CELEBRITIES AT HOME.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2009, 23 May 1885, Page 4

CELEBRITIES AT HOME.

Prince Bismarck at FKiM>R[CiisKnHi<, Wiikn Klinldciiulntich, the (iorman Punch, once facetiously spoke of Prince Bismarck as the (iciman Cincinnati^, who, like Ins Roman namesake, returned to his ploughshare, having clone with Strtto busiucHS, it forcibly hit off the Clianccllor. For although tho Prince is not allowed entirely to exchange political work for ruralining, yet, in retiring to Kchonhauscn, Vaiyin, or Fiiedriehsrnhe, lie retires to an oxtrem. ly modest con dition of life. Flo who imagines tint the abode of the mightH st man in Euiope should be a sort of Aladdin's I'alnce, r< pleto with treasures of ai t given to him by p.imte'is and potentates, .is tiny uu. bt stowed upon that huky English wanior, .John Churchill, will be taken aback wlien he enteiH thiongh the gates of V.u/in Manor And y< t V.u/111 i^ almost ti Ho^al le sidence compute d with Krndiithsiuhe Any attempt to tall it ch.itc.iu, mansion, or e\cn \ill.», would convey too pompous an idea of it ; so 1< t us dcsciibo it aa a intio ganitluepei's I ,dge Kiiedtie-lisruhc was given to the Chan celloi in IS? I b) the Emperor, who got it as personal pioperty fioui the Leuonl)iii q estati s. Like liih roiiKianian Tiisuilum, it possesses the advantage, highly appreciate el by the I'lincc, of lieing Bin rounded by a laige foieat— the Nadisunwald, that extends down to tho Elbe, not far ft om Hamburg Hut what endears it paiticulurly to liih mind in its vicinity to Betlin, situated an it u on the direct railway line, and facilitating his constant desire of turning his back upon the detested capital as quickly and as often as possible. For I'.ismaick hates Berlin, he hates Wilhelinstraise, he hates tho Foreign Office. Then* arc few things on which he has been so outspoken aa on his anti Berliuism. The vciy air seems tainted to him, physically and moially ; its only redeeming feature 1a the presence of his venerable Emperor ; but theie are, at the same time, diplo matists and Court officials, than whom — as says his biographer Busch — -the globe has no greater plotters, hypocrites, and sycophants. The vicious diainnge of his town residence ; tho board of tax-as-lessors, who try to impose upon him by raising hia income-tax, arc among the point* which the fertile imagi nation of the Chancellor inclines to exaggerate. Nor in Berlin could he, without giving offence, shun continually the inconvenient questions of diplomatists and Parliamentarians about pending political occurrences. Prince Bismarck upon the Treasury bench of an English I'arliaincnt would soon discover how dillicult it is to govern with the sixhun-dttd-hcaded hydra of Parliamentary incjuisitiveness. Onco removed from tho ( ipital, ho hai no longer to run tho g.nintlet of annoying interrogators. On th<- othei hand, it would be unjust not to acknowledge tho Chancellor's deeplylooted yearning after rural icelu-sion. Alieady, when Ambassador at the Diet at Frankfurt, he compressed, in a letter to his wife, his ultimate ambition in three wishes • to be Ambassador for ten years, to he a Cabinet Minister for the following decade, and to pass tho lest of his life as a countiy squire. Ulyses on his rafts amidst a storm did not hanker more nidently after Penelope and tho rising smoke of Ithaca's chimneys than does the Chancellor, on the paraquat of Berlin ollices and Stite chambers, after bis forests of Vamn and Fricdrichsruhe. Time, far from the Privy Councillors of Wilhelmstrasse, he tries to realise hia idea of a happy man's life. L'emporte de Beilin," at («ortschakoff used to call him, is scarcely to be recognised in the mildtempered benign gentleman who reverently kisses his wife's hand, plays with hia grandchildren, inquncs aftei bis gardener's health, or loiters about tlnough the wood, listening to the thou-and manifestations of anim'ite and in amimate- natinc, familiar to him fiom the time wlie.ii he was inspector of eljke^s at Sihonhiiiiscn. In many respects the the 01 y of two souls (Zwe-ise e'lriitlie one ) is eminently pppln .i 1 • I* ■ to llimiuh X Jlis iiiind, us it Viic, h.is ,i eloubli entiy ; his niuuoi y ki eps a double (iceount, one for the " ri«si/n e| " (onncill'ms of Is(ilin, tlic othe r foi the inmates of liih tin.il habitations. Poor conniiilloiH ' It ever then- was an oll'x i,il t>i nit, Ui^maie kis he 1 Hi altogi thei f ' lipse s the men Inn eaur lats, who » \ae t f i oi ii tin ii ii ii'li i lings the: ir pound of flesh only notMiij,' him., nothing It s*i. lint tin Chanu Hot