Bismarck.
Although this letter may have become public by an indiscretion which, under other circumstances, we should have deplored, we openly declare here that we do not regret the publication; and our readers will be of our opinion, without its being necessary to say more on the subject, or to qualify the contents of the letter.
We will close this chapter with some letters of Bismarck, written by him in his summer journeys of 1863, ’4, and ’5, when chiefly in attendance on the King, to his family, and generally to his wife.
Carlsbad, 7th July, 1863.
—— has my warmest sympathy; to lose children is worse than dying, it is so against the order of things. But however long it may last, one follows them. I have to-day had a very sunny walk, from twelve to two, along the Schweitzerthal, behind the Military Hospital, upward, and by Donitz on the Eger, above Carlsbad and the hills; then to the King, who, thank God, is getting on well, with three glasses of the waters. I am now living at the “Schild,” right opposite the Hirschen Sprung, and from my back windows I can see Otto’s Höhe, Drei Kreuzberg, etc. It is very fine, and I am very well, but sometimes have a longing for home; to be with you in Reinfeld, and leave the whole Minister-world behind me.
Carlsbad, 13th July, 1863.
I think I shall to-morrow go to Schwarzenberg, and thence to the dusty Wilhelm Strasse, and remain there two days, and then meet the King either at Ratisbon or Salzburg, and go with him to Gastein. How long I shall remain there we shall see. I shall often long to be here again, amidst Aberg, Esterhazyweg, Hammer, Kehrwiederweg, and Aich, and I always knew how to get comfortably rid of acquaintances, or, when I met any, to hide myself in the bushes. To-day I have been at work nearly all day.