BLOOD and IRON _Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its Founder, Bismarck_ BY JOHN HUBERT GREUSEL THE SHAKESPEARE PRESS 114-116 E. 28th St. New York 1915 Copyright, 1915, John Hubert Greusel _Dedicated to Stella My Wife_ CONTENTS BOOK THE FIRST: BISMARCK'S HUMAN ESSENCE Chapter I--The Man Himself 1. The Giant's Ponderous Hammer 2. Grossly Human Is Our Bismarck 3. Despite Political Bogs 4. Genius Combined with Foibles Chapter II--Blood Will Tell 5. Iron-headed Ancestry 6. Animal Basis of Rise to Power 7. "The Wooden Donkey Dies Today!" Chapter III--The Gothic Cradle 8. The Child of Destiny 9. Soft Carl, Spartan Louise Chapter IV--Sunshine and Shadow 10. Amazing Powers of Hereditary Traits 11. The Wolf's Breed 12. Twenty-eight Duels! 13. Fizzle of First Official Service BOOK THE SECOND: THE GERMAN NATIONAL PROBLEM Chapter V--The Great Sorrow 14. The German Crazy Quilt 15. The Diamond Necklace Chapter VI--Prussia's De Profundis 16. The Lash and the Kiss 17. The Prussian Downfall 18. Prussia Becomes Germany 19. Kingcraft Comes Upon Evil Days 20. The Star of Hope 21. The King Keeps Reading His Bible 22. The Deluge BOOK THE THIRD: BISMARCK SUPPORTS HIS KING Chapter VII--Fighting Fire with Fire 23. Voice in the Wilderness 24. The Young Giant 25. Speechless for One Whole Month 26. Bellowing His Defiance Chapter VIII--Bismarck Suffers a Great Shock 27. Bismarck Scorns French Political Millennium 28. Militarism as National Salvation 29. King Marches with Mob! Chapter IX--So Much the Worse for Zeitgeist 30. Not Politics--Human Nature 31. Setting Back the Century Clock 32. The Master at Work 33. Bismarck Nudges His King 34. Mystical High-flown Speeches BOOK THE FOURTH: BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER Chapter X--Socrates in Politics 35. The Frankfort School of Intrigue 36. Preparing for German Unity 37. Tyrants Are Necessary 38. Bismarck, in Naked Realism Chapter XI--The Mailed Fist 39. Democracy Stems from Aristocracy 40. Parallel Elements of Power Chapter XII--By Blood and Iron! 41. The Man of the Hour 42. Rough and Tumble 43. On Comes the Storm 44. Bismarck Decides to Rule Alone Chapter XIII--The Dream of Empire 45. Bismarck Tricks Them All 46. Prussian Domination Essential 47. By Faith Ye Shall Conquer 48. Was Bismarck a Beast? BOOK THE FIFTH: THE GERMAN PEOPLE ARE ONE AND UNITED Chapter XIV--Windrows of Corpses 49. Devil or Saint, Which? 50. Sleeping Beside the Dead 51. The Rejected Stone 52. His Ikon? 53. "The Dying Warrior" 54. Sadowa Summed Up 55. Manure Chapter XV--The Great Year, 1870 56. "These Poor Times" 57. The Bugle Blast 58. Bismarck's Ironical Revenge 59. The Weaver's Hut 60. Zenith! Chapter XVI--The Versailles Masterpiece 61. The Kaiser's Crown 62. Divine-right, a Politico-Military Fact BOOK THE SIXTH: ONCE A MAN AND TWICE A CHILD Chapter XVII--The Downfall 63. Bismarck's Secret Discontent 64. "Who Made United Germany?" 65. The Irony of Fate 66. Last Illusion Dispelled 67. Binding Up the Old Man's Wounds 68. Awaiting the Call 69. Refuses to Pass Under the Yoke 70. Glory Turns to Ashes Chapter XVIII--Hail and Farewell 71. His Final and Most Glorious Decoration 72. "As One Asleep" BOOK THE FIRST Bismarck's Human Essence CHAPTER I The Man Himself 1 Hark, Hark! The giant's ponderous hammer rings on the anvil of destiny. Enter, thou massive figure, Bismarck, and in deadly earnest take thy place before Time's forge. ¶ It is, it must be, a large story--big with destiny! The detailsoften bore with their monotony; they do not at all times march on;they drag, but they do indeed never halt permanently; ahead always isthe great German glory. ¶ Forward march, under Prince Bismarck. He is our grim blacksmith, looming through the encircling dark, massive figure before Time'sforge. The sparks fly, the air rings with the rain of blows: he is in deadlyearnest, this half-naked, brawny Prussian giant; magnificent in hisOlympian mien; his bellows cracking, his shop aglow withcheery-colored sparks as the heavy hammer falls on the unshapen oreson the big black anvil. ¶ Thus, toiling hour after hour in the heat and sweat, our Pomeraniansmith with ponderous hammer beats and batters the stubborn German ironinto a noble plan--for a great Nation! * * * * * ¶ From a human point, we do not always see the ultimate glory. For that is obscured by dark clouds of party strife, extending overyears, the caprices of men and the interplay of ambitions both withinand without the distracted German lands. Russia, Austria, Italy, GreatBritain, France, Spain, have their spies engaged in all the under-playof political intrigue; there are a thousand enemies at home andabroad, in camp, court and peasant's cottage. ¶ And at times, weary of it all, we throw down the book convincedthat, in a welter of sordid ends, the cause is lost in shame. But, somehow, some way, Germany does in truth ultimately emergetriumphant, in spite of her amazing errors and the endless plots ofenemies. She does indeed justify her manhood--and thus the Bismarck story is ofimperishable glory. * * * * * ¶ We say that Bismarck had to re-inspire the Germans to be a fightingnation. What we mean is that the spirit of the ancient Teutons had to bearoused; for though it slumbered for centuries, it never died. Rome found that out when she was still in her infancy; the Germansburnt the town by the Tiber; and the fearsome struggle between theRomans and the Germanic tribesmen lasted almost unbroken for nearlyfive centuries. ¶ The Romans regarded the Germans as the bravest people in the world. The migrations of the Cimbri and Teutones, and the frightful strugglesin which after superhuman endeavors the Roman Marius destroyed hisGerman enemies is one of the heroic pages of all history. It was ahand-to-hand contest, and torrents of human blood ran that day. Menzeltells us, (Germany, p. 85), that the place of battle enriched by adeluge of blood and ultimately fertilized by heaps of the slain, became in after years the site of vineyards whose wines were eagerlysought by connoisseurs. ¶ The Cimbri were drawn up in a solid square, each side of whichmeasured 7, 000 paces. The foremost ranks were fastened together withchains, that the enemy might not readily break through. Even theGerman dogs that guarded the baggage train fought with animalferocity. The battle went against the Germans and the slaughter wasfrightful. When all was lost, the Germans killed their women andchildren, rather than see them fall into the hands of the Romans. German courage inspired terror and created foreboding throughout theRoman world. It is a heroic story and sustains the German traditionthat Germans born free under their ancient oaks never will be slaves, though the whole world is against them. The success varied, but the Germans conquered, even in death, becominglineal descendants of the Empire. And on the ruins were builded theGerman nation, as the successor of the old Holy Roman Empire. * * * * * ¶ We picture to you these shadowy glimpses of remote battle-scenes toshow you that Germans were ever fighting men, who preferred death toloss of liberty. On the ruins of Roman imperial glory, Teutonic conquerors founded anEmpire that defied time and chance for upwards of 1, 000 years; thenthere crept in a peculiar dry rot. The ancient German oak died at thetop. Along came Napoleon, hacking away the limbs and scarring thegnarled trunk with fire and sword. The ruin seemed complete. Dead atthe top, dead at the root, men said. And what men say is true. Thereis no longer a Germany, except as a mere geographical designation;when you speak of the German Empire you recall merely the echo of aonce mighty name. It now becomes Bismarck's solemn duty, fortified by a nobleappreciation of the ancient legend, to make the German oak green againin its immortal youth. And he watered the roots with blood. ¶ We cannot tell you the great story in a few baby-sentences; you mustread and grasp the broad spirit as it gradually unfolds. Bismarck inthe crudity of his early inspiration scarcely finds himself for years. But all the while he is holding fast to the idea that the Fatherlandshould under God be free and united, sustained by the ancient Teutonicbrotherhood in arms. We present him in part as a tyrant, a wild, intolerant spirit, workinghis own plans to be sure, but those plans in the end are to redound tothe good of the nation he long and unselfishly serves. We ask you to see him in his weakness and we hope with some of hisstrength, always with his high purpose. We ask you to behold him as a man with all a strong man's frailtiesand faults. We do not spare him. We paint him black, now and then, deliberately, that you may know how very small ofttimes are the verygreat; also to realize that if we are to wait for perfect human beingsto front our reforms then those reforms will never be made. Bismarck is too great a man to be belittled by the glamour of spuriouspraise for spurious virtues. It was not necessary for him to cease to be a human being in order tocarry out his work. He remained, to the end, grossly human, for whichthe gods be praised. 2 Grossly human is our Bismarck, whose lust for control is idiomatic; let us get this clearly, first of all. ¶ Did you ever see a bulldog battle with one of his kind? Thestartling fact is this: The dog suddenly develops magnificent reserveforce, making his battling blood leap; is transformed into a catapult, bearing down his adversary or by him borne down--it matters notwhich!--for the joy of battle. To fight is the realization of hisutmost being. ¶ A peculiar fact known to all admirers of a fighting bulldog is this:The dog during the fight, looks now and then at his master near-by, asmuch as to say, "See how well I fight!" ¶ Thus Bismarck looked at his King. * * * * * ¶ The nature of the pit bulldog is seen in Bismarck's head. His surlyface inspires a sense of dread. There is that in his physiognomy thatshows his ugly disposition, when aroused. If you saw that moody facein the crowd, one glance would be sufficient to make you feel howvituperative, short, sharp, murderous the unknown man could be, onoccasion. ¶ Yet the fear stirred by the sight of a pit bulldog is ofttimeslargely illusionary. The dog at heart is genial in a brute way, andnever a more loyal servant than the bulldog to his friends--devotedeven to death, to his master. ¶ It is the sense of dread in the bulldog's head that strikes home! Sowith Bismarck's physiognomy. The Iron Chancellor had but to come intothe room to make his onlookers experience uneasiness. There was anever-present suggestion of pent-up power, that could in an instant beturned upon men's lives, to their destruction! ¶ It is true that Bismarck had his genial side, but it cannot be saidthat he drew and held men to him. He had thousands of admirers to onefriend. During the greater part of his life he was either hated orfeared--at best, misunderstood. Like the pit bulldog, Bismarck wasborn to rule other lives--and he fulfilled his mission. ¶ The element of absolutism in the man, his uncompromising severity, his command of the situation regardless of cost, sorrow or sufferingto other men, is seen in his realistic physiognomy. We study thesefacts more and more, as we go along. * * * * * ¶ There was always something imperious about this great man. Hebrooked no interference. His excessive dignity compelled respect. Henever allowed familiarities; you could not safely presume on his goodnature. He never permitted you to get too near. This abnormalself-confidence conveyed the idea that this giant in physique and inintellectual power was truly cut out for greatness. One of his favorite pranks, as a boy, was to amuse himself makingfaces at his sister; he could frighten her by his queer grimaces. From early youth, he was accustomed to take himself very seriously, and by his offensive manners conveyed an immediate impression of theironical indifference in which he held humanity, in the mass. ¶ He was a born aristocrat, in a sense of high, offensivepartisanship. ¶ Men shrank from him, cursed him, reviled his name; but theyrespected his intellect, even in the early days when he used hispower in an undisciplined way; yes, was painfully learning thebusiness of mastering human lives. ¶ The brute in the man loomed large; the unreasoning but magnificentaudacity of the bulldog expressed itself in scars, wounds, deep-drinking bouts, fisticuffs, and in twenty-eight duels. ¶ But he had another kind of courage, greater in import than thatexpressed by physical combat. * * * * * ¶ When we say Bismarck's work is a revelation of his will to power, weemphasize again how unnecessary it is to make him either less or morethan a human being. There is a school of writers that never mentionshis name except with upturned eyes, as though he were a demigod. Thetendency of human nature is to idealize such as Bismarck out of allsemblance to the original, creating wax figures where once were men offlesh and blood. ¶ Men rise to power largely in uniform ways; that psychic foundationon which they draw is always grossly human, rather dull when youunderstand it, always conventional;--and the great Bismarck himself isno exception. ¶ In doing his work, Bismarck is following the psychic necessities ofhis character; is acting in a very personal way, upheld always by thesoldier's virtue, ambition. There is also a large element ofself-love. His idiomatic lust for control is to be accepted as aroot-fact of his peculiar type of being. And while on the whole hisambition is exercised for the good of his country, herein he isacting, in addition, under the ardent appetite, in his case a passion, to dominate millions of lives; urged not perhaps so much from apreconceived desire to dominate as from an inherent call to exercisehis innate capacity for leadership. ¶ Making allowance for the idea that Bismarck is a devoted servant ofthe King of Prussia, it is not necessary to believe that Bismarckposes as the Savior of his country. In fact, he distinctly disavowsthis sacrifice, has too much sense to regard himself from this absurdpoint of view. ¶ The words carved on Bismarck's tomb at his own request, "A FaithfulGerman Servant of Emperor William I, " show that however much other menwere unable to comprehend the baffling Bismarckian character, the IronChancellor himself had no vain illusions. ¶ When he was 83 and about to die, the old man taking a final sweep ofhis long and turbulent life, asked himself solemnly: "How will I beknown in time to come?" ¶ Fame replied: "You have been a great Prince; an invincible maker ofEmpire, you have held in your hand the globe of this earth; callyourself what you will, and I will write a sermon in brass on yourtomb. " ¶ But the Iron Chancellor, after mature reflection, decided that hisentire career, with all its high lights and its deep shadows, could beexpressed in four simple words, "A Faithful German Servant. " He knewexactly what he was, and how he would ultimately be represented inhistory. ¶ Think what this means. On those supreme questions of Life and Timeinvolving the interpretation of Destiny--a problem hopelessly obscureto the average man--Bismarck brought a massive mind charged with apeculiar clairvoyance; often, his fore-knowledge seemed well-nighuncanny in its exact realism; and if you doubt this assertion, all weask is that you withhold your verdict till you have read Bismarck'sstory, herein set forth in intimate detail. ¶ How clear the old man's vision to discern behind all his Bismarckianpomp and majesty, in camp, court and combat, only the rôle of faithfulservant. ¶ The phrase on his tomb proclaims the man's great mind. Hisoverbrooding silence, as it were, is more eloquent than sermons inbrass. * * * * * ¶ In studying Bismarck, the man, we merge his identity in the eventsof his time; but we must sharply differentiate between the events andthe man. We incline to the belief that hereditary tendencies explainhim more than does environment. It is Bismarck as a human being, andnot the tremendous panorama of incidents leading to German sovereigntythat always holds our interest. Life is life, and is intenselyinteresting, for its own sake. Thus, we are at once freed from a common fallacy of biographicalwriting--that vicious mental attitude, as vain as it is egotistical onpart of the over-partial historian, who would warp some manifestdestiny on human life. ¶ Bismarck needs no historical explanation, no reference to hackneyedcategories in the card-index of Time. Whether his plan was dedicatedto this world or to the glory of some invisible God, you may debate asyou will, but Bismarck will be neither greater nor less because offlights of your imagination. ¶ He is a great man in the sense that he did large things, but thisdoes not make him other than he is, nor does his story lose because weknow him to be grossly human in his aims. His life does not borrowanything because a certain type of mind professes to see behindBismarck's history, as indeed behind the careers of all great men, some mysterious purpose apart and beyond human nature's daily needs. It was not necessary for Bismarck to cease to be a human being, toaccomplish what he accomplished. * * * * * ¶ Also, for the reason that Bismarck was a genius, he is an exceptionto conventional rules covering the limitations of little men. ¶ Bismarck was a born revolutionist. Look at his terrible jaw, which, like the jaws of the bulldog, when once shut down never lets go tillthat object is in shreds. ¶ He was a true bulldog in this that, like the thoroughbred bulldog, Bismarck favored one feed a day. He took a light breakfast, no secondbreakfast, but at night would eat one enormous meal. The bulldog follows a similar practice, when eating never looks fromthe plate, and the water fairly runs from his eyes, with animalsatisfaction. ¶ Bismarck compelled men to do his bidding--as the wind drives theclouds and asks not when or why. It is enough to know that that is thewind's way! He knew the coward, the thief, the soldier, the priest, the citizen, the king, and the peasant. He knew how to betray an enemy with a Judas kiss; how to smite himwhen he was down; how to dig pitfalls for his feet; how to ply himwith champagne and learn his secrets; how to permit him to win moneyat cards, and then get him to sign papers; how to remember oldobligations or to forget new favors; how to read a document in morethan one way; how to turn historical parallels upside down; how tourge today what he refused to entertain a year ago; how to put thebest face on a losing situation; and how to shuffle, cut and stack thecards, or at times how to play in the open. ¶ He was not a humanitarian with conceptions of world peace or worldbenevolences. He was for himself and his own ends, which were tied tohis political conception of a new Germany. ¶ And all the time he was helped out by his extraordinary vitalpowers, his ability to work all night like a horse week after week; goto bed at dawn and sleep till afternoon; then drive a staff ofsecretaries frantic with his insistent demands. ¶ Likewise, he was helped out by his remarkable personality. Actorthat he was, he sometimes gained his point by his frankness, knowingthat when he told the exact truth he would not be believed. ¶ Also, he could bluff and swagger, or he could speak in the politeaccents of the distinguished gentleman; he could gulp a quart ofchampagne without taking the silver tankard from his lips; in youngeryears he used to eat from four to eleven eggs at a meal, besidesvegetables, cakes, beer, game and three or four kinds of meats; hisfavorite drink was a mixture of champagne and porter. * * * * * ¶ He was a chain-smoker, lighted one cigar with another, often smokedten or twelve hours at a stretch. His huge pipes, in the drawing room;his beer, in the salons of Berlin; his irritability, his biliousstreaks, his flashes of temper; his superstition about the number 13;his strange mixing of God with all his despotic conduct; his fondnessfor mastiffs; his attacks of jaundice; his volcanic outbursts; hisbelief in ghosts, in the influence of the moon to make the hair grow;his mystical something about seven and combinations of seven; hisincessant repetition of the formula that he was obeying his God--werebut human weaknesses that showed he had a side like an everyday commonman. ¶ On top of it all he was great, because he knew how to manage meneither with or without their consent; but he always studied to placehimself in a strategic position from which he could insist on hisdemand for his pound of flesh. ¶ Sometimes, it took years before he could lull to sleep, buy, bribeor win over the men he needed; again when the game was short andsharp, he kicked some men out of his path contemptuously, others heparleyed with, still others he thundered against and defied; butalways at the right time, won his own way. ¶ Yes, even Bismarck's card-playing is subordinated to the shrewd endsof diplomacy. Dr. Busch, the press-agent of Bismarck during theFranco-Prussian war, tells us that Bismarck once made this frankconfession: ¶ "In the summer of 1865 when I concluded the Convention of Gasteinwith Blome (the Austrian), I went in for quinze so madly that the restcould not help wondering at me. But I knew what I was about. Blome hadheard that this game gave the best possible opportunity fordiscovering a man's real nature, and wanted to try it on with me. So Ithought to myself, here's for you then, and away went a few hundredthalers, which I really might have charged as spent in His Majesty'sservice. But at least I thus put Blome off the scent, so he thought mea reckless fellow and gave way. " 3 Despite vast areas of political bogs, quaking under foot, that one must traverse, our Otto is not inaccessible! ¶ For many years they hate him like hell-fire itself, this Otto vonBismarck. The Prussians hate him, the Austrians, the Bavarians, to saynothing of the intervening rabble; but our tyrant is strong enough, inthe end, to win foreign wars, and then the haters veer about, almostin a night, come up on bended knees and kiss the hand thatsmites--that hand of Bismarck, at once the best-beloved and themost-hated hand of his time. What more pray do you ask of humannature? ¶ Now here is a strange reality: If you look at the general outlinesof the German map in 1815, you will see that the frontiers trace in astartling way the scowling outlines of Frederick the Great, "OldFritz, " who first dreamed this German unity idea. But mighty Frederick is in the royal tomb these many years; and a newFrederick in spirit is rapidly learning the business of king-maker andempire-builder. * * * * * ¶ Behind the name Bismarck is a story extraordinary, compounded of theintrigues, blood and passions of Austria, Russia, Italy, France, Belgium, Bavaria, Spain, and England. Volumes would not suffice to give you the bewildering details;mountains of diplomatic letters, orders, telegrams, truths, half-truths, shuffling, cutting and stacking; you go confusedly frompalace to people, prince to pauper, university to prison pen--all theway from Waterloo to Versailles, where William I received at last hisgreat glory, German Emperor. ¶ Bismarck's story is best told in flashes of lightning--as you try topicture a bolt from the black skies. By the patience of the methodical historian who laboriously examineseach document in the National archives, one fills soon enough aten-volume account--with a swamp of cross-references, footnotes toeach paragraph, and with notes to the footnotes. ¶ Yet this Bismarck is not inaccessible if we get at his inner side, grasp the man's essence. Strong arm and tireless brain Time asked;--a man who could neither bebent, broken nor brow-beaten; a man who would for 40 years follow aplan by no means clear; often had to go out in the dark and find hisway, all old landmarks lost, and no pole-star in sight. ¶ I dwell on one outstanding fact, all down through his career: Imean Bismarck's power to conceal pain. Hurricanes of insultingcriticisms swept around his head, year after year, but on the wholeOtto's attitude was that of the mountain that defies the storm. Hewould never give in that, as it seemed to onlookers, a shaft ofdisagreeable truth had struck home; that a soft-nosed bullet, wellaimed, had torn his flesh or broken a bone; or that a dagger-thrust, going directly through his coat of the White Cuirassier had piercedhis heart. ¶ Even in his bitter defeats, he had a peculiar idiomatic way ofmaking out that the result was exactly what he desired. It was ofcourse only an adroit explanation to protect his pride; the brazeninvention of a nature that would not acknowledge itself in error. Hereis Bismarck, to the core. ¶ For a long and turbulent life-time Bismarck's soul was tried by thevery tortures of the damned! 4 Wherein it is set forth that Otto von Bismarck's massive political genius, combined with his personal foibles, mark him as a heroic figure, side by side with Frederick the Great. ¶ In attempting to depict a consistent Bismarck, we find that his lifehas been as much misinterpreted through the carping need of enviouspolitical critics as through the bad art of historically well-disposedfriends. The perplexing problem is to blend his massive mental grasp, side byside with his strange fits of irritability, his turbulence, hisdeep-drinking, his gluttony, his wild pranks. About him at all times, whether expressed or concealed, there floatedan ironic derision of the littleness of the average man, whom at heartBismarck despised. While the eyes of detractors are everywhere, the voice of hero-worshiphas likewise conspired to make an impossible idol of a man with veryhuman and ofttimes crying frailties; the biographic truth is to befound somewhere between these two extremes; but even with this clearclue in mind, it is often difficult to reconcile amazing personal anddiplomatic inconsistencies with which his career abounds. ¶ Then, too, there is something that strikes like the irony ofSocrates, only bitter instead of light; and Bismarck reveals now andthen a touch remindful of that Rabelaisian hero whose enormouscapacity could only be quenched by draining the river dry. To tellBismarck's inner life-story, in a large way, one must often deal witha series of pictures akin to the gods and devils in Dore'sdelineations for Dante's "Inferno. " It often seems as though every important act of this great man's lifewas charged with the significance of Destiny, stands forth vividlyagainst a background of intrigue, superstition, personal follies, thesmoke and flame of battle--a heroic figure side by side with suchmaster-spirits as Frederick the Great. Like Frederick the Severe, this Bismarck is very human indeed, and hashis crying weaknesses, and his enemies, God knows, tried for fortyyears to get rid of him by intrigue, often by assassination; yet untilhis great duty is done he must hold firmly to his place, must do thework which brings him no peace, or rest, only trouble year after year. * * * * * ¶ Throughout the amazing story, no matter which way we travel, wealways return to a profound sense of this giant's will and his massiveknowledge of human life, expressed in his ability to force theshrewdest men in Europe to do his bidding. His sense of power is so supreme that sometimes it really seems that, as Bismarck himself often sets forth, his authority fell from heaven. Here, there is a direct harking back to the ancient days in the AltMark, to the Circle of Stendal with its little town of Bismarck, onthe Biese, where stands the ancient masonry dating from 1203, andknown as the "Bismarck Louse. " ¶ The strange legend of the Bismarck Louse tells worlds of the ancientBismarck power, in those far-off times, helps us in the year 1915 tograsp certain obscure phases of the Bismarck racial strength, inherited by Otto von Bismarck. ¶ This medieval Bismarck Tower received its name from a gigantic lousewhich inhabited this place, and had to be fed and appeased; therefore, every day the superstitious peasants of the district brought hugequantities of meat and drink, for the monster's food. It is needlessto add that these visits were encouraged by the Bismarck lord of thesoil, in Alt Mark;--and here you see already the cunning in managinghuman nature so characteristic of the Bismarck genius. ¶ The purely social application of this gossip may, however, be eyedwith suspicion, as a French canard. It was so easy for "Figaro" tolibel the Bismarck of 1871, whereupon the whole French press followedand barked at the Iron Chancellor's heels. He was caricatured, spit at, reviled, depicted as the beast-man inEurope. ¶ For one thing, Bismarck knew France was the richest nation inEurope, also that she had ambition for the left bank of the Rhine; andto General Sheridan, who chanced to be at Sedan and Gravelotte onofficial business, Bismarck said, "The only way to keep France fromwaging war in the near future is to empty her pockets. " ¶ French newspaper editors lashed themselves into insanity trying toinvent new names for the man who had brought the downfall of theEmpire, at Sedan; the man who at Versailles was arranging the hardestterms of peace ever conceived by a diplomatic Shylock, bent on havinghis pound of flesh. ¶ Paris journalists called him "the incarnation of the evil spirit, ""the Antichrist, " "the shrewd barbarian, " "crime-stained ogre, who wasalways thrashing his wife with a dog-whip, " "he kept a harem, fromwhich no Berlin shopkeeper's daughter was safe;" "once he becameenamored of a nun and hired ruffians to kidnap her and bear her awayto his castle;" "he is the father of many illegitimate children, inBerlin some say as many as fifty;" "he once lashed one of his Russianmistresses over the bare shoulders because he suspected her of lookingat another admirer;" "he uses his confidential diplomatic knowledge toadd to his huge private fortune by gambling on every Bourse inEurope. " ¶ How magnificent--if it were indeed only true! What a relief thatwould be over the tame details of average human life, and what a boonto biographers this grand wickedness! Alas, the tales are onlyimportant as specimens of French drawing room gossip of 1871! ¶ The fables never bothered Bismarck a moment. When he was ready, herepaid them in his own splendid coin; and certainly he was past-masterof the gentle art of putting a razor-edge on an insult! ¶ Bismarck had his vituperative side. Egged on by his wife and hisson, Bismarck became at times verbally ferocious. His wife, adescendant of those terrible Frankish women-warriors, stemming frombarbarian times, could under stress exercise a barbarian's starkfreedom of speech; and when Bismarck, furious at some insult, wasreplying with a political cannonade, she would infuriate him to stillgreater exertions by suggesting: ¶ "Bismarck, hiss a little! Hiss a little!" * * * * * ¶ And after seven hundred years, the Bismarck psychology behind theold Tower's superstitious appeal remains substantially the same. Weshall see at times as we sketch for you the life portrait of Otto vonBismarck a mysterious atavism; the self-same mental astuteness thatstood his ancestors in such good stead, enabling them to frighten thepeasants into providing the corn. ¶ Yes, blood will tell--and the Bismarck blood is rare juice! CHAPTER II Blood Will Tell 5 Battle-born, Bismarck's genius springs from the very fire and sword of human nature--resembling definitely his iron-headed barbarian ancestry, whose freedom remained unconquered through the centuries. ¶ We cannot hope to trace Bismarck to any complete legal basis--anymore than we can defend the complete legitimacy of France, Belgium, orthe United States, countries avowedly harking back to revolutionaryorigin. Bismarck's life, likewise, presents unquestioned elements ofanarchistic root. Inherited from battle-born Bismarcks are forcespeculiar to himself, free, and individualistic, profoundly expressivewherein Mother Nature summoning her ultimate powers endows a colossalcourage in a colossal mind and body. ¶ As far as the Thirteenth Century, the name Bismarck, then styledBishofsmarck or Biscopesmarck, is associated with the little riverBiese; but whence the original stock is for antiquarians to debate. Believe the Bismarcks to be of Bohemian, of Frankish or of Jewishorigin, or of Slavic if you will, you find bespectacled, scholasticauthorities who will open the musty pages and display to you thetruth. ¶ Herbort of Biese became in due course Herbort von Bismarck. The"von" was unquestionably a mark of geographical origin, rather than asign of nobility. The name is borne by other families from Biese; butthe important part is not the name but the men behind that name, whatthat name stood for. ¶ Herbort von Bismarck's name is enrolled in the guild papers asmaster of the merchant tailors of Stendal, in the old Mark ofBrandenburg; a "Mark" being somewhat equivalent to an English "shire. " ¶ But this fact about the tailor-ancestor must not be pressed toofar. Some antiquarian of the year 2700 A. D. , let us say, might arguethat President Taft was a steam-shoveler, because the name is foundrecorded among the laborers who helped dig the Panama Canal; whereas, the fact is that the President was enrolled as an honorary member ofone of the labor unions. Also, after Waterloo, when the British nation was running wild tryingto imagine some distinction that as yet had not been bestowed onWellington, the London tailors in a moment of inspiration added theIron Duke's name to the great roll of scissor-snippers! * * * * * ¶ Beginning with Herbort's son, four Bismarcks, in three generations, were social lepers. * * * * * ¶ Klaus von Bismarck died about the year 1385, outside the holy favorof the church--as his father had died before him, and as did two sons, in their turn. But Klaus, ever shrewd in a worldly way, recommendedhimself as a king's fighting man; led the robber gang off with theloot in the name of his merry monarch, the Margrave of Bavaria. ¶ For this most excellent service as a professional man-killer, Klauswas rewarded with a knight's fee of forest land, at Burgstal, anestate that remained in the family for two hundred years. There weredeer, wild boar, wolves and bear in the Bismarck forest, and one dayConrad of Hohenzollern came that way on a royal hunting expedition. ¶ Conrad could have stolen the Bismarck petty title outright, butwhile he confiscated Burgstal forest, he offered Schoenhausen, on theElbe, in exchange. However, Schoenhausen did not compare with theestate that the envious monarch took by force. The Burgstal forest isto this day one of the great game preserves of the German Emperor. ¶ The Bismarcks also received in the exchange farming land known asCrevisse, lately confiscated by the Hohenzollerns from the nuns; andone of the conditions of the transfer to the Bismarcks was that thesenuns should be supported. 6 Strong animal basis of Bismarck's rise to Power--The story is always the same, "Fight, or die like a dog!" ¶ Thus, from time immemorial, the fighting Bismarcks wrote their titleto a share of this earth with the sword, which in spite of all HagueConferences remains the best sort of title man has been able todevise. As time sped and what is called Civilization grew somewhat, men tookon chicken-hearted ways; and in every pinch appealed to courts fordecisions formerly decided by individual brawn; till finally, as inthese latter degenerate days, if a fight becomes necessary, societyhires policemen to stop the row. ¶ Klaus von Bismarck preferred to do his own murdering, andconsequently, Klaus stood first in the eyes of honest men of his owngeneration; but in this Twentieth Century, instead of puttingincompetents to the test of the sword, society, committed to the softdoctrine that all life is sacred, burdens itself with lengthening thedays of the daft. A far cry that from the ideals of the earlyBismarcks! It is well to keep these facts in mind, in contemplatingthe extraordinary career of the great Otto von Bismarck, king-makerand unifier of Germany. * * * * * ¶ Modern timid-hearted folk, reading of the desperate makeshifts ofthe old Bismarcks to get on in the world, would say off-hand, "Theremust be a strain of madness in the Bismarck brain?" ¶ Unquestionably! This fighting family in each generation had its bornrevolutionists, its enormous egotists, its men who lived what orthodoxopinion calls "godless lives"--although in their own philosophy theBismarcks are always preaching that God is on their side. When theElector decided to steal Burgstal forest, the Bismarcks set up thispious plea: "We wish to remain in the pleasant place assigned to us bythe Almighty. " Four hundred years later we find Otto von Bismarckusing again and again this peculiar reasoning, to justify, at leastto explain, his own career: "If I were not a Christian, I would notcontinue to serve the King another moment. Did I not obey my God andcount on Him, I should certainly take no account of earthly masters. " ¶ In three great wars of ambition in which 80, 000 perished, herepeated this solemn formula about God; he repeated it on theblood-drenched field of Koeniggraetz; he repeated it in the Holsteinwar, and he repeated it again at Sedan and at Gravelotte. ¶ Bismarck persisted in this peculiar conception of life, down to thelast. While in retirement, after his downfall, one day the bloody pastrose before him like a dream, and he exclaimed to Dr. Busch: "Politicshas brought me vexation, anxiety and trouble; made no one happy, me, my family nor anyone else, but many unhappy. Had it not been for me, there would have been three great wars less; the lives of 80, 000 wouldnot have been sacrificed; and many parents, brothers, sisters andwives would not now be mourners. That, however, I have settled with myMaker!" Now, once and for all, what we understand this to mean ismerely this: a super-abundance of faith. Many great leaders have hadit--David, Cromwell, Bismarck. * * * * * ¶ In seeking biographic clues, through hereditary influences, we areimpressed with the astounding animal-basis of strength behind theBismarcks, from earliest recorded history. They were a deep-drinking, prolific gormandizing race, and every mother's son had to do battle bybrawn backed by the sword, or die like a dog! This bred high tempers, turbulent manners and contempt for the weak. ¶ Soldiers, diplomatists, brow-beaters, characterized the Bismarckclan down through centuries. Stormy and adventurous Bismarcks foughtfor the sheer delight of doing battle;--it mattered not, whetheragainst the Turks or against some near-by king whose lands the Germanrobber-knights lusted for and wished to annex by appeal to the sword. ¶ There is a story of a garrison brawl in which a Bismarck slew hiscompanion in drink, then fled to Russia, then on to Siberia; soldierof fortune, he fights under any flag that promises a gay life andplenty of loot. Three hundred years later--how the wheel turnsround!--Otto von Bismarck, as Russian Ambassador to the King ofPrussia, engaged in intrigues for the same old lust of land, the sameold nefarious business, but this time sprayed over by thehigh-sounding name, diplomacy. ¶ Dr. Busch, the Saxon press-agent for Prince Bismarck, repeats theold tale of the winning of Alsace by the French king, through the aidof Otto von Bismarck's great-great-grandfather, a mercenary soldier;adding that while one Bismarck helped take Alsace away, another ofthat redoubtable family brought it back many years later, with theadded joy of the prodigious money-fine of five billions of francs! 7 Boisterous Col. Bismarck, of the Dragoons; "The Wooden Donkey dies today!" French Cavalier Bismarck and his mushy prose-poems. ¶ Burly strength and horse-play, rather than diplomacy, were alwaysdistinctive traits of that part of the Bismarck family immediatelysurrounding Otto von Bismarck; and in Otto's case, although the yearsgradually taught him that there are more ways of stopping a man'smouth than by cutting off his head, on the whole we seek in vain, among ancestral Bismarcks, for any striking characteristics in whichthe point does not turn either on gluttony or on deep-drinking. ¶ They were enormous eaters. Bread and meat were not enough. They musthave game, fish, cake, wines, and plenty of each. Hunger put them in arage. They were iron men, with stomachs of pigs. ¶ They were unbrooked master spirits, followed the hounds, foughtduels, had noisy tongues, and gloried in personal independence. When they loved they loved madly; when they hated it was the same. They drank all night and were out again at dawn. ¶ Yet in their way, they were high-minded gentlemen, devotedthemselves industriously to their duties; and it may be that theturbulence of their lives borrowed something from the rude clash ofopinion that often divided the best friends, during the stormy periodsof history in which they fought as soldiers of fortune. ¶ Otto von Bismarck's great-grandfather, Augustus, calling his croniesof the barracks around him, was wont to add zest to the carousal byintroducing the trumpet call after each toast; to heighten theinfernal racket, the boisterous colonel of dragoons ordered a volleyfired in the drink-hall. ¶ This terrible dragoon, master of the hounds, guzzler, companion andleader in all revels, was generally voted one of the amiable men inarmy circles. He was a noted shot. In one year of record his score was154 red deer and 100 stag. ¶ At the Ihna bridge was a ducking stool, for army punishments; ittook the amusing style of a wooden donkey, and was so called by thedragoons as a rude joke. After one of his hard drinking bouts, it was often the colonel'samusing habit to order his men to march to the bridge; on arriving theband struck up and the wooden donkey was thrown into the stream. "Alloffenders of my regiment are forgiven, " Bismarck would bawl, "thedonkey dies today!" Then with all manner of opera bouffe the offending donkey would be putoverboard--only to be brought out next morning, ready for officialbusiness. * * * * * ¶ But our fun-loving colonel's good times were now over. As commanderof the gallant Anspach-Bayreuth dragoons, Augustus fought forFrederick the Great and was severely wounded at Czaslau. Austrianhussars surprised the transport wagons carrying the wounded to therear, and with brutality common to the soldier-business of that rudeday killed the defenseless Prussians, among whom was our Colonel vonBismarck. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck's grandfather, Karl Alexander, leaned toward thenamby-pamby intellectual rather than to the social and convivial. Heis remembered for his affected poetical style. Karl, brave soldier, attracted the eye of no less a judge of valor than the GreatFrederick, who appointed this Karl Alexander von Bismarck an attacheof the Prussian embassy at Vienna. ¶ Karl, like other Germans of the sentimental period, aped the Frenchpoets; but when a German is sentimental, the mush-pots boil over. Karl's writings show that peculiar over-inflated quality, "sentimentality, " so much admired in the rococo period. * * * * * ¶ Karl William Ferd. , Otto's father, and Louise Wilhelmina, Otto'smother, born Mencken, lived at Schoenhausen in troublous French times. Oct. 14th, 1806, the terrible defeat at Jena put Prussia in the handsof the enemy. Fortresses surrendered without firing a shot, and the panic-strickenking fled to the far eastern side of his domains, near Russia. All this took place within three months after the marriage of Karl andLouise, who had now set up housekeeping at Schoenhausen. ¶ The Bismarcks tried to escape in a coach, but the Frenchunexpectedly appeared and ordered Karl back to the house. The Frenchransacked every room; Louise fled to the library and locked themassive oak door; to this day it bears the marks of French bayonets;the Bismarcks then hid in the forest where they remained all nightwith panic-stricken neighbors; at dawn Karl and Louise ventured out, to find Schoenhausen a scene of destruction. ¶ The one galling fact that Karl could not overlook, in MarshalSoult's raid, was the desecration of the genealogical tree. This hugepainting with its shields of the Bismarck descent was slashed from endto end, with bayonets! ¶ Oh, Otto von Bismarck remembered this many, many years later, inmaking terms with the French after Sedan--do not for a moment forgetthat! Such is the amazing power of hereditary loves and hates;--andcertainly the Bismarcks had no reason to admire the French. CHAPTER III The Gothic Cradle 8 Idyl of the child Otto, in his huge Gothic cradle at Schoenhausen; wonders that gather 'round his destiny, a forecast and a reality. ¶ Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck, the great central figure in ourstory, was the fourth of six children, three dying in infancy. He wasborn April 1, 1815, but a few months before the crowning defeat atWaterloo--that year big with the hammer-blows of Destiny! ¶ In lonesome Schoenhausen on the Elbe, the village lately devastatedby Marshal Soult and his plundering soldiers, the infant Otto sleepspeacefully in his oak-carved Gothic cradle. A century later, we stillsee that huge cradle as one of the souvenirs in the famous Bismarckmuseum at Schoenhausen. ¶ Schoenhausen house is one of those thick-walled monuments ofmediæval masonry. There is, to be sure, something out of drawing about the antiquatedthree-story house; and we survey with respect for the past the queercourtyard, leaded panes, park with the artificial island, woodedbyways, and old forest, and not far away is the village church withthe square stone tower; hard by, also, the kattenwinkel, or Katte'scorner, at the confluence of the Havel and the Elbe; and on the houseis the Katte's coat-of-arms, a cat watching a mouse, the mark of thesturdy 17th century builder, Katte, who to honor his wife, DorotheaSophia Katte, added her name to his builder's sign over the lintel. ¶ In this historical 1815, seed-time and harvest strangely blend, yetare years apart. For, while the child sleeps in his Gothic cradle, the Congress ofVienna meets to redistribute among the hungry kings the old domainsstolen as prizes in the long Napoleonic wars; and in turn, afterincredible political adventures, running over years, the child beforeus, grown to be a man, will smash the rulings of Vienna and willbuild an empire stronger far than that of imperial France, now dyingat Waterloo. ¶ All these wonders gather 'round the destiny of the child in the bigGothic cradle, before which we now tiptoe at Schoenhausen, lest weawaken the baby and he cry. * * * * * ¶ When the French overrun Prussian territory the old land-owningmilitary aristocracy was reduced to bankruptcy. Mortgages falling duecould not be paid; the king extended credit for four years; and in theinterim Prussians were forced to use depreciated rag-money; all thegold and silver had been confiscated by the French invaders. ¶ Great dissatisfaction followed. The farms had been tilled byfeudal-laborers, practically slaves; these oppressed peasants now flewto arms. Schoenhausen was a dreary place indeed; while the Bismarcks werebetter off than their neighbors, still the times were out of joint andruin fell over the broad acres. ¶ Then came an unexpected change. Along about 1816, Karl inheritedKneiphof, Kuelz and Jarchelin estates from his cousin, moved toKneiphof, just east of the hamlet of Naugard. The house was exceeding modest; a brook, the Zampel, ran near by; andthere was a carp pond. Karl was fond of hunting in the old beechforest. Such were the unsettled conditions in the Bismarck family, upto Otto's sixth year. 9 Soft-hearted Karl and Spartan Mother Louise; her rigid character, its good and its bad side; her extreme punctilio and her pistol-shooting, to steady her sight. ¶ Otto von Bismarck inherited his tall form from his father, KarlWilliam. This unusual type of cavalry captain subscribed for Frenchjournals and ate off silver plate. Karl's regiment was known as the"White and Blue, " and one of his duties was to get up at 4 in themorning and measure corn for horses. At one time the captain lived inBerlin, but he soon tired of the capital and gladly returned to thecountry where he passed his days as squire. To the end of his life, hewas fond of horseback riding and hunting; and he brought his sons upto ride like centaurs. ¶ Bismarck's mother, Louise Wilhelmina Mencken, married at the age ofsixteen; her husband Karl was nineteen years her senior. ¶ In the family circle, the father was known as the heart, the motheras the brains; but in Louise's case it might well read "ambition. " Shewished to see Otto von Bismarck, her youngest son, become adiplomatist--a judgment that in the light of after years seems almostuncanny. Later, at the full tide of the Chancellor's great glory, frequentlyhis earliest friends used to say, "Bismarck, had your mother onlysurvived to see this day!" * * * * * ¶ The wife's leading trait was her inflexible resolution, the will torulership;--and rule she certainly did, always. For one thing, she steadied her nerves and schooled her sharp eyes bypractising pistol shooting. There was Spartan courage about her decisions! Frau Bismarck'sirritability had been growing of late; Karl was too soft with Otto. She was angered to think that her husband might spoil Otto, by toomuch coddling. The domestic climax came. ¶ That day at table, Otto with childish impatience, began swinging hislegs like a pendulum. The good-natured Karl hadn't it in his heart tocorrect the child, but instead began making excuses for Otto'sconduct. This aroused Louise's ire. To smooth matters Karl said, "See, Minchen, how the boy is sitting there dangling his little legs!" ¶ Louise then and there read her ultimatum. She would not have her sonspoiled by the foolishness of his soft father--not at all! She wouldsend her beloved son away, first. At the time, Otto was only six yearsold. And she thereupon proceeded to keep her decision--acting with all theaggressiveness for which in later life Otto von Bismarck was himselfcelebrated. CHAPTER IV Sunshine and Shadow 10 Wherein is shown the amazing power of hereditary traits; history repeats itself. ¶ It was from his mother that Prince Bismarck, the future ruler ofGermany, received his endowment of dauntless audacity, his gift oftrenchant argument, his bursts of ironical laughter, his power ofinstant decisions, his scolding, and his bitter wrath. All thesequalities shone in the parliamentary fight before the Austrian war, when for three years he defied the country, and raised the Prussianwar-funds by extortion! ¶ In one sense, he was always stacking the cards! And what chance hasthe fellow-player against the dealer with the marked deck? Bismarck'slife abounds with episodes showing this astonishing readiness. Inlove, in laughter and in intrigue, it was ever the same. Bismarck'suse of human nature, constructively, at the precise psychologicalmoment, redounding to his self-interest, is supreme. * * * * * ¶ At the wedding of his friend Blankenburg to FrauleinThadden-Triglaff, the bridesmaid was Fraulein Johanna von Puttkammer. Bismarck saw, admired and decided. Soon after in a Hartz journey, withthe Blankenburgs, Otto had a brief opportunity to favor energeticmeasures. He wasted no time, Johanna must become his wife! He wrotedirect to the young lady's parents, with whom he was not acquainted. Aflying visit followed to the home of his intended father-in-law. ThePuttkammers were surprised at the suitor's impetuous love-making, alsowere shocked by the reputation Bismarck had for fast living. The moment he saw parents and daughter he forced the situation. Throwing his arms around his sweetheart, Bismarck embraced her, vigorously. And thus he won his bride even before an unwilling fatherand mother; for Bismarck carried them off their feet by the veryaudacity of his wooing. * * * * * ¶ During the Franco-Prussian war, coming to the Rothschild château, Bismarck found 17, 000 bottles of wines in the cellar, under lock andkey; and the keeper was determined that Bismarck should not use themaster's champagnes. It took Bismarck only a few minutes to change all that. Soon he wascomfortably settled in the Baron's private chambers, reached by agrand winding staircase; here the Chancellor proceeded to make himselfat home in dressing gown and slippers. ¶ He rang for the butler, ordered wine for himself and suite. Thekeeper of the cellar still refused--and Bismarck's black ire rose. Ina voice of thunder he cried, "If you do not open that cellar door bythe time I count five, you will be trussed on a spit, like a fowl!" ¶ After that, the Prussians had what they wanted, made merry on therare wines of Baron Rothschild, who was known as a hater of Prussiaand an admirer of Austria. ¶ Bismarck now decided to try various gastronomic oddities; orderedhis staff to shoot pheasants from the Baron's preserves, and commandedthe cook to stew the birds in champagne! * * * * * ¶ When Napoleon wrote his famous note, at Sedan, "Not having been ableto die in the midst of my troops, there is nothing left for me but toplace my troops in your Majesty's hands, " Bismarck saw the humannature side at a glance! He urged peace, then and there, with thePrince Imperial on the throne, and "under German influence, " whichwould thus give to Prussia the whip hand. General Sheridan tells thestory. It was an instantaneous look into the far future, and although it didnot prevail, for certain important reasons, the Chancellor caught thehuman side of the combination, with the clarity of a dramatistconstructing a plot. ¶ On his mother's side, Otto von Bismarck comes of hunting, fightingand farming stock. Shrewd, wise, ambitious, and haughty--with these traits she richlyendowed her son. His father was handsome, bright, solid, emphatic-looking, but with a yielding disposition; the iron will andsharp tongue of the wife overawed the husband. The shrewish frau hadthings largely her own way, was able to read a lecture like the wrathof God. However, on the whole, the couple got along passably well--forKarl never took Louise too seriously! When Frau Louise's efforts tomake a lackey of him got on his nerves, Karl called his cronies andaway they went fox-hunting. 11 At the tender age of six, already is Otto forced out of the family circle; the wolf's breed shows its teeth. ¶ Well, the incensed Louise, weary of the softness of Karl, andfearing lest Karl would spoil Otto by too much petting, packed thechild off to Plamann Institute, Berlin, a school of the Squeers type. Otto remained in this Spartan school-prison for nearly six years, andto the end of his life carried unpleasant memories. Plamann Instituteidea was to harden lads, but instead of hardening the practices thereembittered. ¶ The half-starved boys were up at 6; breakfast of bread and milk;religious exercises at 7; at 10, luncheon of bread and salt; then, arun in the garden; at noon, dinner from the hands of Frau Plamann; andif a lad wanted a second plate, and couldn't eat it all, he waspunished by being sent to the garden, there to remain till he hadgulped down the last morsel, even though he fairly choked; at teatime, bread and salt, or warm beer and slices of bread; all day, studies ofinterminable length and dullness;--but, best of all, fencing exerciseswound up the day. ¶ In the school yard was a lone lime-tree, and here the boys camerunning as a goal for their sports. Using this lime-tree as a pulpit, Otto used to read to his companions chapters from Becker's storiesabout giants. ¶ There was a pond near Schoenberg where the pupils used to gobathing. Otto's chum was Ernest Kriger. ¶ After six years of this life on salt and potatoes, Otto wastransferred to Dr. Bonnell's Frdk-Wm. Gymnasium, Berlin, and inanother year to Grey Friars' Gymnasium. Soon after Dr. Schleiermacherconfirmed Otto, at Trinity Protestant church. In the light of subsequent history, it is significant, almost uncanny, to recall the life-text offered to Otto at this solemn moment by hispastor: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and notunto men. " Many years later--just before his death--Bismarck orderedthe motto to be carved on his tomb; all his life he had followed thetext. ¶ The lad was two years at Grey Friars' school. While there Otto'sdeep-seated hatred of the French is again visible for a decisivemoment. In 1806 Marshal Soult had slashed the genealogical tree of theBismarck family; and young Otto, who often heard the story, grew upwith the idea that the French were ogres. The school schedule, among other studies, called for French, orEnglish as an optional selection; although all Otto's chums decidedfor French, the lad flatly refused to follow and instead stood almostalone in the English class. ¶ He is no longer a child when he says good-bye to Grey Friars; he isa young man of 17--and life is opening before him. Life! The joyous care-free life of youth and inexperience; with theworld and its cares still seemingly far away! 12 At Goettingen, he joined the Hannovera Corps and his record is twenty-eight duels; his face bore many scars, among them a long cut from left jaw to corner of his mouth. ¶ Otto's mother, who had strong social aspirations and held to therigid exclusiveness of the upper classes, wished to send her son to anaristocratic university. So she selected Goettingen. Her ideas wereto make her son a man of dignity and solid social qualities. Alas, he became but an indifferent student, excelling principally indueling, beer-bouts in college taverns, dog-fighting, flirting, andgeneral deviltries unnumbered, for which he spent considerable time inthe college dungeon. Listen to this: ¶ Many years ago, in his roaring student days, long before Otto vonBismarck was famous, he received an invitation to a ball, and went tothe shoemaker to be measured for high-topped military boots, affectedby the beaux of that day. Calling some days later, he was told that itwould be impossible to get them finished in time; and he wouldtherefore have to wear his old boots to the ball. ¶ Bismarck scowled and going back to his rooms, whistled for his twoferocious dogs with which he was wont to trail around town; returningto the cobbler's the daring rascal said in a loud voice: "Misterbootmaker, at a signal from me the dogs will tear you to pieces! I amhere to tell you, in the most friendly way in the world, that it isabsolutely necessary to have my boots on time. " ¶ Bismarck then went away, but he hired a man to parade up and down inthe vicinity of the shop with the two mastiffs; and now and then thisman dropped in, and in a voice of sorrow, said to the cobbler: "Mymaster has a terrible temper and I am sorry for you. " At that, theshoemaker told his wife: "Frau, I am going to work all night, to getHerr Bismarck's boots finished in time for that ball!" ¶ It is needless to add that young Bismarck had his boots on time. * * * * * ¶ In discussing Bismarck's life and personality many writers will tellyou that the man is inconsistency itself; advocating now what in ayear he will recant; that for this and other reasons it is baffling totry to make a picture many-sided enough to portray adequately hiscomplex life. ¶ On the contrary, Bismarck, once you get the biographic clue, is asopen, free and direct as the light of the noonday sun. And the storyof the poor cobbler and the boots is all there is to it! Repeat this story in a hundred and one forms, and the same man isalways behind. ¶ Among his cronies, he early gained the name "The Mad Bismarck. " AtGoettingen university, Otto fought 28 duels and his face bore hisfighting scars. ¶ To scare the girls and to make them shriek and lift their skirts, asight that the rascal Otto enjoyed, one night at a dance he let loosea small fox in the ball room! And he had ridden like the devil, some30-odd miles to be at this dance. ¶ As for drinking, no man could put him under the table. Later inlife, he invented his own special draught, a combination of champagneand porter; ordinary men dropped under the deadly compound as from adose of cyanide of potassium, but Otto could drain his quart withouttaking the tankard from his lips. He soon had all the company underthe chairs, like dead soldiers. ¶ Often, at country houses, he fired pistols to awaken guests in themorning. ¶ His groom fell into the canal, the young giant Bismarck leaped inand dragged the drowning man to safety; for this heroic deed, Bismarckwon his first medal. