The Great Year, 1870
56
Bismarck and Von Moltke, over a bowl of sherry punch, discuss
"these poor times"--The Emperor-hunt begins.
¶ Volumes have been written to explain the origin of the
Franco-Prussian war, and the intricate and inter-related facts are
gone over again and again, now with emphasis here, again on the other
side.
* * * * *
¶ It is trite to say that Bismarck foresaw that a war with France was
inevitable. Behind this simple statement is a world of intrigue and
ambition. The French still hold that the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine
was the price not of war but of Bismarck's brigandage. The French also
believe that the candidacy of Prince Leopold Hohenzollern for the
Spanish throne was a Prussian intrigue against France. The controversy
on these points will never be settled, till the Doomsday Book is
opened.
¶ When Bismarck sees that his work of unifying Germany cannot be
completed without another war, the war comes!
His amazing insight into complex political, military and historical
situations, in which with a few words he is able to divert public
opinion to his own peculiar view, has been shown never with more
diabolical cunning than at the time of the breaking out of the
Franco-Prussian war. We refer here to the "Ems dispatch," that played
a startling part in bringing on the war; but the telegram, in itself,
was really a simple thing.
¶ For four years, Germany had been increasing her military power by
ten-fold. The greatest military martinet of all time, Von Roon, had
the men up at three and four in the morning drilling them as human
beings were never drilled before. Von Moltke, "with the battle
pictures in his brain," was planning every detail against France.
¶ The preparations were now complete. The Germans were thoroughly
organized, led by generals guided by a single brain, von Moltke,
master of tactics and strategy.
¶ Just the day the war broke out von Moltke, who was always as
taciturn as the Sphinx, "and in times of peace ugly and crabbed," was
sitting in his garden moodily declaiming against these poor
times--with no war in sight!
Bismarck greeted his compatriot, bravely. Von Moltke ordered sherry
punch and the two cronies began drinking each other's health.
¶ "You are not looking well, Chief?" began Bismarck.
¶ "No, I have not been well, lately!"
¶ "But you must cheer up. War is your business and you will now
quickly mend. I remember when the Spanish war was the burning question
you looked at least ten years younger. When I told you that the
Hohenzollern prince gave the thing up, you became at once ten years
older. This time, the French have made difficulties, and you look
fresh and younger by ten years."
¶ In this light-hearted way Bismarck spoke of the oncoming strife--up
to the year 1914 the bloodiest in the history of the world.
57
The bugle blast "For God and Fatherland!" again resounds
throughout Germany--The great host crosses the Rhine.
¶ Up to 1914, there never was such a disciplined army since the world
began! Neither Napoleon, Cæsar nor Alexander ever had a power like the
United German swarm, now numbering 1,200,000 men, counting advance and
reserve; however, the total strength was never called, as the war was
practically over in seven weeks.
The hosts of Germany, 800,000 strong, helmeted, machine-like, moved
silently and swiftly toward the Rhine, carrying their trusty
needle-guns which had done such destruction at Koeniggraetz. As they
marched they sang the war songs of their race, and swore to guard the
Rhine.
Zum Rhine, zum Rhine, zum Deutchen Rhine,
Wir alle wollen Hueter sein;
Lieb Vaterland magst ruhig sein,
Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhine!
¶ The King immediately left for the seat of war, Mayennce being the
first headquarters of the royal party. Bismarck was always close to
the King.
¶ Bismarck had been only a few days in the field when his health began
to improve. Like von Moltke, Bismarck looked ten years younger.
The old-time biliousness and vein-swelling from which he suffered, now
passed away; the irritability vanished; he was cool and collected.
¶ He was attended throughout the war by a corps of cipherers,
decipherers, cooks, privy counsellors, secretaries, and couriers.
Faithful Dr. Busch, head of the Bismarck press-agency, was one of the
busiest men of the hour. Bismarck, who learned the power of the press
in shaping public opinion, kept Busch constantly employed sending out
telegrams, giving the German side of the war.
