they seemed to alight. This place was in a hollow, separated from the lake by sandhills, so my approach was not observed by its visitors. The geese were so eager to reach it that they never swerved, although many of them flew very close to me. Ev ery bird was a black and white goose, like those I had seen in the morning, and gave an occasional quack of satisfaction on sighting his roosting-place.. It was so close to me that I could not forbear from dismounting, and creeping behind the sand-hills got up to within fifty yards of the birds, a clump of rushes allowing me to see all that was going on without being seen myself. I was looking down on a long, swampy valley, perhaps half a mile in length, a pool of water winding through the middle, its line broken with clumps of rushes, the banks crowded with birds; standing, not in groups, but in one solid rank, many deep, like soldiers halted, every goose chattering, waddling, or polishing his feathers for the night. The assembly counted many thousands, and continually a fresh string would swoop down amid noisy greetings. In the gathering darkness the birds looked like rows of pigmies rather than solid geese and ganders. That marsh must have been the bedroom of every goose at the salt lakes. It seemed a pity to disturb them in their happy home; I could have shot those nearest me with ease, but the larder was well stocked, and I had not the heart to intrude where I was not wanted. To this day I never meet roast goose without thinking of my moderation with his breth ren at the salt lakes. The ride to camp was long and a bit dreary; the night noises, always strange and weird, were multiplied in the stillness; some birds flapped across in an uncanny way; the antelope drinking at the lake flitted away more like ghosts than honest buck; the stars shone like steel points the lake, catching their glitter, reflecting it endlessly; its dark-grey water my only guide. Night grew on apace; often I thought I saw the camp-fire ahead, but it was only a glowworm. The way seemed so long and never-ending that I began to think I should have to camp out with my saddle for a pillow, poetical enough in print, but a dreary business when you have tried it before and know how cold and damp it is. But the pony was a good one and stepped out heartily, till in front, oh, so far away! blazed out a spark, redder than the stars, a spark which the tedious lake did not reflect, a VOL. L. 2584 LIVING AGE. spark that grew bigger, making the pony prick his ears and quicken his pace, till it grew brighter, and the sand softer, and the pony more lumbering; then, all at once, as if by magic, the darkness melted back in a circle round the camp-fire, from which rang out cheerful voices. The next minute I was out of the saddle, surrounded by the three young men, in shirt-sleeves, from the store, who seemed to say that dinner was ready. It was a pleasant ending to one of many pleasant days which I spent at the South African salt lakes. W. E. MONTAGUE. From Temple Bar. THE YOUTH OF PRINCE BISMARCK. IN a period like this when our own empire seems only too likely to be wrecked, not by any want of military dash or a decline in the spirit of the nation, but by the political incapacity of men who are among the most eloquent who ever ruled Great Britain, it may not be without interest to trace the means by which another empire was created. Every student of Shakespeare must have felt a certain relief in passing from the picture of Henry VI. to that of Richard III. The misery which a just, gentle, and religious prince can bring upon a country by his mere inability to look facts in the face and to act boldly when the time calls for action, is so great and purposeless that we feel half inclined to excuse the monstrous child of the civil wars, who had at least a motive for all his crimes, and who never inflicted pain except for a distinct purpose. It is with a similar feeling that we turn from the daily contemplation of a man as blameless and incompetent as King Henry, to regard a statesman who, whatever his faults may be, has never acted blindly, thoughtlessly, or recklessly, whose motives we believe to have been invariably of the highest order, and who has beyond doubt worked out to a successful conclusion the most difficult political problem of the period. Our account of him will of necessity be short, sketchy, and inadequate; it will end at the time when Europe began to take an interest in his work, for then the hardest part of his days' labor was over, and the foundations on which the future power of his country was to rest had already been laid. It will however, we trust, be suffi cient to show that the success of the great statesman has been due quite as much to his moral as his intellectual qualities. With what convictions did he enter the political world during the stormy years of the revolution? Through what school of training had he passed to fit him for the great task he was shortly to undertake? In order to answer these questions it will be necessary for us to dwell at a greater length than might otherwise be desirable on the earlier years of the chancellor's life. Prince Bismarck was born at Schönhausen on the 1st April, 1815. His father was the descendant of a long line of nobles who had frequently rendered important service to their sovereigns, while his mother belonged by birth to a family that had long been as distinguished in the civil service, which has contributed almost as much as the army to the great ness of Prussia. Schönhausen was the seat from which this branch of the Bismarcks took its second name, but on the death of a cousin, the father of the present chancellor inherited his Pomeranian estates, and removed to them in the year following the birth of his son. Thus Kniephof became the early home of the boy, whose full name was Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen. Those who are curious in such matters may perhaps be able to trace in the character of the statesman the qualities he has inherited from each of the two bodies which have long formed the chief support of the Prussian throne; we shall content ourselves with dwelling for a moment on the character of the family life which the union brought about. Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Bismarck had served in the army in his youth; he was fond of the country, of practical farming and of field sports in fact his life and inclination were those of the Prussian country gen. tlemen of his day. And as he shared their traditions, so he doubtless shared many of their prejudices. His wife, on the other hand, had inherited the liberal ideas of her father, who had enjoyed the confidence and regard of Frederick the Great and his two successors. She held the titles of the old families of the Mark in slight esteem, and thought but little of their pedigrees. Her own mind was quick it had been carefully cultivated from her childhood; and she must have possessed an extraordinary insight into character if it is true that when her two boys were still in the nursery, she prophesied that the elder, Bernhard, would become a Landrath, and Otto a diplomatist. A person who was a frequent visitor at Kniephof in those days, says that the mother was the judgment (Verstand) of the family, and the father its heart. It was only natural that he should feel an especial fondness for his youngest child, who, indeed, was a favorite with the whole house and neighborhood on account of his docility and his pleasant, open ways. The boy was particularly distinguished by a kindness to all dependents which had no condescension in it, and by his scrupulous truthfulness. His mother, however, seems to have feared that he might be spoiled by the tenderness of his father and the housekeeper, as well as the attention he excited everywhere. The life at Kniephof, too, was too quiet and monotonous for so amiable and gifted a lady. Her winters must be passed in town, and a part of the summers in a watering-place, and on such occasions the boy was doubtless an encumbrance. At any rate, whatever the reason may have been, he was sent to a boarding-school in Berlin at the early age of seven (Easter, 1821). The loneliness and homesickness which every affectionate child feels when it is first committed to the charge of strangers, were in this case increased by the system of education pursued by Professor Plamann. At that time the enthusiasm excited by the wars against Napoleon was still strong, and it led to strange theories of life and discipline. The worthy professor's school was one of those institu. tions which are born and nourished by the fashionable folly of the day. Father Jahn's theories were mercilessly carried out, the pupils were subjected on principle to every discomfort in order to inure them to cold, hunger, and deprivation of all kinds. In addition to the usual branches of knowledge, they were taught how to perform gymnastic exercises and to hate the French. In a word, all the absurdities which Heine afterwards ridiculed with such brilliant humor surrounded Bismarck as soon as he had left his father's house. He disliked gymnastics, a feeling he has always retained, and even in those early years he resented the narrowness of heart and mind which assumed the name of patriotism. Besides this, he had the mis fortune to be a nobleman. From his early education he had never been inclined to attach much importance to this. Among his schoolfellows he showed no signs of offensive pride - indeed, he got on fairly well with them; but two or three of his democratic teachers could not forgive the fact that he was descended from an an cient family, and had inherited a title. In a word, he was wretched, and even now it is said that the chancellor cannot refer to this period of his life without a certain bitterness. He had, however, two comforts. His brother was his schoolfellow, and in the winter, when his parents came to Berlin, the boys lived with them. Still he felt it a deliverance when, in 1827, he was removed to a public school. The two brothers for a time lived together in their father's town house under the care of an old servant of the family and a private tutor, who taught them French and English, gave them any assistance they needed in their studies, and superintended their home education. These tutors frequently changed and cannot have been very carefully chosen, since one of them suddenly disappeared with the money that had been intrusted to him for the housekeeping. The following extract is interesting, as it supplies us with almost the only information we possess as to this part of the future statesman's life. It was written by Dr. Bonnel, long after his old pupil had made his mark in the history of Prussia and Europe: other sides we learn only that Bismarck's behavior was such as hardly ever to deserve punishment or even reproval; he had already begun to show the taste for historical reading that has distinguished him through life, and he was so quick and intelligent that all his tasks seemed easy to him; indeed, the latter must have been the case, as he passed his final examinations and was in a position to enter the university before he had completed his seventeenth year. One anecdote of Bismarck's schoolboy days is perhaps worth repeating. In 1831 the dread of the cholera was universal, and his father had given orders that as soon as the first case occurred in Berlin his son should be sent home. The boy, eager for a holiday, used to hire a horse and ride out in the direction from which he expected the first news of the epidemic would come. One day his horse fell with him and his leg was so badly sprained that he had to stay in bed long after the cholera was raging in Berlin. Yet under these provoking circumstances he was perfectly cheerful and showed no sign of impatience. It seems that the ready ac ceptance of the inevitable, the courage to make the best of unpleasant contingencies which has been characteristic of the whole of his political career, was an inborn quality. His admission to a university forms an epoch in the life of a German youth. During his school days he has been subjected to restraints hardly known in England. He is now permitted almost boundless license. Every excess is excused, every whim forgiven in the young