elected " National Assembly should finally decide
concerning peace. This was the decision by means of which
Bismarck created the power recognized by the French people
with which we could conclude peace ; for, even if the war were
in fact at an end, with whom should we negotiate ? The " Gov-
ernment of National Defence " still lacked all recognition. But
Bismarck conferred a great benefit upon the French people also.
He conducted it again into the path of social order, and thus
solved, in the most brilliant manner, one of the most difficult
problems. It is true his work did not pass without opposition
on the side of the French. Gambetta and his associates wished
to continue the war ; and Gambetta boldly issued election pro-
grammes which excluded from the franchise whole classes of cit-
izens. So that he would certainly have brought together an
assembly which, in his own spirit, would have rejected peace.
But this audacious manoeuvre failed ; for the " freely-elected " as-
sembly was stipulated in the document at the foot of which stood
Bismarck's name. The Chancellor immediately protested against
Gambetta' s programme, and was earnestly supported by the hon-
orable feeling of Favre, and by the remnant of healthy common-
sense still existing among the French people. A decree of the
Government of National Defence nullified the electoral decree of
Gambetta, and the latter resigned his official position.

How zealously, during this period, Bismarck labored to come
to the rescue of hunger and misery in Paris, by hastening the
work of provisioning the city, has been recognized by public
thanks on the part of the French. The bread which the Imperial
Chancellor sent to the Parisians was borne past houses abundantly
covered with insulting inscriptions concerning him. On one
house, between Bas-Meudon and Issy, was written with green
paint : Bismarck, halte-ld ! tu nepasseras pas ! Voild pour toi !
Then followed a very finely-painted bomb-shell. Bismarck sent
to the hungry, in exchange for the painted bomb, real bread.

On the 12th of February the session of the " freely elected "
National Assembly began at Bordeaux. On the 13th, the Gov-
ernment of National Defence laid down its powers. On the
16th, Thiers was elected chief of the executive department, and

FINAL, CONDITIONS OF PEACE. 567

Trance had once more a recognized government. Thiers entered
upon his office with the declaration : " To conclude peace, to
reorganize, to elevate credit, to revive industry — this is at the
present moment the only possible, the only comprehensible,
policy."

So peace was to be concluded ! For this purpose Thiers and
Favre repaired, on the 21st of February, from Bordeaux to Paris,
.and thence to Versailles, where there was now no objection to a
prolongation of the armistice until February 24th.

On the 21st the negotiations for peace began at Versailles ;
.and already on the 22d Thiers had the honor to be received by
his Majesty the King and by the Crown-Prince — a thing which
would scarcely have occurred if there had not existed a pretty
istrong conviction of the certainty of peace. Concerning the
negotiations themselves, which took place in the plain campaign-
quarters of Bismarck, only this is known : that the cession of
Metz, the entry of our troops into Paris, and the milliards of the
indemnity, offered the chief points of difficulty. But there were
other matters not easy to settle. Those were weary days for
Bismarck. Probably he suffered in particular under the elo-
quence of M. Thiers, who is an indefatigable orator — witness the
•occasion, in 1870, when he sought to win Italy to the side of
France, and talked in the meeting of the council for three hours
without stopping ! King Victor Emmanuel, the gallant hunter,
was completely annihilated !

As is well knowrn, Bismarck insisted upon the entry of our
troops, though in the least offensive manner. Of the six "milliards
he abated one, probably as the result of English intercession. As
to Metz, he was firm ; but, to offset that, he let Belfort go.
Concerning this transaction he subsequently gave his own views,
in reply to a member of the Imperial Diet at Berlin, as follows:

" I was at first not at all in favor of including Metz in the
cession to Germany, since it is my opinion that the acquisition
of purely French districts, where the mass of the population is
French, can never contribute to strengthen Germany. Only
special circumstances related to the question of boundary can
make exceptions to this principle permissible 'for comparatively
:small localities. That I nevertheless departed from the rule in

568 DIFFERENT COURSES CONSIDERED.

the case of Metz was primarily due to the public opinion of
Germany, which declared itself so loudly and decisively for the
cession of German Lorraine with Metz. But my objections were
not removed. On the contrary, I considered whether the safety
of the frontier might not be secured in some other way. The
first plan which suggested itself was to level the citadel and the
outworks. But this measure was declared by military authority
to be wholly useless, since the topographical features and altitudes
around Metz are such that strong fortifications could be again
constructed with ease and rapidity.

" My next plan," continued the Chancellor, " was to make the
little river Seille, which enters the Moselle at Metz, the boundary
between the two countries. This would permit Metz to remain
French, while the large eastern forts would fall within- our
territory. These could be razed and their reconstruction perma-
nently prevented. But this plan also was disapproved by the
military men, because Metz would then always contain a strong
French garrison, which would easily be able, in a threatening
military situation, to drive away the weaker German garrison on
the frontier, and to take possession of as much ground as might,
be necessary for the defence of the place.

" Thus no course was left to me but to insist upon the cession
of Metz on the terms finally incorporated in the treaty of peace..
But I do not conceal from myself that the Germanization of Metz
involves far greater difficulties than that of Strassburg. Metz is-
purely a city of French officials and soldiers. Almost every
family there has members provided for in the French army or
civil service. Hence Metz is in its nationality, at this moment,
through and through French. Quite otherwise is the case in
Strassburg and Alsace. There also the people profess to be
Brench, but they have less skill to maintain the character, and
are not greatly offended when the sham is exposed. In the
interior of France it happened to me to fall into discussion with
a very zealous Frenchman, and when at last I said to him in Ger-
man, ' Look here, my good sir, did you not come from Thiirin-
gen ? ' he was so embittered by the exposure that he left me.

" If, on the other hand, one laughs at an Alsatian for his bad
French patois, he takes it good-naturedly and, in the dialect of

BISMARCK ON" ALSACE. 569*

South Germany, excuses himself for the deficiencies of his
French.

" The French Government will indeed bitterly miss Alsace and
the other disjoined parts of Lorraine ; they belong to the richest,
and most favored provinces of France, and the consequent de-
ficiency in taxes will be very considerable. But one should not,
for this reason, suppose that the French Government has hitherto
tenderly treated and cherished the Alsatians. They furnish an
important contingent in the army, and have, it is true, frequently
obtained appointments in the civil service, but for the most part
only the lower and medium places, while the high positions have,
in the majority of cases, been occupied by genuine Frenchmen.
For this reason we find in Alsace, and in Strassburg itself, a much
more favorable territory than in Metz. Individual places only
will offer greater difficulties, as, for instance, Miihlhausen, which
is out-and-out republican, and, through its industries, most closely
bound to France. Miihlhausen eventually leans to Switzerland
far more than to Germany."

To the question whether Belf ort could not also have been won
for Germany, the Chancellor replied that in the discussion of the
preliminaries of peace Thiers had attached great importance to
Belfort. Bismarck had indeed wished to obtain Belfort also,
but after the other preliminaries had been already settled—
namely, on Friday, two davs before the termination of the armis-
tice— Thiers had refused to grant on his own responsibility the
cession of Belfort. He had declared that he must therefore first
confer with the commission of fifteen Bordeaux deputies in Paris,,
and it was greatly to be feared that they would wish to refer by tele-
graph to the Assembly in Bordeaux. There was thus the utmost
danger that on account of this one point the entire work of peace
might be made doubtful. And since all the highest officers with
whom he, Bismarck, advised assured him that Belfort was not
of the slightest importance as a military post, since at most a gar-
rison of only 8000 men could be quartered there — a force which
either we or the French could in any war easily surround — he had
felt it necessary to concede the point, and, in view of the urgency
of the time, had ventured, without final authority, upon his own
responsibility, to sign his name to the preliminary peace-instrument..

-570 THE QUESTION OF BELFORT.

In reply to the question whether France had not been too
much favored in the last territorial exchanges at Frankfort, the
Chancellor remarked that the area and the population of the dis-
tricts given back to France in the neighborhood of Belfort were
much larger than what we had obtained in exchange near Died-
enhofen ; but he had again here suffered himself to depart from
his declared principles of settlement, inasmuch as the acquisition
of purely French districts of large extent could never be regarded
an advantage to Germany, whereas we had received therefor
purely German possessions on the border of Luxembourg ;
furthermore, this very district near Luxembourg contained some
of the most important iron strata in Europe, and it was only
necessary to furnish coal and the needful capital to see one of the
greatest and most important industries for Germany nourishing
there.

So at length, on February 26th, 1871, the preliminaries of
peace were concluded at Versailles. Bismarck had secured the
most glorious peace that Germany and Prussia had ever obtained.

Alsace arid Lorraine had been regained, and France had to
pay, within the next three years, five milliards.

On the 1st of March, the National Assembly at Bordeaux
passed the following ordinance : " The National Assembly, yield-
ing to necessity and renouncing all . responsibility, accepts the
undersigned preliminaries of peace by a yote of 546 to 107."

The vote might not have followed so speedily, perhaps, had
not the French hoped by an immediate acceptance to anticipate
the entrance of our troops into Paris. The French, however,
were not to be spared that great affliction, for we had already
marched into the city when the National Assembly arrived at its
decision.

We occupied all the forts about Paris ; the city of the world
lay under our cannon ; the army was disarmed ; the Emperor and
King held his great review in the Bois de Boulogne ; thirty thou-
sand men held possession of the most aristocratic quarters of Paris :
that was enough. Every thing was real, and if many persons then
•desired a longer occupation, they will long ago have come to
.appreciate the political and moral grounds which influenced the
King to turn away from a longer stay of his troops in that Babel.

CONCLUSION OF THE WAR.

571

The victorious army was far too proud to do police duty to the
Parisian rabble, which, with a longer occupation, would have
been unavoidable.

On the 2d of March, King William ratified the peace ; on
March 3d, General von Kamecke led our troops again out of
Paris, allowing them to defile past the Triumphal Arch at the
head of the Champs Elysees.

CHAPTER VI.

BISMARCK'S RETURN HOME.

ON the 6th of March, after an absence of almost five months,.
Bismarck departed from Versailles, where in the mean time he
had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. Through-
out the war he had faithfully followed his King ; on the return
homeward, he now preceded his Emperor. He passed the first
night of his journey at Lagny-Thorigny, where he was entertained
by " Mother Simon " — the excellent Madame Marie Simon,
revered by all wounded soldiers and decorated by all princes.
This lady, who had provided for so many sick and wounded
during the war, now cared for the Imperial Chancellor. " He
must be specially entertained," said the brave lady, " if only
because he has brought about peace !" But it was not easy to
obtain the means of entertainment. Mother Simon sent her
faithful messengers in all directions, and at last obtained — a few
flowers to grace the table. Finally a dinner also was brought to-
pass : soup, ve&l-fricandeau with vegetables, roast beef with
potatoes and chestnuts — all collected with pains. Last of all
came an excellent cake, which had been wandering around with-
out an owner,, but which belonged, as was afterwards ascertained,
to the Prince of Hesse-and-by-Khine. Champagne was ob-
tained direct from Epernay. Bismarck, with his companions,.
Privy-Councillor Wagner, Herr von Keardell, Count Bismarck-
Bohlen, and others, arrived in Thorigny at seven o'clock, in very
merry and cordial mood. Mother Simon wrote concerning this
occasion, " He looked so fresh and vigorous that one might have
thought the whole party to be on a pleasure-trip. From the
pictures of Bismarck which I had previously seen, I had formed

ON THE WAY HOME. 573

f ' •

for myself a very different idea of him. He is there represented
with a cold and stern expression upon his features. But there is
about him a most benevolent and winning air, particularly when
he speaks. I am firmly convinced that he knows his friends
thoroughly — and also his foes, which is not the case with every
man in such a position. Assuredly he allows in his immediate
neighborhood no elements which do not belong there."

For the rest, the good woman was also anxious that night for
the safety of her guest ; for an immense crowd thronged around
the house. She sought the 31st regiment of the Landwehr, which
was stationed near, and called attention to the possible danger,
but was relieved to learn that all necessary precautions had been
already taken. The party enjoyed themselves till 11 o'clock.
When the Imperial Chancellor departed the following morning,
he took with him in his suite, at the request of Mother Simon,
two " gray sisters of Annet," who were returning to Berlin.

"When Bismarck came upon German soil, he was greeted with
joy and gratitude wherever he was recognized. Many a pretty
story of these greetings could be told ; but we will mention only
the venturesome school-girl who offered the Chancellor a nosegay,
and thereupon earnestly inquired whether he would have the
boundaries of Germany finished soon. To Bismarck's question
why she took so much interest in the matter, she replied that she
had got to buy a new school-atlas, and would rather wait until
the new boundaries were ready. The Chancellor assured the
industrious student and thrifty economist that she would not need
to wait long for her new atlas. This occurred, as we scarcely
need to say, in Thuringia, the land of Luther, where the school
still takes the lead of almost all interests. If we are not mistaken,
it was in Apolda, where " yellow canaster" is prepared for the
students of Jena, and where the shield of the new tavern is in-
cribed " To Prince Bismarck."

As the Imperial Chancellor, at six o'clock on the morning of
the 10th of March, arrived at the Potsdam depot in Berlin, he
recognized at once his wife and his daughter. " Here you have
your ' ollen' again ! " was the greeting with which he concealed his
emotion. Then, as if to show that he brought back from France
the old humor, he extended his hand to Minister Count Eulenburg,

574 BISMARCK IS MADE PRINCE.

and exclaimed with surprise, " What, colleague, not yet abed T-
for Count Eulenburg had the reputation of willingly " turning
night into day."

The Chancellor of the Empire was likely to find more work
than rest at home ; for the first Reichstag of the new united Ger-
many was near at hand, and for a long time to come he could not
think of losing sight of the affairs of France, where very impor-
tant German interests were still to be protected ; yet his face and
his manner showed how glad he was to be once more with his
family in Wilhelmsstrasse. To him also belonged a full measure
of the rejoicing with which Berlin greeted the returning King
and his army ; gratitude to him was again in every heart. And
there was no lack of well-earned recognition ; the highest came
from that quarter where his services were best understood — from
the throne. On the 21st of March, at the memorable hour when
the representatives of all Germany in the first German Reichstag
were gathered in the white saloon of the Brandenburg castle, in
Berlin, on the Spree, Bismarck was made a Prussian Prince.
He received the patent on the King's birthday.

Our King and Emperor could not have chosen a more significant
day, for the name of Bismarck is thus linked for all time with
the re-establishment of the new Empire of the German nation^
and in the historic act completed on the 21st of March, in the
castle of the Prussian kings, the new Prince von Bismarck, Chan-
cellor of the German Empire, was permitted to behold the fruit
of his political thought and activity. History will some day
contemplate, with admiration of its inner consistency, the ever,
progressive development of Bismarck's policy. Through the
entire circuit of his political acts extends the same spirit of con^
scions power, of clear and steadfast decision.

The Prince Chancellor is one of the great historic personalities
whose influence reaches far beyond the limits of the land to
which they belong. May it be granted him to long protect and
promote that to which the new German Emperor's first speech
from the throne pointed as the object of the future policy of
Germany — the peace of the Empire — the friendly rivalry of the
nations for the blessings of peace !

CHAPTEE YE*

CHURCH OR STATE?

[1871-1877.]

Old Catholics elect a Bishop. — Bismarck on Austria. — Further Restrictions
of the Catholics. — Protest of the Bishops. — Count von Arniin recalled. —
Bismarck to Von Arnim. — Bismarck answers Mallinkrodt. — Attempted
Assassination of Bismarck. — Bismarck on Alsace-Lorraine. — Bismarck on
Rome and the French War. — Rigor of Governmental Measures. — Recent
Events. — Temporary Retirement of Bismarck.

THE Empire was established, with the hearty sympathy or sul-
len acquiescence of Europe. But the great task of consolidating,
arranging, harmonizing, and guiding it still remained ; and we
may well believe that the stalwart Chancellor, in the midst of his
new labors and cares, often looked back with longing to the sim-
pler and scarcely sterner conflicts of the battle-field.

The one influence which set itself most strongly against the
Empire, as against all other elements of modern aspiration and
progress, was the Ultramontane party, which had once more
seized the reins of power in the Roman Catholic Church,' and
attempted to establish in spiritual and in temporal affairs a more
than mediaeval tyranny. To this Jesuit intrigue, of which the
venerable Pope Pius IX. had become . the nominal head and
actual servant, most of the recent troubles of the Empire and the
Chancellor may be traced. It inspired the Polish agitators ; it
lay behind the arrogance of Yon Arnim ; it infused the bitter-
ness of religious strife into questions of public policy, dignify-

* This chapter is not a part of the translation, but has been added by an.
American hand.

576

THE NEW ROMAN CATHOLIC DOGMAS.

ing rebellion with the glories of martyrdom, and stigmatizing the
government measures of self-defence as a persecution of the
saints.

