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THE LIFE OF BISMARCK, PRIVATE AND POLITICAL.

“Mit Gott für König und Vaterland.”


[Illustration: COUNT OTTO VON BISMARCK.]


THE LIFE OF BISMARCK,
PRIVATE AND POLITICAL;

With Descriptive Notices of His Ancestry.

by

JOHN GEORGE LOUIS HESEKIEL,

Author of “Faust and Don Juan,” etc.

Translated and Edited,
With an Introduction, Explanatory Notes, and Appendices,
by Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, F.S.A., F.A.S.L.

With Upward of One Hundred Illustrations by Diez, Grimm,
Pietsch, and Others.






New York:
Harper & Brothers, Publishers,
Franklin Square.
1870.




CONTENTS


    EDITOR’S PREFACE.                                              Page xv

                             Book the First.

                      THE BISMARCKS OF OLDEN TIME.

                               CHAPTER I.

                            NAME AND ORIGIN.

    Bismarck on the Biese.—The Bismarck Louse.—Derivation of the
    Name Bismarck.—Wendic Origin Untenable.—The Bismarcks in
    Priegnitz and Ruppin.—Riedel’s Erroneous Theory.—The Bismarcks
    of Stendal.—Members of City Guilds.—Claus von Bismarck of
    Stendal.—Rise of the Family into the Highest Rank in the
    Fourteenth Century.                                                 31

                               CHAPTER II.

                     CASTELLANS AT BURGSTALL CASTLE.

                              [1270-1550.]

    Rulo von Bismarck, 1309-1338.—Excommunicated.—Claus von
    Bismarck.—His Policy.—Created Castellan of Burgstall,
    1345.—Castellans.—Reconciliation with Stendal, 1350.—Councillor
    to the Margrave, 1353.—Dietrich Kogelwiet, 1361.—His White
    Hood.—Claus in his Service, while Archbishop of Magdeburg.—The
    Emperor Charles IV.—The Independence of Brandenburg
    threatened.—Chamberlain to the Margrave, 1368.—Subjection
    of the Marks to Bohemia, 1373.—Claus retires into Private
    Life.—Death about 1377.—Claus II., 1403.—Claus III. and
    Henning.—Friedrich I. appoints Henning a Judge.—Ludolf.—His
    Sons.—Pantaleon.—Henning III. _obiit circâ_ 1528.—Claus
    Electoral Ranger, 1512.—Ludolf von Bismarck.—Electoral Sheriff
    of Boetzow, 1513.—His Descendants.                                  36

                              CHAPTER III.

                            THE PERMUTATION.

                              [1550-1563.]

    Changes.—The Electoral Prince John George and
    Burgstall.—Forest-rights.—The Exchange of Burgstall for
    Crevese.—Schönhausen and Fischbeck.—The Permutation completed,
    1563.                                                               50

                               CHAPTER IV.

                      THE BISMARCKS OF SCHÖNHAUSEN.

                              [1563-1800.]

    Further Genealogy of the Bismarcks.—Captain Ludolf von
    Bismarck.—Ludolf August von Bismarck.—His remarkable
    Career.—Dies in the Russian Service, 1750.—Frederick William
    von Bismarck.—Created Count by the King of Würtemberg.—Charles
    Alexander von Bismarck, 1727.—His Memorial to his Wife.—His
    Descendants.—Charles William Ferdinand, Father of Count Otto
    von Bismarck.                                                       57

                               CHAPTER V.

    Armorial Bearings.                                                  68

                               CHAPTER VI.

               THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF BISMARCK’S BIRTHPLACE.

    Genthin.—The Plotho Family.—Jerichow.—Fischbeck.—The
    Kaiserburg.—The Emperor Charles IV.—The Elector
    Joachim Nestor.—Frederick I.—General Fransecky “to the
    Front.”—Tangermünde.—Town-hall.—Count Bismarck.—His Uniform,
    and the South German Deputy.—Departure for Schönhausen.             77

                              CHAPTER VII.

                              SCHÖNHAUSEN.

    The Kattenwinkel.—Wust.—Lieutenant Von Katte.—Schönhausen.—Its
    History.—The Church.—Bishop Siegobodo.—Bismarck’s
    Mansion.—Interior.—Bismarck’s Mother.—Bismarck’s
    Birth-Chamber.—The Library.—Bismarck’s Youthful
    Studies.—Bismarck’s Maternal Grandmother.—The Countess with the
    Dowry.—Ghost Stories.—Anecdote of a Ghost.—The Cellar Door.—The
    French at Schönhausen.—The Templars.—The Park.—The Wounded
    Hercules.—The Pavilion.—Two Graves.—The Orangery.—The Knight’s
    Demesne.—Departure from Schönhausen.                                81

                            Book the Second.