* * * * *
¶ The Chancellor wore the white uniform of Heavy Landwehr Cavalry,
with white cap and top boots.
¶ Bismarck and his staff camped along the line of advance, wherever
night fell--sometimes in the château of a French nobleman, again in
the hut of a French peasant. The company ate at a common table, and
had the same fare. Bismarck was called "Chief."
¶ Often the table was made by taking doors off their hinges and
placing them on barrels or boxes; then waiters spread the cloth and
brought out pewter plates and huge tumblers of a silver-like metal,
lined with gilt.
Candles were stuck in empty wine bottles. Thus the great man worked
during the war, week after week.
Dr. Busch, although a very busy man, managed to gather two volumes of
table talk, minute details of what Bismarck said, ate, drank,
preached, the whole set forth in spirited style, affording an intimate
picture of the Iron Chancellor to which all historians are henceforth
under obligations.
¶ Firing was going on around the royal party, often dangerously near
by, and now and then a battle would take place close to where the King
was encamped, with his faithful minister. They would ride out, to see
the fight. Bismarck read dispatches, made notes, talked to His
Majesty, gave instructions on state matters, counseled with von Moltke
on military matters, received visits, and studied maps. This continued
all day and sometimes all night.
58
Germans drink 2,500,000 bottles of champagne at
Rheims--Bismarck's ironical revenge!
¶ The high tension of war was relieved by amusing episodes, from day
to day. In the evening of the arrival at Rheims, Bismarck humored
himself trying various brands of champagne. Word was brought that the
day before a squadron of Prussian hussars had been fired on from a
leading hotel. Bismarck ordered that the house should at once be torn
down and the landlord sent to prison; but when it was explained that
none had been injured, Bismarck waggishly decided to let the landlord
off if he would give 2,500 bottles of champagne to the squadron--an
obligation which the man quickly proceeded to settle.
¶ The Prussians drank, in and around Rheims, some 2,500,000 bottles of
champagne; and, for that matter, the highways all the way to Paris
were marked with long lines of empty bottles!
* * * * *
¶ Thus Bismarck had his ironical revenge on France; took his cherry
brandy or his champagne as he pleased, while the great war waged.
* * * * *
¶ "Verily, in all history," wrote Carlyle to the London Times, "there
is no instance of an insolent unjust neighbor that ever got so
complete, instantaneous and ignominious a smashing down, as France now
got from Germany." The whole civilized world looked on in amazement.
¶ France had declared war July 15th, and the crushing defeat at Sedan
came September 1.
However, it took seven months before Bismarck was satisfied that the
final papers were drawn to his satisfaction.
Louis Napoleon being a prisoner of war, had lost his throne; and
consequently Bismarck insisted that any peace made with France would
have to be ratified by some central authority. It is a long,
interesting story, but Bismarck finally won his point.
59
Sedan and the Belgian weaver's hut; the highways to Paris are
strewn with wine bottles; death drinks a toast to "German
Unity."
¶ As it had been the Iron Chancellor's fortune to be present at the
crowning victory of Koeniggraetz, in the Austrian war, likewise it was
now his destiny to be a spectator at the two battles that decided the
issue of the French war, Gravelotte and Sedan.
The spoils were immense, the glory set Germany in flames. Bismarck,
von Roon and von Moltke were held to be the greatest men of all time.
¶ Gravelotte, the bloodiest battle of the campaign, engaged 333,000
men and 1,362 cannon. The King commanded in person, on the right, and
Bismarck was with him.
The carnage was frightful. Bismarck busied himself carrying water to
the wounded. When the sun went down, German victory was complete, at
the loss of every tenth man!
