He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall be no evil touch thee. In famine, he shall redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword ... neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. 72 "As One Asleep" ¶ On July 30, 1898, just before midnight, Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck, Prince of Lauenburg and former Imperial Chancellor of the German Empire, died peacefully in the old homestead of his ancestors. The immediate cause of death was congestion of the lungs. ¶ "Ich danke Dir, mein Kind," were his last words, addressed to his daughter, who had stooped to wipe the moisture from his pale brow. ¶ As late as the day he died, he had read the newspapers and talked politics. His final remarks were on the relations of Germany and Russia, at all times a subject of deep concern to him. ¶ Dr. Schweninger had promised to bring him to 90--and was seven years short. But the Bismarck of retirement was not unhappy in the taking off; he had grown tired of it all; and it is pleasant to record that his last hours were without pain. ¶ A few days before, he had had his champagne, and had smoked five pipes in succession; also the day before he died, he had asked an attendant to "color" two new meerschaums, gifts of friends. Toward the last, he had used an invalid's chair for breakfast, but otherwise he seemed as well as could be expected. * * * * * ¶ The windows looking upon the garden were opened, early next morning, and the servants of the household gathered there to look at the master, at rest. He was seemingly asleep in his four-poster bed, his head slightly inclined to the left; his expression was that of one gently dreaming; his arms were resting over the coverlet, and in his left hand he held one white and three red roses, a last love-token from an Austrian lady. ¶ The expression of his features was, at the end, proud and noble; but the face was as grey as ashes; for the fire of life was out at last! * * * * * ¶ Later, came two Cuirassiers, in white, with drawn swords; and these massive figures stood there by the bedside, and by and by kept solemn guard beside the coffin; also, near by were two Foresters, in green. ¶ Books, papers, telegrams and a laurel wreath were in the death chamber, where the master had worked to the end. Not far away was his favorite chessboard, also, within touch the Emperor's last present, a fac-simile of Frederick the Great's great crook-headed gold cane; a step the other way the globe of the earth that Bismarck used to roll over with his big hand, when he studied his endless foreign political combinations.