New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-20
MORE BESM4RCK LETTERS.
The Missing War Correspondence

rgsMsRcK's LETTERS TO HIS WIFE l IRON ~
Amin Harder with an lntroouclon og va
TItfleaeld l6uao pp. ~. y. Appleton O. %
The majority o. the letters in this little Voiuine
were not included In the well known bulky col
Section Of The CllaaceloT's epistles 70 his johanna
Tor tho reason that they were not found uhtll
long after the publication OF that COLLECTION II
g. q pity shat the preliminary search OF lhe
sasrii- noseesslc-s was not more thorough; for
these newly printed notes and kilograms WrltteIi
v.hae Bismarck was in the fed. In attendance
on the king. would have filed negrettable gap
n the mass q his correspondence, while they
surnIsh rather ineagrely a separate volume
Some CT them arc trivial. some o. them perfeo
while history was in the making are eXas-
reratluFly devoid Of detail; the most interest
tng ones-as Tor example. that In which Bis
snarck describes his meeting with Napoleon
after Sedan-are borrowed from the more i'm
rortant collections The Bismarck revealed
herein is one already known to Us IN the as
pets % p devoted husband 20 his Beloved
Heart" tender father. anG a Prussian firmly
convinced that the Lord WAS lighting on the
aloe OF the German battaliOns.
lis two SONS were with the troops and the
gathers solicitude was almost feminine. Has
Hin undervests and things o. that sort" he
asks bis wife when the weather is unpleasant
Tor camping: and the soldiers grin over his con-
stant inquiries 20 the Whereabouts OF his
boys. Prodigious is his pride over BIZ when
she young officer saves a wounded comrade un-
Der shower OF bullets-"he showed himself in
krepi5 and a good fellow" ne tells the countess.
There IS a whimsical note about the way IN
which he is regarded in the enemy's country.
IL writes from Pont-a- MoUsson, The people
here must take me for a bloodhound The old
women when they hear my name fall upon their
- fT. a
lamb compared with me" Nowhere else do the
French touch his sense OF humor. These aban-
ooned people," he calls them sternly; and It is
only or Theirs that he has anything amiabe 70
say. My little friend THEIRS" he writes 20 his
wife from Versatile lis very clever and charm
ing. but 70 business man for verbal negotiations.
The foam OF ideas gushes irresistibly out OF
lin as out 90 an open bottle. and tires the
patience because il binders getting al the
drinkable stuff. which is the thing, With all
that. he is decent little fellow. with white hair.
respectable and charming. good old fashioned
French manners. and Il was very hard for me
20 be as hard upon him as ] had 10 be. This
the villains knew and therefore pushed him for
ward"
Wrath and disgust over conditions which even
20 stout and ruthless a being could not always
dominate find expression now and then in these
intimate communications When one has been
TOO long a minister" he writes 20 his nearest
Bnd dearest. ''and with it has had, by the provi-
dence OF God, some success. one feels distinctly
how the cold waters OF the swamp OF envy
and hatred rise gradually higher and higher up
40 ones heart
one Goes not gain any new friends; the old
ones die or step back in disgruntled modesty,
and the GOODNESS from above grows. as is pc
cuiiar 10 the natural history OF princes. even
the best Every affection needs response II II
Is meant 20 last In short I feeling cold
spiritually and ! long 10 he with you and in the
solitude of the country. No healthy heart is
able to endure this court life permanently.