student, and if he has any spirit he is ex Bismarck attracted my attention on his first admission (to the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium, his first public school). On this occasion the new scholars sat on several forms which stood behind each other, and so, while the opening ceremony was proceeding, the teachers had an opportunity of looking at them, and forming some estimate of their character. I can still distinctly remember that Otto von Bismarck sat among the rest, in visible excitement, with a frank, friendly, boyish face, and clear bright eyes. He was cheerful and quite free from shyness, so that I thought to myself, That is a nice boy, I will keep my eye upon him. In 1831 he came to board with me. My little household then consisted only of my-pected to show it both in the tavern and self, my wife, and a single child of about a the fencing school. When Bismarck first year; my pupil was always modest and amiable, went to Göttingen, he was entirely igno and treated us all with affection. In every re- rant of the manners of the place, but spect his behavior was pleasing. He hardly though he did not join any of the student ever went out of an evening; when I was not societies, he soon found a circle of comat home, he chatted with my wife and showed panions with whom he lived wildly and a great love of family life. He gained all our merrily enough. One day when they were hearts, and we treated him with the greatest lunching with him, and had drunk more care and affection, so that after he had left us, than enough wine, a bottle was thrown out of the window, and the host was sum. moned by the university authorities for this breach of the public peace. peared before his judge in a high hat, a dressing-gown of bright and varied colors, and riding-boots, accompanied by a powerful dog. On his return from the interview, which was not rendered the more agreeable by his dress, and the terror his companion at first excited, he met four students who belonged to the Hano his father said that his son had never been so happy and comfortable as in our house. It is pleasant to note that these kindly feelings never underwent any change. When the pupil was prime minister to the outside world, he was still the simple Otto von Bismarck to Dr. Bonnel. He consulted him as to the education of his own sons, and when they were sufficiently advanced sent them to the school of which his old master was the director. From He ap verian corps. His strange attire excited | his office, and though many anecdotes their mirth, a quarrel ensued, and he re- are told of the wit and spirit with which ceived four challenges on the spot. He he resented what he regarded as the rude. at once took the necessary steps, and ap-ness of his superiors, he was soon proplied to the Brunswick corps for the use moted to the post of referendary. In the of their weapons, which was granted as a following year, however, he left law for matter of course. One of the Hanove- the civil service, a step that was neces rians, however, lived in the same house sary to prepare him for the diplomatic as Bismarck, and had long looked upon career which his mother wished him to him as a promising recruit for the society; adopt. This led to his removal to Aix la he therefore persuaded his friends to with- Chapelle, where he soon became a favorite draw their challenges, and to tender ample with the brilliant society that yearly as apologies. The result was that Bismarck sembled at the mineral wells. It was here at once joined the corps. According to that he formed an attachment for a forstudent etiquette, no greater insult could eign lady, which for some reason or other have been offered to the men of Bruns- was doomed to a disappointment that exwick, one of the chief of whom immedi-ercised a deep influence over the next few ately challenged the offender. Bismarck, years of the statesman's life. With the however, young as he was, proved the better swordsman, and gained the victory over his opponent. Such duels are of course only fencing matches, with sharp weapons and without a mask. The chancellor is said to have fought about thirty of them, and he never received a cut but once, when a sword broke, and the end flew into his face; so that he was declared to be unwounded by the umpires, though the scar is still visible. permission of his superiors, he exchanged his position for one in Potsdam, and there entered the Guards for the purpose of passing through the year of military service which Prussian law requires. But new troubles were in store for him. For a long time his father's affairs had been in anything but a satisfactory condition, and they were now so involved that it became clear that, unless some great change were made, ruin must ensue. The two brothers therefore undertook the management of the Pomeranian estate. Bernhard proceeded there at once, and Otto, whose year in the army was not yet finished, left Potsdam for Griefswald, partly to retrench his expenditure, and partly with a view of attending lectures in the Agricultural Academy, whenever the duties of the service permitted. This good resolution, however, did not last long, his old dislike of oral instruction re turned, and he once more plunged into the excesses of a student's life, with all the more violence, it may be, because his own heart was no longer in them. From the time of his joining the Hano. verians, Bismarck's life became as wild as that of any student in Germany. He distinguished himself in every form of excess that the youth of that country delight to honor, and outdid his companions in most of them. During these years, we can find hardly a trace of the quiet and affectionate disposition which led the boy to sit chatting so contentedly with Mrs. Bonnel after the day's lessons were done, except perhaps in the delight he took in listening to good music, especially Beet hoven, and the lasting friendship he formed with two or three young men, whose tastes and habits were very differ- In 1839 Bismarck joined his brother, ent from his own. Among these, there and for two years they lived and manwas an American, John Lothrop