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck's student life was tempestuous. He was indeed full of thevery devil. His every-day get-up comprised top boots, long hair flowing over thecollar of his velveteen jacket; a big brass ring on the first fingerof his left hand; two fierce mastiffs trotted sullenly at his side. Hetrailed around, smoking a long pipe. ¶ The young man's high animal spirits broke all restraints; he smoked, he drank, he sang, he flirted, and he fought; but as for books, he didas little studying as he could. He was sent many times to the university "carcer" or prison; aninteresting souvenir is still to be seen at Goettingen, thestudent-prison door, on which Bismarck carved his name in 1832, whenhe was "doing" ten days for acting as second in a pistol duel. ¶ With a Mecklenburg student, Otto's great chum, a trip was madethrough the Hartz mountains, and on returning a wine dinner wasoffered to other students. All the fellows drank too much brandy. Bismarck made an inflammatoryspeech, at table, ending by showing his derision of scholasticism byhurling ink bottles out of the window. For this breach of the rules, he was hauled before the university court. Here, he appeared inoutlandish get-up, jack boots, tall hat, long pipe, dressing gown--andcoolly asked the proctor what 'twas all about. Bismarck's huge dogs, with which he was always accompanied, frightened the proctor half todeath! Bismarck was promptly fined five thalers for his absurdities;he paid the fine and began studying up more deviltry. ¶ Joining the Hannovera Corps of fighting men, Otto was soon known as"Achilles, " leading the fellows in all sword-play. He fought duelafter duel, and finally under the influence of Morley, an Americanstudent, decided to switch over from the Hannovera to the Brunswickcorps--whereon every Jack in the Hannovera sent Otto a challenge. * * * * * ¶ On a trip to Jena, the fellows decided on a riot, and were deep intheir cups when the Goettingen proctor arrived to bring the runawayBismarck back, and put him in the "carcer" till he cooled off. TheJena fellows carried on at a great rate to think that the beloved"Achilles" had to leave so unceremoniously, but at the last momenthitched up six horses and paraded Bismarck around town, as ademonstrative fare thee well! * * * * * ¶ The scene of many of his drinking bouts was "Crown" tavern, anancient Goettingen resort, where the fellows sat on wooden benches infront of a long bar and drank till they felt like fighting cocks. Bythe way, it is a bit strange that Otto had such amazing capacity; forhe was as thin as a knitting needle. Among the men Bismarck met at this bar was Albrecht von Roon, who manyyears later was to become the great Prussian military drill-master. ¶ Bismarck finally left Goettingen in August, '33; his last duel waswith an Englishman who had made fun of the German peasant, describingthat worthy as "a dunce in a night cap, whose night-dress is made of39 rags. " The 39 rags was an allusion to the 39 petty German states. Bismarck was already becoming imbued with the "national German faith, "as it was called, and could not let the insult go by. ¶ As a rule, Bismarck was lucky in his sword play. The biggest slashhe received was made by Biedenweg, whose sword broke and cut Otto fromjaw to lip, on the left cheek--a scar that Bismarck carried to hisgrave. ¶ Giesseler, the proctor, gave Bismarck a very doubtful letter ofrecommendation; the duelist and beer-drinker had asked for a transferto Berlin university. Otto wanted to hear law lectures by Savigny. ¶ He began his Berlin course in a mocking way. There was an unservedjail sentence hanging over Bismarck's head at Goettingen; and withsham seriousness, as though he were going to turn over a new leaf, Otto humbly set up that, to be strictly honest with the professors, tojail Otto must go and to jail they sent him! But no sooner was he outthan he forgot all his good resolutions, and began his mad existenceagain. ¶ Finally, in May, 1835, he passed his examination in law, or"advocate assistant, " but not without hiring a professional "crammer"to drill him hours and hours--to make up for wasted weeks in beercellars and with the pretty girls. 13 Deficient in discipline, young Otto makes a fizzle of his first office-holding; his shocking conduct against his superior officer; back to the old estates, he looks after the cattle, dogs and horses. ¶ Harum-scarum days are over--and now for the serious business oflife. Years later, in the days of his great renown, Bismarck, thinkingof his early preparation, always regretted, he said, that he did notjoin the army. As a matter of fact, he had no serious plans for yearsto come--and it would appear that, on the whole, his career wasdecided by accident. Of this more, at the right time, later. * * * * * ¶ When Bismarck was 20, he served several months at Aix-la-Chapelle, in court work, then was transferred to Potsdam, to the administrativeside. He soon showed himself deficient in discipline. An over-officer kepthim waiting, and Bismarck took personal offense. At last Bismarck wasadmitted. The over-officer was sitting there, calmly killing timesmoking a cigar. Bismarck leaned over and in his gruff way asked, "Give me a match!" This in itself was highly insolent, a violation ofPrussian ideas of discipline. But the astonished over-officercomplied. The young clerk thereupon sprawled in a chair and lightedhis cigar. It was, you see, merely to show his independence. Also, it meant thathe had to get out of the service. ¶ Bismarck was glad to go; he hated intensely the clock-likeregularity of the Prussian bureaucracy. ¶ His mother died in 1839, at which time Otto was 24; and on the youngchap now fell the management of the Pomeranian estates. ¶ In 1844, Otto went to live with his father at Schoenhausen; here, Otto and his brother looked after the farms. Otto was later appointedDyke-captain of the Elbe. ¶ Along about this time, a religious revival swept through Prussia andOtto was carried away on the flood; also, he began showing himself astrong monarchical man. Always religious and always a King's man, at heart, Otto now seriouslystudied religion and state affairs. When the call came, he was notfound wanting! * * * * * ¶ We hasten along. In 1847, Otto's naturally deep religiousconvictions were strengthened by his wife's uncompromising orthodoxy. ¶ It was in this year, also, that he made his entry into Prussianpolitics--to the study of which he was to devote his long life and hissurprising genius. However, to present a clear idea of the workBismarck was to do, it is necessary to return, briefly, to an earlierday, and to trace a complex historical movement through the past. Weshall summarize, on broad lines, the problem presented by the questionof German national unity. The German problem comprised a political, sociological and racial situation toward whose solution hundreds, ifnot thousands, of notable men and women, for several generations past, had sought in vain. ¶ "Nothing, " says Wilhelm Gorlach, "can more clearly prove Bismarck'shistorical importance than the fact that we are obliged to go backseveral centuries to understand the connection of his actions. " BOOK THE SECOND The German National Problem CHAPTER V The Great Sorrow 14 The German crazy-quilt, of many hues and colors, and how this blanket was patched and mended through the years. ¶ From the 18th Century, and indeed before that time, to say nothingof years to come as late as 1871, there was in fact no Germany. Theterm was a mere geographical "designation. " We shall hear more ofthis, as Bismarck assumes the stupendous task of German unity, in areal sense of the word; but we will never understand what Bismarck andother statesmen who hoped for German unity had to deal with, unless wetake a broad survey of conditions in Germany from the year 1750; notonly from the political but also from the social and domestic side, asrepresented in 300-odd German principalities that like a crazy-quiltwere thrown helter-skelter from Hamburg on the North to Vienna on theSouth. ¶ Many of the holdings were gained through musty papers from rulers ofthe ancient Holy Roman Empire, a nation Voltaire declared "neitherholy, nor empire, nor Roman. " ¶ There were free cities, great landlords, and there were greatrobber-barons--thieves of high or low degree. ¶ At Cologne, Treves and Mayence archbishops held the lower valley ofthe Moselle, also some of finest parts of the Rhein valley. ¶ Next, came dukes, landgraves, margraves, cities of the Empire, andthen still smaller, duchies in duodecimo, down through some 800 minorlandlords who as the owners of some borough or village walked thisearth genuine game cocks on their own dunghills. Political conditionswere distressing; old feuds, old hates prevailed. There were restrictions on commerce, statute labor, barbarous penallaws, religious persecution and Jew-baiting. * * * * * ¶ In short, to make 300-odd jealous princelings join hands in nationalbrotherhood is the complex problem that goes down through the years;generation after generation; till at last the one strong man appears, Otto von Bismarck, who in his supreme rise to power sees clearly thatthe only hope for Germany is in a complete social and politicalrevolution, in which the changes in the German mind concerningpolitical unity in governmental affairs must be as unusual as thetransformations in the German mode of life. * * * * * ¶ During the early part of the 18th Century, of which we are nowwriting, a certain bold political doctrine still stood unchallenged. It had come out of the dim and hoary past, and in effect it proclaimedthe power of the fist. For centuries unnumbered the idea prevailedthat a state defends itself against foreign foes, and otherwiseconserves its existence through the direct will of a strong ruler, preferably a king brought up in arms. Thus the "genius of the people" meant in effect the wisdom or theignorance of the line of kings. Under this theory, Prussia by slow degrees and through many sacrificesof blood and treasure, had become a great power. ¶ Fred: Wm. I. , (1713-40), who was indeed a miser and a scoffer, freedlittle Prussia from debt and rebuilt cities ruined by the wars. Helikewise established a system of compulsory education, madeschoolmasters state officers, and contributed mightily to a higherstandard. And he went further still: he welcomed religious exiles from otherparts of Germany; he settled thousands of immigrants on the raw lands;he saved his money, economized to the last pfennig, was prudent in aworldly sense, and to the end of his life remained intolerable foe ofidleness. ¶ It was from this severe master that the Great Frederick (1740-86)learned the trick of laying his cane over the backs of peasants andcrying out in rage: "Get to work!" ¶ Old Fritz continued his line of battle from 1740 to 1763, in variousunequal contests with the Allies. He fought Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, Saxony, and Poland, and for a while he fought their alliedstrength. The upshot was that Prussian enemies at home and abroad weredefeated and Prussia won first rank as a military and political power. This idea of military discipline, united with large worldly sagacityin the management of state affairs, marks and explains Prussia's riseto power. ¶ But the decline was equally manifest under Fr: Wm. II, the GreatFrederick's nephew. Although he inherited a domain of six millions ofpeople, banded under an excellent administrative system, sustained bythe disciplined army of "Old Dessauer" (Prince Leopold), and althoughFr: Wm. II found the huge sum of 40, 000, 000 thalers in his fightinguncle's treasure chest, yet within a few years all these splendidadvantages were frittered away in idle dalliance and the weak kingfound himself twenty millions in debt. By the time he died, 1797, Prussia was riding to a fall; anddisregarding plain measures for her own safety, she had reached thesad place where the sturdy old Prussian spirit of prudence andindependence had become so compromised that Prussia almost deemed itunessential to preserve her own political life! ¶ Thus, within three generations, Prussia repeated the old story ofhuman life, wherein the weak descendant eats up the strong sire'sgoods. Frederick the Great died Aug. 17th, 1786. Within three years, France struck at the German lands; and within 20 years the oldConstitution of the Empire was scoffed at by encircling enemies alongthe frontiers, led by France, while at home political disputantsdestroyed National spirit by exciting revolution after revolution. "Everywhere, " says Zimmermann, (Germany, p. 1618), "one felt themorning breeze of the new dispensation. " The cry of the people had tobe answered, and the common man wanted to know not only "Why!" but"When!" ¶ For the ensuing 85 years clamor, disruption and disunion continueoften accompanied by bloodshed; till through Bismarck's great workover which he toiled for 40-odd years, came the final answer of theImperial democracy, 1871. * * * * * ¶ It is to be the labor of years with confusion worse confounded, aswe go along. The Feudal system, with which Germany has been forcenturies petrified, must be thrown off; the peasant laborers freed insome sort, whether social or political, the absurd restrictions ofcountless customs houses walling-in each petty principality, must bedestroyed. Before a new Germany may emerge, if Germany is to emerge atall, a National faith must be stimulated, fighting blood stirred, warswaged. Then, and then only, may this idea of German Unity, long thepuzzling mental preoccupation of the fathers, become a geographicalactuality and a political fact. ¶ The German peasants' sense of respect for vested authority, evenwhen held by hated kings, made the common people of the various Germanstates almost ox-like in their patience under harsh politicalconditions. Between the power of petty tyrants and of foreign despots, there wasno freedom worthy of the name. The German lived for himself, aloof, suspicious, not caringparticularly to change his condition. Compromise after compromise, failure after failure, sorrow aftersorrow must be recorded in the great story; but do not despair. Inamazing manner, through blood and iron, Otto von Bismarck, our blondPomeranian giant, will face, fight and finally conquer the bewilderingcross-forces of his time--till "German national faith" is supreme. * * * * * ¶ Paying no attention to its neighbor, each German state stood off byitself; each princeling had his army, in some instances only 25 men;each ruler had his castle, in imitation of Versailles; each state itscustom house, its distinct court and rural costumes. To go ten miles north or south was to find yourself in a new world;you could scarcely understand the mush-talk of the peasants, whereasthe various Liliputian courts chattered in mongrel French, aped fromVersailles. ¶ The minor courts of Germany imitated the excesses of Versailles;had dancing teachers from Paris, French barbers, French governesses, and French prostitutes. Every young man of wealth was sent to Paris to acquire what was called"bon ton, " that is to say, familiarity with the vices of the day; theetiquette of the fan and the study of new ways to spend money wrungfrom over-taxed peasants of German provinces was also regarded as veryimportant. Even to speak German was held a mark of vulgarity; and what moredespicable than to be ashamed of one's ancestry? ¶ Unmoved by the sufferings of the peasants, Augustus III of Saxonyapplied himself to grand operas, written by queens of French society. While the peasants were living like beasts, Frederick Augustus, thesuccessor, spent his time hunting red deer. The dukes of Coburg andHildburghausen were miserable bankrupts. As a result of socialexcesses, Charles VII of Bavaria left a debt of forty millions. Charles Theodore, in some respects an enlightened monarch, isparticularly remembered for three strange facts: That he once gave anopera in German and not in French; that he tried to sell off Bavaria, his inheritance, and move to a more congenial locality; and third, that he hired Rumford, the great chemist, to invent a soup, at lowcost, to feed the poor, whose miseries had been growing on account ofthe bad government. ¶ Nor should we overlook the monarch at Zweibrucken, the PfalzgrafCharles. His mania took the form of collecting pipes and toys, ofwhich he had innumerable specimens from the ends of the earth. He keptalso one thousand five hundred horses and a thousand dogs and cats. Every traveler had to take off his hat and bow at sight of the spire, on pain of being beaten by the Count's constable. ¶ Charles Eugene, of Wuertemberg, slave to luxury, played pranks whenhe was not indulging in vices. He liked to alarm peasants at nightwith wild cries; and when a woman stuck her head out of the window, the monarch would throw a hoop and try to drag her outside. In a deepforest he built his castle "Solitude. " ¶ On his 50th birthday, he wrote to his subjects, promising to mendhis life; the letter was read in all the churches. The people decidedthat he was in earnest, promised him more money, of which he was insore need. His first step was to contract a left-handed marriage withFrancisca von Bernedin, whom he raised to the rank of countess. ¶ His next step was to build a queer bird-cage for his new mate. Menzel says of this episode: "Records of every clime and of every agewere here collected. A Turkish mosque contrasted its splendid domewith the pillared Roman temple and the steepled Gothic church. Thecastled turret rose by the massive Roman tower; the low picturesquehut of the modern peasant stood beneath the shelter of the gigantesqueremains of antiquity; and imitations of the pyramids of Cestius, ofthe baths of Diocletian, a Roman senate-house and Roman dungeons, metthe astonished eye. " * * * * * ¶ Another amiable peculiarity of French-mongering German princelingsin their petty monarchies, was man-stealing. Hard-pressed for funds, the practice was to kidnap peasants and sell them into foreignmilitary service. The vile trade was dignified by court authority;followers of the game were known as "man merchants. " ¶ The Wuertemberg monarch in order to raise funds to complete theabsurd castle for his mistress, took it into his head to sell 1, 000peasants to the Dutch, for the war in the Indies; and so deep lay thecurse of tyranny that no public protest was raised. It is true thatSchiller, the noble poet, who at this time was a student at CharlesCollege, fled in disgust, but Schaubert, another poet, was not sofortunate; he was seized and imprisoned for ten years. ¶ The vile practice of man-stealing from the wretched peasantry longcontinued as a monarchical privilege. The Landgrave Frederick ofHesse-Cassel, on one occasion sent 12, 800 Hessians to the British, tofight in America. English commissioners came over and inspected thecaptive men as though picking out stock at a cattle show. Should aparent protest, a son, a wife or a widow, the answer was the lash. Hanau furnished 1200 of these slave-soldiers, Waldeck several hundred. Seume, who was himself a victim to the system, deported to America, tells us in his Memoirs: "No one was safe; every means was resortedto, fraud, cunning, trickery, violence. Foreigners were thrown intoprison, and sold. " "There is a Hessian prince of high distinction, " says Huergelmer. "Hehas magnificent palaces, pheasant-preserves, at Wilhelmsbad, operas, mistresses, etc. These things cost money. He has, moreover, a hoard ofdebts, the result of the luxury of his sainted forefathers. What doesthe prince do in this dilemma? He seizes an unlucky fellow in thestreet, expends fifty dollars on his equipment, sends him out of thecountry, and gets a hundred dollars for him in exchange. " * * * * * ¶ Frederick of Bayreuth expended all his revenues in building a grandopera house, for giving balls, parties, receptions and officialfunctions to aristocrats. His successor Alexander fell under the swayof Lady Craven, a British adventuress, who led the peasants a merrychase for the cash; man-stealing was the old game; and one order alonefrom the British government called for 1, 500 peasants. * * * * * ¶ But why continue the recital of man's inhumanities? Charles of Brunswick, a spendthrift, who sold subjects into captivity, paid his ballet-master 30, 000 a year. Frederick of Brunswick on oneoccasion sold 4, 000 peasants to Britain, for the army. ¶ The terrible famine of 1770-72 added to the discontent of the commonman, throughout Germany; he began to feel that it was the duty ofkings to feed the hungry; bark, grass, leaves, carrion were eaten;disease spread; emigrations depopulated the Rheinlands; 20, 000 leftBavaria alone; while upwards of 180, 000 Bavarians died of hunger; inSaxony, the number that starved to death is placed at 100, 000. Otherkingdoms suffered heavily. ¶ In many of the provinces were laws to prevent immigration; those whotried to get Bavarians to leave the country were guilty of a crime, punishable by hanging. A similar punishment was exacted for marryingout of one's native province. ¶ Also, the wretched condition of the roads added to the isolation ofthe various German provinces. Exacting customs' duties, militaryespionages, a weak postal system, contributed to keep Germansunacquainted, except with near neighbors. He, indeed, was a bold manwho had gone over the mountains or beyond his native valley. Even ajourney of two days caused grave anxieties; the carriage was almostcertain to be overturned in some deep rut and the travelers injured orkilled; robbers lay in wait in the mountains; protection was almostunheard of; life and property were insecure; every traveler had to behis own policeman, and never issued forth on a journey without dagger, pistol and sword. * * * * * ¶ Thus, 300 princelings, great or small, were determined to rule intheir individual capacities; there was no Germany in fact, and thatmuch of the German Empire that had outlived the gradual ruin of theold Holy Roman Empire, the great-ancestor of Germany, was nowapproaching complete dissolution. The power lay no more in states, but in 300-odd local politicalbureaus, scattered everywhere, dominated often enough by an ambitiousFrench prostitute, or by some lucky ballet-master. ¶ Then, there was August of Saxony, who is said to have been thefather of 300 children. This foolish fellow's fetes cost thalers bythe wagon-load; one set of Chinese porcelains ran into the millions, and it cost 6, 000 thalers to gild the gondolas for a night in June, tosay nothing of the fancy ball. ¶ The Baden monarch, Charles William, built Carlsruhe in the deepforest, the better that his orgies be kept from prying eyes. ¶ Eberhardt of Wuertemberg gave the whole conduct of his governmentover to women and Jews--and by the way the Jews were the only savingforce. As for the Graevenitz woman, she was king in petticoats. Shemortgaged crown lands and raised hell generally. One day in church shemade a fuss about not being mentioned among royal rulers, and thepastor immediately replied: "Madam, we mention you daily in ourprayers when we say: 'O Lord, deliver us from all evil!'" Once, intime of famine, Charles William scattered loaves of bread; the rabblemaddened by hunger fought to the death for the dole! ¶ Also, there were Ernest of Hanover and Tony of Brunswick, twoprecious rascals, with all their retinue of mistresses, mistresses'maids, mothers, hangers-on, and pimps. Carl Magnus had his Grehweilerpalace costing 180, 000 guelden. He grew so desperate that the Emperorsent him to a fortress for ten years' imprisonment, for forgingdocuments to raise the wind. Count Limburg-Styrum was a princelingwhose army consisted of one colonel, six officers and two privates!Count William of Bueckeburg had a fort with 300 guns, defending acabbage patch. Count Frederick of Salm-Kyrburg swindled the churches;and in tiny Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, only 15 miles square, was aroyal palace of 350 rooms with clocks of all sizes, great and small, in each apartment. This count went mad over clocks, but was popularwith the working class; often he would take a man off a job in orderto laugh and joke. Also, Frederick had original taste in military affairs; his armycomprised 150 soldiers, with 28 guards on horseback. The prince pridedhimself on being a wrestler, and one day when a yokel threw theprince, the prince set up a great cry, "I slipped on a cherrystone!"--and this regardless of the fact that it was not the time ofthe year for cherries. ¶ There was another local ruler, Ludwig Guenther, who was fond ofpainting horses, and on his death 246-odd horse pictures adorned thewalls of his palace. * * * * * ¶ "Show a German a door and tell him to go through, and he will try tobreak a hole in the wall. " ¶ "Here, every one lives apart in his own narrow corner, with his ownopinions; his wife and children round him; ever suspicious of theGovernment, as of his neighbor; judging everything from his personalpoint of view, and never from general grounds. " ¶ "The sentiment of individualism and the necessity for contradictionare developed to an inconceivable degree in the German. " ¶ The problem of directing this intense individualism is the problemof German unity. * * * * * ¶ With rough manners, blunders, extravagances, absurdities, thehereditary princes continued to sponge on the peasants, generationafter generation, till wretchedness spread far over the German lands. They had their châteaux, their dancing girls, their dogs, horses, cats, mistresses and their royal armies. ¶ The misery of centuries of oppression existed; petty monarchsexercised powers of life and death. ¶ The South German mocked the North German's pronunciation. One setvowed that the "g" in "goose" is hard, the other proclaimed that the"g" is soft. One side went about mumbling with hard "g's, " "Awell-baked goose is a gracious gift of God, " whereupon the other sidereplied that all the "g's" are "j's, " that the "gute ganz" is really"jute janz, " and "Gottes" "Jottes. " And duels were fought over it. ¶ Nor was this all. An intense local pride expressed itself ingrotesque dialects, unsoftened by intercourse with the outer world;also, there were outlandish fashions in dress and other domesticaffairs. ¶ In Brunswick the women wore green aprons, curious black caps, themen buff coats, red vests with four rows of buttons, caps with crazypompons, buckled slippers and gay ribbon garters. ¶ In lower Saxony the women wore flat straw hats, like a dinner plate, hair plastered down, head-dresses of gigantic black ribbons, aprons ofgay stripes, and ten petticoats coming only a little below the knee. The men wore farce-comedy costumes, not unlike coachmen. ¶ In Pomerania-Rugen the women admired scarlet petticoats, knee-length, capes like turko-rugs, black veils, green garters andblue stockings. The men wore aprons like butchers, caps andlong-tailed coats. ¶ The Hessian women preferred turbans of red, vestees of gay stuffs, blue, green or yellow knee-length skirts. * * * * * ¶ The Baden men folk liked reds, greens and yellows, vests adornedwith many ribbons, top boots, high white collars and funny-lookingblack coats. The women had their green aprons, puffed sleeves, and tenshort petticoats. ¶ In East Prussia men wore double and triple vests. As for the women, they looked like animals in the zoo. ¶ In Wuertemberg, a typical landlord wore a blue peajacket with tworows of large silver buttons, two vests of high contrasting colors, ablack sash, salmon-colored trousers, polished boots;--and carried ameerschaum pipe. ¶ In Bavaria one saw green vests, yodlers' hats with tiny feathers, green leggings, or military boots; and among the women gay vestees, bright shawls and white kerchiefs. * * * * * ¶ Thus, the dead-weight of centuries still lay like a mountain on thevarious German states. ¶ This dead-weight of olden times kept the German states bickeringamong themselves. For long years past, the people were divided by political brawls, altercations, affrays, squabbles, feuds, often with the loss of life. The general disposition was choleric, pugnacious, litigious. There was bad blood over principles and procedure, policies and plans. To transform aloofness to neighborliness, tumult to conciliation, quarreling to friendliness, hostility to good will, dissent must giveway to assent, distrust to faith, denial to admission, misgiving toconviction, political atheism to political revelation. Such are some of the peculiarities of the human animal; and inpolitical life human animals are prone to fight for self-interest, like dogs over a bone. * * * * * ¶ We are not going to try to tell you of the many efforts by rashreformers, in the half-century of the dead-weight, leading to the riseof Prussia. Again and again, far-sighted Germans, sick unto death at the waythings were going, urged equality for all men before the law, equaltaxation, restriction of the power of the nobles. Strange as it may seem, the peasants themselves stood in the way. Theydid not care to change their condition, miserable as it was. Theydreaded the future, preferred present miseries than to risk new ills. For example, on one occasion, a certain political idealist excited thepeasants in revolt, assassinated 120 nobles, destroyed 264 castles. This was in the time of Joseph II, of Austria, the ruler filled withamazing ideas of equality. The peasants themselves were the first toprotest, much as they detested the nobles; and the unsupported leadersdied on the wheel, while 150 miserable followers were buried alive. And yet, at that very moment, the idealistic Joseph, who with anexcess of zeal, tried for political equality, made enemies of hisnobles, enemies of his peasants, likewise. The great reformer was helda fanatic, intent on destroying government. Too far ahead of his time, his plans for political semi-equality failed. ¶ This monarch, thinking to make a lesson, had swindling nobles placedin the stocks, like common thieves. Joseph was one of the first great democrats, in the modern sense. Tohim, the cause of the common man was sacred. He believed in genuineequality, but alas, he did not know how to bring about the politicalMillennium. ¶ He threw open the parks to the people; he proclaimed free speech andfree thought; he abolished serfdom; he labored to construct astate-machine with one system of justice and one National plan. Joseph, though overbrimming with emotions for the common man'spolitical salvation, failed to allow for the ignorance of his people, their stubborn avowal of local self-interests. ¶ And it fell out that his people thought that Joseph was trying toenslave them the more; ingratitude and misapprehensions followed, destroying the liberal reformer's most cherished plans for his belovedAustria-Germany. The word was passed alone that Joseph was a tyrant. You see, asfrequently happens, the people preferred old abuses to new ways. Thegeneral population hugged their chains and refused to be delivered. This singular belief in the past, rather than in the future, is indeeda human weakness and has checked and restrained the rise ofintellectual freedom since the world began. * * * * * ¶ It might all have been a good lesson to republicans, but thenobility assumed a threatening attitude and the peasants did notunderstand a monarch like Joseph. Their idea of a king was a man going upstairs on horseback and eatingspiders. A king must have powers of life and death and bags of gold. Acitizen king was absurd. The peasantry, on whom Joseph had endeavored to bestow many largedemocratic privileges, rose against him. He died Feb. 20, 1790, "acentury too early, " says Jellenz, and as Remer adds, "misunderstood bya people unworthy of such a sovereign. " * * * * * ¶ Germany, in the sad period between 1750 and 1806 had long been aEuropean political jest; these are hard words, but it is the languageof truth. She had sunk so low that she saw no degradation in going off to fightFrench or British wars, while at home remaining a mere politicalnonentity. She had sunk so low, under French influences, and through her own lackof self-control, that she forgot her great ancestors and her nobletraditions. She had sunk so low that her very children were brought up to despisethe language of the Fatherland; the children scoffing at the parents, aped foreign ways rather than support German originality, strength andnational genius; young men coming of age preferred to leave the landof their birth, mocked the simple German virtues, and occupiedthemselves in idle dalliance in Paris, or failing in this, set upimitations of French courts in the petty German monarchies. Thus, finally Germany became insensible, indifferent and debased bystupid and selfish ideals from beyond the Vosges; till at last Germanybecame, literally, a land without a people, a people without a land. ¶ Worse still, the time came when, under these false teachings, asense of shame no longer lived, to arouse great national interests andto recall degenerate sons to their solemn duties to their Fatherland. Hundreds of noble Germans, at one time or another, during these darkyears, tried in vain by voice or pen to restore nationalconsciousness, but failed. The problem of German liberty seemedincapable of solution; and as for the still larger problem of Germanunity--that became a mere dream. * * * * * ¶ We glorify here and now, the genius and the manhood of Bismarck asthe one man who had the strength of purpose to recall to Germans theheroic tale of a free and united Fatherland. It took him thirty years or more, through well-nigh superhumanstriving; he preached, he cursed, he vilified, he used the iron rod. He would have absolutely nothing to do with the political ideas fromover the Vosges; he knew too well the curse of olden times, and hisone great central emotion was to end that condition--as he hopedforever. You are to read of the battles of a giant, filled with immensecompassion for the follies and weaknesses of his misled countrymen, filled, too, with fanatical zeal to punish, that good might come of itat last. Bismarck used the strong military arm, the hell fires and thelightnings. His nature scorned any further mere palliation of the weaknesses ofhuman nature. Like all supermen, Bismarck struck straight from theshoulder; in turn to be misunderstood, cursed and reviled by the verypeople he would serve; but in the end aroused German manhood to a justcomprehension of the power and dignity of a free and unitedFatherland. * * * * * ¶ For upwards of 100 years before Bismarck's great hour, the Frenchhad been accustomed to exploit Germany. To fill the pocketbook, toprovide soldiers for wars, or to afford opportunities for buccaneeringexpeditions, were all the same. We do not say this to bring up any "moral" issue, but we make thestatement merely as one uses the word dung or manure. That is to say, certain historical facts stink to heaven. Annexations, concessions, raids, riots at the hands of the Frenchconspired to keep Germany disunited, belligerent and mutinous; and asthe years passed Germany, to a large extent, seduced by French ways, lost a sense of her dignity. France had looked to Germany to furnishallies to help fight Prussia, Austria or England; then England turnedthe trick against France. It is discouraging to add that even thegreat Goethe was so seduced by the glamour of Napoleon's genius thathe wrote these strange words in praise of the French tyrant: Doubts that have baffled thousands, he has solved: Ideas o'er which centuries have brooded, His giant mind intuitively compressed. ¶ Thus, you have before you this spectacle: Germany's greatestpoetical genius forgets the sad reality of his broken, dispirited anddisrupted country and leaves her to her wretched fate; passing histime as a sentimental voluptuary in the splendor of the Weimar court, where he concerns himself with such works as "Elective Affinities, " afrank endorsement of adultery. ¶ On the other side, the noble Schiller, poet of the people, recalledto his fellow countrymen the faded glory of Germany. "Schiller standsforth, " says Menzel, "as the champion of liberty, justice and hiscountry. " In a word, it took Germany 100 years to learn by suffering that if sheis ever to regain her fallen prestige as a nation, she must fight herenemies at home and abroad; she must restore the military ideal ofancient times. And here, in a nutshell, is the very root of all thiscry about militarism: The man who will not fight for what he regardsas his political rights, remains a slave his whole life long; for itis the essential nature of man to exercise tyrannous power over humanlives, whenever such practice holds out promise of advantage. Therefore, Bismarck again trained Germany to be a fighting nation; andif an ideal of a free and united people is no justification, thenwords have no meaning. 15 The French peasant's son, returning from the wars brings his wife a diamond necklace. ¶ The cross-angles of politics, for years, lead as far as one cares togo, in this German family fight. Each petty state has its intriguesand its grievances; you become befuddled; it is all weariness of theflesh. ¶ However, behind all the political jargon, mighty forces are takingform; and little by little, certain outstanding facts come to view, involving every king, knight, bishop, prince and pauper on the Germanmap, from the North Sea to the Black Sea. After 1789, the German was down with that new disease, Frenchconstitutionalism; liberty, fraternity and equality. No human beingknew exactly what it meant. It was a political fever that had to begone through with; and blood-letting was the only cure. Monarchs seemingly secure on their thrones from the days of old, nowshivered like ghosts as the mobs marched the streets of Vienna andBerlin, waiving new flags and crying "Liberty!" ¶ The word "liberty" went to the crook-backed German peasant's brainlike wine; he grew mad with the idea of an impossible world, in whichhe could decree as he desired and all would bow to him, though he inreturn would bow to nobody; in short, liberty for him, but death tothe others; and were it possible to confiscate the property of theprinces and redistribute the loot among the peasants, so much thebetter. ¶ Before we go into this thing, let us remember that as the Frencharmies marched over Europe, the doom of kings had been cracking andrumbling. The soldiers carried everywhere the idea of French equality, that isto say, to the popular mind an opportunity to share the loot. Napoleon himself, reflecting on his own career and on the follies ofthe French revolution, said: "Let us now turn ourselves to somethingpractical; the bombastic ideas of the Revolution have exhaustedthemselves in grotesque efforts at self-government. All the Revolutionmeans is an opportunity for a man of talents to show what he can do. " ¶ And the French soldiers, returning from the wars, brought theirwives and daughters gold rings, bracelets and diamond necklaces, theloot of the capitals of Europe. ¶ As for Napoleon, he, of course, took the lion's share; but a diamondnecklace to a soldier's wife is indeed a powerful argument on theimportance of the new democratic era, in which peasants' sons weargold lace and their womankind ride in carriages. Also, many of the generals of France were sons of peasants; and anaccount of Napoleon's marshals would show the humble origin of men ofthe hour, sons of soap boilers, tavern keepers, stable-bosses. ¶ One may imagine the result of such surprising overturnings of caste, in old-world conditions. Henceforth the peasants of all lands willnaturally regard their respective kings as so many dogs, to be shot todeath at the first splendid opportunity! And Germany is no exception. ¶ Forward march, ye sons of the soil, there are stormy days ahead foryou, through your "new" ideas. CHAPTER VI Prussia's De Profundis 16 Humiliations heaped upon her by France; the strange combination, the lash and the kiss! ¶ First, let us quote from Bismarck, who looking backward after hisamazing politico-military triumph at Koeniggraetz, (1866), tells aFrench interviewer for "Le Siecle" this root-fact about Germans, theirweakness and their power: ¶ "No government, however it may act, will be popular in Prussia; themajority in the country will always be opposed to it; simply from itsbeing the Government;--and holding authority over the individual, thecentral authority is always doomed to be constantly opposed by themoderates, and decried and despised by the ultras. This has been thecommon fate of all successive governments since the beginning of thedynasty. Neither liberal ministers, nor reactionary ministers havefound favor with our Prussian politicians. ¶ "Frederick William III, surnamed the Just, had succeeded as littleas Frederick William IV in satisfying the Prussian nation. ¶ "They shouted themselves hoarse at the victories of Frederick theGreat, but at his death they rubbed their hands at the thought ofbeing delivered from the tyrant! Despite this antagonism, there existsa deep attachment to the royal house. No sovereign or minister, nogovernment, can win the favor of Prussian individualism. Yet all cryfrom the depths of their hearts, 'God save the King!' And they obeywhen the King commands. " * * * * * ¶ With this clue from the master before us, the thing to do is, clearly, to reach out after this German Unity idea in a broad way. ¶ Napoleon's armies had marched everywhere, during all thosevictorious years, and each soldier had been a living exemplar of thepower of National glory. This National spirit in his armies had helped Napoleon amazingly, despite his genius as a soldier. The great Prussian patriot, Stein, one of the leading men of his time and an early believer in the highdestiny of his country, began studying some of the more obscure butvital forces behind Napoleon's career of glory. Stein finally read thesecret and urged that as Napoleon had won by National spirit, soNapoleon could in the end be defeated by a similar National spiritwhen properly opposed to him; and Napoleon with one terrifying blacklook saw that von Stein had divined the real force of Frenchsolidarity, a proclamation was out for von Stein's head, and thepatriot who dreamed of his Confederation of Germany, against theFrench, or any other foreign foe, was obliged to make his escape tothe heart of the Bohemian mountains. * * * * * ¶ Fr: Wm. II (1797-1840), child of the Revolution, to his dying dayremained untouched by the new political principles that had theirorigin beyond the Rhine. Compound of dreams and realities, William hadled a repressed life; for one thing, he did not fight for hisopinions; indeed his opinions were literary and artistic; a peculiarpietism bound him; he believed too much in man's natural goodness;being an honest man himself, he did not readily suspect others. ¶ This Frederick was always thinking of a Germany built on thetraditional order, with all intervening social grades, from peasant toking upon his throne, each bowing and scraping to the other; andFrederick, as the father of his kingdom, exercising a despoticpaternalism. ¶ Nor did he see that the French revolution had been fought andNapoleon's armies had carried afar if not the seeds of politicalequality, at least the glorious conception that "revolution meansopportunity for men of talents, everywhere. " ¶ The pressure on the king was found in this: that under duress he hadpromised a written constitution. ¶ And behold Frederick in these troublous times! For eleven longyears, off and on, he tries to find a common ground of religiousformulas for the united Lutheran and Reformed churches. He evenattacks Rome on the question of mixed marriages. Of course, he failedutterly, this noble-minded Hohenzollern who believed too implicitly inthe inherent goodness of mankind. ¶ Repair then to your church windows and read your blackletter Bible, you dreaming Frederick; such is your story, in a few words. Gabble about your Gothic restorations as you will, and your correctrevisions of the liturgy, Frederick, it remains for your Louise to doa man's work against French foes, and thus hasten the slow-coming ofUnited Germany. * * * * * ¶ In the meantime, Prussia is falling to pieces for lack of the mailedfist. Everything is going to rack and ruin; beloved Prussiarepeatedly humiliated by French invaders; and had it not been fornoble Queen Louise there might well be no Prussian glory at this hourto record. ¶ Her lovely countenance, wreathed in smiles, is immortalized for usthrough the art of Joseph Grassi; and is to be seen in theHohenzollern Museum. The artist depicts her with youthful charm, her fair brow adorned byher slender crown, whose weight, alas, although slight, gave her norest till death. Her eyes are gentle, and about her face and form is the indefinabletouch of ever-present girlishness, never to fade, even in thewoman-grown. ¶ It were nearer the truth to say Louise personifies Prussia'sambition to power. ¶ This beautiful woman bore indeed a heavy burden; well she knew thedread and fear of kings and kingly office. ¶ On the one side was the tyrant Napoleon, on the other Fr: Wilhelm, her kingly husband, without an idea outside of cathedral architectureand bishoprics in Jerusalem; yet Louise willed that Prussia shouldseize the reins of power, shake off the French yoke, and mount theheights of glory. * * * * * ¶ As a foil to the ferocious Bismarck--himself a majesticking-maker--here we reveal to you a true creator of National honor, inthe form of a frail, fair woman; showing thus how far the pendulum ofTime and Chance often rocks in bringing about political changes. Though poles apart, the brutal Bismarck stands side by side with thelovely Louise; the blood and iron of the man were of no avail withoutthe finesse of the woman. Thus this singular cross-fertilization, compounded of smiles andfrowns--the kiss and the lash--the white jeweled hand and the mailedfist in the end makes it possible for humiliated Prussia to riseagain--the late harvest of the years bringing the reality of ourUnited Germany. ¶ Bismarck's amazing story we spread before you in detail, but besidethat frowning rock we stoop for a moment to pluck the modest violetsclinging all unobserved in a gloomy place where the sun seldom comes;these flowers are Louise and their subtle perfume symbolizes thepenetrating yet delicate incense of her pathetic life. ¶ Without Louise, our story were soon ended. Otherwise Bismarckhimself could not have come into the illustrious pages of history. Noble Prussian queen, heroine of Prussian glory, mother-consoler inthe twilight, your gentle spirit hovers like some evening-star, luminous with hope. 17 Napoleon's hated Continental system of domination causes Prussian downfall--The Queen decides to fight back. ¶ The treaty of Luneville, February, 1801, now seemed to lend color toNapoleon's greatest delusion of grandeur; he would restore the ancientdomain of Charlemagne, comprising France, Germany and Italy! Signingwith Prussia and Bavaria, Napoleon confiscated broad Papal domainsalong the Rhine, lands that had been in possession of the church sinceRoman times. With this bribe for secular princes, as the price of thereadjustment, exactly 112 Teutonic domains, petty in size butall-powerful with the prestige of centuries, vanished from the map. The holy Electors of Treves and Cologne, those empire-makers ofancient days, were stripped of their worldly possessions, and expelledfrom the Papal lands. ¶ There were even rumors of a French-supported Emperor ofPrussia--think of that! Francis of Austria, for reasons of policy, gave up the high-swellingtitle, "Holy Roman Emperor, " and more modestly contented himself with"Emperor of Austria. " ¶ And now, when Napoleon's delusion--Charlemagne--seemed on the verypoint of realization, there came the third Coalition against him;Prussia joined against France; but Napoleon soon gained the most notedof his victories, Austerlitz; 15, 000 prisoners, 12, 000 dead on thefield, represented Austria's loss alone, but this was not all. The victorious French pressed on to Vienna. By the treaty ofPressburg, Austria was excluded from Germany; Wuertemberg, Bavariaand the Rhinelands went over to the French, Napoleon setting himselfup as Protector of the Rhine country, with his representativePresident Karl von Dalberg, former archbishop of Mainz. * * * * * ¶ Louise was high-spirited, impulsive, courageous, imaginative--thevery foil of her slow-going Frederick, with his church restorationsforevermore. The Queen, always for an aggressive policy, by hersympathy encouraged the Prussian war party; patriots, restive underthe indecision of Frederick, were eager to shake off Frenchdomination. The appeal was to Militarism, but what would you? The Hunwas not only "at the gate, " but was inside the walls; and if a manwill not fight for his fireside, then he must remain a slave. It was avirtuous cause. ¶ The cabal at the Prussian court, secretly in opposition to theeasy-going King, was aided by Louise. There were the King's brothers, the ambitious Hardenburg, the King's cousin, Ferdinand, the giftedRahel Levin--and many others. These plots within the palace gave to Louise's life strange politicalaspects. ¶ The Queen desired to strike. ¶ By 1805 Austria, Russia and Great Britain were united, but Russiastill wavered. ¶ Louise's secret influence became a watchword for Prussian patriots, who despised French rule. * * * * * ¶ After Austerlitz, Napoleon read Prussia his ultimatum: Shall it bewar or peace? Peace and Hanover, or war with me? ¶ A treaty was drawn giving to Napoleon control over Prussia; and thisdocument Fr: William weakly signed. After that Napoleon simply ignoredPrussia; made it so hot for Prussian ministers that they resigned whenParis frowned, or danced when Paris smiled. Napoleon set up his newRhein Confederation without consulting Prussia; and Prussian patriotsfelt themselves mortified beyond endurance. ¶ Young men in Berlin, by way of protest, made a demonstration. Goingto the doorsteps of the French minister, they there sharpened theirswords! Napoleon was furious; he sought out the bookseller circulatingan anti-French pamphlet, "The Deepest Humiliation of Prussia, " luredhim across the frontier, and had him assassinated. ¶ The Prussian patriotic party, begun as a court cabal secretly headedby Louise, decided on war. ¶ The troops were drilled night and day in preparation for the greatwar of liberation. Never before had a downtrodden nation worked harderto win liberty through liberation from the French yoke. However, theimmediate results were to be disastrous. ¶ The Queen's dragoons went to the front; the Queen rode near by inher carriage; she wore a smart military coat, colors of her crackregiment; and General Kalkreuth, in a burst of enthusiasm, vowed thatthe Queen could herself win the war should she remain with the troops. ¶ Yes, Louise was actually going out to fight Napoleon's veterans, Napoleon's famous marshals, Berthier, Murat and the others; and eventhe great Napoleon himself. The decisive struggle took place at Jena, October 16, 1806; Prussianforces were annihilated. ¶ Napoleon came on to Berlin and housed himself in the Prussianpalace. From here he now issued bulletins denouncing Louise as thecause of the war; he attacked her character, accusing her of a liaisonwith the handsome Alexander of Russia, and of still other intrigueswith high army officers; he presented her as a compound of shamelesscamp-follower and dangerous woman, plotting against her own husband, thus bringing ruin to her native land. Napoleon even had Louise's apartments broken into and the Queen'spapers seized, to see if incriminating evidence could not beuncovered. Ah, he knew all the tricks of love as well as of war! * * * * * ¶ But Napoleon went too far. His cruel persecution caused Prussians tosympathize with their Queen, instead of reviling her. 18 Years before the great question is settled Prussia indeed becomes Germany--in moody thoughtfulness--in stubborn determination--in unflinching courage. ¶ Louise now reveals herself a glorious National heroine. In spite ofher animosity toward Napoleon for his atrocious slanders, the Queendecided to arrange an interview with the conqueror and beg favorableterms for her beloved Prussia. ¶ The meeting took place July 6, 1807. Napoleon sent his coach, drawnby six white horses, to bring the Queen to the miller's house, wherethe interview was staged in an upper room. Louise had on her finestcourt robe, white crepe embroidered with silver, and wore her famouscrown of pearls; her loveliness and her woman's wit were to be used inbehalf of prostrate Prussia. ¶ Napoleon rode up in great style, surrounded by his brilliantstaff--Berthier, Murat and the others. Louise awaited him at the headof the rickety stairs. As he went up in the semi-darkness, he stumbledand fell. The Queen apologized that she was forced to meet the Emperor in somean a place; but he immediately replied that to see so lovely a womanwas well worth a few minor obstacles. ¶ Louise now began pleading with Napoleon for leniency toward Prussia. What an interview that was! How eloquently she set forth her people's sufferings in the greatFrench wars; she pictured the sorrows of Prussia so vividly that atlast Napoleon became mightily interested. Finally he said: ¶ "Ah, your Majesty asks very much indeed, but I am dreaming!" By thishe meant, "I do not hear a word you say; I am looking at yourbeautiful eyes. " ¶ The clever Louise saw that she was progressing with her arguments, and undoubtedly had the Emperor under the spell of her fatal beauty;to oblige a grand lady in distress, he would be willing to concedemuch indeed, in his famous rôle of lady-killer and protector offeminine loveliness. But at that precise moment, who should enter the room but Fr: Wilhelmhimself, the Queen's blundering husband! ¶ Always in the way--mentally clumsy--he spoiled everything! Theinterview ended abruptly. ¶ Louise, heartbroken, retired in utter despair. She had believed thatthe justice of her cause, her eloquence, her loyalty to her peoplewould go far to soften Napoleon's wrath, but in all this she wascruelly disappointed. Next day the French tyrant announced his terms:Indemnity of 154, 000, 000 marks; one-third cash; one-third payable inlands; the final third "on time, " in the interim he would garrison infive fortified towns 30, 000 French troops and 10, 000 French cavalry, whose support was at the expense of Prussia, till the debt was paid. ¶ This great Queen, after life's fever, sleeps enshrined in her snowymarble tomb at Charlottenburg. One day you will stand with uncovered head beside her royal grave, andrecall her noble life. She deserves well of her country! * * * * * ¶ But mark this well: out of Prussia's humiliations came her ultimatestrength; the vanquished, as is often the story of human life, wasstrengthened more than the victors. Prussia, chastened by her severelessons, henceforth proceeded to build herself up slowly till at lastshe was ready, many, many years later, to strike for German Unity thatfinal blow at the palace of the French kings at Versailles. ¶ In the wearisome stretch of time till that distant day of Germanglory, Prussia henceforth becomes Germany--in spirit--in moodythoughtfulness--in stubborn determination--yes, under God, by bloodand iron! There float before us many noble names, poets, prophets, soldiers who aid in stimulating "German national faith"--Fichte, Arndt, Kleist, Roon, Moltke, Scharnhorst, Humboldt--and in thehistorical twilight big with mutterings and rumblings of the New Timeto come with all its glory, taking the place of the Prussian ruinbetween 1806 and 1813, is Queen Louise, her gentle spirit a veritableevening-star, luminous with hope. * * * * * ¶ By 1813, Fr: William III had been induced by the pressure of publicopinion to join Russia to fight off the French. May 17, 1813, William's famous decree, "To My People!" called for help to expelinvaders, thereby to recover Prussian independence; and Napoleon wastotally defeated in the tremendous battle of Leipzig, October 16-19, or "Battle of the Nations, " as the Germans call Prussia's return topower and glory. ¶ It was this patriotic appeal "To My People, " that made William'stroubles; the Prussian Liberals felt that the Government owed thepeople a Liberal political Constitution, in return for Leipzig. ¶ His Majesty grabbed on it, twice, and was at his wit's end to knowhow to keep his crown and his declaration of friendship for thepeople. In the meantime, twenty-three minor German states having adoptedconstitutions, more or less liberal, the growing demands of the commonpeople for a share in Prussian government could be no longer denied. 