The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-25

Prince had made nm to that time In the fra
draft, This printed copy he won't over two o
three times. and subjected it to careful verifl
cation. Even within the last two years before
his death no entirely recast old chapters. Wha
we have here then Is an photographic compi
lation Of statements Of fact and of opinion upor
which Bismarck himself deliberately placed
the stamp Of authenticity. It follows that W,
must defer to the authority OF this book when
ever It conflicts with the memoirs prepared by
another person. which were published some
what hastily. and with an apparent intention
to ~forestall the market, soon after the OK.
Cbancellor's death.
In tho first chapter Of this autobiography we
are told that, when Bismarck first left school
at Easter. 1882. being then II years old. he
was q Pantheist, and, II not a Republican. ut
least persuaded that n republic was tho most
rational form OF government. He was given.
also. at that time to reflect upon the causes
which could decide millions of men perma-
nently to obey one man. when. all the while. he
was accustomed to hear from grown-up peo-
pie much bitter or contemptuous criticism OF
their ruler. The Impressions. however. which
he bore away from school remained In n thno-
retical stage. and were not strong enough to
extirpate his innate Prussian monarchical sem
timents. His historical sympathies were en-
listed on the side of authority. 1t is interest
ing to learn that. to his childish ideas Of JUS
tice. Harmodius and Aristogeitou, as well
as Brutus. were criminals. and Tell was
o rebel and murderer. Every German
Primo who resisted the Emperor be-
fore the Thirty Years War reused his
ire; but. from the Great Elector onwa"l. he
was enough of a Prussian partisan to take an
anti-imperial view. and to find it natural that
things should have been in readiness for the
soyen Years War. Nevertheless. the German
national feeling remained so strong in him
that, at the beginning of his university life.
he entered into relations with a groupof stu
dents who made the promotion OF a national
sentiment their aim. A close acquaintance
with them. however. bred an aversion to the
extravaganza OF their political views. which
were based. as it seemed to young Bismarck.
upon O lack either OF culture or else of knowl-
edge OF the conditions of life which historical
causes had brought into existence. He grad
ually came to suspect tho existence Of some
association between Utopian theories and de-
fective breeding. Nevertheless he retained
his old private national sentiments. and his
belief that. in the near future. events would
lead to German unity: in fact, he made a bet
with an American friend named Coffin that this
aim would be attained In twenty years. Had
he said forty. he would have won the bet.
After leaving the university. Bismarck desired
to enter diplomacy. but there seemed to be. at
the time. little chance for a member Of the
Prussian squirearchy to reach the higher diplo-
matte grades without passing through q long
and tedious n~ovitiate in the bureaucracy. The
Minister OF Foreign Affairs at that
time was OF the opinion that the homemade
squirearchy did not furnish desirable
material for employment in diplomatic func-
Bismarck says that this impression was
not absolutely unjustifled. for. although he
himself. when he became Minister. felt a fellow
provincial's sympathy for native-born Prussian
diplomatists. his official sense OF duty rarely
allowed him to crafty his prediction;
as a rule. he could only do this
the personages In question were
transferred to a diplomatic from q
position. Bismarck says that. in
purely Prussian civil diplomats. who had
never. or but inadequately. come under the
influence Of military discipline. he usually OBJ
served too strong o tendency to criticism. to
:" cocksureness." to opposition and personal
loneliness. intensified by the discomfort which
the Old Prussian gentleman's feeling OF equality
experienced when a man Of his own rank was
over his head or became his superior
than under military conditions. The
ox-ChancoHor also comedies that most of the
sauirearohs who were candidates for diplomatic
found difficulty in escaping from the
horizon which bounded Berliners fifty |
years ago. and that. In diplomatic matters,
they could not easily succeed In laying a coat
Of European varnish over the specifically Prus-
sian bureaucrat. 1t is certain that in the list
Of diplomatists employed in those DAYS by the
Berlin Government will be found very few
native Prusslans., The fact OF being the son of
foreign Ambassador accredited to Berlin was
Of itself ground for preference. The diploma
lists who had grown up in small courts and
had boon taken into the Prussian service had
not ~infrequently the advantage over natives of
greater assurance In court circles and of
greater absence OF shyness. Foreign names
were at a premium; 1t was presumed that
such men had creator fiuency In French.
an aspirant to a Minister,
80 long as tho ambassadorial
reports. particularly those addressed directly
10 the King. had to DO in French as was the !
official rule enforced until Bismarck became
The ex-Chancellor recalls that he
has known many among the olde, Am bassa-
doris OF Prussia step into the E.ghest positions
imply on account Of tieir proficiency in
French. without any knowledge Of politics.
Even as late az 1862 he himself had TO report
in French from St. Petersburg. and
the Ambassadors who wrote their private
TO the Minister in French
themselves thereby as having a special yoca-
ton for the diplomatic career. even when they
were VIGOROUSLY deficient in political judgment.
IL.
II will be remembered that. after amending
about four years in tho judicial sections OF the
bureaucracy. BtsmaEok retired in order to APP
- a 4.