Purchase of Varzin.—The Verandah.—The Park.—The name of Bismarck famous.—House Inscriptions.—Popularity of Bismarck.—In an Ambush of School-girls.—Conclusion.
In the April of 1867 Count Bismarck went to see the Estates of Varzin (consisting of Varzin, Wussow, Puddiger, Misdow, and Chomitz), near Schlawe, in Farther Pomerania, and soon afterwards purchased them. In the autumn of that year, as we have said, he spent some weeks at Varzin, but in the following year he remained there, unfortunately in great illness, from June to December. He soon made himself at home there, and is fond of Varzin, as may be readily understood from its being close to the birthplace of his wife—beloved Reinfeld. Nothing is wanting there to his enjoyment—there are trees, and plenty of good riding and hunting. He converses with every one who meets him, in forest and field, in a friendly manner, and is fond of talking “platt” with the country people. Recently he said to an old laborer known to him, who had been ill: “Nu seid Ihr wohl wieder ganz auf dem Tüge?” (You’re all right on the main again?) “I ja,” replied the old man, “Sie sollten man ok hie blieven, denn würden Sie noch mal so frisch!”. (Ay! oh, you’d a vast deal better ztop ’ere; yow’d be eer zo mooch vresher!) Bismarck laughed. “Yes—if one could be as you are, and always stop in Varzin, I believe you!”
THE PARK AT VARZIN.
If one turn south on the Cöslin-Danzig road, by the large village of Carwitz—recently marked as a station on the railway from Cöslin to Danzig—after a short drive on a good road, some three German miles, one reaches the Bismarck estates with great ease. It is a very pleasant neighborhood, alternating with wooded hillocks, meadows and waters, wood and plough-land. There is nothing very magnificent about it, nothing very pretentious; but it is a pleasant spot, and the Countess Bismarck once merrily called it, very appropriately, “a pretty little humpy countrykin.”
Varzin can not be seen from the distance; it is hidden by woods. The descending road divides the mansion, to the right, from the farm-buildings on the left, forming a long parallelogram.
Varzin does not look nearly so aristocratic as Schönhausen, which Bismarck calls his “old stone-heap.” A building of one story, with two wings, all painted pale yellow, surrounds a somewhat roomy courtyard, open to the road. On the principal building, on the gable, are the arms of Blumenthal. The steps of the stairway are occupied by orange-trees, myrtles, and laurels. We saw a young donkey running about, who was eating the fallen laurel-leaves with a very good appetite. The possessor of Varzin must feel very much flattered that laurels abound so much in his house that there are enough to feed donkeys!
On this open staircase, or rather verandah, Bismarck receives his guests, like a simple country nobleman, in a green coat, white waistcoat, and yellow neckcloth, and with a hearty shake of the hand makes them free of the hospitality of his house. On this verandah the Countess stands with her daughter, and looks with beaming eyes and happy face after the three sportsmen who are proceeding towards the forest and wave their hands in greeting back to her. And for others—for every one—it is a pleasant sight to see Count Bismarck walking between his sons, his rifle over his shoulder, or riding on horseback. On this verandah also the last farewell takes place between mother and sons. After the longest possible holiday, they return to school at Berlin, while Bismarck himself orders the postillion to make haste, that he may not lose the mid-day train at Cöslin. The honest Pomeranian, with the well-fed face above his orange collar, has no idea that there exists an intimate bond between himself and the great Minister—that in his capacity, as Chancellor of the North German Confederation, he is his highest representative.