It is a significant coincidence, as Prince Bismarck has remarked
in one of his speeches, that on the same day, in 1870, when the
French declaration of war was delivered at Berlin, the Pope pro-
claimed in the Vatican the dogma of his Infallibility, and
adjourned the great Council which had adopted it. Two wars
inaugurated at once ! The Chancellor dealt with them one at a
time. France was promptly attended to ; and when that ques-
tion had been settled, the other was in order. A few days after
the signing of the Treaty of Frankfort, the Prussian Govern-
ment, by abolishing the Catholic department in the Ministry of
Public Worship, accepted the challenge of the Vatican Council,
and the new conflict was begun. Yet it did not assume its full
dimensions until 1872, when diplomatic relations between the
Vatican and Berlin were suspended. It is necessary to review
briefly the movements and events which led to this rupture.

The Pope had made friends with the Jesuits after his return
from Gaeta to Rome in 1850, and from that time dates the reac-
tionary course of the dominant party in the Roman Church.
The first step was the promulgation, in 1854, of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception. This doctrine had had many opponents
among Catholic bishops ; but its authoritative announcement was
followed by their unconditional submission — an example which
doubtless encouraged the Ultramontanes to adopt subsequently
the remarkable tactics by which the more important dogma of
Papal Infallibility was carried against strong episcopal opposi-
tion. In 1864, exactly ten years after the proclamation of the
Immaculate Conception, the celebrated Syllabus was published at
Rome. In France its publication was prohibited ; in Prussia it
was quietly permitted. Five years later, in 1869, the Council of
the Vatican was opened — the first general Council in. three centu-
ries. The objects of the Council were to establish the dogma of
Papal Infallibility, and to translate into forms of practical author-
ity the denunciations of the tendencies and opinions of modern
society contained in the Syllabus. True, the German bishops, a&
sembled at Fulda, had assured their suspicious countrymen that the

THE OLD CATHOLIC MOVEMENT. 577

deliberations of the Council would be perfectly free and thorough ;
but the sequel showed that the German bishops were mistaken.
The Council accomplished the second object, the promulgation of
Infallibility, and although it was adjourned, at first for four
months, and then sine die, without having proceeded very far
with its work on the Syllabus, it must be said to have done all
that was needed by its managers, since the power with which it
had clothed the Pope was ample to enable him to do all the rest.

The war between Germany and France was not, perhaps,
expected in Rome at the time when it suddenly occurred. But
there is little doubt that a conflict between Prussia and France
was looked forward to. About 1850 Cardinal Wiseman had
uttered the memorable prophecy that the decisive battle against
Protestantism would be fought on the sands of Brandenburg.
In those days it was perhaps Austria to which the Papal party
chiefly looked as a champion in German affairs. But before the
Vatican Council, Sadowa had not only ended the political domi-
nation of Austria in the German Confederacy, but indirectly
brought about an immense internal change in that Empire ; and
now the hopes of the Papacy rested upon France. Without
doubt, the delusion of Napoleon was shared by the Papal party.
It was expected that Austria and the South German states would
stand aloof, or actively assist in the overthrow of Prussia.

During the war, two influences were developed, which essen-
tially modified the subsequent ecclesiastical struggle — the " Old
Catholic movement " on one side, and the formation on the other
side of the " Catholic party of the Centre" in the Prussian, North
German, and Imperial Parliaments.

The Old Catholic movement took its rise in the protests of.
Professor Dollinger and his friends against the dogmas of the
dependence of bishops and the infallibility of the Pope. Most
of the German bishops who had expressed liberal views before
the Council recanted afterwards, and, assembled again at Fulda,
proclaimed their submission, and required their diocesan subordi-
nates, lay and clerical, " to believe with a faith as firm as a rock
the decrees of the Council to be true," even threatening to launch
against the rebellious the thunders of major excommunication.
The " Old Catholics," as they called themselves, adhered to their

,578 . THE CONFLICT COMMENCING.

convictions, and denounced the innovations of the Jesuit party.
Many of them were excommunicated, among whom were a num-
ber of professors and teachers.

" Even Prince Bismarck," says an able writer in the. Edin^
~burgh Review, " had allowed these things to go on for a long
time." He had partly acted as a mere spectator, and partly given
his consent that nothing should be done either against the. Sylla-
bus and its propositions hostile to the state, or against the Yati-
can decrees. In the year 1868 it was publicly said that he was
seriously considering the appointment of a Papal Nuncio in Ber-
lin. He was considered to be a friend of the Catholic Church,
and he himself says that he was inclined to make to it all possi-
ble concessions. We may ask, Did even his keen eye overlook
the approaching danger, or did he underestimate it ? Prince
Bismarck had received the impressions of his earlier life in coun-
tries where the Catholic Church was not a great power. It is
possible that he still retained for that Church some legitimist
sympathies which had been called forth in the beginning of his
political career, or that he formed his estimate of it more from
the Catholics known to him than from the Ultramontane system.
It is also possible that for a time he may have allowed himself to
be misled by the words ' religion,' i freedom of conscience,' and
' church.' Being himself full of earnestness in matters of relig-
ion, and a good Lutheran Christian, he had nevertheless experi-
ence enough to know that our age is not generally stirred up by
an inward religious want, and he may have supposed, therefore,
that the Catholic movement was not a very deep one ; overlook-
ing the fact that, as he has since very correctly said, the question
here is not one about religion, but only about politics, and conse-
quently about a matter of burning interest at the present time."

But when the Catholic bishops demanded the removal from
office of the excommunicated professors, and the appointment of
Infallibilists in their places, the German governments, and par-
ticularly that of Prussia, refused to comply ; and it was evident
that an irrepressible conflict was at hand.

On the 8th of July, 1871, the Catholic department in the
Prussian Ministry of Public Worship was abolished, and it was
declared that one department was sufficient to do equal justice to

CHURCH OR STATE SUPREMACY? 579

all churches. Then came the contest over the question whether
a Catholic not acknowledging the Vatican decrees still remained
a Catholic. The government took the affirmative, and was sus-
tained by the courts. The bishops, supported by the overwhelm-
ing majority of the Catholic citizens, both complained and
resisted. The Emperor declared that until some constitutional
solution of the dispute could be arrived at, he must continue to
uphold the existing laws, and accordingly to protect every Prus-
sian. Excommunicated teachers not otherwise objectionable
were retained in their offices, but permission was subsequently
given to Catholic pupils to attend other Catholic religious instruc-
tion.

During a discussion in the Imperial Parliament, in Novem-
ber, 1871, of a law for the punishment of ecclesiastics abusing
their offices to the disturbance of the public peace, Minister von
Lutz of Bavaria, himself a Catholic — and not an Old Catholic —
said that the difficulty which Prussia was now experiencing had
been felt by Catholic governments, and that the proposed law,
which was mainly intended to afford the loyal clergy a support
against their ecclesiastical superiors, was only one of a series of
measures absolutely necessary for self-defence. Said he, " The
essence of the question here at issue is, who is to ~be master in the
state, the government or the Itoman Church f . . . No state can
exist with two governments, one of which declares that to be
wrong which the other commands." The law was passed by a
large majority.

The " Catholic party of the Centre" had made a demonstra-
tion at the opening of the first session of the Imperial Parlia-
ment, in March, 1871, when they moved an amendment to the
address in reply to the speech from the throne, asking for the
protection of the temporal power of the Pope. Their strength
on this occasion (including a few socialists who voted with them)
was 63 votes ; the majority against them, mustering 243 votes,
being composed of all other parties. The continuance of the
struggle, arousing the activity of the Catholic party, has consider-
ably increased their numbers since ; but the policy of Bismarck
in this direction has been sustained throughout by a strong
majority in Parliament. The uncompromising hostility of the

580 THE JESUITS — THE BISHOPS.

Centre, however, renders it a nucleus, around which, on many
questions of internal and foreign policy, the elements of opposi-
tion may gather. Thus the socialists, the Poles, the Alsatians,
sometimes even the progressive party, are found on many occa-
sions voting with the Centre.

In 1872 the conflict between the Catholic party and the gov-
ernment became more intense. The attitude of Prussia became
virtually the attitude of the whole Empire. Count von Arnim
having been recalled from Rome, Cardinal Prince Hohenlohe
was nominated as ambassador, in the hope that he would be able
to negotiate a reconciliation. But the Pope refused to receive
him. This was in April.

In May a petition from the Old Catholics against the order
of Jesuits was debated in the Imperial Parliament, and a bill was
offered by the Council intended to give the government the
right to limit the movements of the Jesuits from one place to
another. But in June, when this bill came up for consideration,
the angry tone adopted by the Centre so greatly exasperated the
Chamber that the bill was passed with amendments which gave
it unexpected stringency. It excluded the Order from the
Empire, abolished its establishments, expelled foreign Jesuits and
" interned " German Jesuits and members of kindred orders, and
similar congregations. It was sanctioned by the Emperor on the
4th of July — an appropriate day for a declaration of the spiritual
independence of Germany.

It was at about the same time that Minister Falk called to
account the Bishop of Ermeland for the public excommunication
of certain Old Catholic professors, and declared that the excom-
munication thus made public was an attack upon the social honor of
a citizen, and only permissible, under existing laws, after the autho-
rity of the state had sanctioned the act. The bishop obstinately re-
fusing to acknowledge himself wrong, the minister (behind whom,
without doubt, Prince Bismarck stood) made this memorable dec-
laration : " As the Parliament grants the salaries of bishops
for such servants o£ the church as acknowledge the constitution,
by virtue of which the grant is- made, but as the ideas enter-
tained by the. bishop are irreconcilable with the fundamental
principles of the Prussian and every other state, the govern-

THE SCHOOLS — THE PAPAL ALLOCUTION. 581

ment cannot any longer undertake the responsibility of paying
him his salary."

The inspection of elementary schools had already been taken
out of the hands of the church by the Prussian Government, and
put into the hands of the state. The law against the Jesuits
was a second step in the same direction, and the withdrawal of
salary from rebellious ecclesiastics a third.

In December, 1872, the Pope held an allocution, in which he
denounced the persecution of the church in the German Empire.
The bishops assembled at Fulda, in November, had also bitterly
complained. The answer of the government was promptly made
in January, 1873, through Minister Falk, who brought forward a
series of laws in the Prussian Parliament defining the limits of
ecclesiastical freedom. The first law provided a simple proce-
dure by which a person might sever his connection with the
church ; the second restricted the church in the exercise of
ecclesiastical punishments, forbidding, on pain of fine or impris-
onment, all penalties directed against the life, property, freedom,
OT honor of citizens. Hence no infliction of the major excom-
munication could be proclaimed with the name of the party.
The third law, of far greater importance, regulated the exercise
of discipline against officers of the church itself, forbidding
bodily punishment, limiting fines or imprisonment, requiring as a
condition the voluntary submission of the person disciplined, and
granting an appeal to a Royal Court of Justice for Ecclesiastical
Affairs. The fourth law prescribed the conditions of the prelim-
inary education and the appointment of priests.

These laws were opposed by the Catholic Centre, of course ;
and also by some " High-Church" Protestants, and by those who
preferred the American system of the absolute separation of
church and state — a system which, it is highly probable, will
one day prove the only solution of the problem, as putting an
end to the necessity of control by the state and the cry of " Per-
secution !" from the church. But the " Laws of May" (as they
were afterwards called, having passed the Upper House, after
much " filibustering" for delay, on the first day of that month)
were adopted by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

The indignation of the Catholic party was extreme. All the

582 THE POPE TO THE EMPEROR.

bishops positively refused to obey the new laws, and the govern-
ment fined and otherwise punished those who resisted. On the
7th of August the Pope addressed to Emperor "Willie] in the fol-
lowing letter :

" VATICAN, August 7, 1873.

" YOUR MAJESTY : The measures which have been adopted
by your Majesty's government for some time past all aim more
and more at the destruction of Catholicism. When I seriously
ponder over the causes which may have led to these very hard
measures, I confess that I am unable to discover any reason for
such a course. On the other hand, I am informed that your
Majesty does not countenance the proceedings of your govern-
ment, and does not approve the harshness of the measures
adopted against the Catholic religion. If, then, it be true that
your Majesty does not approve thereof — and the letters which
your august Majesty has addressed to me formerly might suffi-
ciently demonstrate that you cannot approve what is now occur-
ring— if, I say, your Majesty does not approve of your govern-
ment continuing in the path it has chosen of further extend-
ing its rigorous measures against the religion of Jesus Christ,
whereby the latter is most injuriously affected, will your Majesty
then not become convinced that these measures have no other
effect than that of undermining your Majesty's own throne ? I
speak with frankness, for my banner is truth. I speak in order
to fulfil one of my duties, which consists in telling the truth to
all, even to those who are not Catholics ; for every one who has
been baptized belongs in some way or other — which to define
more precisely would be here out of place — belongs, I say, to the
Pope. I cherish the conviction that your Majesty will receive
my observations with your usual goodness, and will adopt the
measures necessary in the present case. While offering to your
most gracious Majesty the expression of iny devotion and esteem,
I pray to God that he may enfold your Majesty and myself in
one and the same bond of mercy."

To this the Emperor made the following reply, dated Sep-
tember 3d.

THE EMPEROR TO THE POPE. 583

" September 3, 1873.

" I am glad that your Holiness has, as in former times, done
me the honor to write to me. I rejoice the more at this since an
opportunity is thereby afforded me of correcting errors which, as
appears from the letter of your Holiness of the 7th .of August,
must have occurred in the communications you have received rela-
tive to German affairs. If the reports made to your Holiness
respecting German questions only stated the truth, it would not
be possible for your Holiness to entertain the supposition that my
government enters upon a path which I do not approve. Accord-
ing to the constitution of my states, such a case cannot happen,
since the laws and government measures in Prussia require my
consent as sovereign. To my deep sorrow, a portion of my Cath-
olic subjects have organized, during the past two years, a political
party which endeavors to disturb, by intrigues hostile to the state,
the religious peace which has existed in Prussia for centuries.
Leading Catholic priests have, unfortunately, not only approved
this movement, but joined in it to the extent of open revolt
against existing laws. It will not have escaped the observation
of your Holiness that similar indications manifest themselves at
the present time in several European and some transatlantic
states. It is not my mission to investigate the causes by which
the clergy and the faithful of one of the Christian denominations
can be induced actively to assist the enemies of all law, but it
certainly is my mission to protect internal peace and preserve the
authority of the laws in the states whose government has been
intrusted to me by God. I am conscious that I owe hereafter an
account of the accomplishment of this my kingly duty. I shall
maintain order and law in all my states against all attacks as long
as God gives me the power. I am in duty bound to do it as a
Christian monarch, even when, to my sorrow, I have to fulfil
this royal duty against servants of a church which, I suppose,
acknowledges, no less than the Evangelical Church, that the com-
mandment of obedience to secular authority is an emanation of
the revealed will of God. Many of the priests in Prussia subject
to your Holiness disown, to my regret, the Christian doctrine in
this respect,, and place my government under the necessity — sup-
ported by the great majority of my loyal Catholic and Evangel i-

584 THE OLD CATHOLICS ELECT A BISHOP.

cal subjects — of extorting obedience to the law by worldly
means. I willingly entertain the "hope that your Holiness, upon
being informed of the true position of affairs, will use your
authority to put an end to the agitation carried on amid deplora-
ble distortion of the truth and abuse of priestly authority. The
religion of Jesus Christ has, as I attest to your Holiness before
God, nothing to do with these intrigues, any more than his truth,
to whose banner, invoked by your Holiness I unreservedly sub-
scribe. There is one more expression in the letter of your Holi-
ness which I cannot pass over without contradiction — although it
is not based upon the previous information, but upon the belief
of your Holiness — namely, that expression that < every one who
has received baptism belongs to the Pope.' The Evangelical
creed, which, as must be known to your Holiness, I, like my
ancestors and the majority of my subjects, profess, does not per-
mit us to accept in our relations to God any other mediator than
the Lord Jesus Christ. The difference of belief does not prevent
me from living in peace with those who do not share mine, and
offering to your Holiness the expression of my personal devotion
and esteem."

This correspondence was published by the Prussian Govern-
ment in October, just before the elections for the Diet ; but it
failed to weaken the Catholic party, as the result of the elections
showed.

Meanwhile, in June, 1873, the Old Catholic Congress at
Cologne elected Dr. Reinkens, a professor in the University of
Breslau, to be their bishop ; and in August he was consecrated at
Rotterdam by the Jaiisenist Bishop of Deventer, in Holland.
The government hesitated to accept the view of their position
taken by the Old Catholics themselves — that they alone were en-
titled to be regarded as the true representatives of Catholic doc-
trine— and yet refused to look upon them as seceders and out-
laws from the Catholic Church, but practically regarded the .
whole thing as an ecclesiastical movement within the church
which the state had no right to interfere with ; and consequently,
in October, Dr. Reinkens was recognized by the Prussian Govern-
ment as a regularly-constituted bishop, and as such entitled to a

BISMARCK ON AUSTRIA. 585

salary from the state. These events raised to the highest pitch the
indignation of the Catholics ; and in South Germany, where they
were most influential, their operations threatened the peace and
even the stability of the Empire.

