Blood and Iron: Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its Founder, BismarckGreusel, John Hubert
History
Blood and Iron: Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its Founder, Bismarck
Greusel, John Hubert
Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898; Germany -- History -- 1789-1900
¶ Later, came the magnificent funeral with the high military, and all
the rest; but we think we shall take leave of him in his old room with
these simple objects around him, his tools of work, his big oak desk,
his mounds of state papers, his writings, his quill pens, his box of
blue sand, his pipes, steins and champagne glasses, his letters, his
telegrams, his great heaps of books, his immense correspondence on the
affairs of nations, his diplomas from universities, his degrees of
law, philosophy and letters, and finally, his big Ulmar dogs.
¶ Here we leave him as one asleep, reminded of his final words,
uttered when the master was breaking fast with the infirmities of his
eighty-three years:
¶ "There is only one happy day left for me. It is the one on which I
shall not wake again."
* * * * *
¶ His son refused the request that a death-mask be made of the noble
old face, but Lenbach's famous painting will recall the stern head for
years to come.
¶ Bismarck's coffin was of polished dark oak, with eight silver
handles in the shape of lion's paws; candles burned around his coffin,
the pale lights softened by veils of black and silver gauze that
ornamented the silver candelabra. The floor was literally covered with
wreaths, many bearing cards of sympathy in gold letters, from various
eminent personages throughout the world.
¶ The Kaiser heard the funeral services.
* * * * *
¶ Bismarck's mausoleum rests on a spot Bismarck selected for himself;
a plain Romanesque House of Death against a background of trees; and
to the right still may be seen his favorite bench where he used to
sit, under the shade of spreading oaks.
The sarcophagus of yellow marble bears this inscription, selected by
Bismarck himself:
Here Lies
PRINCE BISMARCK
A Faithful German Servant
of Emperor William I.
¶ Hostile critics of Germany, brought forth by the great war of 1914,
profess to believe that this inscription on Bismarck's tomb shows that
Bismarck did not wish his work to be associated with the future of the
Empire, but with its past.
Instead, it really proclaims the man's great mind, his clairvoyant
historical vision. He could have said many things about himself,
touching the great part he played in sustaining the pomp and majesty
of kings; but his simple acknowledgment of the rôle of faithful
servant, is more eloquent than sermons in brass.
¶ Finally, a small altar to the right of the porch carries this text
from Colossians iii:23, the motto given to Bismarck many, many years
before by Rev. Schliermacher, the pastor who confirmed the boy Otto;
and that motto became indeed Bismarck's guiding star through life, as
now well you do know, balancing his record with the solemn Biblical
injunction you read here beside the master's tomb:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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