The sun., 1908-05-10
VII

Bancroft must have regarded hls sever
years residence in Berlin a. next TO tn,
period Of the civil war, the most interestinI
in his life. AZ the bioErapher reminds vi
he Witnessed history 10 the making, fol
In the year Of hls arrival the North Ger.
man Confederation took the place Of the
old 0ermanic Confederation, and three
years later the Franoo-Prlssian War wal
fought and won, while In 1871 the ConStitu.
tion Of the present German Empire came
into effect. As was 10 be expected. the
letters written by Bancroft at this time
tell uS q great deal about Bismarck. We
learn. for example. that one evening in
conversation Bismarck propounded theory
OF his own which would discriminate the
races a. males and females, the Germans
being designated a. q male race, the strong
est and most capable Of mental application,
while the female races would include the
Cslt and SlHvonian. To the pure unmiEed
Russian he denied the power Of close and
continuous application, and remarked that
he had once said to Prince Gortchakoff
that the latter owed his ability 10 work for
fifteen hours q day TO his having had a
German woman for a mother. On another
occasion Bancroft had recalled that in the
United States the respect for Christianity
was % great that q candidate for political
ONCE who should declare himself AGAINST
the Christian religion, unless by chance
he we're Jew. would be sure to fail. That
he might avoW himself member Of any
one OF the varieties Of Christian scots, even
Of those which we're the ireest and the
nearest to the line OF a total rejection OF
Christianity, but an outright rejection OF
Christianity by one who could not like the
Jew plead an inherited faith would ruin
the chances Of a candidate for election
Thereupon Bismarck said that he was sorry
TO be obliged to admit that II was not 40
In Germany, for there we're many districts
where even an AVowal Of atheism would
not interfere with the political chances OF
a candidate. He went on, it seems. to
speak at some length Of infidelity and
atheism as the products Of shallow habits
Of thought. which larger study and severer
reflection we're sure TO rectify. He added
that there was but one point on which, 80
far as Prussia was concerned. an election
would admit Of no uncertainty. No man
in Prussia, he said could get chosen to
the Iandtag or the Reichstag who should
in presence of the voters set himself against
the principle Of monarchy or against the
rights Of the present royal family That
was doubtless tue then, and Ia still as
regards the Landtag, but It has long
ceased to be true with reference 10 the
We can dwell no longer on the years
spOnt by Bancroft In Berlin, althouEh
the bioErapher justly allots TO them over a
hundred pages. When Bancroft returned
to his native country In 1874 and chan Red
his residence from New York TO Washing
ton he had still over sixteen years to live.
They were not idle years. The tenth vol
lmo Of his history was published in the
7ear Of his return, and the Centenary Edi-
tion Of the completed narrative in 1879.
Six years later appeared his History Of tho
Formation Of the Const td ton Of the United
States Of America and in 1885 the au-
.hor's last revision Of his history Still
ater he published articles in the North
American RerieV and Century Magazine.
3hll later, In 1885, the article on Polk In |
lppleton's 'CyolopSdia Of American BioK-
Apply had the benefit Of corrections and |
at Mr.. Bsnoroft's hands. In |
$50 was issued his revision Of an original
Unpublished manuscript in which he had
outlined the life Of Martin Van Buren to the
nd Of his public career His memory
emained unclouded and his grasp upon
III the other mental faculties still firm I'D
o few months before hs death In January.
sOl in the ninety first year Of his age.