590 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-VII 



perhaps, was his reluctance to take part in the Fackeltanz, 

 a most curious survival. In this ceremony, the ministers 

 of Prussia, in full gala dress, with flaring torches in their 

 hands, precede the bride or the groom, as the case may be, 

 as he or she solemnly marches around the great white hall 

 of the palace, again and again, to the sound of solemn 

 music. The bride first goes to the foot of the throne, and 

 is welcomed by the Emperor, who gravely leads her once 

 around the hall, and then takes his seat. The groom then 

 approaches the throne, and invites the Empress to march 

 solemnly around the room with him in the same manner, 

 and she complies with his request. Then the bride takes 

 the royal prince next in importance, who, in this particular 

 case, happened to be the Prince of Wales, at present King 

 Edward VII ; the groom, the next princess ; and so on, un- 

 til each of the special envoys from the various monarchs of 

 Europe has gone through this solemn function. So it is 

 that the ministers, some of them nearly eighty years of 

 age, march around the room perhaps a score of times ; and 

 it is very easy to understand that Bismarck preferred to 

 avoid such an ordeal. 



From time to time, the town, and even the empire, was- 

 aroused by news that he was in a fit of illness or ill 

 nature, and insisting on resigning. On such occasions 

 the old Emperor generally drove to the chancellor's pal- 

 ace in the Wilhelmstrasse, and, in his large, kindly, hearty 

 way, got the great man out of bed, put him in good humor, 

 and set him going again. On one of these occasions, hap- 

 pening to meet Rudolf von Gneist, who had been, during a 

 part of Bismarck's career, on very confidential terms with 

 him, I asked what the real trouble was. i l Oh, ' ' said Gneist, 

 "he has eaten too many plover's eggs (Ach, er hat zu viel 

 Kibitzeier gegessen)." This had reference to the fact 

 that certain admirers of the chancellor in the neighbor- 

 hood of the North Sea were accustomed to send him, each 

 year, a large basket of plovers' eggs, of which he was very 

 fond ; and this diet has never been considered favorable 

 to digestion. 



