GREAT MEN'S BODIES
broken articles. To the company I said: 'You see, gentlemen, that I sought no quarrel; and you are witnesses that I restrained myself as long as I could; but I was not going to let him pour a glass of beer over my head, because I had been quietly drinking mine. If the gentleman has lost a tooth by it, I am sorry. But I acted in self-defence. Should anybody want more, here is my card.'" There is no record that any one called for more. Yet this great man, whom no man could master, bears equally clear testimony to his reverence for his Master. For once during the Franco-German war, he used these words: 'If I were not a Christian I would not continue to serve the King another hour. Did I not obey my God, and count upon Him, I should certainly take no account of earthly masters. I should have enough to live upon, and occupy a sufficiently distinguished position. Why should I incessantly worry myself, and labor in this world; exposing myself to embarrassments, annoyances, and evil treatment, if I did not feel bound to do my duty on behalf of God? Were I not a stanch Christian; did I not stand upon the miraculous basis of religion; you would never have possessed a Federal Chancellor in my person. Find me a successor animated by similar principles, and I will resign on the spot. How gladly would I retire from office! I delight in country-life, the woods and nature. Sever my connection with God, and I am the man to pack my trunks to-morrow, and be off to Varzin to reap my oats."
A mighty all-round man this,—fit companion for his great countryman,—Charlemagne; able, like him, to create a Germany; able to do more than he, though it was no fault of Charlemagne's—to make one that will stay.
367
