Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 April 1885 — Bismarck's Size and Voice. [ARTICLE]

Bismarck's Size and Voice.

Suddenly soft bells are heard in ill parts of the house. The electric bells. in the reading-room, in tho committee rooms, the journalists’ room are sounded to announce the arrival of the Chancellor, who has shown that hie will speak presently, for with one of his pencils, more than a foot long, he has noted down something on the loose quarto sheets befor.e him, with letters not less than an inch deep, and this is a safe sign that he intends- speaking. The President bows to him, and Prince Bismarek rises to “take the word.” He is certainly more than six feet high; over his powerful chest and broad shoulders rises a strangely rounded, well-shaped head of enormous dimensions, with no hair upon it, so that it looks like a dome of polished ivory. Thick White brows hang over his eyes like two icicles. These brows give his face a dark and frowning expression, and the look which glistens in his eyes’ is cold and somewhat cruel—at least in Parliament. His mustache is also thick and gray, and conceals the mouth entirely. The whole face is covered with folds and wrinkles. When he begins to speak the color of his face changes from pale to red, and gradually assumes a light bronze shade, which gives his powerful skull the appearance of polished metal. It is a surprise to hear Bismarck speak for the first time. The soft, almost weak, voice is out of all proportion with his gigantic frame. It sometimes becomes so soft that we fear it will die out altogether, and when he has spoken for a while it grows hoarse. The Chancellor sometimes speaks very fast, sometimes very slowly, but never in a loud tone. He has no pathos whatever. Some of his most remarkable words, which in print look as if they had been spoken with full force, as if they must have had the effect of a sudden thunderbolt on the audience, are in reality emitted in an ordinary tone of well-bred conversation. Personal attacks upon his enemies are spoken by Bismarck with ironical politeness, and in such an obliging tone as if they concealed the kindest sentiments. But if his anger cannot be heard it can be seen; his face gradually grows red, and the veins on his neck swell in an , alarming manner. When angry he usually grasps the collar of his uniform, and seems to catch for breath. His brows are lowered still more, so that his eyes are almost invisible. His voice grows a shade louder, and has a slight metallic ring in it. The sentences drop from his lips in rapid succession. He throws back his head and gives his face a hard, stony expression. But it is difficult to discern when his anger is real and when it is artificial. The Chancellor has been seen trembling with rage, and more like the elements let loose than anything else. Once when he thought the word “Fie!” had been said by one of the opposition party he had one of his attacks, which would have silenced the house had every one been speaking at once. With trembling nostrils, with his teeth firmly set, with eyes that emitted fire, and clinched hands, he jumped from his place to the side where the word had sounded. If ample apologies and explanations had not been offered, who knows how this scene might have ended ? But except upon such rare occasions, Bismarck, the orator, is always a well-bred man. He does not bawl nor shout any part of his speeches, but while giving them then- full share of pointed sarcasm, he always maintains the form of a political conversation between gentlemen. — Zurich paper.