Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-10-28
"THE GREAT TACITURN. -
How Count Won Moltke Lives at
His Quiet Home.
The Silent Soldiers Peaceful Retreat and
Its Military Adornments-The Family
Motto: First Weigh, Then Risk
An Amiable Warrior.

Motto: "Ftrst weigh, Then Risk
An Amiable Warrior.
"War is an element in the God-or-
dained order of the world" It was
Count Moltke who wrote these words
to Prof. Bluntschli anent the latter's
invitation to participate in the Interna-
tional Peace Congress at Geneva in
1872. The army is the pride of the
nation. For it the people suffer an al
most unbearable burden of taxation.
Military rigor is enforced in the school
room. No wonder that above all
Others Count Moltke is worshiped, for
to him mainly is due the efficient state
of the army and its brilliant victories.
The career of this great military genius
is unique IN one respect-there is, per-
haps, in all history no other man who
rose so high and yet had attained his
sixty-eighth year without attracting the
notice of the world. 1t was not till
after Sadowa that the name of h'.the
Great Taciturn' became familiar as. o
household word over the entire globe.
Retiring as the man is his home in
Silesia. OF the great soldiers peaceful
surroundings q correspondents of the
Norddeutsche Aligemeine Zeitung re-
Gently gave an interesting description.
Two hours east of Schweidnitz is the
quiet hamlet of Kreisau, he says. Twenty
years ago the name of it was not
known. in wider circles. Only after
the wars of 1866 and167O had created
a powerful, united Germany became
Kreisau, like Varzin, though its owner,
far-famed. Here in rural auietness.
Field Marshal Count Won MoItke has
created tusoulanum, where he rests
from his arduous labors for a few
months of every year. Gathering new
strength for his work and perhaps
shaping plans for another gigantic
campaign, he keeps company only
with his nephew and a few of the
Lords of the manor in the vicinity. 1t
is rarely that traveller comes to
kreisau. for it is far off the great routes
of public travel, even far off the or
binary country road. Count Moltke's
home is not a proud, feudal castle. 1t
looks more like the plain, unpreten-
tious seat, mellowed by age, of an
English country gentleman than the
abode of man whose present rank
is but the creation of few years
back. 1t is simple. square
structure, one-storied, with high
gables. Broad, iron-bound stairs lead
to the portal over which the coat-of-
arms of the Won Dresky-the former
owncrs-loOks proudly down upon
those who enter. Count Moltke
bought this pleasant country seat with
money from the donation which
grateful country made him after the
Austro-Prussian war. The entail,
which was granted in 1868 bv the
then King William, comprises Krei-
sau. Niedergraeditz and Wierisshau.
Moltke loved this quiet home from
the time he first saw it, and so did the
Countess. The latter did not enjoy it
very long. She died after q few
months, and was laid to rest on a little
promontory in the magnificent park,
where the Count built mausoleum
over the mound of the partner of his
days Outwardly stern though he
seems, Moltke has warm and tender
heart Of this his andying affection
for his wife is a proof, while innumer-
able stories of unobtrusixe, thoughtful
acts of kindness to friends and perfect
strangers still further testify to his
.amiable disposition. Strange that a
man with so gentle a spirit orlovinS
a nature. should be utterly devoted to
a profession SO cruel and ferociOus, re-
garding it not merely as sad tenn
porary necessity. but as ,dfvinely-ap-
pointed institution.
There is stone bench near the
mausolerm, almost hidden by the
boughs of trees and the foliage of dense
shrubbery Here Count Msltke re-
mains ( alone fer hours, 3ooking
thorghtfuEy into the wide plain which
stretches below to the far-off Silesian
mountains. Count Moltke's wedlock
was ehildless, and his nephew. William
Won Msltke, = Captaia IN the General
staff. is she heir to the estate and title.
A younger brother of the Captain lives
at kreisaa and attends 80 the manage
ment Of the Estate. He receives the
rare visitors cordially and makes the |
most amiable guide through, lie vide |
halls and spacious rooms of iKreEaG. |
To both sides of the stone stairway
which leads into the hall rest mighty |
cannon-trophiesf from Mount Vale ic1. !!
the great Partisan balwark. which theS
Emperor presented to the Count. The
silent weapons of war are bf rbr1nze |!
and covered with reliefs and finely
chiseled ornaments. They bear the
three lilies of the royal Boelrbons but ]
the inscriptions were destroyed by
howiing sans culottes long before the
mementoes of great past came to
Kreisau. y
We enter the rbsr6. aNhail S8hree
eqaesGfiad stathes, cast in
bronze and placed ON mighty pedes-te
tails. greet Us The one in 5ths center y