GIFT OF 
 EVGENE MEYER,J& 
 
WILLIAM I. 
 
 AND THE 
 
 GEEMAN EMPIEE. 
 
WILLIAM I. 
 
 AND THI<: 
 
 GERMAN EMPIRE 
 
 A Biographical and Historical Sketch. 
 
 BY 
 
 G. BAENETT SMITH, 
 ii 
 
 AUTHOR OF "POETS AND NOVELISTS,'* "LIFE OF HER MAJESTY 
 
 THE QUEEN," "THE BIOGRAPHY OF MR. GLADSTONE," 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SAMPSON LOW, MAESTON, SEAKLE, & EIVINGTON, 
 
 St. Jlmtsimt's flnnse, 
 
 FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, B.C. 
 
 1887. 
 
 [All rights reserved.] 
 

 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE Emperor William is not only in himself a vigorous and 
 striking personality, but he is the embodiment of that great 
 German Power which is now the first factor in European 
 politics. He is thus invested with a double interest, indivi- 
 dual and national. In tracing his singularly fortunate and 
 dramatic career in the following pages, I have therefore 
 sought to combine with the personal narrative some account, 
 first, of the Prussian Kingdom and people, and secondly, of 
 the foundation and consolidation of the new German Empire. 
 My information has been gathered from a variety of sources, 
 as I have acknowledged in the body of the work. In the 
 Appendix I have given a collection of Statistics from recent 
 returns, which furnish a bird's eye view of the extent, growth, 
 and present position of Germany. I have thus endeavoured 
 to give a triple aspect to this sketch the biographical, the 
 social and progressive, and the historical; and I shall be 
 glad if in consequence it be found to possess a more than 
 ephemeral value. 
 
 G. B. S. 
 
 256745 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TAGS 
 
 THE EMPEROR'S BIRTH AND ANCESTRY ..... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 FROM YOUTH TO MANHOOD ....... 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 PRINCE OF PRUSSIA 24 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PRINCE AS REGENT. ....... 38 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 KING OF PRUSSIA ...,,,... 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE WAR WITH DENMARK 82 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA ...... 92 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE 127 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Tin; CLOUD GATHERING . . 1G3 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE 169 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 FKOM SEDAN TO PARIS ........ 190 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 KING WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER ...... 210 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE ....... 229 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS 285 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 327 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 STATISTICS OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE 341 
 
WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 THE EMPEROR'S BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 
 
 CARLYLE has deified the greatest of all the Kings of Prussia 
 in a work whose literary vigour and intensity stand con- 
 fessed. With a breadth and skill suggestive of the effects of 
 Kemhrandt in art, he has painted a graphic and enduring 
 portrait of the redoubtable Frederick, and one which no 
 German writer has been able to rival. Whether the Prus- 
 sian monarch was worthy of all the laudation of his English 
 biographer is a debateable point. Carlyle's judgment was to 
 some extent led captive because he saw in Frederick the last 
 of the great kings ; but others will continue to hold that 
 this mighty conqueror was but a composite god after all 
 that if he was in part pure gold, he had feet of clay, and 
 that the line once applied to a wholly different personage, 
 ' the wisest, greatest, meanest of mankind ' is equally applic- 
 able to Frederick the Great. 
 
 This sketch of the life of the German Emperor opens 
 with some references to his illustrious ancestor, because 
 there are not only points of similarity in their characters, 
 but equally dramatic surprises in their respective careers. 
 The Emperor William has not those literary gifts for which 
 Frederick was distinguished, and which curiously enough led 
 the latter to become an ardent admirer of French thought as 
 exemplified in Voltaire and Maupertuis ; but he has many 
 
2 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 of the same personal qualities. The simplicity of his habits, 
 his unostentatious demeanour, his strong understanding, his 
 energy, and his personal courage, had all their counterparts 
 in Frederick. The earlier ruler, moreover, witnessed during 
 his life such an extension of Prussia as cannot be paralleled, 
 except by the extension of the German nation in the time of 
 the Emperor William. A century only separates the two 
 men, but it is one of the most momentous centuries in the 
 history of the human race. 
 
 A rapid historical glance over this century as affecting 
 Prussia, gives us at the same time the personal history of 
 >the Emperor William's immediate progenitors. Frederick 
 the Great, who had few of the higher aspirations of huma- 
 nity, and whose love of everything French was in striking 
 contrast to the Francophobia prevalent amongst so many of 
 his countrymen in our own day, led two distinct lives. He 
 was the man of letters and the man of action. In the former 
 capacity he wrote a series of memoirs and histories which 
 would have gained him some note had they not been the 
 productions of a king. As a man of action and a soldier, he 
 was swift, alert, judicious, and far-seeing, and he succeeded 
 in building up one of the most powerful states of modern 
 Europe. Dying in 1786, he left a splendid legacy to his 
 successor and nephew, Frederick William II. But once 
 more was observed that frequent occurrence in history, of 
 talent being succeeded by incompetency, and strength by 
 vacillation. The new monarch undertook wars which he 
 was unable to carry through, and soon impoverished the 
 well-filled Prussian treasury, turning the magnificent in- 
 heritance of seventy million thalers which existed on his 
 accession to a deficit of twenty-two million thalers, which 
 negative legacy was the only thing he bequeathed to his 
 unfortunate subjects. But not content with running down 
 the prestige of the kingdom without, this king incurred 
 great unpopularity at home by muzzling the press, intro- 
 ducing oppressive legislative enactments, and in imitating 
 
THE EMPEROR'S BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 3 
 
 our own Charles II. by lavishing his resources upon mis- 
 tresses and favourites. Yet at the same time the domains 
 of Prussia received an accession of 46,000 square miles of 
 territory during his reign hy purchase and inheritance, and 
 by that renewed infamy the second partition of Poland in 
 1793. 
 
 In 1797 Frederick William II. was gathered to his fathers 
 where it would have been well if he had been gathered 
 long before and great hopes were entertained of his son, 
 Frederick William III., the father of the subject of our 
 biography. Immediately upon his accession, he dismissed 
 the idle and vicious favourites of his predecessor, and made a 
 tour of the provinces of the kingdom, accompanied by his 
 noble and beautiful young queen, Louisa of Mecklenburg- 
 Strelitz. The King desired to improve the condition of his 
 subjects, and to raise the financial status of Prussia, and 
 for some time honestly worked for these objects. Could he 
 have looked into the horoscope of the future, and seen some- 
 thing of the sad misfortunes which awaited him in the course 
 of only a few years, his courage might have been stimulated 
 to action to avert these impending calamities ; but with that 
 fatal weakness which has beset so many of the House of 
 Brandenburg at critical moments, his will failed him, and he 
 was unable to grapple with the difficulties of his position. 
 While .the great European struggle with France was in 
 progress, the King of Prussia endeavoured to maintain an 
 attitude of neutrality, which made him unpopular with the 
 other German princes. At length he concluded an alliance 
 with France, which at first promised well, as it brought him 
 the territories of Hildesheim, Paderborn, and Minister ; but 
 the veil was soon lifted upon the treacherous character of 
 Napoleon, and in 1805 Frederick William was compelled to 
 enter into a compact with Kussia, whose object was to drive 
 Napoleon out of Germany. By another turn in the diplo- 
 matic wheel, however, Prussia agreed to the designs of 
 France, and consented to receive the electorate of Hanover, 
 