The interior of the mansion of Varzin is habitable and comfortable, but there is nothing otherwise remarkable about it. To the right of the hall on which you enter, is the dining-room, which is connected with the kitchen and servants’ rooms in the left wing; to the left is the Count’s room, the large centre-table of which is covered with maps. Maps, especially those of a minute kind, are an old hobby of Bismarck’s; if a trip is projected, or guests are departing, the road is accurately measured off beforehand on the map. This zealous study of maps has always seemed to us very characteristic of Bismarck’s whole nature; he always desires to know the road he is travelling in the most accurate manner; he considers the advantages, and weighs them against the annoyance. The windows of this apartment look out on the courtyard. To the right again is the Countess’s room, the windows opening on the park, and thence there is a really magnificent view: in the bright summer moonlight nights, one would think that one had, by enchantment, some fragment of early French court life, from Meudon or Rambouillet. On the other side of a prattling little brook, crossed by a pretty little bridge, the park, with its fine old trees—oaks and beeches—rises in terraces up the hill-side, and the white statues contrast well with the green foliage. At such a sight, one thinks of the “Enchanted Night” of Tieck; and indeed there is somewhat of the “wondrous world of faërie” in the whole aspect of the scene—in its antique but eternally youthful splendor.
Our readers know, from the letters we have given, how passionately Bismarck loves such scenery. There is a great deal more of the romantic poet and sentimental German in the great statesman, than would appear at first sight. He sometimes recognizes this himself with a smile.
The park of Varzin by moonlight has indeed a peculiar old-fashioned appearance; very little imagination is necessary to people it with gentlemen in court uniforms and swords, hats under their arms, and ladies with towering head-dresses, hoops, and high shoes. On these terraces, over the pretty flower-banks, and round the white statues, there breathes the whole inspiration of a life which, for a long time, was unjustly contemned, and afterwards was properly derided, when fashion became its distinguishing trait, after the petit maître style—a life we can not wish back again, but which we can not but love, it having been that of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and containing in it, with many traits of insignificance, some great and admirable features. We may laugh at it, but it contains some pretty ideas!
To return to our description. Next to the Countess’s drawing-room are the bedrooms, and to the right of these again is a hall, where an enormous black-oak staircase, reminding one of the other staircase at Schönhausen, leads to the upper story. In this hall, and in the antechamber, one sees the horns of two immense moufflons, two tremendous stag-antlers, and some others of different ages. These all belong to Bismarck’s hunting expedition in the park at Schönbrunn, when he hunted there after the Danish war, with his royal master, as the guest of the Emperor of Austria. The Emperor Francis Joseph at that time very graciously sent these trophies to Bismarck at Berlin.
On the other side of this hall, by way of a small room, one passes behind the dining-room into a large garden saloon and conservatory, with a pretty pavilion. In one of the guest-chambers of the right wing, on the ground-floor, there is a picture ghastly to look upon, of the master of the house, in life-size, which, as Friedrich Gerstäcker, the unwearied traveller, informs us, is sold in great numbers in Venezuela. A worthy transatlantic Correggio, the name not yet known to fame, has depicted the Count in a sky-blue miller’s coat and bright green trowsers, red neckerchief, and rosy red gloves, such as the dandies of Caraccas probably wear, after a photograph. There is not a trace of likeness in the face, and yet there is something so characteristic in the attitude, that one immediately knows who one has before one—something so like that the very dogs bark at it. Bismarck, it is well known, is an especial favorite among the Germans in America. Several new cities have been named after him; there is a Bismarck on the Conchos in Texas, and a Bismarck in Missouri; the locality of a third we do not recollect. A considerable trans-oceanic trade is carried on in terribly bad photographs of the Minister-President, and a German cutler has made himself a little fortune by his Bismarck knives; these knives are distinguished by a very sharp and strong blade. Nor has the old world remained behind the new in its admiration. German vessels bear Bismarck’s name and likeness, under the black and white and red flag, to the farthest shores. Acute champagne-makers compete with Veuve Clicquot and the Duc de Montebello under the designation of Bismarck-Schönhausen, and from Cannes, in Southern France, to Rügenwaldermünde, in Farther Pomerania, speculative hotel-keepers announce that “Rooms have just been engaged here for Count Bismarck.” After the English style, the name of Bismarck has been bestowed as a baptismal name; we ourselves know a little Fräulein von X., named Wilhelmine Bismarck Sadowa, born the 3d of July, 1866. In Spain the lucifer-match boxes significantly bear the portraits of Bismarck and his royal master.
