St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-01

MOSb wisely uiu BISMARCK garner liitt
fruits of Sadowa. Only four short years
elapsed before Prussia was forced to
cross swords with France, but in that
brief space of time the North German
confederation was inseparably welded
to Prussia, and the good will and
support of the South German states
gained. Moreover, not only was the
neutrality of Russia, in case of war
between Prussia and France, assured
by treaty, but Gortchakoff was also in
duced to promise to impose similar
attitude on Austria, while secret bar
gain had been struck with Italy, of
which Rome was to be the price. When
Napoleon ILL.,. seeking by a policy of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT to restore the prestige
which PruSsian victories had impaired,
on July Is. 1870. drew the sword against
Prussia. he found the latter fully pre-
pared for the combat. The Prussian
arms were everywhere victorious;
Sedan Metz. and the capture of Paris
followed each other in quick
succession, and Bismarck's dar-
ing and far-seeing plans received
the final seal of success in the
coronation of a German emperor at Ver-s
saiIles. AS after Sadowa. so after Pari s,
Bismarck gathered and preserved what
the German arms had won. That the
newly created German empire might
have time to Solidify conditions were
imposed upon France which it was IN
tended should tax her energies to the
fullest for years to come, and while at
the time the terms proposed by Prussia
TO her fallen enemy seemed heartlesS
and severe, the years have confirmed
the wisdom of their foImulator, and
prospects of the undoing by France eff
the work begun at Versailles and fin
&c ut IL 60
remote.
The time has not yet come to fairly
and finally estimate Bismarck's man
agement of the domestic and foreign
relations of the German empire from
1871 till 1890. The only test of its value
is the test of endurance, but all know
that while he remained In power his
chief aim was to win Germans of all
classes ana creeds to the new order, to
gain the federal government independ-
ence from local legislatures, and to
make the stability of the empire COM
menSurate with its ewly created power
and splendor. In what measure he has
succeeded or failed time alone can tell.
lie himself long since consigned his
work to its arbtrament, and upon those
who come after him will its verdict in
chief measure depend.
The incidents connected with Bis
marck's retirement from office are too
recent to demand recital here, but DOS
terity will not forgive the present en-
peror of Germany for heapng disgrace
upon the man who had been his family'S
greatest benefactor. and driving into
retirement the statesman whose most
fitting monument in years to come will
be the mighty empire which he de-
signed and built with blood and iron.
1u.-GLANCE AT BISMA RCK'S PRIVATE
LIFE.
Though Bismarck has aged rapidly in
the last few years, the grandeur and
ruggedness of his face and figure still
remain with him. Above six feet in
height and broad in proportion, he is, or
was until very recently, as straight and
sturdy as one of the oaks Ill his own
Pomeranian forest lands. His huge
frame is mounted by a MASSIVE head
which looks as though it might have
been hewed out of rock of granite,
unusually broad above the ears. the chin
hrm and clean cut, the eyes, Widowed
by bnshy eyebrows, piercing and com
handing. 1t is his Herculean frame
and iron constitution that have enabled
Bismarck to reach a ripe old age, for
he has been one of the hardest livers
and workers of his time. laboring at all
hours. eating heavily. drinking deeply
Always strongly domestic in his tastes
and so fond of his own hearthStone that
he never leaves it for the hospitality of
others, Bismarck in his later years has
been man of many homes. A portion
of the ancestral estate of SchonhauseD
fell to him on his fathers death, and
the remainder, which his brother had
permitted to pass into other hands. was
purchased and presented to him by his
admirers on his SEVENTEEN birthday.
AT the close of the war with Austria he
was voted grant OF $4,000 with WHICH.
he purchased the fine estate of VarZin,
also in POmeranIa, which he has since
greatly improved. The estate of Fried
richSruhe, comprising 10000 acres of
farm and forest land less than dozen
miles from the fine old city OF Ham
burg. with million thaler in cash. was
presented to him by Emperor Wilhelm
at the conclusion of the Franco-German
war. He also owns big house on Will
helm strasSe in Berlin, but since his re-
tirement from Office, has spent the
greater part of his time at Frledrichs-
ruhe. of which, among all his homes, he
seems most fond. Schonhausen is now
the home of Count Herbert Bismarck,
his eldest son. 1t boasts among other
things Bismarck museum, filled with
hundreds of mementos and offerings,
and which is sure to gain interest and
value as the years go by. Bismarck.
thanks in great measure to the pru-
dence and shrewdneSs of his wife, who.
for nearly half century has been his
financial manager, is very rich man
and several times millionaire. His in
come from his landed estates alone
exceeds 100000 a year.
Oh, happy is that man and blest
Who sits in his own home at rest
Who snuggly sits at his fireside
In tranquil peace whate'er betide.
Thus Bismarck himself once wrote in
the album of a friend, and the lines
happily epitomize the life which in re-
cent years he has led at Friedrichs-
ruhe. The habits of his old age are
simple and regular. He rises late. At
10 he sits down to breakfast; he usually
takes glass of milk, one or two cups of
coffee, toast and two soft-boi!ed eggs.
During breakfast all official letters and
kilograms are disposed Of Then he
transacts business with farmers, bailiffs
and woodmen. Between and
2 he drives or rides over his
estate, to look at new farm
building, young plantation or the
progress of field work; to look at the
fishing in one of the ponds or tn visit