It was necessary to consolidate by a judicious foreign policy
all the elements of sympathy writh Germany. The year 1873
witnessed a remarkable increase of cordiality in the relations
between Germany and the three Scandinavian states, Denmark,
Sweden, and Norway.

Bismarck's views on the relations of Germany to Austria
were expressed (in 1874) in an interview at Berlin with the
Hungarian deputy, Manus Jokai, who subsequently published
them in his journal. The Prince is reported to have said :

" Some of our good friends suspect us of intending to annex
the German portion of Austria. Is it really possible for any one
to imagine that we are going to burden ourselves with some more
priest-ridden provinces ? Or are we such habitually imprudent
people that we are likely to go in for conquest when we have
already Alsace and Northern Schleswig on our hands ? But the
worst of all is that, for military reasons, which we had no right
to slight, we have been obliged to appropriate a strip of French-
speaking country in Lorraine. O those 'Frenchmen ! Those
implacable savages ! Just scratch the Parisian cook, tailor, or
perruquier, and you will not be long discovering the red Indian
underneath all his superficial gloss. No ; we have to stand senti-
nel against the French, who are our mortal enemies, and we have
no idea of involving ourselves in fresh trouble on our eastern
frontier likewise. It w^ould be a nice mess indeed to increase the
German Empire by so many provinces bent on pilgrimaging and
all that sort of thing ! Besides, Yienna and Pesth are destined
to become the commercial centres of the south-east ; but of what
use would Yienna be to us as a mere border town ? The more I
think of it, the more I am convinced that a German minister who
should prepare to annex Austrian territory would deserve to be
strung up without more ado. For myself, all that I can say is
this : that I should be tempted to go to war to keep the German-
Austrians out of Germany rather than admit them. But in all
probability Austria will enjoy a prolonged peace."

586 FURTHER RESTRICTIONS OF THE CATHOLICS.

The characteristic bluntness and yet sagacity of Bismarck's
manner is well shown in this report. He seems, in this as in so
many other cases, to be speaking unguardedly the secret thoughts
of his mind ; but his frankness, whether it be merely frank or
also wily, has all the effect of the most subtle diplomacy.

Meanwhile public opinion in Alsace and Lorraine remained
strongly in favor of a return to France. But a new a Home-
Rule" party gradually formed itself, based on " the acceptance of
the inevitable," and adopting as its rule the furtherance of the
interests, not of France or of Germany, but of Alsace-Lorraine.
Leading men, however, continued to parade their sympathy with
France. Lauth, the burgomaster of Strassburg, having declared
that he remained in the country only because he expected the
return of the French, was removed by order of the Emperor.
The whole town-council resigned to keep him company. But
the canny Alsatians will not always remain so foolish.

In 1874 the Prussian Diet took further steps in the direction
of civil supremacy. A law was passed to regulate the manage-
ment of the property of the Catholic Church, through the elec-
tion of lay church-wardens. To this the bishops generally sub-
mitted, relying upon the enthusiastic sympathy of their flocks,
and not without reason ; for the elections of church-wardens
resulted everywhere in the triumph of the Papal party. A sec-
ond law, called " An Act for the Suppression of the Payment of
the State Aid to the Roman Catholic Bishops and Clergy," was
far more obnoxious to that party. It absolutely suspended all
such payments, but provided that the suspension might be
removed in individual cases, on a pledge to obey the laws of the
State, the subsequent violation of which pledge would work
removal from office and disqualification to hold such office in
Prussia thereafter. The difference between stopping the salary
of a particularly active and obstinate resistant, now and then, and
stopping all salaries, and fixing a promise of obedience as the con-
dition of restoring them, is obvious. The new measure makes
silent disobedience impossible. There was also a third law
passed suppressing Prussian monasteries ; and finally the govern-
ment proposed the abrogation of those clauses of the constitu-
tion which permitted to the church the independent adminstra-

PROTEST OF THE BISHOPS. 587

tion of ecclesiastical affairs, the freedom of clerical appointments,
and the unimpeded intercourse of religious bodies with their
superiors. In the Lower House the Poles and the Catholic
Centre opposed these laws ; in the Upper House they were com-
bated also by some conservative Protestants ; but they passed
nevertheless.

The Pope himself injured the Catholic side by his Encyclical
of February 5, 1874, declaring the laws already passed on the
subject (the " Laws of May") null and void. A number of Cath-
olic members of the Diet protested against this declaration, and
denied the right of the Pope to nullify in such a manner laws
which had been constitutionally passed by competent authority.
But the mass of Catholics doubtless adhered to the Pope in this
as in every other step of the conflict.

In March, 1874, the bishops again assembled at Fulda, and
framed an address to the Emperor Wilhelm in person against
the withdrawal of the state grants, " to which the honor of Prus-
sia was pledged," and against their being obliged to obey uncon-
ditionally the state laws. The ministers were authorized by the
Emperor to reply that they were sorry the bishops could not obey
laws which were everywhere obeyed in other countries, and that
the country had reason to regret the failure of the bishops to
adhere to their own views, as they had taken pains to express
them before the Vatican Council. The government remained
firm. Several bishops were imprisoned, and the bishops of Pader-
born and Breslau were deposed for disobedience to the laws of
the State. These two prelates and the Archbishop of Cologne
left their sees and attempted still to administer, through secret
and unknown delegates. The feeling of the Catholics was very
bitter, and Bismarck was heartily execrated, being supposed (no
doubt justly) to have had much to do with the framing of the
laws under which the " persecution" was carried on. On the
other hand, lie was everywhere greeted by the Old Catholics and
Liberals as the champion of liberty and progress, receiving,
among other distinctions, the honorary citizenship of Cologne.

In March, 1874, occurred the open rupture between Bismarck
and his enemy, Count Harry von Arnim. The latter was a
member of a powerful and illustrious family, and an experienced

588 COUNT VON ARNIM RECALLED.

diplomatist. He had entered the diplomatic service of Prussia
in 1850, at the age of 26. In 1853 he was sent to Home ; from
1855 to 1858 he was attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
at Berlin ; from 1859 to 1861 he was First Councillor of the
Prussian Embassy at Yienna ; in 1862 he was sent as Ambassador
Extraordinary to Lisbon ; in 1864 to Munich, and in the same
year as Prussian Ambassador to Rome, where he became the
North German Ambassador in 1866. He was made a count in
1870, and sent as Commissioner to the Peace Conference at Brus-
sels in 1871, and subsequently to the Conference at Frankfort-on-
the-Main. In August, 1871, he was sent to France ; and in Janu-
ary, 1872, he was accredited German Ambassador to the French
Republic. But in March, 1874, Bismarck recalled him, and he was
at first ordered to Turkey, but soon after retired from duty.
The cause of his recall from Paris was his secret opposition to
the foreign policy of Bismarck, his instigations of newspaper
articles against it, and his intrigues with the Legitimists in
France and the ultra-Catholics in Germany. Prince Hohenlohe,
his successor, found a large number of important documents
missing from the archives of the embassy. Count von Amim,
having refused to surrender the papers, which he professed to
hold as private property, was prosecuted, found guilty of abstract-
ing them, and sentenced to imprisonment. He appealed to the
Kammergerieht, and then to the Supreme Court, but without
success. At last he published, or caused to be published, at
Zurich a pamphlet under the title Pro Niliilo, in which a
bitter assault was made upon Prince Bismarck, and many
alleged letters and oral communications were brought out to
increase the scandal. This publication caused Yon Arnim to be
again indicted for high treason. He remained out of the coun-
try, and from neutral ground fired his ammunition at the party
which was "persecuting" him. The scandalous pamphlet
referred to contained the following dispatch from Bismarck,
which we cannot forbear to quote, as showing with what he
had to contend in his laborious task. Bismarck's dispatch was as
follows :

" Your Excellency, in your report to the Emperor dated the
8th June, expresses the opinion that, for us, the best government

BISMARCK TO VON ARNIM. 589

in France would be that which would have to expend the greater
part of its strength in combating its home enemies. Already in
your communication of the 27th May your Excellency had
veered toward that view ; I therefore see that you recognize the
value of the opinions which I, but without success, formerly laid
before the Emperor relative to the way in which you regarded
the situation in France. During eight months, therefore, you
have induced his Majesty to entertain opposite ideas ; you have
thus, if not produced, at least facilitated, the recent change of
government which is not advantageous for us, even by your own
admission, in this sense, that you paralyzed my efforts to main-
tain M. Thiers. You have induced the Emperor to adopt your
opinion that the development of events in France, under the
direction of M. Thiers, might have become dangerous for the
monarchical principle in Europe. His Majesty did not consider
that a support to be given by us to the government of M. Thiers
was so indispensable as 1 thought for the above-mentioned rea-
sons of your dispatch of the 8th June. The Emperor would not
permit me to give you for instructions to employ all the weight
of our influence to maintain M. Thiers ; that is what has, in great
part, rendered his overthrow so easy.

" The tone of your reports has been, during eight months, in
opposition to the tendency defended by me with his Majesty.
In thus preventing me from efficaciously supporting M. Thiers,
you placed me under the necessity, as responsible adviser of the
Emperor, to endorse a political fault which, on account of the
incessant effort I made to the contrary, was not mine. Your
action on his Majesty's mind exceeds the function of an ambas-
sador ; it has entered upon a rivalry with the legitimate influence
of the minister ; it becomes dangerous for the state.

" Your Excellency occupies his leisure and means, to defend
with the Emperor, by writing and orally, a policy different from
that of the responsible minister. I am exhausted by serious
labors crowned with success, and I can no longer, beyond regular
affairs, struggle in his Majesty's cabinet against an ambassador
hostile to my views. I conclude from your latest dispatches that
your Excellency will also have comprehended the difficulties
which arise for the Emperor's service from that state of things,

590 BISMARCK ANSWERS MALLINKRODT.

and you will agree with the reasons which induced the proposi-
tion I made to his Majesty for the re-establishment of unity and
discipline in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

" Accept, etc. BISMARCK."

It is plain that Yon Arnim expected, by playing into the
hands of Legitimists and Catholics, to get the power to overthrow
Bismarck.

Among many attacks made on Prince Bismarck by the Catho-
lic party in 1874, there was one which proceeded from Mallin-
krodt, the head of that party in the Prussian Diet, the boldness
of which may be inferred from the following extract :

" The Rhine country was one of the most patriotic provinces,
and the elementary teachers there had a right to cherish ultra-
montane politics, even though appointed and salaried by govern-
ment. What must be the feelings of those devoted patriots on
finding themelves coerced by the Cabinet ! Was not the Cabi-
net presided over by a statesman who, when preparing for the
Austrian War, told the Italian General Govone that he did not
object to give Hhineland up altogether to France as a sop thrown
to'Cerberus?"

Bismarck's reply was direct, plain, and caustic — his enemies
would say brutal. In the course of it he said :

" I find myself compelled to declare that the statement of
Herr von Mallinkrodt, with reference to an alleged transaction
between General Govone and myself, is an infamous lie. Of
course it is not Herr von Mallinkrodt who told the lie. Of
course he repeated only a falsehood invented by some one else.
However, as the story has been invented with malice prepense, it
might perhaps have been expected that Herr von Mallinkrodt
would have thought twice before fathering it. I have never
allowed any one to hope that I should be able to bring myself to
consent to give up a single village or a single acre of land. The
fiction circulated at my expense is a downright and daring lie,
got up to blacken my character in the eyes of my countrymen.
While I am oh the subject, I should like to say a few words upon
an incident which occurred at a previous session, when I was
unfortunately absent. A gentleman belonging to the same party

ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF BISMARCK. 591

as Herr von, Mallinkrodt chose to attack me as a statesman. He
did so, too, in connection with foreign politics, censuring my
conduct most severely. May I perhaps suggest to the gentlemen
opposite, that, as a member of a government Avhich they will be
the last to deny is a divinely-appointed institution, I have some
claim to decent treatment at their hands ? May I lay claim to
this privilege, if not in domestic, at least in foreign, affairs ? Do
they not see that they are acting an unhandsome part in thus ca-
lumniating me in connection with matters calculated to attract the
attention of other countries ? Are they not conversant with a
certain proverb referring to the bird that fouls his own nest ?
Surely, if I am to believe that the pious gentlemen opposite are
engaged more especially than others in the defence of truth,
religion, and Christianity, I must beg of them to be a little more
cautious in repeating all manner of stories derived by them from
questionable sources. I am led to make these remarks by Herr
von Schorlemer's accusations. His first accusation was compara-
tively mild. He began by charging me with contradicting
myself. He said that I had formerly acknowledged the necessity
of respecting the Dogma of Infallibility — a dogma accepted by
millions of Roman Catholics — and he asserts further that I was
now acting contrary to my first intentions and promises. The
one is true ; the other is not. Even now I acknowledge it as my
duty to respect the dogmas of the Catholic Church as dogmas,
and I have never interfered with any body for believing in them.
But if the Infallibility Dogma is so interpreted as to lead to the
establishment of an ecclesiastical imperium in imperio, if it occa-
sions the setting aside of the laws of this country because unap_
proved by the Vatican, I am naturally driven to assert the legiti-
mate supremacy of the state. We Protestants are under the con-
viction that this Kingdom of Prussia ought not to be ruled by
the Pope, and we demand that you, the ultramontane section of
the Roman Catholics, respect our convictions as we do yours.
Unfortunately, however, you generally complain of oppression
when not allowed to lord it over others."

On the 13th of July, 1874, the assassination of Prince Bis-
marck was attempted by Kullmann, a fanatical mechanic. The
Prince was wounded slightly, and . the would-be-murderer was

592 BISMAKCK ON ALSACE-LOKRA1NE.

promptly arrested. There were not wanting those who believed
him to be an emissary of the Papal power ; but the more reason-
able as well as charitable supposition ascribes his deed to the
effect upon a weak and bigoted mind of the excited ecclesiastical
controversy. His trial began at Wiirzburg, October 31st. To
the president of the court he confessed his guilt, and explained
that he had first thought of killing Bismarck at Magdeburg, on
the preceding Easter ; that he had then bought a pistol and lain
in wait without finding a suitable opportunity. Subsequently he
had come to Kissingen with the same purpose, and after waiting
over Sunday, in order not to desecrate that holy day, had made
his attempt on Monday, aiming at Bismarck's head, in the belief
that the Prince wore a coat of mail which rendered him invulner-
able in every other vital part. lie assumed the whole responsi-
bility of the deed, and justified himself on account of Bismarck's
policy towards the church. The defence offered by his counsel
was weakness of mind and irresponsibility, driven to a mad act
by ultramontane doctrines. He was found guilty, and sentenced
to fourteen years' imprisonment and ten years' subsequent dis-
franchisement. It may well be supposed that this incident did
not contribute to allay the violence of the conflict of parties.

In the autumn session of the Imperial Parliament, during the
debate on the Alsatian budget, the deputies of Alsace-Lorraine
opposed the appropriations for the Strassburg University, and for
other educational and general purposes, as being intended to ben-
efit the Empire at large rather than the province. Prince Bis-
marck's reply contained the following passage :

" The question before us concerns the interests of the Em-
pire ; it is not a question of Alsace-Lorraine. The university
is to serve imperial purposes. In the well-fought war in which
we had to defend our existence, we conquered the provinces for
the Empire. It was not for Alsace-Lorraine that our soldiers
shed their blood. We take our stand upon the interests of the
Empire and the imperial policy. Alsace-Lorraine was annexed
on these grounds, and not for the sake of its own ecclesiastical
interests. We have in the Empire other grounds of action than
those gentlemen whose past leads them to Paris and whose pres-
ent conducts them to Koine. We have to think of the Empire,

BISMARCK ON ROME AND THE FRENCH WAR. 593

and for that reason have summoned to Berlin representatives from
the annexed provinces. My views concerning an Alsace-Lor-
raine parliament, which were at first too sanguine, are still enter-
tained by me in principle, but have nevertheless been modified
since I became acquainted with the attitude of the Alsace-Lor-
raine deputies present here. Such a parliament would lead to
continual agitation, and perhaps endanger the maintenance of
peace. It would be difficult to set aside such an institution if
created by legislative means, and therefore that mode of creating
it could not be adopted. In school matters we have energetically
interfered, but we shall no doubt have to take still more vigor-
ous steps. We could not permit in the schools elements which, I
will not exactly say, strive to make the children stupid, but yet
which take care that people shall not become too wise. My
.action in regard to Alsace-Lorraine will always be guided by the
interests of the Empire and its safety ; and I shall not be moved
from my course by reproaches, threats, intimidation, or per-
suasion ; but before I can decisively advance further on iny
course, I must be convinced that there are elements which can be
trusted. We may expect better discernment from the rising gen-
eration, and we must therefore see that good schools are pro-
vided."

