The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-25

'N HE most sensational book that has
/ appeared in many day is Bis
marck-Some Secret Pages of His
tory, :, by Or. Moritz Busch Here
FOR the first time are ratified some
OF the many skeletons in the royal
houses of England and Germany. Bis
marck is shown to be Il different man
than most people supposed him TO be.
The Kings and Emperors of Germany are
made TO stand IN the calcium glare of
BismarCk's eye. Some Of the revelations
are startling and not calculated to make
crowned heads sit more easily on their
thrones.
But has DIR. Busch been true to his
trust in putting such q book before the
world? d.. Busch thinks he has been.
In more ways than one the book is re-
markable Or. Busch has performed the
apparently impossible. He has out
FrOuded Froude and out-Purcelled Pur-
cell
II is not merely that DR.. Busch has
succeeded in degrading his hero far more
than Froude degraded Carlyle or Pur-
cell degraded Manning. He has commit
ted indiscretions against the living or the
recently dead which must prove more
sensauonauy painful than any of the
lapses made by the two Englishmen, who
have reached a bad emirence as the most
tactless, the most inconsiderate, the most
essentially dislCyal of all biographers.
OF course DR.. Busch has his excuse put
forward in this very book In anticipation
OF the storm OF criticism which it must
provoke.
He quotes Bismarck as telling him
Once | am dead You can tell everything
you like; absolutely everything you
know"
Having thus received the sanction of
him 'whCm l look upon as the first of
men, Dr. Busch processes small care
Tor the opinions OF others. The great
majority OF those referred to, lie says,
have departed from this life and taken
their places in the domain OF history
Where the claim for indulgent treatment
Is 10 longer valid. Those who are still
with us may believe me when | assure
them that in now publishing these pages
l have no thought of causing them pain
or injuring. them in any way.
Or. Busch 5 assurances Viii carry very
sCant balm 10 the members Of the royal
family Of England and the imperial fam
lIy CT Germany, who are disuainfuIly and
even scandalouSiy treated III the CONVEX
sauCnS reported IN these volumes
Nor will Bismarck reputation be en-
HANGED by the discovery that he was
sood deal OF hypocrIte in his attitude
toward the successive masters whom he
served and telgned TO reverence as gifts
OF COO 10 the PruSsian nation, that even
Tor William 1 he mad only q kindly con-
tempt, and Tor his son Il contempt that
was absolutely unKindly, that he mad no
words too bitter Tor the ton!es ana pre-
lenses OF ali the women OF. the royal
household, that ne INDUCED in such petty
tricks as secretly writing or inspiring
arUc.es with one hand while ne de-
nounCed them publicly with the other
ana that IN his old age, when he came TO
dictate his memoirs. ne degenerated into
a liar arc hraEg&rJ.
Let me justify these charges from Dr.
Busch s own passes. And FIRST as to Will
liam |. lie Is popularity supposed TO have
been BismarcKs idol. Yet in PAGES 414-l5
lie
Yersation in which Bismarck describes his
1901 as alternately coward and head
strong fool. whose weakness and irreso-
luton would have lost him his crown
many times over were 1t not that he was
under the dominance of Bismarck
intghtier will.
contentious remark: " 'Monarchs are Of
ten adorned with other peoples feathers.
II battle Is won at which one of them
happens TO be present as a spectator, he
is said 10 have, although, OF course, the
stan has really won IL. and so it IS in
your case in the field OF battle
Why, yes replied Bismarck, with
the price that apes humility, but il the
work Is done and succeeds, that is the
main point; 1t is matter of Indifference
VINO aid it..
de was especially contemptuous of the
vanity of William l, and OF his submis-
sion 10 pettcoat tyranny. He he'd that
ne was largely under the dominance OF
the present DowaEer Empress of Ger
many. and through her Of her mother,
Queen Victoria. He held that these ladies
We're Seit1Shly insUlaT in their sympathies,
and that even the Empress would be glad
70 use her adopted country as d tool for
the furtherance of British as against
German interests.
They even betrayed an altogether I'M
necessary tenderness toward France dur
ing the FrancO-Prussian war. From day
TO Gay after the German army had en-
camped around Paris, the bombardment
or the city was delayed because of the
opposition of the Queen of England and
the then Crown Princess of Prussia On
November 10, 1870. Bismarck is found
complaining to Busch, Il told the King
again yesterday that it was time to be-
gin, and he had no objection 10 make.
de replied that he had given orders TO
could not Busch continues: 1T APP
pears that in his opinion first Queen We
torla and then, at her instance, the Crown
Princess, and finally the Crown Prince,
persuaded by his consort, VIII not have
Paris bonbarded, while the generals can
not lombard the city out of considera-
ton for the views of the Crown Prince,
who will, Of course, be the future King
and Will have the appointment Of Minis
tiers OF War, commandments of army corps
ard -leld IEaTshals.
On November 90 1870, Bismarck said to
Busch: The King told me an untruth
to-day l asked him If the bombaTdment
was not TO commence, and he replied that
ately that X was not true. l know him.
He cannot lie. or at least not in such
a way that 1t cannot be detected. He at
once changes color, and It was particu-
larry noticeable when he replied to my
question to-day. When L looked at him
straight into his eyes he could not stand
it."
Again ne laid the blame for the royal
INDIGESTION to the sentImentality of Queen
Victoria" which had percolated through
the entire feminine contingent of Prus-
sian royalty.
THAT seems he cried Ito be the
characteristic of the Hohenzollerns-thei
women folk always have a great infu-