 B 2 
 
4 WILLIAM I. AND THE OEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 which naturally meant war with England. European com- 
 plications became so threatening and unavoidable in 1806, 
 that in response to the calls of his Queen and people, 
 Frederick William declared war against France. The result 
 was that by Napoleon's victories at Jena, Eylau, and Fried- 
 land, the kingdom of Prussia was practically crumpled up. 
 By the Treaty of Tilsit the King lost the greater part of his 
 dominions. Queen Louisa vainly endeavoured to procure 
 some modification of the humiliating conditions of peace ; 
 and Napoleon's unmanly and insulting treatment of the 
 hapless Queen is a serious stigma upon a character pretty 
 well studded with heartless and offensive blots of this kind. 
 The Prussians had to submit to the indignity of a French 
 occupation of Berlin for three years. Then the King lost 
 his high-minded and chivalrous Queen. For some time 
 Frederick William was a tool in the hands of Napoleon ; but 
 his spirit was not subdued, and his unremitting efforts at 
 this period of his life to reorganize his enfeebled government 
 by self-sacrifices of every kind, endeared him greatly to his 
 people. He not only effected reforms of great moment in 
 the administration, but established the University of Berlin. 
 The sun of Napoleon now began to set, and after the battle of 
 Leipsic, in which the allies were signally victorious, Prussia 
 regained almost all her former possessions. Her bearing 
 at Waterloo raised her prestige still higher. Frederick 
 William accompanied the allies to Paris, and signed the 
 treaty of peace. Now that the power of Napoleon was 
 utterly destroyed, the King of Prussia began to devote 
 himself to internal reforms. His best and greatest achieve- 
 ment was the formation of the great commercial league 
 known as the Zollvereinj which organized the German 
 customs and duties upon one uniform basis. But while he 
 sought to encourage trade and manufactures, Frederick - 
 William remained a despot towards his people. He solemnly 
 promised them a constitution, but repudiated his promise ; 
 and it was only too manifest that he dreaded the progress of 
 
THE EMPEROR'S BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 5 
 
 Liberal principles. Into political and religious questions 
 generally lie carried the old spirit of absolutism as opposed 
 to the spirit of enlightened constitutionalism. Dying in 
 1840, the King left behind him, in the shape of a document 
 addressed to his eldest son, a virtual condemnation of some 
 of his own principles. ' Beware,' he said, ' of the love of 
 innovation, now so general ; beware of impracticable theories, 
 so many of which are now in vogue ; but, at the same time/ 
 beware of an almost equally fatal, obstinate predilection for 
 what is old ; for it is only by avoiding these two shoals that 
 really useful changes proceed.' Then he indicated what to a 
 large extent has been the policy of Prussia since his death : 
 ' The army is now in a remarkably good condition ; since its 
 reorganization it has fulfilled my expectations ; as in war, 
 so also in peace. May it never lose sight of its high des- 
 tiny, but may the country likewise never forget what it 
 owes to it. Do not neglect to provide for, as far as lies in 
 your power, concord among all the European powers ; but, 
 above all, may Prussia, Eussia, and Austria, never separate 
 from each other. Their union is to be regarded as the 
 keystone of the great European alliance.' 
 
 The Prince Eoyal having closed the eyes of his father in 
 death, was greeted by the Emperor of Eussia, his brother-in- 
 law who was also present in the death-chamber of the 
 King as Frederick William IY. The new monarch had 
 received an unusually extensive and liberal education, and 
 literature and the fine arts exercised a strong fascination 
 over him all through his career. His reign opened with the 
 concession of many minor reforms, but the hopes which the 
 Prussians had built upon a larger and fuller liberty were 
 doomed to be disappointed. Mr. Lowe observes, in his 
 Life of Prince Bismarck, that the King ' had not been three 
 months on the throne, when he bluntly told his subjects that 
 he deemed a constitution unsuited to their wants, and meant 
 to stick to the Zemstvo-like system still in force. What was 
 worse, there was no reasoning with a sovereign, who, as the 
 
6 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Prince Consort of England fairly judged him, adopted mere 
 subjective feelings and opinions as the motive principle of his 
 actions and was as a " reed shaken by the wind." The truth 
 is that Frederick William IV., an accomplished and amiable 
 gentleman in many respects, was born to be a professor 
 of the fine arts, or a teacher of rhetoric ; but it was a cruel 
 freak of nature to make him a king of any kind whatever. 
 Of all modern monarchs, he most resembled James I. of 
 England ; but while not a bit less tenacious than the Stuart 
 of the Divine-right doctrine, the Hohenzollern was even 
 much more addicted to theology and the pedantry of the 
 schools. Strauss, the acute author of the Life of Jesus, was 
 one of those who satirized his crying frailties in this respect 
 in a pamphlet entitled "Julian the Apostate; or, the 
 Eomanticist on the throne of the Caesars." Frederick 
 William IV., did not, it is true, like James I., tremble at the 
 sight of a drawn sword ; but he had few soldierly instincts 
 or sympathies, and therefore the army, that mainstay of an 
 absolute monarch, soon came to return with interest the 
 indifference of its chief. On the other hand, the King hated 
 his bureaucracy, that other pillar of the Prussian State, for 
 its rationalistic bent, and was in turn scorned by it for his 
 ardent orthodoxy. The cruel disappointment, too, of all 
 their dearest hopes had cooled the loyalty of the great mass 
 of the people.' 
 
 So, although the King was in some respects well-inten- 
 tioned, and was of a chivalrous nature, he committed grave 
 mistakes, and became embroiled with his subjects in such a 
 manner as to endanger the stability of his throne. He was 
 also vacillating in his foreign policy. Having encouraged 
 the Duchies of Holstein and Schleswig in their revolt against 
 Denmark, and sent troops to assist them, without rhyme or 
 reason he abandoned their cause. Then, taking umbrage at 
 the revolutionary character of the Frankfort Diet, he refused 
 to accept the imperial crown which it offered him, though 
 a united Germany had been the dream of his life. One 
 
THE EMPEROR'S BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 1 
 
 writer, nevertheless, declares concerning this episode, that 
 history has not on record a finer instance of self-sacrifice 
 than the refusal of Frederick William to take advantage of 
 the national passion for the purposes of his own ambition, 
 and to ride on the wave of that enthusiasm, which he 
 himself felt more than anyone, towards the prize of the 
 Imperial Crown of Germany. Though it was the object of 
 all his thoughts, that the German race should be united into 
 one mighty monarchy, he felt that the primary title to sway 
 that sceptre abode with the house of Hapsburg. So when 
 the deputation from the Frankfort Assembly called upon 
 him to offer him the crown of Charles V., he replied that he 
 could not accept the offer unless it were confirmed by those 
 whose rights as sovereign princes would be affected by it. 
 His younger brother, the present Emperor, held slightly 
 different views as to the natural supremacy of the Haps- 
 burgs over the Hohenzollerns, though he too at first 
 declined to take the title of Emperor. 
 
 In 1847 Frederick William published a patent convoking 
 all the Provincial States in an assembly in Berlin, and 
 creating a House of Lords. But Europe was soon in the 
 throes of a revolution, which spread to the Prussian capital* 
 This popular movement was at first resolutely opposed by 
 the King ; but when the people persisted in demanding the 
 removal of the troops from the capital, and the populace 
 stormed the arsenal, and seized on the palace of the King's 
 brother who was then very obnoxious to the Liberals 
 his Majesty was compelled to accede to their wishes. He 
 found that he could only restore tranquillity to the capital 
 by calling back the popular leaders to power, and publish- 
 ing an amnesty. A futile war of constitutional assemblies 
 ensued ; constitutions were framed and abandoned ; and 
 when the revolutionary spirit had died away, the advanced 
 members of the Assembly of 1848 were prosecuted and 
 harshly treated. The religious and aristocratic parties 
 regained their former ascendency at court, and political 
 
8 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 and religious liberty, as well as the freedom of the press, 
 were largely curtailed. It is not surprising that under 
 these circumstances the King became more unpopular than 
 ever. His life was twice attempted once in 1847 by a 
 dismissed burgomaster named Tschech, and again in 1850 
 by an insane discharged soldier named Sefeloge. Nor was 
 the King's name regarded with much favour abroad during 
 the time of the Crimean War. Though pressed to declare 
 himself on one side or the other, he wavered to such an 
 extent as to offend both Kussia and the Allies, and ulti- 
 mately he took no part with either. 
 
