CHAPTER III

The Gothic Cradle

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Idyl of the child Otto, in his huge Gothic cradle at Schoenhausen; wonders that gather 'round his destiny, a forecast and a reality.

-- Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck, the great central figure in our story, was the fourth of six children, three dying in infancy. He was born April 1, 1815, but a few months before the crowning defeat at Waterloo--that year big with the hammer-blows of Destiny!

-- In lonesome Schoenhausen on the Elbe, the village lately devastated by Marshal Soult and his plundering soldiers, the infant Otto sleeps peacefully in his oak-carved Gothic cradle. A century later, we still see that huge cradle as one of the souvenirs in the famous Bismarck museum at Schoenhausen.

-- Schoenhausen house is one of those thick-walled monuments of mediaeval masonry.

There is, to be sure, something out of drawing about the antiquated three-story house; and we survey with respect for the past the queer courtyard, leaded panes, park with the artificial island, wooded byways, and old forest, and not far away is the village church with the square stone tower; hard by, also, the kattenwinkel, or Katte's corner, at the confluence of the Havel and the Elbe; and on the house is the Katte's coat-of-arms, a cat watching a mouse, the mark of the st.u.r.dy 17th century builder, Katte, who to honor his wife, Dorothea Sophia Katte, added her name to his builder's sign over the lintel.

-- In this historical 1815, seed-time and harvest strangely blend, yet are years apart.

For, while the child sleeps in his Gothic cradle, the Congress of Vienna meets to redistribute among the hungry kings the old domains stolen as prizes in the long Napoleonic wars; and in turn, after incredible political adventures, running over years, the child before us, grown to be a man, will smash the rulings of Vienna and will build an empire stronger far than that of imperial France, now dying at Waterloo.

-- All these wonders gather 'round the destiny of the child in the big Gothic cradle, before which we now tiptoe at Schoenhausen, lest we awaken the baby and he cry.

-- When the French overrun Prussian territory the old land-owning military aristocracy was reduced to bankruptcy. Mortgages falling due could not be paid; the king extended credit for four years; and in the interim Prussians were forced to use depreciated rag-money; all the gold and silver had been confiscated by the French invaders.

-- Great dissatisfaction followed. The farms had been tilled by feudal-laborers, practically slaves; these oppressed peasants now flew to arms.

Schoenhausen was a dreary place indeed; while the Bismarcks were better off than their neighbors, still the times were out of joint and ruin fell over the broad acres.

-- Then came an unexpected change. Along about 1816, Karl inherited Kneiphof, Kuelz and Jarchelin estates from his cousin, moved to Kneiphof, just east of the hamlet of Naugard.

The house was exceeding modest; a brook, the Zampel, ran near by; and there was a carp pond. Karl was fond of hunting in the old beech forest. Such were the unsettled conditions in the Bismarck family, up to Otto's sixth year.

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Soft-hearted Karl and Spartan Mother Louise; her rigid character, its good and its bad side; her extreme punctilio and her pistol-shooting, to steady her sight.

-- Otto von Bismarck inherited his tall form from his father, Karl William. This unusual type of cavalry captain subscribed for French journals and ate off silver plate. Karl's regiment was known as the "White and Blue," and one of his duties was to get up at 4 in the morning and measure corn for horses. At one time the captain lived in Berlin, but he soon tired of the capital and gladly returned to the country where he pa.s.sed his days as squire. To the end of his life, he was fond of horseback riding and hunting; and he brought his sons up to ride like centaurs.

-- Bismarck's mother, Louise Wilhelmina Mencken, married at the age of sixteen; her husband Karl was nineteen years her senior.

-- In the family circle, the father was known as the heart, the mother as the brains; but in Louise's case it might well read "ambition." She wished to see Otto von Bismarck, her youngest son, become a diplomatist--a judgment that in the light of after years seems almost uncanny.

Later, at the full tide of the Chancellor's great glory, frequently his earliest friends used to say, "Bismarck, had your mother only survived to see this day!"

-- The wife's leading trait was her inflexible resolution, the will to rulership;--and rule she certainly did, always.

For one thing, she steadied her nerves and schooled her sharp eyes by practising pistol shooting.

There was Spartan courage about her decisions! Frau Bismarck's irritability had been growing of late; Karl was too soft with Otto.

She was angered to think that her husband might spoil Otto, by too much coddling. The domestic climax came.

-- That day at table, Otto with childish impatience, began swinging his legs like a pendulum. The good-natured Karl hadn't it in his heart to correct the child, but instead began making excuses for Otto's conduct. This aroused Louise's ire. To smooth matters Karl said, "See, Minchen, how the boy is sitting there dangling his little legs!"

-- Louise then and there read her ultimatum. She would not have her son spoiled by the foolishness of his soft father--not at all! She would send her beloved son away, first. At the time, Otto was only six years old.

And she thereupon proceeded to keep her decision--acting with all the aggressiveness for which in later life Otto von Bismarck was himself celebrated.

CHAPTER IV

Sunshine and Shadow

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Wherein is shown the amazing power of hereditary traits; history repeats itself.

-- It was from his mother that Prince Bismarck, the future ruler of Germany, received his endowment of dauntless audacity, his gift of trenchant argument, his bursts of ironical laughter, his power of instant decisions, his scolding, and his bitter wrath. All these qualities shone in the parliamentary fight before the Austrian war, when for three years he defied the country, and raised the Prussian war-funds by extortion!

-- In one sense, he was always stacking the cards! And what chance has the fellow-player against the dealer with the marked deck? Bismarck's life abounds with episodes showing this astonishing readiness. In love, in laughter and in intrigue, it was ever the same. Bismarck's use of human nature, constructively, at the precise psychological moment, redounding to his self-interest, is supreme.

-- At the wedding of his friend Blankenburg to Fraulein Thadden-Triglaff, the bridesmaid was Fraulein Johanna von Puttkammer.

Bismarck saw, admired and decided. Soon after in a Hartz journey, with the Blankenburgs, Otto had a brief opportunity to favor energetic measures. He wasted no time, Johanna must become his wife! He wrote direct to the young lady's parents, with whom he was not acquainted. A flying visit followed to the home of his intended father-in-law. The Puttkammers were surprised at the suitor's impetuous love-making, also were shocked by the reputation Bismarck had for fast living.

The moment he saw parents and daughter he forced the situation.

Throwing his arms around his sweetheart, Bismarck embraced her, vigorously. And thus he won his bride even before an unwilling father and mother; for Bismarck carried them off their feet by the very audacity of his wooing.

-- During the Franco-Prussian war, coming to the Rothschild chateau, Bismarck found 17,000 bottles of wines in the cellar, under lock and key; and the keeper was determined that Bismarck should not use the master's champagnes.

It took Bismarck only a few minutes to change all that. Soon he was comfortably settled in the Baron's private chambers, reached by a grand winding staircase; here the Chancellor proceeded to make himself at home in dressing gown and slippers.

-- He rang for the butler, ordered wine for himself and suite. The keeper of the cellar still refused--and Bismarck's black ire rose. In a voice of thunder he cried, "If you do not open that cellar door by the time I count five, you will be trussed on a spit, like a fowl!"

-- After that, the Prussians had what they wanted, made merry on the rare wines of Baron Rothschild, who was known as a hater of Prussia and an admirer of Austria.