¶ That night, Bismarck bivouacked on the battlefield, amidst serried
ranks of the dead. Says one who saw the terrifying scene: "Anon, the
watchfires of the Prussians blazed round about; and worn out by
incredible exertions at last Bismarck fell asleep, among the living
and the dead. He was now to have evidence of the result of his
life-long ambition; he had plunged his country into three great wars,
with all their dreadful toll of human life; but he slept that night
the sleep of the just--because he saw, in the complex blending of his
ideas, no inconsistency in paying any price for the glory of his
country."
* * * * *
¶ The whole bloody day at Gravelotte Bismarck had nothing to eat.
Finally, he found a hen's nest with five eggs; giving three to
half-starving soldiers near by, Bismarck with his sword broke the
shells of the two remaining and sucked the eggs.
Next morning he had some sausage soup, the first warm food that had
passed his lips for 36 hours.
¶ While he was standing dismounted, a concealed French battery began a
tremendous cannonade; the shells dropping all around, exploded, and
plowed up the ground.
¶ Night again. Nothing to eat. A sutler had some miserable rum and
wine. Bismarck took that, at once, but there was not a morsel to eat.
In the village, a few cutlets were found after a hard search, just
enough for the King.
His Majesty decided not to bivouac among the dead again, but took
shelter at a little public house.
¶ Bismarck with General Sheridan set off to find a sleeping place.
House after house was filled with the wounded.
Finally they found three empty beds with straw mattresses. Here
Bismarck and General Sheridan took up their quarters and slept
capitally.
Sheridan was present as official observer for the United States Army.
In his life, he had seen many great battles, including Gettysburg and
Sedan.
¶ Bismarck talked to Sheridan in English; and at dinner they drank
champagne and porter, Bismarck's favorite beverage.
* * * * *
¶ With tens of thousands of Cuirassiers as companions the King and
Bismarck rode down the broad highways, toward Paris; Bismarck wore his
famous big top-boots.
What a picture the King, Bismarck and von Moltke marching down the
highways of France, at their back their almighty army, up to 1914 the
greatest in all history, its fighting strength 600,000 men, perfectly
drilled and armed with deadly needle-guns. In puffs of smoke the reign
of Napoleon the Little was ending; and it is now curious to recall
that, 50 years before, as a young lieutenant, the present King of
Prussia had traversed almost the identical route with the Allies, to
help defeat Napoleon the Great!
* * * * *
¶ The iron heel of war was grinding men's lives into the dust, setting
fire to the country, and leaving a trail of destruction.
France looked along the German route as though a cyclone had
devastated the face of nature.
¶ Past cities, towns, vineyards, châteaux, the tramp, tramp, tramp;
the roll of the war drums; the rumbling of wheels--so the terrible
Prussians marched on!
¶ "Summer was passing," says Lowe, "Autumn was coming fast; France had
turned from the sap green of the vineyards to the golden hues of the
harvest; but it was the harvest of Death."
* * * * *
¶ Now came a gigantic cavalry movement, to the right, a prodigious
wheel, to round-up the French MacMahon, who had dodged and doubled in
the basin of the Meuse. "The chase," said Bismarck, "reminds me of a
wolf hunt in the Ardennes, but when we arrived, the wolf had
vanished!"
To make common ground with Bazaine, MacMahon concentrated his troops,
with the idea of breaking the siege of Metz, where 175,000 French
soldiers were undergoing the horrors of starvation.
The Germans outwitted MacMahon, who finally decided to make a last
stand around the frontier fortress of Sedan.
¶ On the night of August 31, the Germans closed in on him, in what
proved to be one of the momentous battles in the world's history.
Von Roon and Moltke had 121,000 infantry and 618 cannon, the French
70,000 of all arms, 320 cannon and 70 Mitrailleuses.
On the slopes of Frenois, the Prussian King, Bismarck and a brilliant
retinue witnessed for ten hours the dreadful carnage reddening the
fields.
¶ "More artillery!" cried the King, surprised that the French would
not yield.
In the King's retinue stood Bismarck, a crowd of princes, dukes,
aide-de-camps, marshals, besides army attaches of Russia, England and
America.
