MY RECOLLECTIONS OF BISMARCK-1879-1881 589 



was one of the invited guests, but soon showed himself 

 desperately ill; and, one day, walking along a street in 

 New York, suddenly dropped dead. 



A great funeral was given him ; and, of all the ceremo- 

 nies I have ever seen, this was one of the most remarkable 

 for its simplicity and beauty. Mr. Carl Schurz and myself 

 were appointed to make addresses on the occasion in the 

 temple of the Israelites on Fifth Avenue ; and we agreed 

 in thinking that we had never seen a ceremony of the kind 

 more appropriate to a great statesman. 



At the next session of Congress, a resolution was intro- 

 duced condoling with the government of Germany on the 

 loss of so distinguished a public servant. This resolution 

 was passed unanimously, and in perfect good faith, every 

 person present and, indeed, every citizen in the whole 

 country who gave the matter any thought supposing that 

 it would be welcomed by the German Government as a 

 friendly act. 



But the result was astounding. Bismarck took it upon 

 himself, when the resolution reached him, to treat it with 

 the utmost contempt, and to send it back without really 

 laying it before his government, thus giving the American 

 people to understand that they had interfered in a matter 

 which did not concern them. For a time, this seemed 

 likely to provoke a bitter outbreak of American feeling; 

 but, fortunately, the whole matter was allowed to drift by. 



Among the striking characteristics of Bismarck was his 

 evident antipathy to ceremonial. He was never present 

 at any of the great court functions save the first recep- 

 tion given at the golden wedding of the Emperor William 

 I, and at the gala opera a few evenings afterward. 



The reason generally assigned for this abstention was 

 that the chancellor, owing to his increasing weight and 

 weakness, could not remain long on his feet, as people are 

 expected to do on such occasions. Nor do I remember 

 seeing him at any of the festivities attending the marriage 

 of the present Emperor William, who was then merely 

 the son of the crown prince. One reason for his absence, 