We have been especially pleased at finding Bismarck’s name in the true German household phrases. Thus, a dear and lately deceased friend, the Privy Councillor Dr. von Arnim, wrote over his door:—
Long live and flourish King William, my hero; with him shall Count Bismarck keep the field.
Several house proprietors in Berlin have adopted this sentence; but still more apposite is the following inscription on the house of a master weaver:—
Gardeners have started a Bismarck rose, and a giant Bismarck strawberry, and the fashionable world attires itself in Bismarck brown. At our request, the management of the Bazar, the most competent house for such things, has kindly shown us fourteen shades of this color in silk, and informed us at the same time that there are many more of such Bismarck shades; that Bismarck foncé is not nearly so dark as Bismarck courroucé. This color originally was called hanneton (May beetle), and soon drove the Vert Metternich from the field; while in Austria a small cake (semmel), strewn with a little poppy-seed, shaped like a pigtail, holds its sway with the Radetzky Köpfel. On the Paraná and Paraguay the steamer Count Bismarck runs up and down the river. At Alexandria the passage Bismarck is full of brown and black forms. At Blumberg, in the South Australian colony of Adelaide, the Germans assemble in the Bismarck Hall, and to keep up their national enthusiasm over a drink, they smoke cigars “Conde de Bismarck.” These are considered highly elegant, but cost one hundred and thirty dollars a pound, although there is a cheaper medium Bismarck cigar.
In the Grand Duchy of Posen, by a Cabinet Order of the King, the four places Karsy, Bobry, Budy, and Zwierzchoslaw, in the circle of Pleschen, have been, at the desire of the inhabitants, incorporated as Bismarcksdorf.
In Berlin the Bismarck-Strasse unites the Roon-Strasse with the Moltke-Strasse; while in 1865 the malice of the Berlin wits wanted to change the name of the Wasserthor-Strasse, when the terrible fall of the houses took place there, into Bismarck-Strasse.
In South Germany the belief that Bismarck does every thing and can do every thing, down to the Spanish Revolution, and perhaps even directs the weather, is continually spreading. Oddly enough, the Ultramontane enemies of Bismarck especially take care to spread the name of the Minister-President. They certainly paint black over black, but they make the nation familiar with his fame, and though they may ever depict him as a sort of devil, truth will break through at last.
Is Bismarck really popular? This may be a curious question to ask, but it may still be legitimately put, for in the ordinary sense of the word Bismarck is not popular, despite his worldwide fame. For instance, he is not popular as in our days Cavour and Garibaldi have been. He has not the popularity of the ruling party opinion and that of the day, but, in place of it, his is the historical popularity which will preserve his memory to a grateful posterity. A correspondent of the liberal Paris paper, Le Temps, very excellently expresses our meaning in the following remarks:—“The Chancellor of the North German Confederation is not what we can call a popular man; the Prussians, or at least the Berlinese, entertain for him a similar feeling to that entertained by the other Germans for Prussia. They do not love him; they love to exercise their wit upon him, and you know how biting and salted the Berlin wit is; but they acknowledge him and wonder at him, showing him tolerance. They look upon him as the greatest statesman of the present day; are proud of him, although he often presses hard upon them. M. de Bismarck has for the Prussians an incomparable magic, particularly since he opposed the policy of Napoleon. Since 1866, a change has taken place which has surprised me, although there is nothing very surprising in it. Before 1866, the Premier in every thing he did had the world pretty much against him—to-day every impulse is expected from him, and if he gives it, almost every one is at his back.”
The question of popularity, as far as the great world is concerned, may well be left here; but in Varzin and the neighboring districts it has long since been determined. Only ask his farmers and laborers! And with the daring blacksmith—(or was it a miller?)—who secretly poaches on Bismarck’s preserves, the Minister-President is, perhaps, the most popular of any.
It is a real pleasure to see Bismarck at Varzin among his trees; not during those restless nocturnal wanderings in the park, to which his sleepless illness only too frequently impels him, but when he is pleasantly pointing out his favorites to his guests. It was an event when the North German Chancellor, the summer before last, discovered three magnificent beeches in the midst of a thicket.
