secret with much fear and trembling, and then dropped it stealthily into
"a dark little box, in a dark office, up a dark court in Fleet Street."
A little later his story appeared in the magazine to which he had sent
it, and he tells us how, as he looked at his words standing so gravely
before him in all the glory of print, he walked down to Westminster Hall
and turned into it for half an hour, because his eyes "were so dimmed
with joy and pride that they could not bear the street and were not fit
to be seen there." He had been very much excited over this venture of
his little story. Now he took the fact of its success to indicate that
it was worth his while to practice using his pen as a writer of fiction.
After that Charles Dickens, although he continued working as reporter,
spent his spare hours in writing comic accounts of the various scenes of
London life which he knew so well. These were published as fast as they
were written, over the pen name of "Boz." He was paid almost nothing for
them, but he persevered, prompted by his inborn love of writing and the
fun he had in describing curious types of people.
Then one day a young man who had just recently become a publisher called
at Charles's lodgings and told him that he was planning to publish a
monthly paper in order to sell certain pictures by Robert Seymour, an
artist who had just finished some sporting plates for a book called "The
Squib Annual." Seymour had drawn most of the pictures for this new
venture, and they were almost all of a cockney sporting type. Now
Charles was asked if he would write something to go with the pictures.
Some one suggested that he should tell the adventures of a Nimrod Club,
the members of which should go out into the country on fishing and
hunting expeditions which would suit the drawings, but this did not
appeal to the young writer, as he knew very little about these country
sports, and was much more interested in describing curious people. He
asked for a day or two's time to think the matter over, and then finally
sent the publishers the first copy of what he chose to call the
"Pickwick Papers."
According to a common custom of the time, the author was allowed to
write a story as it was needed by the printer, so that the first numbers
of the "Pickwick Papers" appeared while Charles was still working on the
next ones. This often put him to great inconvenience, as he sometimes
found it hard to invent new adventures to fit Seymour's pictures and yet
had to have the story written by a certain time.
He wrote to a friend one night, "I have at this moment got Pickwick and
his friends on the Rochester coach, and they are going on swimmingly, in
company with a very different character from any I have yet described"
(Alfred Jingle), "who I flatter myself will make a decided hit. I want
to get them from the ball to the inn before I go to bed; and I think
that will take till one or two o'clock at the earliest. The publishers
will be here in the morning, so you will readily suppose I have no
alternative but to stick to my desk."
The public was slow in appreciating the humor of the "Pickwick Papers,"
and the series dragged until Part IV appeared, and with it the character
of Sam Weller. This original and very entertaining figure turned the
scales, and almost instantly there was the greatest demand for the
"Pickwick Papers." By the time the series was finished the name of "Boz"
was constantly on almost every English tongue. Here again fortune had
had much to do with deciding Dickens' career. Had the series failed, he
might have continued merely a reporter, but the humorous figure of
Weller tipped the scales in favor of his adopting the profession of
novelist.
From that time on one novel after another flowed from Dickens' pen. For
many of their most vivid pictures he was indebted to the hard life of
his boyhood, and the strange people he had known in the days when he
worked in the blacking factory finally grew into some of his greatest
characters. The little maid-of-all-work became the Marchioness in the
"Old Curiosity Shop," Bob Fagin loaned his name to "Oliver Twist," and
in "David Copperfield" we read the story of the small boy who had to
fight his way through London alone.
Those days of boyhood had given him a deep insight into human nature,
into the humor and pathos of other people's lives, and it was that rare
insight that enabled him to become in time one of the greatest of all
English writers, Charles Dickens, the beloved novelist of the
Anglo-Saxon people.
XXI
Otto von Bismarck
The Boy of Göttingen: 1815-1898
A tall, slender boy, followed by a great Danish hound, walked down the
main street of the German town of Göttingen in Hanover one spring
morning in 1832. The small round cap, gay with colors, told the world
that the boy was a student at the University, and also that he belonged
to one of the students' clubs, or fighting corps, as they were called.
But this boy looked quite a dandy. A wide sash was tied about his waist,
high-polished boots came up to his knees, and he wore a knot of colors
on his breast, the same colors he sported in his cap, the emblem that he
belonged to the Brunswick student corps. Moreover he carried himself
with rather a haughty manner, and the big dog, following at his heels,
walked in much the same way.
Presently there came strolling along the street a group of a half dozen
boys who wore the round caps of the Hanoverian Club. Something about the
boy with the dog struck them as comical, and they began to laugh, and
nudge each other, and when they came up to the boy they stopped and
stared at him in undisguised amusement. Quick color sprang to his
cheeks, he hesitated, and then came to a full stop. It was not pleasant
to be singled out as a laughing-stock in the main street of Göttingen.