Motley, aged the estates together. Then Bernwho has since become the celebrated his- hard was elected Landrath; he married, torian. His eager pursuit of pleasure and settled in the central town of the disleft Bismarck no time for study. During trict. This led to a division of the landed the whole of his university course, he is property, in which Kniephof fell to the said only twice to have entered a lecture- younger brother's share. A period of room. Yet such was his ability, and the weary unrest and undescribable suffering perseverance with which he applied him. followed. As long as real difficulties exself to private reading when the examina-isted, Bismarck faced them with the whole tions approached, that he passed them with credit, and was shortly afterwards appointed auscultator (in the spring of 1835). He was now introduced at court, and mixed freely with the best society of Berlin, but he did not neglect the duties of energy of his character, and in the exercise of his powers he found contentment. But when the chaos was reduced to such order that the work of each day seemed to do itself, when every obstacle was overcome, and the future looked bright and promis. ing, he fell into gloomy reveries from which he sought a relief in change, in | Two incidents happened during this study, and in dissipation. He travelled period of riot and tribulation, which are in France and England, he flitted sud- too characteristic to be omitted. Shortly denly from place to place; he read vora- after his return to Kniephof a case of ciously, too, chiefly on historical subjects, cholera occurred on the estate, and the but also theological and philosophical peasants around were filled with such works. He made Spinoza and his system terror that they would have left their a subject of serious study. But then sud- neighborhood to perish rather than vendenly the demon would come upon him, ture into the presence of the horrible inand he would seek forgetfulness in ex- fection. As soon as news of the event cess. All through the countryside he was was brought to them the two brothers noted for his wild rides and wilder carous. hastened to visit the patient, and absoals. He was said to be able to shoot lutely refused to leave the house before better and drink deeper than any man in proper attendants had volunteered. If no the province, and his house was the gath one else would come forward, they said, ering place of all the reckless young no- they themselves would undertake the blemen of the neighborhood. There he nursing; they would not leave any one to would amuse himself by suddenly letting suffer alone and without assistance. Their loose wild foxes in the drawing-room, and resolution restored courage to the peasafter plying his guests with a mixture of ants, or their action shamed them into stout and champagne, of which he drank humanity, for before they returned home his full share, he would try their nerves every necessary provision had been made by firing off pistols in their bedrooms. for the sufferer. And yet if in one of those drinking-bouts he chanced upon any one who could talk seriously, he would sit half the night discussing politics with him, to the great annoyance of his other companions. There was not room enough for this man in Kniephof; both his head and his heart were unsatisfied; he had no one near him whom he could love, no field was open to the exercise of his powers. He himself seems to have felt this, for he again accepted the position of a referendary at Potsdam, and worked diligently at his profession. It was here that he drew up a paper on expropriation which attracted considerable attention at the time, and of which one passage is still remembered. "No sum of money," it runs, "will compensate me for the injury you inflict, if you turn my father's park into a carp-pond, or my aunt's grave into an eel-pool." But difficulties between him and his superiors again occurred. He found it necessary to remind one of them that though he was placed above him in office hours, they met as equals in general society, and when another after letting him wait an hour for an audience, asked him shortly, "What do you want?" he replied, "I came to ask for leave of absence, but now I beg to offer my resignation." About this time he seems to have pondered over many plans for the future, he was even suspected of an intention of emigrating to India; but nothing came of all this scheming, nor did any great change take place in his mode of life till the death of his father in 1845, when he inherited Schönhausen, and settled there. In the summer of 1842, while taking part in the annual military exercises, he was standing one afternoon on a bridge with the other officers of the Landwehr, when his servant rode the horses to water below. One of them became restive, lost its footing, and dragged its rider into deep water. His master at once cast aside sword and coat, and sprang from the bridge to save him. As he was an expert swimmer the rescue would have been easy, but the drowning man clung to him with such tenacity as to impede his movements. In a moment Bismarck's mind was made up. He dived and kept the terror-stricken creature under water until he became insensible and relaxed his grasp. Then he brought him safely to the bank, by a few simple appliances animation was restored, and both lives saved. The presence of mind, and the fearless resolution which such an action displayed, were well known to be among the pecul iarities of the "mad lord of Kniephof," as his neighbors called him. Quite a different phase of his character is displayed in his letters to his sister, to whom he confided all his joys and sorrows. The following, though not perhaps the most characteristic of the series, is interesting from the reference it contains to an event to which allusion has already been made. It is dated Kniephof, April 9, 1845, and has been slightly shortened. It is only with difficulty that I resist the impulse to fill a whole letter with agricultural lamentations over nightly frosts, sick cattle, bad roads, dead lambs, hungry sheep, and a want of straw, fodder, money, potatoes, and |