. Zigzag journeys in northwest lands. The Rhine to the Arctic . apprehended by the unthinking multitude, that the work ofgrafting a statesmans policy into the life of a nation requires, like grafting afruit-tree, excision, incision, pressure, and time. But it is not of Bismarcks policy I would first speak, but of that which fewcredit him with possessing, — his moral convictions. Strange as it may seem tothose who know onlythe Chancellor, Bis-marck is not only areligious man, buthis religion is thefoundation of hispolicy. Dr. Busch, oneof the statesmanssecretaries, in a re-cent book, Bis-marck
. Zigzag journeys in northwest lands. The Rhine to the Arctic . apprehended by the unthinking multitude, that the work ofgrafting a statesmans policy into the life of a nation requires, like grafting afruit-tree, excision, incision, pressure, and time. But it is not of Bismarcks policy I would first speak, but of that which fewcredit him with possessing, — his moral convictions. Strange as it may seem tothose who know onlythe Chancellor, Bis-marck is not only areligious man, buthis religion is thefoundation of hispolicy. Dr. Busch, oneof the statesmanssecretaries, in a re-cent book, Bis-marck in the Franco-German War, nar-rates incidents andreports private con-versations which jus-tify this assertion. On the eve of hisleaving Berlin to join the army, the Chan-cellor partook of theLords Supper. Thesolemn rite was cele-brated in his own room, that it might not appear as an exhibition of officialpiety. One morning Bismarck was called suddenly from his bed to see a Frenchgeneral. Dr. Busch, on entering the bedroom just after the chief had left it, 6. BISMARCK. 82 ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN NORTHERN LANDS. found everything in disorder. On the floor was a book of devotion, DailyWatchwords and Texts of the Moravian Brethren for 1870. On the table bythe bed was another, Daily Refreshment for Believing Christians. The Chancellor reads in them every night, said Bismarcks valet to , seeing his surprise. One day, while dining with his staff, several of whom were free-thinkers,Bismarck turned the conversation into a serious vein. A secretary had spokenof the feeling of duty which pervaded the German army, from the private to thegeneral. Bismarck caught the idea and tossed it still higher. The feeling of duty,he said, in a man who submits to be shot dead on his post, alone, in the dark,is due to what is left of belief in our people. He knows that there is Some Onewho sees him when the lieutenant does not see him. Do you believe, Your Excellency, asked a secretary, that they rea
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