The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-31
BISMARCK AS A MAN.
Personal Traits and Episodes tt. t
His Admirers LOEed to Repeat.

His Admirers Loved to Repeat.
There was never any nonsense about Bis
marck's devotion to royalty, or at least to
the male members of the German royal
family. His attachment to the present mon
arch was sorely tried by events preceding
and subsequent to his resignation and 1T
could not be compared to that which bound
the chancellor for so many years to old
Kaiser Wilhelm /. For him he had some
thing akin totreverence. In 1850, when the
tide of political passion was still running
very high, Bismarck went one day into
tavern at Berlin to take a glass of beer. A
man near him, feeling himself supported by
the presence of his friends. began to abuse a
member of the royal family.
Bismarck looked at him, and said quietly,
IF you have not left this room before
have finished my beer I'll break this pot
over your head" He then emptied his
glass very deliberately, and the man
took no heed of the warning he did as he
had threatened. He went up to the fellow
and knocked him about the head with the
pot till he fell bowling on the ground. Bis
marck then asked the waiter, How much
for the glass?" and having paid for it he
walked away leisurely without any one
having dared to modest him. Even at that
time he was already a man of some political
standing and the acknowledged leader or the
Conservative party; but, true 10 ms prln-
ciple, he always took the offensive, attack
ing his adversaries wherever he met them
and with all weapons.
The eX-chancelIor was a soldier by nature
a statesman only by chance, and even his
craftsmanship was of the military order
Appearances were never more deceltful than
when Bismarck and Moltke, the two main
pillars of the empire, were seen together. "A
stranger who had merely read of their re-
spective achievements, without deriving
from art some familiarity with their fea-
lures, would. on first beholding them, in
fallibly mistake the diplomatst for the SOL
der In the tall figure, the broad shoulders
the thick neck. the grizzly mustache, the
bushy eyebrows, and the grim determined
look of the prince, he would at once be sure
of the victor in three unparalleled cam
paigns; while the slender form, the studious
stoop, the smooth-shaven face, with the
penSive and magnificently poised head of
the count would correspond with his precon-
ception of the man who thought out the
grand political plans which had been execut-
ed at the point or the sword by his hercu-
lean companion.
The prince stood six feet two inches in his
boots, and straight as an iron rod. Some
years ago he suffered much from obesity
but this he reduced by severe regimen
His power of work was until recently quite
phenomenal, though he had always been a
great eater a deep drinker and heavy
smoker AT one time he was what the Ger
mans call 'chain smoker"-that is. he
would consume consecutively a cable of ci-
CARS each link being lighted a the stump of
its predecessor. Happy mani exclaimed
Gambetta once speaking of the great Ger
man, beer and smoke agree with him.
Though virtually one-meal man. that meal
drinking. He dreaded bores, and this anus
ing anedote is told of the way in which he
disposed of troublesome persons.
DISMISSING A BORE.
An ambassador of one of the great DOW
ers-we mention no names-one day called
on Bismarck, and. in the course of a rather
long conversation, asked the prince how he
managed to get rid of troublesome visitors.
Oh that is very simple, replied the chan
cellor. When my wife thinks one is stay
ing too long she merely sends for me. and
thus the interview ends. AT that very mo-
ment servant entered, and, bowling low.
begged his master to favor the princess with
his presence for few minutes. The ambas
Sador DluShed, as much as any diplomatist
can or ought to blush, and at once withdrew
as gracefully as possible in the trying cir
His foreign policy for twenty years was
uniformly successful. AT home he was less
happy. The militarfsn he advocated and
which proved so effective a barrier to for
eign aggression, stirred up widespread dis
content among the German workmen, laid
an almost unbearable burden of taxation on
the backs of German patriots and favored
the growth of socialism,, 10 which-and to
the refusal of the young Kaiser to obey
him-the proud chancellor at length had ia
bow. and his oft-threatened resignation fol-
lowed.
As If Social Democracy was not enough to
cope with, Bismarck found himself at issue
with the Catholic Church, with parliament
tary liberalism and ''particularisrn The
Kultur Kampf is even now not ended, and
the war with Social Democracy has only
just begun. But Bismarck washed his
hands of ii all.
At seventy-fve, and without the support
of the Kaiser to encourage him, he was not
strong enough to continue the fight. The
iron frame iad long been creaking. The
gigantic brain cried out for rest. One man,
withal a genius, had defed popes, priests
and bishops, dictated To emperOrs and
laughed at parlaments. Against the rising
wave Of democracy, however. no blood and
iron availed him. Step by STEP gathering
freshed every time they were crushed 70