 The fact was, there was little of the man of action in 
 Frederick William IV. He found more pleasure in the 
 pursuit of literature and the arts, and at his Court were to 
 be met some of the finest spirits of the age Schelling and 
 Tieck, Cornelius and Mendelssohn. In course of time the 
 burden of the crown and the cares of State became too 
 much for him. His health had suffered greatly during the 
 critical period of 1847-48, and early in 1852 an affection 
 of the brain became manifest. For some years he struggled 
 on, but in 1857 he was struck down by an attack of 
 apoplexy, from which he never recovered. It became 
 apparent in the following year that a Eegency must be 
 established. The King had married, in 1823, Elizabeth 
 Louisa, daughter of the King of Bavaria, but as there was no 
 issue, and, consequently, no son to appoint in the sovereign's 
 place, the King's brother and heir presumptive to the 
 throne, the present Emperor, was appointed Kegent. 
 
 I must now trace the Emperor William's life up to the 
 present juncture. William I., King of Prussia and Emperor 
 of Germany, was the second son of Frederick William, 
 Crown Prince of Prussia, and of Princess Louisa of Mecklen- 
 burg-Strelitz, to whom reference has already been made. 
 He was born on the 22nd of March, 1797, in the Palace at 
 Berlin, then occupied by his father, and situate between the 
 old palace of Frederick the Great, and the new palace, 
 
THE EMPERORS BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 9 
 
 37, Under the Linden, now and for many years back occupied 
 by the Emperor-King. At his baptism he received the 
 names of Friedrich Ludvig Wilhelm. Amongst his nume- 
 rous sponsors- were the Emperor and Empress of Eussia, the 
 Prince and Princess of Orange, and the Landgraves of 
 Hesse-Cassel and Hesse-Darmstadt. Only a few months 
 after the Prince's birth, his father succeeded to the throne 
 of Prussia. The times were very grave, and the young 
 Prince grew up under the gloom engendered by the 
 disastrous defeat of Jena, and the overshadowing power of 
 Napoleon. It is curious to read that Prince William, who 
 has lived to enter upon his tenth decade, was in his infancy 
 a very delicate child, and that he was reared with difficulty. 
 The care of him was entirely entrusted to persons of the 
 gentler sex, and after a few years he repaid their watchful- 
 ness and assiduity. When only five years of age, he was 
 present, with his mother, at a public ceremony in the Town 
 Hall of Coeln, a division of Berlin. At Christmas, 1803, he 
 donned the uniform of the Kudorf regiment, subsequently 
 known as the Zieten regiment, which has since attained a 
 still wider celebrity as the ' Ked Hussars.' 
 
 As is the custom with Prussian princes, the youthful 
 William was early made familiar by personal experience 
 with service in the army. Speaking of the Prince's formal 
 presentation to the Queen in his new uniform, a recent 
 writer, in a brief sketch of the German Monarch, states that 
 ' the Emperor still retains a lively remembrance of it, as 
 well as of the keen delight he experienced at being per- 
 mitted for the first time to wear uniform. The uniform 
 itself was even gayer then than it is now scarlet dolman 
 slashed with silver, white facings, dark blue and gold 
 pelisse, fur busby and white plume, boots and breeches.' 
 This fine ' arrangement ' in scarlet and white, and blue 
 and gold, delighted the boy's heart, as did also the 
 uniform of the Towarzcy Regiment the predecessors of 
 the famous Uhlans which was presented to him a year 
 
10 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 later. From the age of seven, he was instructed in military 
 exercises. 
 
 As regards his secular studies, he was at one time under 
 the charge of Privy Councillor Dellbruck, who was suc- 
 ceeded by Professor Keimann. In the science of war he had 
 the benefit of the tuition of Generals Yon Scharnhorst and 
 Von Knesebeck. ' Yon Scharnhorst was one of the earliest 
 and most sedulous advocates of the system of National 
 Defence, the fundamental principle of which is compulsory 
 man service, or, as its G-erman appellation (Allgemeinewehr- 
 plichf) more correctly describes it, " a common obligation to 
 take up arms." He doubtless imbued his august pupil with 
 his own convictions ; for Prince William, when he became 
 a member of the Army ^Reorganization Commission upon 
 attaining his majority, energetically supported the adoption 
 of the above principle into the Prussian army. His in- 
 structor in law was the celebrated international jurist, 
 De Savigny ; and he took lessons for nearly a year from 
 Kauch the sculptor of the famous statue of Frederick the 
 Great and from Schenkel, Berlin's greatest architect, in 
 the plastic arts. As his taste for music, if he had any, was 
 so latent as to be altogether undiscoverable, his judicious 
 parents spared him the peine forte et dure of an appren- 
 ticeship to counter-point, thorough bass, and five-finger 
 exercises.' 
 
 Prussia was soon at war with Buonaparte. The celebrated 
 Kahel von Warnhagen repeatedly heard the lieutenants of 
 the Guards in Berlin and Potsdam, boasting, with as much 
 flippancy as infatuation : ' With the Austrians, it may have 
 been easy work for Napoleon ; but just let him attack us 
 Prussians, and he is sure to get more than he bargained for.' 
 This was but another example of pride going before a fall, 
 as the event proved. In 1806 the troops marched out of 
 Berlin, and amongst those who watched them from the 
 windows of the Palace was the youthful Prince William. 
 Queen Louisa followed her husband to the headquarters of 
 
THE EMPEROR'S BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 11 
 
 the Prussian army, and the young princes were left alone in 
 Berlin. After the disastrous battle of Jena they were 
 conveyed to Schwedt. At this place they were shortly joined 
 by their mother, who burst into tears upon first greeting 
 them. Some historians state that Her Majesty addressed 
 her children in the following words, and as they were 
 certainly used by the Queen at this time, the context would 
 seem to show that they must have been spoken to the young 
 Princes : ' You see my tears ; I am weeping for the de- 
 struction of our army. It has not satisfied the expectation 
 of the King. In one day an edifice has been destroyed 
 which will take great men two centuries to rebuild. Prussia, 
 its army, and its traditional glory are things of the past. 
 Ah ! my children, you are not yet of that age when you can 
 fully comprehend the great calamity that has befallen us. 
 But after my death, and when you recall this unfortunate 
 hour, do not content yourselves with merely shedding tears. 
 Act ! Unite your powers ! Perhaps the guardian angel of 
 Prussia will watch over you. Liberate your people from the 
 disgrace and degradation they will have to endure. Conquer 
 France and retrieve the glory of your ancestors, as your 
 great-grandfather did at Fehrbellin, when he defeated the 
 Swedes. Be men, and strive to be great generals. If you 
 have not that ambition, then you are unworthy to be the 
 descendants of Frederick the Great.' This high-souled 
 Queen was indeed worthy to have brave sons. 
 