On a declivity with a beautiful view, there is a rich deer preserve. Bismarck might even erect a falconry, and hunt with hawks—there are plenty in the Netherlands still. But this Imperial and Royal amusement is for him too—reactionary.
One day Bismarck thought, as he was riding to the Crangener frontier, whither he had sent his gamekeeper, that he caught a glimpse of a peculiar blue animal which fled before him. But when he came up with it, it proved to be a blue parasol, and he himself had fallen into an ambuscade, for he found himself suddenly surrounded by a crowd of young ladies, who received him with songs. The pastor in Crangen kept a young ladies’ school, who, having heard that Bismarck was coming, thus paid their respects to him in so unexpected a way, and left him, delighted with his amiability. Crangen, an ancient hunting castle of the Dukes of Pomerania, standing picturesquely, with its four stately towers and high gables, between three lakes and high mountains, is, without doubt, the most beautiful spot in this neighborhood. It belongs to the Royal Major Retired Rank Freiherr Hugo von Loën, who is Bismarck’s nearest neighbor in that direction.
The long residence of Bismarck at Varzin during the summer before last has directed the eyes of all Europe on this modest seat in Farther Pomerania. Varzin was an old fief of the family of Von Zitzewitz, who possessed many estates in this neighborhood. It is said that it came per fas et nefas into the possession of the very powerful Privy Minister of State and War and Principal President of Pomerania, Caspar Otto von Massow, who then sold it to Major General Adam Joachim, Count of Podewils. Count Podewils and his brothers received a renewal of the fief, and it was a heritage in their family, until in this century it passed through an heiress to a Von Blumenthal, Werner Constantine von Blumenthal, who was raised to a Countship in 1840. Bismarck purchased the Varzin estates from the younger sons of this Blumenthal. They form, with Varzin, Wussow—where the church is situated, Puddiger, Misdow, Chomitz, and Charlottenthal, a considerable property. The soil is not equal throughout; the forests are very fine and stately; the wood in good condition. The game is very plentiful—few stags, but plenty of roes, hares, and smaller game. The Wipper, which falls into the Baltic at Rügenwaldermünde, five German miles from Varzin, serpentines through the forests of the Bismarck property, and in part forms the boundary of the estate, and is very useful for the transportation of the timber.
Formerly there were considerable glass factories in Misdow and Chomitz, but they are no longer worked, nor is any spirit distilled there; but a wood factory it is said is in use—certainly a profitable business in this neighborhood, so full of wood.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Edinburgh Review, vol. cxxx., pp. 457, 458.
[2] Alvensleben. This family was of noble origin in the Alt Mark, and has been partly elevated to the rank of Count. Its annals extend to 1163. The original seat of the family was Alvensleben on the Bever; the lines consisted of three—red, black, and white. Of these the red line died out in 1534 and 1553, at Erxleben and Kalvörden. The white line, divided into three, through Joachim Valentine, at Isernschnippe, Eimersleben, and Erxleben—the first expired in 1680, the second in 1734—the third, founded by Gebhard Christoph, still flourishes. The black line was always the most extensive. It divided into two branches, that of Ludolf and that of Joachim. Only a portion of this family exists at the present day. Of the branch of Ludolf, there existed Philip Karl (born 1745, 16th Dec.), who became a Prussian diplomatist and was a favorite of Friedrich II. and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He died a Count, 21st Oct., 1802, at Berlin, unmarried. Johann Aug. Ernst was born at Erxleben, 6th Aug., 1758; he was Minister for Brandenburg and Privy Councillor of Prussia; died 27th Sept., 1827, a Prussian Count. The black line died out with his son, the Prussian Minister Albrecht v. A. The white, or Gardelegen line, was elevated to the rank of Count in the persons of Fried. Wilh. Aug. (born 31st May, 1798; died 2d Dec., 1853), and Ferd. Friedr. Ludolf (born 23d Jan., 1803), at the ascension of Fried. Wilh. IV., 15th Oct., 1840. Albrecht, the representative of the black line, was distinguished for his devotion to his king, much as Bismarck has been. He died 2d May, 1858; his large property went to his sister and her children.—K. R. H. M.