                                 YOUTH.

                               CHAPTER I.

                        SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS.

    Bismarck’s Parents.—Brothers and Sisters.—Bismarck
    Born.—Kniephof, Jarchelin, and Külz.—The Plamann
    Institute.—The Frederick William Institute.—Residence in
    Berlin.—Bismarck’s Father and Mother.—Letter of Count Bismarck
    to his Sister.—Confirmation.—Dr. Bonnell.—Severity of the
    Plamanns.—Holiday Time.—Colonel August Frederick von Bismarck
    and the Wooden Donkey at Ihna Bridge.—School-life with Dr.
    Bonnell.—The Cholera of 1831.—The Youthful Character and
    Appearance of Bismarck.—Early Friends.—Proverbs.—“Far from
    Sufficient!” quoth Bismarck.                                       101

                               CHAPTER II.

                      UNIVERSITY AND MILITARY LIFE.

                              [1832-1844.]

    Göttingen.—The Danish Dog and the
    Professor.—Duels.—Berlin.—Appointed Examiner.—Anecdotes
    of his Legal Life.—Bismarck and his Boots.—Meeting
    with Prince, now King, William.—Helene von Kessel.—Aix
    la Chapelle.—Greifswald.—Undertaking the Pomeranian
    Estates.—Kniephof.—“Mad Bismarck.”—His Studies.—Marriage of
    his Sister.—Letters to her.—Norderney.—Saves his Servant
    Hildebrand’s Life.—“The Golden Dog.”—A Dinner Party at the
    Blanckenburgs.—Von Blanckenburg.—Major, now General, Von
    Roon.—Dr. Beutner.                                                 123

                              CHAPTER III.

                         BETROTHAL AND MARRIAGE.

                                 [1847.]

    Falls in Love.—Johanna von Putkammer.—Marriage.—Meets King
    Frederick William IV.—Birth of his First Child.—Schönhausen and
    Kniephof with a New Mistress.                                      148

                             Book the Third.

                         LEARNING THE BUSINESS.

                               CHAPTER I.

                              INTRODUCTORY.

                           “UT SCIAT REGNARE.”

    Bismarck’s Policy.—Its Gradual Growth and Political
    Character.—Contrast with Lucchesini.—Bismarck’s Open
    Honesty.—Vassal and Liege.—Liberalism a Danger.—Democracy a
    Danger.—The Relative Positions of Prussia and Austria in the
    Federation.—Gerlach’s Ideal Conservatism.                          157

                               CHAPTER II.

                   THE ASSEMBLY OF THE THREE ESTATES.

                                 [1847.]

    The February Constitution.—Merseberg.—First Appearance of
    Bismarck in the White Saloon.—Von Saucken.—Bismarck’s First
    Speech.—Conservatives and Liberals.—The First of June.—Jewish
    Emancipation.—Illusions Destroyed.                                 165

                              CHAPTER III.

                           THE DAYS OF MARCH.

                                 [1848.]

    Rest at Home.—Contemplation.—The Revolution in Paris,
    February, 1848.—Progress of the Revolutionary Spirit.—The
    March Days of Berlin.—The Citizen Guard.—Opening of the
    Second Session of the United Diet, 2d April, 1848.—Prince
    Solms-Hohen-Solms-Lich.—Fr. Foerster.—“Eagle’s Wings and
    Bodelswings.”—Prince Felix Lichnowsky.—The Debate on the
    Address.—Speech of Bismarck.—Revolution at the Portal of the
    White Saloon.—_Vaticinium Lehninense._—The Kreuzzeitung Letter
    of Bismarck on Organization of Labor.—Bismarck at Stolpe on the
    Baltic.—The Winter of Discontent.—Manteuffel.                      178

                               CHAPTER IV.

                        CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP.

                              [1849-1851.]

    The Second Chamber.—The Sword and the Throne.—Acceptance of
    the Frankfurt Project.—The New Electoral Law.—Bismarck’s
    Speeches.—The King and the Stag.—Birth of Herbert von
    Bismarck.—“What does this Broken Glass Cost?”—The Kreuzzeitung
    Letters.—The Prussian Nobility.—“I am Proud to be a Prussian
    Junker!”—Close of the Session.                                     191

                            Book the Fourth.