During the same session, commenting on the resolution to
abolish the office of Envoy to the Vatican, the Prince made the
following remarkable statements concerning the Vatican Council
"and the French war :

" The Pope being a purely religious chief, there was no occa-
sion to keep a permanent political representative at his court.
Things might indeed have been left in statu quo had not the
present Pope, a true member of the church militant, thought fit
to revive the ancient struggle of the Papacy and temporal power,
and more especially with the German Empire. The spirit ani-
mating the Papacy in this campaign was too well known to need
further comment. Still he would tell the House a story that had
long been kept secret, but which, after all had happened, would
better be made public. In 1869, when the Wiirtemburg Govern-
ment had occasion to complain of the Papacy, the Wurtemburg
envoy at Munich was instructed to make representations, and in,

594 RIGOR OF GOVERNMENTAL MEASURES.

a conversation which passed between the envoy and the Papal
Nuncio, the latter said that the Roman Church was free only in
America, and perhaps England and Belgium ; in all other coun-
tries the Roman Church had to look to revolution as the sole
means of securing her rightful position. This, then, was the
view of 'the priestly diplomatist stationed at Munich in 1869, and
formerly representing the Vatican at Paris. Well, the revolution
so ardently desired by the Vatican did not come to pass ; but we
had the war of 18VO instead. Gentlemen, I am in possession of
conclusive evidence proving that the war of 1870 was the com-
bined work of Rome and France ; that the (Ecumenical Council
was cut short on account of the war, and that very different votes-
would have been taken by the Council had the French been vic-
torious. I know from the very best sources that the Emperor
Napoleon was dragged into the war very much against his will
by the Jesuitical influences rampant at his court ; that he strove
hard to resist these influences ; that in the eleventh hour he
determined to maintain peace ; that he stuck to this determina-
tion for half an hour, and that he was ultimately overpowered by
persons representing Rome."

The year 18Y4 was generally characterized by friendly rela-
tions between Germany and foreign powers. The violent utter-
ances of the bishops and the Catholic party in France, echoing
those of their colleagues in Germany, gave rise to remonstrances-
through the German representation at Paris, to which the French
Government made a satisfactory reply ; and the evil was abated,
at least in its noisier manifestations.

The ecclesiastical strife had so far poisoned the minds of par-
tisans that when, on the 2d of September, the anniversary of the
decisive battle of Sedan was observed throughout the Empire a&
a holiday, many of the Catholics, under the advice of their bish-
ops, took no part in the celebration. The government, on its
part, proceeded with a rigor which may be more easily excused
than justified. The numerous prosecutions of newspapers under
the press laws, and especially the confiscation of many Catholic
journals, would appear to our eyes not merely oppressive, but
injudicious, as adding to the enthusiasm of the opposition the
unnecessary glory of martyrdom. The Liberal party in Germany

RECENT EVENTS. 595

has not failed to criticise the means employed by the govern-
ment, while it has approved the position of the government in
resisting the claims of the Papacy.

This was made particularly clear in the two sessions of the
Imperial Parliament of 1875, when the government was obliged
to make concessions to the spirit of civil liberty in the details of
its measures, but was at last overwhelmingly sustained in its main
policy. One of the most important laws of this year was that
which established civil marriage throughout the Empire. It is
now no longer necessary that every German babe should be bap-
tized into some church, and thus have its ecclesiastical future
determined ; nor that every marriage shall be solemnized by a
clergyman ; nor that burial in consecrated ground shall depend
upon the ecclesiastical standing of the deceased, and be granted
or refused by the clergy. The extent to which this reform is felt
as an emancipation by the people may be seen from the fact that
within a few months after it was ordained in Prussia, statistics
showed that of the marriages occurring in Berlin only 25 per
cent were celebrated in churches, and of the children born only
30 per cent were baptized in infancy. For us in America, who
are accustomed to individual liberty in such matters, the irksome-
ness of compulsory laws, forcing us to do what so many of us do
voluntarily and with joy, is not easily conceivable. But we may
imagine that all onr denominations, even the Catholic, would rise
to oppose a law compelling our worthy fellow-citizens, the Bap-
tists, who conscientiously hold to the immersion of believers only,
to have their infants sprinkled in church. Such enforced use of
religious rites and privileges simply breeds hypocrisy, infidelity,
and strife.

During the year just past he has had to deal with the Turkish
question — a question which involves most complicated relations
of creeds and races from the Danube to the Baltic. Although
always on friendly terms with Russia, it would not do for Ger-
many to encourage and assist too far the great Pan-Slavic move-
ment which threatens to make Russia at some future day the
terror of Europe. Bismarck appears to have been successful in
maintaining an attitude at once human and wise ; and it is
believed by Germans that his management has postponed, so

596 - BISMARCK'S TEMPORARY RETIREMENT.

far, the^conflict which may after all be inevitable, but the results
of which, when it comes, no man can foresee.

The incessant activity of Bismarck in all these critical affairs
has been broken only by intervals of ill-health and needed rest.
In the month of April, 1877, came the announcement that he
had formally resigned his position as Chancellor of the Empire,
but had been induced by the Emperor to withdraw it on condi-
tion of receiving several months' leave of absence. He retained
the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs, the duties of which he
directed from his place of rest. His temporary retirement from
the Chancellorship was not accompanied by any material change
in the policy or prestige of the government, either at home or
abroad. His work was not yet so far established that he could
resign it safely to other hands.

In the end of the great European struggle now in progress,
the consolidated power of the German Empire wTill be firmly and
skillfully wielded in the interest of humanity, progress, and
order, and, as may be seen in the following chapters, the hand
that completed and launched that Empire is still at its helm,
guiding it amid the perils of the day.

BASHI-BAZOUKS AT BAY.

tjj* Spirent jr.

ARBITER OF EUROPE.

AND

THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR.

INCLUDING BKIEF HISTORIES OF THE TURKS, THE RUSSIANS, THE
CHRISTIAN PROVINCES, THE MOHAMMEDAN AND GREEK RE-
LIGIONS, How THE WAR BEGAN, THE SEAT OF WAR, AND THE
POLITICAL ELEMENTS INVOLVED IN THE GRAND CONFLICT.

"HISTORY is the politics of the past; politics, the history of
the present ;" thus says Mr. Edward Freeman in his admirable
work on u The Ottoman Power in Europe." He applies it to
the consideration of the " Eastern Question" in England ; but it
is as applicable to the treatment of the same problem among the
•Continental Powers. The politics of Germany to-day makes the
history of Europe to-morrow ; and Bismarck is Germany.

As this whole book goes to show, Bismarck's policy is hard of
•comprehension to European diplomatists because they are fond
of traditional indirections; he, with the simple grandeur of
.genius, goes straight to his aim. The Emperor William of Ger-
many is a cousin and dear friend of the Emperor Alexander of
Russia. The preponderating weight of Russia kept Europe out
of the French-German war, and left William free to put down
France, unite Germany, and consolidate the Empire. Bismarck
•cares nothing for England and her " Eastern Question ;" he cares
much for Russia and her alliance. Yet it would not do for him
to give Russia countenance in seizing the Bosphorus and making
^ Russian lake of the Black Sea, nor in rearing a Pan-Slavic Em-
pire, for Austria-Hungary with her Danubian principalities and
Slav subjects would have just cause for complaint and be an
597

598 BISMARCK AND THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR.

inevitable thorn in the side of the two emperors, who might
thus have all Europe to face. Bismarck, therefore, with quiet
skill wrought upon Austria through his friend and ally, Count
Andrassy, Austria's premier, and, inducing Russia to give Aus-
tria special guarantees as to the principalities and Western Tur-
key, brought in the only doubtful element and secured Austria,
for the " Triple Alliance." Doubtless many negotiations ran
back and forth, and the danger of Austria's uniting with Eng-
land and Turkey to withstand the " territorial encroachments "
of Russia and Germany was at one time imminent. But, biding
his time, working silently and steadily to his end, Bismarck has
cemented the alliance of the three emperors, which really con-
trols the course of Europe. France, so late as the famous Berlin
Note and down to the Constantinople Conference, stood with the
alliance; her tendency has always been Russian rather than
Turkish. And England, jealous of all interference with the
highways to the East, has been left out in the cold, to join Turkey
or fall in with the rest of Europe.

In looking at the chapters which follow, the reader will
find brief and clear answers to the questions which every one is
asking as to the present war in the East, and which in this busy
land few are able to answer by any process of independent inves-
tigation. For most graphic pictures of Russia as it was fifteen
short years ago, see the chapters detailing Von Bismarck's sojourn
there on diplomatic duty (from p. 280), and his own vivid and
witty and characteristic letters : for the condition of Russia to-
day, as well as its early history and that of the Ottoman Turks,
consult the following pages. The causes of the present war lie-
far back in the past, and the explanation of movements now agi-
tating all Europe is to be found in the rise and migration of na-
tions in the Middle Ages. The political treatment of the war
will be seen to rest — as a pyramid on its foundation — upon the
triple alliance of Russia, Austria, and Germany. Russia had the
battle to fight, for the quarrel was hers ; but the settlement of the
results lies largely with the man who has already wielded such
tremendous forces — the astute Chancellor of the German Empire.

CHAPTEE I.

WHO ARE THE TURKS?

The Russo-Turkish War.— Mongolian Origin of the Turk.— Appearance in
Europe.— Defeat by Sobieski.— The Eastern Question.— Statistics and
Description of Government.

THE Eiisso-Turkish war is a war of races, of religions, and of
ambitions. The first two of these statements are illustrated by a
history of the Turk ; the latter by a history of Russia.

The European community of nations is composed of four ele-
ments: those who inhabited the countries before the advent of
the Romans; the Roman power itself; the Aryan nations, or
Slavs, who came in after the Romans ; and finally the still later
non-Aryan nations from Central Asia. The Semitic races of
South-Western Asia — Saracens, etc. — have left traces, but no per-
manent elements. The first three elements are all more or less
related, coming from the ancient Aryan or Indo-European stock;
but the non- Aryans, or Turanians, or Mongolians, are utterly and
radically distinct from them.

The Turk, or Toork, is a member of the great Mongolian
family. He belongs to the race which has founded the Japanese,,
the Chinese, the Scythian, and the Median Empires ; he is next
of kin to the Thibetans and the Tartars ; of his blood, if not
directly among his ancestors, are Genghis Khan, and Attila and
Tamerlane ; his present European empire is all that remains from
the incursions of the Saracens in Western Europe and the Huns-
and the Ottoman Turks in Eastern Europe.

In the tenth century A.D., there appeared on the eastern bor-
ders of Europe a Tartar people, who had been driven forth from

600 THE TARTARS IN EUROPE AND ASIA.

the Steppes of Central Asia by increase of population, by the in-
cursion of a stronger people, and by their own innate restless-
ness. They were brave but pitiless; they neither asked
nor granted mercy. These were the advanced guard of the
Asiatic horde. They reached a point as far west as the Pyrenees ;
.ravaged Northern Italy ; threatened Southern France. Happily
they were heathen as well as savages ; hence, when at length the
limits of their predatory incursions were fixed by their defeats,
they readily took on the religion of their adopted land, inter-
married with the Christian peoples, and gradually lost barbarism
without losing the independence of their Tartar life. These are
the Hungarians, whose kingdom forms so considerable a part of
Austria-Hungary, whose territory borders on that of European
Turkey, and whose present sympathies with the Turk curiously
illustrate the power of national and race affinities even after cen-
turies of separation.

"While the Hungarians, yielding to the beneficent influences of
Christianity, were being converted from a savage tribe to a civi-
lized nation, their cousins, the Turks, were preparing for a more
terrible incursion and a more permanent conquest. A robust
.and powerful tribe, whose military annals recount sanguinary
-campaigns with the Chinese centuries before the Christian era,
were gradually transplanted from Northern to Central Asia.
Their sons taken in war or purchased in trade, and their warriors
hired by the wealthier but feebler nations of the South, became
at first the favorite soldiers, then, by a natural and easy transi-
tion, the military masters, of the region bordering on Palestine
and Asia Minor, and vaguely known as " the East." • As the
Tartars in Europe had yielded their barbaric religion to the mild
precepts of Christianity, so the Tartars in Asia yielded theirs to
the more congenial military principles of the Mohammedan re-
ligion, and were, by the higher civilization with which they came
in contact, at once organized into a compact military body and
provided with a definite and a permanent creed.

Organization strengthened their arms, the creed their purposes ;
ambition of conquest grew by success ; and the reservoir of re-
cruits furnished by the Steppes of Asia seemed to be almost in-
•exhaustible. Othman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, won

TURKS DEFEATED BY SOBIESKI. 601

his first victories in Asia Minor in 1299 ; in 1453 the Crescent
was floating in triumph on the walls of Constantinople, and the
famous Church of St. Sophia was converted into the now equally
famous Mohammedan mosque ; in 1683 the Turkish army were
investing the city of Vienna. It then seemed as though the boast
of her leaders that Turkey should rule all Europe was not a vain:
glorious one. France, Italy, and the German States were idle.
The Czar of Russia dallied and did nothing. The jealousy of
European Powers has always been the greatest ally of the Turk.
The Turkish army had been seven years in preparing for this de-
liberate, great campaign. Two thousand camels had been em-
ployed for years in transporting grain from the ^Egean Sea to the
Danube. Ten thousand wagons were collected to convey the
stores of the invaders. Kourds, Mamelukes, Greeks, Albanians,
Tartars, all marched under the same flag. The Austrian
Emperor Leopold fled from his capital before the barbaric music
of the Turkish bells, trombones, and cymbals had reached the ears
of .the soldiers on the outposts. Apparently all Austria would
have shared the fate of the present Christian provinces but for
the heroism of a single man, now little known to fame, and the
Christian courage of a single nation, which has since been blotted
from existence. John Sobieski, of Poland, saw with clearer eyes
than any of his contemporaries the dangers which threatened
Europe. With characteristic impetuosity he fell upon the Turk-
ish camp. A panic seized the Asiatic horde. The Christian
soldier, with 80,000 men, put to flight an army three or four
times as large.

The defeat was as decisive as that of Xerxes at Salamis. The
tide of conquest was turned ; since the battle of Vienna the Turk
has made no further incursions into Europe. He has had all that
he could do to hold what he had already overrun. If Sobieski's
advice had been followed, there would now be no Eastern question.
" Not to attempt to conquer or restrain the monster should be our
object," said he, " but to fling it back to the deserts from whence
it came ; to exterminate it, and raise once more on its ruins a
Byzantine Empire. This is the only Christian, worthy, wise, and
decisive course." That sentiment is as true now as when Sobieski
uttered it two hundred years ago. Unhappily jealousy is as

602 TURKISH PEOPLE AND GOVERNMENT.

potent now as then in preventing Christendom from following
the advice.

The Eastern question is then really this : How long shall
Christendom sanction and sustain the presence and power of a
Tartar camp in Southern Europe ?

The total population of European Turkey is in round num-
bers 16,000,000. Less than 6,000,000 are Mussulmans ; of them,
not more than 3,000,000 are real Turks. These Turks are Tar-
tars to-day, scarcely less than when in 1299 Othrnan led them to
their first victory. The Turk alone has in. European Turkey the
power of the sword. He fills all the offices ; if not by men of
Turkish birth, then by Christian apostates. Until very recently
he allowed no Christian to testify against a Turk in any Turkish
court. The testimony may now be given, but it hardly need be
said that it is generally disregarded. The recuperative power of
an oppressed people has been taken from the subject provinces by
a singular but a successful refinement in cruelty. The daughters
of the Christians have been systematically taken for the Turkish
harems and have become mothers of Mussulmans. The boys
have been taken from their homes to be educated in the Mussul-
man faith and consecrated to the service of the Mussulman army.
These, the Janissaries, have in past history been the bravest de-
fenders of the Turkish flag. Of them Sobieski wrote that they
remained in the trenches at Vienna to be cut to pieces when the
Turkish army fled. Thus the natural defenders of Christian lib-
erty have been converted by a diabolical shrewdness into the
oppressors of their own people. Happily for Christendom, Turk-
ish intolerance, at the beginning of this century, revolted at the
employment of Christians in any form in the Turkish army, and
the Janissaries no longer exist.

"We have defined the government of Turkey as that of a Tar-
tar camp. Its organization is, as befits a camp, that of simple
absolutism. The Sultan is at once Emperor and Pope, head of
the nation and of the church. He unites in himself the power of
the book and the power of the sword, the absolute authority in
things temporal and things spiritual. He is theoretically limited
by the Koran. He is practically limited only by the power of
the Ulema.