[3] This rank in Germany, and especially in North Germany, is held to be noble. We have no corresponding title in English; it is higher than esquire, but not exactly that of a knight or baronet. Perhaps it corresponds to “honorable.”—K. R. H. M.
[4] In the original, Schlossgesessen, literally “seized of or seated at a castle.”—K. R. H. M.
[5] Knesebeck. Of this family one was celebrated as Prussian Field-Marshal (born 5th May, 1768, at Carwe, near New Ruppin, of an ancient Brandenburg family). He fought with distinction in 1792-’94, and was placed on the staff by the Duke of Brunswick. He fulfilled a singular diplomatic mission to Petersburg in 1811-’12, which had for its real motives an incitement to the Russian emperor to withstand Napoleon to the utmost, and to decoy him into the interior of Russia. The world knows the rest. He was an enthusiast in poetry, as well as war. Many poems of his have been privately printed—the chief of these is one in praise of war (Lob des Kriegs). Think of a Tyrtæus in a Prussian general’s uniform! He died 12th Jan., 1848.—K. R. H. M.
[6] The Archbishopric of Magdeburg took its rise from a Benedictine convent in honor of St. Maurice, founded by Emperor Otto I. in 937; and in 967 it was made an archbishopric, and the primacy of Germany was given by Pope John XIII., with Havelberg, among others, as a dependency.—K. R. H. M.
[7] Holzendorff. This family still exists, and has numbered among its prominent members, gallant soldiers and eminent jurists. Karl Friedr. von H. was a distinguished general of artillery, born the 17th Aug., 1764, and the son of a famous artillery general, under Friedrich II. (died 10th Dec., 1785). After a brilliant career, during which he commanded the artillery of the army of Blücher (1815), when he was wounded at Ligny, he died at Berlin, 29th Sept., 1828. There is still living a member of this family, Franz von Holzendorff—an eminent writer on criminal jurisprudence—born at Vietmannsdorf in the Uckermarck, 14th Oct., 1829. He is editor of a newspaper connected with the subject he has treated of in so many works.—K. R. H. M.
[8] Quitzow. A very ancient and important family, still existing at the village of the same name, near Peoleberg, in the Priegnitz. During the Bavarian and Luxemburg regency, this family attained formidable proportions. Hans von Quitzow was nominated administrator by Jobst von Mähren in 1400, but shortly dismissed, for undue severity and ambition. Friedrich I. of Hohenzollern, first governor under Emperor Sigismund, and then elector as feoffee of the Marks, had as his opponents the brothers Hans and Dietrich von Quitzow, sons of Sir Kuno—born at Quitzhöfel, near Havelberg. They were repressed, but still the authority of the governor could not be established until after their death in 1414. One Dietrich von Quitzow was a field-marshal in the Brandenburg service, in 1606.—K. R. H. M.
[9] Briest was also included in the permutation.—K. R. H. M.
[10] Asseburg. This family is noble and well-endowed in Prussia Proper and Anhalt. The name is derived from Asseburg in Brunswick, a noble structure of considerable antiquity. It was finally sacked in 1492, and destroyed altogether in the Brunswick troubles. The present family hold the lesser countyship of Falkenstein in the Mansfeld district and the knight’s fee of Eggenstadt.—K. R. H. M.
[11] Katte. This remarkable family needs scarcely any thing at my hands. It is ancient and aristocratic, and has continued to exist despite all kinds of mutations till now. There was in the line of Wust, John Henry von Katte, whose unfortunate son was beheaded for undue zeal towards Frederick the Great: of him some account is presented—the date of his murder being 6th November, 1730. Other members of the family have distinguished themselves to recent days.—K. R. H. M.
[12] Möllendorff. One of the Möllendorffs was a Prussian field-marshal, Richard Joachim Henry von M. (born 1725; died 1816). He was with “der olle Fritz” and was even respected by his enemies. Napoleon gave him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.—K. R. H. M.
