The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-05-25
LETTERS ON HEIGHTY TOPICS.
Biamarck.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir: It seems to
be one Of the curious errors often OF those who
professionally comment on public officers to
suppose that because a superior intellect Is not
In public station Its possessor no longer Yields
popular influence. This fallacy is now obnox-
iously prominent In the case OF Prince Bis
marck,who, as every one OF sense knows could
either by an artful mandate disrupt the Ger
man empire by whose handiwork 1t was
wrought through toilsome years or by a bold
watchword set Europe aiame with war. Al
most contemporaneously our own country fur
nishes an instance Of q great political chief
n-Blaine-running about Europe when he
could have startled the Western continent
with one OF its greatest political contests.
1t Is therefore idle for the average COM
mentator to sum up Bismarck as a zero In the
movements OF this age. l we'll remem Der to
have been quito near the scene Of the inter-
view that occurred between this astute man
and Jules favre in September. 1870. at Fer
rieres. lust outside OF Paris, when tho French
OF the National Deie1ce pleaded for tho eyaeu.
with conditions, whereupon Jules Fsvre. like
me patriotic Frenchman he was. uttered what
srroy NOT Of our eh nes o.
much like the ouerre a Poutrance OF Gam betta,
shouted ID, from Bourdeaux, It was at this pour
p pf, WITH jules Eavre that Bismarck said in
You claim to be republican Your EN-.
peror Napoleon Ill, you have upset Now.
am a better republican than you are The
morning, but we could not agree on the roads.
because he had entered Paris in 1915 with the
allied armies. ! responded that bad been but
suburbs we'll. He was obnurate l remarked
that the fate OF Europe depended on the utter
view. and sped my horse and was of. Thus.
you see. am the Minister. not OF King. but of
people. NJ. Favre."
or course the King never arrived: and the re-
proclaimed In tho palace OF Louis XIV. at Yer.
sallles, gained q fresh advantage in his delib-
partial eonaues fo OF her soil ana mako
Bismarck made no bones OF his personal alb
soIutlsm. as we say; either over the monarchi-
sovereign contempt for puppet power. His
almost right bower once told me with what
first OF this German empire. it was ike this i
bismarck would go to him and say: Sire,
think $4,000 men should be sent TO the Bava-
rian frontier ut once. There may be 6 storm
down there"
The then Emperor would respond: Quite
unnecessary quite unnecessary" and the
Several days afterward the. Emperor would
send for the Chancellor and say: Do you
occurred to me as soldier. | want you to tell
Moltke to mass $4,000 troops on the Bavsrian
bismarck walks of with guffaw in his cuff
and the troops are set In motion.
1t must not be thought, that Bismarck was
ever i'll hammered. ungentlemanlike. or brutal
quite the contrary Simply. on ceremonial oc-
casions. he has always been a man In social
ways, OF the most unornate OF good fellows.
Yet. that two obscuritie+ like the young Kaiser
and on Caprivi should flash up In a day, ac-
cording to, the contemporary scribe and sud
denly settle question Of centuries, as against
the greatest man and chieftain since Cesar is
certainly alloyed with humor % carats fine.
We're no, Washington at Mount Vernon, JEFF
more powerful than when welding an official
scentre2 And did not Louis Philippe a scion
adventurer from st. Helena and deposit them
in the most imposing mausoleum in the world
ALvAS s. SoUTHwoRTH.