602*

ABDUL HAMID H., STJI/TAN OF TURKEY.

THE ULEMA AND ITS POWER. 603

Since the Koran is the foundation of both law and religion,
the priests and the lawyers form but a single class. Every Turk
is allowed to become a member of this class, but only after a long
course of study and a severe examination. This order constitutes
the Ulema, and it forms a caste as well defined as that of the
Brahmins of India, as well organized as that of the Jesuits in
Europe, and as effective a barrier to progress as that of the Man-
darins in China. The Father Beckx of this Jesuit order of
Turkey, the Grand Mufti, is the oracle of law and the represent-
ative of religion. All reforms must await his sanction. The
order itself is exempt from taxation and privileged from arbitrary
punishment. Its members are united alike by a common educa-
tion, a common interest, and a common though perverted con-
science. Their influence is fortified by the superstition of the
people and by the stolid conservatism bred of a fatalistic theology.
The Sultan himself disregards their counsels at his peril. Within
the last two years two Sultans have paid the penalty of their
temerity with their lives. What the priesthood is to the Romish
Church, what the aristocracy has been to the English government,
that the Ulema is to the Turkish Empire. No I We do injus-
tice both to Rome and England, for the Ulema has not the piety
of the priesthood nor the philanthropy of the aristocracy. It is a
political caste without liberality and a priestly caste without spirit-
ual life. If it were overthrown, Turkey would be Turkey no
longer, for it would no longer be either Tartar or Mohammedan.
While it exists, the dream of reform is as baseless a hope as char-
ity ever formed or experience ever destroyed. The Ulema is
powerful in resisting reforms ; it will never inaugurate them. It
thrives upon the corruption which it is asked to cure. It is a
" ring" more invincible than America ever imagined. When
the Ulema is overthrown, the hope of Sobieski will be realized,
the Tartar Turk will no longer be encamped in. Christian Europe.

CHAPTER II.

WHAT IS RUSSIA?

Russia an Amalgamation of Christian Slavs with Pagan Tartars.— Growth
since XVI. Century. — Absolutism and Democracy in its Government. — Gen-
eral Tendency toward Freedom.

IN Turkey, Mohammedan Tartars conquered and still hold in
subjection the Christian races ; in Russia, the Christian races con-
quered but amalgamated with Pagan Tartars. This historical
antithesis represents in a single sentence the contrasted character-
istics and tendencies of the two nations.

In the thirteenth century, the same in which the Turkish
Othman won his first victories in Asia Minor, an independent ad-
vance of the same resistless Tartar horde invaded and overran
Eastern Europe. It carried its flocks and tents and all its worldly
goods with it ; foraged on the country through which it passed ;
made no endeavor to preserve a base of supplies; recruited its
forces from the nomadic peoples through whose lands it passed,
and thus increased in size as well as in audacity with its advance.
All Europe was threatened by it. Even the fisheries of England
were interrupted for a time in the general alarm. The final re-
sult was a Tartar Empire with a capital on the lower Yolga, and
a western border at the bounds of modern Germany. For nearly
three centuries all of what is now European Russia remained trib-
utary to Asiatic conquerors. Its various provinces were subject
to the pagan Tartar as the Danubian provinces of to-day are to
the Mohammedan Tartar.

The first successful revolt against this subjection to the
Asiatic was led by the Princes of Moscow. They wrested from
the Khan his supremacy, but they did not liberate the Russian

GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE — SOCIAL CONTRASTS. 605

provinces. The government which they founded was patterned
after the Asiatic model ; and by the middle of the sixteenth cen-
tury the allegiance of the Russian principalities was fully trans-
ferred from the Tartar capital of Serai, the very site of which i&
now unknown, to Moscow, long the capital and still one of the
first cities of the Empire. Thus history welded together a curi-
ously contrasted government, which as yet time has failed to har-
monize. The government of the Tsar* is one which he has bor-
rowed from an Asiatic despot ; the local institutions of Russia are
those which have descended from a free people and a patriarchal
age, — the true Slav stock, of Aryan origin.

Since the sixteenth century, the Russian Empire has been
steadily increasing its territory. The tendency toward concentra-
tion and absorption, which has combined what were originally
independent provinces in the united empires of Germany, France,
Italy, Spain, has nowhere been more remarkably illustrated than
in the history of Russia. In 1505 the Tsardom of Moscow con-
tained, in round numbers, 37,000 square miles ; in 1676, a little
over a century and a half later, 257,000 square miles ; in 1876,.
two centuries later, over 350,000 square miles. Thus in three
centuries and three quarters Russia has grown from a kingdom
with a domain not as large as that of New York State to an em-
pire containing nearly one sixth of the area of the habitable globe.
During that time it has annexed in Europe the territories of Fin-
land, the Baltic Provinces, Lithuania, and Poland. But it has
not amalgamated the people of the annexed territories with its
own. Its unity is that of a dissected map. Territorially, it is a
huge conglomerate ; politically, an empire of contradictions ;
socially, an embodied paradox. In Russia you may find the most
despotic autocracy and the most absolute democracy ; the greatest
superstition and the baldest atheism ; the most stoical conservatism
and the most impractical radicalism ; the grossest ignorance
and the ripest culture ; an emperor whose will is the only source
of imperial law, and a town meeting in which the just emancipated
serf is on terms of absolute equality with the hereditary prince ;

* Improperly spelt Czar ; pronounced Tsar or Char.

€06 THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT.

a peasantry who turn the face of their Icon* to the wall that they
may break their fast unobserved, and yet who create such a de-
mand for " Buckle's History of Civilization" that four transla-
tions are printed in the Eussian tongue, and all of them pecuni-
arily successful ; a provincial legislature which is only prevented
from passing a bill for compulsory education by pecuniary inabil-
ity to provide it, yet which leaves accumulated filth in the streets
of the provincial capital two feet thick ; merchants who can
barely sign their names and who make their arithmetical calcu-
lations by aid of a modern imitation of the ancient Roman abacus,
and gentlemen whose acquaintance with ancient and modern lite-
rature is not surpassed by that of the most cultivated literati of
Paris, Oxford, or our own Cambridge.

The imperial government of Russia is that of an absolute
despotism. It is modeled after that of the famous Genghis
Khan of the Mongol Empire, who was wont to say, " As there is
but one God in heaven, so there should be but one ruler upon
earth." But the Tsar is neither omniscient nor omnipresent.
The defenders of the paternal theory of government forget that
though an illimitable empire may be created, nature has put very
narrow limits on every emperor. The father of eighty-live
millions of people can not personally superintend the concerns
of so vast a family. The personal government which was not
ill-adapted to a nomadic horde could not be maintained over an em-
pire stretching from the Baltic to Behring's Straits, and from the
Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. Hence the Bureaucracy.

The Bureaucracy is the administrative government of Russia.
This is divided into ten departments — Foreign Affairs, War,
Navy, etc. The heads of these departments, writh certain appoint-
ees of the Tsar, constitute a quasi Cabinet. But it can not, like
the Cabinet of the English Government, be compelled to abdicate
by public sentiment embodied in an Act of Parliament. There
is no Parliament. It can not, like the Cabinet of our own Govern-
ment, be turned out of office by a national election, for there is no
national election. It advises the Tsar. It records his decisions.

* The Icon is a pictorial half-length representation of the Madonna or of a
saint, varying in size from a square inch to several feet.

06*

ALEXANDER II., TSAR OF ALL THE RUSSIAS.

BUREAUCRACY AND DEMOCRACY. 607

It executes them. The subordinate official, to the lowest sub-
altern in the remotest corner of Asiatic Russia, is a representative
of the Tsar. He speaks with the authority of the Tsar ; he too
often acts with the despotic willfulness of the Tsar. At St.
Petersburg!! are the heart and brains of the system in the Impe-
rial Autocrat. The eyes and ears and feet and fingers are the
Bureaucracy, with its official representatives in every province,
district, and town. The present Emperor is a man of indefatig-
able industry. He is, perhaps, the hardest-worked man of the
empire. But no one man can furnish either will, power, or wis-
dom for so vast a mechanism. The despotism is nominally that
of an autocrat ; it is practically that of a bureau. It is intolerable
because it is irresponsible.

Rather, it would be intolerable if it were the entire Russian
Government. In fact, it is only a part, perhaps the least import-
ant part. For under the shadow of this Asiatic despotism a pure
democracy has grown and thrives.

This democracy is embodied in four institutions — the House-
hold, the Mir, the Zemstvo, and the Provincial Assembly.

The household was, until ten years ago, the first political organ-
ism of Russia. The sons and their wives lived at the old home.
The house, the garden, the utensils belonged to the household.
The earnings went into a common purse. If one son went
away to work, he sent his earnings home and returned to enjoy
them. The " big one" — father, grandfather, eldest brother, some-
times mother — was the chief executive head of the family. The
patriarchal age of Abraham was thus reproduced in the peasant
homes of Russia. Only recently has it begun to yield to the
spirit of the age.

Next to the household is the Mir, or village Commune. Every
village is a joint-stock company. The arable and meadow land is
the common property of the community. The villagers assemble
once a year, or oftener, in town-meeting. They determine how
the lands shall be allotted ; when the fields shall be plowed, the
seed sown, the hay cut. These assemblies are generally held on
a Sunday afternoon or a church holiday. Any open space where
there is sufficient room and little mud serves as a town-meeting
house. There is no attempt at organization. There are no set
39

608 GENERAL TENDENCY TOWARDS FREEDOM.

speeches. The peasants discuss in little groups. The village
Elder, the mayor of the commune, makes no attempt to preside.
The vote is usually rendered by acclamation. Sometimes there is
a count of heads. Half a century ago, an attempt was made to
introduce the ballot. It was not a success. The peasants called
it contemptuously " playing at marbles," and adhered to the cus-
toms of their fathers. The will of the majority is never resisted.

While this assembly answers to our town-meeting, the Zemstvo
resembles our Board of County Supervisors. It repairs the roads
and bridges, elects justices of the peace, provides primary schools,
watches the crops, guards against famine, and, in general, pro-
vides for the material and moral well-being of the Russian county.
It is a democratic local parliament. The noble and the peasant
meet here upon equal term sand possess equal authority. Finally,
every Province, consisting of a given number of districts or coun-
ties, is provided with a Provincial Assembly. It serves the pur-
pose of our State Legislative.

Thus the affairs of the nation are administered by a despot,
through a bureaucracy ; the local affairs of the village are admin-
istered by a town-meeting, those of the District and of the Pro-
vince by popular assemblies. In the Tillage, District, and Pro-
vince the suffrage is as universal as the most ardent democrat could
desire. So that, while Russia presents to the external world the
aspect of an absolute despotism, it has preserved unimpaired
through all the ages the foundations of a free government.

And upon the whole, the progress of the ages has been toward
a larger liberty, not toward a harsher despotism. The Russian
people, from the peasant to the noble, recognize the defects in
their national system and are inclined to be over-severe rather
than over-lenient in their self-judgments. The aristocracy arc
more ambitious for the nation than for the class, and aim at
securing popular liberties rather than exclusive privileges.
Even the despotic Tsar himself has promoted, rather than hin-
dered, the free development of the people. It was the Tsar
who in 1861 emancipated the twenty-two and a half millions of
Serfs by an imperial ukase. It was the Tsar who in 1866 cre-
ated the district and provincial Zemstvos, and who still maintains
them despite, in many localities, the indifference or the active

RUSSIAN PROGRESS SINCE 1861. 609

opposition of the people. Hence, in spite of open opposition and
popular inertia ; in spite of the archaic nature of many of the
Russian institutions ; in spite of that despotism which runs so
counter to the American ideas of political liberty, and that
communism which runs so counter to the American ideas of in-
dividual freedom, Russia has made more progress during the past
decade than any other European power. " To say nothing," says
Mr. Grant Duff,* " of the emancipation of the serfs and the
changes for good which have been effected by a single act, we
have the relaxation of the censorship, the reduction of the price
of passports from eighty pounds to a figure which permits any
one to travel, the abolition of several atrocious methods of pun-
ishment, the institution of representative bodies for local mat-
ters, an amnesty which restored to their country many of the vic-
tims of Nicholas, a humaner system in the navy, improvements
in the universities, increased facilities for communication, and a
generally gentler and more civilized spirit in the administration."

* " Studies in European Politics." London: 1877.

CHAPTER III.

THE CHRISTIAN PROVINCES.

Old Civilization of the Bulgarian Peninsula.— Statistics of Population.— Iden-
tity of Slavs and Ancient Assyrians. —The Byzantine Empire and the Greek
Church. — Bulgaria. — Montenegro, — European Diplomacy. — England re-
sponsible for Turkey in Europe.

FIVE hundred years ago, no part of the world, save perhaps
Italy alone, was more highly civilized than parts of the tract
known geographically as the Bulgarian Peninsula. Its general
boundaries include Bosnia, Albania, Servia, Bulgaria, and some
of their provincial subdivisions. For the purposes of the pres-
ent chapter these may all be grouped together as the Christian
Provinces of European Turkey, for they are mainly inhabited by
one race, the Slavs, and their history and sufferings have been in
most respects the same. According to the best and latest author-
ities, basing the figures upon official returns and estimates, there
are in European Turkey, without Rournania, 10,673,700 Chris-
tians and 2,200,000 Mohammedans. Of these last only 1,260,000
are Turks. This vast Christian majority is made up of Bulga-
rians, Serbs or Servians, Albanians, and Greeks. With the excep-
tion of the Bulgarians, who were a Tartar race on their first
appearance in history, the inhabitants of these provinces are
nearly all Slavonians, and even a majority of the Bulgarians are
now included in the great Slavonic family.

Ages ago, so long that history fails to record much more than
the fact of its existence, the Assyrian kings ruled a mighty realm
with Nineveh as its capital, and the valleys of the Euphrates and
Tigris as its most favored and cultivated territory. Whence its
inhabitants came no one knows, and whither they went after the

BULGARIA — ROUMANIA — THE SERBS. 611

empire fell in pieces before the attacks of revolted provinces is
largely a matter of conjecture. It is certain, however, that a
warlike race overran Eastern Europe, some of its tribes pushing
northward to the shores of the Arctic Sea and westward well
into the territory now governed by Austria. This people, widely
scattered as it is, retains its language and its national characteris-
tics, and as the key to ancient Assyrian inscriptions was found
through analogies in the Slavonic tongue, it is surmised with good
show of reason that Slavs and Assyrians are identical in origin.
At any rate, they are an Indo-European, or Aryan race, and their
very name signifies " a word " or more broadly rendered, " a race
that speaks one tongue." Their most ancient seat of empire
within the reach of history seems to have been in the neighbor-
hood of the Carpathian Mountains. Thence they crossed the
Danube and overran the Peninsula, but soon split into separate
tribes. Their recognized branches are now the Russians, the Illy-
ri co-Servians, and the Slavic-Bulgarians. These can for the most
part understand one another in spite of different local dialects.
It is curious, in view of the vast though at presented disunited
Slav nationality, that its name has given to western nations the
word " slave," while that of its most conspicuous tribe, the Serbs,
has given to the same nations the kindred term " serf."

Trajan carried the Roman Empire to its most Eastern Euro-
pean limits ; but the conquered territory, ancient Dacia, now
Roumania, was not long retained. The more western provinces
were earlier subject to Roman rule, and were retained long
enough to become nominally Christianized before the cross was
carried into the borders of Persia as the religion of the State.

Before this was accomplished, however, the division of the
Roman power took place, and the line of Byzantine Emperors
was well established. Under their sway, the Greek or Eastern
Church developed its differences from Rome, and its subjects
became as completely Christianized as they are at the present
day.

With the decline of Byzantine power, the Serbs began to en-
large their boundaries, and, after a succession of wars with their
neighbors, reached the zenith of their power under Stephen
Dushan (1336-56). He assumed the title of Tsar. During his

612 FOUR CENTURIES OF REVOLT.

reign he conquered nearly the whole of what is now known as
European Turkey, and greatly improved the condition of all his
subjects,, giving them the laws and establishing the customs which
have caused travelers to note the superiority of the Christian
provinces over those which have been more immediately sub-
jected to Moslem rule. By this time, however, the Turks were
firmly intrenched on European soil, arid were pushing their con-
quests in all .directions.