                         ON THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.

                               CHAPTER I.

                         ON THE VOYAGE OF LIFE.

                              [1851-1859.]

    Ambassador.—Interview with the King.—Lieut.-General von
    Rochow.—Anecdotes.—Frankfurt.—Reception of the Prince of
    Prussia.—Society at Frankfurt.—The King’s Birthday.—Position of
    Prussia.—Correspondence.                                           217

                               CHAPTER II.

                          BISMARCK ON THE NEVA.

                              [1859-1862.]

    Ambassador to St. Petersburg.—Illness.—Journey.—Hunting.—The
    Coronation of William I.                                           280

                              CHAPTER III.

                         BISMARCK ON THE SEINE.

                                 [1862.]

    The Premiership ahead.—Ambassador to Paris.—Unveiling
    of the Brandenburg Statue.—Uncertainty.—Delivers his
    Credentials to Napoleon III.—Description of the Embassy
    House at Paris, and of Prussia House, London.—Journey to
    the South of France.—Trouville.—Bordeaux.—Bayonne.—San
    Sebastian.—Biarritz.—Luchon.—Toulouse.—End of his Journeyman
    Days.                                                              310

                             Book the Fifth.

                      MINISTER-PRESIDENT AND COUNT.

                               CHAPTER I.

                               THE CRISIS.

    The Crisis of 1862.—Bismarck Premier.—The Party of
    Progress.—The Liberals.—The Conservatives.—Bismarck’s
    Determination.—“_Voilà mon Médecin!_”—Anecdotes.—Attitude
    of the Government.—Refusal of the Budget.—Prudence of the
    Minister-President.—Official Presentation of Letters of
    Recall at Saint Cloud.                                             331

                               CHAPTER II.

                          THE MAN AT THE HELM.

    Negotiations with Austria.—Circular of the 24th of January,
    1863.—Conversation with Count Karolyi.—Prusso-Russian
    Convention.—The Party of Progress.—Congress of
    Princes.—Conditions of Prussia.—War in the Distance.—The
    Danish Campaign.—Treaty of Gastein, 14th August,
    1865.—Bismarck elevated to the Rank of Count.—Bismarck and
    Pauline Lucca.—Correspondence with his Family.—Hunting at
    Schönbrunn.—Biarritz.                                              343

                              CHAPTER III.

                          THE GREAT YEAR, 1866.

    Disputes with Austria.—The Central States.—Mobilization
    of the Army.—Bismarck shot at by Kohn-Blind, 7th May,
    1866.—Excitement in Berlin.—War Imminent.—Declaration.—The
    King sets out on the Campaign.—Sichrow.—Jitschen.—Battle
    of Sadowa, 3d July, 1866.—Bismarck with His Majesty on
    the Battle-field.—Negotiations of Nicolsburg.—Treaty
    of Prague.—Illness of Bismarck.—Consolidation of
    Prussia.—Triumphant Entry of the Army into Berlin.—Peace.          382

                               CHAPTER IV.

             MAJOR GENERAL AND CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERATION.

    Conversation with M. de Vilbort.—Appearance as Chancellor.—M.
    Bamberger’s Views.—Bismarck as an Orator.—The Luxemburg
    Question.—Fall from his Horse.—Citizenship of Bülow.—Visit to
    Holstein.—Speech to a Torchlight Procession.                       414

                               CHAPTER V.

                          A BALL AT BISMARCK’S.

    Interior of Bismarck’s House at Berlin.—Arrival of Guests.—The
    King.—The Queen.—The Royal Princes.—The Generals.—Committee of
    Story-tellers in the Refreshment-room.—Supper.—The Ball.—Home.     431

                               CHAPTER VI.

                       BISMARCK’S HOUSE AT BERLIN.

    Bismarck’s House in ordinary Costume.—Its History.—“Sultan
    Uilem and Grand Vizier Bi-Smarck.”—“Bismarck, _grand homme_,
    Bakschisch!”—The Cuckoo Clock.—Daily Habits.—Sunday at
    Bismarck’s.                                                        441

                              CHAPTER VII.

                                 VARZIN.

    Purchase of Varzin.—The Verandah.—The Park.—The name of
    Bismarck famous.—House Inscriptions.—Popularity of Bismarck.—In
    an Ambush of School-girls.—Conclusion.                             448

                               APPENDIX A.

    THE LEGEND OF GERTRUDE AND BISMARCKIAS.                            459

                               APPENDIX B.

