The opposition of the parties in the Reichstag to his policy and person did not represent the feelings of the country.  As the years passed by and the new generation grew up, the admiration for his past achievements and for his character only increased.  His seventieth birthday, which he celebrated in 1885, was made the occasion for a great demonstration of regard, in which the whole nation joined.  A national subscription was opened and a present of two million marks was made to him.  More than half of this was devoted to repurchasing that part of the estate at Schoenhausen which had been sold when he was a young man.  The rest he devoted to forming an institution for the help of teachers in higher schools.  A few years before, the Emperor had presented to him the Sachsen Wald, a large portion of the royal domains in the Duchy of Lauenburg.  He now purchased the neighbouring estate of Friedrichsruh, so that he had a third country residence to which he could retire.  It had a double advantage:  its proximity to the great forest in which he loved to wander, and also to a railway, making it little more than an hour distant from Berlin.  He was able, therefore, at Friedrichsruh, to continue his management of affairs more easily than he could at Varzin.

CHAPTER XVII.

RETIREMENT AND DEATH.

1887-1898.

Well was it for Germany that Bismarck had not allowed her to fall into the weak and vacillating hands of a Parliamentary government.  Peace has its dangers as well as war, and the rivalry of nations lays upon them a burden beneath which all but the strongest must succumb.  The future was dark; threatening clouds were gathering in the East and West; the hostility of Russia increased, and in France the Republic was wavering; a military adventurer had appeared, who threatened to use the desire for revenge as a means for his personal advancement.  Germany could no longer disregard French threats; year by year the French army had been increased, and in 1886 General Boulanger introduced a new law by which in time of peace over 500,000 men would be under arms.  Russia had nearly 550,000 soldiers on her peace establishment, and, against this, Germany only 430,000.  They were no longer safe; the duty of the Government was clear; in December, 1886, they brought forward a law to raise the army to 470,000 men and keep it at that figure for seven years.  “We have no desire for war,” said Bismarck, in defending the proposal; “we belong (to use an expression of Prince Metternich’s) to the States whose appetite is satisfied; under no circumstances shall we attack France; the stronger we are, the more improbable is war; but if France has any reason to believe that she is more powerful than we, then war is certain.”  It was, he said, no good for the House to assure the Government of their patriotism and their readiness for sacrifice when the hour of danger arrived; they must be prepared beforehand.  “Words are not soldiers and speeches not battalions.”