The times., 1898-12-25
'll|lI tta*l

for purposes of nation-building would lie
hard to find. 1t should be remembered.
also. that this popu alton has none of the
mobile and adaptable character natural
10 a new country. in which men become
accustomed 10 making and remak:ng GUS
toms and laws; 1t is made up of people
whose fathers and -grandfathers before
them lived on the same land. and who
owe hereditary allegiance of the most re-
spectacle kind to their duke or count, or
princeling.
One reason for Bismarck's fitness to do
this work of uniting Germany was that
he himself belonged 10 the class with
which, mainly. he had to deal, He was
IA pure-bred German, a hereditary noble
man. born in one of the small Kingdoms
which furnished the rough riders OF the
Crusades, and. as we have seen. he had to
the full the strong sense of loyalty to
Header. 1t would have been of but little
use fer him to. attempt his task by ap-
pealing 10 the common people: nor could
he carry his point through the influence
of the nobility alone. He did the thing
by force-the only way In which 1t could
be done; he set the example of absolute
obedience to the king. and demanded
nothing more In that line than he was
willing to do himself; and also he thor
oughy understood his material He says
cf the abuses of party leadership and
their cause:
The expression, considered apocryphai which
P.utsrch puts into Caesars mouth, namely. that
lie would rather be the first man in wretched
mountain village than the second at Rome, has
always struck me as n genuinely German idea.
Only too many among US think thus in public
life, ard look about fer the village; and when
they cannot fnd it on tie map. lcoa for the
group sufgroup, or eoterie. may be, in
which they can be first. This state OF mind
which you may call egotism or independence
fla5 5eh vnlF has
throughout German history, ON the rcbcelious
dukes Of the fr,t imperial period down to the
ianuinerable princes, imperial cities. imperial
Villages, abbeys. knights holding Immediately OF
the empire, with feebleness and defenselessness
its re ut to the empire.
There is nothing of self-analysis in this
Bismarck is never introspective-bu he
hits the nail on the head in defining this
irrepressibie German Independence as the
cause of the general lack of strength in
the country whole. This Is the real
reason why the German people, the most
brilliant thinkers In the world. are so
utterly impossible politically. The inten-
sity of individuality which concentrates
itself on one thing. be that science. or
music. or literature. has no thought to
spare for political or economic life. Hence
we behold country tied up with num-
berless folds of red tape. and bowling
down before a War Lord, whose mind
is concentrated on his own greatness. all
because OF the inability of the German
| mind to devote itself to more than one
thing. Ii is n striking example of the
I adage. Whatever is worth doing at ali
I is worth doing Well carried TO the ex-
/ treme limit.
The genius of Bismarck lay in the di-
! rection of simplicity. He is himself an
excellent example of this predohinating
German trait of ; concentration. All
through his diplomatic career he was cut
! ting Gordian knots at one time or
another. In any difficulty he was con-
cerned only as to one thing-what would
his sovereign allow him to do? On one
! occasion he was asked whether he would
| take the post of envoy to the Bund QS5lD.
He replied that he would. The king re-
marked that it showed a good puck to
undertake SO readily a new task. Bis
marck replied:
| The pluck is your msjesty's part in in
trusting me with such post. However, yoni
majesty is, Of course, not bound to maintain tE.
appointment. so long as sit mas not been tested
myself cannot be sure whether the task i
beyond my capacity untfi have had closer nc
quaintance with it. Ii II find that am no
recall. have the pluck;-to obey if your maics;,
has the pluck TO command.
That was the keynote Of Bismarck's re
lations with his sovereign. He had the
pluck to obey If the. king had the pluck
to command. 1t is the same quality oi
which he speaks as being common to tht
Prussian officer, who. as soon as he /;
protected by a higher command. goes
without wavering to most certain death
but through fear of the blame of his su
perior officer or public criticism falls into
such doubt and uncertainty as to choose
the wrong path" If Bismarck had hat
sovereign to whom 1t was impossible
for him to entertain feelings of loyalty
il is possible that he might not have bser
as great a statesman as he was. HI
needed an object and an object with
crown on its head. He would not have
made a good monarch,tor a Brilliant lead
4 er OF republic. In the place that h'
filed he was a magnificent figure; il
other places he would have been person
ally. but not politically. great.
Another quality Of Bismarck's charac
ter which crops out in these reminis.
cences is his soldierly bluntness OF
speech. He never hesitated to tell the
truth because it might hit somebody
Even TO the king he occasionally USED
this unsparing frankness. and more thar
once the queen felt that mailed hand
touch very different from the silker
glove of the ordinary courtier. In speak
ing of that lady. the old chancellor says
with grim candor:
The experience OF many years had enabled m
by degrees to judge with some certainty whethe
the emperor opposed suggestions. which SCENE,
to me logically necessary, from his own con
viction or in the interest OF his domestic peace
In the first case I conid, rule reckon Or
coming TO an understanding ii awaited tn
time when the clear understanding of my maste
had assinslsted the matter; or he would appea
to the council OF ministers. In such tn
discussion between and his majesty nlway
remained practical and confined to the subjec
at issue. 1t was different when the cause of tn
royal opposition TO ministerial opinions lay i
the previous discussion OF the question which he
majesty had aroused at breakfast and carried o
till he had positively expressed his agreemen
| with her. When the king, at such moments, in
fiuenced by letters and newspaper articles whic
had been written for the purpose had bee
brought to hasiy expressions opposed to tn
ministerial policy, then her majesty was accu;
toned to confirm the success she had obtaine
by giving utierance 10 doubts whether the en-
percr would be in condition to uphold til
purpose or opinions he had expressed ''agains
Bismarck When his majesty opposed me- no
from his own conviction, but rs a result of re
peated feminine pressure, could what ha
happened for his arguments were not 10 tn
point and illogical. When he could not find an
more arguments against what l said, then h
would end the discussion with the expression
I'll der 1auserd, da muss ich doch sch bitten
ooh. l say. come, pleaze,). Then l knew tha
. had met, Rot the emperor but his wife.
Bismarck had no use for women in pol
itics.
He Is quite as frank in speaking O
the future of Germany. and, in view o
recent complications, his idea of the poll;
icaI situation and the future policy o
Russia will interest the public. He says
: in the latter part of the second volum
/. of this work:
Whatever may be the future course of I'll
Russian policy it Will produce state ,
things in which Russia, in July. 1853, tax.
, some security and waits TO sec whether and
whom it viii he taken away again. The fir:
step OF Russian diplomacy after these Ions
reti br Il. a.