    THE PRUSSIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1847.                                 461

    ORDINANCE OF THE 3D OF FEBRUARY, 1847.                             463

    ORDINANCE ON PERIODICAL ASSEMBLING.                                468

    THE KING’S SPEECH—APRIL, 1847.                                     472

                               APPENDIX C.

    ICH BIN EIN PREUSSE!                                               483

    I AM A PRUSSIAN!                                                   484

    INDEX                                                              487




LIST OF LARGER ILLUSTRATIONS.

                                                             _To face page_

    COUNT OTTO VON BISMARCK                             (_Frontispiece_) 5

    THE BISMARCKS OF OLD                                                36

        Happy the man who ne’er forgets
          The great and good who bore his name;
        They honor him who honors them,
          And emulates their fame.

    BISMARCK’S FATHER (KARL WILHELM FERDINAND VON BISMARCK)             75

    BISMARCK’S ARMORIAL BEARINGS                                        88

        Lift the ancestral standard high,
          The banners to the breeze be cast!
        ’Tis in the warnings of the Past
          The sure hopes of the Future lie.

    EARLY YOUTH                                                         96

        The opening buds betray the flowers,
          The flowers the fruit betray;
        The first note that we catch reveals
          The spirit of the lay.

    THE CRADLE                                                         107

        Stately, noble, and well founded,
        And with beauty all surrounded,
          Stand the old ancestral towers;
        Stately, noble, and well grounded
        In himself, with hopes unbounded,
          See the son forsake those bowers
        For the pathway that will lead him
        To the troublous times that need him.

    LEARNING THE BUSINESS                                              154

        The master is born, not made,
          But must learn the way to rule,
        As the workman learns his trade,
          And life must be his school:
        He must give body and soul,
          He must give heart and hand,
        To his work, and must search out knowledge
          Through many a foreign land.

    COUNTESS VON BISMARCK-SCHÖNHAUSEN                                  181

    ON THE VOYAGE OF LIFE                                              198

        Count not such days as wasted;
          The wanderer, as he goes,
        Plucks many a flower of wisdom
          That by the wayside grows.

    BISMARCK’S ONLY SISTER (FRAU VON ARNIM)                            238

    A BALL AT BISMARCK’S                                               269

        Beauty and strength, rank, fame, and power
          Assemble in the festive hall,
        To dance away the merry hour,
          Or watch the gay scene from the wall.

    BISMARCK AS CHANCELLOR                                             313

    BISMARCK’S ESTATE IN FARTHER POMERANIA                             354

        The Bismarcks shall hold their domain till the day
        When they from their haunts drive the herons away.

    VICTORY                                                            384

    MAJOR-GENERAL AND CHANCELLOR OF THE CONFEDERATION                  414

        Before Prussia’s royal banner
          Humbled is the Austrian’s pride;
        On the field of victory
          Is the statesman justified.

    THE PARK AT VARZIN                                                 451




EDITOR’S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION.


The life of Count Bismarck has been so much misinterpreted, by interested
and disinterested persons, that it is thought the present publication,
which tells “a plain unvarnished tale,” will not be unwelcome. In these
days of universal criticism, no person is exempt from the carping mood
of the envious, or the facile unreasoning of the ready-made theorist.
Should we feel disposed to credit vulgar report, noble motives and heroic
lives are no longer extant in our present state of society. The eyes of
detractors are everywhere curiously—too curiously—fixed upon the deeds
of men of mark, and mingled feelings pull down from the pedestal of fame
every man who has ascended to the eminence awarded to the patriot and
statesman. Truly, such a condition of things bodes no good to the common
weal of society, either in England, Prussia, or in any part of Europe.
The present writer can see no utility in this practice of soiling the
reputations and actions of men who, by slow degrees, have worked their
way into positions of merit and mark.

The evil, however, does not wholly rest with the detractors. An
erroneous theory about universal equality gives the spur to this spirit
of criticism. A sort of feeling arises in the mind to the effect of,
“Had I been in his place, I should have acted otherwise!”—the bystander
proverbially seeing more of the game than the players. It is, however,
a great matter of doubt whether this is universally true. It might be
true, if every circumstance, every motive, every actuation, could be laid
bare to positive vision. In the conduct of life, however, this is rarely
possible, even in the crudest way; especially is it so in the intricate
and tortuous paths of politics. Politicians, we all know, are many;
statesmen, unfortunately for the well-being of the world, are few.