 The Koyal family now moved about from place to place, 
 and in January, 1807, we find them at Konigsberg, where the 
 King also came for a few days. On the 1st of the above 
 month Prince William entered the army. He was three 
 months under the usual age of ten years, but he received his 
 commission from his father, and within a year got his first 
 promotion. His first two commissions were in fact dated 
 respectively January 1st, and December 24th, 1807. He had 
 evidently by this time greatly improved in health, as he 
 went through all the drills, parades, and reviews customary 
 
12 WILLIAM I. AND THE GEfiMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 with the First Guards. Of his character we have this 
 glimpse, in a letter written on his eleventh birthday by his 
 mother to the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz : ' Our son 
 William permit me, venerable grandpapa, to introduce your 
 grandchildren to you in regular order will turn out, unless 
 I be much mistaken, like his father ; simple, honest, and in- 
 telligent. He resembles him most of all, but will not, I fancy, 
 be so handsome.' One who was qualified to judge, while 
 echoing to the full the maternal praises of the Prince, affirms 
 that he turned out to be handsomer than any of the Hohen- 
 zollerns, alive or dead. 
 
 On the termination of the war, the fatal treaty of Tilsit 
 was signed. Prussia not only lost all her possessions 
 between the Khine and the Elbe, with the Old March and 
 Magdeburg, but also the greater part of Poland. From the 
 acquisitions between the Rhine and the Elbe, Napoleon 
 formed the new Kingdom of Westphalia for his brother 
 Jerome ; out of the Polish provinces, the Grand Duchy of 
 Warsaw, for the King of Saxony ; and by way of insulting 
 while spoliating the King of Prussia, the instrument of peace 
 expressly stated that the restoration of the other conquered 
 countries, especially of the marches on the right side of the 
 Elbe, of Silesia, Pomerania, old East Prussia, and West 
 Prussia, was ' made only out of respect for His Majesty the 
 Emperor of Russia. 1 
 
 It was a painful time of sorrow and privation for the fallen 
 family at Konigsberg. The Eoyal table was with difficulty 
 supplied with the meanest food, and the King was so em- 
 barrassed for money that he had to send the golden dinner- 
 service of Frederick the Great to the mint. Yet the sons 
 bore everything with a brave heart, and Prince William set 
 himself to study the works of his great-uncle, the famous 
 warrior-philosopher. In consequence of the proximity of 
 the French, the Eoyal family removed from Konigsberg to 
 Memel ; and at this place the Queen, who was almost pros- 
 trate from mental and physical suffering, was attacked by 
 
THE EMPEROR'S BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 13 
 
 typhus fever. But the enemy still came on, and this 
 courageous woman insisted on leaving Memel, though it 
 was winter and the weather was very inclement : 1 1 would 
 rather render myself to God,' said the Queen, ' than fall into 
 the hands of those men.' Her children also were ill, for the 
 Crown Prince had been attacked with scarlet fever, and 
 Prince William suffered at the same time from nervous fever. 
 There was scarcely a gleam of hope anywhere, and the Queen 
 wrote to her father, ' All is over with us, if not for ever, at 
 least for the present. My hope is gone. We have slept too 
 long under the laurels of Frederick the Great.' 
 
 At length the foreign occupation of Berlin ceased, and 
 the French left the city. The Prussian Koyal family re- 
 turned thither on Christmas Eve, 1809, Prince William 
 entering the capital with his parents by the Bernau gate. 
 Time had brought, outwardly, at least, a spirit of partial 
 resignation, for Queen Louisa, in writing to Madame Yon 
 Berg, had said : ' I do not complain to live in the years of 
 misfortune ; it will, I trust, chasten both me and my family.' 
 Nevertheless, deep down in her heart was a feeling of despair 
 and of hopeless grief. The King, too, was so depressed that 
 he wanted to resign, feeling that God was working against 
 him. In 1810, however, he was called upon to sustain the 
 bitterest trial of all his beloved wife was stricken down 
 with a fatal illness. Some time before, she had thus written 
 to her father with prophetic insight concerning the future 
 of Napoleon and her own life : 1 1 do not believe that the 
 Emperor Napoleon Buonaparte is firm and secure on his 
 throne, brilliant as it is, at this moment. Truth and justice 
 alone stand firm and secure ; yet he is only politic, that is 
 to say, worldly-wise, not acting in obedience to eternal 
 laws, but according to circumstances such as he finds them. 
 Besides this, he sullies his rule with many acts of injustice. 
 He does not mean honestly to the good cause and to man- 
 kind. In his unbounded ambition he cares only for self, 
 and for his own personal interest. At the same time, he 
 
14 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 knows no moderation in anything ; and he who is not able 
 to restrain himself must lose his balance and fall. I firmly 
 believe in a God, and consequently in a moral order of the 
 world, which I do not see realized in an ascendency of brute 
 force. I therefore hope that the present evil times will be 
 followed by better ones. It is quite evident that all that 
 has been done, and is doing, is not to be permanent, nor 
 to be considered as the best state of things, but a state of 
 transition to a happier goal. This goal, however, seems to 
 lie far off; we shall probably not see it reached, but die in 
 the meanwhile. God's will be done ! ' 
 
 Waterloo avenged Prussia, and Napoleon fell never to rise 
 again ; but the already dying Queen did not live to see the 
 re-creation of her country. She died at the castle of Hohen- 
 zieritz, on the 19th of July, 1810, in the thirty-fifth year of 
 her age. She passed away peacefully in the presence of the 
 King and of her sister, the Princess of Solms. On examina- 
 tion, the physicians found a polypus at her heart ; it was 
 grief for the fatherland that had killed her. When her 
 beloved Magdeburg was lost, she had exclaimed, ' that if she 
 could lay open her heart, the name of that city would be 
 found written upon it in indelible characters.' The King 
 was crushed by this overwhelming sorrow. Days before his 
 consort's death he had cried out in anguish : l Oh, if she 
 were not mine she would live, but as she is mine she is sure 
 to die ! ' The strong man fainted when he told his children 
 of their irreparable loss, and the grief of the young Princes 
 was touching to behold. 
 
 When Napoleon heard of the death of the Queen whom he 
 had insulted, he remarked: 'The King has lost his best 
 minister.' But her spirit lived on, and began to infuse 
 itself into the people. Liberation was approaching, though 
 for the present Europe could only realize that God's hand 
 was heavy upon the Prussian nation and its Sovereign. 
 
CHAPTEK II. 
 
 FROM YOUTH TO MANHOOD. 
 
 PRUSSIA soon began her work of preparation for another 
 struggle with the French Colossus. And the King, who 
 had now only his country and his children to think of, rose 
 up after his paroxysms of grief were over, and strained his 
 eyes not without hope into the future. The whole nation was 
 in a state of expectancy, awaiting the development of events 
 which should again lift the Prussian standard from the dust. 
 Amongst others who were hoping to be of service to the 
 fatherland, and who were training themselves accordingly, 
 was Prince William, now thirteen years of age. One of his 
 tutors, in describing his Koyal pupil as he appeared at this 
 time, wrote : ' At thirteen I found Prince William possessed 
 of a sharp, practical understanding, a remarkable love of 
 order, and a talent for drawing. He had a firm will, and a 
 singularly earnest mind for his age.' The Prince received 
 constant instruction in strategy, field-planning, fortification, 
 and in military history. Under the direction of Major Yon 
 Pirch he went through his military duties with infantry, 
 cavalry, artillery, and engineers. That he was specially 
 skilled in engineering is proved from a piece of field-work, 
 whose whole details of construction he directed in 1811, 
 when he was not yet fourteen years of age. 
 
