The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-31


name of Hercules" When in tba
prime of life, he was possessed of vas+
energy and fortitude, and up to the
time he was seventy years cd ms
vigorous constitutional sustained him
we'll. He was for years a hard rider.
a fierce duelist, wild hunter and a
beer Grinker not to be beaten. There
are many stories told bout the wav
in which he bore the trials of the Fran
co-German war, when, though not far
from his siXtieth year, he followed the
army in its campaigns and guided the
policy of the government He would
keep the saddle all day, break his fast
with a few links Of sausage or dish
of sa.rerkraut and sleep on the "soft
side of a board in his tent when p
bitter couch was not wit in reach. "Are
you here, Otto?" cried one Of his bow
hood chums who met him after a bat
tie. "Then QUAR- this foaming stein of
Munich's brew while recall our war;
like song at Gottingen."
MAN OF FORCE.
Bismarck could not be called merry.
Gus man as we ordinarily use the word
but rather man of nerve. Such a
word as intellectual or as philosophical
is not descriptive as applied to him. In
short, none of the words by which we
are apt to characterize DISTINGUISHED
individuals was applicable to him. He
was a prodigy. He was not to be
classified; he was distinctive person
atty; he did not belong to a type. His
mind was broad, his reason was substn-
tial, his will was indomitable, his gen.
JUS was practical, his thoug hit was solid.
He had imagination, but only in the
large sense of the word-that kind of
1t Which moves around realism.
Bismarck's head was sometimes
spoken of as colossal, but in truth the
measurement of his Uranium was very
little beyond the ordinary. There are
in Germany plenty of heads bigger
than the head that belonged to him.
The brain contained in it, however.
was certainly qualified by nature with
those powers that were made manifest
in his life.
When you look at any picture of
Bismarck you are apt to be repelled
by the very stern expression of his
has the appearance of a sullen or an
acrimonious man. His features, as
you see them in the engraving, are
plain, his forehead is of heavy cast.
his mouth is large, his nose is moot
of classical mold, his eyes are slug
gish, his cheeks are coarse grained.
his hair and mustache are Indifferent.
Bismarck was the offspring of an old,
aristocratic and proud family, but the
physiognomy which he inherited from
his ancestors was certainly not of an
attractive kind-not Napoleonic
Yet it would be a mistake to sup
pose that he was destitute Of the more
generous traits of human nature.
These who knew him well have often
spoken Of his congeniality in social
life. They tell of his long devotion to
his wife, Of whose companionship he
was bereaved few years ago, and of
his pride in his children, and of his
endearing attachment to his friends,
and Of his sentimental feeling for the
old king, whom he made an emperor.
They even tell us that man who
could keep up relations with his
which Bismarck long kept up was
manifestly possessed Of a spirit in
which emotion had it's place.
Bismarck is not to be brought into
comparison with q any other eminent
man of the century, His characteris-
tics bore no resemblance to those of
Napoleon, who was both statesman
and conqueror, and whose flashing
career was so unlike that of the Ger
man. 1t would require the pen of Plu-
tarch to draw a contrast between Bis
marck and Abraham Lincoln. In
truth, Bismarck was man who in
the history Of his time must stand
apart from all other men, gloomy and
peculiar.
RECORD WITHOUT PARALLEL.
The record of his life was one that
had no parallel in that Of any of his
contemporaries. He was a founder
and a destroyer, a revolutionist and
lord paramount. He was legislator,
diplomatist. ambassador and chancel-
lor. He was a master of statecraft
and the architect of an empire. He
ieIISSu " pave Ill CilG
front rank Of European nations. He
was a dictator in his disposition,
though he always reverenced the
throne of the Hohenzollerns. He was
thirty years a leader in Large poll
tics" the handspring in the wars of
Germany, the author Of public poll
cies and a controlling force in the dip
lomacy Of all the, continental govern
ments.
This is not the language of praise. 1t
is but a part Of the broad history Of
our creative age.
How Bismarck brought about Ger
man unity and the obstacles that he
encountered and overcame while en-
gagged In that work need not here be
described.
How he extended the boundaries of
Prussia by anneXing to that kingdom
the dominions Of three dethroned Ger
man princes; how he obtained posses
sion 70 the duchy of Schleswig- Holstein
how he seized Alsace and Lorraine as
the prize Of conquest, may all be learn
ed from the historians.
How he brought Denmark to terms
by force Of arms; how he humbled the
Austrian, or Holy Roman empire, in
1856; how he overthrow the French
empire and dictated terms Of peace to
France in 1871 the reader can aScer-