¶ On the King's order, 600 German guns began drawing the most terrific
artillery fire in the history of battles, concentrating an
ever-narrowing circle of flame and shell around the doomed place. It
was too much for flesh and blood; a white flag was hoisted.
The Prussian flag of truce to inquire for the commander, was led into
the presence of Napoleon, trapped at Sedan!
¶ Moltke's terms were short; the whole French army was to surrender as
prisoners of war.
The French regarded this as too severe after their heroism, but the
Prussians were inexorable; an armistice left the final decision till
daylight.
* * * * *
¶ Bismarck passed the night at the house of Dr. Jeanpot, at Donchery,
a few miles from the bloody field of Sedan.
Along about daybreak, a servant awakened Bismarck, telling him a
French general was at the door. It was Reille, Napoleon's messenger,
saying "Napoleon is on the way over to see the King of Prussia!"
¶ What a moment! How Bismarck's pride must have risen; how he must
have gritted his wolf's teeth and felt his gorge rise as he realized
that the hour of his life-long revenge was at hand, against his old
enemy.
¶ And yet, that night, he had been reading in his room after the
dreadful Sedan carnage--what do you think? Human inconsistency! "Daily
Refreshment for Believing Christians," by the Moravian brotherhood.
¶ Unwashed, breakfastless, Bismarck immediately set out, his revolver
in his belt; down the road Napoleon's carriage, "evidently a hired
one," said Bismarck afterwards, recounting the scene, "came into view;
the Emperor was escorted by a handful of officers; Napoleon had on his
military uniform, wore white kid gloves, and was smoking a cigarette!"
¶ Bowing and asking His Majesty's pleasure, Napoleon asks Bismarck, "I
wish to meet the King of Prussia." Bismarck replies, "Unfortunately
impossible; the King is quartered some fifteen miles away." However,
it is only a trick to gain time. Bismarck has certain powerful reasons
why he does not desire, just then, that Napoleon and William should
meet. We shall see, presently.
¶ Napoleon drives slowly onward, but nearing Donchery hesitates on
account of the crowd; and spying a solitary cottage near by, asks if
he could not remain there.
¶ It is the hut of a weaver of Donchery--a mean, dirty place--and
stands about fifteen paces from the high-road, which is lined with
poplars; the house is one-story, yellow, with four windows, and has a
slate roof.
¶ Bismarck and Napoleon ascend a rickety, narrow staircase giving
entrance to a gloomy chamber, in which are a deal table and two
rush-bottomed chairs. Here the two men sit alone for an hour. What a
moment in history!
* * * * *
¶ Only a few years before, that is to say, in October, 1865, Bismarck
had sought out Napoleon III, or "Napoleon the Little," and had held a
famous political interview; the meeting at Biarritz found Napoleon
filled with ambitions to emulate the illustrious career of his uncle,
Napoleon Bonaparte; but the secret although well kept did not escape
the vision of Bismarck.
¶ The Iron Chancellor came as a friend, on a pleasant exchange of
diplomatic courtesies, but in secret he was sounding Napoleon's
possible attitude in the oncoming Prussian war, against Austria. The
Emperor was completely tricked. Bismarck talked frankly of the
necessity of "reform" in the German Confederation, and Napoleon, whose
hobby was that peoples speaking the same language should be under one
rule, fell in quite naturally with the plan to "reform" Prussia. The
Emperor thought that Bismarck had in mind only certain constitutional
changes in Prussia, not dynastic changes, destroying the European
balance of power and preparing the way for German Unity.
¶ Bismarck made clear to the Emperor that, in return for keeping out
of any impending Austrian clash, France would be rewarded by enlarged
boundaries. As an enlightened egotist, Bismarck felt that it was "only
fair" to acknowledge French help with the left bank of the Rhine. It
was all a bluff. But Napoleon, with his hunger to enlarge French
territory, and to appear before France as a sort of second Napoleon
the Great, fell in with the conspiracy. Herein, the Bismarckian skill
at stacking the cards reaches its height.
