The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-22
BISMARCK'S PRIVATE LIFE.
How the Chancellor Is Painted in the Clos
ing Chapters of DR.. Busch's Book.

Ndl6 III DIS kl6 pOeJICdllA -lLClII4eu dilQ GubiltlSl-
astic lover of nature, as husband and father, as
farmer, hunter and reader of books. Busch
says of his domestic life:
His wife was born in 1924, and is nine years
younger than himself. They were married in
1917. She was the daughter of a Pomeranian
gentleman of means, Heinrich Won Puttkam-
mer, who died full of years, in 1882. The mar
rage did not take place without some hesita-
ton on the part of the brides parents, partieu-
larly OF her mother, for the reputation of the
lover did not promise well for the future
OF the daughter of a pious household. The re-
suit showed that they were mistaken. All
right was what the wooer wrote to his sister
Mathllde Won Arnlm when he obtained the con-
sent of the P~uttkammers, and all right he and
his wife were able to say to each other when
they celebrated their silver wedding at Varzin,
July 28, 1872, and looked back over the years of
their marriage The Princess was brought up
in a conservative way, but possesses an a%ppreeia-
tive, lively nature, with a good supply of natural
wit, and is refined and tasteful. Very musical
and mistress of the piano-forte, she is at the
same time a careful and thorough housekeeper,
and. like the noble ladies of the olden time, she
ls said to have considerable knowledge of medi-
cine. With genuine wifely hand she created for
her husband a happy, orderly home, and then
with an understanding mind she shared his
cares and hopes, even to a certain extent those
of a political nature, as Bismarck's letters to her
show. She is not one of those ladies, however,
WHC II WIN DNdl QttoIlOtlcs
A particular interest attaches to the notes on
the Chancellors private life. his habits and
peculiarities, and views on art and literature.
Busch narrates how, in 1851. bismarck iourneyed
from Frankfort to Rudesheim, and then and
there by moonlight, only his eyes and nose above
the waters of the Rhine, swan to the Mouse
Tower at Blngen. where the bad bishop came to
grief. When q lieutenant he once jumped into
the water from a bridge at Lippechen, in Neu-
mark, to rescue his servant, Hildebrand, at i'm
mInROt risk of his own life On his patupO tO
the city a priest came to congratulate him on the
divine mercy that had been vouchsafed him.
Concerning Bismarck as a card player, also in
reference to how he sometimes plays diplomatic
games, Busch says:
Just before the outbreak of the Bohemian
war he staked heavy odds on one card-nothing
less than Prussia's greatness and his own fate.
But neither in this sense nor the ordinary one is
ne any friend of reckless gaming. He has
never taken part in Bourse maneuvers,
as many another in high Office has
done, in France, Austria and Italy, and for a
long time he has not touched d card. When a
young man he enjoyed whist, at which he some
times sat full seven hours and played as much
as twenty rubbers. Games of chance had a fas-
clnatlon for him at that time of his life also.
But said he, speaking of the matter once,
they only interested me when the stake was
high, and that would not do for the father of a
family
at is true that in the summer of 1865 he took
part in a game of quinze, but solely with diplo-
matte intentions. 1t was he told us in Yer
sailles, when l concluded the treaty of Gastien
with Blome. Although | had
not played for a long time l played so recklessly
that the rest could not sufficiently wonderat me.
But l knew what l wanted. Blome had heard
that at quinze one had the best of opportunities
to study human nature, and he wished to try it.
l thought: Now you shall find him out |
lost 5000. As it was spent in the service of his
Majesty, however, | could afford it. But | mis-
led him. lie considered me a reckless person
ana was thrown off his guard
1t goes without saying that Bismarck, as dip
lomat, maintains a good table, though he does
not allow the simplest thing to be wasted.
= : = Like Frederick the Great, when in
health Bismarck is a robust feeder; but it is to
be observed that, as q rule, he eats only once a
day, at about 6 o'clock in the evening, and that
persons who have to think and study intensely
need much nourishment. He was formerly a
great smoker-so much so that he would keep a
fire going from Cologne to Berlin on the railway
train;'that is to say, he lighted one cigar after
another. But after 1870 he denied himself this
enjoyment more and more, out of regard for his
health, the long pipe took the place of the fra
grant weed, and one evening, in 1881, he told me
he had given up smoking altogether, because it
did not agree with him"
Of Bismarck's knowledge of languages Busch
says:
LAS he speaks German without a trace of dia-
lect, so, also, he has perfected himself in his
French to such a degree that a person from the
ihSHSI CITGIS IL SOCltIy IN OtuSNd or 81. refers
burg could scarcely find anything in it to take
exception to. He can lay tolerably high claims
to mastery of English, and understands Italian
enough to express himself without difficulty. He
is also acquainted with the Polish language, and
during his brief stay on the Neva he learned
enough Russian to converse in that tongue. 1t
must have impressed the late Emperor Alex
ander highly when Bismarck first answered him
in the Moscovian language. For a German that
is no small NATTER
Tba ChnOepllOp iS not CO ra11 M -, H. afo.
steal languages as in the modern ones. "At one
time, " said he, u could speak and write Latin
very well. Now l should find it difficult, and
Greek / have quite forgotten
We find, further, that in literature he has a
preference for Goethe, and that he does not ad-
mire Schiller so much, because that poet inelines
to a pompous and declamatory style. He re.
CARDS the apple-shooting episode and the con
templated murder of Gessler in civilian Tell"
as neither natural nor heroic. He does not
think too highly of the German literature of
these days, although he 'has at least taken no
tlee0 OF the popular romance and novels of the
time. He has paid more attention to English
ronances and most of all to the French novel
lists. Send me a French novel; he wrote to his
wife during the Bohemian campaign, but only
one at a time" Busch considers it doubtful,
therefore, whether, as reported by an English
writer, there were ever to be seen whole heaps
OF French literature upon the Princes table.
Bismarck goes very seldom now to opera or
theater. Formerly it was quite otherwise. In
1852 he wrote his wife from Vienna: II have
just come with old Westmoreland 1.-THE English
embassador) from witnessing the opera of Don
Giovanni rendered by a good Italian troupe.
and was doubly impressed with the miserable
ness of the Frankfort Theater." l do not recall
that during the French war or since that he has
made any mention of the stage and its celebri-
ties, though believe he once spoke briefly of
the comedian Helmerding.
In music the Prince takes a more lively inter
est. He does not play on any instrument, but
he likes others to play. Count Kayserlingk
taught him to prize music during his Berlin
student days. His favorite composers are the
classical masters, especially Beethoven. In Sep
TENDER, 1865, he wrote the Princess from Baden:
I'm the evening there was a quartet at
Count Flemming's, with Joachim. who really
ing Busch: cat Versailles Herr Won Keudell,
the amateur pianist and legation councillor,
played soft fantasies on the salon piano while
the minister was at coffee. To my question