The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-11-18
Bismarck's Plan for Strengthening the
Empire.

When last May, the German papers
began to thunder against France, 1t was
difficult to believe that the real Jupiter
was not the great Prince Bismarck him
self. At any rate these shifts of the
German press its sudden animations and
its sudden collapses, are quite in keeping
with the character of Prince Bismarck,
rs it is being gradually revealed to his
contcmporarics. Fcebly conscious OF
the greatness of his ability, and of the
cminencc of the position which he has
won violent by nature, II bitter hatGr,
Indifferent to the claims of friends or de-
pendcnts contcmptuous OF the rules by
which ordinary people restrain mind and
body, and haunted by the thought that
assassination or disease may cut short
an astonishing career, he leads, and
loves to lead, tcmpcstuOus life. lie
has always a thousand schemes on hand
"A thousand irons in the fire. lie longs
to use for great purposes the enormous
machinery at his disposal and linda IN
the quiet routine Of German politics m
sufficient room for tsaction. Like Alex
andcr, he does not feel quite himself l'll-
less he has new world to conquor On
the other hand, he has Il singular width
of political grasp. lie sees European
politics as II whole, and iorbearS from
running great corporations in order to
crafty temporary and trivial freaks. lie
has also curious readiness to accept
compromise, and is perfectly willing to
ret what he can rather than get nothing
When he is beaten he does not trouble
himself. lie merely sets himself to work
at something else. lie has onIy y taken
one of his thousand irons out OF the ilrc
and found it colder than he expected.
Last May he thought the iron of Il new
French war was hot; but he found he
was mistaken, and put it back again.
He has too much confidence in himself
not to believe that the next time NE
tries an iron he may be more lucky 1t
is not surprising that Il press which has 10
reflect the changing sentiments and pro
ducts of such mind should be somewhat
hazy, n spcckled and uncomfortable sort
of mirror.
Since the close Of the French wa1
NCTllally HIS DCCh S"iHS1 "'' - '
respects, well, and in some respects no
50 we'll. Its military power has beer
much increased and consolidated. IT.
strength, as compared with that of Aus
tria or France, is far greater than in lS6'
or 1870. 1t has done what its iorme
rivals merely proposed to do. Enormous
sums and unriyaled military skill have
been freely expended on the perfecting o
fortresses Metz, Strasburg and uln
brstle with new works on the most mag
uifcent and extensive scale. The tier
man artillery is now us much superior IL
the German artillery Of 1870 ms the Ger
man artillery Of that date was superior II
the artillery of France. The reserves o
the army have been largely augmented
and made more easily available, and th'
army is really more popular with th'
people. The army and the people are Eel
10 be one, and the men present at TIM
Silesian manmuvrcs have been treated 4
the quests. not the membranes, of thos
on whom they were quartered. Urea
proprcss, too, has been made in the cX
tinction of scparatist feeling. An clcctlo
in Wurtcmbcrg in the last few days ha
shown that. there at least, a candidate I
he successful must he national. Even
Bavaria, which of all parts of Germany
least within the national fold, there is
growing feeling that it is of no use
think of resisting Germany and Bl
marck. and that the lot which has iallc
TO Bavaria must be accepted. In AlSat
itself, time aud despair are working !,
Germany. The population is rapid
getting over the pang of separation fro
France. 1t Is the acquiescing in the n
cessity of being German, and to reta
French svnpathics is beginning to
regarded by the mass of people as one
the luxurious iancies Of the rich. Las
", the church question has not produce
so much internal discord a. might ha'
been expected. It has, no doubt, excit,
much painful feeling. In some diatric
the power of the priests is unbroken, ~
many Germans who approve Ol the &c
eral tenor of the ecclesiastical laws TIM
that they have been shaped and execute
with needless and imprudent rigor. Bt
5 on the whole, the German notion OF q
$ state. and passion for united t.,
many. have stronger control over Il
. General mind than ecclesiastical symp
fhies. The Germans of the present d:
. have not. indeed, many Of the quailtl
, which make ecclesiastical martyrs. IN
think it unnatural to resist the state a'
red Indian would think it to wear eve
ing clothes. They have been t"rtur'
: into acquiescence from their cradles al
e what the law orders and the police I,
$ force they accept.-LOrdo" Sif"'''ay 4
e | rier.