19 Kingcraft comes upon evil days--in the rising tide of liberal ideas, monarchies of old are all but swept away. ¶ When the Napoleonic dynasty collapsed, after Waterloo, there were 39petty principalities in the German-speaking area grouped about Rhein, the Main, Neckar, Elbe; these knights' holdings, ecclesiasticalstrongholds, and domains of various descriptions became merged bycross-fighting throughout the Napoleonic era. ¶ The Congress of Vienna (1815) deeming it advisable to set up a looseconfederacy of the multitude of petty powers, founded a GermanConfederation, but whether it was geographical, racial or political nohuman being could say. The local German princes kept full sovereign powers, but gradually, asa matter of expediency, the various states grouped themselves aroundPrussia and Austria. As for the Nation, there was no German sovereign, no supreme court, no commercial or political relationship worthy ofthe name. Instead, on every hand was intense local hatred, aloofnessand suspicion. This condition continued for very many years. ¶ The plain fact was that the various princes did not want GermanNational unity; for the reason that it is not human nature for men togive up an advantage for an uncertainty. Also, at this time, neitherPrussia nor Austria was strong enough to impose her hegemony uponGermany. Austria's policy was for delay; and in Prussia the generalbelief existed for many years that Austrian domination was reallyessential to put down the rising spirit of Democracy. ¶ The authority of the Congress set up a Bond of Confederation, ruledby a Diet or Bundestag, sitting at Frankfort-on-the-Main. ¶ In the hurly-burly, certain centres, such as Saxony, Bavaria andWuertemberg, were raised in rank from duchies to kingdoms, while stillothers, such as Westphalia, Grand Duchy of Warsaw, were dissolved. Thefree cities were reduced to four; caste declined in politicalimportance. The Confederation of the Rhine was set aside. Thus the close of the Napoleonic period found German territory withoutpolitical unity. * * * * * ¶ The last stand of kingly ultra-conservatism is the one greatpolitical feature of Europe, from the downfall of Napoleon, 1815, tothe popular outbreaks of 1848. During this dark period the cause ofconstitutional liberty in Prussia made little progress. Old forms aswell as new were under suspicion. On the one side were ultra-conservativeconceptions of Divine-right, upheld by Metternich, and on the otherside was the idea that sovereignty came not from heaven but fromearth, making the will of the people the voice of God. ¶ Prussia and Austria, as the representatives of Divine-right, closely watched these revolutionary tendencies, suppressed uprisings, muzzled the press, in an attempt to check the surging tide ofliberalism. However much the kings had feared the wars of Napoleon, kingcraft wasnow confronted by an enemy more deadly. The babble of the bondsmenabout to break their chains portended far greater disaster todynasties than ever did bullets on the battlefield of Waterloo. * * * * * ¶ With might and main, the monarchs, resisting the demands of thepeople for constitutional government, stamped out everything thatlooked like the first signs of National sentiment. ¶ Nor was Germany alone in this reactionary attitude. The kingly sideof all Europe stood shoulder to shoulder against new politicalexperiments. In Italy, Greece, Spain, sovereigns applied the lash the harder, in anendeavor to suppress this new evil against kingcraft; nevertheless, among the common people there continued to grow consciousness ofpolitical rights. ¶ "Napoleon in many of the lands he conquered, " says Ffyfe, "set upmany revolutionary ideas that sounded the death knell of the Feudalsystem. It was part of his administrative genius to take the landsfrom barons and their class, and turn them over to peasants; ithappened in France with the lands of the ecclesiastical barons of thechurch; it happened in North Germany, in 1810, when the decree ofadministrative following the annexation of the North German Coastswept away with a few strokes of the pen, thirty-six forms of Feudalprivileges. " ¶ And these could never be restored, even after the Congress of Viennaspent seven or eight months, after Waterloo, dividing the loot amongthe old royal houses. ¶ The system of monarchical Absolutism maintained itself in one way oranother for years, but the old-line conception of the politicallegitimacy of despotic rulers had been rudely shattered. ¶ In spite of a brave show of gold cloth, diamonds, laces, jewels, swords, silk stockings, lackeys, grooms, guards and crowns, kingcraftwas now placed on the defensive. The cry of the people, "Liberty!"filled many a market-place. ¶ Forces of democracy were working everywhere, ill-directed to besure, but never despairing of ultimate victory over kingcraft, whichindeed had now come upon evil days. It is an undeniable fact thatBonaparte had purged the political ideas of French Revolution of manyexcesses, and had turned to practical account certain forms ofliberty, for example, ridding captured lands, as Ffyfe tells us, ofoffensive special privileges, on part of irresponsible rulers of pettydegree; but the danger was found in this: that a mere "desire" forpolitical expediency, however surrounded by the halo of popularrights, avails nothing unless ultimately sustained by strong centralauthority; and it requires no profound knowledge of men's way to knowthat at no time in the history of the world has collective rulershipbeen other than a theory. The excesses of the French Revolution werenot readily overlooked by the conservative elements in Germany. 20 German hope of National Union gleams like a star. ¶ There gradually grew throughout Germany a spirit of intense longingfor country, and many a noble spirit had in a vision seen from afarthe common Fatherland. Especially in the universities, the feeling wasstrong. The German universities were hotbeds of political excitement. For manyyears after Napoleon's downfall all manner of theories of governmentwere strenuously debated, to the accompaniment of duels, beer-drinking, private feuds, and popular agitation, often ending inblood. The Burschenschaft, as the student brothers were called, finally formed themselves into a league comprising sixty schools; andheld a famous meeting at Wartburg, 1817. ¶ The patriots took Holy Communion, made impassioned speeches, builtbonfires and cast into the flames hated books supporting Metternich'ssystem of kingcraft. Also the patriots consigned to the fire anilliberal pamphlet by King Fr: Wilhelm III of Prussia. ¶ Metternich became alarmed. Kotzebue, hated as a spy of Russia inGermany, was stabbed to the heart by Karl Sand. This gave toMetternich the desired opportunity, and he proceeded forthwith toimpress on Fr: Wilhelm and the Czar the absurdity of toying longerwith "Democratic ideas and paper constitutions. " Then and there the Biblical phrases of democrat-mongering kings, underthe Holy Alliance, ceased in the high courts of Russia and Prussia. Metternich got hold of Fr: Wilhelm, also the other political tools ofthe Frankfort Diet, and at Carlsbad decrees were issued sounding thedoom of Liberalism and the return to power of the old-line kings. By gag-law and intimidation Metternich rushed the decrees through theDiet;--and for a generation "Carlsbad" signified the suppression ofDemocratic sentiments throughout Germany. ¶ Metternich fought free speech, free parliaments and a free press. His iron laws were aimed to stifle democratic mutterings. Austrianspies were everywhere, searching out revolutionary societies. ¶ The hope that Prussia might be the leader in the new German spiritof nationality now vanished. William III definitely withdrew hispromise of a written Constitution, made in 1813, and reiterated in1815. Persecutions continued north and south; Prussia hounded Jahn for fivelong years, this Jahn whose gymnastic societies had been so helpful inhardening young men to Prussian army services; and the poet Arndt, whose impassioned verse intensified the National spirit of Germany, was shamefully treated, his papers scattered and the man driven fromhis university. ¶ For many a long year the gloomy spirit of "Carlsbad" decrees hungover Germany. * * * * * ¶ However, the Germans have an intensely practical side as well as adreamy poetical side. It is not surprising, therefore, that theearliest steps in the direction of German unity (1818) came throughPrussian customs house reforms under the patriot, Maassen. ¶ There had been, as we explained heretofore, no freedom of tradethroughout Germany; each of the petty thirty-nine states wassurrounded by Chinese walls; for example, to send goods from Hamburgto Vienna, the shipper had to pay ten separate tolls. ¶ Under the old Prussian system there were in vogue at one and thesame time no less than sixty-seven conflicting tariff systems. Allthis tax oppression meant a harvest for smugglers. But Maassen, at astroke, established a common tariff in Prussia; made the tax so lowthat smuggling became unprofitable. The other states protestedvehemently at first, but one by one entered this new customs union. ¶ And we may understand now certain sarcastic remarks sometimes madeabout Germany by her historical enemies: "Paper, cheese, sauerkraut, ham, and matches, served to unite German hearts more than politicalties!" ¶ This slur is ill-deserved; at best, it simply means that theadvantages of the "Zollverein" were economic as well as political;and, in later years, the necessity for a common system of doingbusiness played a deservedly important part in helping alongBismarck's plans. ¶ The customs league, called the "Zollverein, " is generally held to bethe very beginning of practical unity for Germany. * * * * * ¶ On the poetical side of German character, earliest appeals for theFatherland--one and united!--were expressed down through the years;long indeed before actual political union was possible, Germany'sbards, in their impassioned, semi-religious songs awakened in Germanhearts the spirit of intense longing for the common Fatherland, basedon blood-brotherhood and language. ¶ One of the famous types of this patriot-poet was Arndt, son of anemancipated slave. Arndt was a noble democrat; his history of slaveryin Pomerania inspired Adolphus to abolish that evil, 1806; thePrussian aristocrats held Arndt a life-long grudge. "Spirit of the Times, " his patriotic trumpet-call aroused Prussians tofight France. Napoleon tracked the lyric poet out; Arndt fled toSweden; but continued to write for the cause. He returned to Germany, 1809. ¶ "Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland?" remains one of the greatsemi-religious songs of nations. Arndt asks what comprises theFatherland? Surely not Prussia, not Swabia, nor this nor that, but allside by side comprise the German brotherhood of race and language. Where is the German Fatherland? Is't Swabia? Is't Prussia's land? Is't where the grape glows on the Rhine, Where sea-gulls skim the Baltic's brine? Oh, no! more great, more grand Must be the German Fatherland! ¶ Here is a spirited verse from "The God That Lets the Iron Grow": The God who made earth's iron hoard Scorned to create a slave Hence, unto man the spear and sword In his right hand he gave! Hence him with courage he imbued Lent wrath to Freedom's voice-- That death or victory in the feud Might be his only choice! ¶ "Der Gott, der Eisen wachsen liess, " "Was blasen die Trompeten, "were on all patriotic lips; at this, William III, mightily offended, had Arndt arrested and sent him into retirement for twenty years. ¶ The old man lived to become a great National hero. He died January29, 1860, aged 91. It is pleasant to record that on his ninetiethbirthday Germany united in good wishes for their national poet of thedark hours. The people built him a monument at the place of his birth, Schoritz, and another at Bonn, where for many years he had been professor ofhistory. 21 It is not time, O William, to go to church but to go to war; yet you and your son keep on reading your Gothic Bible. ¶ Now comes the year 1840; William III goes to the tomb of hisancestors, and is succeeded by Fr: William IV, with whom began anewthe long battle between the principle of Divine-right of kings andpolitical democracy exercised by the masses. William IV, intenselyaddicted to Divine-right theories of government, was in the course ofa turbulent reign forced to face great political agitators. However, the King had behind his throne, always, that conservative class (foundin every country) that clings tenaciously to the past and dreads thefuture. The watchword of all William's enemies was "Liberty!" The cry, visionary as it was, served as a rallying point for those who favoredsome form of French constitutionalism; and while, as a whole, theso-called friends of Liberty were very impracticable, had no definiteplan for relief, we find among the political agitators foremost intheir discontent many of the brightest minds in Germany, collegegraduates, professional men, the clergy, and solid middle classmerchants. All were zealous for immediate political reforms. * * * * * ¶ Consider the position of our Fr: William IV. He was a peculiar man, to begin with--and an irresolute man, to end with. He was not builtfor times of war. Yet he had to face cannon! Early in life, in impressionable years, through a court blunder, youngWilliam had had a tutor, Delbrueck, who poisoned his charge's mindagainst the Prussian military and bureaucratic system. The attitude of Delbrueck was certainly heresy as vile as though yourown child's nurse should bring your boy up to fear and despise his ownfather. Surely, you would not like that? ¶ Delbrueck was quickly given the sack; and it was well that he gotoff without a broken head! He was succeeded by a preacher, Ancillon, of renown in church affairs. This Ancillon started young William off on another track; antiques, church history, Bible study, architecture, the brotherhood of man, andthe fatherhood of God. ¶ Then William studied art under Rausen, and under Schinkel; and alsothe future king became absorbed in landscape gardening and inarchitecture. ¶ William was presumed to be "liberal" in his views, that is to say, he was, in a sense, supposed to be a "democrat. " ¶ Of course, the Radicals at this hour knew nothing of Bismarck, whowas to be the power behind the throne. They saw instead only a weakking; and history tells over and over again, down through time, whatbecomes of weak kings when the people are throwing up barricades inthe streets and are tossing up their caps and crying "Liberty!" * * * * * ¶ Under his royal nose the Liberals kept sticking his father's pledgeof the glorious year, 1813. How about that long-promised Constitution, your Majesty? Thousands of deluded Prussians now believed that theycould accurately define the peculiar word "Liberty!" It looked asthough the people were bent on casting out a king. As yet there werein Prussia no organized party lines; the general situation was summedup in the growing hopes that the common people placed in Frenchconstitutionalism--wherever that might lead. ¶ At any rate, the old régime must go. 22 Bad business, this promising a written Constitution--The deluge breaks. ¶ The Prussian nobility, always bound to the King by feelings ofardent loyalty, formed a military caste; the peasantry wasindustrious, thrifty and hard-working; the State officials weredevoted to a spirit of discipline at once thorough and pedantic; thePrussian school-system was first in square-headed masters, who ruledwith rods of iron. Thus, the Prussian National ideal was based onDiscipline military in its severity, self-sacrifice and energy. "Throughout Prussia was a spirit of affirmation, expressive of thevigorous National egotism. As time passed, the machine men of oldenPrussia were gradually replaced by free-willed, self-consciouscitizens taking an enlightened interest in their country; the old-timetutelage headed by the monarchs underwent a transformation; and thetrend was toward enlightened self-government; but many years were topass before this ideal was reached. " ¶ William did indeed cherish, in a way, an idea of German Unity, andin this respect he was a democrat or a radical, whatever you wish toterm him. Here, we must make one fact plain. It will make you smile atWilliam's simplicity, will show you how utterly he was out of touchwith the tendencies of the times; how good-natured he was; how honesthe was. He believed that German Unity, if ever it came, shouldhistorically be an extension of the old Holy Roman Empire, through theillustrious House of Hapsburg! Which is equivalent to saying that your own family should advance byhumbling itself before your own greatest rival; that you should bow toyour political enemy and submit to being effaced, to heighten yourrival's glory. Strauss calls William "A romanticist on the throne of the Cæsars!"This Fr: William IV wished to be an absolute monarch, after thetraditional Hohenzollern style, yet he had so few soldierly instinctsthat the army hated him. ¶ This political attitude with William was not a form of romanticidealism bordering on lunacy; it was instead a token of his blunderingstupidity; also in a sense his four-square frankness in owning thatPrussia was playing second fiddle to Austria, at this interestingmoment. And, in truth, all that William thought was logical; thestream was tending that way; few denied it, except politiciansinterested in advancing their own fortunes by setting Austria back inthe great game of grab. However, William, instead of loading cannonand turning them on the Radicals, now swarming around his palace, wasmuch pleased to send a bishop to Jerusalem. ¶ Nicholas of Russia warned William to beware of democrats, and tostand up for Divine-right of kings, but what is the use of advising acoward to be a hero, a fool to be a wise man? In the end, a man mustgo through life with the sort of head he has--round, square, flat, ormushy--is it not true? You are no exception, yourself; and ourchurch-building William, in turn, was true to his own æsthetic nature, regardless of bayonets poked under his nose. ¶ Bad business this promising the people a written Constitution;ominous for the breed of kings; a situation, in short, not unlike thatforced on the Grand Monarch at an earlier day, that is to say, nomoney without the States' General. ¶ After 1840, Liberal opinions were directed against the King, personally, charging him with political reactionary tendencies. Thecourse of popular liberty was taken by noted men, among them ArnoldRuge, Karl Marx, Feuerbach, Strauss, Bauer, Fallersleben, Dingelstedt, Meissner, Beck, Kinkel, and others. Also, when Ischech attempted toassassinate William IV, the dastardly act found supporters who gloriedin the "patriot's" effort to rid the country of a "tyrant, " eventhrough cold-blooded murder. ¶ Also, the very memory of the frightful excesses of the FrenchRevolution still shocked the conservative political element of Europe. The land-owning classes of Prussia, backed by the Prussian army, stoodshoulder to shoulder for their old titles. The new call of politicalliberalism was, therefore, in the view of Prussian conservatives, tobe put down at all hazards. The position was, of course, largelyselfish, but it was very human. * * * * * ¶ Matters came to a crisis in '47; King William IV needed money for alittle railroad project in East Prussia. In his dilemma, he called hisBaby Parliament, or Diet, April 11, 1847, and "deigned" to permittherein the right of petition; there were in truth no privileges ofpolitical significance, no real powers; it was a side-show, so far asthe "people" were concerned--and for eleven weeks volleys of oratorycrackled and thundered. * * * * * ¶ Here, we meet Bismarck face to face; and you should now be prepared, from what you have read, to understand the gigantic problem Bismarckwas called upon to face--single-handed! ¶ Furthermore, Bismarck's attitude was not, as has often beenrecorded, a case of "might is right. " The French Revolution had provenconclusively that there can be no political "right" without apolitical "might. " We should not forget this fact throughout theBismarck story of Prussia's rise to power. BOOK THE THIRD Bismarck Supports His King CHAPTER VII Fighting Fire With Fire 23 The voice in the Wilderness proclaims the God-given glory of Kings, vicegerents of Christ on this earth. ¶ The French Revolution brought to Paris adventurers and patriots fromevery part of Europe. Among these was a young Corsican who, with hismother and sisters, had been driven out of his native island. Thisman, Napoleon Bonaparte, was in the course of a few years to becomeEmperor of France and Master of Europe. ¶ There is a classical picture of young Napoleon, at the time of theearly riots in Paris. Standing on a curbstone, to one side, he watches the passing ofliberty-crazed mobs, armed with pikes--the self-same common people onwhose shoulders Napoleon himself was later to ride into amazing power. ¶ Thus, likewise, in another time of political crisis, (1847-48) menwere flocking to Berlin to debate anew the well-worn theme, "TheRights of Man. " Quietly looking on was another man of destiny, Otto von Bismarck, burly dyke-captain of the Elbe, up to that time a farmer on hisancestral estates in Pomerania. What this young blond giant saw beforehim was somewhat of this extraordinary order: ¶ The universal theme was once more "Liberty, " and the din not only inBerlin but throughout German states, was ear-splitting. Of course, there were patriots who stood on broad National grounds, but thepurely personal point of view was still very much in evidence. Every man had his say, often accompanied by brandishing of fists orthe laying on of canes; all dignified by the name "patriotism, " but intruth it exhibited the old struggle of human nature for supremacy. The masses were fighting to unseat kings, whose dogma of"Divine-right" had by the French Revolution been shown to be onlyinsidious political quackery, in the past sustained largely by thesword. The common people were wrestling to grasp this monarchic swordaway, and here and there had already seized the hilt or the blade--itmattered not which!--and the dynasties of Hohenzollern, Hapsburg, Wittelsbach, and all the lesser swarm, were suddenly put on thedefensive. Hotly pursued sovereigns kept their heads only by someconcession to popular fury; again, by flight. The people wereintoxicated with the wine of their newly found power! ¶ And what would they do with their new bauble, liberty, fraternityand equality? The centre of the stage was occupied by a strugglingmass of kings, fighting not only for their crowns but for the veryclothes on their backs! There were poets in fine frenzy declaiming;grenadiers firing muzzle-loaders; priests invoking the wrath of God;kings shouting out that they were the only accredited earthlyrepresentatives of Heaven; historians hotly insisting that all were inerror, and that the scroll showed this or that; law-givers pleadingfor the old forms; lunatics laughing in demoniacal glee; peasantsarmed with pitchforks jabbing right and left; demagogues calling onHeaven to witness their lofty and disinterested leadership; whilearound the edges of the scene mountebanks, camp-followers, renegades, whores and political blacklegs, were waiting for their share of theplunder, let victory fall where it may. ¶ What a magnificent scramble for place, pelf and power! It wereblasphemy to call this riot the desire for progress for the masses. Itwere equal blasphemy to call it stupidity and reaction, on the part ofthe contending monarchs, as against crushing with iron heel the hopesof the people for political and intellectual life. Either one of thesediagonally opposed interpretations of the time is too extreme. Thetruth is in neither view. As a matter of fact, behind the seethingmass of human forms was the age-old motive of human selfishness; andwhile here and there some lofty soul may have glimpsed in his fervidimagination a United Germany, based on a "German national faith, " inwhich the rights of each citizen should be no more or no less than therights of all others, with each man working for all men and all menfor each man, this poetical idea was only another evidence of how thenoblest minds place the illusion and the dream before the appallingfact of human selfishness in the universal struggle for personalaggrandizement. ¶ The merging of the various German states, or the transference ofland from one German monarch to another, in the ensuing politicalstruggle for power, is, after all, as nothing compared with the changein ideas, now close at hand; what may be called the "mind" of Germanywas about to undergo a veritable French Revolution! However, it wasnot to be a French Revolution in the sense of mob-rule. We shall makethis clear as we come more especially to tell you, in details, of acertain political millennium which Bismarck scorned, althoughcourageously pressed upon him by leaders of the party of the people. ¶ On the whole, however, the drift of events was toward "Germannational faith, " bringing in turn some form of representativegovernment, as against the doctrine of Divine-right of kings. Themonarchs were placed more and more on the defensive; it was to betheir last stand, not only for their crowns but for their very lives! * * * * * ¶ And now face to face with the gigantic problem of a United Germany, again we study our last hope of kings--our Prussian Strafford vonBismarck. In some respects he is the historical foil of Strafford ofCharles I, whose money-needs compelled the calling of the LongParliament; and the help Strafford had given to the king in rulingwithout a parliament had mortally offended the Commons; Strafford wasdeclared guilty of high treason--and despite Charles' efforts, Strafford went to the block! ¶ Will Bismarck come to a similar end on the scaffold of the Prussianliberals? * * * * * ¶ We see before us a giant in form and in mental strength; a monsterof will-power, with the iron ambition to compel men to do hisindividual bidding; a political superman. ¶ He had spent his time more with cattle, horses and dogs than he hadwith men. ¶ His spirit was high, untrammelled, rebellious. He ironicallydespised the common people; the burden-bearers in all forms ofgovernment were in this giant's opinion not good enough to sit besidekings. ¶ Morose, obstinate, self-opinionated, with an enormous capacity forliquor, Bismarck was an intellectual as well as physical glutton. ¶ Most of all, this strange man, half-beast, half-seer, was to turnout to be the very voice of the old decaying kingcraft. He had animmovable belief in the Feudal right of royalty to rule over itssubjects as it pleased; and by his amazing power of intrigue supportedby supreme abilities exercised during the ensuing thirty years, Bismarck at last rose to a height that overshadowed the monarchs whomhe served--and ruled! We wish to emphasize, again, that Bismarck's conception of kingcraftwas no mere despotic thing. To him, a king was truly a man of greatpractical as well as moral responsibilities, akin to father, henceshould be obeyed. 24 Our young blond giant appears at Third Estates' Assembly--The King's predicament--Bismarck's opportunity. ¶ Behold Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck, the country squire, straight from his cow-sheds and his hunting dogs; a young blond Germangiant, 32 years old, in the very prime of his massive strength andendurance; plentiful hair cropped short, ruddy face, blond beard, bright blue eyes, big fists; high, shrill voice, strangely out ofkeeping with his physical bulk. For years afterward, this peculiarvoice became the stock in trade of newspaper writers. However, it waswhat the giant said! ¶ Bismarck wore a broad-brimmed slouch hat, military boots and hisdykeman's overcoat. This rough, yellow-colored garment, for which heafterwards became famous, was long, baggy and loose. He used to wearit when floods were high along the River Elbe. In Berlin, at the timewere only three notables who wore these yellow overcoats: the first, Bismarck; the second, the immortal Baron von Herteford, the last ofhis race, hereditary grand huntsman at Cleve, and the third was wornby Geo. Hesekiel, the German historian. ¶ Bismarck, who was now to receive his first experience in handlingmen in political alignments, had inherited a country estate from theold family domains and was living the life of a squire; hunting foxes, with dogs and gay companions, passing nights in taverns, drinkingheavily, eating like a glutton, amusing himself as he pleased; a giantin intellect and in stomach; turbulent, tempestuous, rough, a bad manto cross, believe me, but among his cronies voted a prince of goodfellows. Such is our German hero as he comes upon the great stage ofaffairs. ¶ When this burly Bismarck made his first entrance at the Diet, orAssembly of the Three Estates, held in the "White Saloon" of the RoyalPalace at Coelin on the Spree, our future empire-maker andthrone-overturner knew by practical experience absolutely nothingabout the diagonal of political cross-purposes. However, he was now taking up his great life-study, entering allunknowingly upon a magnificent career leading in after years to hisfair renown as Father of the German Empire. * * * * * ¶ He had, as we have seen, thus far passed the time as a practicalfarmer; hale fellow well met, with upper-class leanings. After taking his doctor's degree at Goettingen, he had made a fewjourneys, one to Italy, another to the island of Heligoland, on ashooting trip; had crossed the English Channel, and had brought backwith him a smattering of Shakespeare, which he afterwards improved byconsiderable study; and by the way throughout the crises in hiscareer, Bismarck often found refuge in apt Shakespearian quotations. Then he had done a little governmental clerical work in the lowercourts of his country, but his peculiar ideas of independence and hisabruptness in speaking his mind unfitted him for this work. Glad to berid of his job, he returned to the country. He knew nothing ofadministrative or executive life, and aside from the fact that he wasa student of history, with a penchant for making historical parallels, there was nothing to show the bent of his powerful mind. ¶ Yet, there is a great man before us! And since it is not based onhis training, then it must come inherently from his natural endowment. His master-mind was to unseat and seat princes, kings and emperors, inthe fullness of time, rearranging the map of Germany to suit himself;engaging in three wars of ambition, signally victorious in each; andwinning for himself imperishable fame during his active career offorty years. * * * * * ¶ By a singular turn, Bismarck knew or cared so little for politics, at this time, that his very entry into the "White Saloon, " in whichthe Liberals decided to settle with this stubborn King Fr: Wm. IV, waswholly by accident. The Saxon Provincial Diet at Meresburg had chosen Dyke Captain vonBrauchitsch of Scharteuke, in the Circle of Jerichow, as Deputy at theUnited Diet, and had selected Dyke Captain von Bismarck ofSchoenhausen as his proxy. As Herr von Brauchitsch was very ill, hissubstitute was summoned. ¶ Bismarck appeared as representative of the Knight's Estate ofJerichow, and vassal and chivalric servitor of the King. How go theFates! If the eminent von Brauchitsch had not had the toothache, thatday, there might not have been a United Germany--is it not true? ¶ In the group that gathered in the "White Saloon" at Coelin on theSpree, Bismarck met many men whose opinions were well known to him;his brother, the Landrath, his cousins, the Counts von Bismarck-Bohlenand von Bismarck-Briest; his future father-in-law, Herr vonPuttkammer; von Thadden, von Wedell, and many others. Says Hesekiel: ¶ "Unfortunately these gentlemen in general, as Herr von Thadden oncebluntly said of himself, were not even bad orators, but no orators atall. Nor could the two Freiherrs von Manteuffel contend in eloquencewith the brilliant rhetorics of the Liberals, such as Freiherr vonVincke, Camphausen, Mevissen, Beckerath, and others. ¶ "Few persons today can read those speeches of the First United Diet, once so celebrated, without a melancholy or satirical smile. Thosewere the blossom-days of liberal phraseology, causing an enthusiasm ofwhich we cannot now form any adequate idea!" * * * * * ¶ Troublous times indeed; and the King an autocrat of autocrats, forced by the liberal ideas of the hour, breaking everywhere. We canimagine William saying angrily: "Confound the impudence of the Liberals with their crazy liberty, fraternity and equality. We supposed that all this nonsense was blownto bits by the guns at Waterloo!" ¶ The bedeviled King began to show a streak of Prussian stubbornness;in these angry words he incautiously addressed those delegates who haddared to ask for a Constitution: ¶ "I refuse to allow to come between Almighty God in Heaven and thisPrussian land so much as a blotted piece of parchment to rule us withparagraphs, and to replace thereby the sacred bond of ancientloyalty!" ¶ The widening gulf between monarchy and French constitutionalism wasnow manifest to almost any thoughtful Prussian, but, like the ostrich, our timid William continued to hide his head under the sand andbelieved himself safe. 25 For one whole month, burly Bismarck sits with his mouth shut, seemingly stricken dumb at the sacrilegious ideas of the Democrats. ¶ Now this giant dyke-captain, this lover of dogs, horses and cattle, sat for one whole month, stricken dumb it seemed by the politicalheresies that he heard. For one solid month, he never opened hismouth! Then he could stand it no longer. He pleaded vigorously for theMiddle Ages feudal system, and for the right of his own aristocraticclass! In truth, without knowing it, he was expressing the King'ssentiments, was a genuine King's Man. ¶ The future prince's first speech swept like a hurricane over agarden in June--withering, blasting, uprooting. He began by denying, absolutely, that the great victory of 1813 which expelled for Prussiathe French invaders was based on so low a consideration as the promiseof a paper Constitution. Not at all! It was an exhibition of purepatriotism. In his historical reference, Bismarck, in this instance, was in error. In no sense was "the people" to be credited with thegreat Prussian victory of 1813; it came about largely through militarytactics, training and general preparedness, in which "the people" hadno part except to do their plain duty. ¶ For his remarkable utterance, Bismarck was promptly hissed down bythe Liberal side. Undaunted, Bismarck loaded his heaviest guns againstthis thing called "Liberalism, " with all its mock-heroics of liberty, fraternity and equality. Would it not endanger our King's sacredthrone? That was enough for Herr Bismarck. ¶ Thus the doughty Dyke-captain from the Elbe endeavored to perform apolitical miracle--new wine in old bottles--and as fast as the bottlespopped, he put the wine in still other old bottles. Was there evermore folly? Did a young champion of the Crown ever make greater foolof himself? ¶ And with all Europe bawling for liberty, fraternity and equality;with thrones tottering in every direction; with 23 of the 39 Germanstates already joyously exhibiting their new Constitutions? Here wasa voice in the wilderness crying for monarchy and the Divine-right ofkings! And what's more, gentlemen, he has before him a 30-years'fight, but in the end will ram it down your throats. ¶ His cry at this moment is that ancient Prussian slogan, "Mitt Gottfuer Koenig und Vaterland!" The question on the proposedConstitution--the right of petition and certain specified control overstate finance by the people--simple as all this seems today, created aterrible storm! The nobility, led by the Dyke-captain, felt uneasy; aparliament of the people was indeed a needless concession. And werethe people prepared by education for this great change? Was it nothasty? ¶ Meantime, the King was in truth a sort of broken reed, stirred byevery blast that swept from the "White Saloon. " ¶ Fr: Wm. IV was a "Hamlet-hesitating monarch, " who had it not beenfor the burly giant Bismarck would have been swept into oblivion bythe first whiff of gunpowder. A stickler for religious dogma, thepietists adored him, but the classes despised him; he was one of thosemen who discuss trifles with elegant ease, but who have no conceptionof what is behind this present widespread demand for a constitution. This King Fr. : Wm. IV lived in a mystic mediæval dreamland; herestored the cathedral of Cologne; sent a missionary band to spreadhis beloved Lutheran doctrines to the Chinese, and established aProtestant bishop at Jerusalem. The political literature of the timeis overwhelmingly against William. He did not understand the drift ofevents. Without Bismarck, the King's head would soon have rolled intothe basket! 26 Bellowing his defiance, though the Liberals bring the rope--The new man explains his novel position, not as a politician but as a Prussian in deadly earnest--The Jew, and time's revenge. ¶ There were three sessions of the Baby Parliament, and Bismarck wassoon looked upon as the conservative leader. Perhaps conservative isnot the word; reactionary would be closer. There was no Conservativeparty, nor a Liberal party for that matter. The obstinate fight withBismarck was not because he wished to prevent the common people fromhaving a share in their Prussian government, but because the change, if ever it came, would set up a peculiar type of Prussian government;a state-government, as it were, as against the old-time liege-lordmaster-and-servant conception of Hohenzollern "Divine-right" policy. ¶ The very word "people" threw Herr Bismarck into hysterical frenzy!He determined upon resisting the heresy with all the virile courage ofhis colossal bulk. It had been his duty, as Elbe dyke-captain, to protect his countryagainst torrential waters; now he would do similar service against therising floods of revolution. He set up the historical agreement thatthe edifice of Prussia, under an aristocratic form of rulership, wasfirmer toward foreign foes, firmer than was possible under the leaderrule of the people. ¶ A conservative deputy from Pomerania, addressing the administrationmember for West Havelland, said: "We have conquered!" ¶ "Not so!" replied Bismarck, coolly. "We have not conquered, but wehave made an attack, which is the principal thing. Victory is yet tocome, but it will take years!" ¶ These words accurately convey the nature of the situation. Bismarckwas master of short phrases in which complex situations are summed up. * * * * * ¶ He had dog-like love for his master, the King: "No word, " heexclaimed, "has been more wrongly used in the past year than the word'people. ' Each man has held it to mean just what suits his individualview. " ¶ "We are Prussians, " was his eternal keynote, "and Prussia isall-sufficient. Our hosts follow the Prussian flag and not thetricolor; under the black and white they joyfully die for theircountry. The tricolor has been, since the March riots, recognized asthe color of their opponents. The accents of the Prussian NationalAnthem, the strains of the Dessau and Hohenfriedberg March are wellknown and beloved among them; but I have never yet heard a Prussiansoldier sing, 'What is the German Fatherland?' The nation whence thisarmy has sprung, and of which the army is the truest representative inthe happy and accurate words of the president of the First Chamber, Rudolph von Auerswald, does not need to see the Prussian monarchy meltaway in the filthy ferment of South German immorality. We arePrussians, and Prussians we desire to remain! I know that in thesewords I utter the creed of the Prussian army, the creed of themajority of my fellow-countrymen, and I hope to God that we shallcontinue Prussians, when this bit of paper is forgotten like thewithered leaf of autumn!" ¶ Yes, Bismarck, any day the mob may bring the rope; but you stillbellow your defiance, your face of brass unabashed. Man amongmen--wrong though you be, Bismarck, you will have your say though theHeavens fall. ¶ "I am proud to be a Prussian Junker, and feel honored by theappellation. Whigs and Tories were terms which once also had a verymean signification; and be assured, gentlemen, that we shall on ourpart bring Junkerdom to be regarded with honor and respect. " * * * * * ¶ Aristocrats were delighted; von Thadden exclaimed: "I amenthusiastic over this man Bismarck!" Geo. V. Wincke, the Westphalianhigh official, short, fat, red-headed, never admired the burly giantBismarck, smelling of the cow-sheds. ¶ For twenty years, off and on, the testy v. Wincke indulged ininvective, his theme ever being "The rule of law. " This George v. Wincke in spite of his medals and his family tree was on the liberalside, bag and baggage. ¶ There was a strain of bitter eloquence about this red-headedchampion of the people's rights. He had read Guizot and talked much ofHampden, the Long Parliament, and all that. George had the legal sideof the argument, especially since the French revolution had setliberty bells a-ringing everywhere, even in solemn old Prussia; butthe doughty Bismarck would come thundering back with his "unlimitedcrown" and rulership over the people "by the grace of God, " royalprerogative and general disdain for the masses;--as in the régime ofLouis the Magnificent at Versailles, when the convicts worked to buildthe $200, 000, 000 palace to shelter art, wit and pretty women, whilethe people starved. How out of tune, Bismarck; how hopelesslyreactionary! * * * * * ¶ Bismarck voted against every new privilege. His speeches read likereports of personal rows! He was frank, fearless and frenzied, and inturn his volleys excited groans and hisses. ¶ Was ever mortal so utterly out of touch with the prevailing Frenchconception of liberty, equality and fraternity? Here is the way hesummed up political equality: ¶ "The goosequill arguments of newspaper writers!" "Relics ofpot-houses!" "The emancipation of the people does not mean progress!""A royal word is more than volumes of law!" "The Prussian sovereignsare in possession of a crown by God's grace!" "The king has said hedid not wish to be coerced or driven!" "Let there be a period of fouryears, at least, before another such stupid meeting as this is held. " ¶ It was a curious situation. Bismarck was both rude and crude! His style of delivery was lame, his voice improperly placed, hismannerisms grotesque. Despite his hobbling oratory, however, Bismarckwas soon a marked man; he held his audience by his sensational ideasand his dogged courage! * * * * * ¶ Why did Bismarck vote against every new privilege? This may not bedecently answered in a word; you must read on in detail; there was agreat principle behind Bismarck's political attitude. True, it wascrudely conceived and expressed, at this period; but he will improvewith time. ¶ Bismarck well remembered the excesses of German Jacobins, in thesouthwest, during the turbulent years of the French Revolution. Alsaceand Lorraine had welcomed massacres as signs of political equality;mob leaders destroyed castles and monasteries; Jew-baiters went mad;Schneider, the tyrant of Strassburg, took charge of the guillotine, but not making enough blood flow, was soon aided by professionalexecutioners, straight from Paris. ¶ There was also the lunatic "Feast of Reason. " Stark-mad Germansparaded with Marat's statue, attacked churches, wrecked altars, heapedup images of saints, crosses, pews, pulpits, and priests' garments, touched the match, and danced around the fire;--while Schneiderharangued the mob on the joys of reason, as against revealed religion;solemnly assuring his thousands of listeners that Christianity was nowa thing of the past. ¶ Thus the mad war of liberty burst forth, accompanied by manyextraordinary episodes. Nor were the followers confined exclusively tothe rabble; we find many noted teachers, scholars and politiciansendorsing the French guillotine as a remedy for all politicalills--men like Blau, Wedekind, Hoffmann, Foster, Stamm, Dorsch, notoverlooking the spectacular John Mueller, who in the cause of thepeople committed unheard-of follies with his pen, as a necessarysupport for the sword. ¶ There was also a stark-mad leader named Cloots, who usually signedhis bulletins "Cloots, Personal Enemy of Jesus of Nazareth. " Hisobject was the union of all mankind, literally speaking; no halfwaymeasures for him, no long delays; he wanted his political salvationhere and now. ¶ So inflamed were the people that the discharge of a tailor'sapprentice, in Breslau, precipitated a riot and the artillery wasbrought into play. ¶ In Saxony, 18, 000 peasants demanded a democratic constitution; butthe authorities replied by sending the messenger to a mad-house. ¶ Thus, in various directions, the crack-brained revolutionists playedtheir parts; nor should history overlook the contribution of thelearned Dr. Faust, of Buckelburg, whose profound treatise, "Origin ofTrousers, " was read in Paris as a sort of historical endorsement ofthe great democratic party that gloried in the equality, not to sayliberty, exhibited by casting trousers aside. * * * * * ¶ Now what do you think? This King's Man, sprung up of a sudden, coming from his fox-hunting and his cow-sheds, hits right and left atthe Jews! Yes, as against his "beloved Christians. " Here is a new noteindeed--old yet new. We had not supposed Jew-baiting a thing of the past; but in thesetempestuous times it did seem that race-prejudice had no place in aplain attempt to keep a king's crown. ¶ "I will pass, " Bismarck thundered, "to the question itself. I am noenemy of Jews, and if they are enemies to me, I will forgive them. Under certain circumstances, I even love them. I would grant themevery right--save that of holding superior office posts in a Christiancountry. ¶ "I admit I am full of prejudices, sucked in with my mother's milk. If I think of a Jew, face to face with me as a representative of theking's sacred majesty, and have to obey him, I must confess that Ishould feel myself deeply broken and depressed. The sincereself-respect with which I now attempt to fulfil my duties toward thestate would leave me! I share these feelings with the mass of largestrata of people, and I am not ashamed of their society. " * * * * * ¶ Thus, now at this supreme moment, when with voice of brass ourBismarck is making his entry into the world of affairs with his sharpwords on Christians and Jews, and more especially with hisuncompromising conception that kings are indeed the personalrepresentatives of God on this earth, we do see that Bismarck stemsfrom a fighting race. All his years, this Bismarck was a frightfulhater. ¶ With the sorry figure of the world-oppressed Jew in our eyes and themalignancy of this new Jew-baiter, it is well that at the very outsetthis be made clear: That whatever Bismarck was or was not, at least hewas no hypocrite. His words always fall like the wrath of God. It is a solemn fact that he changed his point of view many, manytimes--even as you and I--but there is always the ring of sincerityabout it that even the acid test of long time is unable to dissolve. * * * * * ¶ It was this tremendous earnestness--this sincerity--that madeBismarck feared, hated and despised. Against your will, you are forced to believe what this giant says, nomatter how mocking, how insolent, how absurd his charges! Some tell us that Bismarck's ancestry stems from Bohemia, others tracethe Bismarcks to Russia, still others assert Jewish origin. This much is a fact: from a geographical point, the family name comesfrom the little river Biese, near Stendal. ¶ Bismarck's passion and prejudice against Jews was proverbial. It didindeed often turn him, for the time being, into a mad dog! Near the close of life, in retirement at Friedrichsruh, some candidfriend desecrated the great man's retirement by sending him a copy ofa book by an anonymous writer, "Bismarck, the Jew. " Ordinarily, Bismarck paid no attention to social lampoons, but on thisday as he read the book aloud to guests, his anger became black andterrifying! ¶ "I am determined to have the law on the audacious writer!"Bismarck's guests saw the old man in one of his moods of frightfulrage. But next day something intervened--and Bismarck never brought suit fordamages. * * * * * ¶ Here is one thing that you must never forget in studying great men:That it is possible, nay inevitable, for a man to be at once verygreat and very small. At the very beginning of his career, we find Bismarck ringing thesolemn changes on "Christian, " and we behold him in a characteristicallyunamiable mood over "Jews. " Yet all the time he was endeavoring to laydown the dogma that the proper aim of the state is the realization ofthe Christian ideal! ¶ If now you can understand this mental contradiction, you are in aposition to grasp one of the strange paradoxes with which Bismarck'slife is literally filled. You see here, at once, why he has been so often accused ofdouble-dealing, of stacking the cards, of changing his mind, of goingahead by going backwards, winning ultimately by fair means or by foul. * * * * * ¶ And now for the sequel. Many years later, Bismarck was exceedinglyglad to be guided by the advice of Jews, more especially the Jewishbanker Bleichroder. On one side of the table sits Bismarck, the Pomeranian Junker, and onthe other side the sallow-faced, undersized Jew, Bleichroder. Great friends they are today, to be sure; and between them is a moundof treasury reports, telling in minute detail the financial resourcesof Louis the Little, now a helpless prisoner of war. France is at thePrussian's mercy, and a Jew is called in--a despised Jew! Bleichroder and Bismarck coolly examined the balance sheets of France, the present state of her debts. The money cost turns out to be the stupendous sum of five thousandmillions of francs. * * * * * ¶ Literary and journalistic France, in book, editorial and orationmade a great outcry at the moment, declaring dramatically thatPrussian barbarians had decided "to bleed France white"--attributingto Bismarck a figure of speech borrowed from the butcher's block! Welland good, but France paid the indemnity in surprisingly short time;and had many millions left to go on her way rejoicing, had it not beenfor the miserable obsession, "Ravanche!" that kept her in hot waterfor years. ¶ Bismarck was correctly quoted in this respect: That gold is asnecessary in war as gunpowder; and the best way to keep a quarrelsomewould-be Napoleon out of war is to empty his pockets. ¶ The Jewish feature, however, shows Bismarck, through and through;and we could not present him without this surprising scene. Make themost of it. * * * * * ¶ "I do not much like the piety that proclaims itself, " said LouisXIII. A similar remark may be made concerning Bismarck's life-longbelief that the Lord was on Bismarck's side--Jew-baiter and all. ¶ "The longer I work in politics, " he once remarked, summing up hismany political difficulties, "the smaller my belief in humancalculation. I look at the affair according to my human understanding, but gratitude for God's assistance so far raises in me the confidencethat the Lord is able to turn our errors to our own good; that Iexperience daily, to my wholesale humiliation. " CHAPTER VIII Bismarck Suffers a Great Shock 27 Wherein it is shown that Bismarck's protest against disrespect for constituted authority was based on certain tragic historical instances he would not repeat. ¶ It is freely granted that ideas of "Liberty!" that many Germanpatriots desired to see come to pass, in 1848, were not those of 1789;but elements of lawlessness, of mob-rule, of marchings to "Ca Ira!" ofabsurd glorification of the common man, and of snarlings at kings askings, were largely in the spirit laid down by Robespierre, Danton, Marat and that crew, with their chosen gangsters of the guillotine. Bismarck would have none of it! True, many of the old-line excesses were no longer used for politicalpurposes, but Bismarck was too well-balanced, had too much commonsense, in short was too strongly aligned with landed interests toendorse "popular" government on the old type from over the Vosges. Hisprotests were all in support of authority, discipline, duty, devotionto a deliberately chosen monarch, who ruled by the will of God. ¶ In '48 the talk of the "Rights of Man" really meant the rights ofindividual men--the tailor, the barber, the shoemaker--each of whomfelt that the time had now come to overturn the political system ofkings and to bring on the rule of the common people. Old-line hatred of Napoleon had passed away. The French militarydespot of the early part of the century was now figured as a "greatdemocrat, " whose wars had "all" been in the interest of the people. Could anything have been more absurd? The literary speculations ofRousseau, as to the status of a new society (such, for example, asrunning naked in the grove and rolling on the grass) were now replacedby loud discussions not on the Rights of Man, as a form of idealism, but the rights of all manner of men, each of whom felt that, under thenew dispensation, hastened if necessary by bomb, dagger andpoison-cup, the human race was to rise to nobler political ideals. Itis not difficult to see that political theories of this sort have beenindulged, in one way or other, by every generation in revolt againstthe settled ways of the fathers. ¶ Let us, therefore, go back to original sources and see for ourselvesjust what account the common people had given of themselves, in apolitical way, in France at the time of her so-called politicalmillennium. We shall then be able to grasp Bismarck's position clearlyand be able at least to understand, if we do not support, his attitudeof uncompromising severity toward popular rule, as understood at thismoment in the political evolution of Germany. * * * * * ¶ If it be a mark of progress to call God a superstitious idol and toendeavor by the guillotine to enforce political rights, then theprecious French key to the Door of Destiny for this human race shouldbe duplicated and placed in the possession of nations, far and wide, as the final expression of man's best idea of himself, his wife, hischild and his country. This 1789-93 return to National paganism, both political and social, is the mockery that Bismarck decided with all his almighty strength, nay his supreme rage, to set aside; and for him Prussian Militarism, which he so jealously set his heart on, against the rising tides ofFrench constitutionalism, otherwise mob-rule, was at once to prove thesharp cure and the dreadful counter-blow. * * * * * ¶ It was only after St. Helena that the Napoleonic legend, presentingNapoleon as the great democrat, was brought forward, to wit, that theEmperor's many brutal campaigns were in the interest of the "commonpeople" instead of gratification of his obsession for wars. The transition came about in a simple way. The Emperor was dead andgone; his fate on a distant black rock added romantic interest to hislost cause; and the return of the old-line French kings afterWaterloo, under the bayonets of Britain and the Allies, had proved akeen disappointment, politically, to France. It is conceded thatNapoleon had promised and in many cases had applied liberal principlesin his conquered domains; but now that the man was dead, agitators ofmany lands, including the 39 distracted German states, began to takeliterally what the Emperor had said in a sort of huge politico-militarysatire, to wit, that his blood-letting was truly in the interest ofthe masses. * * * * * ¶ Hence, between 1815 and 1848, agitators of Germany began ringing thechanges on the glories of the French Revolution. True, the Emperor hadbeen dead some 20-odd years; a new generation found surprising meritsin his military plans, forgetful of the lure of loot that had been thefoundation of it all; yes, for one thing the hungry desire of thelandless for the lands of the Catholic church. ¶ The exaggerated fact has been falsely set forth again and again thatthe French peasant of 1789 was down in the very mire of politicaldespond, without a sou to his name; the cock called him to work atdawn, and all for the good of the aristocrats; he was penniless, hewas an absurd figure, he was not a man but a beast;--hence hisrighteous revolt in the sacred name of Liberty. ¶ The fact is that at this time the French peasant was in no worsecondition than the working classes of other lands, including Britain, Italy and Germany. That the Revolution first broke out in France andnot in the other countries named is to be traced to journalistic andoratorical agitators of the ward-politician type. ¶ The special taxes of which the peasantry complained did not exceedtwo per cent of the products of the soil; and it is also a fact thatFrance had a large and profitable foreign trade; but French politicaland journalistic agitators were afield, and the plain truth is thatthe landless desired to confiscate, and did confiscate, the titles ofthose in possession. No sooner was the gigantic confiscation of Catholic church lands, amounting to about one-third of the soil of France, or two billionfive hundred million of francs in nominal value, ordered by Mirabeau, backed up by the Revolutionary tribunals, than the supposedlyimpecunious French peasants came forward and purchased to the extentof millions of francs; and it is a fact today (1915) that one of thesecret dreads of the French peasantry is that some sensationalpolitical change may come in the stability of the French Government, achange that will forfeit these old land titles, based on confiscationin Revolutionary days. ¶ The French peasantry wants no great National military hero to emergefrom the war of 1915; and it is not unthinkable that should a verystrong French general suddenly come forward, he would be removed byassassination; a thing that has happened at least once before, inlatter-day French politics. This confession of politico-social fears on the part of the Frenchpeasantry explains why in France, take them as a group, the candidatesinvested with the honors of the Presidency are timid men, withoutambitious political bias, and why, on the whole, the modern FrenchNational instinct lives in dread of a military hero, who with a turnof his wrist might on the vote of his soldiers declare himself, let ussay, Emperor. * * * * * ¶ Loaded down with debts incurred for various reasons, the French of1789 were on the verge of National bankruptcy. This condition has usually been charged up against the excesses of theFrench kings, such, for example, as expending some 200, 000, 000 francsfor pleasure-palaces, for the pretty women around Louis XIV; but thischarge will not bear the light of modern research. It is also a fact, on the practical side, that the much-boastedsupport given to America by the French in America's Revolutionary War, in a degree helped to bankrupt the French government; but Americanshave forgotten or wink at this plain financial obligation. ¶ Also, the French Revolution had promised in its every utterance thedawn of the political millennium, whereas instead it brought an era ofblood, idol-worship and free-love. We are not discussing here thosepoetical French surveys of the Rights of Man. Every ward-politician inParis had the list at his tongue's end. There was some truth, muchtruth, in many of these expressions, no doubt, as mere expressions ofhumane sentiments. That, however, is another story. * * * * * ¶ One has but to read the Memoirs of President Bailly of theRevolutionary Assembly to find that mob-rule predominated from thefirst day of the supposed "Dawn of the political Millennium. " The mobin the gallery hissed or applauded each speech, and deputies wereintimidated. ¶ Bismarck in his united Germany wanted no Jacobin Clubs, largelycomposed of ward-politicians, and Bismarck wanted no Marat with hisvile newspaper, "Friend of the People, " setting class against class. ¶ He wanted no guillotine as the German symbol of political liberty. This political method of the guillotine was at best only a cowardlyform of assassination, ineffectual, barbarous. First one side used it, then the other; then still another group; each set of French politicalassassins prating of Liberty had recourse to the guillotine to be wellrid of rivals much as in Cæsar's time the women of Cæsar's family, that their own might be exalted, in turn proceeded to poisonprospective collateral heirs to the Imperial throne. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck knew all about this dirty French mess, parading itself asthe "voice of the people. " He was a strong man himself and he wasguilty of gross ambitions in his rise to power, but on the wholeBismarck stood for self-possession and for manly audacity, certainlynot the French Revolution type of audacity. It is a fact thatBismarck, as a human being, was a vast egotist, and had his own, ofttimes unscrupulous, way of gaining his ends, but his conception ofMilitarism, the force he did eventually use, was at bottom a virtuouseffort to support, liberate and unify the Fatherland, not drag it intothe mire of idolatry and bestiality. * * * * * ¶ We shall frequently say harsh things about Bismarck, in this book;we do not wish to follow French methods and endeavor to make animpossible hero of a man of clay. Bismarck, as a man and in themethods of his rise to great glory, had his gross faults, and wefearlessly point them out. ¶ But here are some of the facts that Bismarck can never stand accusedof, in the light of this much-boasted French political "Millennium" of1789-93, and here, likewise we find the real reasons why he didstruggle with all his might against a reluctant people to enforceMilitarism throughout the jealous clashing 39 German states; and ifBismarck's exercise of the strong hand, in the bosom of the Germanfamily was a fault, then at least it did not include these Frenchconditions, set up to cause the world to gasp in admiration. ¶ The bull-necked Danton, the Parisian ward-heeler, in control ofpublic opinion, came on with his guillotine; and closed the city'sgates against any man that had a dollar to pay his debts or buy adinner. ¶ The so-called "will of the people" was in short a spurious affair, unnaturally created by a political morphine that gave glorious dreams;and this wretched drug was supplied by the mob-leaders. All the blood-letting was represented as a harmless affair, tendingtoward liberty and equality; all the confiscations of church-lands andredistribution among the peasants was declared a "great" politicaltriumph. Throughout even the loneliest country districts the word was passedthat the political millennium was about to break. ¶ The King was represented as a "monster fattening on crime. " His wifewas called an Austrian "panthress, " and vile pamphlets were secretlypassed around reflecting on her character. God was represented asjudging the King, and the guillotine was awaiting Louis, by Heaven'sdecree. ¶ The 26, 000 priests who refused to take the oath of allegiance to themonstrous political farce were visited with all manner ofpersecutions; one section of Revolutionary opinion decreed that deathwas the just due of all offending pastors. ¶ The assertion of kept-historians that there was "politicaljustification" is at once spurious and an insult to common sense. ¶ In justice to the better French element it is granted freely thatthe dreadful September massacres did not express the real beliefs ofthe great decent body of the French people; but the Nation was draggedthrough the mire and the Nation has for years been endeavoring toexplain this political Millennium of riots, murders, midnightassassinations, despoilings of land titles. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck would have drained the poison cup rather than stand forsuch French Constitutional nonsense in his beloved Germany, theGermany of his dreams, the Germany for which he labored so many years, the Germany which he would save from itself, so to speak. He purposed to build up German political opinion, not throughblatherskite ward-heelers, in Berlin, Frankfort or Hamburg, but by amanly appeal to German common sense and German sense of respect forauthority; and if Bismarck overworked his idea of Divine-right ofkings, then at least this may be said: that he issued no appeal to theGerman people "Who Laughs on Friday, Weeps on Sunday!" (The massacreshad come between!) And as to Danton, who glories in being theimmediate instigator of the massacres we have these, Danton's ownwords: "It was I who caused them. Rivers of blood had to flow betweenme and our enemies!" Finally, after these rivers of blood, the wordwas passed, "That the entire Nation will hasten to adopt this(guillotine) most-necessary means of public salvation. " 28 Viewing at closer range the work of the legislators of the great republic of liberty and equality; these facts Bismarck well knew, explaining his belief in militarism. ¶ After reading five hundred pamphlets on the Revolution (as shetestified at her trial) Charlotte Corday struck down Marat with adagger; and her act has been generally condoned by men with a sense offair-play. It was indeed a bloody murder; but when a mad-dog isrunning wild, a beast fattening on human blood, one passion feeds onanother--and Corday is no exception. (Henderson, Symbol and Satire ofthe French Revolution). Heroine or monster, take your choice; at least in her time such wasthe frenzy of the alleged political Millennium that Marat was soonworshipped as a martyr. This atrocious political quack, with all hisdaggers and his blackjacks, was likened to Jesus Christ; and among thesentiments of the hour we read, "A perfidious hand has snatched himaway from his beloved people"; "To the immortal glory of Marat, thepeople's friend"; "Unable to corrupt me, they have assassinated me!""Marat, rare and sublime soul, we will imitate thee; we swear it onthy bloody corpse. " Such are some of the expressions of Liberty, Equality and Fraternitythat followers of French Constitutionalism had years later decreed tore-enact in Germany; but Bismarck stood as a master with a rod of ironto lay over the backs of fanatical German Radicals, who would come onwith their drunken calls of "Liberty!" * * * * * ¶ All this, however, is only the mild opening chapter of this muchglorified French Constitutionalism. The French prisons soon held aboutall there was of French intelligence and moderation; the brains, theblood and the beauty. It is not necessary to mention names. If you wish to become hysterical, read your fill of this drunken eraof French Constitutionalism. At the height of the Terror, there were 8, 000 political prisoners inFrench dungeons; and the mobs still came on with their cries for freshblood. One day, this expression was made: "The town of Lyons shall bedestroyed; the name Lyons shall be effaced, " etc. All this meant thatLyons, weary of blood, had decided on raising an army to beat back thesons of spurious liberty. * * * * * ¶ Any man who, in the Terror, dared disagree with the mob-rulers wascalled a "conspirator. " In a letter from Herbois, we find this plainevidence of political lunacy masquerading as inspiration: "There are60, 000 individuals here who will never make good republicans; we musthave them sent away. I have new measures in mind, weighty andeffectual, * * * Heads, more heads, heads every day! * * * How youwould have enjoyed seeing National justice meted out to two hundredand nine rogues. What cement for the Republic! I say fete, yes, citizen president, fete is the right word. The guillotining andfusillading are not going badly!" * * * * * ¶ The Queen, now in her dungeon, was treated with wretched dishonor. Even the petty expenses of bread and salt were begrudged: 15 francs aday for food; three francs and 18 sous for trimming a skirt, 18 sousfor a ribbon and shoe-strings; three francs for a tooth wash;--allthis was kept track of. Yet in years gone by France had allowed herfour million francs of pin money, and the royal allowance wastwenty-five millions of francs per annum. ¶ "Through a small window in her cell comes the light of day. * * *She is accused of being a leech, a scourge, a harpy and a free-lover;she is condemned to death. " * * * * * ¶ The political assassins, known as the Mountain, and that known asthe Girondists, now began destroying each other; every patrioticaction of the Girondists was set forth as having been instigated bylove of vulgar applause. After some days, the Jacobin Club petitionedfor freer trials, less hindered by legal formalities. ¶ "Long live the Republic!" was the cry. "Perish all traitors!"Executions continued, day by day. ¶ The poor king was long since dead and gone, yet his memory wasdetested. On a certain day of horrors, the tombs of his ancestors were brokenopen by the mob, and the bones scattered. One corpse (or what remainedof it) was stood up against a wall and the beard hacked off by apatriot of the new Regime. * * * * * ¶ All authority was now overthrown; and as one writer adds, "the mostdaring enterprise of the Revolution remains to be chronicled: thestorming of Heaven!" (Henderson. ) ¶ The leaders decided next to attack God on His throne; God wasofficially declared a superstitious myth. The altars of France were hurled over; the Christian era was abolishedby political decree; the Sabbath day was officially proclaimed doneaway with; Christ was to be henceforth banished, officially; churchesclosed, pagan rites substituted. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck, the thinker, Bismarck, the builder, with his dream ofpolitical responsibility, of vested Authority, stood for no such factsin his protests against the rising tide of Radicalism, in the Germanstates. He knew his history too well; he knew the satire of the FrenchRevolution, the folly of meeting it in any way except by the sword. ¶ Yes, Bismarck believed strongly in what has since been calledMilitarism; but his idea was that power was needed for the liberationand the unification of his country; and he hated FrenchConstitutionalism and fought by fair means and by foul all efforts towarp upon Germans the political ideals of the French Revolution. Soyou must here and now make up your mind whether or not Bismarck was agreat statesman or a great fool. * * * * * ¶ The French Convention, weary of blood-letting, began maundering inthe psychology of religion. It was officially set forth by one of the Deputies that, after all, the idea was to invent some new form of religion, without which theproposed political Millennium had fallen short. Marat was turned to, that choice spirit of the height of the era;though in his tomb, he was called upon in this strange language, despite his bringing in the Terror: ¶ "O, heart of Jesus, O heart of Marat, you have an equal right to ourhomage!" ¶ A New Era was now decreed, taken in the main from the paganism ofearly France. The four seasons were symbolized by the hunt of the manfor his mate: he is afield in Autumn, on horseback; in Winter, hefirst finds his new mate; in the Spring, the maid watches her sheepfeeding on the hills; and in Summertime, the man is seen leading hismate to a couch, his arms already around her waist. ¶ One of the leading symbols was Reason, presented as a lady petting alion; saints' days were replaced by days for animals, one for the cat, the dog, the sheep, and what you will; but no longer St. John's, St. James, St. Louis. Certain other days, dedicated to the "Spirit of the Revolution, " weretermed "Sans culotte, " or without trousers, to wit, the French versionof that great idol of the American yellow editor, who cries forjustice in behalf of the man with the seat out of his trousers. ¶ On a certain day, the Cathedral of Notre Dame was used as abackground for the great French political drama; a mountain waserected, a figure known as Truth was present. The Goddess Reason wasalso carried to the Tuileries; and later as a report written at thetime says, "The President of the Convention gave the Goddess afraternal kiss, whereupon his secretaries asked and obtained a similarprivilege. " ¶ At Rochefort the orator of the hour began, "Citizens, there is nofuture life!" ¶ The images of saints were replaced by men of the stripe of Marat, Brutus and other tyrants. ¶Also, an ass was dressed in pontifical robes at a sort of Nationalfete, and a few days later at a public masquerade, the Presidentreplying to praises of the New Era explained himself as follows: "Inone single instant you make vanish into nothingness the errors ofeighteen centuries"; by which he meant to honor the paganism of thenew French political Millennium. * * * * * ¶ Now comes that dangerous man, king of political charlatans, Robespierre, who offers a private religion of his own. ¶ The queer thing about this Robespierre, the new dictator, is hisbelief that he and he alone is the fountain of all political virtues. One must be willing to sacrifice brothers, mother, sister, father tothe guillotine--for the good of one's country. The Robespierre idea is that the supreme duty of a Nation is torepress "crime, " as well as to uphold "virtue" and "crime" consistslargely in not agreeing with the great central authority. He has hadmany followers since that day. ¶ Robespierre was really a great man gone wrong; he had in manyrespects a brilliant mind; he was a profound orator; a born leader;but he was unsound at the core, like a rotten apple; taught bloodshedand violence, as expressions of National honor. ¶ In one picture of the hour, he is represented as the Sun, risingover the Mountain, and Giving Light to the Universe. * * * * * ¶ The day dawns when Robespierre has his old friend and rival Dantonon the scaffold. This was to be expected. Then followed manyexecutions of Dantonists. ¶ Robespierre now came on with his "new" religion; he boldly announceda Supreme Being and belief in immortality! ¶ He applied the torch to the wooden images set up by his politicalpredecessors. He made a speech that is unintelligible, all wind, soundand bombast, but was cheered to the echo. * * * * * ¶ Are you not growing weary of all these absurdities? Perhaps youthink the details taken from the records of Bloomingdale Asylum? No; French Constitutionalism of 1789-93, the sort that the Radicalsof Germany had in mind, (with some variations), and often extolled infiery speeches of the German Liberal party that Bismarck decided tocrush down, with a rod of iron. True, the old offensive historicaldetails were kept out of sight and were not fresh in men'sminds;--except reading men and thinking men, like Bismarck; men boldenough to stand out against mob-violence, called by whatever soft nameyou please. ¶ A French cartoon of the Robespierre Regime made at the time by anadmirer shows the earth around the guillotine heaped with heads, andat last the over-weary executioner, failing to find further victims, decides to execute himself! He is therefore seen lying under the axe, his head rolling on the floor. ¶ Robespierre in the end went the way of all the other politicalfanatics; the day came when he was spat upon, struck, beaten by mobs, pricked with knives. According to his own theory, he needed no trial (said his new rivalsand enemies in their lust for power), for he has by his acts shownhimself to be an enemy of his country. They carried him down the great staircase; he fought back savagely, like the frightful animal that he was. ¶ Eighty-two of his followers died that day, on the guillotine. ¶ "Long live the Republic! Long live Liberty!" was the loud cry of therabble. * * * * * ¶ Such is some of the work of the great legislators of the Republic ofEquality as set forth by the various authors of the new French"political Millennium, " during those terrible years 1789-93; we haveseen their ideas on a grand scale; and it is for you to judge whetherin setting himself squarely in favor of Discipline and respect forconstituted Authority, as exemplified by the line of Prussian kings, and the Prussian system of education, Bismarck was to show himself aman or a mouse. ¶ Bismarck, who was a deep reader on politics, knew well the frightfulexcesses of French mob-rule. He may also have recognized certaingeneral excellent principles, but he would have nothing to do withthe fungous growth. And as we follow his career, we see the virtue inhis strong reliance on Militarism, as an arm to keep in check theturbulent German masses, also, later, this same Militarism to be usedto do battle for the German Empire. * * * * * ¶ For many years, all manner of rosy democratic plans had been voicedby the Liberals. The thing had been done to death. Every manner of political Utopia hadbeen planned by theorists, but Bismarck met them all with his ironicalspeeches, and bided his time. ¶ Bismarck's idea was that the only hope for German unity came throughaccepting the King of Prussia as ordained of heaven. In his arguments, he ignored the masses, the villagers, the workers, the busy-bees, the regard for individual rights. His whole programme seemed to the masses to be anti-Christ inconception, that is to say, it harked back to political paganism. ¶ It is very difficult for an American to comprehend this Prussianconception of Divine-right, as a political principle--but it shouldnot be difficult from the point of human experience. Bismarck had noillusions concerning the power of the average man, and he held thatthe phrase "the people" was used by every political quack in Europefor any one of a thousand selfish motives. Bismarck had absolutely no faith in the power of the average man togovern himself--much less to govern others!--or faith in the averageman doing anything above the average, outside his own small trade orcraft. * * * * * ¶ Americans are accustomed to make much of an alleged saying ofLincoln: "No man is good enough to govern another without that man'sconsent. " It is all a beautiful dream, false in theory and false infact, belied by every record since the Lord drove Adam and Eve out ofthe Garden of Eden. Beginning with that stupendous episode, certain it is that this actof government was not carried out with, but against the will of theruled; and the point at issue was not the supreme goodness of theruler, but the power to station an angel with a flaming sword at thegates, toward which Adam ever after looked backward with longingeyes--but looked in vain! ¶ In the innumerable dynasties of Babylon, Nineveh, Egypt, Greece, Arabia, Armenia, what man ruled who did not force his leadership? It is not in the nature of human beings to accept new ideas withouthostile objection. This holds true also in the evolution of governments, for all life isfounded on struggle, and the man who would rule must force hisleadership or remain unknown. ¶ Lincoln is absolutely in error, and his much-quoted words are folly. It is not a question of goodness, or badness, or fitness, on part ofthe man who has the ambition to rule, but it is very much a questionof his courage, his craft or his cunning in compelling others to dohis bidding. Julius Cæsar was not selected to rule, but he selected himself; and sodid Charlemagne, and Bismarck--and so Lincoln, himself. ¶ If some concession to the democratic system is sought on the groundthat the voice of the people loudly "called" Lincoln, then it is to beset up that Lincoln on his part was one of the shrewdest politicallog-rollers this nation has ever seen; and if he did not originate thecanvass that busies itself kissing the babies, congratulating thewives and shaking hands with the farmers, then at least Lincoln was anapt pupil. It is inconceivable that, without his own high ambition, his long andpainstaking endeavors to trim sail to every favoring gale (for examplehis shifting positions on the slavery question), he would have beennominated for President of these United States. * * * * * ¶ It is an amiable conceit of human nature, looking backward, toprofess to see what it blindly ignored, looking forward; and go to anypenitentiary in America, ask the convicts, and you will find that, according to the stories, there are no guilty men behind the bars;invariably a peculiar complication of circumstances enabled the guiltyman to escape, and justice was thereupon avenged by a human sacrifice;likewise in the United States Senate or in the House ofRepresentatives, ask whom you please, "How came you to hold yourseat?" and you will find no ambitious man. Some were forced to standagainst their protests; others were away traveling when word wasreceived, by telegraph, "You have been elected!" Still others appealedto the nominating committee, "For the love of God desist!"--but invain. Thus, without raising a finger to direct the movement of events, ourleaders were selected by an omnipotent democracy to occupy the seatsof the mighty. ¶ Truly, no man is good enough to rule another without that otherman's consent! Recast in terms of human experience, it would mean thatwe would go unruled; for no man yet has willingly selected his ruler, but has had dominion over him thrust upon him--even as Bismarckexpressed his right to rule, backed by blood and iron. Such is human nature since the world began; otherwise why was Christ, the gentlest ruler of all time, brought to the tree; Socrates forcedto drink the hemlock by the very wise justice of his day; and Columbuscalled a madman because he wished to rule men's minds with a newtruth, showing clearly that the world is not square or flat, but roundlike a ball? ¶ Bismarck had the real clue--and forced his purpose through the powerof his commanding personality. 29 In spite of the dyke-captain's denunciation of French Constitutionalism, King Fr: Wm. IV marches with the Democrats! ¶ The uprising of '48 was primarily a students' demonstration; thehot-bloods of the universities, aided by various politicalenthusiasts, were intent on doing something--and doing it right away. There had been a preliminary meeting at Heidelberg, and this led tothe Frankfort Convention; 600 disputatious delegates were going tobuild a liberal German constitution--at last! ¶ Thus, between 1815 and 1848 German Unity had been stimulated by adozen causes, religious, commercial, literary, social--but thepolitical lagged, for the fact is that about the last thing a manlearns is to govern himself. There was a rising sense of National faith, as predicted by Arndt, thepoet of German brotherhood; also the call of blood, based on language;likewise a deep yearning, as yet unsatisfied, for a constitutionalform of government, as against the warring, insolent 39 states. ¶ By 1848 there were Constitutions in 23 of the states; many of thesedocuments illiberal to be sure; but nevertheless a step inrepresentative government. ¶ But the Germans are a peculiar people. They wish to refer everythingto ultimate philosophical causes; hence the fruitless debates of theFrankfort Convention, in which all manner of prospective Constitutionswere tried by the formal rules of philosophy and ethics. Suchquestions as "What is a Federal state?" were angrily debated, and thechanges rung on "federation of states. " * * * * * ¶ After worlds of talking, unseen hands decided to offer to somepowerful prince the German crown. How is that for democrats? WilliamIV was the man selected. ¶ Prodded by Bismarck, who was always explosive and satirical aboutdemocratic crowns, William spunkily refused to "pick a crown out ofthe gutter!" His dignity, as a Hohenzollern was offended; but Bismarckwas playing for larger stakes. William now went about canvassing theGerman princes for a crown; twenty-eight replied, one way or another;others, sticking to selfish interests, made no acknowledgment. ¶ Now Bismarck, bellowing like a mastiff, set up the cry that ifWilliam accepted that democratic crown out of the Frankfort gutter, Prussia would become involved in civil war. And it was a fact! Theold-line Prussian military aristocracy wanted no "democratic gold, from the gutter, melted down with their old aristocratic gold ofFrederick the Great"--and as a matter of fact, could you blame them?Were you there, at the time, and of the land-holding privileged class, you too would have been up in arms. ¶ Get this straight: William's idea of "United Germany" simply meantthat there should be a United Germany compounded of the thirty-nineclashing states, provided William's beloved Prussia and not thedetested Austria could front the movement. ¶ Despite all the noble souls who write poetry on brotherhood (andGermany has her patriots, God knows!), the irony of fate is such thatall human alignments of a political nature must at some stage bespattered with mud. ¶ You see, henceforth for a quarter of a century, the realization ofthis much-prized but elusive and seemingly impossible Unity was tobecome more and more a game of politics in which the stakes werekingdoms, principalities, riches and honors unnumbered. In allcard-games the result is not known till the last card is played; andin the present case the game was to be protracted twenty-four years. Chips were flung about in huge stacks, now piled on the Austrian side, now on the Prussian; and finally, it was to break up in a fight, inwhich Prussia had to tip over the table, violently seize the spoils, batter heads right and left, and beat off rival players withneedle-guns. ¶ Come, come, there is no need of claiming too much for human nature. The grand prize was to be gained, ultimately, by seizure! Even thesober, common-sense William I, to whom it finally fell to be crownedGerman Emperor, saw the true situation early, after thechurch-building William IV had been gathered to his fathers. You willhear more of that as we go along. When all intriguing, all card-stacking, all smiling, all smoothspeeches no longer serve to conceal the real end of this amazing gameof international politics, as between Prussia and Austria, then thething to do is to bring on "blood and iron. " The very human end thatBismarck always had in mind was German liberation and Unity, bydriving the Nation's enemies beyond the borders. ¶ The best title to lands, the surest, the most incontrovertible--letpurists and pietists rage as they may--is the sharp edge of the sword. We shall see all that more clearly as the bloody years go by. * * * * * ¶ In the critical year '48, democratic mobs chased that old aristocratand king-maker Metternich out of Vienna. Hungary, Bohemia and otherintervening principalities went mad with excitement about "Liberty!"South Germany was in a turmoil. William IV had again practically promised a Constitution, and hadordered the troops from Berlin; he placed a sign on his castle"National Property. " At this time the king let slip these fatefulwords, "Prussia is to be dissolved in Germany!" Bismarck, painedbeyond expression, sent a letter to the King, full of expressions ofloyalty. The King kept the letter on his desk all summer. ¶ The giant continued to protest. He now first used a subsidizedpress, called well-known men to write for the "North PrussianGazette. " For all this, he was dubbed "Junker, " "Hot Head, " "Reactionary, " buthe thundered away like a battleship in action. * * * * * ¶ The King was in the hands of the Liberals. Bismarck regarded this asa frightful situation. Bismarck, of the Old Regime, stood by thelandlords and the titled folk. He had prodigious pride of station, hated to see the King make a fool of himself about paperConstitutions. ¶ In Berlin, along in March, there were amazing scenes. The democratswere crazy for blood; William shrank with horror against fighting hisbeloved Berliners. But this son, the future William I, who twenty-fouryears later was to gain the imperial German crown, was not sosqueamish. The young prince gained the popular title "Cartridge-boxprince, " equivalent to saying that he was willing to blaze away at"beloved Berliners, " or at any other citizens insane with politicalexcitements hazardous to "Divine-right. " ¶ It is true that on March 18th this romantic William IV did indeedenter into negotiations with the insurgents; and--think of themortification to one of Bismarck's upper-class leanings!--did indeeddo no less than wrap the German tricolor around his body and heading ademocratic procession march around the streets, even going so far asto make a foolish speech in which he extolled the glories of theGerman democratic revolution. ¶ Here we might as well close the book, were it not for Bismarck. Thesurly dog of a king's man flatly refused to vote "Aye!" in the Diet, where the hot-heads were intent on passing resolutions "commending theKing for his loyalty to democratic principles, " in marching 'roundtown with the mob. Bismarck for the time being stood like a greatmastiff at bay before wolves. His terrific speech upholding royal prerogative made his early andsudden fame. * * * * * ¶ It is a fact that with all their political ambitions, and theirsolemn belief that Germany's political future was an open book, theRadicals in Prussia never guessed the way events were to turn out; norfor that matter the Radicals never desired the conquest of Germany byPrussia; therefore the subsequent astonishing rise of GermanImperialism through Prussian domination, would have proved a mostsurprising revelation had the patriots of 1806 to 1848 returned fromthe other world, say in 1870, to view Prussia's rise to glory. * * * * * ¶ The political uprisings of 1848 had parallels in Italy, France, Spain, and Germany; and the excesses cleared the way for wiser action, in years to come. ¶ "The frenzy was a sort of tottering bridge between the French1789-93 idea of democracy (that has to do with bloodshed and violence)and the purified conception expressed in modern constitutionaldemocracy. " ¶ The German democratic uprisings of 1820, '30 and '48 were planned towin a certain type of civil liberty. They failed. The question was"equality, " as well as popular "machinery" of representation. How wasit to be brought about? Modern "parliamentarism" had not as yet beeninvolved. ¶ The patriots of '48 had their Jacobin clubs in mild imitation of theFrench Revolution. Baden alone had 400, with a membership of 20, 000. "Every tavern and brewery, (Dahlinger, German Revolution of '49, p. 33), became a seat of democratic propaganda. " See, there stands the mighty Hecker, A feather in his hat, There stands the friend of the people, Yearning for the tyrants' blood; Big boots with thick soles, Sword and pistol by his side. ¶ Copied from French models was the word "Citizen. " We hear of CitizenBrentano, Citizen Franz Sigel, Citizen Ostenhaus, CitizenSchimmelpfennig; some of these leaders were extremely radical; butBrentano endeavored to keep the Revolution from becoming a record oflawlessness after the French Revolution type. (Dahlinger, p. 100). We cannot go into the various battles fought and lost. Many of theleaders were exiled, others shot. The patriots were as a rule youngcollegians, ambitious to rise in life, but sincerely holding tomodified conceptions of French Constitutionalism. There were a largenumber of journalists in the thick of the struggle, also professors inhigh schools. These chosen leaders, by various oratorical tricks, drewpolitical and social malcontents from every walk of life. ¶ In the end, Prussian troops put down the patriots. * * * * * ¶ In '48, all kings were under suspicion; it made no differencewhether the king was a good king or a bad king; a king was a king, andall kings were bad. The younger generation, especially became morbid over the word"Liberty!" What it really meant, in '48, was that human nature shouldrestrain itself, in order that all men might, immediately, enter intoso-called God-given political rights. The situation was somewhat analogous to that created after the CivilWar, in the United States. Certain political fanatics, weeping overthe Negroes, now demanded universal suffrage, literally, for theslaves, and in secret saw that by controlling the South, a "BlackRepublic" might be set up, side by side with our "White Republic. " ¶ Fraternity and equality--that was the cry in '48--glossed over bypolitico-religious glamour, expressed in the idea that men "ought" dothus and so, and therefore "a people's king" was in order. The peoplewere to crown themselves. For a thousand years the accepted political doctrine had been thatkings held office by Divine-right, but now orators of the dayharangued mobs proclaiming the literal belief that the voice of thepeople is the voice of God. While, thus, the new apostles ridiculed the old idea of Divine-right, as attached to the acts of monarch, leaders of the people saw noinconsistency in asserting attributes of political divinity in thedoings of the common people. Thus, a species of nebulouspolitico-religious humanism was pictured as the highest expression ofpolitical philosophy. The individual wished to come into his own and the quicker the better. Reformers shocked landed proprietors, titled folk and office-holdersunder kings, by demanding unconditional surrender of the machinery ofgovernment; zealots urged revolts against all manner of constitutedauthority. The point was to gain for the barber, the tailor, theshoemaker and the blacksmith more life, more political experience, more freedom of choice--and right on the next tick of the clock! ¶ There is this about it: that the Frankfort Convention offered toWilliam IV the "People's Crown" as a direct symbol of belief inpolitical idealism, not necessarily, however, the political idealismthat tolerates a king but instead uses him as a popular signboard. The Convention held that German unity "ought by right" to beestablished; therefore "once the grand Idea was set afloat" the cause"must by moral right come to pass. " ¶ Probably never before in the world was there formulated an outright, widespread expression of greater political idealism by men who calledthemselves patriots. There is a noble side to the sentiment, heightened the more as we realize the inevitable delusion of it all, translated into terms of human selfishness. Germany, so the zealots proclaimed, should by blood and language beunited; and in this respect orators of the hour were correct. Germany had a manifest destiny, the speakers continued, but in thisrespect they were guided by faith rather than by experience. At least, the momentary end of "manifest destiny" was clearly the politicalfunction; to be one and united. ¶ So far good. * * * * * ¶ Then why "should not" this noble German Idea be "accepted"? The wordIdea was usually presented with a capital letter, in form ofpersonification, so real had the thing become to German politicalorators. Certainly every German was ready to testify that National Unity hadbeen the one political dream of generations past and gone. Had not the old wandering minstrels sung of the Fatherland, alas, toolong delayed by miserable human selfishness! German bull-headednessinsisted on insularity, on individualism, on particularism, onstanding each petty monarch in his corner, with farce-comedy courtiersbowing and scraping while the rights of the peasant were forgotten. Assuredly, the day had come for this folly to cease. Then in Heaven'sname, why not a United Germany--here and now? * * * * * ¶ The petty passions of rival princes acted as a bar to the acceptanceof the glorious National Idea, spelled with the big "I. " Intense particularisms preferred loyalty to local princes, fashions, customs, dialects rather than to lose the old ways in the larger lifeof the German Nation. ¶ But Bismarck did not lose heart. CHAPTER IX So Much the Worse for Zeitgeist 30 We will never get at Bismarck through a study of the interplay of politics; suppose we state his case in terms of human nature? ¶ From this time on, the shelves are freighted with volume aftervolume of German political jargon, forming a bewildering diagonal offorces crossing and recrossing in thousands the tangled threads. Bismarck's presence runs throughout, but it is a long and complexstory, hard to comprehend and difficult to compress withoutsacrificing important details. ¶ We find "Grand Germans" against "Petty Germans"; Grimm, thephilologist, has his say against Simson, the jurist; Arndt, the poet, against Welcker, the publicist; the Frankfort parliament offering itspaper crown to the King of Prussia, imploring him to become ademocratic liberator and unifier; and on the other hand we hearBismarck in the Berlin Diet, urging the king to stand firm for the OldRegime; arks of free-speech from Polish insurgents, also ill-advisedyouth waving banners of blood; mobs in the Berlin streets, whiffs ofgrapeshot here and there to clear the air; John of Austria urgingsomething and the Prince Consort of England advising, post-haste, thekings of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Wuertemberg; the Assemblymanufacturing Magna Chartas, after noisy clashes of opinion. ¶ "There is not enough practical sense behind all, " says Bismarck, "tobuild a political chicken-coop, to say nothing of an empire. " Then, the patriots, so-called, leave for America, worn out with waiting forsome new freedom set down on paper; and of the motley crew, not one issufficiently wise, or strong enough to make head or tail of thecomplex situation. Barricades are thrown up, artillery plays upon themobs, and general blood-letting follows; thousands of lives aresnuffed out, to be charged up as advance sacrifices for politicalcohesion. Hapsburger against Hohenzollern, Protestant againstCatholic, Ultramontanes beholding the reign of Anti-Christ; Guelphsand Wittelsbachs, protesting their own peculiar and ancient lineageagainst self-seeking latter-day upstart aristocrats! ¶ And the problem grew darker as the months went by. * * * * * ¶ You may read till you are dizzy and then stand back and try to get abird's-eye view of the complicated quarrels of the Diet; the vagariesof Frankfort or Berlin; the brawls of this poet, that student, editor, publicist, or princeling; with soldiers of fortune hovering aroundwaiting, like vultures that have already a whiff of the carrion, fromafar. Instead of a bird's-eye, the incoherent mass of details comespiecemeal, and you get the toad's-eye view;--till we apply the simpleidea that behind it all is elemental human nature, with politics as amere frame to the picture. ¶ Look on Bismarck at this moment as one dealing with forces of humannature, the clash of many minds, ending by dominating over one andall, years hence, through his own inherent sagacity as a human beingagainst other and weaker members of his kind--and we get at once asignificant conception of the greatness of Bismarck's mentality, alsoof his innate craft, enabling him to triumph over a thousand obliqueforces, many of them firmly entrenched, and from a logical point fullyas defensible as were his own peculiar conceptions. ¶ It was not, after all, what this man or that prince or some otherruler thought, but what Bismarck thought, that turned the balance. A hundred instances could be offered to show that the men Bismarck wasfighting had the better part of the argument, as mere argument; butbetween opinion and making that opinion stick is a wide gulf--howeverlogical may be the argument. ¶ Bismarck was for the ensuing twenty years pictured as a noisydisturber, but he was shrewd, very shrewd. He could call a man "liar, ""thief, " "scoundrel, " "impostor, " in virile speechmaking, or couldpass him up with a shrug, all the while keeping a cold eye on the mainchance, and in the end getting his own way because he was strongenough to get his way--and that is all the logic there is in thesituation. 31 This miracle he did indeed perform; he turned back the political clock to feudal days and gloriously set up "Divine-right, " in the face of the intensely modern cry, "Let the People Rule!" ¶ Bismarck's amazing career affords a classical instance of what astrong man can do, even against the very spirit of his time! So much the worse for that Zeitgeist! The jade had to come to him, atlast, completely subdued, as in the "Taming of the Shrew. " ¶ As King's Man, Bismarck now preached "Divine-right" in an age ofdemocratic ideas. Thrones were falling everywhere; the inflammatory ideas of the FrenchRevolution had wrested from monarchs the form, if not the substance, of constitutional liberties for the masses. The people were clamoring for they knew not what; at any rate for somenew experiment in the quest for happiness, which they believed couldbe attained through new forms of government. Bismarck fought the neworder, and as late as A. D. 1870, restated the seemingly worn-outdoctrine of "Divine-right. " How did he accomplish this politicalmiracle? ¶ A strong leader, by tireless repetition of some idea, finally bringsabout faith in that idea. It does not follow that this leader mustnecessarily be wiser than the masses. It is always his will to power, rather than the inherent validity of his ideas. ¶ First, he stands alone with his idea, whatever it may be. Finally, one person is convinced? This is the beginning. Well, if one, why nottwo, then ten, then a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand? ¶ And so the wonder grows. ¶ At last, our stubborn man with the idea is believed! He now has hislong-awaited day to prove the force of his contribution to humanwelfare. ¶ There is a species of religious glamour over the old man's basicconception of respect for kings. The word king, for Bismarck, spellsfaith in discipline, obedience, loyalty to chosen leader--as againstexcesses sure to follow in turning over the Government to the rabble, according to the idea of the French Revolution. There is thiscondition to be made here: that Bismarck undoubtedly leaned as far inone direction as the old-line French Revolutionists did in another;Bismarck was an extremist no less than Danton, Marat, Robespierre. Butthere is also this distinction, in Bismarck's favor: He was a greatconstructive statesman and the French agitators turned out to be butassassins and political fools. ¶ We spare no one in this analysis, neither Bismarck nor Robespierre. Therefore, we boldly, here and now, call your attention to a certainstrange fallacy in all political ideals. ¶ The people expect some new form, or change of government, to makethem happy and free. The machinery of legislation is the thing. It isproclaimed the great leveler. ¶ Thus men eagerly try all manner of political enterprises, believingthat ultimately in some plan of government, social equality willresult. In the light of the anomaly that in spite of our efforts, wepersist in reverence for "the good old" days, as against theiniquities of the moment, it is clear that either we deceiveourselves, or are forever wandering about in a fool's paradise. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck at least does not justify cynical damnation. He wasintensely human, and so was the King of Prussia. It is playing withrace prejudice to call Prussia, after the French fashion, "That robberPrussia. " ¶ Nations act as do men individually, are swayed by forms of pride, passion and prejudice. If every nation that robbed or stole shouldreturn its loot of land, to whom would it ultimately go? ¶ The United States would not, at least, now be in possession ofCalifornia. But for that matter, the Spaniards stole her from theIndians, and the Indians from the Aztecs, and the Aztecs from we knownot whom. Always then, history justifies herself with the will topower--as manifested by the strongest! ¶ Take it by and large, this miracle he did indeed perform: He turnedback the political clock of Time to Feudal days, and gloriously set up"Divine-right, " in the face of the intensely modern cry, "Let thepeople rule!" 32 Secret chamber in this strange man's heart; the master at work for United Germany. ¶ The great Bismarck, during his long and turbulent career, as a rulerefused to remain loyal to party affiliations. The moment a party-theory no longer seemed expedient, the PrussianJunker reckoned neither on political friendship nor on politicalantipathy. His whole life, he was engaged in endeavoring to persuade others toadopt his policies, regardless of the fact that opposed policies mightbe supported by as much if not even by more logic. Bismarck alwaysjustified his opportunism by saying that his sense of duty wassuperior to his private feelings of love or hate; however, hisattitude was uniformly directed for or against conditions inproportion as, to his mind, they were charged with good or evil forhis beloved Prussia. Although one of the world's greatest among amiable despots, Bismarckalways held himself to be at once free from prejudice and under thehand of God. Even on this high ground, it would still be easy to show(by many startling episodes in Bismarck's career) well-nighinnumerable changes of front that, to the average mind, must pass asinconsistencies. ¶ Get clearly in mind, then, this giant's political attitudes of grosscontradiction, as between promise and performance--otherwise we willmiss the essence of Bismarck's genius as a statesman and his peculiarglory as a man large enough to stand beside Cæsar. ¶ Now here is the master-key, unlocking every door in the secretchambers of his heart: Bismarck, all his long life, kept himself inpower by his consummate knowledge of human nature. Shakespeare dealt with men, on paper, making them march this way orthat at the behest of his immortal genius. Bismarck dealt with men in the open arena of life, had no way ofcontrolling their actions except by the inspiration of his ownpractical, constructive genius. It is one thing to control a man's actions, on paper; whollyanother--and a greater triumph, is it not?--to master man's ways inthe market place, making those around you do not necessarily what theythink they ought, but do what you wish. Thus in some senses Bismarck appears in the figure of the superman;for there is absolutely no question that on many occasions he forcedstrong men to do his bidding, squarely against their individualpreferences! ¶ This huge bulk, this deep-drinking, gluttonous Bismarck, thisworld-defying voice, raged and stormed through his eighty-three yearsof life--making little men's souls shrink in fear--and ever theessence of his genius was for alignments with men, or against them, using this human clay ultimately for his own peculiar ends, as thepotter molds the mud. He knew too that despite the old German familyand tribal feuds, the Germans are brothers; standing apart it is trueat this hour, fighting each other; yet the day is to come whenBismarck will triumph in his Germany, one and united. It mattered not, he would make friends with his deadly enemy, if such a step seemedadvisable to carry out that cherished plan for a free and unitedGermany. If he could not bend men to his will by logic, he tried flattery, andif that failed he threatened war, and the war came, too, but not tillBismarck was good and ready. He took his own time, made preparationsthat defied disaster, then moved forward and swept his enemies off theface of the earth. ¶ Thus, there was always evidences of peculiar precaution, even inBismarck's boldest strokes. He never forgot himself, never did thingsby halves. It might take a week or a year, or ten years, that matterednot to Bismarck; in the end, he would bring his wishes to pass. Henever courted failure by hastening with some incomplete plan; but withthe certainty of Fate, Bismarck abided his time. Obliged to surmounttremendous obstacles, often set back, in the end he carried everythingby force before him. ¶ We are here reminded of those vast fields of snow seemingly in astate of dead rest, in the higher Alps, through many winters stillsecretly gaining bulk and encroaching inch by inch all unobserved uponthe doomed valley below; then, at the dropping of a mere pebble, theice begins to slide, nor does the dread avalanche pause for the sobsof the dying. So behind Bismarck's amazing preparedness his ofttimeslong deferred but inevitable destruction of his enemies seems to besomething that he borrows from the avalanche. It is at once massiveand inexorable, the power given to but few master-spirits in thehistory of the world. ¶ In political acumen, in administrative and executive capacityBismarck measures up with Cæsar. The smallest facts about such asBismarck are of more than ordinary interest. Too much time cannot bespent on this great character, in an endeavor to understand the secretsprings of his mighty powers. Aside from the mere biographic outlines of his career, the manpresents, in himself, a study that deserves all the thought that canbe put on it--in an effort to set forth the realism of his mightylife. 33 Bismarck shows himself master at quelling a meeting, checking a mob, stamping out a rebellion, and heading off a king. ¶ And after the Frankfort radicals found themselves unable to makeBismarck pick the German crown "out of the gutter, " they turned andtried to establish--what do you think?--a republic! By Autumn, the forces of Revolution spent themselves and Metternichdrove the rebels before him, as the hurricane blows chaff. Order wasre-established in Vienna and in the Italian states. The uncompromising Metternich restored the "Old Diet, " originallyordered by the Congress of Vienna, 1815, as the one authentic sourceof political legitimacy for the clashing German states. It was aclever Austrian by-play. * * * * * ¶ We now return to Berlin. In May, the blood-letting was over, but noprospect of political reform seemed immediately possible. Bismarck began using what might be called underground methods to headoff the demand for that long-promised democratic Constitution. ¶ Already the King began to see more clearly. It struck him that thisbrazen-faced giant might be useful, later on. Had not Bismarck said inhis now widely quoted speech: "Soon or late, the God who directs thebattle will cast his iron dice!" It gave His Majesty courage! ¶ The King looked to right and left, dissolved one Diet after theother, till he had one to suit him. Otto nudged his King. Thatmomentary weakness of marching with the democrats was something HisMajesty wished to forget! ¶ Bismarck's position must be clearly set forth. He was no merereactionary, brandishing his fists at new leaders, who favored thecommon people. He knew all about this liberty, equality and fraternitybusiness, from across the Vosges--and he despised the cure-all. Here is the idea in a few words: Bismarck was not fighting politicalliberalism, as an end; instead, he protested with his giant's strengthat the implied destruction of the Old Regime. ¶ He laid the revolt largely to the bureaucratic system, which hecharacterized as "The animal with the pen!" He stood fast by his good old Prussian dogma, as outlined in "I am aPrussian!" paralleling "Rule Britannia, " and other national hymns. The song is sung with wild martial vigor, akin to the furious appealof ancient Polish melodies: 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 marching forward! Though day be dull, though sun shine bright on me, I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be! Sixteen years later, when endeavoring with all his strength to bringabout German National unity, his "Prussians we are and Prussians wewill remain" was used against him with mocking effect. * * * * * ¶ By October, nerves were steadied. The King sent Gen. Wangrel tooccupy Berlin and disperse the radicals--with cannon, if necessary. That speech has the right sound; but William has before this veeredaround many times, like a weather-vane, and may he not shift again? For the instant, he stood for the Old Regime and Divine-right. ¶ The following month William appointed Brandenberg, an old-linePrussian aristocrat, Prime Minister. The siege of Berlin was declared;the Assembly protested but finally gave in. Along in December, withoutconsulting the Assembly, William invited the states to send delegatesto Berlin and made an alliance of three kings--Prussia, Saxony andHanover. ¶ What is going to happen next? 34 At last the people have a share in their government, but Bismarck sees to it that the radicals are not favored. ¶ William's "Tri-regal alliance" failed as fail it must on account ofjealousies. Then Wuertemberg replied with a "quadruple" affair, composed of herself, Hanover, Bavaria and Saxony, side by side, undera constitution acceptable to Austria. Quite a stroke, that. In turn, William set up his Erfurt parliament, March 20, 1850. Bismarck was fast becoming a "practical politician. " Through deftstacking of the cards, the radical delegates drew only the low cards, and the Kreuz-Zeitung crowd and other ultra-conservatives were wellsupplied with aces and kings. Bismarck naturally urged more concessions to the Prussian spirit; hetried also to muzzle the press gallery, calling newspapers"fire-bellows of democracy. " Later, he even started newspapers for his political purposes. In thishe was not inconsistent, merely logical; his attitude was based on thefact that, at this particular time, he felt called on to fight hostileeditors; but made terms wherever it seemed worth while. Such was theman's discriminating glance. ¶ The Erfurt "tongue tournament" Bismarck called the whole affair. Hedid not oppose the King's position in this matter, because, asBismarck said, "it makes no difference. " He spoke contemptuously ofthe mystical high-flown speeches. Its "Constitution" was quicklyforgotten! ¶ Bismarck's course would have been made somewhat easier had he notopenly refused to sit with President Simpson, at the Erfurtconvention, denouncing the President as "a converted Jew!" ¶ The convention broke up, to meet again in Berlin, where a PrussianConstitution was drawn up. ¶ Events moved rapidly. Austria now stood forth for resumption ofauthority by the Old Diet, established by the Congress of Vienna, while from Berlin one heard of a plan for a "restricted union. " Talk, talk, talk. Finally, in September, 1850, Austria invited Prussiato a seat in the Old Diet. Prussia refused, and the cat was out of thebag. It meant that German Unity must come through Prussian supremacy andAustrian humiliation--otherwise all might well be forgotten. But Austria was by no means so easily disposed of. There was much lifeand fighting blood in her yet! ¶ Bismarck's opinions during his years of preparation were, on thewhole, unchanging, though often presented in different dress. In 1848, he bitterly objected to the King's softness in recalling his troopsfrom Berlin, instead of definitely crushing the March rebellions; in'49, he stood steadily beside the King in refusing the people's crown, from Frankfort; in 1850, he deplored the Prussian diplomatic defeat atOlmuetz, but swallowed his mortification because he saw that Prussiawas not ready to strike; "and he thereon assisted in reconciling hisparty to a policy which he deplored. " This situation convinced Bismarck that the first duty of a Prussianstatesman is to strengthen the army, "that the King's opinions can beupheld at home; likewise backed by the mailed fist, Prussian authoritywill be respected abroad. " ¶ "My idea, " he says in his Memoirs, "was that we ought to prepare forwar, but at the same time to send an ultimatum to Austria, either toaccept our conditions in the German question, or to look out for ourattack. " * * * * * ¶ Thus out of the Revolution of 1848, Prussia emerged with a writtenConstitution, establishing a legislative assembly and giving thepeople a share in their government. ¶ Bismarck's inconsistencies? Yes, by the score, but he was playing adeep game of politics, for his King, and for his beloved German Unity. Always, you must understand that Bismarck scorned the politicalMillennium alleged to have been brought in by the French Revolution;with the political ideas from over the Vosges Bismarck would havenothing to do. That old war-cry "the people" made him sick! Hebelieved in discipline and not in mob-rule. But he would not rushunprepared into the war. ¶ It is a fact that, in 1850, Prussia had cause for war far more justthan that on which she seized in 1866. But Bismarck made his famousanti-war speech! ¶ "Woe to the statesman who does not look about for a reason for thewar that will be valid, when the war is over!" were his astonishingsentiments. ¶ What he really meant was that Prussia was not just then ready tofight; hence, he painted war as detestable; later on, however, weshall see how he looks upon war, when Prussia is ready! ¶ Prussia, through her political endorsement of the people (1850) didnot suddenly become a Parliamentary state, despite William's newConstitution. Broad privileges were granted, but Prussia remained anabsolute monarchy. While there was henceforth to be a certainrestricted cooperation between Crown and Crowd, the Divine-righttheory that had come down through the ages was not weakened or itsauthority compromised; in short, by conciliating certain hostilepopular elements, led by fire-breathing first-cousins of the FrenchRevolutionists, a large part of the hated Liberal programme was doneaway with, in turn consolidating the power of the Prussian kings. ¶ This situation also defines the political evolution essential beforeGermany could become a Nation. Despite various historians, Germanycould not at this hour have proclaimed herself a Republic. ¶ Bismarck realized more and more, as he grew in experience and power, that the Germans were sick unto death of political experiments; theywanted unity, as a matter of course, but by unity they really meant ahead to the National house; a strong father, to advise, protect andpunish his children. The parallel extends to the German idea ofNational rule; thoroughness, efficiency, discipline take the place ofpolitical expediency, job-holding for the mere sake of job-holding; inchurch, in state and in family life the idea of a great centralAuthority alone satisfies the German mind. ¶ Thus, the German conception of a Nation is intensely practical; thestate is not merely an aggregation of office-holders, but the state isprimarily a vast institution, efficiently administered by the bestminds, and these servants of the people are instantly responsible tothe great central authority, whose power of removal for cause may beexercised as the father corrects his children, for the good of thefamily. * * * * * ¶ To these fundamental ideas, based on the soul of the German people, Bismarck now addressed himself for many years to come. He knew whatthe German race demands; his analysis was psychologically correct, although few patriots of '48 could see it that way. * * * * * ¶ As his years of apprenticeship pass, Bismarck carries on his missionin a new way: is decided to lead Prussia to the conquest of Germany;is done with political platform-making except in so far as thealignments of politics lend themselves