ord's Supper. The solemn rite was celebrated in his
own room, that it might not appear as an exhibition of official
piety.

[Illustration: BISMARCK.]

One morning Bismarck was called suddenly from his bed to see a
French general. Dr. Busch, on entering the bedroom just after the
chief had left it, found everything in disorder. On the floor was a
book of devotion, "Daily Watchwords and Texts of the Moravian
Brethren for 1870." On the table by the bed was another, "Daily
Refreshment for Believing Christians."

"The Chancellor reads in them every night," said Bismarck's valet to
Dr. Busch, seeing his surprise.

One day, while dining with his staff, several of whom were
"free-thinkers," Bismarck turned the conversation into a serious
vein. A secretary had spoken of the feeling of duty which pervaded
the German army, from the private to the general.

Bismarck caught the idea and tossed it still higher. "The feeling of
duty," he said, "in a man who submits to be shot dead on his post,
alone, in the dark, is due to what is left of belief in our people.
He knows that there is Some One who sees him when the lieutenant
does not see him."

"Do you believe, Your Excellency," asked a secretary, "that they
really reflect on this?"

"Reflect? no: it is a feeling, a tone, an instinct. If they reflect
they lose it. Then they talk themselves out of it.

"How," Bismarck continued, "without faith in a revealed religion, in
a God who wills what is good, in a Supreme Judge, and in a future
life, men can live together harmoniously, each doing his duty and
letting every one else do his, I do not understand."

There was a pause in the conversation, and the Chancellor then gave
expression to his faith.

"If I were no longer a Christian," he said, "I would not remain for
an hour at my post. If I could not count upon my God, assuredly I
should not do so on earthly masters.

"Why should I," he continued, "disturb myself and work unceasingly
in this world, exposing myself to all sorts of vexations, if I had
not the feeling that I must do my duty for God's sake? If I did not
believe in a Divine order, which has destined this German nation for
something good and great, I would at once give up the business of a
diplomatist. Orders and titles have no charm for me."

There was another pause, for the staff were silent before this
revelation of their chief's