[13] Bardeleben. This family exists in the best condition, and has done good service to the Prussian state. The most distinguished member of this family is Kurt von Bardeleben, jurist and judge at Minden.—K. R. H. M.
[14] Gneomar Dubislaw von Natzmer was a field-marshal in the time of King Frederick William I., and frustrated the flight of the Crown Prince, afterwards Frederick II. Among his proximate descendants, through the mother, was a distinguished Prussian general, Oltwig Ant. Leop. v. Natzmer, born 18th April, 1782, at Villin, in Pomerania. He took part in the many illustrious struggles of the growing kingdom of Prussia—was present at the battle of Auerstädt, 1806; taken prisoner at Prenzlau and exchanged in 1807. He received promotion to the staff after the peace of Tilsit, accompanied the King to the conference of princes at Dresden, and was sent on a secret mission to Russia. He was also in action at the battles of Gross-görschen (1813), Hainau (1813), Bautzen, and others down to Leipzig. He was also in the campaign of 1815, in high command. After a life of devotion to his sovereign, he died 1st Nov., 1861. It may be as well to state here that my object in these notes is to show how entirely devoted the military officials of Prussia are to the house of Hohenzollern, and that these side-illustrations throw a light upon the central figure of this book, Count Bismarck himself, and the motives of his steady, although apparently inconsistent, patriotism.—K. R. H. M.
[15] Biron (Ernst Johann von), Duke of Courland, was born in 1687, the son of a landed proprietor named Bühren. He was the favorite of the Duchess of Courland, Anna Iwanowna, niece of Peter the Great, from his elegant manners and attainments. She ascended the Russian throne in 1730, and though it had been expressly stipulated that Biron should not be allowed to come to Russia, he soon made his appearance at the court. Assuming the arms of the French Dukes of Biron, he governed Russia, through Anna. His life was stormy until near its close, when he returned to his Duchy of Courland, which he governed wisely. In 1769 he abdicated in favor of his son Peter, and died 28th December, 1772. This son Peter governed till 28th March, 1795, then resigning Courland to the Czarina Catherine, but retaining all his sovereign rights. He then passed his time alternately at Berlin and his estates of Sagan and Nachod, dying 12th Jan., 1800, at Gellenau in Silesia. One of the collateral descendants of Biron, Prince Gustav Calixt von Biron, born 29th Jan., 1780, died in the Prussian service, a Lieut. General and Governor of the fortress of Glatz, 20th June, 1821. He had three sons. The second, Calixt Gustav, born 3d Jan., 1817, is alive, having married, 1845, the Princess Helene Meschtscherskii, by whom he has issue Gustav Peter Jon, born 17th Oct., 1859.—K. R. H. M.
[16] Nassau-Usingen, Princess Augusta Amalia, was married 2d Aug., 1804, to Louis William, Landgrave of Hesse-Hombourg (died 19th Jan., 1839); separated 1805. She was the daughter of Duke Frederick Augustus (died 24th March, 1816, the last of his house) and of Louise, born Princess of Waldeck (died 17th Nov., 1816). The Almanach de Gotha does not recognize the subsequent marriage with Count Bismarck.
[17] The battle of Chotusitz was fought the 17th May, 1742, by Frederick II., when he obtained a victory over the Austrians under Prince Karl of Lorraine. The place has some 1200 inhabitants, and is situated near Czaslau in Bohemia. This decided the cession of almost the whole of Silesia.—K. R. H. M.
[18] This rhapsody will convey a good idea of what was thought fine writing in those days, but it is fulsome to the last degree.—K. R. H. M.
[19] From Platt, or low German.—K. R. H. M.
[20] The reader must excuse the free and somewhat irregular rendering of this legend—penes me.—K. R. H. M.
[21] Goethe’s “Fiction and Truth” (Dichtung und Wahrheit).—K. R. H. M.
[22] For the most eloquent account of this sad affair, the reader is requested to refer to Mr. Carlyle’s “Frederick the Great,” Book vii. chap. ix.—K. R. H. M.
