BISMARCK'S CONFESSION OF FAITH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5496, 28 June 1879, Page 7

BISMARCK'S CONFESSION OF FAITH.

»— ■ Dr. Busch's recently •issued book of Prince Bismarck's sayings during the campaign in France contains, among other curious things, the following confession of faith:—". I cannot conceive how a man can live without a belief in a revelation, in a God who orders all things for the beat, in a Supreme Judge, from whom there is no appeal, and in a future life. If I were not a Christian, 1 should not remain at my post for a single hour. If I did not reply on God Almighty, I ehonld not put my truet in princes, lnave enough to live on, and am sufficiently genteel and distinguished without the Chancellor's office. Why should I go on working indefatigably, incurring trouble and annoyance, unless convinced that God has ordained me to fulfil these dutiee ? If I were not per- ' suaded that this.German nation of ours, in the divinely-appointed order of things, is destined to be something great and good, I should throw np the diplomatic profession i this very moment. Orders and titles to me ■ have no attraction. The firmness I have i shown in combating all manner of absurdi- • ties for ten years past is solely derived from i faith. Take away my faith and yon destroy my patriotism. But for my strict and literal belief iu the truths of Christianity, but for my acceptance of the miraculous ' groundwork of religion, you would not have lived to see the sort of Chancellor I am. Find me a successor as firm a believer as my- • self and I will resign at once. But I live in ) a generation of Pagans. I have no desire to i make proselytes, but am constrained to coo- • fees my faith. If there is among us any selfl denial and devotion to king and country, it i is a remnant of religious belief unconsciously - clinging to our people from the days of their s sires. For my own part I prefer a rnral life , to any other. Rob me of the faith that s unites me to God, and I return to Varzin to 1 d&rote myself industriously to the production 5 of rye and oats." The Prince's books of dfel votion, it appears, are those of the Moravian ~ ; they are.conceived in the spirit of f the doctrine of continuous inspiration. Thdyr , admit daily miracles, and the immediate and - momentary interference of the Deity_ in onr 3 thoughts and acts; they assert the divine in-: 9 fluence of certain texts over oertain days of i 'jhe year, and they, carry myetio views eo;far • as to assert the guiding hand of Providence in the verae tb.e o eye first lights upom sn.

opening the Bible.for counsel. These books the Prince—as his valet de chatkbre told Dr.~ Bosch—habitually reads at night. Moreover, he objecfef to sitting down thirteen w dinner." He wiß ,, conclude no treaties on Friday?, convinced that they will not prosper. He will not even negotiate on the anniversary of the battles on Hochkiroh and Jena, it being a black'day' in the. Prussian calendar. He insists that no Pomeranian nobleman created a Count lias eyerseenhia progeny thrive. He confesses having objected to his own elevation on this score, and is not quite at bis ease even now. He thinks he knows the year of his death, deeming ifc a number 'of mystic import in his family. He will not Save his hair cut when the mcon is on the wane. He thinks '' a benevolent rational absolntism" is the best form of Government; and that unless strengthened with some of this salutary tonic, any Government may fall to pieces.