knou s neitliM e>lhi c hejins noi tin ill!)' n in be twi i u day 1 1 1 < I i > i tr ' 1 1 ; fen win ne-\i i the ipnit of woik In si is him in. iV be- at tlini o clod, in the mom my, lit hi ml . his \alet d< ' hambie to rouse- our fit tin m unfortunate couin'illea h out ejf lushed to <itti nd biisiut <ss at Ins in.i^tii's house >o, .it It n«t, 1 1 Was 111 the- pie .SellUtllill gi i ian p' riejd, wlu n iiism.in k liveel in his own iieHi; u s I i^hiou. takini; only one o\ ( i siiliit.inti.tl m> il in the evening, ami keiping up luh npniK bv nimiincrable ei^'.HH 'I he 1 i'i,tis( ijiie in es, n.'itu i ally , wtie rewtleM ni'/ht , txtdidul niotning slinnbci", in in .ilyie- pains, ai.d no lack of l).ul humour. Happily, theio is a juovideiice e.vt n for L'uvy Councillors; it eamej in the shape of Professor Schwciiiiiger. This physician pre vailud ti[ion the Piiuce to cat by hourly instalments, the oftener and the less the better; to reduce di inks and tobacco to the smallest possible quantities ; and, nbovo all, never to eat and to drink at the> same time. The; effect was marvelloui. In » very shoit time the patient lost his unwioldly bulk, went to bed early, and regained his good-humour, which even the presence of Privy Conn tillers was not able to destroy altogether. Sine c then Professor Schweninger has become the guardian angel of the Foreign Office', the- members of which, when awaking dm ing the night, in order to fall ash cp again, arc said to mutter drowsily, " llMinruek isgicat,andSchweningci ihlus piophet " At Fiicdriclmruhc peace reigns supie me. "\Vhoe\er eioa«e s its hospitable thashold isgioetedbya gup of the Chanel lloi 'a hand, as hearty as that he gives to Count Se huwnloff in Anton Yon We iu< r'n cede ))i.ited oil-painting of the Bei'in Con fire**. Thn sorrants of his householel look up to him as their patriare'h rather than their master ; for he entertains a family afTeefion for the m. Once, in spite (if evtremely b.wl weather, he went a do/en tiuiLH a clay to s< c after Ins gat fli nor's won, who had e.ut his finger ; so thiit his wife was obliged to check him, ninee everybody tried to hfivn liii limbs hurt in ono way or another, in order to attract the master's anxious rnrjuiry. With ladies ho has always practised the pnht(<<<.r tin curr,- ; vhen at AIX-la 1 Chipcllp, ,1 watering place of European larne, the Duke of Cl««\ eland spoke of him iih "altogether an Englishman," which was not only meant, but received, too, as a compliment, liismaick likes to inter lard Ins con vei nation and his letters with fonigri woreln and quotations. From Of< n ho wrote to his wife : " Over the blue mountain, over the white sea-foam, come thou, belovcel one, come to thy lovely home '!" In tho Reichstag he said lately : " Das ist nit'dit fair ;" and at home- he fiecjue utly (fives Ins assent by "All light" Politie-s aro thioughout banished fiom the family's table-talk ; but soin'timcH tho Chancellor will due- into the history of bygone. el iys, and then the swertness of liih fealuiiH dihippe.iiH, and his eyts, looking e>ut undi i the balconie* of thnkwhiti blow , like fiuy ( oal", ovei hli ulow il by l< ii I. ■(, ,vi!l -i|)i,tk eligge-is, iiup ntni" te> lim l.ii e- a guru and impla e.ibl" liuinciu. \'a ci y one-, tli'iifoie, eleie x liih lient to dive it his aHeiillon to mote homely topics ; foi the sf tte of hi i health foi bids emotions. Tnnu has l« ft its tiaces upon his constitution. Jhn e.iniage' is c iei t, .iHbefoic, in its toweling height ; but the face* is wiinkle d all over ; bioael rings encircle his eyes ; the cobwebs of at'caie- encamping everywhere- Suceesnively he gave up hunting, shooting, riding on hoiscback ; he gave up the fragrant v\«cd for tho nioro innocent ipe, and throw the pipe away, too ;

he tin i atcncdeven to giwupwork itself l)iit lie thieatencd only. " A hi aw hoi«e dies in its harness," Haul this " nionstt r of industry, 'as C'arlylc called him ; mid then, besides, there waß the r. filial of lutj old Emperor topait with tin m And so ho worked on, aided, happily, not only by his two sons and his son in law, (,'onnt Rant/au, hut also by his danghtci the countess who is a mavellous hand at deciphering the most abatmse telegrams. By tliis lucky coincidence he can do with out Hecietaiies and I'nvy <'oun< illors. Sometimes his yoke is not easy -nid his hoi den is Anything hut light I'luiean inimoi.inda to ho copied, d< spat* Ik i com p'H< d and unra\ oiled, sket< Ik s am|>lifi< d and wntten in cngiowsing h mil , and the I'lince, in the fe\eri«h hi at of his /oal, In uilh not whcthei his hods Line to stay