"Well, what are you laughing at?" he demanded, looking squarely at the
group of boys.
One of them waved his hand airily in answer. "At the magnificence of our
new little Brunswicker," he answered mockingly.
"So? And are you accustomed to laugh at magnificence?" The boy's brows
were bent and his lips had set in a very stern line.
"When it amuses us we laugh," put in one of the others.
"Then I'd have you know it's ill manners to laugh, and I'll teach you
better as soon as we get schlägers in our hands."
"And who may you be?" asked the one who had spoken first.
"My name is Otto von Bismarck. I come from Prussia, and I'm a new
student here."
"And which of us will you fight?"
"I'll fight you all. Send your man to me at my room, and I'll agree on
any time and place." Then, with his head held very high the boy walked
on, and the great Dane followed at his heels.
"Bismarck?" said one of the Hanover boys to the others. "It seems to me
I've heard of him. They say he's splendid company."
"He's surely got pluck enough," agreed another. "I like the way he faced
the lot of us." So they went on down the street, discussing the new
student.
Otto, no whit daunted by his adventure, shortly after returned to his
room. He lighted a big china-bowled pipe, and was smoking and reading
when the messenger from the boys he had challenged came to see him. Otto
offered him a pipe, and the two were soon eagerly discussing horses and
dogs and telling about the fine hunting there was to be had in the
different parts of Germany in which their homes lay. They got on
together famously, and finally the visitor, who was the chief of his
corps, said, "What a shame we got into this trouble over nothing. You're
too good a fellow for any of us to fight. We shouldn't have guyed you
that way. Let me see if I can't fix matters up."
"I'm quite ready to fight them all," said Otto stoutly. "I told them so,
and I always stand by my word."
"I know," said the other, who by now had taken a great liking to the
young Prussian. "But you're not the sort to get really angry at such a
little thing, and I like you too much to want to cross swords with you."
"And I like you," answered Otto warmly, "but remember I'm quite ready if
the others aren't of your way of thinking."
The Hanover boy went back to his clubmates, and told them the result of
his talk with Otto. He said the latter was not a coxcomb or a dandy, but
one of the best humored fellows he had ever met, and if he had been
driven to showing his temper on the street that morning it was the
result of their rudeness, and not Otto's ill will. The other boys quite
agreed with what their captain said, and he was asked to carry their
regrets to Otto for the unfortunate meeting and their hope that the
duels might not be fought.
The reconciliation was at once carried out, but the adventure did not
end there as far as the young paladin named Bismarck was concerned. The
Hanover captain, who was a year or two older than Otto, and knew much
more about the University, became his best friend, and soon one boy was
rarely seen without the other. There was no regular Prussian student
corps at Göttingen, and so Otto, when he had reached the University and
had been invited to join the Brunswick Club, had at once accepted. Now
his chum began to show him how much better the Hanover corps was than
that of Brunswick, and argued with him that as it was not a matter of
home pride, but simply a question as to which boys he liked best, he had
better join his new friends' club. It took little persuasion to convince
Otto that his wishes really all lay that way, and so he resigned from
the corps of Brunswick and was received into that of Hanover.
As soon as this news spread through the University the Brunswickers were
very indignant. They declared they had been grossly insulted, and that
Otto von Bismarck should be made to pay for this slight upon them. Their
captain and best swordsman at once challenged Otto to fight with the
schläger. Otto accepted, and the duel quickly took place.
This schläger fighting was an old custom of all the German universities,
and every boy who belonged to a corps was pretty sure to fight one or
more such duels. The schläger is very heavy and clumsy compared with a
dueling sword, and requires a very strong wrist and arm. Instead of
dexterous fencing the fighting is done by downright slashing and cutting
and usually ends when one or the other fighter has received a cut on the
face. The duel takes place with a great deal of ceremony, each student
being attended by a number of his own club, and each corps values as its
highest honor the reputation of having the best fighters in the
university.
Otto proved his strength in this first duel with the Brunswick captain.
He himself received a number of hard blows, but he gave more than he
took, and finally cut his opponent on the cheek. That ended the duel,
and each boy retired satisfied, Otto because he had won, and the
Brunswick captain because he had another scar to prove his fighting
spirit.
But the Brunswickers were not yet satisfied that their reputation was
entirely cleared, and so in a few days Otto received a challenge from
the next best fighter of their corps, and having fought him was
challenged by another, and so the affair continued until he had met and
defeated almost every student in the Brunswick corps. He fought twenty
schläger duels during his first year at the University, and came out of
them so well that he was ranked as one of the best fighters at
Göttingen, and the Hanoverians were very proud of him.