to his final purpose. ¶ With political instinct for gigantic projects carried out withrealism, the King's Man now determined the bold outlines of hisNational policy. He did not worry about details: these he would fill in, as timepassed; but he would on one side hold fast to German National unityand on the other side would sustain Prussian kingcraft as the veryvoice of God for Germany; one of Bismarck's strongest ideas was thatthe King of Prussia was the vicegerent of Christ on this earth. Inshort, Germany must come through Prussian supremacy, and incidentallyexalt Prussian supremacy, otherwise it might not come at all. * * * * * ¶ To clear William's Divine-right once for all, so far as our storygoes, let it be known that German historians have always laid stresson the respect of Teutonic tribesmen, from ancient days, for theleadership of a strong fighting man. Tacitus, the earliest writer ofimportance, detailing the lives of Teutonic tribes, sets forth that itwas the custom of the German warriors in times of crises to selecttheir strong man and endow him with the power of rulership; looking tohim in turn to lead the tribe to war against the common enemy. Thisreliance upon kings who were also powerful war lords continuingthrough the centuries, satisfied the fundamental aspirations of theGermans in their will to military power; but as the generations passedthe old story of human nature was proved anew, that is to say, whatbegins as a "privilege" ends as a "demanded right. " On the side of thekings, was now proclaimed more loftily than ever that monarchy is thevoice of God. BOOK THE FOURTH Blood is Thicker than Water CHAPTER X Socrates in Politics 35 Perfecting himself in political intrigue and in vituperative debating, also in caustic letter-writing; all is necessary grist for the Bismarck mill. ¶ We come now to the year 1851. ¶ The entrance of Emperor Francis Joseph, at this time, on thepolitico-military stage of Austria was followed by still another eraof political reaction; the Liberal Austrian constitution, wrestedduring the riots, was revoked; as were also those Democraticconstitutions pledged for almost every German state. ¶ The Germanic Confederation, with political legitimacy vested in thecurious Frankfort Parliament, again took the field. It was an Austrianplan to get the advantage of Prussia. ¶ "If I do not do well, you can recall me, " Bismarck told William. TheKing decided in his extremity to hazard the appointment of the unknownBismarck, as Prussian delegate to Frankfort. William remembered thosebold "White Saloon" speeches. ¶ Now get this straight: Bismarck was a land-owner of ancient days;estates won by the sword had been in the Bismarck family for 600years; nay, the Bismarcks traced their knighthood to the far-distantyear 1200. The force of this appeal in the blood was at once profoundand irresistible. ¶ Bismarck to the day he died was always an Alt Mark vassal to hisliege lord and master, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the King ofPrussia. So much is clear. Bismarck was also much more than this. We repeat, he was a leader ofmen. The King of Prussia could command old families in scores if notin hundreds, to support the Ancient Regime, socially and politically, but where find that rare man, a born leader for the cause? ¶ Duty and self-interest prompted Bismarck to hold up the royal hand, but after all is said, the vital force of Bismarck's endorsement wasfound in the man's genius for leadership. It was not so much the causeas it was the man. For had Bismarck gone over to the other side thehistory of Germany would have been vastly different. ¶ This Frankfort parliament, a hydra-headed political creationdedicated to liberty, was in secret doing the purposes of Austrianplutocracy and reaction; it was to be the last stand of the OldRegime, against Democracy. But it was necessary to move with cautious foot. The sappers were atwork under the thrones, and at any instant the mines might be touchedoff. ¶ Bismarck thus, quite by accident, finds himself the representativeof William IV, in Frankfort Diet or Bundestag, the political Punch andJudy show originally set up by Metternich, in 1815, to rule thequarreling thirty-nine German states. Their intense individualism wassuch that Metternich, who dominated at the Congress of Vienna, afterthe downfall of Napoleon, did not know what was best. All other parts of Europe, and even the islands of the seas had beenreassigned, but no human being could tell what to do with theturbulent thirty-nine German states. ¶ "Here, then, was a mysterious 'Court of Chance, ' where thingsdragged on for years, a political circumlocution office, hopelesslybound by its own interminable seals, parchments and red tape. " The secret object was to do nothing that would not favor Austria; withthe idea that, in the end, the devious course of politics would bringAustria final control of the German lands, everywhere. ¶ It was in this absurd Parliament that Bismarck was to perfecthimself in political intrigue. Frankfort made no organic laws; thesewere mysteriously settled at Vienna; the meetings of the Diet wereheld in secret; at best, the voting was along lines that gave toAustria and not to Prussia the deciding voice. * * * * * ¶ It did not take Bismarck long to find that at Frankfort the King ofPrussia was but a cipher. Furthermore, what raised Bismarck's ire wasthe impotence of the Parliament. Frankfort had been unable to put downthe blood-letting of '48, and Bismarck detested weakness of any kind, mental, physical or spiritual. He was, and always remained, a profound extremist; but his positionwas tempered by massive common sense. ¶ The world dearly loves a flunkey--and flunkeyism was universal atFrankfort. The many members fluttered about in gay military dress, wore stars ofsham authority, gold crosses, medals dangling from bright ribbons. Names prefixed by count, duke, margrave--crests on the coach door andLatin mottoes--hyphenated family names, indicated all manner ofpolitical marriages de convenience. Bestarred gentlemen, one and all, if you please! ¶ Bismarck wrote home soon enough, for he was choking with anger, noton account of the aristocratic airs of Frankfort (for Bismarck dearlyloved a title), but choking with anger because his beloved King ofPrussia was a Nobody in this crazy Parliament. "I find them a drowsy, insipid set of creatures, only endurable when I appear among them asso much pepper, " are his sarcastic words. * * * * * ¶ Had Bismarck not been a diplomat, he might have made his mark as aradical writer. His letters very often show almost anarchisticdissent. At vulgar characterization, no man could outsnarl Bismarck. Also this Pomeranian giant's correspondence at times fairly stinkswith frightful smells. When in these black moods, he released nastyfumes around the heads of rivals. We are surprised, likewise, to find growing in the mire of histhoughts, here and there, violets worthy of the poet Freiligrath. Theman's power to be poetical or insulting, as he willed, is indeed asstrange as it is rare. ¶ Bismarck's pen pictures of fellow ambassadors--how they flirted, danced, drank to excess, their maudlin ideas of government, althoughregarding themselves as veritable political seers--show the powerfulsatirical and analytical side of Bismarck's brain. And although Bismarck mocked with sardonic immensity his colleagues, yet with an under-play worthy of the Devil, our Otto proceeded to makethese owlish and absurd gentlemen puppets in the hands of Prussia. ¶ Alas, time does not permit us to set forth the charming lettersBismarck writes home. There is that moonlight swim in the Danube; theinterview with Metternich, the old war-horse of kings; the gypsy balland the weird fiddling gypsies; his visits to robber-infested parts ofHungary, making the trip in part in a peasant's cart, "loaded pistolsin the straw at our feet, and near by a company of lanciers carryingcocked carbines, against the imminent visits of robber bands. " He describes how he visited Ostend, going sea-bathing at that famousresort; rambling on through Holland, smoking a long clay pipe; then onto Sweden for the shooting; next to Russia for wild boars. ¶ His letters often have a lyrical quality, telling of waterfalls ofthe Pyrenees, the fascinating fairyland of Mendelssohn, dark-eyedSpanish beauties, open-air concerts, London garroters, old mustyhouses with peculiar smells, or what you will. Bismarck dwells oftenon eating and drinking; and in one letter from Paris speaks of adinner at which he drank St. Julien, Lafitte Branne, Mouton, Pichon, Larose, Latour, Margaux, and Arneillac! ¶ These, and hundreds of other letters comprise charming interludesbetween black moods of political intrigue, wherein he used hisvitriolic pen to lampoon his beribboned, bejeweled farce-comedyfellow-ambassadors. ¶ "Germany is tied together with red tape, " writes Bismarck at thisstage of his political apprenticeship, at Frankfort; and he hit thenail on the head. ¶ Promise yourself a delightful month reading Bismarck's four octavovolumes telling of his change of heart toward Austria, as shown littleby little in Frankfort dispatches, documents and proceedings, interspersed with satirical stories in Bismarck's extremelyindividualistic style. Throughout, you receive glimpses of the man'sgreat mind. No less an authority than the Herr Prof. Von Sybel tellsus of these Bismarck writings, bearing on the formation of the GermanEmpire: "They possess a classic worth, unsurpassed by the best Germanprose writers of any age. " 36 Applying Socratic methods to game of politics; Bismarck's bold and masterful preparations for German unity. ¶ Now then, during these years 1851-'61, Bismarck was doing twothings: Perfecting himself in the dastardly art of political intrigue;likewise, he was going about like a modern Socrates, talking with menof high or low degree everywhere; studying what might be called thehuman nature side of the German problem of unity and nationality;studying it, not in an aimless way, but to mould men to his owngigantic political ends, when the right time arrived. ¶ Thus, with the stiff wind of adverse political affairs straight inhis teeth, remember that Bismarck's great strength was always hisknowledge of men. During the years of which we now write he made it his business tovisit the various petty German courts, to gaze on princelings whowould be kings; busied himself with court gossip till he found out theinner political jealousies. Thus fortified, Bismarck knew the one man or woman to touch in thevarious parts of Germany, to help along Prussian ambition--when thesupreme moment to strike had come at last. ¶ This supreme moment he awaited with diabolical patience through theslow-going years. No human being could hasten or retard Bismarck's ultimate victory; forhe remained the one truly masterful man in Europe. He sat at gambling tables, he wheedled secrets from the prostitutes ofprinces; he stood by and egged on human dog-fights; he took part inchurch-rows about doctrines; he had inside glimpses of the venality ofAustrian kept-press-writers, "the scum of the earth, " he calls them, "who sell opinions as the petty merchant sells butter and eggs. "Bismarck seemed to be the only man in Europe who really was able tograsp the solution of the German problem. ¶ Also, the granite soil of his heart is shown again and again. What ahater he was! For example, refusing to go to Mass for the repose of Schwarzenberg'ssoul, Bismarck gave the reason: "He is the man who said: 'I will abusePrussia and then abolish her. '" * * * * * ¶ You see, our Otto is one of those uncomfortable Germans who in hisown amazing personality expresses the National ideal of earnestness;Otto is frightfully in earnest in his cups, or over his half dozeneggs for breakfast--as you please. He frightens timid souls. ¶ His temper few men could curb, much less sit calmly by and receivewithout retiring in bad order. Incident after incident at Frankfortmight be cited, but what is the use? ¶ With fiendish earnestness Bismarck plotted to break the bones of twodemocratic editors whose writings threw the Prussian mastiff intoperiodical black rages. Bismarck justified his cruelty by insistingthat "bounds must be set for these infamous press scribblings. " Hemeans that attacks on the Divine-right of kings must at all hazards bechoked off. He always hated journalists, called the press "a poisonedwell, " and as for himself he is on record to this effect: "I alwaysapproached the ink-bottle with great caution. " ¶ But mark this well: Our Otto, in his turn, craftily used the pressto present the smooth side of his own political intriguing; indeed hehad his very valuable Prussian press bureau; and we have authority forthe statement that the Bismarckian idea of journalism was to have"hireling scribes well in hand, men who stabbed like masked assassinsand mined like mobs. " ¶ During the decade we call Bismarck's apprenticeship, 1851-'61, hewas thus engaged: 1851, envoy at Frankfort Diet; 1852, Prussianambassador at Vienna, during the illness of Count Arnim; St. Petersburg, 1859; Paris, 1862. Thus, he had an opportunity to get acquainted with all the leadingdiplomatists on the European chessboard, to study them in their ownhaunts, and to perfect himself in playing with pitch withoutblackening his hands. ¶ Bismarck told Francis Joseph, "I am firm to put an end to theattacks on Prussia in the Austrian press!" This boldness won the Emperor, and in confidence he remarked to afriend: "Ah, that I had a man of Bismarck's audacity. " ¶ Also, he told Joseph, "Prussia will never yield in the matter of thecommercial union, with Austria. " The Emperor remarked on Bismarck's youth--37 years--and was muchimpressed. "Bismarck had the wisdom of a man of 70!" was Joseph'scomment. * * * * * ¶ You begin to get a clearer idea of what this thing called patriotismmeans? Nay, do not scoff at our Otto; he is only carrying on the old, old game called reaching out after place and power; is doing exactlywhat you would do yourself, if you had the will to rise to themountain-tops where live the Bismarcks and the Cæsars. Mask after mask Bismarck used to cover his real intent, from 1847 to1870, the long years he was scheming to establish a German Empire; andhe did his work well; more than that cannot be said of any man. Therefore, his fame is secure in the Valhalla of Mankind. * * * * * ¶ Here is an amusing bit, showing the craft and cunning of our master:When Napoleon the Little, through his coup d'etat made himself Emperorof France, December 2, 1851, and while Frankfort's Parliament wastrying to decide "what" to say about it, officially, a French journalin Frankfort printed an enthusiastic endorsement of the new Emperor. Bismarck suspected that it came straight from Prussia's hated rival. Seeking out the proprietor of the newspaper Bismarck congratulatedhim "on close relations with Napoleon. " The owner, taken off hisguard, replied: "You are wrong; it came from Vienna!" This was exactlywhat Bismarck wished to ascertain, and his suspicions were verified. To make assurance doubly sure, Bismarck leaving the journalist, did alittle detective work. In the garden, from a secret place, he couldsee the French minister's house. In half an hour, he spied thejournalist ringing the French minister's doorbell. "Ah, ha!" was Bismarck's comment. * * * * * ¶ What did this giant not do to help his beloved Prussia, and tohumiliate his detested Austria? One day, he found a fiery anti-Prussian review in an Austrian member'sdesk. He thought nothing of ransacking a desk. Richelieu had a systemof espionage unrivaled in history. Bismarck in this respect is theCardinal's close second. Each man regarded himself as a patriot. Bismarck was obstinately loyal to Prussia. Her aggrandizement becamehenceforth his life's passion. Nay, Bismarck did not ask that themember be dismissed! That would be punishment too coarse. Instead, Bismarck decided that the best revenge would be to print the addresspiecemeal and thus keep the member in suspense;--something liketwisting the cords a little each day till the victim meetsstrangulation in frightful form. ¶ During the eight years that Bismarck was a member of the freakishFrankfort Diet set up by Austria to "rule" the quarreling thirty-nineGerman states, Bismarck, the Prussian giant, came to see the necessityof controlling the press. ¶ Frankfort stupidities decided Bismarck to appeal directly to thecommon people (whom also he politically despised!) and hence we findthat he now meets Austria's hired journalists by urging the utmostpress-freedom. "In this, " says Lowe, "Bismarck was an opportunist, " ashe often was. "I learned something, " he used to say when his enemiesaccused him of shifting ground. ¶ Bismarck now demanded "open discussion" of German policies; saw thathired press agents vigorously set forth the Prussian side. In thisconnection it is interesting to draw a parallel between Bismarck'sideas of journalism, in 1852, and the American conception (1915). ¶ "In the press, truth will not come to light through the mistsconjured into life by the mendacity of subsidized newspapers, untilthe material wherewith to oppose all the mysteries of the Bund(Frankfort) shall be supplied to the Prussian press, with unrestrictedliberty to use it. " ¶ This idea is precisely what extremists like Roosevelt set up (1915), battling against "trusts, " endeavoring to make them audit their bookson the curbstone! So, what is new under the sun? 37 Ox-like patience of Prussian peasantry sorely tried--The incessant call for the strong man to end political miseries. ¶ As the result of all this deep study, Bismarck came to theconclusion that Prussia in the great moral idea of a United Germanycould win, only by fighting Austria. We might as well get at the coreof this thing, in short order. The complications are amazing; but themore we probe into Bismarck's gigantic problem, the larger grows thestature of our modern German giant. ¶ From this time till the hour of his death, many years later, Bismarck remains the one great central will power of Germany, thesource of political legitimacy, dealing out with his brawny handsfavors where they would do the most good, setting men up or castingthem down; and in the end, through a series of profound politicalcombinations the inner currents of which to this hour no human beinghas been able to chart and classify, our strong man at last is to setup his United Germany, placing the imperial crown on William's head inthe palace of the French kings, at Versailles. ¶ Oh, how unforgivable all this is to the French. Not only that defeatshould come in '70, but that the palace of the Bourbons, costing some$200, 000, 000, should be used in solemn mockery by the super-manBismarck, as the stage-setting whereby to complete the imperialGerman holiday! Centuries must pass before this, the profoundmortification to French feelings, is forgotten. That is to say, theworst thing you can do to a man is to hurt his pride. Had the GermanEmpire come to pass without wounding French pride (not to add theFrench pocketbook) the French would long since have gone on their wayin peace, rejoicing in German prosperity. Why not? The French areChristians, not the slightest doubt of that; and as Christians do notenvy the German ox, ass or maid-servant. Indeed, that is as it shouldbe in a Christian world. * * * * * ¶ At home, up in Prussia, Bismarck's sullen glances surveyed Europeafar, and in the '50's, of which we are writing, this is his problem: He sees Germany still a mere crazy-quilt of clashing states. There arewarring ecclesiastical barons, free cities, petty princelings;Catholic Bavaria against Protestant Prussia; nobles against thepeople; the people against themselves, divided by God knows whatcontroversies, sane or insane; poets writing their hymns of libertythen dying unheroically by a brickbat flung wildly in some streetbrawl; jurists trying to hammer together some constitution that willnot be blown to pieces by the first explosion of gunpowder;--and allfailing! With pugnacious Prussia on the North, with rapacious Austriaon the South, with insolent Bavaria hanging off on the Southwest, andthe others fighting tooth and nail for the land, that will eventuallyfall to the strongest--the German problem became an exhibition overmany years of the noblest, likewise of the darkest, passions of thehuman breast. Three dreadful wars were to be fought, 80, 000 lives were to besacrificed, during twenty years of turbulence; and in theblood-drenched interim various monarchs are to make a plaything of thethirty-nine disunited German states. ¶ But the thing had to be gone through with. The historical evolutioncould not be hastened, although it was often set back. Sick Germanyhad many a hideous nightmare before the fever passed. Convention after convention, diet after diet, contending monarchsusing any plea that will give the upper hand to Prussia or to Austria, or over princes and whimsical knights, from the one who holds hissovereignty because his ancestor had been a king's barber, to anotherwho in a lucky moment had found the queen's lace handkerchief, andafter that lived like a parasite on the land;--all these highcontracting parties must be sent to the dump heap and the soilsprinkled with precious German brothers' blood, mingling freely withvile blood, before the new political crop can grow. ¶ Between 1750 and 1870 the German problem had been settled over andover again, but was not finally settled till by Bismarck's blood andiron. This means in Frederick the Great's own obstinate way! ¶ We have heard from political fanatics, poets, lawyers, kings, thieves, church-people; all manner of men and not a few women havebabbled and cackled; and there has been blood-letting, generationafter generation, all up and down the Rhine, the Main, the Spree andthe Elbe; then there would follow a lull brought about by some greatCharter of Liberty framed by the Liberals, at their latest conference;and when it all went up in smoke, we would hear again that thePrussian government had its own plan, which, quite naturally Austriawould never consent to advance. ¶ Indeed, the ox-like patience of the German people, with their greatmoral dream of "German National faith, " was strongly tried. ¶ It remained for the obstinate spirit of Frederick, through Bismarck, to find the only way, by blood and iron. Sentimentalists should notshed tears. It is no less an authority than Marshal Davout, the greatFrench soldier who had for his watchword, "The world belongs to theobstinate. " Was not the Great Frederick, in his youth, an idealist, and did he notwrite a touching essay on the evils of absolutism? But he ended byembracing the tyranny of kings--even as you and I, if we have thepower. * * * * * ¶ At the very outset, then, let it be made clear that it isshort-sighted to call Bismarck Prussian tyrant. What would you, please? Cakes for the child, when the child cries? That has often beentried, and always in vain. Next time, the child wants two cakes instead of one. It will not do. Frederick was dubbed the "last of the tyrants. " We are sorry if thiswere true. Tyrants are exceedingly useful. Nay, we are glad to report thatFrederick is not the last. They still exist in every family, village, city, state, and nation. For the most part, they exercise their tyranny in petty exactions, with no big plan such as distinguishes the dominating man from thelittle fellow with the mean temper and his childish ambition to rule, let us say, his dog or his wife. ¶ There is something pathetic in the incessant call this earth has fora strong man. It was so in Germany, and Bismarck was that man. Cæsar was assassinated because he was said to be a tyrant, yet afterhis death for 400 years Rome sought in vain for a man strong enough tohold the Empire from going to pieces. ¶ Is there not something puzzling in the devotion of a people to theiramiable oppressor? They may rebel against absolutism, as Bavarianhates Prussian, but if the political despot is strong enough to winagainst foreign foes, as Bismarck did at Koeniggraetz, Sedan andGravelotte, the people kiss the hand that smites. What greater testsof loyalty do you ask of human nature? ¶ Before 1866, he was without doubt the "best-hated" man in Europe, lampooned, ridiculed, even the victim of attempted assassinations. At Frankfort mothers sang their children to sleep by the followingditty: Sleep, darling, sleep, Be always gentle and good, Or Vogel von Falkenstein will come And carry you away in a sack; Bismarck too will come after him, And he eats up little children. ¶ Yet within a few years, in his character as Prussian Prime Minister, who against the will of the people achieved the greatness of Prussia, and thereby made possible United Germany, no adulation was too greatfor our self-same Bismarck, formerly sneered at, despised, vilified, and stoned. So much for the value of public opinion. What then does it all mean? Bismarck made his 30-years' battle against the people and won; and thepeople, strange to say, turned a mental somersault and now saw noinconsistency in cheering Bismarck, as liberator. ¶ How strange this sounds! 38 Here is the Man of the Hour, depicted in all his naked realism. ¶ This amazing German problem called for a wise despot, to confrontand overawe weak men, gathered in German parliaments in which therewere worlds of cackling, but no wisdom. The curse of Germany had been too much speechmaking, too much poetry, too much dreaming. The babble went on from 1815 to 1866, atleast--fifty years! ¶ The times called for a hard-headed, dogmatic, tyrannical man with aplan large enough to subdue the thirty-nine warring parts, and weldthe whole into a mighty Empire. This meant a tyrant of the massive Frederick the Great type. It calledfor a man erect and proud, keen of speech, with absoluteself-confidence, who in a pinch was master at underhand dealing, andwho could deliberately use harshness and malice. The man had to understand the delicate art of flattery, and at othertimes be blustering and outspoken. The roar of cannon should make him as cold as ice, but underneath hisfrozen exterior he should have a fiery nature, full of craft andguile, like a Gascon. He should have a torrent of cutting words, his eyes should flash andhis blood should boil, yet he should be able to wage a secret war, masked under compliments, or draw his dagger and strike for the heart. He should have thousands of enemies and prevail over them all. He should have boundless ambition; action should be the zest of hislife, and at crucial times he should display an uncontrollable temper. He should seek the path of glory; a man of fiery enthusiasm, who neverforgives an enemy; has fits of rage; is jealous; a great swordsman, fights duels; a master horseman, able to ride day and night withoutfatigue. He should be at once cautious and headlong, realizing that in the endit is the bold play that wins. He should be able to live down publicutterances that would cause other men years of disgrace. He should beable to quell a mutiny, check a mob or stamp out a rebellion. And, above all, whether admired or detested, he should justify his careerby succeeding in what he started to do. ¶ In other words, he must be Bismarck, the greatest empire-buildersince Cæsar's day--yes, not even barring Napoleon, for Napoleon'sempire crumbled to dust, yet Bismarck's, fresh with youth, still liveson! CHAPTER XI The Mailed Fist 39 Supporting Bismarck's idea of the mailed fist; Democracy stems from and is supported by aristocracy. ¶ Why is it that, in the American Republic, there is aversion toacknowledging the services of men sprung from aristocracy, likeBismarck? Are the facts unrecognized, or is the silence only anotherform of political quackery? ¶ To bring the matter home, let us ask, "How is it in the UnitedStates?" Washington was an aristocrat of fortune, one of the richestmen of his time, dispassionate, cold, aloof; Hamilton, an aristocratof breeding, contributing his quota to democracy, as he saw it;Lafayette, an aristocrat of birth, helped us gain our liberty; andcertainly Jefferson, an aristocrat of intellect as well as of fortune, the owner of 185 slaves, and the gifted author of the Declaration ofIndependence, offered inestimable services to the common people. ¶ Off-hand, the average biographer records this: "Bismarck had noconfidence in the common people. He fought a written Constitution. Hedid not wish to see his King yield an inch to the masses. It was theCrown against the Crowd. Violently reactionary, he blockedprogress--for there can be no progress without change. He was tryingto force the stream of time backward, instead of going with the tide. " * * * * * ¶ An American who for the first time follows the history of theUnifier of Germany begins very early in the investigation to have afeeling of apprehension. He is sure that Bismarck is a reactionary;his ideas are so out of "harmony" with the spirit of the times, theair full of the "liberty, equality and fraternity. " Bismarck's attempt to sustain the monarchial system, especially theidiotic conception of "Divine-right" of kings, as against the risingtide of "confidence in the people, " has about as much chance forsuccess as that the slavery system could be re-introduced into theUnited States, after that question had been settled by five years'war. Thus you conclude, from the American view! ¶ As you read on and on, you feel that on the very next page, Bismarckwill surely go to the scaffold, or will fall by the dagger of some"friend of the people, " a thug ever after regarded as the veritableSavior of his country for the assassination of the enemy of the commonpeople. * * * * * ¶ The much ridiculed "Divine-right" of kings is cognizable as a rightbased on the survival of the fittest, backed by the sword; filledwith human weaknesses and shortcomings, but defensible as a system, withal; just as the real intent of the words "captain of industry"should mean one whose fatherly care over his laborers, his judgment, his risk of capital, his foresight in weathering bad times--redoundsto the immediate prosperity of the workers with whom he can have noquarrel. ¶ To those who make light of Bismarck's theory of blood and iron, ingovernment, it should be pointed out that all governments that endure, regardless of what theory you may work under, in the end fall to thestrongest;--just as in a family fight the estate goes to thestrongest, or in a partnership fight, or in religion, science, socialaffairs, love or war, the strong man has his way over the weak; and itis still to be proven that the American democracy, which at best isonly another of manifold experiments in self-government, is to surviveas long as have in the past royalist ideas--already that havepersisted for thousands of years. ¶ So, we have invented Democracy out of a thousand costly expendituresof blood and treasure. We protest that this latest experiment ingovernment is to endure forever more, but not one man in a thousandhas any real conception of the Democracy in which all men shall workfor a common National end. Thus, Democracy is fully as large an experiment as any other in theHalls of Time; and today we are still nursing childish ideals, attempting to level men by legislation, and incidentally takingsatisfaction in stoning our public servants, decrying wealth, androbbing the individual of any broad conception of responsibility. 40 Parallel elements that make for power in America and Germany. ¶ It is difficult for a certain type of American mind to getBismarck's point of view. This is because of the failure to recognizethat in whatever respect Absolutism and Republicanism may differ, asforms of government, the fact remains that it is society, and nothuman nature, that has been transformed. The old motives, ambition, love, war, marriage, pride, prejudice, still sum up underlyingconditions, however firmly any government may seem to be established, called by whatever name, and led by Crown or Crowd. In addition, allhistory forecasts the ultimate ruin of any régime founded on humannature. ¶ As between the share which belongs to each man, and the share whichdoes not belong to him but to the body politic, expressed in areciprocal concession, upon each side, for the good of the state--thatdream of governmental idealism has never yet been attained, even infree America, to say nothing of Germany, France, England or Russia, and men will continue to annex the spoils to their private estates aslong as men are what they are, at heart. ¶ The elements that make for a desire to grasp power, in free America, are essentially the same, though in a different dress, as they were inPrussia, in Bismarck's day. We are wont to dismiss this matter with a shrug and charge all theturmoil up to a senseless desire on the part of the King of Prussia toforce, for his own aggrandizement, his rule on an unwilling people, and we therefore call Bismarck a tyrant, as though in this conclusionwe thus elevated our own virtues by a shuddering "May-God-forbid!"sort of recognition of Bismarck's political vices. * * * * * ¶ The old man had a grand idea just the same; he devoted his life tobuilding up a free and united Germany. His intense belief in Germanvirtues made his task sacred. He met the desire for a National causeand for greater freedom. He had to carry men by storm. ¶ However offensive, politically speaking, may seem in democraticAmerica Prussia's "Divine-right" theory, it is a fact that we, also, appeal to the god of battles just as Bismarck did. We open ourCongress with prayers often couched in conceited belief that God is onour side; while our historians have repeatedly dwelt on the fact thatAmerica has a "manifest destiny, " a phrase reiterated by editors theland over till it has sunk deep into the public conscience. Therefore, in democratic America, we avow that we are in the hands of the Lord;an idea secretly nourished by millions of Americans who would publiclydeny that any such Feudal conception as Divine-right of kings couldpossibly exist in related form, in the United States. Surely we cannot mean that Divinity has anything to do with themajorities in an American election? ¶ Then this "manifest destiny" must refer to the ultimate fact that, however we may blunder along, in times of crisis the Lord comes forth, to lead us out of the wilderness. It is a familiar line of thought to find Grant, Sherman, and Lincolnand others, deified in the American press, as men "miraculously risen"in storm and stress to preserve the "manifest destiny" of our Nation. If there be any logical distinction between this hope on the part ofmillions of loyal Americans, expressing their patriotism in terms ofHeaven's protective policy, and the attitude of Bismarck in regard tohis King, as ordained of God, to rule over the Prussian people, thenit would require a high-power microscope to detect any essentialvariation. ¶ Meantime, we go on building dreadnaughts and inscribe on our coins, "In God We Trust. " King William in Bismarck's day refused the people's paper crown of theFrankfort assembly, but plotted to have one offered to him by theprinces of Germany. Was he, logically, any more inconsistent than isour own "manifest destiny" conception of America? * * * * * ¶ For it is ever the way with strong men to believe themselves theLord's anointed, likewise with strong nations--and democratic Americais no exception. "Chinese" Gordon carried with him wood of the real Cross, as hebelieved, and read his Bible day by day, up to the last, confidentthat he was in the charge of some unseen power for good, as againstthe destroying African tribes around Khartum. Henry M. Stanley's books are honeycombed with appeals to God as hisguide and protector; he believed that God was with him in "DarkestAfrica, " would see him through at the price of how many negro murdersit mattered not, warding off fever, discouragement, starvation, andstanding ever on the white man's side. In America, where the "Divine-right" of kings is a subject ofpolitical ridicule, it is a fact that in the courts we raise our righthand and swear to tell the whole truth; our marriage ceremonies areconsecrated; and the last word at the grave is that God is our refuge;we have our chaplains who speak of God on our battleships, and in ourarmies; in the Autumn the President of the United States invokes ablessing for bountiful crops, and returns the Nation's thanks to Godfor these favors. ¶ All this is no more illogical than that Bismarck should insist thatthe Hohenzollerns, his masters, obtained their right to rule as adirect dispensation from high heaven, as against the Hapsburgs, whowere Prussia's rivals. Bismarck preached his theological-politicaldogma with intense earnestness during his long life; and at last thepeople must have been impressed with his arguments--or was it that heforced them to his way of thinking? CHAPTER XII By Blood and Iron 41 William I writes his abdication, and is about to quit in disgust; Bismarck says, "Tear that letter up!" ¶ Along about 1857, our poor William IV lost his mind; for four yearshe continued a nervous wreck; his brother, William I, was the sickman's representative as Prussian king; and in '61, when William IVdied, William I became sovereign ruler of pugnacious Prussia. ¶ The common people welcomed William I with open arms, that is to say, adoring a fighting man, and long disappointed by the timidity andvacillation of kind-hearted William IV, with his church-building plansand his Jerusalem bishoprics, it seemed as though the reactionarycharacter of Prussian political life might now come to an end. Frederick's many-sidedness was in sharp contrast to William'sone-sidedness; Frederick's unfixed decision is now expressed byWilliam's unvarying will. Where Frederick had been brilliant andimaginative, William was cold and solid. ¶ William was now over sixty, at which age men's lives, as a rule, arein eclipse. Yet this man of destiny had still in store the making of a modernCæsar. He was to become king of kings, ruler of an empire whoseindividual units were commanded not by democrats trying new ambitions;but instead, many monarchs were to proclaim, "William, Emperor ofUnited Germany!" ¶ This son of Queen Louise, mother of Prussia, was now to justify thesacrifices of the great German foster-mother; for as she had laboredwith Scharnhorst to perfect the Prussian military, and in the hour ofPrussia's extremity dared to confront even the great Napoleon himself, likewise her son William was now to complete, years later, themother's ideals. Where she scattered seed on fallow ground, the son was to reap hisabundant harvest of Prussian glory. ¶ "Whoever wishes to rule Germany must conquer it; and that cannot bedone with phrases, " wrote William, 22 years before he was crowned atVersailles. * * * * * ¶ We have seen all manner of Hohenzollerns--robber-knightHohenzollerns--landscape-gardening Hohenzollerns--church-buildingHohenzollerns--and Hohenzollerns tied to a woman's apron string. A brave, practical, common-sense Hohenzollern is now head of thedistinguished Prussian house. William I is flatly opposed to Liberalism, but is shrewd enough tohave a moderate Liberal among his kingly advisers; for Williamrealizes the political weakness of further constitution-tinkering. ¶ Finally, we have before us a man as obstinate as Bismarck, butwithout Bismarck's creative imagination; a Prussian King reared in thearmy, who loved the army, who understood the army;--even as Bismarckunderstood political intrigue. The combination was unique! Also, we have here a William of enormous ambition, little suspectedunder his rather conventional innocent-appearing German mask. * * * * * ¶ We come now to a place where furious political torrents beginbeating down the ancestral forests of Germany; torn by flashes oflightning and the ominous roll of thunders, the air is filled withbroken boughs, flying leaves and clouds of dust. Bismarck, god of thunder, rides upon the furious storm. Let us closely follow the general track of the hurricane now raging inPrussia, more especially in the Prussian Chamber. ¶ In '59, William had appointed von Roon Minister of War; the peopleobjected, declaring it another evidence of William's reactionaryprinciples. The plan was to increase the army from 130, 000 in peaceand 215, 000 in war to 190, 000 in peace and 450, 000 in war. It really meant universal military service for Prussia, with 63, 000recruits each year, practically doubling the service, making itpossible within a decade to call possibly 1, 200, 000 soldiers! ¶ The Chamber of Deputies opposed the plan, vigorously. However, theChamber in a patriotic moment had voted army money on condition thatthe increase was only incidental, but William while saying little ofhis plans acted as though his army appropriations were to bepermanent, henceforth. ¶ Over this question, a bitter controversy! The King took the groundthat it was the duty of the Deputies to raise the cash in such sums aswere required for state purposes--whatever these might be, in theopinion of the King. It was conceded that, in military matters, William's judgment wasgood, but the Liberals did not much like these great militaryexpenses. William even thought of breaking the deadlock by abolishing parliamentand ruling alone, or abdicating his throne! He had already written out his abdication, so the story goes, and itwas lying on his desk, all signed, awaiting the moment ofproclamation. ¶ At the eleventh hour, William bethought himself of an invinciblefighting man, Otto von Bismarck, widely known for boldness andindependence. ¶ "I am willing to carry out your policy, whether Parliament is agreedor not! I will rather perish with my King than forsake Your Majesty inthe contest with Parliamentary government!" ¶ And William tore up the abdication paper and replied, "Let's getdown to business!" 42 The four years' conflict era--Here Bismarck is at last revealed in his true character--King's Man supreme! ¶ Ten years of rough-and-tumble fighting in the blind alleys ofpolitical intrigue have now prepared Otto von Bismarck for greatthings. In the solemn years to come, all is yet to be dignified by theformation of an Empire, through blood and iron. ¶ The King's ambition grew on what it fed upon--a desire for Prussianaggrandizement, at all hazards, and the ultimate solution of theGerman problem through Prussian power of arms. He made up his mind, accordingly, that he ought to reorganize the army; for this purpose hehad asked the Chamber for 12, 000, 000 thalers. The cat slipped out of the bag, in spite of precautions. This12, 000, 000 thalers was to be used to buy needle-guns and powder, inthe oncoming War of the Brothers. ¶ Our William I, whatever he might be, was at least no namby-pambysentimentalist. That honest German face, those kindly blue eyes, hishigh complexion, made him look as guileless as a happy school boy; buthe had his deep desire for place and power, side by side withBismarck. ¶ It was a most fortunate day for this hard-headed unimaginativeWilliam that Otto von Bismarck, in the Autumn of 1862, accepted thePortfolio of Prussian Minister. William wanted a strong man to fightthe hostile radical deputies for that 12, 000, 000 thalers, for thewar-chest. There is no use casting about for fair words to butter parsnips. Thelong-deferred irrepressible War of the Brothers was determined upon;and the Prussian dynasty was to wade through seas of blood to theheights of glory; and the purpose was ever to end this age-old Germanfamily strife. ¶ William I is deservedly a great German national hero. He is the truefather of his country. ¶ We see nothing to criticise. The situation is very human; and theleading actors play their difficult parts with discrimination. In yourown life's conquests, do you do any more, and often do you not doless? Is it not true in your own life that you have to fight for whatyou achieve? Truly, the world belongs to him who seizes it. Williamknew this; Bismarck certainly knew it; and in this respect the twogreat men were agreed. So far, good. In broad outline the plan was tomake the Prussian dynastic government rule over territorial UnitedGermany; but it must come with the consent of the rulers of theindependent German states and not through decrees of people'sparliaments or the howlings of mobs. ¶ As for Bismarck, he was the one man of the hour for blacksituations. His schooling in human nature had progressed amazingly. For the past ten years, at Frankfort, at St. Petersburg, at Paris, atVienna, Bismarck had fallen afoul of all leading political strategistsof Europe, men gloating over the problem of annexing to their privateestates the divided German thirty-nine states: Bismarck had studiedthe individual line of battle of Frenchman, Russian, Italian, Dane, Briton, to say nothing of the ambitions of princelings, counts, deputies, margraves, prelates, poets, and political hen-coopmakers;--knew too, how at the critical moment to block theirindividual games and just when to give his own deadly knockout--eitherabove or below the belt! ¶ During his period of preparation, as we have seen, for twenty yearsBismarck had consistently preached "Divine-right, " stood for what hecalled "Christian monarchy. " For years, also, it appeared that the thing was for Prussia to enterinto a close political union with Austria, but now Bismarck wasconvinced that he must fight Austria. Fight or shake hands were thesame to the giant Otto; the thing was to win, if not in one way thenin another! Otto, after his Frankfort experiences saw clearlyAustria's under-play to dominate the political situation; and in turnfelt himself called upon to check Austrian ambition in favor of hisliege lord, the Margrave of Brandenburg, the King of Prussia. ¶ Finally, Bismarck's great chance came. William asked Bismarck toforce the army bill. Now indeed will the giant rage, snapping his teeth in the face of thehurricane, --yes, four long years he is to rule without color of law. 43 On comes the storm--Not by speechmaking but by blood and iron are the great questions to be decided, says Bismarck! ¶ At least, we admit that William I was a thoroughbred Hohenzollern ininnate admiration of the iron fist! Now this was the situation: The secret war-chest against Austria hadto be filled in one way or another; but the difficulty was found inthe fact that the common people, acting under a mysterious instinctnot to be explained but very real withal, had already begun to showunrest about an approaching War of the Brothers, as thesentimentalists called the irrepressible conflict between Austria andPrussia. The upshot was that Bismarck's political secrets while notdefinitely understood in detail, were quite generally divined by closestudents of the German problem. The Liberals were intent on their owninterests, in Prussia, and believed that their political solutiondepended on hampering the King, regardless of his cause. Hence theLiberal deputies of the Chamber spunkily stood out against William'sheavy demands for cannon and gunpowder. ¶ Bismarck, as King's Minister, had to face the political storm. Hedid not dare to say that he wanted the money for war; he wanted themoney--was not that enough? Thereupon, Bismarck proceeded to domineer over the delegates. The Chamber was willing to do something, but how about the rumor thatthese huge appropriations are to be hereafter a permanent item in thebudget? Bismarck would not make the delegates' minds easy; he wantedmoney, much money, 12, 000, 000 thalers in fact, for the army--and theleast the delegates could do was to vote the funds. If they did notgive the cash gracefully, why he would coerce the deputies--that wasall! ¶ "It is not by speechifying and majorities, " he thundered, "that thegreat questions of the time will be decided--that was the greatmistake in '48 and in '49, --BUT BY BLOOD AND IRON. " ¶ Members of the Chamber shrank in horror. There were extremely powerful and learned men there, to combatBismarck's point of view, and our political conspirator on hisemperor-hunt had to listen to some of the most merciless rebukes hewas ever to hear, during his long and highly exciting career. But hetook them all, without a whimper. ¶ "We have too many Catalines existing among us that have an interestin social uprisings, " Bismarck thundered. "Germany considers not theLiberalists of Prussia, but her own power. Bavaria, Wuertemberg andBaden may flirt with liberalism, but no German would think on thataccount of asking them to assume the rôle of Prussia. Prussia mustbrace herself, for the fitter moment. Prussia's borders are notfavorable to the development of a healthy state. " * * * * * ¶ The giant Pomeranian King's Man with his turbulent support of hismonarch, now advanced reasons to show his side, and concluded bymocking his hearers to do their worst. ¶ "What matter if they hang me, provided the rope binds this newGermany more firmly to the throne?" ¶ A few days after this sensational defiance of Democratic leaders, Bismarck announced his decision: "We shall carry on the finances ofthe state without the conditions provided for in the Constitution. " ¶ Bismarck was not surprised at the storms of protest. "Someprogressive journals hope to see me picking oakum for the benefit ofthe state. " The comic newspapers pictured Bismarck as a ballet dancer, pirouetting over eggs marked Right, Law, Order, Reform, Constitution. ¶ The King became alarmed. ¶ "I see how this will end, " said the King. "Over there, near theopera house, in front of my windows, they will cut off your head, andmine a little afterwards. " ¶ "And after that, sire?" asked Bismarck spunkily. ¶ "After that, why we shall be dead!" ¶ "Oh, well, all must die, " cut in Bismarck indifferently, "and thequestion is can a man die more honorably than for his country? I amfighting for your cause, and you are sealing with your own blood yourrights as King, by the grace of God. ¶ "Your Majesty is bound to fight! You cannot capitulate! You must, even at the risk of bodily danger, go forth to meet any attempt atcoercion!" ¶ As Bismarck spoke, the King grew more and more animated. "He beganto assume the part of one fighting for kingdom and fatherland, " wroteBismarck, in explaining the situation. * * * * * ¶ The giant's very soul glowed with fiery indignation. It was not inhis nature to hesitate, as to means. He wanted these 12, 000, 000thalers for the army--and was not that enough? True, he could not sayin the open that he wished to expel Austria--but must an elephant stepon your foot? ¶ He had no scruples, moral or material; such are for lesser men. Hamlet-questioning princes, if you please, may soliloquize on life andits inner meaning; but not your Otto von Bismarck, with his clearview of the little lives of men and with his correct conviction thatif the intervening thirty-nine German states are to be made a unit ina German Empire, then under Heaven or under Hell, the thirty-ninestates must be seized, even in a hurricane of bullets if necessary. Could anything be simpler? Had not the "German problem, " as it wascalled, been talked to death generation after generation, and had notlawyers, poets, preachers, philosophers and petty princes unnumberedcome and gone with their impossible enterprises looking to Nationalglory and political legitimacy? ¶ Bismarck was, as usual, everlastingly correct in his politicalinstincts; and furthermore he had the iron will to power to supporthim in this great Prussian conflict; yes, and the wizardry inmanipulating human nature that, in the end, would cause evenobstinate, opposed political leaders to do our giant's bidding. ¶ What he demanded was absolute, blind, unquestioning obedience fromthis Assembly; then, the Prussian army must fight like fiends; andlastly, he would take personal responsibility for the issue. Mahommethimself never urged war on Christian dogs with more zeal than did thisfiery Bismarck, battling with his own German kind. To shame them, tobeat them over their backs with hot irons if necessary--anything wouldhe do to force Prussia to fight Austria, and arouse thus with a senseof blood-brotherhood the thirty-nine states, for Germany's greatglory. This was his religion--and do you now get the man behind it? ¶ Of course, it was all cleverly masked under the plea of Prussianarmy reforms, pure and simple, and in general the fight betweenBismarck and the Chamber seemed to turn on the right of a Minister toforce appropriations for the support of the government, regardless ofparliamentary unwillingness. Bismarck held to his general principlethat the Deputies had no authority to refuse the King funds to enlargethe army. The deputies were pledged to support the government, not tostarve or ignore it, was Bismarck's contention. ¶ The Liberals raged and stormed, called him "demented Bismarck, ""Napoleon worshiper, " "hollow braggart, " "a country gentleman ofmoderate political training, inconsistent, nonchalant, insolent to adegree;--pray when did Bismarck ever express a political thought?" King William's choice was exceedingly unpopular, but between Von Roonand Bismarck there was now to be set up the most efficient militaryinstrument known to history; that is to say, an all-powerful Prussianarmy of gigantic proportions, armed with the newly-inventedneedle-guns. Such was to be Von Roon's contribution. Bismarck's was toarouse at home the slumbering great "German National sentiment" thatmade failure impossible, at the front. Under God, Bismarck believed inthe justness of his cause. ¶ In the interim, before the first cannon was to roar, Bismarck, thepolitical wizard, was to tie the hands of every other Europeanmonarch--either by bribes, idle promises or what you will--that thewar might be fought to a finish without hazard of Allies coming to therescue of the Emperor on the South. * * * * * ¶ The parliamentary debaters who thundered against Bismarck came onwith all manner of attacks. The learned v. Sybel, the great authorityon the French revolution, cried out his many historical warnings; Dr. Virchow, known for his work on skeletons of the mammoth, battled alongother historical lines; Dr. Gneist, the very learned member, exclaimedin a burst of moral indignation, "This army reorganization of yourshas the marks of Cain on its brow!" And to this insulting speech, vonRoon immediately replied, "That speech of yours bears the stamp ofarrogance and impudence!" Virchow challenged Bismarck to a duel, fordefamatory remarks on the doctor's scientific attainments. To thisBismarck replied: ¶ "I am past the time of life when one takes advice from flesh andblood, in such things as now confront us. When I stake my life for amatter, I do so in that faith which I have strengthened by long andsevere struggling--but also in honest and humble prayer to God, afaith which no word of man, even that of friend in Christ and servantof his church, can overthrow!" ¶ Magnificent, magnificent you are, at this supreme moment, you bigbull-dog Bismarck, and you can whip them three to one, when the greatday comes. ¶ Bismarck gained in power as he exercised his strength. He keptPrussia steady during the perilous times of the Crimean war; evenurged an alliance with the French--think of that!