, 1891-05-23
q Won MOLTKE.
(DaiL TeIeqraph, eth ApriJ.)

racter more remarkable or a career more victo-
rious, or a departure from this life more i'm
prcssive to the imagination than that Of the
silent strategist and mighty Empire-maker
who lies dead in Berlin. Count Ivon Moltke's
death chamber in the Palace of the General
Staff ut the German capital attracts, indeed,
at this moment the attention and reverence OF
the whole world. Our correspondent, who was
privileged to enter that chamber on the morn
ing after the venerable warriors demise, paints
us a picture of the scene sufficient by each de-
tail to awaken a thousand varying thoughts.
The Ii title apartment, soldierly IN ltssimplc1-
ty, looking out out upon the K~oenigsplatz
where stands that proud Trophy of War, with
sixty gilded cannons about it's base-where
else should Hellmdth Won Moltke sleep, and
upon what 50 BETTING should the window
Of his death place open? On his finger the
gift ring of his long-ago departed wife at his
feet a palm branch and q bouquet or roses, TIED
with ribbon of the Kaiserin; at the corner Of his
couch the French sword he always kept by him;
and by his side his watch and his gold snuff
box, the friendly present of his old master
Emperor William-how wildly these things
bring back to the mind the qualities which all
had learned to recognize as mingllngln the mar
vellous commander! His gentleness OF nature,
his fidelity in affection, his quiet p~lalnness OF
life and manners, his whole devotion of heart
and soul to his cuisines as a lighting man
solidly blended with these simple qualities, and
crowned with such triumphs that it is all Ger
many which, by the hands of the Empress,
laws that palm at his feet-we see and feel these
things at the glance affcrdedr us into that silent
room. Placidly, and with as little pain or shock
as could possibly accompany the exit Of the
spirit, Count Won Moltke's years of 'stcrm and
stress" have come to their appointed end. He
who had seen death, in its t~iercest and most
destructive forms, sweep hecatombs Of lusty
men from the face of being-nay, who had had
for his duty and his task, to employ death as
an ally. and to send him forth, commissioned
and equipped, to pave the path CT victory with
corpses-passes away as quietly as a guest
from the table, or a sentry to his sleep, hardly
SO much as heaving a sigh. He was ninety
years old ON his last birthday, yet on that Fri
day of his death his physician found him look
ing hearty and well. In the afternoon he safe
an attentive listener to the debates in the
Reichstag walked home alone, gTavely and
sweetly acknowledging the countless saluta-
tions which ever greeted him dined cheerfully
in his family circle, played whist, took tea,
had a little music, and softly rose-to 90 up
stairs and die. "Are you i'll, dear uncle asked
Major Won Moltke, his nephew. The vague
faint answer was "Wie?" ("What?') He wa
not i'll; he was only dying, and already,as good
as released; for in another few minutes he
breathed heavily and extended his limbs, and
the famous soldier had given up his sword to
the one invincible and inevitable Conqueror.
It was the death which he had praised a hum
dred times. a hundred times desired, and it be-
came him far better than that which he must
have confronted upon many and many a bloody
field, For, although Hellmuth Won Moltke
was one Of the greatest military commanders
known to history, a soldiers fate by bullet or
smear or sabre would have been totally incon-
s%istent with the record of his prodigious gent
GUS. This man was really born a Teutonic
savant-a professionalism Destiny, for great
and.far reaching reasons, made warrior. He
brought to bear upon the art Of war those gifts
and PRINCIPLES which for the first time render
ed It an exact science. There had existed be-
fore his day renowned and splendid soldiers,
deeply instructed in methods of warfare full
Of resource and resolution. and adding to long
qualifications of study that quick and brilliant
genious which makes and marks the successful
General. But, scientifically, they had all
been more amateurs compared with Won Moltke,
the German lieutenant, He applied to the