140 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XV 



fiery, minatory, objurgatory, there now stood a young 

 man, quiet, self-possessed, easy in speech, friendly in man 

 ner, &quot; sweet reasonableness &quot; apparently his main charac 

 teristic, bubbling at times with humor, quick to turn a 

 laugh on a hostile bungler, but never cruel ; prompt in re 

 turning a serious thrust, but never venomous. Many of 

 his speeches were masterpieces in their way of handling 

 opponents. An attack which Bismarck would have met 

 with a bludgeon, Billow parried with weapons infinitely 

 lighter, but in some cases really more effective. A very 

 good example was on an occasion when the old charge of 

 Byzantinism was flung at the present regime, to which 

 he replied, not by a historical excursus or political disqui 

 sition, but by humorously deprecating a comparison of the 

 good, kindly, steady-going, hard-working old privy coun 

 cilors and other state officials of Berlin with fanatics, 

 conspirators, and assassins who played leading parts at 

 Constantinople during the decline of the Eastern Empire. 

 In the most stormy discussions I never saw him other than 

 serene ; under real provocation he remained kindly ; more 

 than one bitter opponent he disarmed with a retort; but 

 there were no poisoned wounds. The German Parliament, 

 left to itself, can hardly be a peaceful body. The lines of 

 cleavage between parties are many, and some of them are 

 old chasms of racial dislike and abysses of religious and 

 social hate ; but the appearance of the young chancellor at 

 his desk seemed, even on the darkest days, to bring sun 

 shine. 



Occasionally, during my walks in the Thiergarten, I met 

 him on his way to Parliament ; and, no matter how press 

 ing public business might be, he found time to extend his 

 walk and prolong our discussions. On one of these walks I 

 alluded to a hot debate of the day before and to his suavity 

 under provocation, when he answered : Old - , many 

 years ago, gave me two counsels, and I have always tried 

 to mind them. These were : Never worry ; never lose your 

 temper. &quot; 



A pet phrase among his critics is that he is a diplomatist 