[23] Katte. This illustrious family has been historically famous for its liege adherence to the Prussian-Brandenburg house. John Henry von Katte (born 16th Oct., 1681; died 31st May, 1741), of Wust, was a Field-Marshal General and Count. His son was the unfortunate friend of Frederick the Crown Prince, beheaded at Küstrin, 6th Nov., 1740. Several others of this family have distinguished themselves, despite the cruelty of the kings, in the Prussian service.—K. R. H. M.
[24] About £13,300 sterling.
[25] Herzberg, Ewald Fred. (Count von), a distinguished Prussian diplomatist, born at Lotten, near New Stettin, in 1725. He published many most valuable diplomatic, historical, and juridical works, and died on the 27th May, 1795, after having been somewhat harshly treated by those in power.—K. R. H. M.
[26] Bischofswerder (John Rud. von), General and Minister of Frederick William II., born at Dresden, 1737, of an old Saxon family. He entered the Prussian service, 1760, and was a Major in 1779. The confidence the King, first as Crown Prince, had in him, was unlimited; and he was employed in important diplomatic matters at Szistowe and at Pilnitz. He was ambassador to Paris in 1793. He died in October, 1803.—K. R. H. M.
[27] Now (1869) American Ambassador to St. James’s.
[28] It is again necessary to explain that the translation is as close as the translator can make, without violating sense and metre. The reader will find the original of this, and other interjected poems in the Appendices.—K. R. H. M.
[29] In English miles about eighteen and thirty.—K. R. H. M.
[30] This requires explanation, the pun not being susceptible of translation. The derivation of Kniephof is uncertain; Knie is, however, Knee, and it might have come from its being granted for knee-service. Kneipe is a pot-house: Hof, a court.—K. R. H. M.
[31] The passage is written by Bismarck in English. I have put inverted commas.—K. R. H. M.
[32] It is obvious that this pride arose from the smallness of the river, not the loss of the man and horse.—K. R. H. M.
[33] So in Bismarck’s letter.—K. R. H. M.
[34] Lucchesini, Girolamo, Marchese, was born at Lucca in 1752 of a patrician family, and presented by the Abbé Fontana to King Frederick II., by whom he was appointed librarian and reader with the title of Chamberlain. He was sent to Rome in 1787 to obtain certain ratifications from the Pope, and thence to Warsaw, where he succeeded in 1790 in bringing Poland and Prussia into a treaty of amity. He attended the congress of Reichenbach as Minister Plenipotentiary in 1791. In 1792 he went to Warsaw and destroyed the very treaty he had himself negotiated between Prussia and Poland. Hence the above strictures on him. He was Ambassador to Vienna in 1793, but was generally with the King. In September, 1802, he was sent to Paris as Ambassador Extraordinary, and followed Napoleon to Milan. He was present at the battle of Jena, and signed the truce at Charlottenburg with Napoleon. This not being sanctioned by the King, he resigned. He then became Chamberlain to Napoleon’s sister, the Duchess of Lucca, and died the 19th October, 1825, at Florence. He was the author of some political works on the Rhenish Confederation and the like. He seems to have been a shifty and unprincipled politician. His younger brother, Cesare Lucchesini, was a distinguished author and antiquary.—K. R. H. M.
[35] This Constitution is given in the Appendix, being an important state document.—K. R. H. M.
[36] An account of this family has been given at p. 47 in a note. Those who wish to pursue further details may consult Klöden’s history, published in 1828.—K. R. H. M.
[37] A short anecdote of the venerable Alexander von Humboldt, as illustrative of the popular spirit, deserves preservation here. During the eventful days of March, when barricades were the order of the day, a mob came rushing into the Oranienburger-Strasse, where Humboldt resided. Materials for a barricade were required, and every door was besieged for the purpose. One of these opened, and a venerable-looking man presented himself and begged the excited mass not to disturb him. Such a request was not to be borne by the sovereign people, and he was asked menacingly who he was, that he should use such language. “I am Alexander von Humboldt,” was the quiet reply. In a moment every hat was off, and with reverent greetings the multitude swept forward and left the scholar and philosopher at peace. It is only right to record such a fact, as it may serve to show that the fierce revolutionists at least knew how to restrain themselves, even in the midst of their enthusiastic fury. I give the anecdote on the authority of the admirable German newspaper Hermann, of the 11th September, 1869.—K. R. H. M.
