Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-04-02
PRINCE BISMARCK.
chzraetsristios Of the Man Who Rules the
German Empire.

German Empire.
The chancellor is not avaricious. but
he Is Prussian, and the Pantheon
destined for generous Prussians is
known to be still waiting for its first
guest. Without being avaricious, he is
as fond OF order, economy, and regular
ity as the Great Frederick, and enters
into details of housekeeping to which
one would naturally suppose him n
stranger / have heard him relate, with
the broad humor characteristic of him,
that one Of his former Wallets had begged
him for lease of an inn on his prop
erty at Varzin. LAS soon as he became
the tenant" said Bismarck ''of the inn,
which used to yield 1900 marks, he be-
took himself, in his capacity of nv ex-
valet, to the study of politics. He SUBJ
scribed to all kinds of newspapers, and
passed his time sitting in a large arm
chair reading them. When. guests ar
rived he treated them insolently for dis
turbing him. He soon fell into disre-
pute as a surly landlord, and travellers
took care not to enter the inn. He
now earns scarcely enough to pay for
his newspapers. As to myself, I shall
have to evict him, for he has long
ceased to pay his rent" And you
could see that the loss of the rem:
affected him. Yet the tone was not
that of a miser, but that of discomfort
at having his calculations deranged.
Prince Bismarck leads very method
ical life, and in the country, as in
town, no event is allowed to interfere
with its regularity. His grand dinners
are abundant. with mathematical suffi-
cheney, without stint or waste. His
daily meals are those of good family
burgher. and the servants are method
ical, attentive, and silent. None of
his household e"cr commits the mistake
of speaking at the table before the mas
ter of the house has, so to sreak, tacitly
given him leave. All wait to see wheth-
er the prince is in conversational
mood, and when he i pleased to speak,
all are hushed, not to lose one of his
words. To this, in part, is due the
large number of words, anecdotes, and
dialogues attributed to him, for it has
already long been customary for his lis
teners to treasure up every word he
utters.
One of the princes characteristics is
his love for some large dog. which he
makes his constant companion and
feeds himself-a dog, for instance, like
the one that SO terrified Prince Gorts-
chakoff. The dog follows the prince
into his dining-room, and stretches itself
on the carpet. In the course of the
meal the butler brings u large piece of
boiled beef on one plate, and bits of
soaked bread on another. The prince
in person cuts up the beef and prepares
the food for the dog, which stands by,
grave and attentive pending the solemn
preparation of its food. The princes
dog is never fed in any other way.
If Bismarck is not close, he is not
generous either. He does what he
deems right, and expects everyone to
do also what is right by him. Gene
rosity, in the ordinary sense of the
term, is too mild, unrefecting, effemi-
nate a quality to enter into this colos-
sal, rough-hewn nature. He treats
men too much like figures, to be aided,
mulLlplleu, anu ulNlueu III Will, 10 en-
tertain any tender feelings toward
them. He aspires less to rule them by
gentlehess then by the vigorous aseen-
dency of his genius, and he would not
be greatly tiattered by an affection un-
mixed with dread and admiration.
Even on the rare occasions where, in
other men. what is called the heart
comes into play, in him the MASTER
nay, almost the tyrant-is to be found.
His very affection bears the character
of oppression, and no glove is thick
enough to conceal the iron hand be-
meath it.
Yes, such as he is, this man is the
most prominent, most striking figure of
the age, and this is so true that amid
all the execration he excites, it is here
considered mean by his very enemies
to treat as the reichstag has done one
of the monuments of the century Cor.
London Times.