After the battle of Kassova, in 1389, when the Serbs were
disastrously defeated, they were continually fighting their con-
querors, the Turks, until their final subjugation by Sulieman the
Magnificent in 1521. Then followed centuries of the most out.
rageous oppression. Families were exterminated, and 200,000
souls were carried away to slavery. The country was reduced
almost to a wilderness ; but the people retained, in a wonderful
degree, their free spirit Frequent revolts kept the Turkish gov-
ernors in a constant state of trepidation. In 1805 a bold and
able leader appeared in the person of Kara George, a peasant by
birth, who, countenanced by Russia and France, waged war so
successfully against the oppressor that in 1807 he was recognized
as ruler of Servia by the Sultan. After a treaty known as that
of Bucharest, in 1812, the western powers withdrew their pro-
tectorate, and the Turks again overran the country. Another de-
liverer appeared, however, in the person of Milosh Obrenovitch,
one of George's old officers, who, after a series of successful cam-
paigns, re-won recognition from the Sultan in 1817, and secured
the practical independence of his country on condition of a small
annual tribute to the Porte. This state of things endured until
1875 when the Herzegovinian war broke out.

The history of Servia finds in many respects a parallel in that
of the other Christian provinces. In writing of them and of the
Slavonic race, Servia naturally stands as a type, since she once
ruled the whole region, and is, all things considered, the most con-
spicuous and successful representative of Pan-Slavism — & word
which fifty years ago was the terror of Western Europe.

We can not undertake, within the limits at o,ur command, to
recount the history of the individual provinces. The recent
atrocities in Bulgaria have been fully equaled in nearly all quar-

TURKISH ATROCITIES— MONTENEGRO. 613

ters of Christian Turkey. One of the causes of the Herzegovi-
nian revolt of 1875 was the burning by the Turks -of extensive
forests along the Montenegrin frontier in order to render it more
difficult for the warlike inhabitants of that gallant little state to
visit vengeance upon outlying Turkish garrisons. This act, which
is only a specimen of the Ottoman policy, reduced the inhabitants
of a wide and fertile tract to absolute want, and, added to the long
oppressions of tax-gatherers and Pashas, precipitated the revolt
which has, under Providence, grown into the present war. In
reading the accounts of Turkish rule, one actually becomes sur-
feited with horrors. Every means which heartless ingenuity can
suggest seems to have been employed to wring taxes from these
people, and reduce them to absolute vassalage.

We can not leave this part of our story without a word about
Montenegro, which has for four centuries defied the Moslem
power, and maintained in its mountain fastnesses a Spartan sim-
plicity and hardihood which should command the admiration of
the world. Zeta, including modern Montenegro (the Black Moun-
tain) was the choicest principality of Servia. It held out against
Moslem arms until 1478, when Scutari fell on the south and Ivan
Tchernoievitch, the military hero of the time, determined to
abandon the fertile plains of his domain and fall back upon
Tsernagora, as Montenegro is called in the Slav dialect. Accord-
ingly he took a printing-press with him into the mountains —
remember this was within a generation of Gutenberg's time — and
there he and his descendants have for centuries defied the whole
strength of the Porte. In spite of its privations, the population
increased from about 30,000 in 1600 to something like 196,000
in 1865. Kepeatedly has the Porte sent a hundred thousand men
and more to the attack, only to see them routed and slaughtered
by petty armies of 10,000 or 12,000 mountaineers. In the years
following 1860 the Turks under Omar Pasha succeeded, after a
stubborn resistance, in worsting their opponents, but it was only
when their whole military force was available, and they had a
general (not a Turk) of exceptional ability. Within the last two
years the Montenegrins have obtained modern arms, and in 1876,
as of old, a few battalions of Montenegrins repeatedly put to
flight armies of 15,000 to 20,000 Turks. When the armistice pat

614 SECRETS OF DIPLOMACY.

an end to hostilities, the Turkish armies had been reduced more
than one half by the casualties of the campaign. Among other
proofs of their prowess, the Montenegrins captured 12,000 breech-
loaders and 1500 horses. Surely such a nation as this deserves
its freedom. The romance of its history and exploits is surpassed
by that of no other people on earth, and it is to be hoped that
the present war will restore some of the rights which they have
lost.

But it is not Turkey alone that is to blame for the degradation
and desolation of those provinces which have not been able, like
Montenegro, to resist the might of the Sultan. Some of the secrets
of English diplomacy have lately come to light, through official
reports and through correspondence, which throw much of the
blame on the British government. The Kev. W. Denton, an
Englishman, and long a resident of the East, tells in his book on
the Christians in Turkey of many passages, in recent history which
England might well wish to blot from the record. Among these
one of the most notable occurred in 1860, w^hen Prince Gortscha-
koff, Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressed a circular to the
European Powers calling their attention to the condition of the
Christian Provinces under the rule of the Porte, especially of
Bosnia,, Herzegovina, and Bulgaria. At this time Sir H. Bulwer
was ambassador at Constantinople, and on receipt of the circular,
acting under instructions from the home government, he 'drew up
a list of questions, with blank spaces for categorical answers,
which he sent to consuls throughout Turkey asking information
respecting the condition of Christian subjects of the Porte.
With this he sent a note containing a significant hint that the
Government wished " to maintain the Ottoman Empire," and
pointing out the dire consequences which its disintegration would
produce. It so happened that the questions sent to one of the
consuls were not accompanied by the admonitory note, which,
however, arrived after answers had been dispatched to Constan-
tinople. The consternation of the consul seems to justify the
assumption that British office-holders, like our own, are human.
At any rate, he wrote to headquarters endeavoring " to supply
the deficiencies-" of his< first letter,- which it seems contained
truthful reports- of the atrocities which had fallen under his

ENGLAND'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PORTE. 615

observation. From other sources, too, it is evident that it was
until recently a tradition among British consular officers in Tur-
key that, if the favor of the home office was to be retained, Otto-
man misdeeds must be smoothed over or ignored* in the interest
of policy.

Russia has been accused of fomenting discord among the sub-
jects of the Porte, and no doubt she has done so. But surely her
disgrace is not so deep as that of a government which, in the in-
terest of its bondholders and in fear of fancied danger to distant
possessions, has been willing to cover up the fact that some of the
bravest people that the earth ever saw have been for centuries
subjected to the basest oppressions that fanaticism can invent.
If it had not been for England, the Ottoman throne would not
now have been west of the Bosphorus.

CHAPTER IV.

THE TWO RELIGIONS.

Mohammed. — His Religion Monotheistic. — Differences between Mohammedan-
ism and Christianity. — The Russian Church. — Differences between Romish
and Greek Churchea. — Church and State in Russia.

ON the top of every Russian church, in every town which
was under the Tartar yoke, the cross is planted on a crescent.
This fact symbolizes the deep religious animosity of the Russian
to the Turk. The present war is the latest of the Crusades. It
is the conflict of two religions, each of which is a derivative from
and a corruption of Christianity.

MOHAMMEDANISM.

In the seventh century there appeared in Arabia a man whose
career is a marvel and whose character is a riddle. We shall not
attempt to describe the one nor to solve the other. His lot was
cast among a people whose idolatrous worship of the sun, the
moon and the fixed stars was both a primitive and a compara-
tively innocent form of superstition. From the worship of the
noblest objects of creation to the worship of the Creator is a tran-
sition neither difficult nor unnatural ; and this is the transition
through which Mohammed led his Arabic followers. His own re-
ligious instruction appears to have been derived from an heretical
rnonk — appears, we say, for the traditions of his early life are
involved in no inconsiderable obscurity. From this unknown
teacher he learned the unity and the spirituality of the Godhead.
He learned, too, unfortunately, not the simple story of Christ's
life as it has been conveyed to us in the four Gospels, but the
corrupted story of a later date as it is preserved in the now uni-

MOHAMMEDANISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 617

versally discarded apocryphal gospels. He set himself to reform
the religion of his people ; to substitute for the polytheism of
nature the monotheism of a spiritual religion.

The motto of the new religion was a very simple one, " There
is one God, and Mohammed is his prophet." Monotheism, if it is
in earnest, is always intolerant. It brooks no divided allegiance,
no Parthenon worship. Rome, believing in a cloud of deities,
could very well add another to her mythological census without
impairing the honor of those already deified. But the Jew re-
sisted to the death the attempt of the Roman emperor to put his
own statue in the Temple at Jerusalem. The object of Moham-
med was, like the object of the apostles of Christ, to supplant
all polytheism with the worship of the one true God. But,
unlike Christ, he did not recognize the simple and self-evi-
dent principle that moral victories can not be won by physical
force. He first drew the sword in self-defense ; later, he cast
away the scabbard, and continued to use the sword as an instru-
ment of evangelization. The conquered peoples were permitted
to take their choice between death and acceptance of the new
religion. Not till a later period were they permitted to purchase
their lives by tribute. The crusade which began against the star-
worship of Arabia was continued against the thinly disguised
polytheism of Christian Europe, and against the devout adoration
of Jesus, as the Son of God.

In another and more fundamental respect the monotheism of
Mohammed differed from that of Jesus of Nazareth. The latter
portrayed a God who is a Heavenly Father. He declared the
whole human race to be one family. He taught love to be the
central attribute of God, and therefore the central principle of
human action. Love is not tolerant of error ; but the intolerance
of love is patient and gentle, and bides its time. We look in
vain in the Koran for any such portraiture of God as that of
John, " God is love," or for any such ideal of human character
as that of Paul, " Nowabideth faith, hope, love, these three ; but
the greatest of these is love."

One other difference between the monotheism of Mohamme-
danism and Christianity must be noticed in even the most cursory
survey of the two : the difference between their sacred books.

618 KORAN AND BIBLE — THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.

The Koran, according to the story given to the faithful, was
inscribed in heaven with a pen of light ; a paper copy in a vol-
ume of silk was brought down to the lowest heaven by Gabriel ;
thence it was revealed in successive passages to Mohammed. These
revelations were recorded on pal rn-1 eaves and mutton-bones, and
cast into a chest, whence, two years after Mohammed's death, they
were collected into a single volume. Thus, while the Bible claims
to represent human progress under divine teaching, the Koran
claims to represent unalloyed divine perfection ; while the Bible
represents many-sided truth by many interpreters, the Koran
represents a single age, a single nation, a single interpreter ;
while the Bible invites and compels comparison, collation, dis-
cussion, investigation, the Koran forbids all ; while the Bible
requires both for its interpretation and its completion the teach-
ing of Christian experience in all ages, the Koran imposes an
absolute prohibition of any knowledge of divine things greater
than that of the uniiistructed Arabians of the seventh century.

In its essential features, then, Mohammedanism is monotheistic,
intolerant, aggressive, and intellectually stationary. In the latter
respect it is the antipodes of Christianity. Mohammedanism is an
inhibition, Christianity is an inspiration. In the three former
respects there is a resemblance in form but no likeness in spirit.
Both religions are monotheistic ; but Mohammedanism worships a
God of rigorous severity, Christianity worships a God of infinite
tenderness and compassion. Both are intolerant ; but the intol-
erance of Mohammedanism is that of conscience, the intolerance of
Christianity is that of love. Both are aggressive ; but the wea-
pon of Mohammedanism is the sword, the weapon of Christianity
is the cross.

THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.

The division of the Christian church into Western and East-
ern branches was nominally due to theological differences ; it was
really due to rivalry between Rome and Constantinople, and to
diverging civilizations and forms of philosophy in Eastern and
Western Europe. The Patriarch of Constantinople did not suc-
ceed in preserving the unity of the Eastern Church. It was

THE RUSSIAN AND ROMAN CHURCHES. 619

speedily split up into independent organizations. Of these the
most important is the Russian Church.

Externally, the Russian Church resembles the Romish. There
are magnificent cathedrals, though the magnificence is that of a
barbaric school ; there is a priesthood ; there are various orders
of monks ; there is an elaborate ritualism ; there is but little in-
struction. The religion of the church is essentially a sacramental
religion. It is a religion such that Ivan the Terrible perceived
no incongruity in retreating to a monastery, practicing severe
privations, spending seven hours a day at his devotions, and sack-
ing occasional recreation by descending to the dungeons to enjoy
the tortures of his prisoners. The battles of modern sectarianism
are curious illustrations of pertinacity respecting trifles ; those of
mediaeval sectarianism are yet' more so ; but both sink into insig-
nificance in comparison with the ecclesiastical history of Russia,
where the church was rent asunder on the questions whether Jesus
should be spelled Isns or lisus, and whether the benediction should
be pronounced with two upraised fingers or with three.

But a more careful examination discloses beneath the seeming
resemblance in the Romish and the Russian churches vital arid
fundamental differences. In the Russian church the Bible is a
free book translated into the vernacular language. Celibacy of
the clergy is unknown. All Christians are priests unto God.
The church clings with tenacity to its own faith, but yields a re-
spect to the faith of others. If it lacks the zeal it also lacks the
fanaticism of Western Europe. It is neither missionary nor per-
secuting. It has furnished neither a Francis Xavier nor a Tor-
quemada. Its annals contain neither the heroic story of a St.
Patrick nor the awful record of the Inquisition. The figures of
Homer, Solon, Thucydides, Pythagoras, and Plato are portrayed
on the porticoes of the Russian churches as pioneers of Chris-
tianity. Dissensions and schisms within the church are punished
by the civil power, but the worship alike of Romanists, of Pro-
testants and of Mohammedans is protected. The Mohammedan
mosque and the Eastern Church stand side by side, and the wor-
shipers come and go without strife or bitterness. The reforma-
tions which have taken place in the church have been promoted
by the ecclesiastics and resisted by the laity. The Luther of

620 CHURCH AND STATE.

Russian history is Nicon, the patriarch of Moscow of the 17th
century. The orthodox church is the progressive church. The
Protestants of Russia are the " Old Russians," who cling to the
errors and superstitions of their fathers.

The relations of Church and State are unlike those of either
Protestant or Roman Catholic Christendom. In Russia, as in
Europe, there was a conflict between the civil and religious power.
In Russia, as not in Europe, the civil power triumphed, not with-
out conflict, but without bloodshed. Under Peter the Great, the
patriarchate of Moscow was abolished, and a Holy Synod was
substituted for this Eastern papacy. The members of the Holy
Synod, appointees of the Tsar, are also his creatures. Their legis-
lative projects do not become law until they have received the
Emperor's sanction, and they are then published over his name.
Thus, while in Roman Catholic Europe the Church assumes
supremacy over the State, and in Protestant Christendom each
maintains an independent authority in its own sphere, in Russia
the State at once administers and controls the church. The
hierarchy is only an arm of the Emperor, a kind of spiritual limb
of the bureaucracy. The persecutions which have been inflicted
in Russia have been a part of the civil polity of the Emperors.
Persecution has not been punishment of heresy inflicted by the
hierarchy, but punishment of religious rebellion inflicted by the
Tsar. Inasmuch as religious dissent in Russia has been not infre-
quently accompanied by disorganizing tenets — the repudiation of
the authority of the Tsar, the doctrine that he is the Anti-Christ
of revelation, the refusal to pay the taxes, the repudiation of the
household and the laws of marriage — it must be conceded that
religious persecution in Russia has historically had a better excuse
than in some more civilized and more progressive countries. Yet
in Russia the Protestant sect of Molokani, a simple Congrega-
tional body who recognize no other ecclesiastical authority than
that of their own congregations, and no other creed than that of
the Bible, are suffered to live in comparative peace ; and,
although the criminal code contains severe enactments against
apostasy, the enactments are rarely put in force. The priest
troubles himself little about heresy so long as the yearly tithes
are promptly paid.

RUSSIAN AND TURKISH TOLERATION. 621

It has been somewhat widely asserted, on authority that car-
ries with it weight, that Turkey is tolerant to all religions and
Russia tolerant to none. The truth appears to be that neither in
the one country nor in the other is that toleration known which
is the familiar and fundamental principle of American civilization.
The toleration of Turkey is that of absolute intolerance. The
toleration of Russia is that of apathy and indifference.
Neither in Turkey nor in Russia does there exist that conception
of religious truth and religious liberty which leads men to seek
the truth by the largest freedom of discussion.

CHAPTER V.

HOW THE WAR BEGAN.

The Herzegoviiiiaii Revolt of 1875. — Its Rise and Treatment by the Porte. —
Sympathy in neighboring Provinces. — Spread of the Revolt. — European
Alarm and Conferences. — War declared by Montenegro and Servia. — Bulga-
rian Outrages. — Russian Interference and Propositions. — Refusal of Con-
ditions by the Porte. — War declared by Russia.

A EEVOLT in the summer of 1875 in the province of Herze-
govina was the beginning of the war, the end of which will not
improbably involve all Europe, not impossibly large portions of
Asia,

Turkey in Europe is composed almost wholly of Christian
provinces ; that is, of provinces in which a majority of the pop-
ulation is nominally Christian — Greek, Armenian, Roman Cath-
olic. Some of these provinces possess an independent govern-
ment of their own ; others are governed by pashas appointed
from Constantinople ; but all are tributary to the Porte. Chris-
tian Turkey is modeled after ancient Rome ; the pasha is a
worthy imitator of a Verres or a Felix ; the tax-gatherer is a lin-
eal descendant of the publicans of the New Testament. The dis-
trict is farmed out by the central government for a fixed sum.
The contractor has what he can make. The percentage is indeed
lixed. It is one tenth of the produce of the fields, the ancient
Jewish tithe. But the tax-collector is also the assessor. He fixes
the value of the property to be taxed. If the Christian assents
to the valuation, it is at once doubled. If he remonstrates, he is
insulted. If he resists, he is flogged, and his crops are carried
away before his eyes. If he lives in one of the more civilized
districts of the Empire, he may indeed appeal to the courts for re-
dress. But pending the litigation he can not gather his crops.