In only one encounter was the young Prussian wounded. He was fighting
with a student named Biederwig, and the latter's sword-blade snapped in
two as Otto was parrying his fierce attack. The broken edge gave
Bismarck a slight cut on the cheek, and Biederwig at once claimed a
victory. The officers of the clubs, however, decided that the duel was a
drawn encounter. By this time Otto, who was just eighteen, had become
the leader among the students of Göttingen.
Such customs seem strange and almost barbarous to Anglo-Saxon boys, but
this dueling played a large part in the college life of Germans at that
time. Otto was not by nature quarrelsome, but he was bound to hold his
own with his friends, and to do that he felt that he must take his part
in the rough life about him. Very soon after the fight with Biederwig he
was drawn into a much more serious affair.
Among his close friends was a young German baron who had fallen out with
an English student named Knight. Each of them felt that their quarrel
demanded serious settlement and they determined to fight with pistols
instead of swords. At first Otto refused to have anything to do with the
meeting, but at the last minute the Baron's second withdrew, and the
Baron begged Otto to take his place. Otto could not refuse this appeal
of his friend, and so reluctantly consented.
When the two met Otto paced out a much longer distance than was usual in
such cases, and had them stand very far apart. When the word was given
each student fired, but both were so nervous that their shots went very
wide. Then Otto at once interfered, stating that the honor of each was
now fully satisfied, and refusing to let them continue. Here he showed
that masterfulness of character which had already made him a leader,
and which now at once compelled the duelists to submit.
Such a meeting as this was, however, contrary to the laws of the
University, and all the boys who took part in it were at once severely
punished. The other students told how Otto had ended the fight and
begged that he be let off, but the rector would not listen to their
requests, and Bismarck was ordered to undergo eleven days of solitary
confinement. When he was released he was welcomed back by all the
student corps, and became more of a hero than ever.
But Otto von Bismarck's college life was not all fighting. Although he
was not much of a student, he was keenly interested in everything about
him, and fond of arguing on all sorts of subjects. History was his
favorite study; he devoured stories of great kings and statesmen and
soldiers, his keen mind always intent on discovering the reason for the
success or failure of each.
There was then at Göttingen a young American, by name John Lothrop
Motley, who was as much interested in history as was Otto, and even more
fond of an argument. The two became close friends, and often sat up half
the night to settle some dispute between them. Motley was the more
eager, and often the young German would wake in the morning to find his
American friend sitting on the edge of his bed waiting to go on with
their discussion of the night before. It was Motley also who interested
Otto so much in American history that he took a leading part in
celebrating the Fourth of July at Göttingen.
His college life taught the young Prussian student many valuable things
that are not told in books. He grew up with a fine knowledge of the boys
of his own age, and with a strength and courage which made him admired
by all his friends.
A little later, when he was at home on a vacation, he was riding with
several neighbors around a pond. The banks of the pond were very steep.
Suddenly Otto heard a cry behind him. Turning he saw that a groom's
horse had stumbled and pitched the rider into deep water. The man was
terribly frightened, and it was evident that he either did not know how
to swim or was too excited to try to do so. The other horsemen stood
still, doing nothing but call to the groom. Otto, however, tore off his
coat and sword, and plunged in. The man caught at him, and clung to him
so tightly that it looked as though Otto would be pulled down with him.
Once both disappeared entirely under water, but Otto's great strength
saved him, and after a short time he was able to drag the groom to
shore.
Great events call for great men, and usually find them. The adventures
of his college life had never found the Prussian boy wanting in nerve or
courage; he had always seized his chance and made the most of it. He did
the same thing as he grew into manhood, and tried for a time life in the
army, then on his father's farmland, and then in Parliament.
Great changes were coming over Europe as Otto grew to manhood; old
countries were falling apart, and new ones being formed, and there was
need of strong men to advise and to check the people. Especially was
this true of Germany, which was then a collection of small kingdoms
loosely joined together. When these kingdoms needed a man to steer them
through the troubled waters that were gathering around them Otto von
Bismarck saw his opportunity and took it.
He became the great statesman of Germany, the "Iron Chancellor" as he
was often called, the man who built the present German Empire, and gave
its crown to his own sovereign, William I, of Prussia. He was a man of
tremendous power, aggressive, fearless, masterful, showing the same
sturdy traits that had made him in his youth the most feared and admired
schläger-fighter in all Göttingen.