[38] “Preussen’s Deutsche Politik”—“Prussia’s German Policy,” 3d edition (Leipzig, 1867, p. 236).
[39] About £2 sterling per annum.—K. R. H. M.
[40] £5 2s. to £7 10s.—K. R. H. M.
[41] We should think not. 6 sgr. per day at 213 days = 46.18. = £7 within a fraction.—K. R. H. M.
[42] One of the Putkammer estates in Pomerania.—K. R. H. M.
[43] 74° Fahr.—K. R. H. M.
[44] See Wangemann’s “Ringen und Regen,” (“Strife and Activity”), on the Ostsee Shore.
[45] Why not? I really must here join issue with a writer who assumes too much, and hides his own very small personality, possessing no personal courtesy, behind weighty cloudiness and the permission to copy Bismarck’s correspondence.—K. R. H. M.
[46] The Austro-Prussian Campaign in Denmark receives so little notice on the part of Bismarck’s biographer, that I shrewdly suspect he does not approve of it as a just act on the part of the hero of this book. Opinions are much divided on the merits of this annexation; in any case, the limit of aggression seems to be too great, as the German party has not dared to appeal for justification to any plébiscite. In the end, when animosities are healed, it must be confessed that substantial benefit may accrue to the new subjects of Prussia. It is worth while in this place to preserve a political squib, extensively posted in the towns of the Duchies during the war; probably rather an instigation of the Austrians, whom it indirectly compliments, than a spontaneous outburst of Danish satire. All the walls were covered with it one fine morning, thus:
But perhaps annexation was better than such a kinglet as the Prince of Augustenburg.—K. R. H. M.
[47] “Preussen’s Deutsche Politik”—“Prussia’s German Policy,” p. 273.
[48] 35° Fahr.—K. R. H. M.
[49] A copy of the ninety-first Psalm.
[50] 55° Fahr.
[51] See the Appendix for this stirring national song, and a version I have attempted.—K. R. H. M.
[52] 1 Maccabees iii., 58, 59.—K. R. H. M.
[53] At the important battle of Königsgrätz, according to a recent number of the Preussische Jahrbücher, the Prussians lost in dead, wounded, and missing, 359 officers, and 8,794 men; the Austrians 1,147 officers and 30,224 men. The proportions seem thus to have been: for the Prussians, 1/23; for the Austrians 1/7; average loss on both sides 1/11. In the battle of Malplaquet (1709) proportion of losses, 1/5; at Rossbach (1757) 1/25; at Leuthen (1758) 1/11; at Zorndorf (1758) 3/8; at Austerlitz (1805) 1/4; at Eylau (1807) 1/4; at Wagram (1809) 1/8; at Borodino (1812) 1/3; at Leipzig (1813) 1/5; at Belle Alliance (1815) 1/3; at Solferino (1859) 1/8. The three greatest battles were those of Leipzig (460,000 men); Königsgrätz (430,000 men); and Wagram (320,000 men). At Leipzig were lost 90,000 men, at Borodino 74,000, and at Belle Alliance 61,000 men.—K. R. H. M.
[54] Bismarck’s nephew.
[55] L. Bamberger. Monsieur de Bismarck, Paris, 1868. Graf von Bismarck, Breslau. Count Bismarck, London, 1869, p. 39, sq.
[56] Count Bismarck, p. 41.
[57] Count Bismarck, p. 117. It should be named here that though I have quoted the authorized English translation, I do not agree with its exactitude.—K. R. H. M.
[58] But not so in the English edition as quoted.—K. R. H. M.
[59] See Büchmann, Geflügelte Wörter (Winged Words), 4th edition, p. 224.
[60] Say £225,000.—K. R. H. M.
APPENDIX A.
It has been thought desirable to give the originals of the two poems translated respectively at pages 70-72, and pages 124, 125, by the present Editor, for the benefit of those who may like to see them.