New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-15

and closeness The man is all Of O piece body
and mind, as It were, fused and welded together
Faithful as are many Of the photographs re-
member none which brings out strongly the he'll
met-shape of the head II is the head Of Pericles
dome-lil1e in its amplitude well as in its curve
with breadth at the temples which its towering
height cannot Disguise and far over-hangng the
steel-gray eyes, which look out as from caverns
deep frnged with gray eyebrows. There IS nc
regularity of feature or of contour The nose
is short and carelessly moulded; the mouth you
must imagine for gray mustache shades IT.
the jaw is the jaw-well, Of Prince Bismarck
and Of him alone. The stamp OF power, OF IRE
sistible force is on face and figure; into TINS
one human form has Nature for once collected
| all her lrrepressible energies. and subdued them
TO his overmasterng will.
The impression get as 1 gaze from distance
only recalls the impression of twenty years ago.
when l sat in his study and listened TO MN
till long past midnight. and mentally noted
down features and the f1eeting flashing expressions
that lighted them up The changes are many ana
they are scathing: age has brought with it In
crease Of strength; he looks more Like glant
than he did then He is in uniform. but not in
the white Of the cuirassiers, which is still, De-
lieve, his favorite costume He wears single
/
the waist to the knees, silver-buttoned to the
throat collar and deep cuffs Of what, from this
distance, looks like furnished silver lace, gray
| In tone with broad edges of bright yellow. The
star of the BLACK Eagle glitters on the blue coat
and a whole tier of otl1er orders stretches ciea,
across the breast. AS he opens with his night
hand the scarlet portfolio, which contains the
royal message, the left rests on his sword hit .
an attitude that gives rise to reflections Never,
that heard Of did the Chancellor enter Reichstag
or Landtag in any but soldiers dress; once
at least | saw him arrive in jack boots, ana
even to-day he wears spurs.
1t is for the Chancellor that the House had
been waiting. AS as he was in his place
the President rang his bell; brief formalties
were briefly got through, and Prince Bismarck
was at once on his feet. murmur Of cheers
greeted him. With bow to his audience and
another to the President, he began reading hold
ing the message ON folio Sheet IN his hand
lie read in a strong voice, audible everywhere,
[ Judged. throughout the hall: deliberately. with
marked emphasis on some sentences 1t was the
Emperor's first message to the Imperial Parlia-
ment the hand of the Chancellor who counter
signed and now delivered it to its destination
visible in every line. What could he more like
him than these thanks" imperial thanks -
offered in the name Of the late Emperor to the
Reichstag, which had voted those last millions
of money and men while the Emperor was ST.
living? The voice rang out cearest OF all In the
final words, Trusting in the tired love OF the
whole people and their representatives for the
Fatherland. we leave the Empires future in Gods
hand Cromwellian hypocrisy? Cromwelian
if you like, but hypocrisy, no. For If anything
be true of this stern statesman, as of his dead
| al had i'm nj n
faith in the God of whom they avowedly stand
in fear. We Germans fear God, and nothing
else in the world beside" The confession, and
perhaps also the boast seem TO belong to q past
age, but Of the genuineness of both l, for my
part, have no doubt.
The message ended, the scere changed Prince
Bismarck sat down. and the President rose; the
Deputies still all outstanding as while the imperial
message was reading. The Prince spang up too,
and the President spoke briefly. All at once,
In the middle of his speech, as he mentioned the
Emperor, there came a cry from the body of
the hall which seemed like a signal The
President took it up and called, German fashion,
for cheers The whole assembly, raising each man
his right arm to its full length, shouted out the
deep, cultural "hoch" which does duty for
our hurrah. Again cried the President. and
then, "again," SO that the three cheers were
duly given, and given with a solid heartiness OF
voice and manner that beftted the place and
occasion-German to the l cannot remem-
Der to have looked down ever before on Parlla-
ment thus expressing itself in cheers still less
with these strange but fine salutes.
AS this scene and the Presidents brief harangue
ended, once more Prince Bismarck rose and, TO
everybody's delight, began to speak. To every
body's astonshment also, this Minister Of the
German Empire appeared all at once as mouth
piece Of Parliaments lie asked leave, in quiet
tones to consider himself charged by the House
to communicate the thanks of the Reichstag to
foreign Parlaments who had expressed their sor-
VOW and sympathics in the grief that had fallen
upon the German Nation He spoke for not more
than three or four minutes, but it was very
different business from the mere reading Of the
message. Orator, perhaps he IS not, but no man
excels him in the faculty of so saying what he
wishes as to impress his thought and his will
there is the real point-on his audience. Words
are to him weapons. In great crises they are words
which three millions of soldiers are ready TO
enforce. On occasion like this, hardly more
than ceremonous there is still the trace OF the
manner Of the master Of many legions Nothing
can be said or done at such time in an ordinary
manner The blacness of death still hangs over
Bcrlin-her streets and the hearts Of Ecr people
still in mourning; the shadow OF coming tag
edy blending with that which is not yet past.
As before, the voice easily filled the hall. and
it had that vibration which comes from the direct
appeal of one man to many before him. There
are hard tones, you might guess, in Prince Bis
marcks register but it is full, deep voice. ris-
ing and falling not too abruptly, capable of ex-
pressing emotion 1 have heard it when it
sounded like command for q cavalry charge.
When he used to speak to hostile Parliament,
as often befel in old days. it was the hoarse sum-
mons of an angry sovereign TO his rebellious sub
jccts. To-day, Of course, everything goes
smoothly. The Prince concerns himself little
about gesture any purely oratorcal act. lie
stands erect behind his closed portfolio. The right
hand swings carelessly, almost continually, by
his side the arm at full length, the fingers some