 Prince William was appointed First Lieutenant on the 
 15th of May, 1812, and Captain on the ensuing 30th of 
 October. He was now attached to his father's staff, and 
 went to Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he took command of 
 his company of the Guards. On the 22nd of January, 1813, 
 
16 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the King left Berlin, and set out for Breslau. He was 
 accompanied by his children, and in his train were two 
 famous men, Scharnhorst and Blucher, who both did much 
 for the salvation of their country. There was an animated 
 scene at Breslau, the windows of all the houses being filled 
 with spectators ; the streets were thronged with marching 
 troops, cannon, powder-waggons, and vehicles laden with 
 arms of every description. The place was like a human sea, 
 and every one felt that a new era was dawning. Frederick 
 William issued a proclamation on the 3rd of February, 
 calling upon the young men of the country voluntarily to 
 arm for the protection of the Fatherland. Although it was 
 not distinctly affirmed that the war was to be conducted 
 against the French oppressor, all true hearts understood 
 the Eoyal proclamation, and hailed the expected deliverance 
 of Germany. At Kalisch, on the 27th, a treaty of alliance 
 was concluded with Eussia, and the Emperor Alexander 
 visited the King and the Prussian princes at Breslau. 
 
 War against France was formally declared on the 27th of 
 March, and before the close of the year, Napoleon found, to 
 his cost, that the Prussia he had despised had mobilized a 
 new army, and one as hopeful in spirit as it was strong in 
 numbers. Scharnhorst had done his work of organization 
 splendidly, and a cry went forth from thousands of Prussian 
 lips for the expulsion of the French from German soil. 
 Much to his chagrin, Prince William was not allowed to take 
 part in the first campaign, chiefly owing to his delicate 
 health. He was therefore not present at the battle of 
 Gross-Gorschen, where the Prussian foot-guards suffered 
 severely. When promotions were granted, and the young 
 Prince received his commission as First Lieutenant, he said 
 to his father, ' How can I feel worthy of it ? I who have 
 been sitting by the fireside while my regiment has been 
 marching through the fire.' The King replied, 'It was I 
 who ordered it, and you shall lose nothing by my commands.' 
 But after the power of Napoleon was first broken at Leipsic, 
 
FROM YOUTH TO MANHOOD. 17 
 
 ;ind in response to repeated entreaties, the King granted 
 permission to his impatient son to join the army. Accordingly, 
 on the first day of the new year, 1814, the Prince crossed the 
 Rhine at Mannheim, in the staff of his father. The allied 
 army was commanded by Prince Schwarzenburg. It was 
 on French territory, at Bar-sur-Aube, on the 27th of 
 February, that Prince William received his ' baptism of 
 fire,' and in this case there appears to have been no 
 doubt either as to the martial ardour or courage of the 
 recipient. * Under his father's eye,' we read in one account 
 of the engagement, ' he charged the French with the Pskow 
 Cuirassiers, riding on their right wing ; and as he was 
 returning at an easy trot from that charge, in which the 
 Russian horsemen suffered terribly, his father, the King, 
 noticing an infantry regiment some distance off, heavily 
 engaged with the enemy, turned to him and said, " Eide back 
 and find out what regiment that is, and to what corps all those 
 wounded belong." Turning his horse, Prince William drove 
 in his spurs, and dashed back into the thick of the fray. The 
 regiment (Kaluga Infantry) was clustered on the crest of a 
 slope covered with vines, and was exchanging a murderous 
 fire with a body of French Tirailleurs occupying the opposite 
 slopes. Officers and men were falling fast, as Prince William 
 rode up to the Colonel, and, saluting as though on parade, 
 made the inquiries he had been ordered to make with perfect 
 coolness. As soon as he had obtained all the desired details, 
 he rode off at a canter, and, joining the King, verbally 
 reported what he had learnt. His Majesty uttered no word of 
 approval, or even of acknowledgment, though the whole Royal 
 staff was pressing round the gallant lad in delighted admira- 
 tion.' But the honours which deservedly followed the young 
 soldier's brave conduct were not long delayed. The Emperor 
 of Russia conferred upon Prince William the Cross of St. 
 George, a much-prized distinction, and on the 10th of March 
 the King of Prussia showed that he had not forgotten his 
 son's services, by bestowing upon him the Iron Cross a 
 
18 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 decoration more highly-valued by Prussian soldiers than any 
 other. On receiving the Iron Cross, Prince William said to 
 his brother, the Crown Prince, ' Now I begin to understand 
 why Colonel von Luck shook hands with me so warmly the 
 other day, after I had made my report, and why all the 
 other staff officers smiled so significantly.' But if the King 
 had been sparing of his son's praise on the field/he despatched 
 a glowing report to the home circle at Berlin, and the Prince's 
 sister, Charlotte, afterwards Empress of Kussia, sent her bro- 
 ther a letter of congratulation, in which she remarked, ' that 
 all his sisters looked with pride on their brother William.' 
 
 The war went all in favour of the Allies, and on the 31st 
 of March, 1814, the King of Prussia and the Emperor of 
 Russia made their triumphal entry into the French capital. 
 Prince William accompanied his father, who took up his 
 quarters at the Hotel Villeroi in the Eue de Bourbon. The 
 Prince had now been promoted .to the rank of major for 
 gallantry in the field. Frederick William remained in Paris 
 for upwards of two months, and then, early in June, he came 
 with the Emperor Alexander upon a visit to England, at the 
 pressing invitation of the Prince Regent. They remained 
 from the 7th to the 23rd of June, and there was little else 
 but feasting and lionizing during the whole of that period. 
 The King of Prussia and his two sons excited deep interest, 
 but the greatest English honours were undoubtedly paid to 
 bluff old Blucher. He was obliged to have recourse to even 
 more stratagems than he had employed in the field to evade 
 the myriad practical displays of enthusiasm of which he was 
 the object. But he was mightily pleased with the British 
 metropolis. * No, indeed,' he said, ' there is no city in the 
 world like London.' When the University of Oxford made 
 the King and the Emperor doctors, they also included 
 Metternich and Blucher in the honours. Blucher character- 
 istically remarked, 'You ought to make Gneisenau apothe- 
 cary, for he has worked the pills for me : we two always go 
 together.' The blunt marshal had a contempt for diplo- 
 
FROM YOUTH TO MANHOOD. 19 
 
 matists, whom he described as ' those rascally quill-drivers.' 
 When peace was about to be signed, he told them to do their 
 share of the work, adding, ' Ye will have to answer before 
 God and man if our work is in vain, and has to be done over 
 again.' He was just the sort of warrior to captivate British 
 tars and soldiers. When he left England, 300,000 people 
 collected to greet him at Portsmouth ; two sailors danced a 
 hornpipe on the top of his carriage, and, on reaching his 
 hotel, the gallant marshal drained a formidable and foaming 
 tankard of beer ' To the health of the English nation.' 
 
 If Paris and London were so enthusiastic, it may be 
 imagined what Berlin was like when the victorious King 
 entered it in August, accompanied by his sons and followed 
 by his brave generals and army. The scene has never faded 
 from the recollection of the German monarch, who then took 
 part in it with no small share of pride and rejoicing. 
 
 Early in the year 1815 Prince William was confirmed in 
 the Eoyal Chapel at Charlottenburg. Not long afterwards 
 Europe was again startled from its security by the intelli- 
 gence that Napoleon had left Elba, and was once more in 
 the field. Bliicher's first exclamation on hearing the news 
 was, ' Well, here is a pretty kettle of fish ! ' He then called 
 on the English Ambassador, and, l swore that, if he caught 
 the rascal (Buonaparte), he would have him shot without any 
 further ceremony.' The Allies were soon ready to engage 
 their old foe, and Prince William, at the head of a battalion 
 of Fusiliers of the First Kegiment of the Guard, was about 
 to cross the French frontier, when news of the glorious 
 victory of Waterloo arrived. Once more the allied sove- 
 reigns entered Paris, and on this occasion the Emperors of 
 Russia and Austria and the King of Prussia concluded that 
 famous compact known in history as the Holy Alliance. 
 