¶ And now to think that the next meeting of the French lamb and the
Prussian wolf should take place in a weaver's hut, Napoleon stripped
of glory and power by the man who was to "give" great lands to France.
¶ The Emperor had been caught in his own trap; his armies had been
crushed; his government destroyed by Bismarck's genius for political
intrigue. The rise to power of Prussia over Austria, against which
Napoleon had been tricked not to protest, was a turning point in the
history of modern Europe. Hence we say that these two contrasted
interviews, the one of glory, the other of the downfall, Biarritz and
the Weaver's Hut, show our Otto von Bismarck as the supreme
politico-military genius of his time.
¶ A curious sidelight on the famous interview at Biarritz is supplied
by Bismarck's writings. "Napoleon said things could not go on as they
had been doing, in Prussia," wrote Bismarck, "otherwise there would
soon be an uprising in Berlin and a revolution in the whole country. I
told him that the people of our country were not barricade-builders,
and that in Prussia revolutions were made only by the kings. If the
King could stand the strain on him for three or four years he would
certainly win the game. Unless he got tired and left me, I would not
fail him. The Emperor at that time said of me, 'Ce n'est pas un homme
serieux,' (Bismarck is not a serious man), a mot of which I did not
think myself at liberty to remind him, in the weaver's hut, at
Donchery."
* * * * *
¶ Bismarck exercised all his mighty ingenuity to keep Napoleon from
urging too far that the King of Prussia be brought forward. Bismarck
knew that King William was tender-hearted, and, tempted by the
disaster that had come to Napoleon, would in consequence be inclined
to deal leniently with the Emperor.
¶ Bismarck, setting his iron jaws hard, determined then and there to
keep the Prussian King out of it till the terms of peace had been
arranged.
¶ Come, come, are we not justified in our character study of Bismarck?
Who now is master, who now servant? Who now is shown to be the real
power behind the throne? And if Bismarck did not actually bring on
this awful war, then he well knew the art of making other nations
declare war. Oh, he has learned a thing or two in his long and
eventful life; and he is now about to create his diplomatic
masterpiece--in the Belgian weaver's hut.
* * * * *
¶ Sedan surrendered 40 generals, 2,825 various other officers, 83,000
prisoners of war, 184 pieces of artillery, 350 field guns, 70
Mitrailleuses, 12,000 horses, and enormous quantities of military
stores.
¶ The broken-hearted Emperor was sent away to the castle at
Wilhelmshoehe, near Cassel.
And the King of Prussia opened the champagne at his royal headquarters
at Vendresse, and toasted von Roon, Moltke and Bismarck: "You, General
von Roon, whetted our sword; you General von Moltke, wielded it; and
you, Count Bismarck, have brought Prussia to its present prominence by
the way in which you have directed its policy for several years."
60
In which Bismarck reaches the zenith of his stupendous career;
diplomatist, ministerial Cæsar, unifier of his country.
¶ The Iron Chancellor held firmly to his plan to strip France of her
last franc.
The siege of Paris continued, with Bismarck and the King of Prussia
installed at Versailles, within the shadow of the stately palace of
the Kings of France.
* * * * *
¶ It is a long, vivid story leading to the 5,000,000,000 francs
indemnity, and the cessation of Alsace-Lorraine.
M. Thiers treated in vain to get softer terms; but Bismarck kept the
King out of it and stuck to his hard bargaining.
¶ "This is not war, it is confiscation!" Thiers exclaimed one day in
terrible anger, and eloquently he parleyed to have the amount reduced.
¶ Bismarck thereupon began to talk in German!
¶ "I have not enough French to answer such a charge as you have just
made!" he thundered. "Henceforth, we carry on our affairs in German."
¶ M. Thiers threatened to appeal to Europe to intervene, but at this
Bismarck broke into a hoarse laugh.