Some few years since England lost a statesman named Henry Temple,
Viscount Palmerston. He had the rare happiness of being popular during
his life, although it is perhaps more certain of him than of any modern
statesman, that his inflexibility as to issues was remarkable. Apparently
he would bend, but he had, upon fixed principles, determined to rule,
and his happy method of conciliation, in which he was clad as in a
garment, veiled from the eyes of friend or foe that wonderful spirit of
determination permeating all the actions characterizing his political
career. And when Palmerston died, a wild wail of sorrow arose from all
England, a regret which will never be abated so long as England’s history
remains intelligible.

Of similar materials to Palmerston, Count Bismarck is composed.
Otherwise put together, it is true, in accordance with the genius of
the nation amongst which his life-destiny has cast him; but as to the
generic likeness there can be little doubt. The policy of Palmerston was
“thorough;” so is that of Bismarck. But it is not the “thorough” of a
Strafford; it is rather the enlightened “thorough” of a man cast into
modern society, and intensely patriotic. Though Bismarck has consistently
upheld the prerogatives of his royal master, he has not been neglectful
of the interests of the nation of which he is the Minister. A spirit of
candor breathes through all his actions, and displays him in the light
of an emphatically honest man. Unlike the present remarkable occupant of
the French throne, he is not tided along by public events; nor, like that
potentate, does he extract fame from an adroit bowing to the exigencies
of the hour. The French sovereign has eliminated a policy, and gained a
kind of respect from others, in consequence of a masterly manipulation
of passing occurrences. The Prussian Premier, on the other hand, has
observed fixed principles. The latter has his political regrets—he can
shed a tear over the grave of the meanest soldier who died at Sadowa. The
former looks upon human life much as chess-players look upon pawns—to be
ruthlessly sacrificed on occasion, should it happen that a skillful flank
movement may protect the ultimate design in view. Chess-players, however,
know that the pawns constitute the real strength of the game, and that
it would be worse than folly to sacrifice the humble pieces. Political
sagacity is ever displayed in judicious reserve, and this quality is
eminently evinced in all Bismarck’s activity. Perhaps the most singular
triumph of Bismarck’s life consists in the neutralization of Luxemburg—an
episode in his career of which he has greater reason to be proud than
of the battle-field of Sadowa, or the indirect countenance afforded by
him to Italy. It can scarcely be doubted that so peaceful a victory is a
greater merit than the massing together of thousands of armed men, for
trying a right by ordeal of steel and gunpowder.

Astute as Napoleon may be, Bismarck certainly was wiser than he. The
former has dynastic reasons for maintaining a pre-eminence in the face of
Europe; but the latter, with comparatively inadequate means, had a far
more difficult problem to solve. For Bismarck has a heart large enough to
entertain feelings of kindliness towards the whole of Germany, as well as
towards that section of it known as Prussia alone. There is a generous
aspiration in him for German nationality, overruling petty animosity
towards his enemies.

In all his contests he has ever been ready to hold out the hand of
reconciliation, although, in no instance, has he deviated from the strict
line of duty pointed out by his special nationality. Indeed, it was a
paramount necessity to raise Prussia in the scale of nations, ere a
German nationality could emerge into healthy political being. Prussia’s
rise, therefore, comprehended within it the elements of German political
existence. Geographically, the consolidation of a great kingdom in the
north was a necessity; and considering how well and prudently Prussia
has used its great position, no one can regret the result of the events
of 1866. Prussia, as a Protestant country, as a land of education and
intellectual refinement, has no equal on the face of the globe. But that
single position depends on the race-character of the nation evinced in
its utilitarian spirit. Bismarck will perpetuate his policy in time to
come.

“Great acts,” says the old dramatist, “thrive when reason guides the
will.” This application of reason, so continuously, consistently, and
quietly exercised, predicates a great national future. That future
is bound up with the fame of this great loyal statesman and dutiful
subject, who has had insight enough to see how far the prerogative
of the crown of Prussia was consistent with the happiness of its
people, foresight enough to rationally contend for such prerogative,
and faithful courage adequate to the fearless execution of a grand
design, comprehending within itself elements of consolidation and
enduring strength. What Germany owes to Bismarck can as yet be scarcely
calculated, but very few years need elapse ere the sum will become
intelligible.

It is, however, necessary to descend from generalities into particulars;
to discuss, as briefly as may be, some objections that have been urged,
and to expose the fallacy of certain historical parallels, sought to
be drawn in reference to Bismarck’s position towards his king and his
country.