622*

RUSSIAN COSSACK OUTPOST IN BULGARIA.

THE HEKZEGOVINIAN REVOLT. 623

If he wins the suit, he returns to his home to find his ungathered
grain gone to waste 'in the fields, his fruits rotting under the
vines and trees. If lie lives in any of the more remote districts
of the Empire, the tax-gatherer is judge and jury. The Christian
may count himself fortunate if only his crops are carried off.
Not infrequently his boys are seized to be sold into slavery, or his
girls to be sold to a Turkish harem.

It was an exceptionally brutal outrage of this description that
gave rise to the Ilerzegovinian revolt. It spread rapidly through-
out the district. Long years of oppression had goaded the people
into desperation. The local magistrates and their retainers were
driven from the fields and compelled to seek protection in the
fortifications. Success added recruits to the camps of the insurg-
ents. The revolt became a revolution. The rising began in July.
By the middle of September it had already assumed such propor-
tions that the foreign consuls at Constantinople organized a com-
mission and sent it through the disturbed districts, in a vain hope
to pacify the insurgents, and at the same time to discover and
inaugurate some reforms that would make Mohammedan rule
more tolerable. From the first the representatives of European
governments on the ground perceived that a flame of war in
Turkey would almost inevitably spread to Russia, Austria, Ger-
many, perhaps to France, Italy, and England.

The Porte was ready to make promises ; but the Herzego-
vinian. peasantry were not ready to tmst them. They had
suffered bitter experience of the value of a Turk's promise to a
Christian. To every persuasion their reply was simply, We pre-
fer extermination to submission. We will have self-government,
or we will die !

Meanwhile the current of race and religious sympathy had
communicated itself to the neighboring provinces of Montenegro
and Servia. Montenegro is on the south, Servia on the east, of
Herzegovina. They each possess an independent government.
But each is tributary to the Porte. The people of both pro-,
vinces hate the Turk with a most cordial hatred. In squads and
companies Servians and Montenegrins swelled the ranks of the
Ilerzegovinan rebels. Filibustering expeditions made incursions
into Turkish territory. Fugitives from. Herzegovina sought

624 THE BERLIN NOTE AND CONFERENCE.

refuge in each of the contiguous provinces. The Turks, in their
pursuit, did not stop to inquire carefully where the lines were.
Prince Milano, of Servia, complained of Turkish violations of his
border. They were not stopped ; in truth, they could not be.
His own people grew more and more restless. It is said that
their restlessness was increased by unscrupulous Russian emissa-
ries. It is very possible. There is some doubt whether Russia
has sought this war or has been compelled to it. There is no
doubt that Russians have been impatient for its coining.

The rapid spread of the revolt soon alarmed the European
courts. The unexpected weakness of Turkey alarmed them still
more. Three months after the breaking out of the insurrection,

Turkey had announced that she should pay half the interest on
her debt in coupons. Three months later, these bonds had fallen
to IT cents on the dollar. There is no mercury so sensitive as the
money market. The consuls had failed in their attempted arbi-
tration. Their principals took the matter up.

In January, 1876, Austria (with an undoubted understanding
with Germany, if not by direct German inspiration) submitted
to the other European Powers a note of certain proposed reforms
in Turkish administration, as a means of pacifying the insurgents
and securing peace. The proposal came to nothing ; but it led
to further negotiations. In May following Prince Gortschakoff,
of Russia, Count Andrassy, of Austria (Bismarck's friend and
political ally), and Prince Bismarck, of Germany, met in Berlin,
and endeavored to agree on a basis for the settlement of the
Eastern question. The deliberation was long ; the result was
the famous Berlin Note. This Note was based on arid followed
the suggestions proposed by Austria three months before. It
formed the basis of the final agreement of the Great Powers in
Constantinople eleven months later. It required guarantees. It
called for the confirmation by the Porte of a Superintending
Commission, to be appointed by the Powers, to carry out the
promised reforms. England refused to unite in this Note.
Turkey refused to accede to it.

But the conference was not in vain. Its attempt and its fail-
ure exerted a marvelous, apparently a malignant, influence on
the destiny of the East. If England had united her voice with

SERVIA AND MONTENEGRO DECLARE WAR. 625

the voices of Germany, Austria, and Russia, it is hardly possible
that Turkey would have dared all Europe. The guarantees would
have been conceded ; the reforms would have been instituted ;
the government of the Christian provinces would have been
made endurable ; the " sick man" would have had a new lease
of life ; the immediate danger, of war wrould have been avoided.

This at least is probable. The failure of the Berlin Confer-
ence produced directly the opposite effect. It gave courage to
both Christians and Mohammedans ; the courage of despair to
the oppressed, the courage of hope to the oppressor.

The failure of the Berlin Conference was a public notice to
the Slavs of Turkey that they could rely on no foreign interven-
tion. They understood its significance. The people of Monte-
negro and Servia could be held in check no longer. Stand idly
by and see their brethren slain, the country devastated, the chil-
dren sold into slavery, the wives and daughters given to the harem
of the Turks, -they would not. Princes Nitika and Milano had
the alternative, to enter on the defense of their Christian neigh-
bors or to abdicate. Prince Milano declared war against Turkey
July 1st ; Prince Nitika on the following day. In his proclama-
tion of war the latter assigned as one reason for his action the
failure of the Berlin Conference.

In this declaration of war these two Provinces were leading a
forlorn hope. The navy of Turkey is second only to that of Eng-
land. Fatalism enforces the courage of her soldiery. She can
put 600,000 men into the field. Even Russia has hesitated long
before venturing to attack her. Against this power, inferior in
military resources only to the greatest of the European Powers,
Servia could put into the field, reserves and all, but 80,000 men,
Montenegro less than 30,000. And neither the troops of Servia
nor those of Montenegro, as the result showed, were adequately
disciplined. It is doubtful whether even the fear of domestic
revolution would have induced the Princes of these Provinces to
declare war. But they had reason to have confidence in the sup-
port of the Russian people if not of the Russian government.
The command of the Servian army was given to a Russian gen-
eral, Tcher naieff.

The failure of European intervention not only precipitated war

626 THE BULGARIAN MASSACRES.

by nerving the Christians with the courage of despair, it also took
from the Porte the healthful fear of Europe which had hitherto
restrained it.

The ecclesiastics of Mohammedanism are its most audacious
defenders. Their religious faith converts their hatred of Chris-
tians into a passionate fanaticism. While the Berlin Conference
was still going on, the 20,000 Softas of Constantinople rose in re-
volt against the Turkish administration and demanded the dis-
missal of the Grand Vizier. He was dismissed. They next de-
manded the dethronement of the Sultan. He was powerless to
resist. He abdicated on the 29th of May ; five days later he
died. The authorities reported that he had committed suicide.
There is nothing, however, in the religion of the Mussulman to
make us regard him as incapable of either lying or assassination.

At the same time a new spirit w^as infused into the military
campaign of the Turks. It had not been notable for its humanity
before. The first Turkish Commissioner intrusted- with the sup-
pression of the insurrection had given to " every believer in Mo-
hammed the right to arrest whomsoever he may suspect of taking
part in the insurrection," and had declared that " whoever shel-
ters an insurgent as well as he who is sheltered shall be put to
death by the sword." But his proclamation had been counter-
manded by the government. The new government was em-
barrassed by no considerations of mercy, and by no fear of a
united Europe. On the 20th of May, the Berlin Conference had
broken up ; on the 29th of May, the Sultan was dethroned ; on
the 4th of June, he was reported dead ; on the 23d of June, the
first report of the unparalleled Bulgarian massacres reached the
ears of English readers through the columns of the London
" Daily News."

Bulgaria lies south and east of Servia ; it is bounded on the
north by the River Danube ; on the south by the Balkan Moun-
tains. A successful rising in Bulgaria would therefore have put
the Turkish army between two -fires. The insurrection broke out
in Bulgaria April 20th. It does not appear to have been a gen-
eral rising. The Bulgarians are not a military people. The
chief sufferers in the Bulgarian outrages were non-combatants.

Bashi-Bazouks is a name applied to a soldiery gathered from

DETAILS OF THE OUTRAGES. 627

the wildest districts of the country and the lowest haunts of the
cities of the Turkish Empire. Gypsies and jail-birds, Turks and
Circassians, whose religion is hate, whose conscience, therefore,
incites rather than restrains plunder, lust, and passion, make up a
force that is without personal restraint and without any responsi-
ble commanders. These Bashi-Bazouks were let loose in the val-
leys and in the helpless villages of Bulgaria. It is impossible to
condense into a paragraph a record, a picture, or even a sugges-
tion of their deeds. They 'marched from village to village.
They attacked only the helpless. They first demanded the arms
of the villagers. If these were surrendered, they plundered the
village and ravished the women. If any show of resistance was
•offered, they burned the houses and put the inhabitants to the
sword. Submission and resistance were alike useless. A hundred
villages were utterly destroyed. From 12,000 to 18,000 persons
were killed. Neither age nor sex was spared. The Bulgarians
had with incredible self-sacrifice established schools in every vil-
lage. These were especial objects of attack. Into one school-
house a hundred children were driven ; it was then fired, and all
were consumed. In another village forty or fifty girls were torn
from their companions, ravished, then shut up in a stable filled
with straw, and burned to death. In yet another two hundred •
girls were outraged, beheaded, and their bodies left to rot. Chil-
dren were impaled on bayonets and carried about the streets of
the towns. In one single village 1500 unresisting men, women,
and children were put to the sword ; in another 3000. Hun-
dreds of children were sold as slaves ; young women were knocked
down at auction to the highest bidder. Subsequently the scenes
•of these massacres were visited by Mr. Baring, of the English
Consulate, and Mr. Schuyler, of the American Consulate. The
correspondent of the London " Daily News" accompanied them.
We quote a single sentence from the latter's report : " The whole
churchyard for three feet deep was festering with dead bodies,
partly covered ; hands, legs, arms, and heads projected in ghastly
confusion ; I saw many little hands, heads, and feet of children of
three years of age, and girls with heads covered with beautiful
hair." These are the words of an eye-witness, a trusty one. Even
Lord Derby had finally to acknowledge the certainty of the

628 SERVIA BEATEN — RUSSIA INTERVENES.

massacres, and Disraeli apologized in the House of Commons for
treating the first reports of them with flippant contempt.

Nor is it possible to relieve the Turkish government from re-
sponsibility for the policy of extermination. While these scenes
were being enacted, the Porte was endeavoring to exclude the
knowledge of it from Christendom. The mails from the devas-
tated district were put under restrictions ; publication of news was
prohibited ; a Constantinople paper which gave some account of
the massacres was suppressed ; passports to travel in Bulgaria
were obtained rarely and with difficulty. No perpetrator of
these now acknowledged crimes has been brought to punishment ;
many who were foremost in them have received such honors as
the Turkish Government is able to bestow. Such honors ! we
say. For to be honored by such a government is to be disgraced
in Christendom.

The Bulgarian massacre was more than a crime — it was a
blunder. The Turk could not comprehend the moral sentiment
of Christendom. In three weeks that sentiment was united
solidly against him. The press of England denounced the policy
which rendered the Anglo-Saxon an accessory of the Turk in such
a warfare. Meetings were held all over Great Britain. The
power of conscience proved more than a match for the power of
purse. In France, Germany, Austria, the indignation against
the Turk was perhaps almost as strong, though not so freely ex-
pressed. But it was in Russia that this feeling gathered the great-
est headway. The people of Russia are of kin to the people of the
Danubian provinces. Their religion is the same. Volunteers
poured from Russia into Servia. A voluntary committee re-
ceived, equipped, and forwarded them to the border. More men
volunteered than could be provided for. Over two million dol-
lars were raised for the insurgents, mostly in coppers.

Nevertheless, Servia was beaten back by Turkey. Her troops
were accused of cowardice ; they were undoubtedly imperfectly
disciplined ; but the contest at best was . an unequal one. Russia
intervened to demand an armistice. The moral sentiment of the
other nations did not impel them to join in this intervention on
behalf of the Christians, but it prevented them from intervening
on behalf of the Turks. Turkey found herself alone face to face-

FAILURE OF THE CONSTANTINOPLE CONFERENCE.

with Russia. Meanwhile a new revolution in Constantinople had
dethroned the drunken Murad V., and had put in his place the
more competent Abdul Hamid. The Porte conceded an armis-
tice. And by their Representatives the Great Powers met in
Constantinople to agree upon some permanent reform for the
settlement of the Eastern question.

At this conference Russia declared in the most positive and
solemn terms that she did not desire Constantinople. She did
not demand the emancipation of the Christian provinces. She
simply demanded some satisfactory guarantees of reform. She
even proposed a joint protectorate, an occupation of Bosnia by
Austria, of Bulgaria by Russia, of the Bosphorus by England.
She was determined at all hazards to secure a united demand on
Turkey ; and she succeeded. In formulating the final demand
she yielded so much that she was accused of betraying the Chris-
tians for the sake of peace. The result proves the injustice of
the charge. She knew the Turk, and acted accordingly. The
Powers at length submitted their ultimatum to the Porte. At
the same time the 'Porte submitted to Europe a new Constitution,
which embodied the long-promised reform. This Constitution
converted, on paper, the Turkish government from a personal
despotism to a constitutional monarchy. It provided two legis-
lative bodies, toleration for all creeds, and a judicial system.
But the Christian has no faith in Turkish promises. The Turk
proposed to give bonds for good behavior. The Christians de-
manded a European surety. This demand the Powers regarded
as reasonable. They proposed that the governors of the Chris-
tian provinces should be Christians ; that they should be aided
by a foreign gendarmerie not exceeding four thousand men ; and
that the courts should be reorganized and the tax system reformed
by an International Commission. In other words, they proposed
that Europe should be so represented in Turkey that the oppressed
might at any time appeal from his oppressor to a European arbi-
trator.

This demand the Porte at once and peremptorily declined.
It will make any promise ; it will give no guarantees : it will say
any thing ; it will do nothing. The Constantinople Conference
broke up, as the Berlin Conference had broken up, with appar-

<630

THE PROTOCOL IGNORED — WAR DECLARED.

•ently no result. Yet in fact a most important result had been
^obtained. United Europe had proposed its demand to Turkey.
That demand had been somewhat contemptuously rejected. By
that rejection the Porte severed itself from Christian Europe.
One more attempt was made for peace. The result was the
famous protocol, signed by all the Great Powers, and supercili-
ously ignored by Turkey. In this protocol the Powers declared
that a failure to improve the condition of the Christians in Tur-
key would be " incompatible with their interests and those of
Europe in general." The rejection of the protocol was followed
by Russia's declaration of war. She thus drew the sword
.avowedly to protect those public interests which England,
France, Germany, and Austria have all solemnly recognized.
Until she commit some breach of faith, neither England, France,
Germany, nor Austria can consistently interfere. Her first vic-
tory was won before the fighting : a victory in the field of diplo-
macy. "Whatever the war may in its finality become, it began
.as a war between Russian and Turk ; and every other prominent
European power pledged itself to neutrality.

Early in May, Roumania ranged herself with Russia, on con-
dition that the theater of war should as speedily as possible be
carried over her borders towards Constantinople. Her army was
placed on a war footing. Bulgaria first, and, after the crossing of
the Balkan Mountains, Rumelia, were to be the chief European
battle-ground of the war.

CHAPTER VI

THE SEAT OF WAR.

•Constantinople. — The Danube. — The Dobrudscha. — The Balkans. — Asia
Minor. — Foreign Interference. — References.

So long as Constantinople remains the seat of the Ottoman Em-
pire it must be regarded as the ultimate object of Russian cam-
paigns. A war which secures the independence of Roumania
while it leaves Bulgaria and the other nominally Christian pro-
vinces, including Constantinople itself, under Moslem rule, has
only half accomplished its work. Our map shows the theatre
of operations.

THE DANUBE.

This deep, swift, and wide stream formed the first obstacle to
a Russian advance, and afforded the Turks their first strategic point
of resistance — which, however, they missed. When war was de-
clared, on the 23d of April, the Russian army lay in two de-
tachments : one of them along the Pruth River and the Russian
frontier, having its headquarters at Kischeneff ; the other south
of the Caucasian Mountains, with its headquarters at Tiflis.
Facing these armies were the Turkish forces ; inferior in numbers
and discipline, but well armed, and having the great advantage
of operating on interior lines, which naturally concentrate
retreating forces, and in positions of great natural and artificial
strength. By the first of May the Army of the Danube had its
advanced posts as far west as Rustchuk, and about July 1st crossed
the river without much difficulty between Sistova and Nicopolis.

