The motto, on the other hand, dates from an earlier period, though it is not that of the Bismarcks. When Bismarck was at Frankfurt as Minister to the Diet, the King of Denmark invested him with the Grand Cross of the Danebrog. Now, it is customary to have the names and arms of the holders of this decoration set up in the Cathedral at Copenhagen, with a device which each member is to select for himself. “I then pitched upon this one, ‘In trinitate robur,’”--said the Chancellor “the oak in the trefoil, the old blazon of our family.” “And ‘my trust is in the Triune God’” I suggested. “Quite right, I meant it so,” he added, thus confirming my suggestion in a friendly but serious tone. Near the fire, in which huge beech logs splutter and blaze, stand a number of high cushioned chairs. In the next wall is a door which opens into the Chancellor’s bedroom. Between this and the window there is a glass case with arms and antiquities, its most noteworthy contents being, to my mind, a collection of prehistoric lance heads and a heavy gold arm ring of spiral form with a green patina, which had been found in a barrow; a rifled pistol with which the Prince, while he was still a Junker, performed all sorts of miracles of marksmanship; a hunting knife which used to accompany him when out bear hunting in Russia, and two large Japanese Daimio swords of the finest steel, with which the Chancellor was invested by the Mikado in the year 1872--invested, inasmuch as these took the place of the decorations bestowed by other potentates upon those whom they desire to honour. Near the swords lay a scimitar in a violet velvet sheath. The Prince took it out and drew it from its cover. It was a genuine Damascus blade. “This was presented to me by the Bey of Tunis,” he said. “It is believed to be a fine old weapon of the time of the Crusades. I have also received an Order from him, but not the right one. He sent two, one for the Emperor and the other for me. The one was set with brilliants as large as hazel nuts, the other was common tinsel. Curiously enough he had not said to whom they should be given. I mentioned it to my gracious master, and asked what he thought. He said that of course the one with the brilliants was for him. It was doubtless worth some 50,000 thalers.”