--to gain secret endsfor Prussia; but the Prussian king, who hated rulers of revolutionaryorigin, was opposed to Bismarck's master-scheme; that is to say, William held in contempt Napoleon III, hero of the trick, known as thecoup d'etat, which won a crown. But Bismarck had no such scruples. At St. Petersburg, Bismarck won the Czar--for which the liberals hatedOtto the more. His arts of diplomacy were expanding in all directions. Foreshadowing the war with Austria, Bismarck planned to keep Italy, France, Russia, England and Belgium quiet by various intrigues ofpolitics--and how well he succeeded we shall learn later on. 44 The storm increases--Bismarck decides to defy the Chamber and rule alone! ¶ In the general turmoil, along comes a fanatic named Cohen, whoattempts to kill Bismarck. This was in May, 1866. The war broke within thirty days! Cohen firedpoint-blank three shots, and there was a personal struggle. The giantcoolly handed the would-be murderer over to the guards, then wenthome. His greeting to his wife was characteristic. "They have triedeven to kill me, my dear, but do not mind, no harm has been done. Letus go out to dinner. " It was a time of assassins and their plots follow. Struck down by thepolice, Ferd Cohen, step-son of Karl Blind, meets in the eyes of theDemocrats a martyr's death; his body is crowned with flowers, asthough the corpse were a consecration of Prussian Liberalism on thealtar of liberty. The frenzy takes still other forms; suicide cults become notorious;here and there, we read that some lunatic patriot "seeks voluntarydeath, for the sacred cause of the people. " ¶ And as for Cohen, ladies of high degree bring flowers, soldiers ofthe common cause wear on their coats his picture crowned with oakleaves. The cult of murder, with Bismarck as the arch enemy in thecentre of the picture, was indulged to prevent what was termed the Warof the Brothers. ¶ "I believe, " rumbled the granite rock Bismarck, with frowning cloudsaround his brow, "I do solemnly believe in victory--whether or not Ishall live to see it!" This speech was regarded as little short ofblasphemy! ¶ Bismarck now spoke more than ever of God, and of high Germanconvictions. There was always grave danger of ingratitude, ofinsufficiency of time and place, but he certainly thought God on hisside. ¶ What lashed Bismarck into fury was the contention that the Crown andthe two Chambers were equal, in political legitimacy. ¶ "All constitutional life, " roared Bismarck, "is based onconstitutional compromises. " * * * * * ¶ Day after day, Bismarck, the Prussian bull-dog, and von Roon, theterrifying drill-master, would appear at the Chamber, on the oak benchin full view of the angry deputies. Time and again, through politicaljugglery, angry members attempted to oust the Minister, but Bismarckwas equal to every occasion. He actually ruled for four years withouta legal budget. He conceded that point, too. He set up that it was hissolemn sworn duty to support his King, and since the Chamber refusedto vote the 12, 000, 000 thalers, why, it became the Minister's duty toget the money, by fair means or by foul. ¶ And get it, he did! It was all wretchedly unconstitutional--of this there is no doubt. Bismarck never made any pretenses on that score. After the Austrianwar, an act of "immunity" was passed, in his behalf. ¶ From quarreling about the secret war-chest, the disputants nextbegan a mighty wrangling about rules. Bismarck's points were alwaysingenious. He averred that, as King's Minister, he was "in" theparliament but not "of" it. "Ministers must always be listened to withrespect, " he contended. Thus, he forced the unwilling Radicals tolisten to his bellowing, in behalf of the Brothers' War. ¶ Bismarck construed in his own favor every blessed rule brought up tooust him. The Minister was exempt from the Chamber's dominations, heinsisted in a hundred ways. Violent scenes followed. The King sent long messages endorsing hisfighting man; the Liberal press took up the cry, in support ofParliament; and thereupon Bismarck promptly muzzled the press. ¶ Our Otto is now becoming the best-hated man not only in Prussia butin all Europe. The deputies were brow-beaten, legislative officials intimidated withthreats. ¶ The climax came on that day of hubbub when angry members, swarmingaround Bismarck and von Roon, were sent back by von Roon's thunderousdefiance. Pointing to the gangway before his bench, he hissed, "Thusfar and no farther!" ¶ The real reason why Bismarck fought the Chamber for four long yearsso desperately for the 12, 000, 000 thalers, to be used against Austria, was this: On one hand he wished to nullify the importance of thePrussian Parliament, and especially in the matter of dictation to theKing, either under the Constitution or not; also, to thrust at thesame time, Austria out of the German body of the nation. ¶ He became a fanatic on the subject of expelling Austria fromGermany! He had no scruples, stopped at nothing, paused at nothing;and at the right moment defied the Chamber, smashed the PrussianConstitution that would restrain the King's action in peace orwar--and ruled alone! ¶ There are few parallels in history of a stronger man. ¶ Looked at in a large way, we are forced to conclude that the Germanmasses were not ready to believe, at this moment, in Bismarck's OldTestament faith in a God of Battles. To fulfil the Bismarckianpolitical ideal, there was essential an implied humility on part ofthe people; and this attitude of submission and renunciation was a sinagainst the spirit of '48. Bismarck's idea of political efficiency wasalso by no means worked out in detail; it had yet to find a place forthe tailor, the shoemaker and the barber, side by side with the Kingof Prussia; even that miracle was ultimately accomplished, but at thepresent hour the street-bred people felt it their solemn duty to getup and howl, and to profess to know nothing of political efficiency, wherever kings were concerned. ¶ At all times, the speeches of the crowd in the market-place wereblatant enough, but there was also an unrecognized undercurrent ofcourage and patriotism passing with the flood that was to mean much toGermany, in days to come. The cause of the crowd was really an earlyform of our vital modernist democratic movement, not to be put downnor yet shut out; all political life was to be revalued, also all newideas of political happiness were to be henceforth tested by theirvirility and actuality, cutting away completely bookish ideals. ¶ The part that lagged was this: leaders of the people were soonover-engaged, so to say, with the many-sided aspects and problems ofthe new political leadership; the German compatriots failed at thistime to realize their obligations to a German Empire, to be; thepeople's politicians were still insular with little or noconsciousness of the great German National destiny just around thebend of the road. Thus, Bismarck's function was to force the people tojoin the National movement--do so as it were in spite of themselves;and when Bismarck fought back and called the people fools, he did notpause there, but stopped at nothing to lead a hitherto indifferentpeople to warlike patriotism over the Austrian question--over whichthey had gabbled and slept for years. Bismarck's unity of purpose forthe Fatherland deftly combined sordid as well as exalted motives. ¶ And the demands Bismarck finally made on German character were notin vain. For years, however, he was looked upon as an ogre in the eyesof the masses, who misread his patriotism for jingoism in behalf ofthe King of Prussia. CHAPTER XIII The Dream of Empire 45 Bismarck tricks them all--and by under-play matches King against King. ¶ Von Roon had the soldiers up at 4 o'clock in the morning, incessantly drilling for the oncoming War of the Brothers. The deadlyneedle-guns--von Roon's secret--were relied on to do superior work inthe impending great crisis. ¶ Blood and iron--yes, that is the thing! ¶ About this time, Bismarck executes another master-stroke. He decidesto intervene in Poland, in favor of Russia; and certainly he has nowto face a "word of wrath. " England sets up a cry, "Stop thief!" Exeter Hall statesmen, "brotherhood of man" type, begin tearful whinings. ¶ Louis Napoleon tries to form an alliance between England andAustria, and England offers gold for a copy of the Russo-Prussianagreement, affecting Poland. Spies were everywhere. ¶ Well, 10, 000 Poles perish in the sacred cause of liberty, but mark:That in helping Russia Bismarck is laying the foundation for Russia'sneutrality in the coming master-stroke against Austria. What do thelives of 10, 000 Poles weigh in the balance beside the great strategicnecessities to encompass Bismarck's idea of a United Germany? We dobelieve that Bismarck has the only practical solution, let nominalChristians say what they will. ¶ The next step, to bribe France, is brought about craftily, through acustoms' arrangement; and when some of the German states object, Bismarck replies: "You go my way or go your own way, alone!" Also, Italy has to be quieted by soothing promises! ¶ Austria now sets up more wind-baggery and gold lace, in the form ofa new parliament, but Bismarck counters with a "proposed Germanparliament"--a spurious affair to be sure, but the scare has itsweight. ¶ Dark and intricate diplomacy here passes before the eyes. Austriafails in her Congress of Sovereigns, and is anxious likewise toretrieve her losses in the Italian war. Bismarck at least knows thatAustria henceforth is powerless to inflame German states againstPrussia, also that the growth of Liberalism, within Austria's owndomains, is again keeping her very busy. ¶ Cast your eyes toward Paris. Louis the Little is secretly plottingwith both sides--Bismarck's spies tell all to the old man up inBerlin! Secretly, Louis feels that Prussia will be defeated; theFrench Emperor aims at what he calls the balance of power--by which hemeans that while the two big dogs are fighting, he will slip in andsteal the bone? Exactly that! ¶ Many years later, Bismarck writing of this period, makes thisconfession: ¶ "Napoleon secretly thought that if Austria and Prussia clashed, Austria would win and then France would step in and 'protect' Prussia;later on, in return for the price of her French favor, Napoleon IIIbelieved he could make such terms as he wished with our Prussia. " ¶ Thus, up to the decisive battle of Sadowa, or Koeniggraetz, Franceremains politely bowing and scraping to both sides--while having herunderstanding with each side. Napoleon feels that he will in time be asked to intervene, and for hishelp he will take a slice of the Rhineland. Bismarck did not undeceive France--mark that well! Later in life, theMan of Blood and Iron, taunted with the charge of attempting to giveaway German territory, made a strong "diplomatic" defense. Hefearlessly produced the draft of a proposed treaty showing that Francewas conniving to acquire Belgium, through the under-play of politics, aided by Bismarck. The amusing part was Bismarck's solemn reply, "The treaty was drawn upby Napoleon himself, and was offered to me for signature!" Also, to show that he is disinterested, Napoleon now proposes that the"differences" between Prussia and Austria be settled by a Europeancongress. Austria hangs back, although England and Russia join to askfor the Congress of Settlement. 46 1864-1866--Prussian domination essential in all Bismarck's plans--Consistent in his inconsistencies. ¶ The difficulties of Bismarck's position are not to be ascribed tothe fact that, first and foremost, he desired to re-establishconfidence in the Feudal theory of Divine-right of kings. Hislife-long plans had to do with increasing the power of Prussia and hepreached the legitimacy of his loyal master's house as an Americanpolitician is wont to eulogize the services of the "grand oldRepublican party, " or "the great principles of Jefferson, " or boaststhat he is "progressive and independent, " whatever that may mean. In each case, the appeal is to a given audience, with the hope ofadding to the following. ¶ The logic of hereditary influences placed Bismarck squarely in lineas King's Man; and to his credit be it said that he consistentlypreached one gospel throughout his long political life. But his alignment with kings was more than mere opportunism, as toooften is the case in America, among the "people's" leaders. Bismarck honestly believed that the logic of events precluded anychange in rulership over the Prussian people; and in his larger viewPrussian domination must eventually spread over the German states, uniting them in one country--as they were already united by blood andby languages. ¶ That he battled with Austria, the rival for the good will of theGerman states, is easily explained. It is not human nature for anyman to yield what to him promises to turn out an advantage. That the sovereigns of Prussia held their crown upon the principle ofDivine-right, was construed also to impose obligations; and it waspart of the theory that the King and his advisers must see to it thatthe land is used for the common good. The King of Prussia swore to"Divine-right to the soil; swore to defend it; swore to improve it, for the benefit of all. " ¶ Furthermore, the old-time German political idealism in which brotherwas supposed to shake hands with brother, sung by the poet Arndt, inhis romantic semi-religious lyrics of liberty, was through the recentGerman revolution (1848) replaced by a new type of positivist German, intent on money-success, business affairs, economic achievements. The century-long dreams of National unity based on idealisticspeeches, poetry, romantic phrase-mongering, was now slowly to yieldto a new spirit; and believers in German Unity came to see thatPrussian supremacy held all there was, in a practical way, of possibleGerman centralization. Bismarck certainly saw it very clearly andacted accordingly in his future political appeals and alignments. ¶ Prussia had early led in the practical business of clearing theChinese-walls that had bound many of the petty states; the Zollvereinor customs' union, begun in 1818, as heretofore explained, grew inpower with the extension of Prussian railroads and telegraphs; thePrussian capitalistic middle-classes, intent on building up the familyfortunes, had prospered in proportion as the customs' union had beenextended, under Prussian domination; and accordingly in 1849 Bismarck, as soon as Prussia had been placed herself at the head of thisBusiness Union, began scheming as never before to win German Unitythrough economic as well as patriotic arguments. For one thing, Bismarck henceforth studied to put himself on eventerms with the commercial interests in the 39 jealous states. Theleaders of Liberalism were, as a rule, men of theoretical rather thanpractical ideas; essentially a cultured élite, as it were, engaged inbabbling about German Constitutions, German fraternal alignments andimpossible German peace-parliaments. ¶ True, the good faith of patriots opposed to Bismarck is undisputed;but the King's Man was a man with an exceedingly strong will and withimmense practical common sense to support his own ideas; a man who tobring about his beneficent plan of German Unity followed his flag eventhrough three great wars. This will of iron was exercised for the National good; and on thewhole exercised wisely. He went on with his schemings for many years, from day to day making the best use of the material at hand; withwell-nigh infallible instinct seizing on the very forces that wereessential in years to come to the realization of his ultimate dream. ¶ Little by little he set aside the professorial class, and thecultured élite politicians, and the theoretical constitution-makers;in their places he brought forward hard-headed middle-classcapitalists, on one side, and the supreme military and landed Prussianaristocracy, on the other side; and after overcoming giganticobstacles made clear to the average German peasant that both wealthand authority were to be properly sustained in the old thorough-goingGerman fashion only by having no more to do with semi-spiritual, politico-idealistic aims and purposes; also, that through Bismarck'sproposed new type of Unity the peasant on one side and the King on theother could rise to even higher worldly positions without settingaside safe old lines of respect for authority through a Divine-rightking, at the same time sharing the royal power with a great andessentially democratic public opinion. Thus, Bismarck's GermanNational enterprise, although not thoroughly understood for manyyears, was found at last to support in every particular the ancientGerman tradition of a strong fighting man, as leader of a free people. * * * * * ¶ That Bismarck was proud and old-fashioned he made his boast, hisjoy, his strength. Opponents held him up to obloquy, picturing his ideas as prehistoric, even antediluvian; but Bismarck stood the prick of honor; as King'sMan he insisted in numberless arguments, far and wide, that behind theDivine-right idea was not only a sentimental but a practical side. Atany rate, the King's Man was everlastingly against any movement thatlooked like French mob-rule. ¶ As time passed, Bismarck learned gradually that he need not hesitateto throw himself fearlessly forward, with this Divine-right as aleverage, to express the legitimacy of the royal house for which hebattled. In the final analysis he was secretly fortified by his instinctiveknowledge of the peculiar political idiosyncrasies of Prussians; howdog-like in the final analysis is their submission to the politicalconception of the Over-man who rules by Divine-right. * * * * * ¶ It was to this National faith that Bismarck was constantlyaddressing himself--this loyalty to a paternalistic idea--and hisattitude was much the same as that of the Chinese in their worship ofancestors, or of an American who preserves his family record. Bismarck was urging family unity among quarreling German sons anddaughters; and as is the case in all family feuds, the intrinsicmerits of the controversy were often overlooked and the time taken inan endeavor to inflict personal humiliations. ¶ Bismarck was essentially appealing to National honor, which heplaced higher than absolutism or republicanism, tyranny or democracy. By National honor, he meant the German conception of an over-lord fora ruler, preferably one with a strong military record. Herein, we touch the core of Bismarck's strength, the measure of hisgreatness. When a man fights, on honor, for institutions which his forefathersslowly fostered and sustained through six hundred years of strife, thequestion of his rights or his wrongs is merged into the largerquestion of chivalry. ¶ If there were no other gift which might be set up to justify forBismarck a commanding position among the world's great figures, hisconception of National honor, based on powerful personal convictions, his inheritance, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh--utterly apartfrom the French mob-rule idea of liberty expressed in license--Bismarck'splea for the National honor of Prussia, as the custodian of ancientGerman traditions, suffices to stamp Bismarck as the true custodian ofGerman political tradition of his age. ¶ To this might reasonably be added another claim which in our broadview of Bismarck's character we here demand for him as one of theworld's great men--courage of the bull-dog type, not altogetherunselfish, but courage and remarkable consistency; standing the acidtest of self-sacrifice during thirty-odd years' vexatious delays inattaining his goal; a period of probation certainly long enough to trythe stoutest heart. ¶ With qualities of this supreme order, far outside average humannature, Bismarck at last prepared himself to win his surprising fightfor a United Germany; incidentally stamping himself, his power and hispurpose high among the great Germans of all time, from Charlemagnedown. * * * * * ¶ To understand these ideas, let us for the moment look forward aswell as backward. Let us speak in general terms, along the lines ofthe realistic politics, that Bismarck was maturing, as against theold-time German sentimental idealism, once the political hope ofUnity. 47 Bismarck's whole message turns on the urgency of faith among the German people; his idea, that United Germany must be achieved by faith, alone! ¶ Bismarck had the well-nigh impossible task of organizing andinspiring a common political faith in 25, 000, 000 people, divided byreligious, climatic and personal differences. That at times he utterlyfailed to meet the situation except by political hypocrisy, is merelyto say that in addition to being a warrior and ultimately theconqueror of a continent, he always kept within hailing distance ofhuman nature; for when he could not win his way with a kiss, he gainedit with a curse. ¶ In the final analysis he won, largely because of stirring faith inthe German states. With faith, what can a nation not do: If the United States, today, haddeathless belief in the destiny of the Republic that Americansemphasize in their worship of the Golden Calf, a bloodless revolutionfor a higher standard of political thought would take place overnight. The difficulty is that with the average American National faith isdead. He has come to the conclusion that he has no stake in the Government, that in short he is a victim to the machinations of plutocrats. To read the American point of view, (1915) we, today, no less than thePrussians and the Austrians, in Bismarck's time, are also about tospring at each other's throats! There is little sentiment for Nationalunity; it is the East against the West, in Congress, and in thenewspapers it is the people against the plutocrats. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck's career affords a classical instance, in these poor times, of what a strong man, with faith in himself and his cause, can doagainst all manner of obstacles. Faith in himself was the essence of his power. Over and over, he madeclear that he regarded himself in God's hands, doing God's work, buton what specific evidence he based this profound conclusion no humanbeing knows beyond Bismarck's own assertion. However, that power urgedhim on. Naturally, in turn, the fire kindled by faith in himself atlast stimulated faith in a people, numbering some twenty-fivemillions; a people who in the main had up to this time been politicalatheists to Bismarck's dogma of a United Germany. This idea of faithis a fact of such vast import that we dare not pass it lightly by. * * * * * ¶ By an almighty wave of faith in themselves the German people ceasedplaying the political craven; came out boldly for what they hold to betheir too long deferred birthright! Here, the mental attitude of the German people passes beyond thedogmas of politics or social intercourse whatsoever; it merges into amysterious world of reality, close and near yet baffling to describe;expressing itself in an invincible National faith, now about to burstforth, at last, and sweep all before it! ¶ This mental phenomenon exists in various forms, but the animatingimpulse is ever the same. The hymn-singing of Charles and John Wesley, whose appeals toreligious emotionalism filled the fields of England with tens ofthousands of weeping, shouting men and women, vastly excited as to thestate of their souls, is a type of faith beginning in a small way andattaining National proportions. No historian could write adequatelythe history of England without crediting great changes to the work ofthe Wesley psalm-singers; women tearing off their jewels; men risingin the multitude and calling on God to witness that henceforth theirlives would be pure and unsullied by sin; while under the excitementmurderers came forward and confessed crimes known only to themselves. ¶ Oh, this German National faith that Frederick the Great sogloriously began; that Louise fostered and sustained; that the poetArndt set to hymns; that the great von Humboldt in his own peculiarway saw from afar; that the German students apostrophied; that WilliamIII figured to himself in his church-building; that von Steindiscerned vaguely; that William I emphasized in his cold-blooded, clear-eyed manner of the soldier; that von Sybel fought for; thatscores, nay, hundreds and thousands of noble men and women, utterlyapart from political chicanery, did indeed long for with all thefervor of their earnest God-fearing German nature; Bismarck stands inthe centre, here and now! ¶ It is true that he is not as yet accepted, but he is biding histime; he is looked on with suspicion, but he fronts the scorn of therabble, in the end to beat the doubters into submission, against theirown will. ¶ This newly awakened German National faith was really a very oldGerman faith that had never died, although for years forgotten; thelonging for the Fatherland was always there. ¶ Through love of home, through worship of ancestry and throughrespect for constituted authority in church and state, that is by"German national faith, " Bismarck touched the chord that made hislife-work possible. The stimulus of three great wars, presented byBismarck as sanctified by God, finally did the business. ¶ He knew that in all Germans is a certain generosity of characterwhich when appealed to in the right way made them eager to take thechance of death on the battlefield. ¶ Bismarck played the positive as well as the negative side of thispsychological fact. On the negative side, he stirred men with the ideathat social ostracism rests on the man who in times of National dangertries to avoid the draft. ¶ Bismarck's work thus shows him to be the great constructive poet ofhis time. He placed war before his fellow man in such a way that itwas held a sweet privilege to die for one's land, which interpretedmeans Bismarck's idea of a new territorial arrangement of the map ofEurope. ¶ There was race prejudice behind his deeper plans. He made much ofthe fact that within a given area the German language was spoken, whereas while there were millions of German-speaking people in Austriathere were also Slavs, Czechs, Bohemians and mongrel races. ¶ The idea of brotherhood based on blood and language finallyprevailed over the idea of the confraternity of races. Make as muchout of this as you will, but the basic fact is incontestible. ¶ Some 80, 000 men perished to sustain Bismarck's peculiar conceptionof United Germany. Through the turmoil and misery of these three warshe had his way, and being at last successful, he suddenly became themost popular man in Europe, idolized by the millions who a littlewhile before had reviled his name as the enemy of the Democrats. ¶ Such is human nature. * * * * * ¶ Perhaps, after all, German National faith is only another name forthe tremendous earnestness that set the whole land ablaze withsingleness of purpose, consecrated to a high cause. Bismarck in a very real sense because of faith in himself and in hisultimate cause, directed this National faith in the Fatherland and wonthereby a magnificent United Germany. If we do not grasp thesignificance of this unseen but gigantic National German faith, asexpressed in the increasing unity of will of the whole people, harkedon by Prussia, we might as well close the book on Bismarck--and knowhim not. * * * * * ¶ To comprehend, somewhat, the firm roots of racial strength, asexpressed by German National faith, let us for the moment pass fromthe 1840's, '50's and '60's, which we are now endeavoring to presentwith their psychological message of faith, and turn our eyes to theyear 1914, when Germany and Austria, no longer enemies, now battleside by side, against armed forces of the world--British, Russian, Italian, Servian, French, Australian, East Indian, African, Belgian, Canadian, and Japanese! The sustaining spirit in this life-and-death struggle, as in the warsthat made Germany an empire, is bulwarked on German National faith. ¶ For Germans are no longer soft-hearted heroes of lyrical poetry, asdepicted by Arndt! They are men of blood and iron. ¶ Bismarck's mother threw her wedding ring into the public melting potfor the benefit of the War Fund of 1813 and received in exchange aring of iron; and thousands of German women did the same; andBismarck's wife exchanged her gold ring for one of iron, for the WarFund of '66. Tens of thousands of German women did likewise, not onlyin Germany, but in foreign lands, wherever hearts beat for theFatherland. They did it in 1813, and in 1864, and in 1866, and in 1870;--and againin 1914! ¶ For example, in the great war of 1914, Baroness von Ropp, granddaughter of Geo. Ebers, Germany's most foremost woman novelist, cries out for her country in the accents of true German nationality, the self-same spirit which Arndt stimulated in days of French andAustrian domination. And since it is this elusive spirit that we areendeavoring to bring home to you, in grasping the higher significanceof Bismarck's work, and its true inner meaning, we quote freely from aprivate letter penned by the Baroness, from Magdeburg, August, 1914. Ilse Hahn-Ropp did not write for publication, and therefore her wordshave the more weight. ¶ "On the first day of mobilization I traveled to Magdeburg to sayfarewell to my husband, who was leaving for France. I had three hours;then I had to take the last train out of town. From that time onlymilitary trains were running. Shall I ever forget that ride? It was asthough we were living in another world. People were standing in thecars closely packed together; but not a word of complaint. Each onefelt he was no longer an individual--but a German! Rich and poor, nobles and peasants, talked together as brothers. Each had the deepconviction that this war had been forced upon us, and that every onemust throw his whole strength into the scales, for victory. ¶ "Ceaselessly, military trains roll by, crowded with soldiers in galauniforms, burning to reach the enemy. I hear them all night long frommy parents' home--those wheels rolling, rolling westward; no hurry, noconfusion; the mighty machine moves majestically on its way. Show usanother nation which could duplicate that spectacle! ¶ "And then, from a thousand throats, rose 'Die Wacht am Rhein. ' Itwas overpowering--irresistible. This mighty anthem, from the lips ofsoldiers going out to battle! ¶ "It was thus that both my brothers left us. I shall never, neverforget. Every one gives his all gladly. I could not keep my husbandwith me, although exempt through his profession from military duty. Hewent as a volunteer, and I would not have held him if I could, thoughyou can guess the cost of that parting! ¶ "One hears not a single complaint from the women of the Fatherland. We are all too thoroughly roused over the insults offered our lovedcountry. Working each waiting moment for our wounded--for oursoldiers--we have no time for tears. ¶ "We will not give in until all are defeated, even though we womenshould have to take up the sword to defend the Fatherland. Were it notfor my baby daughter I should be with my husband, as a nurse. ¶ "You cannot picture how great, how noble, how grave this time is. Human nature is transfigured. Individual fate is lost, in the fate ofthe Nation. ¶ "I am at home with my parents. Scarcely a year has passed since myhappy, peaceful wedding day. And now my home is bare and desolate, andI am again the daughter of my father--I can write no more. My feelingsare stifling me. The bells are ringing a new victory. Unfurl theblack-white-red banner. Always lovingly yours, ILSE. " A postscript reads: "Oct. 6. --For six weeks I have been trying to send this letter--invain. In the meantime both my brothers have died fighting for theFatherland. My husband still lives, but--we must, we shall and mustwin!" 48 Bismarck balances between tempestuous outbursts and inscrutable silence; biding his time in the great game of German Unity. ¶ In the gigantic project of creating an Empire for a king whosolemnly protested that he was directly accountable to God for thethrone, "and would never consent to have so much as a sheet of paper(constitution) between my people and my Maker. " Bismarck was undertremendous nervous pressure for years; and he meant that his politicalsecrets for United Germany should not become too early known. Not onlywere the people as yet unwilling to help, but Austria was watchingwith jealous eyes the possibility of plunder for herself;--for wherethe carrion is there will the vultures wheel. ¶ Bismarck's ambition bit him by day and by night, and there was forhim no rest; he required a continent to turn 'round in, and nothingless would suffice. It was now only a question of waiting for thepsychological moment to electrify the inert mass of the people torally to his cause. ¶ Naturally you ask, "Was this Bismarck then a beast?" Not at all. Hewas merely a human being who wanted a continent to turn around in. In the gigantic project, Bismarck was exercising his own peculiargifts in his own way--for none stood ready to give him what he wanted, without fighting for it--even as you or I lay out lesser plans to beg, or coax, or force the world to give us not what we think we need butwhat we are strong enough to obtain. ¶ In this attitude, Bismarck needs neither apology nor defense--for, after all, he is Bismarck. Through thirty-odd years of din and roar and battle largely of his ownmaking Bismarck knew neither rest nor peace; returning again and againto the attack and wearing down his enemies by the sheer brute force ofcourage. His idea was United Germany, through Prussian military power;at the same time, Prussia must hold her dynastic over-lordship, andmust yield it finally only in a territorial German Empire. * * * * * ¶ Unquestionably there was, incidentally, a large element of injusticein his plans and purposes, but what of it? Is there not such in yourown life, and do you know any man whose career is not based oninjustice either in some coarse, obvious or in some subtle way? The world belongs only to those who do battle, and there is absolutelyno chance for the man who will not fight! All government is based on some form of injustice, all land tenure isstained with the sword, all "putting up" of one family, or individual, is based on "taking" something from some other family or individual. Nor am I excepting the conquests of love itself, from time immemorialpresented as a token of man's romantic, softer side. For, if the herodoes not "save" the heroine from the villain, to take her for himself, then for whom does he save her? ¶ The Bismarck struggle and the Bismarck triumph are as old ashistory--and as new as the career of the man of today who has achievedhis heart's desire. The empire-maker Bismarck had his way because he was strong enough tohave his way, and while cruelties in various forms, for the ends ofstatecraft, coexisted in him with many fine qualities, after all thatsimply means that he was a human being with impulses of variouskinds--good and less good--in one heart. It is also an undeniable factthat as late as 1862 Bismarck was by the common crowd in Prussia hatedand feared, regarded as Germany's ogre of disaster. * * * * * ¶ Here then is the whole thing in a nutshell: His strong conservative, not to say reactionary, sentiments did not blind him to the fact thathe could do nothing without the "people, " whom politically he ignoredin so far as their fitness for constructive government was concerned;but it was the "people, " and the "people" only, who could bring UnitedGermany. He realized the present impracticability of such a Union as he had inmind for his master, the King of Prussia; that to urge it too soonwould simply bring a new revolution, and God knows there had beenenough blood-letting for the sake of power in and around Prussia forlo! these one hundred years gone by. * * * * * ¶ The only thing for him to do, then, was to keep his ambition tohimself and his own crowd, and to bide his time to strike--for timemakes all things right for him who can wait. And at waiting and at concealing Bismarck was past master. Whileusually figured as a blunt, bold, tyrannical man, there was also aside of inscrutable reticence. ¶ Thus finally between outbursts of temper in which he attacked hisenemies with the power of a battleship in action, followed by periodsof silence after the storm, Bismarck remained master of the diplomaticsituation, playing his waiting game. ¶ And did his stern face never break into an ironical smile? Did henever betray himself? It was impossible to preserve his great political secret from theintuitions of other and lesser minds. * * * * * ¶ You see, men have various ways of getting their will. Some fight, others play, still others threaten suicide if the money is notforthcoming. It is all a matter of temperament and peculiar style ofdoing battle. With some, a curse will bring what a kiss will not; with others a clubis more useful than a loving word. With Bismarck, the first instinctwas to do battle by fire and sword, and this explains why his careeris filled with broken wine bottles, fist cuffs, sword thrusts, and his"sic 'em!" to the big dogs that trailed around with him. ¶ Once, during the crisis of which we now write, on going into asaloon for a glass of beer, some table talk on politics offended him. He ordered the man to stop, then and there, "or I will smash a beerglass over your head!" The man went on talking; Bismarck drank, turned around and said, "Thatfor you!" smashed the tankard on the offending head, and coolly walkedout! BOOK THE FIFTH The German People Are One and United CHAPTER XIV Windrows of Corpses 49 He is no longer the roaring delegate of the "White Saloon, " but has developed the astuteness of the devil, the open sincerity of a saint. ¶ Fight, fight, fight! Nothing but fight! And all this trying time, Bismarck suffered excruciating pains from his old rheumatic complaint. He was irritable, melancholy and jaundiced; sat up all nighthalf-buried in his mounds of state papers; dictating telegrams, quarreling with callers, denouncing, adjusting, scheming; four o'clockfound him in bed; he tossed about till seven, when he managed to getto sleep; and was not seen again till late in the afternoon. Thesituation was getting on the master's nerves. ¶ Enemies in the house of his friends spied on Bismarck, endeavored topoison the King against the doughty Minister. The Crown Prince, especially, who always had an aversion to Bismarck, despite thewar-dog's inestimable services to the House of Hohenzollern, now triedto pull the Pomeranian giant down. To this end, the Prince dissassociated himself from Bismarck's policy, avoided the great man at court. The situation passed rapidly frompolitical to social objections on part of the Prince, who spreadbefore the King the ruin of Hohenzollern if Bismarckian policies werelonger pursued. ¶ But the King would not give Bismarck up. In this regard, William wasas cold as ice. He saw that should Bismarck be asked to go, at thattime, the Liberals would be irresistibly strengthened. The recoil ofthe mighty wave against kingcraft might even end by forcing abdicationfor the Prussian monarch. ¶ Instead of fearing the Liberal leaders, Bismarck despised theirplots. The master knew enough of human nature to see clearly one greatcentral fact. The fire-breathing Democrats would, at the hour ofPrussia's peril, join with the hated system of Bismarck and march toglory. In defense of Prussia, Liberals, Socialists and politicalnonconformists of every description, would be carried off their feet. Then, Bismarck would be able to call on his very enemies to comeforward and help him win the day. ¶ And the old man, as usual, was absolutely correct. In the hour ofdanger how the Prussian Liberals fought! Like fiends they stood, tookthe murderous fire and went to their death singing, "I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be!" * * * * * ¶ The opportunity to test German National faith first came through theHolstein war, precipitated by Bismarck's clever manipulation ofevents. ¶ As well ask from what quarters of the globe the hurricane came whichlast night tore up the old oak tree. You can read a dozen fat volumeson the Holstein problem, and still you will not be convinced. Schleswig-Holsteiners in their rock-grit lands on the North Sea hadtheir political troubles about the right of succession, and that sortof thing; the spit of land up there was aflame with war talk. ¶ The Germans, as a people, wished Schleswig attached as aprincipality of the German Confederation, but Bismarck's secret planwas to seize the territory for the gain of Prussia, a clean politicaltheft of a huge estate. By pushing the Danes out of the FrankfortDiet--that antiquated political stuffed-club of Austria--the Emperorof the South would also be forced out of German affairs. In a fewwords, that was the play. ¶ Opposition? Why, Bismarck lived by opposition, grew fat onopposition. He is no longer the old roaring delegate of the "WhiteSaloon, " in his blossom time. He has developed the astuteness of thedevil, the open sincerity of a saint. As a matter of fact, he nowinvited Austria "to co-operate, " in settling the complex Danishquestion; and the unsuspecting Emperor of the South, who was alsoplaying a deep game of his own, decided to take a hand. ¶ Throughout his long career, Bismarck was everlastingly trading inpolitical advantages. Often there was a large element of imaginationin his promises to pay, but he gained his point in the Holsteinproblem. He had to face: Dissension between the Prussian Chamber andthe Government; the feeling in rival German states; the generaldistrust of Prussia and the hostility of Austria; finally, thejealousy of other powers. ¶ Volumes have been written, learned decisions handed down on thecomplex rights of the warring houses of Schleswig-Holstein. There weremountains of precedents on this side or that, as you pleased. Bismarck's plan was to annex the domain to Prussia and seize theharbor of Kiel, with all the accrued advantages to the Prussianmonarch; and while the talk went on Bismarck manoeuvered to enlisthis old enemy, Austria, to make common cause in a clear way ofplunder, if ever there was one. Then, they swept the country with fireand sword, took it by the "divine right" of the strongest; and it fellout that Bismarck stacked the cards against Austria, as a gamblerstacks them against the man on the other side of the table who issupposed to be his friend, in a gentleman's game. Bismarck at a strokethus won away Austria's share. ¶ After the conquest of the Holstein duchies, King William became moreambitious; henceforth the object of his life was the aggrandizement ofPrussia, in Germany. Bismarck had given the King the taste of blood. The Iron Chancellor admits the fact. Here are Bismarck's exact words, from his interviews with Dr. Busch: "The King's frame of mindunderwent a psychological change; he developed a taste for conquest. " ¶ Bismarck laid the foundation in this way: He reminded the reluctantWilliam of the glories of Hohenzollern; how each Hohenzollern hadadded to the common family fortunes, ever-widening estates and power. He told William how King Fr: Wm. IV had acquired Hohenzollern and theJande District; Fr: Wm. III, the Rhine Province; Fr: Wm. II, Poland;Fr: II, Silesia; Fr: Wm. I, Old Hinter Pomerania; the Great Elector, Further Pomerania, etc. ; "and I encouraged the King to do likewise. " ¶ Is it too much to say that in this great National crisis, Bismarckwas more than servant of the King? In many respects Bismarck was theKing's master. "If you only knew how I had to struggle to make theKing go to war with Austria!" is a significant comment Bismarck oncemade in a moment of confidence. It is a question whether he loved the King more, or himself less. * * * * * ¶ "My party consisted solely of the King and myself, " wrote Bismarckmany years later, "and my only aim was the restoration andaggrandizement of the German Empire and the defense of monarchialauthority. " ¶ He always had a contempt for parliaments and for parties. This factis so clear that we pass it without further comment. In short, Bismarck measures up to these lines in Tennyson: "Ah, God! for a man with heart, head, hand Like some of the simple great ones gone Forever and ever by; One still strong man in a blatant land, Whatever they call him, what care I, Aristocrat, democrat, autocrat--" ¶ However, in this world all things are relative; the finest coat hasits reverse side, where the ugly seams show; and Bismarck is noexception. He has all the strong man's virtues, and vices. Make themost of it. It is a solemn fact that, in his unfailing loyalty to his country, Bismarck showed little consideration for men who chanced to opposehis own principles--but what would you, pray? Man at best is a curious animal; he indulges in great wars and he iscapable of great mercies; he is all things by turn and nothing long;on the same day he loves and he hates, he commits crimes and he goesto church; he has his way and having it, is still dissatisfied. ¶ And Bismarck was no exception. * * * * * ¶ He always expected absolute obedience. "My ambassadors, " he oncesaid to one of them, "must wheel round like non-commissioned officers, at a word of command, without knowing why. " * * * * * ¶ "There are indeed, " says Sir Spencer Walpole, "few things moreremarkable in modern history than Bismarck's determined disregard, from 1863 to 1866 of the decisions of Parliament and his readiness tostake his own life and that of his sovereign on the issue of thecontest. " * * * * * ¶ This Holstein raid was justified as "statecraft, " but the gambler'snerve and the gambler's methods were behind it, from end to end; andBismarck shuffled and cut and stacked, and if now and then some shrewdplayer caught the sleight of hand and protested, Bismarck coollybanged him over the head with a chair or flung a wine bottle at hishead and threw him into the street to make off as best he might, smarting for revenge but not daring to raise a hand; for in his heartthe defeated player realized that in a game of this kind the onlything to do is to take one's medicine, "put up, pay up and shutup"--like the lesser known but equally discerning gamblers of oldMississippi steamboat days. ¶ What were they fighting about in Holstein? Alas, who knows, exceptthat Bismarck had his great German enterprise well under way. It wassaid, at the time, that Disraeli was "the only man in Europe whoreally understood the Holstein question, " but Disraeli was a Britishcynic on all things German, and his explanations must be taken with agrain of salt. However, Disraeli used Bismarck as "Count Ferroll" in"Endymion. " 50 Bismarck sleeps surrounded by windrows of the dead; it was the moment he had awaited, all these years. ¶ One fact should never be overlooked. Whether Bismarck talks to hiscountrymen of patriotism or of religious duties, through it all andbehind it all, while framing constitutions and putting the ballot inevery man's hand, Bismarck always had something to draw to--and thissomething was the invincible Prussian army. This Prussian army, together with Prussian dog-like discipline, madeBismarck's plans possible. ¶ Also, he everlastingly kept the substance of power for himself andhis King; for, however much Bismarck from time to time madeconcessions to the Liberal side, Bismarck always nourished sentimentsof royalty, in the end deftly substituted the mailed fist for histalks on religious faith. ¶ His war-dramas are always rich in strife; but somehow, he makes themconclude in joy. * * * * * ¶ Realizing that the Austrian war could not much longer be put off, Bismarck's great care was that there should be no powerful coalitionsagainst Prussia. ¶ We have spoken before of his closeness to Russia, and the meanswhereby Bismarck secured the Czar's neutrality in the oncomingAustrian war. The King's man next settled with Italy, behind thescreen. He knew that she longed to come into possession of Venetianpowers, held by Austria; Bismarck got after the Italian minister, Lamarmora; the bargain was this: A secret treaty promising Venetia toItaly; no separate peace to be made with Austria; the treaty not to bebinding unless Prussia declared war within three months. ¶ Then Bismarck crossed over and proposed to Austria that Frankfort"reform" the Confederation. The lure to the Liberals was the promiseof a National Convention elected by the people, to decide on a newConstitution; the solution carried the Holstein question, Bismarckaverred, "not as a piece of monarchial greed but as a Nationalaffair. " ¶ Bavaria agreed provided Austria and Prussia would not attack eachother. ¶ At this, Bismarck promised to give to Italy the Venetian provinces, by peaceful arrangement--war or no war. But Italy wavered; she wasafraid of Bismarck's behind-the-screen policies. Austria decided to increase her Venetian armaments, and Bismarck, quick as a cat, seized on this move of his old enemy as an act of"insincerity" in regard to peace. ¶ Austria now replied by urging that the Holstein question be left tothe Diet, despite the fact that Prussia had expressly denied thecompetency of Frankfort to settle questions affecting Prussia. ¶ From this point events moved with rapidity toward war. Troops underManteuffel marched into Holstein, alleging the Gastein treaty broken;Austrians retired, but under protest, alleging that Prussia hadviolated Section 11 of the Acts of Confederation, which provided thatmembers could not make war against each other; and Austria moved thatthe Confederation be mobilized, except Prussia. Bismarck thereuponplayed his trump card. "The Confederation is dissolved!" he thundered, and submitted a new draft of articles, leaving Austria out. ¶ Germany was now in two hostile camps; on came the war. * * * * * ¶ Thus stood matters on the fateful June 1st, 1866, when the criticalsituation in the Danish country offered the match to touch off thepowder magazines against Austria; startled Austria immediately calledupon her beribboned, bejeweled Frankfort Parliament to declare war onPrussia for insolence; and this is exactly what Bismarck wished tobring to pass; it was the moment he had awaited all these long years. ¶ Hanover and two other states were asked by telegraph to declaretheir intentions. The replies being unsatisfactory, Bismarck, withsupreme daring worthy of Frederick the Great, orders von Roon andMoltke's iron men forward. They poured like fiends into the surprisedterritories, overran them in a night, compelling the flight or captureof three kings. ¶ "With God for King and Fatherland!" That old cry is again heardthroughout the Prussian North country. Austria reckoned stupidly; shehad thought Bismarck's internal political dissensions would make itimpossible for Prussia to rally her iron men in good order; butBismarck knew that while Liberal leaders quarreled like dogs and catsover Prussian policies, still when beloved Prussia was in danger, alldifferences would be forgotten--and Prussia in a night would become anarmed camp. ¶ Bismarck, that memorable Thursday night, June 14th, 1866, spent thelong hours pacing up and down under the oaks in the beautiful gardenof the Minister of Foreign Affairs; in deep thought, he awaited themobilization order from the King. Von Moltke, old Roon and Bismarck hold whispered consultations inwhich Bismarck is so sure of himself that his mind at times wandersoff war to chatty anecdotes. "This afternoon, in the antechamber ofthe King, " says Bismarck, "I was so weary I fell asleep on the sofa. Is not this garden fine? Suppose we take a look at the old trees inthe park, behind the palace?" * * * * * ¶ Berlin rang with the patriotic "I am a Prussian, know'st thou not mycolors?" and in unnumbered thousands the multitudes pressed around thepalace. On the night of the 29th came the news by telegraph--"Firstblood for Prussia!" Berlin goes fairly insane with patriotic joy. Bismarck leaves the palace at two in the morning; his stern expressioncontrasts strangely with the frenzied faces in the crowd; never didthe great man's inherent poise show more clearly, by contrast. Thecrowds are singing Luther's hymn, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"--"Afortress firm in our God. " The King comes out on the balcony andreturns thanks. Never-ending cries of triumph force Bismarck to say afew words from the window of his hotel in the Wilhelms-strasse. It isa squally, rain-bespattered night, with the tempest near at hand, butthe mobs will not go home. Suddenly, Bismarck raises his hand, shoutscongratulations, ends by inviting a salute for the King and Prussia. That very instant a peal of thunder rumbles over the city, and a trailof forked lightning splits the midnight skies. "The very heavenssalute Prussia!" cries Bismarck--and the mobs go wild again. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck and his King are off to the front. At Sichrow they see thecorpse-strewn field of glory; 5, 000 bodies in all the agonizingattitudes of sudden death are there before the master. William and Otto pass to the field hospital. The wounded beg forcigars, and Bismarck writes his wife, "Send cigars by the thousand, byeach courier; also forward copies of the 'Kreutzzeitung. '" This is theofficial Bismarckian political organ. So you see, he spreads hispolitical propaganda, even in the face of death. ¶ Otto winds up his letter with this surprising request, under date, July 2, Jitschen, "Send me a French novel to read, but only one at atime. " ¶ Then came Sadowa, July 3d. The "Red" Prince Charles assigns histroops to battle line at dawn, amidst fog and rain. At 9, the King andBismarck appear on the bloody field. Bismarck rides his tall roan mare"Verada, " rechristened "Sadowa. " In thunder and smoke the battle goes burning on. For hours the resultis in doubt. All depends on the second battle line, but where is theCrown Prince? Will he arrive in time? ¶ The vast artillery duel began early and lasted many hours. At theheight of the battle, old King William asked for a cigar, and when thebox was brought took a long time to select one, to his fancy. Bismarckregarded it as a good sign! "If he can bother about the best cigar, the battle cannot be lost, " was Bismarck's mental comment. ¶ At last, the Austrians began giving way. ¶ In joy, the King took from his neck his own Iron Cross and hung iton Bismarck's neck. ¶ Moltke came up, bright and happy, with these words: "Your Majestyhas not only won the battle, but the whole campaign. " ¶ It was true; the great Austrian war was practically now won, and inthree short weeks! ¶ Sadowa, or Koeniggraetz as the Germans call it, is one of the greatbattles of history. There were 445, 000 men engaged; Austria lost30, 000 and 1, 147 officers. ¶ Bismarck, on his tall roan, was eighteen hours in the saddle;neither man nor faithful beast had food or drink, except that thehorse, standing now and again among the windrows of corpses, atecorn-tops and nibbled at leaves. That night, Bismarck slept by theroadside, without straw, a carriage cushion under his head. The rainbeat down in a drizzle, and for miles the smoke hung like a pall. Bismarck's rheumatic pains, his weakness from loss of food, wore himdown. ¶ At last, the course of nature can no farther go; and the masterfalls into a deep sleep--surrounded by windrows of the dead. ¶ At dawn, as he stood up, half-dead from exhaustion, against thelowering skies he saw the vultures ready to pick the bones that Gloryhad provided in this phase of the terrifying story of German Unity. ¶ The hour of victory again proved Bismarck's astuteness. Thefire-breathers around the King urged that the Prussians march onVienna and lay the city in waste; Austria could not prevent; she wasprostrate; but Bismarck said no; and as usual, he had an object. Partof his far-seeing plan was to take advantage of this psychologicalmoment to conclude secret treaties with the smaller states, as alliesof Prussia, in case of future wars. It was the forerunner of his lastgreat work, many years later, the Triple Alliance. 51 Alas, poor human nature! The rejected stone now becomes the foundation of the palace wall! Otto von Bismarck is justified at last. ¶ It goes to show that the right man can bring about any idea, whetherto do it makes it necessary to turn Time's clock backward or forward. Bismarck is magnificent because his extraordinary political workinspired and carried a new National faith that forced men to bow, often against their will, to the logic of his own gigantic mind. Bismarck is magnificent because, too, when the tiger strife was ended, he who had been despised as the arch tyrant of his time, was now seento be the one strong man of his land, who had brought an unwillingpeople peace, happiness and prosperity. ¶ After the Austrian war the deputies whom Bismarck had fought grantedimmunity to Bismarck for those four turbulent years of unconstitutionalrule; the overjoyed people readily forgave him for exacting 12, 000, 000thalers for the secret war chest. * * * * * ¶ The millions who had looked on him as a madman now hailed him aslittle under the stature of a demigod, loaded him with estates, gold, diamonds, medals, stocked his cellars with the choicest vintages, senthim train-loads of presents, thousands of felicitations on parchmentsdone up with blue ribbons, threw up their hats in frenzy only to seehis rattling old coach pass along the streets of Berlin; and in theNational excitement to do something or say something that nobody hadever thought of, became as children to the extent of offering presentsto Bismarck's dogs. Also, in the grand distribution of Austrian prize money, Bismarck wasawarded $300, 000. With this unexpected good fortune he bought Varzinestate in Pomerania. ¶ Of late years, his unpopularity has been made clear in a thousandways, some harmless, others bloodthirsty; his very life was demandedmore than once, by assassins. But now all had changed. ¶ It is related that a German professor, in Greece, caught out afterdark was beset by bandits. ¶ "Who are you?" they inquired menacingly. ¶ "I am a German. " ¶ "Who is your king?" ¶ "The King of Prussia!" ¶ "Ah! Then you are Bismarck!" ¶ And the robbers pulled off their hats and ran headlong in the night. * * * * * ¶ In America, shops sold Bismarck pipes, Bismarck cravats, Bismarckhairbrushes, and one came across such advertisements as this: "What isthe difference between Jones' paste and Prince Bismarck? Answer, thereis no difference, because each sticks so fast that once either gets ahold it is impossible to get away from it. " ¶ After Koeniggraetz, the growing sense of German nationalityimpressed itself in a thousand joyful ways. In Spain, lucifer matches bore on the boxes this doggerel: Als Wilhelm wirkt und Bismarck span Gott hatte seine Freude dran. Or, "As William worked and Bismarck spun, God had his joy thereon. " The fashionable world dressed in Bismarck brown; ironclads bore hisname; in Paraguay the "Citizen Bismarck" ran up and down the river;Bismarck, South Dakota; Bismarck and von Moltke streets; huge Bismarckstrawberries--and what more you please. ¶ The Brandenburg Cuirassiers made him drink out of a silver tankard, holding a level quart of champagne; Bismarck, at the officers' revel, put the goblet to his lips and drained the draught in a few longgulps. ¶ "Another!" cried the National hero. ¶ "Alas, " sighed a dyspeptic Frenchman, who heard of it, "champagneand smoke agree with him--happy man!" ¶ Whenever the Chancellor was out, on foot or on horseback, the newsran like wildfire through Berlin! Offices were emptied, clerks stoodin windows, the public uncovered and cheered. ¶ The German colony of Constantinople sent him a sword of honor;thousands begged his photograph, autograph, or lock of his hair;brewer George Pschorr, at great cost, sent thirty-three gallons ofbeer in a carved cask weighing 500 pounds, with solid silvertankards--veritable gems of art. ¶ Carried away by the general excitement, an inmate of the almshouseput his name down for $5, on a public list, and when confronted withhis utter inability to pay, replied: ¶ "When the time comes for paying I shall ask them to let me off withso many days in jail! So many marks, so many days!" ¶ A little town in the Black Forest offered a huge patriotic scrollcomposed of bottles of raspberry brandy, with handsome labels, bordered with the German colors, red, white and black; a Bavarianorgan builder forwarded a huge organ; the inhabitants of Stanaitschen, a gigantic whip; plovers' eggs came from the people of Jever; the Kingof Prussia made Bismarck a Count, presented him with a rich domain;and in the general excitement, the Chancellor's famous dog Tyras washonored with a magnificent blanket with his initials worked in gold, in the four corners, costly collars to match--and a sofa;--also thisexplanatory poem: "Tyras, sei huebsch, artig und gut, Sei es by Tag, sei es by Nacht! Bewache unsern Kanzler gut: Dan wird als Praeset dir dies Kanapé gebracht. " Or, "Tyras, be good, gentle and kind; all day long and through thenight watch over our Chancellor faithfully;--and this gift of a sofayou'll receive. " * * * * * ¶ But this was only the beginning. At the Universal Exposition in thejewelers' section, one day a tall stranger was inspecting thebeautiful display, and one of the exhibitors, bowing politely, askedthe stranger to accept a magnificent diamond ring. "Your Highnessknows very well that he cannot deceive me! I respect your Highness'desire to remain incognito, but your fame has preceded you!" In vain the stranger protested. The ring was passed, the exhibitor washighly pleased, the stranger offered a card, "Alexander Schnabel, Bavaria. " The exhibitor still smiled, saying, "I respect yourHighness' incognito!" The stranger then quickly disappeared in thecrowd. What is that shouting over yonder? "Hurrah for Count Bismarck!He comes! He comes!" In a moment, the diamond merchant saw it all. Hehad been cruelly deceived, and furthermore had deceived himself! 