632 THE BALKANS.

DOBRUDSCHA.

A somewhat undefined region lying south of the bend of the-
river, between it and the Black Sea, is known as Dobrudscha,
and this offers the easiest approach for an invading Russian
army. Indeed, it has been the first Turkish territory occupied
in the two invasions which have heretofore taken place — the
campaigns, namely, of 1828 and 1854 ; and 1877 sees the same
operation.

Across the narrowest portion of this tract the Emperor Tra-
jan once built a wall to guard against incursions from the north.
The whole region is a low, desolate plain, rising into rolling hills-
toward the south, affording few points of vantage except the
water-courses. Farther up the river, on the contrary, the right
bank is precipitous, while the left is comparatively low. Along^
the right bank the Turks held strongly-fortified towns, such as
Silistria and Rustchuk, while their light-draught gunboats cruise
up and down the river, and can readily discover and oppose any
attempt at crossing as soon as it is inaugurated. To turn the left
flank of the Turks would involve a circuitous route through Ser-
via, so long as to be impracticable for a large army on short
notice. Dobrudscha presents at first no natural obstacles to be
compared with those which would be encountered on a linp of
advance farther to the westward ; but nearly on the line of Tra-
jan's wall there is now a railroad from Kostenje to the river,,
which is, of course, the first objective in that section.

The railroad from Yarna to Shumla and Rustchuk is a line
of vital importance to both parties, to be tenaciously guarded
and vigorously assailed.

•

THE BALKANS.

At the sea-coast this range is about 2000 feet high, but rises-
to 6000 or thereabout in the interior. The coast roads are im-
practicable for the invaders, so long as the Turkish fleet com-
mands the Black Sea.

ASIA MINOE. 633

The river passed and the railways broken, or held, the diffi-
culties of an advance southward are only begun. The main
range of the Balkans may be reached in a short march, and
the most easterly practicable pass is that of Chenga, some twenty
miles from the coast. Further west are the Shumla, Shipka,
and other passes, strongly fortified, and to be carried only at con-
siderable sacrifice, if defended with any vigor. From thence south-
ward the country is mountainous, rising into the Little Balkan
range near Constantinople, but all along offering serious natural
obstacles to an invading army, and studded with walled towns of
no great strength, in the modern sense of the word, but admir-
able for use by a force whose object is to gain time and check
the march of an invading army. In 1829, the Russians advanced
beyond the Balkans, when the Turks were comparatively stronger
than they are now. The range trends somewhat to the south-
ward, and meets the Despoto Dagh mountains running nearly at
right angles to its general course. Through the Shumla pass the
Russians forced their way in 1829. The watershed of the Bal-
kans supplies several rivers, of which the Maritza, flowing into
the Archipelago, is the largest.

ASIA MINOR.

Kars, a very strong fortress, is the first grand prize to be
striven for by the Army of the Caucasus. It successfully held
oufr against the Russians during a long siege in the Crimean War.
Trebizonde is the port where the Turks land their supplies for
the army of defense, whose headquarters were at Erzroum (one of
our principal missionary stations, by the way). Like the country
which lies before the Danubian army, Asia Minor is broken by
mountain chains, but they lie in a direction favorable to the ad-
vance for the first three hundred miles or so. Beyond this they
•cross the line of advance, and must present serious obstructions.
West of Trebizonde, Sinope is the principal seaport, and must
Become the Turkish depot if Trebizonde falls. The Russian
army of the Caucasus comprises the best troops of the Czar's
forces, and will be looked to for energetic work. If it advances
successfully, it will cut off from Constantinople a very important

634 FOREIGN INTERFERENCE.

source of the Sultan's supplies, and may reach the Bosphorus
before that which is advancing from the north. Between the
two, if the other European Powers do not interfere, the Ottoman
Empire will be hard pressed to maintain its supremacy, though
hard fighting is certain, and the Russians have no light task.

FOREIGN INTERFERENCE.

England and Austria are the most threatening factors in the
problem of interference, and their action even in its diplomatic
aspects is as yet undefined to the public. England's first anxiety
is for the Suez Canal, the most direct route to her Indian pos-
sessions. The head of the canal opens in the Mediterranean at
Port Said, and sufficient force from her irresistible navy was-
concentrated within easy reach of that important point, while
reinforcements of her army there were sent to Malta and Gib-
raltar to await developments. Austria keeps a strong detachment
of her excellent army on the southern frontier, so as, in case of
need, to take prompt measures. She could easily reinforce by
sea the Turkish force engaging the enemy in the Dobrudscha
and in Armenia ; but such an emergency is not probable, for
an understanding doubtless exists, and Germany, under the
steady hand of Bismarck, stands as the " balance of power" in
Europe, and will not be likely to suffer any interference save for
undeniable cause. "Without special present interests to be imper-
iled by any result of this war, the future is of great importance
to Germany, and she can not afford just now any general Conti-
nental convulsion such as interference would be likely to entaiL

REFERENCES, ETC.

There is no better way of studying geography than to read
the journals with an atlas, and this is especially true when a
great war is in progress. Those of our readers who wish to
consult the best recent books on the region wnich now attracts the
attention of the world will find the following list useful : " Over
the Borders of Christendom and Eslamiah," by James Creigh (2
vols.) ; " The Turks in Europe," by Edward A. Freeman

REFERENCES. 635-

(Harpers) ; " A Handy Book on the Eastern Question," by Sir
George Campbell ; " The Christians of Turkey : Their Condition
under Mussulman Rule," by the Rev. W. Denton ; Mr. Glad-
stone's pamphlet on the Bulgarian horrors, and Consul-General
Schuyler's report.

CHAPTER VII.

PROSPECTS AND PROBABILITIES.

A Long War. — Crisis of a Historic Struggle. — Ambition and Religious Fanat-
icism.— Suppositions: 1. Russia Defeated; 2. Russia Victorious; 3. Or-
ganization of Pan-Slavonic Empire ; 4. Restoration of Byzantine Empire ;
5. General European Settlement.

How will it all turn out ? We all want to know. There are
plenty of prophets, but we are not of them. We are not astrolo-
gists. We read no lines in the palm of destiny. We simply
group here a few salient facts that may aid the reader to form
his own prophetic judgment, and to read more intelligently the
signs of the times.

This is likely to be a terrible war ; not improbably a long one.
It is the culmination of a historic struggle, Both parties are
desperately in earnest. Russia's first appearance in ancient his-
tory is as an invader of the Bosphorus. Before ever the Tartar
had crossed the Asiatic line, and while as yet Constantinople was
the capital of the decaying Byzantine empire, the principality of
Moscow sent down a host of northern barbarians to levy tribute on
the capital of the East. Ever since the days of Peter the Great,
she has steadily kept in view the possibility of acquiring a con-
trol of the Bosphorus. Without it she can never be a maritime
power nor a commercial nation. With it she would have the
whole of the Black Sea for a harbor, and her commercial future
would be limited only by her own enterprise and intelligence.

This historic and not unrighteous ambition is supported by
the religious feeling — it may perhaps be said, the religious fanat-
icism— of her people. What the Roman Catholics of the United
States would feel toward England, if we could conceive of massa-
cres like those in Bulgaria perpetrated by Protestant hands on

COMPARATIVE FORCE OF TURKEY AND RUSSIA. 637

the soil of Ireland, that the peasantry of Russia feel toward the
Turk. There is no hate like a religious hate. There is no re-
ligious hate like that which is allied to ambition. The religious
hate and the pent-up commercial ambition of centuries are
leagued together in Russia's " holy war" against the Turk.

And the Turk is fighting for existence. He is fighting to
hold the government which he has maintained over subject pro-
vinces for centuries. Wrong grows not feeble with age. It
claims vested rights. It intrenches itself in conscience. The
Turk is wholly Unconscious that he is an intruder. He is wholly
•oblivious of the rights of self-government And though he has
lost the vigor of his old-time intolerance, he has lost nothing of its
strength. He repays the hate of the Christian with interest. On
both sides, conscience and a church ; on the one side, a desperate
struggle to live ; on the other, a desperate struggle for that which
is essential to any large and widening life.

The parties are, however, very unevenly matched. The pop-
ulation of Russia is, in round numbers, 85,000,000. Its area is
.already nearly one sixth of the habitable globe ; its nominal
-army nearly 2,000,000 men ; its government compact, vigorous,
free from any present danger of revolutions at home ; its people
•excepting, perhaps, those of Poland, generally and heartily united
in supporting the present crusade. The population of European
Turkey, exclusive of its tributary provinces, Serbia and Roumania,
which are already in war against it, is, in round numbers, 8,000,-
•000. Of this, less than one half are Mohammedans. The Chris-
tians bear no arms. They are hoping for a day of deliverance ;
they are an impediment, not a strength, to Turkey. If the entire
population of all Turkey — European, Asiatic, African — be in-
cluded, it numbers not over 16,000,000 Mahometans. Its army,
.all told, scarcely exceeds half a million " on paper," and its cap-
ital is tremulous with hidden fires that may any day break out in
volcanic revolution. A united nation of 85,000,000 against a
divided nation of 16^000,000 ; a nominal army of 2,000,000
against a nominal army of 500,000 — these figures do not present
.a very even balance in the scales.

Then, a small force has sometimes beaten back one of over-
whelming numbers. The expulsion of Xerxes from Greece, the

638 WEAKNESSES OF BOTH COMBATANTS.

expulsion of Great Britain from her American colonies, illustrate-
the power of a valiant people to defend their native land from
aggression. History does not justify the extravagant eulogies of
the British admirers of Turkish " pluck." The soldiers who fled
from before Vienna at the attack of Sobieski's handful of Poles,
the soldiers who again and again retreated in dismay before the
charges of Montenegro's forlorn hope, are not likely to repeat on
Turkish soil the glories of either Marathon or Valley Forge. The
Turks also, though well armed and provided with good general
commanders, and having a plentiful supply of good fighting ma-
terial which will go to the wars with a good will, yet lack in the
army well-trained regimental officers, and have a wretched medical
and transportation service and a poor commissariat, while the
financial weakness of Turkey is proverbial, despite the English
fondness for coddling " Turkish loans."

Neither of these nations can be compared for warlike effi-
ciency to the civilized nations of Western Europe ; and yet as the
Russian resources are so much vaster than the Turkish, wielded
by a despotic power which really represents a united national
sentiment, the chances seem decidedly in favor of Russia, even
though the Turks succeed in holding them long at bay.

However, the early superstitious dread of Russia as a myste-
rious giant, capable of marvelous and terrible doings, was much
broken by the Crimean War. Her military prestige has gained
somewhat by her Central Asian advances of late years, but the
smallness of her accumulated wealth, the poverty of the great
bulk of population, and inelasticity of taxes, deprive Russia of the
main " sinews of war ;" while the transition period of raising serfs
to peasants, and the reorganization of the army, — admitting the
middle classes to commissions, instead of restricting rank to the
nobility, — will develop a new weakness in the army, there being
no educated middle class as in England, Germany, etc., and the
social ascendency of officers over privates being lessened by the
smaller social distance between them. Russia is huge but com-
paratively weak ; and then, she is the invader — always a difficult
position. Will Turkey secure allies? On this question hangs
largely the solution of the problem.

1. Russia might be beaten back by the Turk, either with or

RUSSIA BEATEN; VICTORIOUS; PAN-SLAVISM. 639

without allies. Once before she made the same attempt she is-
now making. Then, as now, she secured by diplomacy the ap-
parent approbation of the great European powers to her de-
mands. But jealousy was stronger than principle ; France and
England came to the help of the " Sick Man ;" the crescent was
saved from defeat. With that same result now repeated, the
Eastern question must remain unsettled. Defeat would have
embittered the Christians ; success would have emboldened the
Turks ; all the oppressions of the past would be aggravated in
the future ; another generation would be left to solve the prob-
lem with which this generation had proved itself unable to cope.

2. Or, again, Russia might be victorious. She might drive
Turkey back of the Balkan Mountains. She might press on across
them. She might plant the cross once more upon the walls of
Constantinople. But it is almost certain that she will not seek to
convert Constantinople into a purely Russian port. She has-
solemnly declared that she has no such purpose. A large and in-
fluential party in Russia are opposed on principle to further ex-
tension of her territory. They believe, with reason, that her vast-
ness is her weakness not her strength. All Europe would be in
arms against such a .territorial aggrandizement. She would have
to fight such an alliance of nations as has not been seen since that
which banished Napoleon to the island of St. Helena. ~No one
nation can afford to defy united Europe. Napoleon the First
proved that. Alexander will not imitate so disastrous an example.

3. The most natural solution of the problem to an American
mind is that of self-government. The Slavs were once power-
ful and prosperous peoples. In Serbia since their emancipation >
in Bulgaria since their partial emancipation, they have shown a
power of progress that entitles them to the sympathies of all that
love freedom for themselves and their fellow-men. They are
peaceful, industrious, honest, and seek to become educated.
Why not organize the Christians of European Turkey into a Pan-
Slavonic empire ? The minority of Turks have governed long
enough. Why not invite the majority of Christians to make the
experiment ? They can not fail more disastrously.

The answer is the remonstrance of Austria-Hungary. The
Magyar population of Hungary is of Asiatic origin. It is of kin

BYZANTINE EMPIRE: EUROPEAN PROTECTORATE.

to the Turk. The Slavs of Hungary are a subject race : tenants ;
peasants ; a majority in numbers, a minority in wealth, power,
.and influence. The organization of a Pan-Slavic empire would
be an invitation to revolution in Hungary. The bare possibility
of it has filled Austria-Hungary with apprehensions and dissen-
sions.

4. Another alternative has been proposed. This is to re-
establish in a new form the old Byzantine empire ; to make
Greece once more mistress of the Bosphorus ; to make Constanti-
nople a Grecian city. If kingdoms could only be made, this might
be. But kingdoms grow. And candor compels the confession
that Greece has shown no such vitality in the past as to justify
hope of such a growth in the future.

5. But the fact remains that the " Eastern Question" has never
been treated by European nations on its own merits. It has
been always a name for a convenient pretext of war or alliance or
some diplomatic move. Turkey is a problem in itself, foreign to
Europe ; but its position on the Bosphorus makes it an element
in every European quarrel. As has been well said, " The Gov-
ernment of the Pashas is like a heap of stones- on a road : you
may always pick up one to throw at somebody ; but you don't
even think of picking it up if you have no quarrel with any body
and are going your own way quietly." So that even if Russia
and Turkey are allowed, as they probably will be, to fight it out
alone, the " Great Powers" will come in at the death and super-
vise the final conditions of peace.

In England, John Bright recently came out with a bold dec-
laration for Russia's natural right to free passage from the Black
Sea through the Bosphorus to the Mediterranean and the seas of
the world. And that may be the upshot of the whole affair,
with a Russian, or a Russo- Austrian, or a general European " pro-
tectorate" of the Christian Provinces ; for the " Triple Alliance of
the Emperors" (Germany, Austria, and Russia) is a living idea,
and will probably direct the end of the affair.

These are some of the alternative prospects and probabilities.

Before the event, however, no mortal can foresee the end. If
.any can, be sure that it is the great German premier, holding in
.his hand the forces of the most complete organization of

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE. 641

modern times, standing between Russia and interference, watch-
ing now the culmination as for two years he has watched the
growth of this desperate struggle, and guiding its results as he-
has guided its preliminary conditions — without overt act or word,,
yet with silent and irresistible pressure of will, shaping present
events for the most favorable influence on the future of Germany.
The Triple Alliance will be masters of Europe ; and the in-
spiration and soul of the Triple Alliance is OTTO VON BISMARCK.

NOTE. — The foregoing chapters on the Russo-Turkish war are taken largely
from a series of papers which appeared in the New York " Christian Union,"
H. C. King, publisher, 27 Park Place, N. Y. ; and although no authorities are
referred to, there has been a careful and conscientious use of those which are
the most trustworthy ; so that it is believed that there is no statement therein,
for which a satisfactory authority can not be given.

Among the principal works consulted, in addition to those mentioned on
p. 035, maybe mentioned the following: Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire ;" " The Encyclopaedia Britannica ;" Stanley's " Eastern
Church ;" Grant Duff's articles in the " Nineteenth Century ;" Baker's " Tur-
key ;" Wallace's "Russia;" the files of the London "News," " Times," and
" Spectator ;" Schuyler's " Turkestan ;" " Travels of Miss Mackenzie and.
Miss Irby."

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Full text of "Bismarck: his authentic biography. Including many of his private letters and personal memoranda"

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