We have not to contrast Bismarck with any hero or statesman of antiquity.
Society, although not human nature, has so changed, that what our
modern men do for the common weal changes with the circumstances and
the extension of the circle of population. One man could then address
a nation—now the nation must rely upon Camarillas. Democracy, in these
days, either vaguely advocates desperate political experiments, or, stung
to madness by real or fancied wrongs, determines them—as hot-headed
non-thinkers usually determine—by violence.

Our modern Cleons use the press, which, truth to be spoken, is not
unwilling to be used; and hence any thing not to be twisted before the
law-courts into libel, represents the license and not the freedom of the
press. But the man of antiquity at least had to exercise the courage of
meeting his fellow-citizens, and thus either swayed them or was lost.
Assent or dissent was given by acclamation. Bismarck presents rather a
contrast than a likeness to Greek or Roman statesmen—they sought the
Agora or the Forum; he has no time for claptrap.

But let us turn to the political doctrine, partly known as that of divine
right, for which Bismarck has been thought to fight.

The doctrine of a divine right of possession to the Crown of Prussia
is one not readily comprehensible to an English subject, under the
circumstances of the modern constitution of the United Kingdom, for the
reason that modern society has accustomed itself to look upon the results
of the revolutions of 1649 and 1688 as final, and settled by events, and
the contract entered into between the parliament, or representative
body, on the one hand, and the constitutional sovereign on the other. We
may recur to an earlier period, when the crown was devisable by will in
England, or when at least the succession was settled in accordance with
the desires of a dying sovereign, for some kind of parallel. Although
this absolute right of leaving the crown by will has not often been
exercised, it has found its defenders; for instance, in the case of Queen
Jane, a minority held that Edward was justified in devising his crown;
therefore, while the theory was not actually substantiated by the right
of peaceable possession, it was not regarded as wholly illusory. If Henry
VIII. might by his prerogative bar certain members of his family from the
succession, the crown advisers of that day must have been justified in
supporting such a prerogative, and could not have regarded the sovereign
as _ultra vires_ in the matter of a transmission of the crown. It is
certainly, from the logic of facts, an impossibility to effect any such
change in the order of succession now, and in itself would be as fatal
a step as any political theorists could attempt; and if so fatal in a
country where feudalism is a mere historical eidolon, how far more unwise
in a country such as Prussia, where feudalism has still a practical,
though not an avowed, existence? In the very nature of things, the
sovereigns of Prussia hold their crown upon a principle of divine right,
as proprietors of the fee-simple of the soil, which divine right has ever
been construed to impose certain obligations towards their vassals, the
holders of the usufruct, and their subjects, agents, and traders—which
obligations, to their honor be it spoken, the sovereigns of Prussia have
ever attempted to fulfill. This divine right differs in its nature and
mode of action from the mere arbitrary will of a tyrant. There, as here—

        “Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds,
    But Harry, Harry.”

Their divine right to the soil, which they swear to defend, and seek to
improve, for the benefit of all, differs essentially from the divine
right as understood by a Charles Stuart. Fiscal arrangements are again of
a widely different character, and a vassal like Bismarck, who maintains
the prerogative of his sovereign liege, is merely carrying the legitimate
consequences of an enduring and progressive system, akin to, but not
identical with, ancient feudal theories, into action. It is clearly
false to seek a parallel in Charles and Strafford; the parallel would
be more just if drawn between Henry and Wolsey. But parallels are ever
suspicious, as the course of historical sequence is not identical, and
presents only delusive points of contact.

Any adequate explanation must be sought in another direction, and that
direction is best pointed out by the very essential features of Prussian
history itself. From this cause, a prominence, by no means undeserved,
has been assigned to the early history of the family whence Bismarck
sprang. In the brief sketch given in the first book, it may be plainly
seen that impulses of duty guided, and a kind of hierarchy of rank
sustained, the active energy in the vassal on behalf of the sovereign,
and that in fighting for the supremacy of the Prussian crown, Bismarck
was at the same moment upholding the real solidarity and ultimate rights
of the subjects of that crown. Surely by maintaining the rights of the
father against all comers—those rights held by the father in trust—the
interests of the children are best consulted.

For there is a mesne power between absolutism and republicanism, tyranny
and democracy; this is not constitutionalism. This is honor, higher than
all.

“The divinity that doth hedge a king,” from which a true king’s impulses
flow, must be founded on a higher instinct, and derived from a higher
plane. True kingship is very rare, often falls short of its standard in
the very best of men—for