up all night to linish tin ir v\ 01 k foi mxt morning's cornier. Hut then they have got the advantage of passing thioiigh the most < ffectivu, almost peihtps the only, sc hool of diplomacy in existence. When IMinteiH cat at the feet of gieat tnastoiH, instead of in arademiis aH nowadays, uit lloiiiishfd ; why should it he diireient in diplomacy ? If theie was any mettle in ('Hint lleihert, it miiHt come out, and it did come out. Theio is Hcareely anything innnikahle in the Chancellors house at Fiediiehsiuhe except its absolute plamnCHH .Jewish plutocracy in.iy gloat in displaying gorgeous tapentiy and r.ue bin n bmr, hut Bismarck, after all, is only a poor man. His State appointment is not woith even £3000 ; Schonlmnsen in valueless ; Var/in does not yield much ; and the estate of Fricdriehsruhc, althougn estimated at £ ISO, 000, brings at the most £5000. It is true that this is no reason why his walls should be whitewashed, why his furnituie is of the simplest description, why his arttreasures consist of comparatively worthless photographs and paintings of his daughter and his sons, of Moltke, of Cardinal Hohenlohc, of Thieis, of Hcaconsficld, of Knedrichsruhe itself. Yet there are several objects of luxury and case, and others of decidedly historic importance. There is a rich carpet, extending through hall and rooms ; the number of chimney*, where, the whole winter through, fires burn perpetually ; and an abundance of couches, sometimes two or thrco in a room. On the chimneypieces are tho bronze burst of Moltke, crowned with a huge laurel wreath ; a plaster cast of Charlemagne ; and a small copy of Sclihiter'fl Great Elector. The dining-room is adorned with tho hion/o statue of the Emperor, given by bun to Bismarck in 1881 ; Lut prticulat mention is due to the bionze imitation of the Niedorwald monument, which Htaiidn on a fine oak cupboaid in the smoking loom. A leaflet is attached to it with the fol lowing words, written by the Emperor himoelf :— " < hristmas. ISBI ; the crowning stone of your policy ; a f • stival which was destined chiefly for you, and which you unhappily were not able to attend. — VV." Not less interesting as a historical curiosity 18 a small card-table in the I'tiuce's study. When folded up it pro sents on tho top hoaul a little inlaid brass plate, bcaiing the insciiption :— "Oil tins table the preliminary peace between (ilermany and France was signed, Feb. 20, 1871, at Versailles, Rue de Provence, No 10." When opened theie appears the central round of green cloth with the very candle spots of yore, when Bis m.-irck and Favrc put their names under the treaty. It wanted a good deal of diplomacy on tho part of the Chancellor to possess himself of it. His landlady of thn Rue de Provence obstinately r< fused to part with it for any consideration of money, until the I'iiiice at last called in a cabinet-maker, ordering him to make another table exactly snndai to th.it one. When the twins weie put side by side the landlady, of coumc, decided in l.ivoui o! the betb r-lookmg of the two, and allowed Bismarck to cany off the enigma! one. The Prince's own room is not only one of tli' largest in the house, but (\ctything it contains hears due pioportion to the si/o of its inmate - the gi^antii; mahogany w ntiug table the huge inKstand, the militia of imini nicn i e goo'-e <|iiilln and l.irge pencil". Even the far-stretching view from the window is in harmony with tho discursive mind of the man who is leelininu' on one of the couches, whilst giving ample mope to his thoughts. The guest looms arc Hitu ited on the first llooi. It ined Kiaiei ly be added that they are dis ti.iguished by e<»infoit, 'Mse, * m l luxury ft om the Sp titan i-akedm ss of the rist of the house. It boded peace and fiiendship to the State whose representative is invited to Fiiediiclisriihe. Here BihmitrcK putd out the toich of hatted ; for the ho«t's duty In; cousuleid to bo to cultivate, under his own toof, amity anci good understanding. Prince Orlofl and .VI. de (Jiers stayed theie when the diflictiltie.H on the lj.ilkan Peninsula, between Russia and Auatiia, were made up. Again, the visit of 15a ion Con reel, the Ficiich Ambassador, was the bar binger of the present entente between Fiance and Germany. On the other hand, Lord Ampthill died without having even seen the Chancellor at least for the last eight months of his life. The moral of this is, perhaps, that when Sir Edward Malet is on hi& way to Fncdnchsruhe we may safely conclude that an Anglo-ficnnan understanding with a Libeial Cabinet in Downing stieet is no longei a contiiulii'tion.