 A durable peace now ensued for Europe, and Prussia 
 began the task of consolidating her power, under the 
 direction of the King, assisted by the celebrated Stein, who 
 occupied a position at this time equivalent to that now held 
 
 c 2 
 
20 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 by Bismarck. Both were master-spirits in the art of con- 
 struction and reorganization; and what Stein did for the 
 State, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst did for the army. While 
 this work was in progress, Prince William was not idle. In 
 1817 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and took 
 command of the First Battalion of the 1st Foot Guards. He 
 was also elevated to the rank of a Privy Councillor. Accom- 
 panying his sister Charlotte to St. Petersburg, where she 
 was to espouse the Czarewitch Nicholas, he held the crown 
 over her head during the marriage ceremony (according to 
 Kussian custom), when the wedding took place on the 13th 
 of July. The Prince was advanced to the rank of a Major- 
 General on attaining his majority in 1818, and, so great was 
 the King's confidence in him, that, during His Majesty's 
 lengthened visit to Kussia shortly afterwards, he was en- 
 trusted with the charge of the whole Prussian Military 
 Department, 
 
 The Prince's life from this time forward was a very active 
 one. In addition to tours of military inspection made 
 throughout the Prussian provinces, he was sent on frequent 
 professional missions to Austria, Italy, Kussia, Belgium, 
 Switzerland, &c. He was advanced to the rank of Lieut.- 
 General, commanding a Corps d'Armee, and he took an 
 active part in the work of the reorganization of the army. 
 We obtain a pleasant glimpse of him in 1820 in the letters 
 of Baron Bunsen. The King of Prussia and two of his sons, 
 Prince William and Prince Charles, paid a visit to Kome in 
 that year. The King himself was conducted by Niebuhr 
 round the Eternal City, while Bunsen took charge of the 
 two Princes. ' They are both very observant and intelligent,' 
 writes Bunsen, 'the one twenty-three, the other twenty 
 years of age, and at the same time patterns of engaging and 
 yet dignified demeanour. Prince William, the elder of the 
 two, is of a serious and manly character, which one cannot 
 behold and perceive without feeling heartily devoted to him, 
 and in all sincerity to hold him in high esteem.' On the 
 
FROM YOUTH TO MANHOOD. 21 
 
 accession of Czar Nicholas to the throne of Kussia in December, 
 1825, Prince William was deputed to bear his father's con- 
 gratulations to the Emperor and Empress, the latter being 
 the King's daughter. 
 
 The Prince did not escape the tender passion, and we hear 
 of a bitter disappointment in love which for some years 
 drove from his mind all thoughts of matrimony ; but, being 
 on a visit to the Court of Saxe- Weimar in 1828, on the 
 occasion of the betrothal of his brother, Prince Charles, to 
 the Princess Mary, he saw for the first time the Princess 
 Augusta, a handsome and cultivated girl of sixteen. She 
 made a great impression upon him, just as he did amongst 
 the frequenters of the Court, for Baron von Gagern wrote : 
 ' Prince William presents before all the most noble and most 
 striking figure of the Court, at once simple, brave, jovial, 
 and gallant, yet dignified in his bearing. He is much drawn 
 by the attractions of the Princess Augusta.' The betrothal 
 of the Prince and Princess followed in February, 1829, and 
 the wedding ceremony was celebrated on the llth of June 
 ensuing, in the Royal Palace at Berlin. Amongst the mag- 
 nificent entertainments in honour of the occasion was a 
 tourney called ' The Spell of the White Hose.' The bride- 
 groom in silver armour held the lists in honour of his bride. 
 The Prince's elder brother and the Emperor of Eussia were 
 present, and these three illustrious personages, who were all 
 of imposing stature, were affirmed to be the three handsomest 
 gentlemen of their day. On the 18th of October, 1831, the 
 Princess William gave birth to the present Crown Prince of 
 Prussia, who received the names of Frederick William 
 Nicholas Charles. 
 
 The King of Prussia had four sons. The eldest, the 
 Crown Prince, married Elizabeth of Bavaria, a Eoman 
 Catholic, who did not change her religion ; Prince William, 
 as stuted above, married Augusta of Weimar, who became 
 the King's favourite daughter-in-law ; Prince Charles married 
 in 1827 Mary of Weimar ; and Prince Albrecht married in 
 
22 WILLIAM I. AND THE GEBMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 1830 Marianne, Princess of the Netherlands, from whom he 
 was at first separated and in 1849 divorced. His Majesty 
 had also three daughters : Charlotte Alexandra, the eldest, 
 married in 1817 the Emperor Nicholas of Eussia ; the next, 
 Alexandrina, married in 1822 the Hereditary Grand Duke of 
 Schwerin ; and Louisa, the youngest, married in 1825 Prince 
 Frederick of the Netherlands. \\ hen the last of his daughters, 
 and one specially "beloved for her likeness to her mother, left 
 the King, his loneliness was very great. After fifteen years 
 of widowhood, being then in his fifty-fifth year, Frederick 
 William married the Countess Augusta Harrach, a lady 
 twenty-four years of age, whom he had met when drinking 
 the waters at Toplitz. It was a morganatic marriage, and 
 proved a very happy one. The King raised his bride to the 
 rank of Princess of Liegnitz and Countess of Hohenzollern. 
 
 In 1834 Prince William commanded a military deputation 
 despatched by the King of Prussia to honour the unveiling 
 of a monument to the deceased Emperor Alexander in St. 
 Petersburg. A few months later, at a Prussian Court ball, 
 the Prince was much struck by two youths of lofty stature, 
 who were introduced to him by the Master of the Ceremonies, 
 and he pleasantly remarked, 'Well, it seems that Justice 
 now-a-days recruits her youngsters in conformity to the 
 Guards' standard ! ' The youths were lawyers practising 
 in the Berlin Courts, and the taller of the two was none 
 other than Otto Augustus Leopold von Bismarck. This 
 was the first glimpse which Kaiser and Chancellor had of 
 each other. 
 
 Frederick William III. had a tinge of superstition in his 
 nature, and he had long entertained the conviction, and 
 often given expression to it, that he should die in 1840. 
 During his stay in Paris, in 1815, he had visited the 
 notorious soothsayer, Mademoiselle Lenormand. It is stated 
 that she prophesied the death of Napoleon to take place in 
 1821, and that of the King of Prussia in 1840. As the 
 former prophecy if it were really made, and it would seem 
 
FROM YOUTH TO MANHOOD. 23 
 
 to have been so from the King's attitude actually came 
 true, he could never shake off the feeling that the second 
 would likewise. And indeed, at three o'clock in the after- 
 noon of Whitsunday, the 7th of June, 1840, a day which 
 had thus proved fatal to three of the rulers of Prussia 
 Frederick William III. breathed his last in the palace of 
 Berlin, beneath whose windows had assembled a large crowd 
 of the middle and lower classes. 
 
 Not long before the monarch's death, an incident occurred 
 which testified to the strength of the military passion in 
 the King's breast a passion which was certainly transmitted 
 to his second son. As the King lay ill upon his couch, the 
 bands of the various Guard regiments marched past the 
 palace playing patriotic tunes with great gusto. Prince 
 William, in subsequently reporting the day's proceedings 
 to his father, apologized for the strength of the music, 
 hoping that it had not distressed the sufferer. ' I liked it 
 very well,' replied the King, ' it did not disturb me in the 
 least. I was able to distinguish each company and squadron 
 as they went by. I hope they followed one another in 
 proper numerical order.' The Prince having set his mind 
 at rest on this point, his Majesty added, ' I only saw the 
 parade for a moment. Everything was as it should have 
 been.' 
 