He knew that he had in his pocket a secret quit-claim from Russia and
Italy, Denmark and Belgium were tied in another way, Spain was hostile
to the French, and as for England--he snapped his fingers!
¶ "Defy me, and I tell you what I will do! We have in Germany about
100,000 excellent French troops, captured at Metz, who are still
wholly devoted to the old Imperial cause. I will release them and
bring back the Bonapartists! I care not who is in power so long as the
proper sovereign government of France signs our peace demands for
indemnity. Napoleon cannot do it, as his throne is in ruins; and even
if he did, the next party in power would probably set it aside. So
part of my duty is not only to demand for my King the just rewards of
our victory, but to start France again with some new form of
government."
¶ Going behind this stern diplomatic language, what Bismarck really
meant was this: "The longer the French Assembly hesitates to call an
election the more we will starve the city into submission. Live on
horseflesh, stale bread, cats and dogs!--die of fever and
pestilence!--the sooner it is over! Our siege guns will continue to
bark night and day, Paris will be reduced to ashes, crumble to ruins,
but the demands of the Prussian King must be obeyed. No power on this
earth can turn me from my project. I am resolved to wage a war of
extermination--and I have spoken!"
¶ "Very well, then!" exclaimed M. Thiers, "M. le Comte, as you will!
Rob us of our homes!--provinces!--burn down our homes!--strangle our
peaceful inhabitants!--in a word, complete your work! We shall fight
you as long as our breath remains. Perhaps we shall die--but we shall
never be dishonored."
¶ Bismarck seemed touched, but said all he had to do was to obey the
orders of the King.
Meantime he went out and was closeted again with Moltke and His
Majesty.
¶ "I do not believe," said M. Favre, "that any criminal ever waited
for the judgment with more feverish anxiety. Motionless, we followed
with bewildered gaze the hands of the clock.
¶ "The door opened; Bismarck stood on the threshold, announcing that
he would not insist on the German troops entering Paris--provided we
gave up Belfort!
¶ "There was a moment of inexpressible agony, but an exchange of
glances sufficed. 'We should be wanting in patriotism if we
accepted!' exclaimed M. Thiers. The door closed and Bismarck
disappeared again.
¶ "At eight o'clock, M. Thiers had reaped the reward of his heroic
endeavors. He had saved Belfort, but in all other respects he had
absolutely failed to move the man of blood and iron. For five fearful
days they had wrestled with the problem of the 5,000,000,000--and had
lost! Bismarck had his own banker, the Jew Bleichroder, to show that
after all the indemnity would be adding 'only about one-fourth' to
France's national debt."
¶ On Sunday, February 26, the preliminaries of peace were signed. As
Thiers signed, Bismarck took him by the hand, saying, "You are the
last who ought to have been burdened by France with this sorrow--for
of all Frenchmen you have the least deserved it!"
¶ Bismarck, radiant with joy, signed the papers with a new golden pen
sent him for this express purpose by the ladies of the German town of
Pforsheim.
* * * * *
¶ Said M. Favre: "The countenance of M. de Bismarck was most happy.
With theatrical pomp, he sent for a golden pen.... M. Thiers
approached the little table on which lay the documents; he wrote his
name without betraying the feelings that tortured him. I tried to
imitate him, and we withdrew. The sacrifice was accomplished.
¶ "As a special understanding, it was agreed that the siege should be
lifted that morning at four o'clock and that France should fire the
last shot.
¶ "What sentiment in this, for Paris! Along then, in the deep night
that precedes the dawn, with the sky illuminated by occasional flashes
of the siege guns, at last the fire lessened, slackened gradually, and
then solemn silence fell. Suddenly, through the night, a loud report
was heard from the Paris ramparts, followed by a path of fire through
the sky; this immediately died away, and deep silence, now unbroken,
continued.
¶ "The long siege was over!"
