THE WOUNDED HERCULES-TWO GRAVES. 95 yonder in the sunshine is Indian corn and beet-root. By this bridge stands a statue of Hercules with its hand on its back, cut in sandstone, on the north side. of which the Junker Otto Bismarck once fired off his rifle-the marks of which musketry are still visible—and he ever afterwards used to assure his friends that Hercules put his hand there because the shot still pained him! On one thigh, evidently by a later hand, some person has written "Adam." This person, obviously somewhat wanting in his knowledge of mythology, no doubt was led to the explanation by the very primitive style of costume. But so long as the country side contents itself with such explanations, there is not much to be said against it. It is somewhat more reprehensible to decapitate the gods, to provide a whetstone for the scythe. This fate, however, a somewhat massive Flora has had to undergo; and there it stands behind a thicket, apparently mourning the loss of its curly head. Upon a small artificial island in the park stands a lonesome pavilion in the style of the Regent, half hidden by trees and over. grown with moss. The poet might select it for the scene of the catastrophe of a romance. We did not cross the wooden bridge, because our friendly guide warned us against the gnats which for a long time, in many sorts and sizes, have enjoyed their innocent lives in that locality. We did, however, visit two solemn places in the park-two graves. In a dark shrubbery, grown quite wild, lies an elder brother of Bismarck, deceased as a child. The cast-iron cross has evidently been erected over the grave at a later time. At the very remotest corner of the park, close by the sedgy shore, we found the second grave. Here Captain von Bismarck, a cousin of the Minister, reposes. Above the last resting-place of the wearied soldier is another iron cross. This was the favorite spot of the old gentleman during his lifetime; beneath the trees, on the banks which now watch over his grave, he used in summer time to muse every day over his quiet fishing-rod, or gaze dreamily across into the blooming meadows beyond the At his express desire he was buried in this spot. water. Besides the six-and-twenty farms and subsidiary patches, there is also at Schönhausen a knight's demesne (Ritter gut), formerly likewise the property of the Bismarcks, but which had to be sold 96 DEPARTURE FROM SCHÖNHAUSEN. in time of need. It now belongs to Dyke Captain Gaertner. It is related that the Minister wished to repurchase it, but Captain Gaertner, who did not wish to part with the property, asked 150,000 thalers more than the value, upon which Bismarck observed, "I would have given 50,000 thalers more than it was worth, but I can not agree to a larger sum." This is only a popular tale, for the truth of which we can not vouch. In taking leave of Schönhausen, we may be allowed to say that, in the general picture of the place, we seem to recognize individual traits of the man there born-or, rather, that the sight of Schönhausen has shown us features which point to cognate and similar facts in the outward appearance of Bismarck. It is difficult to express this in words, but the sentiment remains; and in this we need not appeal to posterity, as is the custom of authors when they feel assured that they will be unintelligible to their readers, but rather to all those alike familiar with Bismarck and his estate of Schönhausen. Be health and blessings ever near The mansion old by woods surrounded, The cradle, so to Prussia dear, Of him who Germany refounded. By strength of thought and weapon's might That Prussia's glory beams afar! |