52 Strange superstition ingrained in this Bismarck mind; what ikon do you believe in, as you urge to duty and glory? ¶ In this life, each man has, secretly or openly, some ikon againstwhich to charge, by way of explanation, his personal history. In the story of Bismarck many ikons have been used by many writers, toaccount for the puzzle of this great man's complex career. Some call it ambition; others will power; others destiny. Certainly, in his long and adventurous career Bismarck was often close to death. ¶ Now Bismarck himself always had his own peculiar ikon. He called itGod. His speeches for many years before Sadowa, his protests in behalfof his King, as against the rising tide of Liberalism, alwayscontained amidst thunders of political consequence, the name God asthe one explanation of Bismarck's history and Bismarck's ultimatevictory. ¶ If that be true--and it is not for us to say yes or no, for we arereporting the man as he is and not the way we think he should be--thenGod was at the bloody field of Sadowa, on the side of the 221, 000Germans, armed with needle-guns, and not on the side of the 224, 000Austrians, armed with old-fashioned muzzle-loaders;--and the clash of445, 000 men with tens of thousands left dead on the field, was thefinal expression of the will of God. ¶ Thus reasoned Bismarck, and surely he should be the best authorityon the conclusions of his own mind? As a matter of fact, Bismarck'sprofound belief that God was on his side but shows Bismarck's excessof faith--the faith that moves mountains. * * * * * ¶ It has been said by eminent historians that Bismarck as the Unifierof Germany had in his mind's eye, for many years, the dream of Empire;and the statement is either true or false. ¶ These writers call Bismarck the man with the vision, the seer, theGerman patriot who saw in an early dream the stirring plan to which hewas to devote his long and arduous life. ¶ You are familiar with the painting by LaFarge, depicting the boyNapoleon, in the school yard at Brien, walking to one side, byhimself? On his youthful brow is already an air of strangepreoccupation, that cloud of ambition, as an outward sign that theboy's imagination is bodying forth the heroic deeds of the man, manyyears hence. ¶ Do not believe it! It is only a poetic fancy, not human life. Planssuch as Bismarck met and carried forth, empires such as Napoleonfounded are not placed constructively before one in a vision, nor arethe complex ramifications attendant upon their ultimate achievement amatter of pre-vision. It is only the small mind that plans down to the hair's breadth. Yourtruly great man, like Bismarck or Napoleon, takes up life as he findsit, and little by little learns the business of compelling other mento do his bidding; and always in this there is a large element left tothe hazard of the die; or to use Bismarck's own phrase just beforeSadowa, "Now we shall see how the god of battle rolls the iron dice!"Your great man rides forth to the battle, prepared to take instantadvantage of circumstances as they may rise. ¶ Bismarck's idea of United Germany, at least the idea he always gaveto the public, was that the thing might be done, with and through thepower of God. The word God appears and reappears in connection with his plan; inhis messages, speeches, dispatches, and in his private letters, hecalls on God. I am not here to say that Bismarck had religiousvisions. I take it that he never heard mysterious voices or sawghostly forms, but instead was an intensely human man who fought outhis life even as you fight out yours--with the powers with which youare endowed, and for such ends as seem worth the price, to you. Thereligious faith learned at his mother's knee, made Bismarck'slife-work a sacred vocation. He believed that he was chosen by God toeducate, guide and discipline the German people. 53 "My dear professor, whoever has once looked into the breaking eye of a dying warrior on the battlefield, will pause ere he begins war. " ¶ And now we meet Bismarck back in Berlin wearing his Koeniggraetzmilitary cross, suspended by a ribbon around the collar of his plainblue Prussian uniform. But the great strain of the years is beginningto show. For one thing Bismarck's eyes are failing; he uses a glass ashe muses over his mounds of state papers; his face is lined with deepmarks; care has done its work; our Otto is now bald, obese andstiff-jointed, much more so than his 54 years might seem to call for. In making speeches he does not speak as boldly, as directly as in daysof yore. He stops, hesitates, stammers, but manages to hold the crowd. ¶ You see he has a world of things on his mind; the under-play of thegreat political game absorbs his very life. What, pray, about thissubconscious impression, that everybody has about an impending warwith France? Bismarck, as deep as the sea, is still seemingly as openas a child. One day, a famous professor made the fateful inquiry as had hundredsof journalists--and this time Bismarck replied, "My dear professor, whoever has once looked into the breaking eye of a dying warrior onthe battlefield, will pause ere he begins a war. " ¶ So much for the astuteness of the man with the iron cross. He isindeed no longer learning the game. ¶ Already Bismarck was thinking of great armaments against France; forshe was now demanding territorial compensations, as between Prussiaand Austria. We find in the "Revue Modern, " August, 1865, thisstriking interview with Bismarck, by the French writer, Vilbort: ¶ "About 10 p. M. We were in the study of the Premier, when M. Benedette, the French Ambassador, is announced. 'Will you take a cupof tea in the salon?' M. De Bismarck said to me, 'I will be yours in amoment. ' Two hours passed away; midnight struck; one o'clock. Sometwenty persons, his family and intimate friends, awaited their host. ¶ "The tiny cloud on the horizon as yet had no name, but this cloudhung to the west across the Rhine. ¶ "At last he appeared, with a cheerful face and a smile upon hislips. Tea was taken; there was smoking and beer, in German fashion. Conversation turned, pleasantly or seriously, on Germany, Italy andFrance. Rumors of a war with France were then current for the tenthtime in Berlin. At the moment of my departure, I said: 'M. LeMinistre, will you pardon me a very indiscreet question? Do I take waror peace with me back to Paris?' M. De Bismarck replied, withanimation: 'Friendship, a lasting friendship with France! I entertainthe firmest hope that France and Prussia, in the future, willrepresent the dualism of intelligence and progress. ' Nevertheless, itseemed to us that at these words we surprised a singular smile on thelips of a man who is destined to play a distinguished part in Prussianpolitics, the Privy Councillor Baron von ----. We visited him the nextmorning, and admitted to him how much reflection this smile had causedus. 'You leave for France tonight, ' he replied; 'well, give me yourword of honor to preserve the secret I am about to confide to youuntil you reach Paris? Ere a fortnight is past we shall have war onthe Rhine, if France insists upon her territorial demands. She asks ofus what we neither will nor can give. Prussia will not cede an inch ofGerman soil; we cannot do so without raising the whole of Germanyagainst us, and, if it be necessary, let it rise against France ratherthan ourselves. '" ¶ The treasonable speech of the Baron did not, however, bear fruit"in a fortnight, " but Bismarck knew the great political game well, andeverything served him in his German undertakings. We shall see. 54 The curtain falls in triumph on another spirited act in the great drama "Germania. " ¶ The political fruits of Sadowa may be summed up in a few sentences. We clear the air for the grand finale, at the palace of the Frenchkings at Versailles, four years later. ¶ By the Prague treaty, August 23, 1866, Austria consented to thereconstruction of the Federation and retired from the scene. Bismarck saw that the large states beyond the River Main, --Bavaria, Wuertemberg, Baden and South-Hesse, were not yet ready for his newNorth German Confederation; but he would bring them in--somehow--later!As for Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Frankfort, and Schleswig-Holstein, theywere now mapped with Prussia, their crime being this, that they hadopposed Prussia in a half-hearted way, before Sadowa. ¶ Bismarck now set up his popular Prussian Constitution. Wonder ofwonders! Really, it differed not in essentials from the hated LiberalConstitution that he had assailed so vigorously in 1848. Also, up to1866, the Unifier of Germany had as we have seen always appeared as anopponent of the National German party. When, however, he had becomeits leader, through the great politico-military struggle, he broughtabout the results vainly fought for by the patriots in the revolutionof 1848. The distinction was that in the Revolutionary days, the Kingwould have been obliged to stoop to the gutter for a "people's crown, "whereas now he need do no such humiliating thing. The two wars hadproven William monarch "by Divine right. " ¶ However, a blaze of aristocratic honors at the hands of King Williampleased Bismarck more than he was willing to admit. Count Bismarck, one night, when the people came with the torchlights, sounded the oldGerman keynote in a new way, as follows: ¶ "We have always belonged to each other as Germans--we have ever beenbrothers--but we were unconscious of it. In this country, too, therewere different races: Schleswigers, Holsteiners, and Lauenburgers; as, also, Mecklenburgers, Hanoverians, Luebeckers, and Hamburgers exist, and they are free to remain what they are, in the knowledge that theyare Germans--that they are brothers. And here in the North we shouldbe doubly aware of it, with our Platt Deutsch, which stretches fromHolland to the Polish frontier; we were also conscious of it, but havenot proclaimed it until now. But that we have again so joyfully andvividly been able to recognize our German descent and solidarity--forthat we must thank the man whose wisdom and energy have rendered thisconsciousness a truth and a fact, in bringing our King and Lord ahearty cheer. Long live His Majesty, our most gracious King andSovereign, William the First!" ¶ A cheer resounded throughout the castle-yard. ¶ The new Constitution gave to the people manhood suffrage and apopular Assembly. The King of Prussia was made President of the newFederation, but not its sovereign. Prussia ruled in her own way, henceforth, but the fiction of the King, as President, served tosteady the minor disgruntled German princelings, who were led tobelieve that their councils were still reckoned with in great affairs. However, the voting was so arranged that Prussia controlled, off-hand, 17 out of 48 units in the new political Confederation--and in a pinchBismarck could rely on having the desired majority. ¶ Some say that Bismarck was influenced by the socialist Lasalle tomake concessions to the people, of a piece with the concessions whichin '48 Bismarck had fought because they sprang from revolutionists;but the liberal aspects of the new Constitution served to place thegreat dream of German Unity on a firmer basis than would otherwisehave been possible. Bismarck was learning this: To try to choke thecurrent of public opinion is folly; the wise man, instead, aims todirect the waters to his own advantage. ¶ The North German Confederation comprised 22 states and Bismarck wasmade Chancellor. The Constitution was adopted February 24th, 1867. For all practical purposes, the German Empire was now a fact. ¶ But more work was still to be done, by way of bloody Gravelotte, Metz, Mar-la-Tour, St. Privat, Woerth, Spichern Heights, Sedan, andthe Siege of Paris. ¶ Corpses, corpses everywhere, lying in windrows miles long! 55 The master uses the masses as the gardener utilizes manure--fertilizing the soil with blood and bones! ¶ Bismarck knows that to demand in an emphatic way is the surest wayof receiving. He is always studying men, looking ahead to the time ofthe inevitable French war. He is asking himself, concerning variousmonarchs of adjacent nations, opposed to Prussia: "On which side willhe be?" "Is he weak?" "Can he be relied on to stand on my side?" "Ishe dangerous?" "Will he take a bribe?" "At any rate, give him what hewants--but let me do it in such a way that he thinks he is forcing usto do what he wants, whereas we know how to make him actually demandour own terms!" ¶ Thus Bismarck without histronic talent, with his piping voice andhis prohibitory bulk for heroic theater-roles, is at heart the greatactor-manager of his time. Instead of creating parts, he deals themout. ¶ He goes through this world during these trying times finding thebest men to do his own bidding in the coming war. And when he ishissed down by those who will not acknowledge his right he breakstheir power by defying them--as the hurricane scatters the clouds, norasks permission. ¶ They say that had he lost the Austrian war, he would have gone tothe gallows. Can a Man of Destiny lose? ¶ A new era is dawning. The old worn-out system for a disunitedGermany of 39 jealous states is to be swept away. ¶ For thirty years he dreamed of the inevitable German Union, had hisvisions of that glory. He was greater than himself in those blackhours before the Parliament, for four long years thundering for hisside;--with public opinion flat against him, and with mutterings onpart of angry mobs that would bring the rope and hang Bismarck to thehighest tree. * * * * * ¶ Throughout Germany, distressed as her people had been for years pastby political and social miseries, a growing consciousness ofbrotherhood, blood and language was at last about to be politicallyrealized. Even Napoleon the Little, political fool that he was in many respects, at least had one idea that showed his common sense. However, in hisday he was laughed out of court for his "theory of nationality, " thatis to say, he believed that people speaking a common language andliving in contiguous territory, have an inalienable right to a commonflag. ¶ Now that is precisely what German poets had in mind, in theirromantic way, when for well-nigh 100 years past they had been dreamingof a united Fatherland-- Fuer Heim und Herd, fuer Weib und Kind Fuer jedes treue Gut-- Or, in other words, a man's house is his castle and if men will notfight for their hearthstones, then they will soon have nohearthstones. For home and hearth, for wife and child-- These things we prize the most; And fight to keep them undefiled By foreign ruffian host. For German Right, for German Speech, For German household ways, For German homesteads, all and each Strike men, through battle's blaze! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah, Germania! ¶ The words, "Auf, Deutschland, auf, und Gott mit dir!"--"To arms, Germany, and God be with thee!" is a National hymn breathing thesolemn thought that Germans are not slaves-- Old feuds, old hates are dashed aside All Germany is one! ¶ Bismarck's work, raw as it may seem in many respects, wasconsecrated to the great central idea that the German race is one, oras the poet Freiligrath puts it in one of his stirring lines, "Dasdeutsche Volk ist Eins!" ¶ The whole thing comes down to the inner meaning of the word"patriotism. " Tolstoi calls patriotism a frightful vice; Washingtonregarded patriotism as a virtue of virtues. ¶ Take your choice. ¶ He is even now brooding over the element necessary for theperpetuation of a free and United Germany. He reads his Bible andprepares for the French war. ¶ Bismarck used the masses as the gardener uses manure. The blood ofthe peasantry manured the ground, out of which was to grow theharvest. CHAPTER XV The Great Year, 1870 56 Bismarck and Von Moltke, over a bowl of sherry punch, discuss "these poor times"--The Emperor-hunt begins. ¶ Volumes have been written to explain the origin of theFranco-Prussian war, and the intricate and inter-related facts aregone over again and again, now with emphasis here, again on the otherside. * * * * * ¶ It is trite to say that Bismarck foresaw that a war with France wasinevitable. Behind this simple statement is a world of intrigue andambition. The French still hold that the annexation of Alsace-Lorrainewas the price not of war but of Bismarck's brigandage. The French alsobelieve that the candidacy of Prince Leopold Hohenzollern for theSpanish throne was a Prussian intrigue against France. The controversyon these points will never be settled, till the Doomsday Book isopened. ¶ When Bismarck sees that his work of unifying Germany cannot becompleted without another war, the war comes! His amazing insight into complex political, military and historicalsituations, in which with a few words he is able to divert publicopinion to his own peculiar view, has been shown never with morediabolical cunning than at the time of the breaking out of theFranco-Prussian war. We refer here to the "Ems dispatch, " that playeda startling part in bringing on the war; but the telegram, in itself, was really a simple thing. ¶ For four years, Germany had been increasing her military power byten-fold. The greatest military martinet of all time, Von Roon, hadthe men up at three and four in the morning drilling them as humanbeings were never drilled before. Von Moltke, "with the battlepictures in his brain, " was planning every detail against France. ¶ The preparations were now complete. The Germans were thoroughlyorganized, led by generals guided by a single brain, von Moltke, master of tactics and strategy. ¶ Just the day the war broke out von Moltke, who was always astaciturn as the Sphinx, "and in times of peace ugly and crabbed, " wassitting in his garden moodily declaiming against these poortimes--with no war in sight! Bismarck greeted his compatriot, bravely. Von Moltke ordered sherrypunch and the two cronies began drinking each other's health. ¶ "You are not looking well, Chief?" began Bismarck. ¶ "No, I have not been well, lately!" ¶ "But you must cheer up. War is your business and you will nowquickly mend. I remember when the Spanish war was the burning questionyou looked at least ten years younger. When I told you that theHohenzollern prince gave the thing up, you became at once ten yearsolder. This time, the French have made difficulties, and you lookfresh and younger by ten years. " ¶ In this light-hearted way Bismarck spoke of the oncoming strife--upto the year 1914 the bloodiest in the history of the world. 57 The bugle blast "For God and Fatherland!" again resounds throughout Germany--The great host crosses the Rhine. ¶ Up to 1914, there never was such a disciplined army since the worldbegan! Neither Napoleon, Cæsar nor Alexander ever had a power like theUnited German swarm, now numbering 1, 200, 000 men, counting advance andreserve; however, the total strength was never called, as the war waspractically over in seven weeks. The hosts of Germany, 800, 000 strong, helmeted, machine-like, movedsilently and swiftly toward the Rhine, carrying their trustyneedle-guns which had done such destruction at Koeniggraetz. As theymarched they sang the war songs of their race, and swore to guard theRhine. Zum Rhine, zum Rhine, zum Deutchen Rhine, Wir alle wollen Hueter sein; Lieb Vaterland magst ruhig sein, Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhine! ¶ The King immediately left for the seat of war, Mayennce being thefirst headquarters of the royal party. Bismarck was always close tothe King. ¶ Bismarck had been only a few days in the field when his health beganto improve. Like von Moltke, Bismarck looked ten years younger. The old-time biliousness and vein-swelling from which he suffered, nowpassed away; the irritability vanished; he was cool and collected. ¶ He was attended throughout the war by a corps of cipherers, decipherers, cooks, privy counsellors, secretaries, and couriers. Faithful Dr. Busch, head of the Bismarck press-agency, was one of thebusiest men of the hour. Bismarck, who learned the power of the pressin shaping public opinion, kept Busch constantly employed sending outtelegrams, giving the German side of the war. * * * * * ¶ The Chancellor wore the white uniform of Heavy Landwehr Cavalry, with white cap and top boots. ¶ Bismarck and his staff camped along the line of advance, wherevernight fell--sometimes in the château of a French nobleman, again inthe hut of a French peasant. The company ate at a common table, andhad the same fare. Bismarck was called "Chief. " ¶ Often the table was made by taking doors off their hinges andplacing them on barrels or boxes; then waiters spread the cloth andbrought out pewter plates and huge tumblers of a silver-like metal, lined with gilt. Candles were stuck in empty wine bottles. Thus the great man workedduring the war, week after week. Dr. Busch, although a very busy man, managed to gather two volumes oftable talk, minute details of what Bismarck said, ate, drank, preached, the whole set forth in spirited style, affording an intimatepicture of the Iron Chancellor to which all historians are henceforthunder obligations. ¶ Firing was going on around the royal party, often dangerously nearby, and now and then a battle would take place close to where the Kingwas encamped, with his faithful minister. They would ride out, to seethe fight. Bismarck read dispatches, made notes, talked to HisMajesty, gave instructions on state matters, counseled with von Moltkeon military matters, received visits, and studied maps. This continuedall day and sometimes all night. 58 Germans drink 2, 500, 000 bottles of champagne at Rheims--Bismarck's ironical revenge! ¶ The high tension of war was relieved by amusing episodes, from dayto day. In the evening of the arrival at Rheims, Bismarck humoredhimself trying various brands of champagne. Word was brought that theday before a squadron of Prussian hussars had been fired on from aleading hotel. Bismarck ordered that the house should at once be torndown and the landlord sent to prison; but when it was explained thatnone had been injured, Bismarck waggishly decided to let the landlordoff if he would give 2, 500 bottles of champagne to the squadron--anobligation which the man quickly proceeded to settle. ¶ The Prussians drank, in and around Rheims, some 2, 500, 000 bottles ofchampagne; and, for that matter, the highways all the way to Pariswere marked with long lines of empty bottles! * * * * * ¶ Thus Bismarck had his ironical revenge on France; took his cherrybrandy or his champagne as he pleased, while the great war waged. * * * * * ¶ "Verily, in all history, " wrote Carlyle to the London Times, "thereis no instance of an insolent unjust neighbor that ever got socomplete, instantaneous and ignominious a smashing down, as France nowgot from Germany. " The whole civilized world looked on in amazement. ¶ France had declared war July 15th, and the crushing defeat at Sedancame September 1. However, it took seven months before Bismarck was satisfied that thefinal papers were drawn to his satisfaction. Louis Napoleon being a prisoner of war, had lost his throne; andconsequently Bismarck insisted that any peace made with France wouldhave to be ratified by some central authority. It is a long, interesting story, but Bismarck finally won his point. 59 Sedan and the Belgian weaver's hut; the highways to Paris are strewn with wine bottles; death drinks a toast to "German Unity. " ¶ As it had been the Iron Chancellor's fortune to be present at thecrowning victory of Koeniggraetz, in the Austrian war, likewise it wasnow his destiny to be a spectator at the two battles that decided theissue of the French war, Gravelotte and Sedan. The spoils were immense, the glory set Germany in flames. Bismarck, von Roon and von Moltke were held to be the greatest men of all time. ¶ Gravelotte, the bloodiest battle of the campaign, engaged 333, 000men and 1, 362 cannon. The King commanded in person, on the right, andBismarck was with him. The carnage was frightful. Bismarck busied himself carrying water tothe wounded. When the sun went down, German victory was complete, atthe loss of every tenth man! ¶ That night, Bismarck bivouacked on the battlefield, amidst serriedranks of the dead. Says one who saw the terrifying scene: "Anon, thewatchfires of the Prussians blazed round about; and worn out byincredible exertions at last Bismarck fell asleep, among the livingand the dead. He was now to have evidence of the result of hislife-long ambition; he had plunged his country into three great wars, with all their dreadful toll of human life; but he slept that nightthe sleep of the just--because he saw, in the complex blending of hisideas, no inconsistency in paying any price for the glory of hiscountry. " * * * * * ¶ The whole bloody day at Gravelotte Bismarck had nothing to eat. Finally, he found a hen's nest with five eggs; giving three tohalf-starving soldiers near by, Bismarck with his sword broke theshells of the two remaining and sucked the eggs. Next morning he had some sausage soup, the first warm food that hadpassed his lips for 36 hours. ¶ While he was standing dismounted, a concealed French battery began atremendous cannonade; the shells dropping all around, exploded, andplowed up the ground. ¶ Night again. Nothing to eat. A sutler had some miserable rum andwine. Bismarck took that, at once, but there was not a morsel to eat. In the village, a few cutlets were found after a hard search, justenough for the King. His Majesty decided not to bivouac among the dead again, but tookshelter at a little public house. ¶ Bismarck with General Sheridan set off to find a sleeping place. House after house was filled with the wounded. Finally they found three empty beds with straw mattresses. HereBismarck and General Sheridan took up their quarters and sleptcapitally. Sheridan was present as official observer for the United States Army. In his life, he had seen many great battles, including Gettysburg andSedan. ¶ Bismarck talked to Sheridan in English; and at dinner they drankchampagne and porter, Bismarck's favorite beverage. * * * * * ¶ With tens of thousands of Cuirassiers as companions the King andBismarck rode down the broad highways, toward Paris; Bismarck wore hisfamous big top-boots. What a picture the King, Bismarck and von Moltke marching down thehighways of France, at their back their almighty army, up to 1914 thegreatest in all history, its fighting strength 600, 000 men, perfectlydrilled and armed with deadly needle-guns. In puffs of smoke the reignof Napoleon the Little was ending; and it is now curious to recallthat, 50 years before, as a young lieutenant, the present King ofPrussia had traversed almost the identical route with the Allies, tohelp defeat Napoleon the Great! * * * * * ¶ The iron heel of war was grinding men's lives into the dust, settingfire to the country, and leaving a trail of destruction. France looked along the German route as though a cyclone haddevastated the face of nature. ¶ Past cities, towns, vineyards, châteaux, the tramp, tramp, tramp;the roll of the war drums; the rumbling of wheels--so the terriblePrussians marched on! ¶ "Summer was passing, " says Lowe, "Autumn was coming fast; France hadturned from the sap green of the vineyards to the golden hues of theharvest; but it was the harvest of Death. " * * * * * ¶ Now came a gigantic cavalry movement, to the right, a prodigiouswheel, to round-up the French MacMahon, who had dodged and doubled inthe basin of the Meuse. "The chase, " said Bismarck, "reminds me of awolf hunt in the Ardennes, but when we arrived, the wolf hadvanished!" To make common ground with Bazaine, MacMahon concentrated his troops, with the idea of breaking the siege of Metz, where 175, 000 Frenchsoldiers were undergoing the horrors of starvation. The Germans outwitted MacMahon, who finally decided to make a laststand around the frontier fortress of Sedan. ¶ On the night of August 31, the Germans closed in on him, in whatproved to be one of the momentous battles in the world's history. Von Roon and Moltke had 121, 000 infantry and 618 cannon, the French70, 000 of all arms, 320 cannon and 70 Mitrailleuses. On the slopes of Frenois, the Prussian King, Bismarck and a brilliantretinue witnessed for ten hours the dreadful carnage reddening thefields. ¶ "More artillery!" cried the King, surprised that the French wouldnot yield. In the King's retinue stood Bismarck, a crowd of princes, dukes, aide-de-camps, marshals, besides army attaches of Russia, England andAmerica. ¶ On the King's order, 600 German guns began drawing the most terrificartillery fire in the history of battles, concentrating anever-narrowing circle of flame and shell around the doomed place. Itwas too much for flesh and blood; a white flag was hoisted. The Prussian flag of truce to inquire for the commander, was led intothe presence of Napoleon, trapped at Sedan! ¶ Moltke's terms were short; the whole French army was to surrender asprisoners of war. The French regarded this as too severe after their heroism, but thePrussians were inexorable; an armistice left the final decision tilldaylight. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck passed the night at the house of Dr. Jeanpot, at Donchery, a few miles from the bloody field of Sedan. Along about daybreak, a servant awakened Bismarck, telling him aFrench general was at the door. It was Reille, Napoleon's messenger, saying "Napoleon is on the way over to see the King of Prussia!" ¶ What a moment! How Bismarck's pride must have risen; how he musthave gritted his wolf's teeth and felt his gorge rise as he realizedthat the hour of his life-long revenge was at hand, against his oldenemy. ¶ And yet, that night, he had been reading in his room after thedreadful Sedan carnage--what do you think? Human inconsistency! "DailyRefreshment for Believing Christians, " by the Moravian brotherhood. ¶ Unwashed, breakfastless, Bismarck immediately set out, his revolverin his belt; down the road Napoleon's carriage, "evidently a hiredone, " said Bismarck afterwards, recounting the scene, "came into view;the Emperor was escorted by a handful of officers; Napoleon had on hismilitary uniform, wore white kid gloves, and was smoking a cigarette!" ¶ Bowing and asking His Majesty's pleasure, Napoleon asks Bismarck, "Iwish to meet the King of Prussia. " Bismarck replies, "Unfortunatelyimpossible; the King is quartered some fifteen miles away. " However, it is only a trick to gain time. Bismarck has certain powerful reasonswhy he does not desire, just then, that Napoleon and William shouldmeet. We shall see, presently. ¶ Napoleon drives slowly onward, but nearing Donchery hesitates onaccount of the crowd; and spying a solitary cottage near by, asks ifhe could not remain there. ¶ It is the hut of a weaver of Donchery--a mean, dirty place--andstands about fifteen paces from the high-road, which is lined withpoplars; the house is one-story, yellow, with four windows, and has aslate roof. ¶ Bismarck and Napoleon ascend a rickety, narrow staircase givingentrance to a gloomy chamber, in which are a deal table and tworush-bottomed chairs. Here the two men sit alone for an hour. What amoment in history! * * * * * ¶ Only a few years before, that is to say, in October, 1865, Bismarckhad sought out Napoleon III, or "Napoleon the Little, " and had held afamous political interview; the meeting at Biarritz found Napoleonfilled with ambitions to emulate the illustrious career of his uncle, Napoleon Bonaparte; but the secret although well kept did not escapethe vision of Bismarck. ¶ The Iron Chancellor came as a friend, on a pleasant exchange ofdiplomatic courtesies, but in secret he was sounding Napoleon'spossible attitude in the oncoming Prussian war, against Austria. TheEmperor was completely tricked. Bismarck talked frankly of thenecessity of "reform" in the German Confederation, and Napoleon, whosehobby was that peoples speaking the same language should be under onerule, fell in quite naturally with the plan to "reform" Prussia. TheEmperor thought that Bismarck had in mind only certain constitutionalchanges in Prussia, not dynastic changes, destroying the Europeanbalance of power and preparing the way for German Unity. ¶ Bismarck made clear to the Emperor that, in return for keeping outof any impending Austrian clash, France would be rewarded by enlargedboundaries. As an enlightened egotist, Bismarck felt that it was "onlyfair" to acknowledge French help with the left bank of the Rhine. Itwas all a bluff. But Napoleon, with his hunger to enlarge Frenchterritory, and to appear before France as a sort of second Napoleonthe Great, fell in with the conspiracy. Herein, the Bismarckian skillat stacking the cards reaches its height. ¶ And now to think that the next meeting of the French lamb and thePrussian wolf should take place in a weaver's hut, Napoleon strippedof glory and power by the man who was to "give" great lands to France. ¶ The Emperor had been caught in his own trap; his armies had beencrushed; his government destroyed by Bismarck's genius for politicalintrigue. The rise to power of Prussia over Austria, against whichNapoleon had been tricked not to protest, was a turning point in thehistory of modern Europe. Hence we say that these two contrastedinterviews, the one of glory, the other of the downfall, Biarritz andthe Weaver's Hut, show our Otto von Bismarck as the supremepolitico-military genius of his time. ¶ A curious sidelight on the famous interview at Biarritz is suppliedby Bismarck's writings. "Napoleon said things could not go on as theyhad been doing, in Prussia, " wrote Bismarck, "otherwise there wouldsoon be an uprising in Berlin and a revolution in the whole country. Itold him that the people of our country were not barricade-builders, and that in Prussia revolutions were made only by the kings. If theKing could stand the strain on him for three or four years he wouldcertainly win the game. Unless he got tired and left me, I would notfail him. The Emperor at that time said of me, 'Ce n'est pas un hommeserieux, ' (Bismarck is not a serious man), a mot of which I did notthink myself at liberty to remind him, in the weaver's hut, atDonchery. " * * * * * ¶ Bismarck exercised all his mighty ingenuity to keep Napoleon fromurging too far that the King of Prussia be brought forward. Bismarckknew that King William was tender-hearted, and, tempted by thedisaster that had come to Napoleon, would in consequence be inclinedto deal leniently with the Emperor. ¶ Bismarck, setting his iron jaws hard, determined then and there tokeep the Prussian King out of it till the terms of peace had beenarranged. ¶ Come, come, are we not justified in our character study of Bismarck?Who now is master, who now servant? Who now is shown to be the realpower behind the throne? And if Bismarck did not actually bring onthis awful war, then he well knew the art of making other nationsdeclare war. Oh, he has learned a thing or two in his long andeventful life; and he is now about to create his diplomaticmasterpiece--in the Belgian weaver's hut. * * * * * ¶ Sedan surrendered 40 generals, 2, 825 various other officers, 83, 000prisoners of war, 184 pieces of artillery, 350 field guns, 70Mitrailleuses, 12, 000 horses, and enormous quantities of militarystores. ¶ The broken-hearted Emperor was sent away to the castle atWilhelmshoehe, near Cassel. And the King of Prussia opened the champagne at his royal headquartersat Vendresse, and toasted von Roon, Moltke and Bismarck: "You, Generalvon Roon, whetted our sword; you General von Moltke, wielded it; andyou, Count Bismarck, have brought Prussia to its present prominence bythe way in which you have directed its policy for several years. " 60 In which Bismarck reaches the zenith of his stupendous career; diplomatist, ministerial Cæsar, unifier of his country. ¶ The Iron Chancellor held firmly to his plan to strip France of herlast franc. The siege of Paris continued, with Bismarck and the King of Prussiainstalled at Versailles, within the shadow of the stately palace ofthe Kings of France. * * * * * ¶ It is a long, vivid story leading to the 5, 000, 000, 000 francsindemnity, and the cessation of Alsace-Lorraine. M. Thiers treated in vain to get softer terms; but Bismarck kept theKing out of it and stuck to his hard bargaining. ¶ "This is not war, it is confiscation!" Thiers exclaimed one day interrible anger, and eloquently he parleyed to have the amount reduced. ¶ Bismarck thereupon began to talk in German! ¶ "I have not enough French to answer such a charge as you have justmade!" he thundered. "Henceforth, we carry on our affairs in German. " ¶ M. Thiers threatened to appeal to Europe to intervene, but at thisBismarck broke into a hoarse laugh. He knew that he had in his pocket a secret quit-claim from Russia andItaly, Denmark and Belgium were tied in another way, Spain was hostileto the French, and as for England--he snapped his fingers! ¶ "Defy me, and I tell you what I will do! We have in Germany about100, 000 excellent French troops, captured at Metz, who are stillwholly devoted to the old Imperial cause. I will release them andbring back the Bonapartists! I care not who is in power so long as theproper sovereign government of France signs our peace demands forindemnity. Napoleon cannot do it, as his throne is in ruins; and evenif he did, the next party in power would probably set it aside. Sopart of my duty is not only to demand for my King the just rewards ofour victory, but to start France again with some new form ofgovernment. " ¶ Going behind this stern diplomatic language, what Bismarck reallymeant was this: "The longer the French Assembly hesitates to call anelection the more we will starve the city into submission. Live onhorseflesh, stale bread, cats and dogs!--die of fever andpestilence!--the sooner it is over! Our siege guns will continue tobark night and day, Paris will be reduced to ashes, crumble to ruins, but the demands of the Prussian King must be obeyed. No power on thisearth can turn me from my project. I am resolved to wage a war ofextermination--and I have spoken!" ¶ "Very well, then!" exclaimed M. Thiers, "M. Le Comte, as you will!Rob us of our homes!--provinces!--burn down our homes!--strangle ourpeaceful inhabitants!--in a word, complete your work! We shall fightyou as long as our breath remains. Perhaps we shall die--but we shallnever be dishonored. " ¶ Bismarck seemed touched, but said all he had to do was to obey theorders of the King. Meantime he went out and was closeted again with Moltke and HisMajesty. ¶ "I do not believe, " said M. Favre, "that any criminal ever waitedfor the judgment with more feverish anxiety. Motionless, we followedwith bewildered gaze the hands of the clock. ¶ "The door opened; Bismarck stood on the threshold, announcing thathe would not insist on the German troops entering Paris--provided wegave up Belfort! ¶ "There was a moment of inexpressible agony, but an exchange ofglances sufficed. 'We should be wanting in patriotism if weaccepted!' exclaimed M. Thiers. The door closed and Bismarckdisappeared again. ¶ "At eight o'clock, M. Thiers had reaped the reward of his heroicendeavors. He had saved Belfort, but in all other respects he hadabsolutely failed to move the man of blood and iron. For five fearfuldays they had wrestled with the problem of the 5, 000, 000, 000--and hadlost! Bismarck had his own banker, the Jew Bleichroder, to show thatafter all the indemnity would be adding 'only about one-fourth' toFrance's national debt. " ¶ On Sunday, February 26, the preliminaries of peace were signed. AsThiers signed, Bismarck took him by the hand, saying, "You are thelast who ought to have been burdened by France with this sorrow--forof all Frenchmen you have the least deserved it!" ¶ Bismarck, radiant with joy, signed the papers with a new golden pensent him for this express purpose by the ladies of the German town ofPforsheim. * * * * * ¶ Said M. Favre: "The countenance of M. De Bismarck was most happy. With theatrical pomp, he sent for a golden pen. .. . M. Thiersapproached the little table on which lay the documents; he wrote hisname without betraying the feelings that tortured him. I tried toimitate him, and we withdrew. The sacrifice was accomplished. ¶ "As a special understanding, it was agreed that the siege should belifted that morning at four o'clock and that France should fire thelast shot. ¶ "What sentiment in this, for Paris! Along then, in the deep nightthat precedes the dawn, with the sky illuminated by occasional flashesof the siege guns, at last the fire lessened, slackened gradually, andthen solemn silence fell. Suddenly, through the night, a loud reportwas heard from the Paris ramparts, followed by a path of fire throughthe sky; this immediately died away, and deep silence, now unbroken, continued. ¶ "The long siege was over!" ¶ On the third day after signing the hard conditions, 30, 000 Germantroops made their triumphal entry into Paris, after being reviewed onthe plain of Longchamps. With the victorious Prussians, Bismarck rode as far as the Arc deTriomphe. ¶ It was one of the greatest incidents of his eventful life. * * * * * We have transposed to the last an episode that took place January18th, 1871, the anniversary of the day on which the first King ofPrussia had himself crowned at Koenigsberg, 1701. In the Hall of Mirrors, at Versailles, King William I of Prussia wascrowned German Emperor, amidst a clash of arms, martial music, hymnsof praise, and the felicitations of a brilliant throng. In the semi-circle stood princes, grand dukes, dukes, crown princes, hereditary princes, generals, ministers, military and politicalfigures, against a background of Prussian hussars. ¶ The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles had seen many astonishing sightsin the centuries gone by; and doubtless that night the shades ofRichelieu, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, Marie Theresa, MadamPompadour, looked down on one of the strangest incidents in allhistory, a German Emperor receiving his crown in the very palace ofthe old French kings, who in their turn, had waged some twenty hardwars upon Germany, and more than once had placed some part of Germansoil in pawn. Who read the proclamation to the assembled companyexpressing the new dignity of the sovereign over United Germany? ¶ The Man of Blood and Iron, Otto von Bismarck, at last haddemonstrated the dream of his life, that is to say, he had in truthnot only long been King's Man, but also long had upheld the King hismaster; had unified Germany;--and now had made his master more thanking, as William I, German Emperor. ¶ Bismarck's life work was now practically over; however, he was abusy man for twenty years to come, trying to settle Germany'sperplexing internal problems; but in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailleshe reached the zenith of his stupendous career as unifier of hiscountry. ¶ In this magnificent state apartment of Louis XIV are seventeenarcades of looking-glass, corresponding to the seventeen largewindows; the ceiling by Lebrun shows thirty incidents in the life ofLouis the Magnificent, each painting bordered by rich gildedsculptures. The entire gallery is decorated with marbles and grand trophies ofgilded copper, by Coysevox. In Louis's time, the gallery was hung in white damask brocaded withgold; there were orange trees in rare boxes; the great centralchandelier of gilded silver was by famous smiths; priceless Savonneriecarpets muffled the lightest foot-fall; round about were silverstools, with green velvet coverings surrounded by bands of goldbrocade. Later, the silver was melted down, on Louis's order, and themoney squandered. ¶ These great artists worked in the Hall of Mirrors and neighboringapartments: Berain, Monsart, Lebrun, Lenotre, Grissey, Vigarani, Audran, Baptiste, Coustau, Coypel, Van Cleve, Taffieri, Taupin, Tempore, Temporiti, numbering among them painters, sculptors, designers, architects, wood carvers, silversmiths and lockmakersextraordinary. ¶ Here, Louis, surrounded by some 1, 500 flatterers of all degree, highand low, kept his court of pleasure bestowing ribbons, favors, dinners, golden swords for the men, diamond necklaces for the women. ¶ However, 1789 ended all that; the mob stormed into imperial chambersand through the apartments of the old aristocratic French courtesans;and with clubs, axes and fires laid in ruin art treasures that stoodunmatched through centuries. ¶ To this Versailles come now the Prussian soldiers to proclaim theirGerman Emperor; in this palace, where the Bourbons had expended some200, 000, 000 francs, as money is reckoned today; to say nothing of thefree labor of thousands of convicts. No record tells what Louis spent on the place, but in August, 1684, 8, 000 horses and 20, 000 convicts were working there, and in 1685 atone time as many as 36, 000 convicts, in charge of soldiers, addedtheir vast free labor to heighten the peculiar glory of the greatFrench monarchs, as the sublime representatives of kingcraft--in itssplendor and in its downfall. * * * * * ¶ All hail, William I, German Emperor! All hail, Bismarck! All hail, United Germany! CHAPTER XVI The Versailles Masterpiece 61 The Kaiser's crown at last, and how and why; herein, we sum up the very flower of our great man's genius; and mark it well! ¶ The very name "Kaiser" brings up memories of the Middle Ages, thencebackward to the days of imperial Cæsar. Kaiser, at best, is but Cæsar, rewritten. Yet Bismarck was at great pains to make clear that the substitution ofKaiser for King of Prussia involved no restoration of ancient imperialinstitutions. ¶ The use of Kaiser, as the title for the new monarch, had behind it adeep, almost religious purpose, in conformity with the sense ofnationality and brotherhood to which through long and painfuldevelopment the German states had at last attained. Bismarck calls thereturn of the title "a political necessity, making for unity andcentralization. " ¶ "I was convinced, " he says, "that the pressure solidifying ourimperial institutions would be more permanent the more the Prussianwearer of the imperial title should himself avoid that dangerousstriving on the part of our dynasty to flaunt its own pre-eminence inthe face of other dynasties. King William I was not free from thisinclination . .. To call forth a recognition of the superior prestigeof Prussia's crown, over the Kaiser's title. " ¶ The Kaiser idea is simple: He is the sworn servant "of" the people, but his terms are his own, viz. , all is "for" the people, but not"through" the people. Such in a few words is the Bismarckian conception of a strong ruler. * * * * * ¶ It was not, then, to be "an expanded Prussia, " but a German Empire. And the Kaiser's powers are hence the legal functions of an imperialorgan, attached by the organic law of the Empire to the Prussiancrown. Thus Germany is a true state, but not a monarchy; sovereignty does notrest with the Kaiser, but with the totality of the allied governments. And in turn the old states became provinces of the Empire; and theKaiser exercises his powers in the name of the Empire. * * * * * ¶ However, it must be recalled that Bismarck always detested politicaland social conformity, trampled conformity under foot, and with wildvoice ridiculed conformity--especially when conformity meant to yieldto the peasants a constructive share in the governments of thethirty-nine clashing German states. That is to say, his idea offreedom was to make the State paramount, guiding, directing and ifneed be disciplining the people. ¶ Memories fasten themselves on us, at this moment, memories of theold days of struggle for nationality. It was on Bismarck's advice that, although Frederick William IV wasbitten by the ambition to become ruler of United Germany, yet when thedemocratic Frankfort Diet offered him the crown, he did indignantlyrefuse; and many years later, his successor--that old man with thewonderful history!--William I, after the victories of Sedan andGravelotte, was mightily afraid that the Berlin Parliament, representing democratic conformity, would offer him the honor ofEmperor before that gift could be bestowed by the princes themselves. ¶ Ludwig of Bavaria in his letter to William, urging the imperialtitle, Kaiser, or German Emperor, uses these words: "I have proposedto the German princes to join me in urging Your Majesty to assume thetitle, German Emperor, in connection with the exercise of the prædialrights of the Federation. " But it was Bismarck's masterpiece ofpolitics, equal to his stroke of Holstein, that sent to the King ofBavaria the proper diplomatic advices, to be acted upon by the SouthGerman princes and returned to the supposedly surprised William, urging on him to become German Emperor. * * * * * ¶ In spite of Bismarck's fine hand, Bavaria at first refused to acceptthe Iron Chancellor's advices. There is light on this topic in HerrOttokar Lorenz's "Foundation of the German Empire, " making clear amongother facts that "the German eagle had a narrow escape from dying inthe egg. " Twice negotiations were broken off; finally, when the Kingof Bavaria tried to get his countrymen behind him in the plan toproclaim William of Prussia, German Emperor, at Versailles, "it wasonly after some hesitation and much regret. " It took the Bavarian Landtag a month to make up its mind! To read theheated discussions is to destroy the legend that the proclamation ofthe Kaiser was by spontaneous demand. ¶ But we must not press these things too far. The fact that KingWilliam had to fight for the magnificent honor he had won for himselfand his country, is merely to say that men are men; nor should we everforget that nothing creates so much jealousy as prosperity. ¶ Herr Bismarck had the cleverness to win, at last, and after thatthere is little to be added. For that matter, the much-lauded revolt of the American colonistsagainst Britain was originally not endorsed by over one-third of theinhabitants. Yet, with the final victory, like a pack the colonistswent over to the winning side, saying, "We told you so. " ¶ We have nothing but praise for the way in which Bismarck created hisVersailles masterpiece. That there was a political squabble behind thecurtain, in Bavaria, was to be expected. ¶ Tell me, did you ever achieve any success that you did not have togo out and fight for? It is an amiable fiction that men "recognize" each other's work, inpolitics, and "urge" on them rulership over nations. They, too, haveto get out and fight for it! * * * * * ¶ This necessity for turbulent striving to carry out political ideaswas especially true of Germany during the period of which we write. Complex conditions long made National Unity a profound problem, notonly in politics but in human nature. ¶ All manner of blacklegs were at work with here and there an honestman; national oratory was at once visionary, ludicrous and tragical;fanatics of the bomb, the knife and the poison-cup for years wereabroad in the land. These situations, growing from times past, compelyou to hold with Bismarck that ultimate appeal to the sword was afterall the only hope for a new Germany. ¶ Bismarck did it grossly, but at least he went through with it--callit militarism or what you please. ¶ For that matter, neither Britain, France, Belgium, (nor the UnitedStates with her 186-odd variants of Christianity in her 186-oddreligious sects), grew out of political cynicism, least of all out ofsome aloof system of esoteric idealism. ¶ The King of Britain owes his crown to the sword; the President ofFrance his high office to the sword; the Belgian King traces hislegitimacy to revolution; likewise, to revolution the President of theUnited States owes his right to rule during his brief hour of officialauthority. ¶ But what would you in this imperfect world? German Unity sprang from the needs of human hearts--fighting bravelyfor what they hold important!--even as you fight for your rights, orconsent to remain a slave. And Germans never will be slaves. ¶ Therefore, know it now and be done with it, or make the most of itif you are inclined to snarl at realities: The Kaiser's crown came bythe sword. Surely, you did not expect that it fell from Heaven? Aslong as men are men, they must fight for what they achieve; and theGerman Empire is no exception;--nor is there any good reason to expectthat history can possibly be other than the record of human nature, inaction. ¶ Up to his downfall in 1890, Bismarck was an uncompromising Royalist, scoffed at the common people as a source of political sovereignty. ¶ No man knows what is, ultimately, for the glory of God; but when inbitter retirement, thrown off by the grandson of William I, Bismarck, replying to the old dispute about the interior causes of theFranco-Prussian war, to which William owes his title German Emperor, it is a fact that Bismarck proceeded to weaken the royalist traditionby forcing the government to produce the Ems dispatch; and it was thenmade clear to the common people that there was behind it all theunder-play of politics, thus dispelling the religious and patrioticglamour that the war had been entered upon to protect the Fatherlandagainst the land-lust of Napoleon the Little. Had now the military right been used not to express the will of God, but the ends of human expediency? ¶ Bismarck certainly knew all this before the great war, but forreasons of political expediency suppressed the facts till in a momentof indignation he dropped the mask and called on all honest men toknow the truth. Bismarck, twenty years before, had with equal indignation set upbefore the Prussians that their King had been grossly insulted, andthat Napoleon wanted the left bank of the Rhine. ¶ But let us forget all this, in a broad acknowledgment of the factthat human beings at various times, for their own ends, do indeed wearvarious masks; and let us not keep up the fight forevermore;--but hereand now let us grant to Bismarck final absolution, not claiming forhim the perfection of the demigod. ¶ After all is said, history is not the record of some far-offmanifest destiny, but instead is merely the sordid story of humannature in action, reciting at best the littleness that appertains tomen's ways, with now and then the unrealized expression of somefleeting larger hope. 62 His Versailles masterpiece reduced to its final analysis, in terms of human nature; wherein it is made clear that Bismarck knew his German peasant as well as his Prussian King. ¶ The core of human interest around which Bismarck shaped hisstupendous politico-military drama, in order that, in the end, Williammight become German Emperor, was neither an appeal to parliaments norto armies, but a reply to a peculiar psychological something in theTeuton character that makes respect for the strong hand. It is only in the largest way that this fact may be made clear. Itescapes categorical statement;--and can best be glimpsed behind thehistory of events, from the psychological rather than the physicalside. ¶ Bismarck manipulated an invisible but very real human force, made itthe breath of life for his plans! ¶ That he warped on the Nineteenth Century the old Holy Roman Empireconception of Divine-right is an amazing politico-military fact. It was only after many brilliant achievements that, at the height ofhis power, Cæsar linked himself with the gods. Cæsar's earlier lifeknew no such pretensions, but as he climbed the dizzy heights of fame, at last the day came when his kinship with the immortal godsthemselves alone satisfied his inordinate ambitions; and from thattime forth Divine-right became an established fact in thetheological-political code of kings; and thus on, down through theMiddle Ages, until the French Revolution destroyed confidence in theold-line absolute monarch, as vicegerent of Christ on this earth. * * * * * ¶ However, that Otto von Bismarck, the blond Pomeranian giant, warpedon the Nineteenth Century the Imperial Cæsarian idea of theDivine-right of kings is not the final fact of his work. The innerfact is that he urged the King's authority as a foil against themob-idea of the French Revolution. The liberty-crazed masses needed astrong hand at this time. ¶ What made possible the coming of the Empire was not, after all, traceable entirely to the political side of Bismarck's hotly contestedstruggles. The innate craving of the German people for a strong ruler has asubtle inner meaning, too easily overlooked. ¶ In the final analysis, Bismarck's position expresses Prussian senseof National security in a powerful war lord, rather than supports theconception of master and man. His was not the position of lord andservant; rather it means a manly, intelligent admission of thenecessity of a strong central authority in the nation. ¶ By the force of years of tedious repetitions, building on the plainlaws of mental suggestion, Bismarck at last created certain dominatingideas; but the germ of these ideas already existed in Prussia'sconsciousness. The Prussian character supporting Divine-right represents a singularcompound of cadet, blind confidence in aristocratic leadership, religious radicalism, worship of ancestors approximating the Chinesesentiment, and finally, a racial psychology of rulership, based on therattan of Frederick the Great. On this total combination, the astuteBismarck played for thirty long years, warring for his lord andmaster, the Hohenzollerns. A careful reading of Bismarck's speeches, letters, dispatches, willshow that whatever political expediency he may at various times havefollowed, and however often he may have changed front, there is stillin his great labor a tireless repetition of ideas commanding respectfor vested authority, for ancestry, for a ruling class as against theruled, and always for absolute dog-like obedience to some centralcommanding power. * * * * * ¶ The psychological something on which Bismarck builded his GermanEmpire is Bismarck's recognition of the peculiarities of his Germanpeasant, as well as of his Prussian King. We come now to some greatcentral racial facts. Bismarck's unending eulogies of military glory, now extolled in thehigh language of a victorious commander-in-chief, again as adrill-sergeant sharply criticising the squad, are not to be dismissedas the expressions of one in large authority, speaking from the stepsof the throne. Bismarck's work would have failed had he not linked it to some secretcraving of the Teutonic heart, far deeper than conquering thejealousies, intrigues and selfishness that compose the long story ofthe rise of the German Empire. ¶ Historians may talk as much as they please about Bismarck'sexecutive and administrative genius, but these, great as they are, areovershadowed by his power of political spirit-healing, as it were;through practice of his peculiar psychotherapy he cured sick Germanyof many of her ills; at the same time bringing about Germanbrotherhood in a way that added to the great glory of Prussia. ¶ Appealing to the solemn religious side of Prussian character thatexpresses itself in upholding authority, in church or state, Bismarckincessantly lauds the descendants of noble families, and sets up thatPrussian military aristocracy alone reared up Prussian politicallegitimacy. He presents likewise the idea that the supreme quality of Germanmanhood is courage; and to Bismarck's mind the sovereign German virtueis revealed in strong-willed eager soldiers. While in these lofty moods, Bismarck displays enormous family pridefor his beloved aristocrats of Brandenburg, is never weary of tellingof their military prowess. He avows on many occasions his life-long regret that he did not enterthe army as a career, instead of taking up the civil service; he digsinto his family records and proudly numbers each Bismarck who carriedarms, even down to distant cousins, and is never so happy as whentelling of Bismarcks on many blood-drenched fields. Above all else, he everlastingly insists that behind his demands forhis King is the direct will of God. ¶ There is not the slightest doubt that as time passed and Bismarckkept telling over and over for years that the King represented God'swill on this earth, true Prussians came at last to believe it more andmore; for the reason that it was in their blood to believe, as it isthe nature of a bull-dog to fight, a glutton to eat, a thief to steal, the sun to shine. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck called on heaven to send its avenging lightnings on theheads of those who deserted their monarch, to their perpetualdishonor; could think of no crime more monstrous than ingratitude tohis King, especially to a king by the grace of God. And Bismarck declared again and again, as his deepest conviction, thatthe Prussian crown was encircled by a heavenly aureole. In short, Bismarck revived in its purest and most uncompromising form thedoctrine of Divine-right. ¶ In an age seemingly out of touch with this iron-bound mold of theFeudal past, Bismarck would have failed miserably were it not that hetouched a responsive side of Prussian character--dog-like loyalty toauthority, compounded of military glory and a pale shimmering ghost ofreligious aspiration. The governing fact of the whole situation was psychological ratherthan physical; and all this stupendous cannonading at Gravelotte, Sedan, Koeniggraetz, and the magnificent drama in the Hall of Mirrors, were after all merely so many evidences that Bismarck better than allthe tribe of his objectors knew the psychological core of Prussiancharacter. ¶ Bismarck brought down the wrath of God on those rival leaders whodared to be disloyal to his Divine-right King, and flew into frenzy atthe very thought that a genuine Prussian should expect wisdom from thecommon people. Behind all this, was always the solid appeal toPrussian military-cadet idea of loyalty and strong politico-religiousinstincts. ¶ Manipulating this psychological side, invisible yet very real, Bismarck shows his genius as a constructive statesman. Without thisintuitive touch of Prussian consciousness, all the lustre thatBismarck ultimately shed on the Imperial crown would have beenimpossible. ¶ Thus, we behold Otto von Bismarck, the rude, blond, Pomeraniangiant--in spite of his coarse speeches, his brawls, his politicalcard-stacking, his enormous egotism, his passionate seeking afterpower--play with Shakespearian subtlety on the strings of humanpassion. There is no larger character-side to our Bismarck; so study it welland reflect on its wide meaning. * * * * * ¶ We are not here to say what Bismarck should or should not have done, but we make up our mind about him by what he did do. ¶ He had peculiar ideas of religion, pleasure, duty, and certainly hehad his own idea of what was best for Prussia, and finally forGermany. ¶ He bartered his immortal time for a King's crown and an Emperor'sglory, guns, swords, forts, marchings up and down the land. ¶ He bartered his time in angry disputes with his fellow-man, forprisons, broken homes, murders, tears for 80, 000 widows and orphans. ¶ He bartered his time for magnificent spectacles such as thecoronation of William I in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, a palaceoutrivaling any creation of man since the days of Nebuchadnezzar. ¶ He bartered his time for grand balls for aristocrats in silk coatsand ladies in diamonds and satin gowns. ¶ He bartered his time that a certain space in Europe be made over tohis own liking. Other kings and emperors with equal logic wished tohave this space made over in a way that seemed as good as the oneBismarck had in mind, but Bismarck regarding it as a calamity thatother plans should come to pass, fought bitterly with sword and cannonto back his individual opinion against all who disputed with him. ¶ He bartered his time that a certain part of the map be marked withone name instead of thirty-nine names, as had been the case when hecame to power as a young man in the politics of Prussia. ¶ And finally he bartered his immortal time in a thirty-years'gladiatorial fight that in the end millions of Germans might feel thetingle of blood-brotherhood. How he faced the long, heart-breakingbattle, therein we find the true measure of our great Bismarck! Thushis work, as an individual, is absorbed in the larger life of theGerman Empire. These National services make Bismarck one of theimmortals; and his name will be remembered affectionately by Germansfor thousands of years. * * * * * ¶ The present review of German origins, through Bismarckian genius, isconcerned largely with the form of government established. The collective efficiency of the Bismarckian idea, as worked out inthe German Constitution, promptly ascertains the will of the people, and carries out that will. ¶ The Kaiser, through the Chancellor, has the selection of allimportant public officials, and as King of Prussia appoints Prussianadministrative officials; and in turn, the various kings choose thevarious public servants in their respective kingdoms. All hold officeduring good behavior, or for life; instantly responsive to the will ofthe Kaiser, or to the Bundesrath. The state officials are thus "thefingers of the Kaiser, " working the duties of the Empire, free fromthe petty molestations that assail even the most trustworthy andpatriotic American office-holders. ¶ In simple terms of parallel, the much-lauded American CommissionSystem, for the government of cities, was borrowed from the Kaiser. The Commission System delegates the power to a committee of five, whopass and execute the laws. This is precisely the principle laid down by the Bundesrath, in whichbody is united executive, legislative and judicial functions. It is afact that the cities most efficiently managed, in the United States(1915), are under the Commission System, that is to say, the Germanconception of responsible politico-civic authority. ¶ German thoroughness, as well as German discipline, unite to make theGerman system a brilliant success; but in America the Germancollective idea is politically offensive because of our superstitionthat the way of Liberty lies through incessant political changes. TheAmerican has confidence in the wisdom of large numbers, believes thatby dividing the functions of government the people may be saved fromthemselves. One-man power is (theoretically) greatly feared, inAmerica. Despite the fact that in all great industrial undertakingsAmericans appreciate the part played by personal responsibility, theyare loath to admit that the principle makes for National politicalefficiency. * * * * * ¶ One final word: Revolution means change; and in this sense theFrench Revolution is important. In some respects, it is still goingforward. However, in 1848 the practical side of the Revolution was notunderstood, was therefore decried by conservative thinkers who saw inthe excesses of the Commune little that heralded a better day. ¶ In France, thousands of men misinterpreted emotional zeal for humanbrotherhood for fitness to govern. It is the old, old story. To come at once to the point: You must judge a nation as you do a man, not by what that man says, but by what he does. Hence, from Bismarck'spoint of view, it was time to be done with the bursting of bloodvessels in a frenzy about equality, and to come down to the essentialfacts of human nature; or if you like the words better, human ways. It is not necessarily a mark of wisdom to issue "manifestoes againstspecial privileges" and to set up that "all" the people are fit torule an empire. The very reverse is the proof of history; few men indeed there are whohave the patience, the discretion and the prudence to rule over otherlives. Also, the German race asks no upstart rulers; the idea of father andchild, duty, discipline and personal responsibility is deeply groundedin the German conception of an adequate State. * * * * * ¶ There is small profit in using precious time denouncing Bismarck'sprotest against French Constitutionalism. Let us, instead, try tounderstand why the old ways were cherished. And always bear in mindthat the Past holds mankind in a tighter grip than the Radicals arewilling to concede! There is no such thing as wiping off the slateand starting with a "new" set of ideas. The wisest man in the worldcannot do that. At best, he recognizes the past, with here and there aslight variation. Such, in short, was Bismarck's broad and true idea of human necessity. And he planned his German Empire accordingly. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck was faced by these facts: the idiomatic ways in whichGerman people thought and acted; their tastes and ideals, not only inpolitics but in society, law, religion;--nay, their very dreams. Throughout, there is always a profound sense of personalresponsibility to the State. The State is not to be forgotten for somespurious personal individuality. And mark this: that for generations "events" in Germany all gaveexpression to certain racial habits of thought, against which allmanner of Communistic uprisings were anathema. German sense of discipline, duty and personal responsibility, in Stateaffairs, is grounded on a high consciousness that is not satisfiedwith half-measures, bungling, waste, cheap politicians, and freakishlegislation. The German takes himself too seriously to permit abunko-politician to come on with faking, as a substitute for theNational ideal of government. ¶ Hence, Bismarck's Imperial democracy, with the Kaiser at its head. * * * * * ¶ As between the inevitable contest between the Crowd and the Crown, springing from the inflammatory ideas of French Constitutionalism, Bismarck did not shrink; but fought it out in his own way. Our Man ofBlood and Iron desired the blessings of liberty for Germany with allthe strength of his powerful being; but he could not stultify hiscommon sense by meekly conceding no essential distinction between men, in their capacity for leadership. He was, then, intent on bringing outof the German political chaos a type of democracy that may be termedImperial as well as representative, in which the people are accordedtheir share, as he saw it, but always under the guidance of a strongcentral authority. ¶ And after all said in glorification of any special type ofgovernment, the stubborn fact remains that absolute equality, from arepresentative point of view, is a fiction unsupported by fact. Thenotorious incapacity and apathy of the masses is always, in the end, directed by central powers, exercised insidiously or openly as youplease, but exercised nevertheless. In every political party we find acoterie, men of little wisdom it may be but leaders of the crowd; inevery city commission is always one masterful man to whom the othermembers defer; in every banking house, one deciding voice; everyreligious organization must have a head, regardless of the number ofcounsellors; every ship a captain; every army a general; and, finally, in every family there should be the guidance and direction of a strongfather. ¶ Is there not a ring of sincerity in Bismarck's manly acknowledgmentof the inevitable equalities in the human stuff of which governmentsare composed? He saw only common sense in openly protesting that inany German government big enough and enduring enough to satisfy theGerman conception of responsibility, in a word German thoroughness, there must be, somewhere, a master-mind. ¶ For many years, and even today, Bismarck is in some quartersregarded as the arch-enemy of the common people, but his great workhas stood the acid test of time. The German Empire, builded underBismarck's broad ideas may be likened unto a wonderful watch, in whicheach part does its peculiar work without even a gambler's chance ofgoing wrong. BOOK THE SIXTH Once a Man and Twice a Child CHAPTER XVII The Downfall 63 The secret discontent of the man who believed himself sole founder of the German Empire. ¶ When the Kaiser, on that eventful day in March, 1890, turned andtold the old man to go, Bismarck received the heart-breaking sentencewithout a sign of protest. ¶ To a friend who called he told the news in a calm voice, a smile onhis lips, congratulating himself on being able to resume his countrylife, of which he was so fond, of visiting again the forests on hisestates, and "belonging to himself" in the few years that were yetleft. ¶ "I'll soon be gone, " he said, "and it is time I should take a rest. " ¶ The story is long and complex, but we will give you the largedetails, only. The day comes when Bismarck's old friend, EmperorWilliam I, passes from this earthly scene; his son, Frederick III, reigns three months and is carried off by cancer of the throat. Thedoom of Bismarck is now sealed! Emperor William I was the firmfoundation of Bismarck's strength, but the son did not like the IronChancellor, and within the three brief months of power before deathcalled, Frederick III let it be known that Bismarck was marked forretirement. Frederick's one act leveled against the Bismarckfamily-dynasty was to dismiss von Puttkammer, Minister of theInterior. ¶ Now enters William II, aged 29, a mighty man in the making, asleepless man, one who in his time was to become the standard by whichhenceforth all German institutions are to be measured. His firstaddress to the army; his second, to the navy; his third, three dayslater, to the citizens. ¶ Did he not ask old von Moltke to resign? Yes, and others. It wasnot, as many historians set up, that Emperor William II was jealous ofBismarck, nor was it a case of "crabbed age and youth cannot livetogether. " ¶ The Emperor, with firm feeling in his will to Imperial power, wishesto develop Germany along lines of world-wide importance. Bismarck wasof the past; William of the future. The blow fell March 28th, 1890. ¶ The world gave a gasp of astonishment; it seemed impossible thatBismarck, the master-mind of United Germany, should be unceremoniouslyshuffled out of sight. Political writers the world around become involved in spiritedcontroversies, on the whole supporting the old man and denouncing whatseemed like ingratitude on the part of the new Emperor. It was pointedout that Bismarck himself, speaking to the Czar, had only a short timebefore declared, "I hope to die in office, always a good friend ofRussia. " Also that William II had on New Year's telegraphed toBismarck, "That I may long be permitted to work with you, for thewelfare and greatness of the Fatherland!" * * * * * ¶ If Bismarck was not made by a King's breath, at least a breathdestroyed Bismarck's control of the situation. Bismarck had long ruled the lives of millions; but when Wm. II snappedhis fingers and said "Finis!" the old Chancellor had to go. The lossof Bismarck's influence was as complete as though instead of being theforemost man of his time in the diplomatic world, he was instead onlya clerk discharged by his superior. * * * * * ¶ In listing the elements on which Bismarck builded there is alwaysone often overlooked, yet at the very foundation, the bottom stone inthe wall. That one was the favorable attitude of King William I. Without the King's consent, Bismarck's career would have beenimpossible! Herein, we find a classic illustration of howinterdependent are men's lives; what small causes sustain or defeatgreat careers. * * * * * ¶ But first we wish to tell you something of his honors during thepast few years, also of the munificent patronage of the Kaiser, goingfar to refute the libel that the Kaiser was ungrateful. The patientKaiser in truth dealt nobly with the moody old man. On the old man's 70th birthday (1885), the people of Germany offered agift of $1, 350, 000, one-half of which Bismarck used to repurchase theancestral estate, Schoenhausen, which he had sold in his impecuniousyears; and now, thanks to the gratitude of the German nation, the oldplace, mightily enlarged and improved, passed again into Bismarck'shands. The other half of the $1, 350, 000 Bismarck set aside as an endowmentfund for school teachers. ¶ Even Victor Hugo added his hero-worship, in this curious letter:"The giant salutes the giant! The enemy salutes the enemy! The friendsends the greeting of a friend! ¶ "I hate you, cruelly, for you have humiliated France; I love youbecause I am greater than you. ¶ "You kept silence when my eighty years sounded from the belfry of myglory; but I speak now because the stolen clock which stands upon yourdesk, refuses to announce to you that your 70th birthday has come. ¶ "If you and I were united in one person, the history of the worldwould have been ended. .. . But you are great because you know not whatfear is. Therefore, I, the poet, offer my hand to you, the great man. " ¶ The Prince, thunderstruck, wrote in reply two words, "Otto--Adieu!" * * * * * ¶ Nor was this all. The Pope bestowed upon Bismarck the Order ofChrist, for ameliorating the last of certain hard conditions againstthe Church, dating from the culture-struggle of years gone by. ¶ In 1871, Emperor William I had invested Bismarck with the hereditarydignity of Prince, and William II conferred on Bismarck, at the timeof dismissal (1890), the title Duke of Lauenburg, together with alarger share of the Duchy of Lauenburg, an estate on which the Emperorexpended $1, 000, 000. ¶ The old man's income was now said to be in excess of $100, 000 ayear; in addition he received unnumbered gifts of a princely nature, as well as priceless tokens of sentimental esteem, from patrioticGermans the world around. ¶ It was a relief to Bismarck, in his old age, to know that his familywould be rich and famous. He had been deeply engrossed in politics foryears, and all his ambitions had been exhausted on his belovedGermany; he not only had no time to make money, but was heavily indebt; his interest account, for loans, was said to have been, for manyyears, $30, 000 per annum. How he managed to keep his head above water (with all the distractionsof statesmanship, to say nothing of the burdens of three great wars, and the embarrassments of his private finances) shows the man's ironconstitution as well as his sagacity in practical affairs. ¶ In all, Bismarck received forty-eight orders of distinction, at thehands of monarchs; also a long list of university degrees, medals andgolden keys bestowing the freedom of German cities. * * * * * ¶ The immediate cause of Bismarck's dismissal had to do with an old"Order in Council, " 1852, to the effect that the Prime Minister, ashead of the Prussian Cabinet, had autocratic powers. This order the Kaiser now abruptly countermanded. The decision wasmade following an interview between Bismarck and Dr. Windhorst, atBismarck's house. William II did not much like this political jockeying on the part ofBismarck; Windhorst was an enemy of the established order; therefore, that the Prussian Chancellor should hold a secret caucus with apolitician objectionable to the Emperor created a crisis. The Kaiser, who lived in a wire-hung whispering gallery, knew at oncethat Bismarck and Windhorst had been in conference; and early on theday following, William abruptly appeared at Bismarck's and asked tosee the Chancellor. Bismarck came down in morning gown and slippers, for he had beensummoned from his bed! ¶ "What is the meaning of this Windhorst interview?" inquired theKaiser sharply. Bismarck replied with spirit. The breach widened. Bismarck took theground that it was none of the Kaiser's business who called at theBismarck house. ¶ The Kaiser then insisted that in the future he should be notified inadvance of prospective political interviews, that, if he so desired, he might send a personal representative, to report the drift of thetalk. This made Bismarck furious; the old man rebelled, flatly! ¶ It was a sharp, short, painful scene; by no means a ceremoniousdiscussion of constitutional prerogatives, or the amicablerearrangement of methods of transacting state business. Instead, itwas the parting of the ways, the breaking of old ties;--and after allthese long years! ¶ "Then I understand, Your Majesty, that I am in your way?" ¶ "Yes!" ¶ "Enough!" ¶ "Haste!" rejoined the Kaiser; and thus, in few words, the celebratedinterview came to an end. ¶ In parting with the Chancellor, the Kaiser made Bismarck Prince ofLauenburg and gave him a very valuable country estate, and added alsothe rank of Field Marshal. The princes of Germany joined in goodwishes for the old man's peace and happiness, for his declining days. ¶ Peace and happiness--what a satire! 64 And Bismarck was intensely human! "Who made United Germany?" is his question. ¶ The women of his household did not take the news quietly. ¶ The imperial messenger arrived with the Kaiser's portrait, as afarewell souvenir to Prince Bismarck. His wife exclaimed: "Take it toFriedrichsruh and let it be placed in the stable!" * * * * * ¶ At the depot, a great crowd came to see the old man depart for thecountry, but the Kaiser was not there. Bismarck's hoary age, his great dignity, his known services toGermany, were now dear to the heart of Germans; thousands gathered, inspontaneous farewell, crowding around the old man and kissing hishand. ¶ Now let us face the facts. To a man of Bismarck's iron mold, the exercise of power is the breathof life; this made it a tragedy for the aged Bismarck to withdraw. It was but natural for him, as time passed and his ambition grew, thathe should believe himself the sole founder of the German Empire. Hisconstant utterances after his downfall bear out this idea. Thecomposite victory of scores of minds merged in his imagination and nowcrystallized in his own soul victory. Such is human nature, and so wesay "Wellington won the Battle of Waterloo, " but is this strictlytrue? True or false, such is human habit of thought, and Bismarck wasalso now shown to be human enough to claim it all for himself. * * * * * ¶ The story of Wolsey over again; our old counsellor of state thrownoff in his declining years; and we can almost hear Bismarck in hisgreat bitterness repeat the tragic words: Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal I serv'd my King, he would not in my age Have left me naked to mine enemies! ¶ Bismarck's further official presence was irksome to the new master. With the iron decision characteristic of Hohenzollern, William IIended the situation, with a stroke of his imperial will. In thisattitude William not only acted wisely, but showed himself every incha Kaiser. ¶ Besides, Bismarck was plotting in a very human way to support andadvance the rising fortunes of the Bismarck family. Would you not havedone as much, or even more? In his princely office, Bismarck thought to found a diplomatic dynastyof his own, wherein the servant becomes the master; he made his son, young Count Herbert, Minister of Foreign Affairs, a rise in lifeprodigiously fast for one who used to fill the function of holding hisfather's dispatch bag in the Parliament, when the old man madespeeches, supported by incessant drinking of brandy. Bismarck, himself, was Chancellor, Minister-President, ForeignMinister; his cousin, Minister of the Interior; and there were manyother Bismarcks in state service, trained to know the old man'spolicy. Constructive governmental work was all in Bismarck'spower;--and he meant to keep it there. ¶ These many acts of family favoritism, arousing the indignation ofthe new Emperor, played an important part in determining the old man'sdismissal. The King was offended by Bismarck's many acts of nepotism, "the greatest, " he secretly declared, "which politics have everrecorded. " * * * * * ¶ A high official said to Bismarck after Koeniggraetz: "You should bewell satisfied;--it made you a Prince!" ¶ "It made me a Prince, " mused Bismarck, with a sudden andunaccountable show of irony. Then, pointing to the map of UnitedGermany, he replied with deep-rooted conviction that revealed how thefires of ambition were consuming his very soul: "A Prince, did yousay? Yes, there is my principality!" ¶ From that hour, the suspicious and irrascible side of Bismarck'smind continued to expand. Some of us quarrel with our family, ourpartners, or our political party, asking who was responsible for thedisaster, but the most deadly disputes are those called forth byambition to decide not who was responsible for the loss, but who madethe success. ¶ Small cause; great effect. ¶ And Bismarck was intensely human! 65 The elements of his greatness number three--Here read two, but the third and greatest is yet to come. ¶ Now you ought to begin to understand the man in his naked reality;his elements of greatness compounded with crying frailties--but hisvery faults endear him to us the more, because they show him brotherto the weak. ¶ Threefold a great man, great in ambition and courage; greater incompelling victory through years of patient and moody planning; butgreatest of all in his downfall, when turning his back upon the blazeof glory, he retires to the country to view the mighty forests, and totake long walks with his dogs over the fields, communing with himself, the winds of heaven, and the immortal stars. ¶ His time is now very short; the sands have all but run out of theglass. For the first time in many, many years, he now belongs tohimself once more--on the very edge of the tomb--before the sun is togo out forever--and the long night settles down. ¶ Does he still believe in his old ikon? In the secret chamber of hisheart does he still believe that God was behind it all, on the side ofthe needle-guns of Sadowa? ¶ The justifications of earth ofttimes betray themselves in strangesuperstitions, and there always was a large strain of superstitioncompounded in the great mind of this great man; not unlike thesuperstitions of a brother conqueror, Julius Cæsar, who was wont tocrawl on his belly to the Temple, there to return thanks to theimmortal gods for success in battle. ¶ To his dying day, Otto von Bismarck held fast that he was theinstrument of God, and that God did it all, through him. Flesh andblood needs some explanation for its ways--and it may be that oneinterpretation is on the whole as good as another. With Bismarck theikon was God. * * * * * ¶ On his part, as a human being, for many years Bismarck nursed hisseemingly impossible dream of expelling Austria from the Germanstates and binding up thirty-nine principalities in one grand Empire. This ambition he pursued incessantly, and ultimately succeeded inreaching by his genius in manipulating the human nature side of themen around him. He worked for himself, for his King and for his idealof a United Germany. He gave to the seemingly hopeless cause all histime, strength, nay, his very soul. ¶ His was also now the secret discontent of a man who thought himselfthe sole founder of the German Empire. It was so understood by KaiserWilliam. For the time being, then, the patient Kaiser, averse towounding the pride of a true German servant of the Empire, permittedthe overleaping ambition of his great Minister of State to have sway;but William knew that, soon or late, the break must come; and in hisown mind had already decided on the man who was to take Bismarck'splace. ¶ Little by little threats came; men in high office secretly inveighedagainst Bismarck's new ambitions; it did not escape the attention ofthe Emperor's intriguers, who now worked against the old man's familyaspirations; then came more resolute attitudes on Bismarck's part, egged on by his wife and by his son, who each had grown prodigiouslyambitious. * * * * * ¶ Enter General Caprivi! * * * * * ¶ Before the will of the Kaiser, Bismarck must bow; and now behold howthe mighty has fallen! We must henceforth seek him not in the splendidhalls of state, but among simple rural scenes in Schoenhausen, wherehe was born, where he lived as a child; and to these quiet shadesunder the oaks and elms he now returns at the last remove of life; abroken, world-weary man, full of honors it is true, but by the ironyof fate come back to die stripped of worldly grandeur, and to ponderthe vanity of all earthly ambitions. 66 Bismarck inveighs against the ingratitude of kings--A fighter to the end. ¶ Did he take kindly to his enforced retirement? Far from it. With allthe querulous impatience of an octogenarian, full of whims, sick insoul and body, suspicious, irritable, dying inch by inch, a prey toinsomnia, his neuralgic pains, his swollen veins, in short, a crabbedold man, awaiting the call--behold now our great Otto von Bismarck, and mark well to what narrow limits his power has shrunk. ¶ On one occasion he moodily replied to a question: "Who are theHohenzollerns? My family is as good as theirs!" And the old man meantit, every word of it. ¶ He began bombarding the newspapers with bitter reviews, criticisingthe Government, the affairs of the day. The African treaty hedissected, to Caprivi's disadvantage. "I never would have signed it!"wrote Bismarck, and the press took up the cry. Any utterance from theold political sage was welcomed, the more caustic the criticism thebetter it read, all to the disadvantage of the Emperor and the newadvisers. ¶ Many newspaper reporters called at Bismarck's country retreat; theold man would tell them strong truths against the Government. Here andthere, a newspaper came out as Bismarck's official spokesman! ¶ It did seem as though nothing Caprivi did ever pleased the old man. The curious fact was this: that Bismarck in his own time had alwaysheld as an inviolable principle, "No criticism of the Government inforeign affairs, " but now he claimed a privilege he had never grantedto another. ¶ One of his many startling confessions of state secrets was that theFranco-Prussian war never would have taken place but for the garbledEms dispatch. Instead of being a "holy war, " to support the very lifeof the Fatherland, it was now made clear that the old Divine-rightidea had been but the stage-play of a political minister, for hisimperial sovereign's march to glory. ¶ The last illusion was now dispelled. Caprivi was obliged to issue a circular-letter to Germany's diplomaticcorps, everywhere, "Do not mind Bismarck's utterances; take no stockin them!" ¶ Even when Bismarck's old friend, von Moltke, died, the Man of Ironrefused to go to the funeral; he did not care to take a chance ofmeeting the Emperor, there! ¶ Querulous, iron-willed--such he is to remain. No giving up, nosoftening, no forgiveness; but blood and iron to the end. We mustpresent him thus, our sad-hearted, irritable old master, proclaimingagainst the vanity of earthly glories, and like Wolsey wondering onthe frailties and ingratitude of kings, whose memories are indeed nolonger than the going down of the sun. ¶ Thus for two long weary years the bitter fight went on. * * * * * ¶ The old man now went on a trip to Vienna, to see his son Herbertmarried, but ahead of him the Government had telegraphed, "No officialwelcome for Bismarck!" The German ambassador, under instructions from Berlin, did not dareattend the wedding, refused to notice Bismarck's presence in Vienna, officially. ¶ This was the last straw; it worked revulsion of popular feeling; thecommon people of Germany, the self-same people that Bismarck had solong doubted, now took up arms for fair play for the old man; andCaprivi, made the scapegoat, was forced to resign. He was succeeded byHohenlohe, Bismarck's friend, and leader in the Bavarian Nationalparty. ¶ On Bismarck's eightieth birthday, the Emperor came in person, andwith military honors presented the old man with a magnificent sword;but on Bismarck's part the reconciliation was not sincere, you maywell imagine that. 67 Wherein, at last, abandoned by his King, the plain people, whom the great Bismarck so long politically ignored, now do indeed bind up the old man's wounds. ¶ Bismarck's mighty nature never softened, but remained bitter to theday of his death, with fire and sword pursuing his enemies; broken byFate, his power gone, Bismarck still continued consistent to the last;true to his iron nature, he returned the hatred of enemies with hisown arrogant contempt. ¶ As the years of his downfall passed and men came to comprehendsomewhat his extraordinary combination of overshadowing politicalgenius in administrative and executive life, side by side with hisstrange superstitions and his many weaknesses of a grand order, thisawe-inspiring man became beloved for his frailties by the very commonpeople whom all his life long he had held under suspicion. The peoplerallied to his defense when kings quitted his side; they took up hiscause because the old man had been outraged in his sensibilities, rather than because he was right; they sent him thousands ofsympathetic letters, telegrams, presents; thousands of students, business men, women and children, visited him in his retirement; andby that touch of human nature that proves the world kin, took theembittered old man to their hearts in the name of the United Germanythat he had created with toil so infinite and battlings so long andblood-stained;--and they disarmed Bismarck by honoring the name oftheir old enemy. ¶ It is a wonderful story of human nature, this story of how theGerman people rallied to Bismarck's side; a story that reaffirms howslender after all is the space between the pomp of kings and theobscure destiny of the shepherd on the hills. The proud figure of the grand old man who was not too high to fallfrom power stands side by side with Marius at the ruins of Carthage. ¶ Finally, as between the kings whom Bismarck served so faithfullyand who abandoned him at last, and the people whom he despised but whorallied to his side and bound up his wounds, this courageous giant, who during the long years in which he fronted the seemingly forlornstruggle for United Germany, had been so conscientious in thedischarge of his unpleasant duties, came at last to his peculiareminence as one of the world's greatest characters. ¶ When he came to die, full of years and honors, although he had noNational funeral like the magnificent outpouring that marked thereturn of Napoleon's body to the banks of the River Seine, yet in thehearts of the German people Otto von Bismarck was accorded thegrandest funeral of modern times, if not of all time. That was many years ago; but his unapproachable memory still lives, asFather of United Germany--and his fame goes marching on. 68 The old man's strange fancies as he passes the time awaiting his final call. ¶ Behold our old master in retirement, as obscure as a simple countrysquire; and he reads again--what do you think? The Book of Job, Bismarck's last reading, reminds him of the evanescence of all earthlyglory, which passes away like the grass that is cut down by the mower. ¶ Brave old fighter, with your show of dauntless spirit, down to thevery end, we know that you are grown weary of it all, and in truth, insilent moments of self-communion, you do not care when the end maycome, nor may it come too soon for you. ¶ He is worried all the time, now; worried about his son's health;worried about the death of his brother; broken over the death of hiswife; distressed by the death of favorite dogs and horses. Also, herecalls a gypsy saying having to do with the end of the Bismarckfamily, under strange conditions, in these mystical words: Dem Grafen von Bismarck soll es verleiber So Lang sie vom Horste die Reiher nicht trieben-- Or, "The Counts Bismarck shall reign at Varzin as long as the heronsare not driven from their ancient haunts"; in rude rhyme: "The Bismarcks shall hold their domain till the day When they from their haunts drive the herons away. " ¶ You see, the old man's mind was wandering, and now and then he sawthe future, as in a strange dream. ¶ He watched the crows and jackdaws gather over the fields and at therookeries, and he said one day, "They have their joys and sorrows likehuman beings. " ¶ He recited Shakespeare, thinking of the olden times when he wentroaring up and down the land! "Let me play the lion, too! I will roarthat it will do any man's heart good to hear me. I will that I canmake the Duke say, 'Let him roar again, let him roar again!'" * * * * * ¶ Trifles annoyed the aged Bismarck, as might be expected; such thingsas changing the clocks to introduce "standard time, " as it is called. "I do not like this 'standard time'; here I get up half an hour tooearly and go to bed half an hour too soon, " was the octogenarian'scrabbed comment. ¶ Day by day, crowds came to see him--children, students, laborers, artists, musicians, politicians, writers--all visited the sage in hisretirement. Levi, the Wagnerian Kappelmeister, journeyed from Munich toFriedrichsruh to beg the honor of owning, as a souvenir, one ofBismarck's old hats. ¶ Lenbach, the renowned artist, came to paint Bismarck's picture; andnoted the curious fact that although Mecklenburgers have the largestGerman skulls, "Bismarck's is larger still. " ¶ Bad nights, neuralgia, insomnia became his companions; but stillambition, the one supreme infirmity of his majestic mind, gives him nopeace. What would future generations say of Bismarck's work? And of theimmediate present, has Caprivi helped it any? Was the repeal of myIron Laws against Socialism wise? Why did not Caprivi follow my planof making the Government the arbiter of German conscience? Why did notCaprivi carry the Army Bill? I fought for four years, once, to getarmy money for King William--and won over all obstacles! ¶ Schaffer came to make the Bismarck bust; it shows the Chancellorwith high-cut nostrils, heavy jaws, scowling brows. The old man likes it, because it presents him as a soldier; he isproud that he is a Field Marshal, prouder still of the Bismarcks inthe old wars, proud also that he is a Prussian General of Cavalry. ¶ Then he scolds again about Caprivi's treaty with Austria, says itwill cost fifty million marks a year and nothing gained. ¶ Often in deep fits of melancholy, Bismarck thinks that Germany isungrateful. For one thing, the Government ought to recognize my sonHerbert; why, England saw in Pitt the son of his father, a chip of theold block; and why not one Bismarck after another, eh? * * * * * ¶ Maybe Dr. Schweninger could do me some good, what do you think? Thisdoctor is from South Germany--and a very determined fellow with a jetblack, piratical beard; he gives orders like a military man, is abeliever in diet, and all that sort of thing. Twenty years before, when Bismarck's weight was 247, this South GermanDr. Schweninger put Bismarck through a course of "banting, " and theChancellor rewarded the doctor with a chair in Berlin, against theunited protests of the faculty! Why, yes, bring up Dr. Schweninger; hecan make me well, I am sure. ¶ "I can make you live to be ninety, Prince!" ¶ "Then get to work; spare no time; I am in bad shape!" * * * * * ¶ Letters, telegrams, felicitations in the form of magnificentlyembossed diplomas, continue to come, day after day; Bismarck is giventhe freedom of cities; he is enrolled among engineers, carpenters, brewers, ship-masters, tailors; each guild demands that the IronChancellor's name head the list of honorary officers of the GrandLodge. In one year the record shows 650, 000 letters and 10, 000 telegrams; andamong these are begging letters asking a total of $2, 500, 000! ¶ Bismarck often grows tired of seeing visitors; he has built himselfa secret spiral staircase, hidden in an unexpected place; and uses itagainst unwelcome callers. Now and then, when his health permits, he is at his editorial workagain, laboriously issuing his proclamations to the German people; hewrites with a quill pen, and for a blotter prefers the old-time box ofblue sand. For scribbling hasty notes, he prefers huge lead pencils, such as hefavored in parliamentary days; pencils 15 inches long, similar tothose used by German carpenters. He sits at an immense oak table, and his chair seems uncomfortable; ithas no back. At his side is his porcelain tobacco jar, two feet tall, and on thestand are innumerable pipes, which in turn are filled and smoked, allday long. He holds a sort of tobacco parliament every day. Visitorsmust smoke a pipe or cigars, drink wine, meet the dogs, and hear theold man inveigh against these degenerate times. ¶ Those big Ulmar dogs are always around him. At meal times, no matterhow fashionable the company, Bismarck pauses at the end of the dinnerto throw "Sultana" or "Cyrus" a biscuit! Sometimes he wears his Cuirassier's uniform, this broad-shoulderedgiant with the thick neck and the grizzled mustache; his eyes glowerunder his thick white brows, and in the depths of his faded blue eyesis the old look of determination. The old man's face is ashen grey, but he still has the stamp ofimmense dignity, a colossal personality, unquestionably representingthe first public man of his time. Folks bow to him, and he is master to the end; men are his servants, not his companions. ¶ He is always very deliberate; he has a peculiar way of stopping inthe middle of a sentence to seek out in a moment of silence the exactword he needs. ¶ In the morning, he usually takes a stroll with his big dogs. It wasa shock when "Old William" died, and the Emperor then gave Bismarck"Cyrus"; the Prince also had "Rebecca" and "Sultana. " The Ulmar dogs, following the old giant, resemble tigers in theirpowerful slouching gait. At night they sleep in his bedroom. 69 Bismarck refuses to pass under the yoke--the octogenarian's last struggle of ambition. ¶ He has his superstitions to the end; about the number 13, about thenumber 7; and he believes that the moon has power to make human hairgrow. "It is best, " he says, "not to make scoff of such matters. " ¶ Sometimes he goes over his orders of honor, forty-eight in all, andof great distinction; also, his learned degrees. University of Hallemade him Doctor of Philosophy; Erlangen, Doctor of Law; Tuebingen, Doctor of Political Science; Giessen, Doctor of Theology, and Jena, Six-fold Doctor, that is to say Doctor of Medicine; and Goettingen, Doctor of Law. * * * * * ¶ They bring him a joint of wild boar, shot in Varzin forest, and hehas a feast. His fondness for game he never gives up. Also, to thelast he has his champagne. After the Franco-Prussian war Bismarckrefused to drink German champagne, and told the Emperor, quiteplainly, "Your Majesty, my patriotism stops with my stomach; I simplymust stick to French champagnes. " ¶ He tells how he used to drink Affenthaler and Merkgraefler, yearsbefore at Frankfort; these were first-rate, at one florin a bottle, orwholesale, the old man explains; by the 100 liters, only 14 kreutzers(8 cents) a bottle. ¶ "Red wine is for children, champagne for ladies, and schnapps forgenerals, " is one of his drinking mottoes, but he tells that hehimself prefers his old-line invention, the Bismarck champagne andporter, a most powerful decoction, putting ordinary mortals under thetable very early in the evening--but not the Iron Chancellor, not atall! ¶ He recalls amusing stories of his ancestors. "One ancestor put pigs'ears in pea soup and made a gastronomic hit. " ¶ Bismarck's eyes water one day and he explains, "The wine myancestors drank to excess comes back in punishment for their sins. " * * * * * ¶ What do you think? Bismarck's old enemy, Herr von Sybel, the eminentauthor of the ponderous "History of Prussia, " called today, andBismarck was glad to see Sybel, and they chatted a long time. As heand Sybel talked of history, Bismarck had moments when he held himselfthe one authentic builder of the German Empire. ¶ Gradually, he came to think that he alone of his own unaided mightdid the work. ¶ Last scene of all in this great drama of Bismarck! The octogenarian, in his downfall, is bitterly storming against his enemies. Consistent to the end, he never weakened. He did not pass under theyoke of defeat by revealing any of those soft virtues that writers whomake a wax doll of this mighty man would have us believe. He raged and stormed impotently in his retirement at Friedrichsruh, and by every loud and insulting means in his power--by voice, pen, byspecial interviews, in his private letters, in his telegraphicdispatches, in his talks with the old friends or new callers, and tothe last scratch of his Memoirs--Bismarck remains unrepentant, turbulent, to the end fighting bitterly against the Fate to which hecould not and would not submit. Temperamentally and psychologically, it was impossible for him to actin any way other than that in which he did act--even as you, in yourown life, are true to yourself in storm and sunshine, following someunformulated but idiomatic law of your being. Bismarck believed himself a chosen instrument in the hands of God andtenaciously clung to the dominant idea that the Bismarck workcomprised all the raw materials of German history, affecting theGerman Empire. 70 His face is ashen, his grizzled mustache, eyebrows and hair white as the driven snow. ¶ On the whole, the old man is interested in events not in persons; hedoes not keep track of individuals; but he studies their work and itseffects. So, in his retirement he talks of big events, mostly; all the whilesuffers from fits of depression and exhibits a growing moroseness, apeculiar characteristic of highly developed German character. He calls for Kant, Hegel, Christ; and reads them, deeply. He likesHegel's idea that the history of the world shows "rational order, "conceals a "manifest destiny. " ¶ But the old man's one consolation is the Book of Job. He lays awake o' nights, unable to sleep, he says, "and it seems asthough there were a mountain on my chest. " ¶ He does not think much of Gladstone's "Home Rule" ideas; this "letthe people" rule is bad business, is the old man's comment. ¶ He is invited out a great deal, but always makes the same excuse, "Ido not sleep well anywhere except in my own four-post bed. Mytraveling days are over, thank you. " ¶ One day in the park, the ladies kissed his hand, but he replied bykissing their cheeks, and he made a little speech as though he were inparliament. ¶ He studies the thick walls of Schoenhausen mansion and examines theold French cannon of '71 scattered around the yard, as souvenirs. ¶ He superintends the planting of trees; and rules over his estatewith all the old family dignity and unshaken firmness of soul. He askshis secretary to count the telegrams that came this past year and inround numbers there are 10, 000. The old man takes a notion to sendeach inquirer after his health a Bismarck autograph. So each day, fromApril to August, he spends part of his time writing over and over ingreat scrawling letters, at the bottom of a printed card of thanks, the huge signature, "Bismarck. " * * * * * ¶ Little things are beginning to bother the old man. He comes in todayfrom a short walk and says he hates crows, because they are the enemyof the singing birds. ¶ Neuralgia is tormenting him, day and night, and he is veryirritable. School children come with teachers and after the children sing the oldman bows and says, "Children, I thank you. " ¶ And this Dr. Schweninger, who promised Bismarck ninety years oflife, is always hovering about, like a military doctor, giving expressorders to eat this, to get up at such an hour, to go to bed at such anhour, and to take a nap at such an hour. The old man obeys like a child. ¶ Strangers wait at the village bridge to see Bismarck and his dogspass by; week after week delegations of working-men, lawyers, students, come to the house. Schweninger orders him to take longer naps, not worry about politicsand not to meet strangers. The old saying, "Once a man and twice achild" is coming to pass; Otto von Bismarck is no longer the stubborn, dogmatic fellow that he was, even a few years ago. But he stillscolds, fights and has his way with all--except the doctor. * * * * * ¶ Tomorrow, April 1, 1898, Bismarck will be 83; however, he does notseem to be failing much; but his face is ashen, his grizzled mustache, eyebrows and hair are as white as the driven snow. ¶ Gardeners write to him that they have named their choicest newvariety of rose, the Bismarck; and cigarmakers have the Bismarckshape, cutlers the Bismarck dinner knife, a thick, sharp blade thatwill carve a duck's neck in a twinkling. ¶ However, the old man is growing weary of it all; and he hears withno great show of interest that the people are planning monumentseverywhere. There is going to be an equestrian, helmeted statue in themarket place at Leipzig; at Weringrode, a heroic-sized Bismarck willlean upon a sword; there will be a column in Hartzburg, Victory with alyre and another Victory with a wreath; there is to be a statue atKissingen; a helmeted-heroic figure at Freiberg; a column atCharlotte-springs; a column at Meiszen; at Cologne, a heroic figurewith a sword; a heroic "Tyras and Bismarck, " dog and man, at Leipzig;allegorical figures, "Glory and War, " for Berlin; at Wiesbaden, astatue symbolizing the Bismarck National victory; a bust atHeidelberg; at Kreuznach; a heroic figure with helmet and sword, with"Glory" at his feet; at Zwickau, an allegorical memorial of nobleproportions; a tower in the Black Forest; and still another at Altona. ¶ No; it is no use! As we said before, the old man is growing veryweary of it all; and now along comes Arthur Mendell, who paints forposterity that remarkable Bismarck in which you see only the blazingeyes and the shining silver helmet--the Bismarck of the brave days of'66 and '70, when the German hosts carrying their deadly needle-guns, marched over the Rhine--at Bismarck's word! ¶ Dear Old Bismarck, these wreaths of immortelles come to you in yourretirement, but you have reached the time when the grasshopper hasbecome a burden, and when you have but one wish left in thisworld--and that wish is to go in peace to your long sleep. ¶ Coming, Bismarck--coming very soon now, Old Soldier; and we knowwell how courageously you will answer up, when the invisible Skeletonin Armor calls your imperial name! CHAPTER XVIII Hail and Farewell 71 Prince Otto V. Bismarck receives his final and his one glorious decoration; and here we leave him, his fame secure among Germany's immortals. ¶ The game is now all but played out. The last phase is to be thenoblest expression. In his prime, Bismarck was of massive proportions in mind and body;but of his moral nature both friends and enemies had often been indoubt for many years. Now, even that was revealed to be in concordwith his herculean bulk. ¶ The old glory passed from him, like a dream. He committed his soulto his God; and he heard again voices of Nature that had beeninaudible to him, during his many years of intriguing diplomacy. These voices spoke to him of the vanity and emptiness of human life, of the worthless baubles for which men exchange all they have, that isto say, their immortal gift of time, which soon passes away and is nomore. The musings of the Prince on the follies, inconsistencies andambitions of life conspire to create a heroic figure like KingSolomon. All is vanity! The conqueror of a continent has so declared. He had held the world in his hand, and had found that the sphere ishollow. So go the fates of men. ¶ The great Prince Bismarck has now become as a beggar at the city'sgates. * * * * * ¶ Over his grand spectacle of human pomp and power, contrasted withhis final self-abnegation, shining forth we see the heights and depthsof human life; but in this case the end was greater than thebeginning; the defeat than the victory; the downfall than the glory;and the disillusion than the dream. ¶ Prince Bismarck in his long career as friend and confidant of thekings of this earth, had been honored with forty-eight orders ofdistinction. It is needless to mention them all, but they included theIron Cross and the Order of Merit, the one entitling him to sit withkings, the other to command an army corps. ¶ But the greatest decoration of all was the one he now wore, his hightide of glory gone. It is the Decoration of the Order of the Disillusioned, bestowed uponhimself by his own soul. Soon or late, prince or pauper, and you and I, wear this Order as atlast we sit and wonder at the years gone by. ¶ Let us silently pass on, leaving Bismarck here, in the one solemnmoment of his life; when he attains to real grandeur, stamps himselfas greater than when he sat before kings. For now he possesses his own soul, in peace. And in this last picture, the end is greater than the beginning; thedefeat than the victory; the downfall than the glory; and thedisillusion than the dream. ¶ His final consolation was the Book of Job; and he read therein thesestrange and solemn words: ¶ What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, thatI should prolong my life? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh of brass? ¶ So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights areappointed to me. When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise, and the night be gone? andI am full of tossings to and fro, unto the dawning of the day. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent withouthope. ¶ Yea, man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. I wouldseek unto God and unto God would I commit my cause; Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things withoutnumber; Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields; To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may beexalted to safety. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannotperform their enterprise. ¶ Behold happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise notthou the chastening of the Almighty; For he maketh sore and bindeth up; he woundeth and his hands makewhole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall be noevil touch thee. In famine, he shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the powerof the sword . .. Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when itcometh. 72 "As One Asleep" ¶ On July 30, 1898, just before midnight, Otto Edward Leopold vonBismarck, Prince of Lauenburg and former Imperial Chancellor of theGerman Empire, died peacefully in the old homestead of his ancestors. The immediate cause of death was congestion of the lungs. ¶ "Ich danke Dir, mein Kind, " were his last words, addressed to hisdaughter, who had stooped to wipe the moisture from his pale brow. ¶ As late as the day he died, he had read the newspapers and talkedpolitics. His final remarks were on the relations of Germany and Russia, at alltimes a subject of deep concern to him. ¶ Dr. Schweninger had promised to bring him to 90--and was seven yearsshort. But the Bismarck of retirement was not unhappy in the taking off; hehad grown tired of it all; and it is pleasant to record that his lasthours were without pain. ¶ A few days before, he had had his champagne, and had smoked fivepipes in succession; also the day before he died, he had asked anattendant to "color" two new meerschaums, gifts of friends. Toward thelast, he had used an invalid's chair for breakfast, but otherwise heseemed as well as could be expected. * * * * * ¶ The windows looking upon the garden were opened, early next morning, and the servants of the household gathered there to look at themaster, at rest. He was seemingly asleep in his four-poster bed, his head slightlyinclined to the left; his expression was that of one gently dreaming;his arms were resting over the coverlet, and in his left hand he heldone white and three red roses, a last love-token from an Austrianlady. ¶ The expression of his features was, at the end, proud and noble; butthe face was as grey as ashes; for the fire of life was out at last! * * * * * ¶ Later, came two Cuirassiers, in white, with drawn swords; and thesemassive figures stood there by the bedside, and by and by kept solemnguard beside the coffin; also, near by were two Foresters, in green. ¶ Books, papers, telegrams and a laurel wreath were in the deathchamber, where the master had worked to the end. Not far away was his favorite chessboard, also, within touch theEmperor's last present, a fac-simile of Frederick the Great's greatcrook-headed gold cane; a step the other way the globe of the earththat Bismarck used to roll over with his big hand, when he studied hisendless foreign political combinations. ¶ Later, came the magnificent funeral with the high military, and allthe rest; but we think we shall take leave of him in his old room withthese simple objects around him, his tools of work, his big oak desk, his mounds of state papers, his writings, his quill pens, his box ofblue sand, his pipes, steins and champagne glasses, his letters, histelegrams, his great heaps of books, his immense correspondence on theaffairs of nations, his diplomas from universities, his degrees oflaw, philosophy and letters, and finally, his big Ulmar dogs. ¶ Here we leave him as one asleep, reminded of his final words, uttered when the master was breaking fast with the infirmities of hiseighty-three years: ¶ "There is only one happy day left for me. It is the one on which Ishall not wake again. " * * * * * ¶ His son refused the request that a death-mask be made of the nobleold face, but Lenbach's famous painting will recall the stern head foryears to come. ¶ Bismarck's coffin was of polished dark oak, with eight silverhandles in the shape of lion's paws; candles burned around his coffin, the pale lights softened by veils of black and silver gauze thatornamented the silver candelabra. The floor was literally covered withwreaths, many bearing cards of sympathy in gold letters, from variouseminent personages throughout the world. ¶ The Kaiser heard the funeral services. * * * * * ¶ Bismarck's mausoleum rests on a spot Bismarck selected for himself;a plain Romanesque House of Death against a background of trees; andto the right still may be seen his favorite bench where he used tosit, under the shade of spreading oaks. The sarcophagus of yellow marble bears this inscription, selected byBismarck himself: Here Lies PRINCE BISMARCK A Faithful German Servant of Emperor William I. ¶ Hostile critics of Germany, brought forth by the great war of 1914, profess to believe that this inscription on Bismarck's tomb shows thatBismarck did not wish his work to be associated with the future of theEmpire, but with its past. Instead, it really proclaims the man's great mind, his clairvoyanthistorical vision. He could have said many things about himself, touching the great part he played in sustaining the pomp and majestyof kings; but his simple acknowledgment of the rôle of faithfulservant, is more eloquent than sermons in brass. ¶ Finally, a small altar to the right of the porch carries this textfrom Colossians iii:23, the motto given to Bismarck many, many yearsbefore by Rev. Schliermacher, the pastor who confirmed the boy Otto;and that motto became indeed Bismarck's guiding star through life, asnow well you do know, balancing his record with the solemn Biblicalinjunction you read here beside the master's tomb: ¶ "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not untomen. " THE END