 On the accession to the throne of his brother, Frederick 
 William IV., Prince William became heir presumptive, and 
 assumed, according to custom, the title of Prince of Prussia. 
 
 
24 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 THE new King was not long in discovering that conflicting 
 elements were at work in Prussia. The spirit of freedom 
 had touched most European peoples, and its influence 
 was felt to some extent already in Germany. The nation 
 had formed high expectations of Frederick William IV., and 
 was looking forward to sweeping Constitutional reforms. 
 These hopes were doomed to he disappointed. The King 
 reverted to the old policy of the Prussian sovereigns, and 
 hecame enamoured as were his predecessors of absolutist ideas. 
 For two years he pursued a course of duhiety and indecision, 
 and in 1842 crossed over to England for a change of scene, 
 leaving the Prince of Prussia as Eegent during his absence. 
 
 In 1844 Prince William had an important interview with 
 Baron Bunsen at Berlin, in reference to the impending Con- 
 stitutional struggle. ' The Prince spoke with me more 
 than an hour,' says Bunsen; 'in the first place ahout 
 England, then on the great question the Constitution. I 
 told him all that I had said to the King of facts that I had 
 witnessed. Upon his question, what my opinion was? I 
 requested time for consideration, as I had come hither to 
 learn and to hear ; but so much I could perceive and openly 
 declare, that it would be impossible longer to govern with 
 Provincial Assemblies alone, it was as if the solar system 
 should be furnished with centrifugal powers only. The 
 Prince stated to me his own position relative to the great 
 question, and to the King, with a clearness, precision, self- 
 command, and openness which delighted me ! He is quite 
 
PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 25 
 
 like his father; throughout a noble-minded Prince of 
 Brandenburg of that house which has created Prussia.' 
 
 In July, 1844, the Prince of Prussia visited England, with 
 Bunsen as his guide. He was received by the Queen and 
 Prince Albert at Windsor on the 31st of August. 'I like 
 him very much,' Her Majesty writes the same day. ' He is 
 extremely amiable, agreeable, and sensible ; cheerful and 
 easy to get on with.' A later entry in her diary records : 
 'He is very amusing, sensible, and frank. On all public 
 questions he spoke most freely, mildly, and judiciously, and 
 I think would make a steadier and safer king than the present. 
 He was in ecstasy with the park and the trees, as he is with 
 everything in England.' The Prussian Ambassador also 
 stated that the Prince ' took an affection for England 
 admired her greatness, which he perceives to be a con- 
 sequence of her political and religious institutions.' But 
 Sir Theodore Martin, in his Life of the Prince Consort, 
 observes : ' The cry throughout Europe at this time was for 
 Constitutional government upon the English model; but 
 the Prince seems to have felt that a Constitution like ours, 
 which had grown up with the growth of the nation, and 
 owed its form, as well as its stability, to the fact that it was 
 in harmony with the national culture and life and habits, 
 was not a thing to be applied to the other nations of Europe, 
 where none of the conditions were the same.' We further 
 read that a very cordial and intimate relation was established 
 between Prince Albert and the Prince of Prussia during 
 this visit. ' Frank and sincere as both were by nature, and 
 both watching with anxious interest the aspect of affairs on 
 the Continent, which was already prophetic of coming storms, 
 this was only to be expected. The friendship was cemented 
 by personal intercourse during four subsequent visits of the 
 Prince of Prussia to England in 1848, 1850, 1853, and 1856, 
 and came to a happy climax in the marriage by which the reign- 
 ing families of Prussia and England became united in 1858.' 
 
 When 1848, the dread year of revolution, came, it found 
 
26 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the King of Prussia in the throes of discord and conflict 
 with the people. Berlin consequently felt the force of the 
 popular upheaval. While the King was by no means to be 
 pitied, his brother, Prince William, incurred undeserved 
 odium. 'Calumniated by his countrymen, forsaken by his 
 friends, temporarily sacrificed upon the altar of expediency 
 by his brother (for whom he entertained a personal affection 
 as sincere as his loyalty towards his Sovereign was perfect), 
 actually banished from his native land, in the service of 
 which his whole life had been spent how profitably and 
 efficaciously subsequent events triumphantly proved the 
 Prince of Prussia was, for several months, a wretched, dis- 
 appointed, all but broken-spirited man. But though com- 
 pelled to retreat before the storm that swept over Prussia, 
 and well-nigh uprooted the Monarchy to which he was heir- 
 apparent, he never lost courage, or sacrificed an iota of his 
 personal dignity. He took no notice of the accusations 
 raised against him, nor of their later refutation, which was 
 complete.' Amongst other charges levelled at him, it was 
 said that he had commanded the slaughter of the people on 
 the occasion of the first emeute in Berlin on the 13th of 
 March, and that he was responsible for the ill-treatment of 
 the prisoners taken by the troops during the disturbances 
 of the 18th. Yet it was shown that four days before the 
 first of the disturbances in the capital occurred, the Prince 
 had ceased to be in command of the division of Guards 
 garrisoning Berlin and Potsdam, and therefore could not 
 have given the orders to the soldiery. He had been appointed 
 to the General Governorship of the Ehine Provinces and 
 Westphalia on the 9th of March, and had taken leave of his 
 fellow-officers of the Guards. The officers of his staff, more- 
 over, solemnly averred that, during the six days of his 
 sojourn in Berlin, while the revolution was raging, he cate- 
 gorically refused to give any order whatever, even on the 
 most pressing occasion, and always replied, ' I have no orders 
 to give.' 
 
PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 27 
 
 But mobs never argue, and rightly or wrongly the in- 
 surgents of Berlin had imbibed the idea that the Prince of 
 Prussia was even more reactionary than the King. They 
 attacked his house, breaking the windows, and the Prince's 
 life was in jeopardy. His friends besought him to leave 
 Berlin until the excitement had calmed down ; but he 
 resolutely declined to do so, except under an express decree 
 issued by the King. There was nothing for it but for 
 Frederick William to issue such a decree ; and the Prince, 
 who declined to quit Berlin so long as his flight might be 
 construed into an act of fear, reluctantly left his native land 
 for a time. Taking a steamer at Hamburg, he arrived in 
 London on the 27th of March. All kinds of calumnies were 
 still propagated against him, and long after he had taken up 
 his abode in London the report was current in Berlin that 
 he was on his way back from Warsaw with a Russian army 
 to put down the national movement. Affairs in the Prussian 
 capital became more settled when the King yielded to some 
 of the demands of the democracy. His Majesty withdrew 
 the troops from Berlin, the obnoxious Ministry went out of 
 office, and a Parliamentary Government was promised, while 
 the King agreed to place himself at the head of the move- 
 ment for the unity of Germany. 
 
 On reaching London the Prince of Prussia took up his 
 residence in the house of the Prussian Ambassador, the 
 Chevalier Bunsen. The following breakfast scene is related 
 by Bunsen : ' F. had fetched an armchair and placed it in 
 the centre of one side of the table; but the Prince put it 
 away himself, and took another, saying : " One ought to be 
 humble now, for thrones are shaking ; " then I sat on one 
 side of him, and he desired Frances to take her place on 
 the other. He related everything that came to his know- 
 ledge of the late awful transactions; and, l6t reports be 
 what they may, I cannot believe that he has had any share 
 in occasioning the carnage that has taken place, but conclude 
 that the general opinion condemning him has been the 
 
28 WILLIAM I. AND THE OEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 result of party spirit, and of long-settled notions as to what 
 was likely to be his advice and opinion.' 
 