¶ On the third day after signing the hard conditions, 30,000 German
troops made their triumphal entry into Paris, after being reviewed on
the plain of Longchamps.
With the victorious Prussians, Bismarck rode as far as the Arc de
Triomphe.
¶ It was one of the greatest incidents of his eventful life.
* * * * *
We have transposed to the last an episode that took place January
18th, 1871, the anniversary of the day on which the first King of
Prussia had himself crowned at Koenigsberg, 1701.
In the Hall of Mirrors, at Versailles, King William I of Prussia was
crowned German Emperor, amidst a clash of arms, martial music, hymns
of praise, and the felicitations of a brilliant throng.
In the semi-circle stood princes, grand dukes, dukes, crown princes,
hereditary princes, generals, ministers, military and political
figures, against a background of Prussian hussars.
¶ The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles had seen many astonishing sights
in the centuries gone by; and doubtless that night the shades of
Richelieu, Louis XIV, Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, Marie Theresa, Madam
Pompadour, looked down on one of the strangest incidents in all
history, a German Emperor receiving his crown in the very palace of
the old French kings, who in their turn, had waged some twenty hard
wars upon Germany, and more than once had placed some part of German
soil in pawn. Who read the proclamation to the assembled company
expressing the new dignity of the sovereign over United Germany?
¶ The Man of Blood and Iron, Otto von Bismarck, at last had
demonstrated the dream of his life, that is to say, he had in truth
not only long been King's Man, but also long had upheld the King his
master; had unified Germany;--and now had made his master more than
king, as William I, German Emperor.
¶ Bismarck's life work was now practically over; however, he was a
busy man for twenty years to come, trying to settle Germany's
perplexing internal problems; but in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles
he reached the zenith of his stupendous career as unifier of his
country.
¶ In this magnificent state apartment of Louis XIV are seventeen
arcades of looking-glass, corresponding to the seventeen large
windows; the ceiling by Lebrun shows thirty incidents in the life of
Louis the Magnificent, each painting bordered by rich gilded
sculptures.
The entire gallery is decorated with marbles and grand trophies of
gilded copper, by Coysevox.
In Louis's time, the gallery was hung in white damask brocaded with
gold; there were orange trees in rare boxes; the great central
chandelier of gilded silver was by famous smiths; priceless Savonnerie
carpets muffled the lightest foot-fall; round about were silver
stools, with green velvet coverings surrounded by bands of gold
brocade. Later, the silver was melted down, on Louis's order, and the
money squandered.
¶ These great artists worked in the Hall of Mirrors and neighboring
apartments: Berain, Monsart, Lebrun, Lenotre, Grissey, Vigarani,
Audran, Baptiste, Coustau, Coypel, Van Cleve, Taffieri, Taupin,
Tempore, Temporiti, numbering among them painters, sculptors,
designers, architects, wood carvers, silversmiths and lockmakers
extraordinary.
¶ Here, Louis, surrounded by some 1,500 flatterers of all degree, high
and low, kept his court of pleasure bestowing ribbons, favors,
dinners, golden swords for the men, diamond necklaces for the women.
¶ However, 1789 ended all that; the mob stormed into imperial chambers
and through the apartments of the old aristocratic French courtesans;
and with clubs, axes and fires laid in ruin art treasures that stood
unmatched through centuries.
¶ To this Versailles come now the Prussian soldiers to proclaim their
German Emperor; in this palace, where the Bourbons had expended some
200,000,000 francs, as money is reckoned today; to say nothing of the
free labor of thousands of convicts.
No record tells what Louis spent on the place, but in August, 1684,
8,000 horses and 20,000 convicts were working there, and in 1685 at
one time as many as 36,000 convicts, in charge of soldiers, added
their vast free labor to heighten the peculiar glory of the great
French monarchs, as the sublime representatives of kingcraft--in its
splendor and in its downfall.
* * * * *
¶ All hail, William I, German Emperor! All hail, Bismarck! All hail,
United Germany!