 So great was the public excitement, however, that Prince 
 Albert, writing on the 30th of March to Baron Stockmar, 
 said : ' We cannot let the Prince of Prussia come now. He 
 has made enemies because he is dreaded; but he is noble 
 and honourable, and wholly devoted to the new movement 
 for Germany. He looks at the business with the frank 
 integrity of the soldier, and will stand gallantly by the 
 post which has been entrusted to him.' During his stay in 
 England, the Prince studied carefully the British Constitu- 
 tion and our mode of government, and wherever he went he 
 attracted admiration by his frank and manly bearing, and 
 the uprightness and sincerity of his character. Although 
 the Queen was not able to receive him as a State visitor, she 
 saw him on more than one occasion, and he had also frequent 
 interviews with Prince Albert, and with the leading states- 
 men of the day Peel, Palmerston, and Kussell. The Duke 
 of Wellington showed his feeling for the Prince by arraying 
 himself in the full uniform of a Prussian General, and call- 
 ing upon his Eoyal Highness at the Prussian Ambassador's. 
 The Prince afterwards spent a week with the Duke at 
 Strathfieldsaye. 
 
 While in England, an opportunity was afforded the Prince 
 of Prussia to make known his views on the question of Con- 
 stitutional reforms and the reconstruction of Germany. Herr 
 Dallmann, the historian, had prepared a paper entitled, ' A 
 Draft Constitution for Prussia ; ' and this was read by the 
 Prince, who found it substantially in accord with his own 
 views. He wrote to Dallmann, to the effect that the prin- 
 ciples upon which the proposed new Constitution was based, 
 would ultimately bring about the unity of Germany. With 
 regard to the Constitution of the Upper Chamber, however, 
 he held that it would be impossible for the Sovereigns of 
 Germany to sit at the same council-board with their subjects, 
 as they would be in danger of being overruled in the dis- 
 
PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 29 
 
 cussion of public affairs. He would prefer to see all members 
 of the Boyal house installed in a separate chamber of princes, 
 with which the King could hold communication before any 
 mportant question was submitted to Parliament. He also 
 dissented from the proposition that regular officers and 
 staff-officers in the Landwehr should be nominated by the 
 Sovereign, preferring that the selection of generals to com- 
 mand the German army should rest with the King, while 
 the selection of all other officers should be the preroga- 
 tive of the minor States. Bunsen asked, as a commentary 
 upon the Prince's letter, 'Is the Prince an Absolutist or a 
 Keactionist? That he is always open-minded and honest 
 nobody ever denied, not even his greatest enemies, whenever 
 they were writing or speaking with any knowledge of the 
 man.' The Prince of Prussia remained in England till the 
 close of the month of May, when he returned to Berlin. 
 Queen Victoria, writing to the King of the Belgians, re- 
 marked : ' He was very sad at going. May God protect 
 him ; he is very noble-minded and honest, and most cruelly 
 wronged. He seemed to have great confidence in Albert, 
 who cheered him, and gave him always the best advice.' 
 To Madame Bunsen the Prince said on parting: 'In no 
 other place or country could he have passed so well the 
 period of distress and anxiety which he had gone through 
 as here, having so much to interest and occupy his mind, 
 both in the country and in the nation.' 
 
 That the Prince of Prussia's political views had undergone 
 some modification during his visit to England is clearly 
 apparent from the following letter, written by him from 
 Brussels on the 30th of May, to King Frederick William : ' I 
 beg respectfully to inform your Majesty that, in accordance 
 with the commands imparted to me, I have quitted London, 
 and am at present on the Continent. I deem this a most 
 opportune moment for giving renewed expression to the 
 sentiments, already well-known to your Majesty, with which 
 I return to my native country. I venture to hope that the 
 
30 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 free institutions, to found which still more firmly your 
 Majesty has convoked the representatives of the people, will 
 with God's gracious aid become more and more developed to 
 the benefit of Prussia. I will devote all my powers sincerely 
 and faithfully to this development, and look forward to the 
 time when I shall accord to the Constitution, about to be 
 promulgated after conscientious consultation between your 
 Majesty and your people, such recognition as shall be pre- 
 scribed to the Heir-Apparent by constitutional charter.' 
 
 Nor is this the only evidence that he had resolved upon 
 accepting the new situation. Replying to an address pre- 
 sented to him soon after his return to Prussia, by the civil 
 and military authorities at Wesel, he thus spoke : ' A clear 
 conscience alone has enabled me to live through what has 
 recently befallen me, and with a clear conscience I return to 
 my fatherland. I have all the time hoped that the day of 
 truth would dawn. At last it has dawned. Meanwhile 
 much has been changed in our country. The King has 
 willed that it should be so : the King's will is sacred to me ; 
 I am the first of his subjects, and adhere to these new con- 
 ditions with all my heart ; but justice, order, and law must 
 govern, not anarchy against this last I will strive with my 
 whole might. That is my calling in life.' Upon the prin- 
 ciples here enunciated, he had been elected a Deputy for the 
 District of Wirsitz to the first National Assembly. When 
 he entered the House of Representatives for the first time, 
 his appearance was the signal for loud cheering on the part 
 of the Right, who rose to greet him, while the party of the 
 Left kept their seats. The Speaker having announced that 
 'the member for Wirsitz desired to speak on a personal matter/ 
 the Prince rose and delivered a short but straightforward 
 speech. He affirmed his readiness to devote his powers 
 honestly and conscientiously to the maintenance of a consti- 
 tutional Government, now that the King had thought fit to 
 adopt that form of rule ; and he expressed the hope that the 
 old Prussian motto would continue to guide the Legislative 
 
PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 31 
 
 Body, ' With God, for King and Fatherland ! ' Then he left 
 the Chamber amid a storm of cheers from the Conservatives, 
 and sounds- of disapprobation from the Badicals. 
 
 The constitutional question again led to an insurrection, 
 the seat of which was this time in Baden. It may be ex- 
 plained that the revolutionary movement of the previous 
 year had compelled the German princes to sanction the 
 election of a National Assembly, or general congress of 
 representatives of the German people. The Assembly met 
 at Frankfort in 1849, and selected the Archduke John of 
 Austria, as Vicar of the Empire, to administer the affairs of 
 the German nation generally. Prussia resented this choice. 
 The Assembly next elected the King of Prussia hereditary 
 Emperor of the Germans. Frederick William declined the 
 Imperial Crown, as we saw in a previous chapter, because it 
 was offered him by the people, and not by the princes. He 
 was angry with the deputies for their previous conduct, and 
 he now began to adhere more and more to those Absolutist 
 ideas which the people fondly hoped had been abandoned. 
 The draft of an Imperial Federal Constitution was promul- 
 gated by Prussia, Hanover, and Saxony, but Austria and 
 Bavaria refused to join in it. 
 
 Popular disaffection arose in the Grand Duchy of Baden, 
 and the crisis soon became acute. Provisional National 
 Committees were formed in Baden itself, and also in the 
 Palatinate, and the Bavarian Government declared the 
 Palatinate to be in a state of insurrection. Prussia thereupon 
 assisted the Confederated German States in putting down 
 the revolution. The King appointed Prince William Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the army of operation in Baden and the 
 Palatinate. He set out for the scene of action on the 10th 
 of June, and as he was approaching Kreuznach from Mainz, 
 he was fired at from the roadside. The Prince escaped 
 uninjured, but the bullet intended for him wounded the 
 leader and postillion of the second carriage. The assailant 
 was captured, and put on trial for his life at Mainz, but the 
 
32 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 jury, which was anti-monarchical in its sentiments, acquitted 
 him. 
 
 The Prince of Prussia proclaimed the whole of the Grand 
 Duchy of Baden to be in a state of war, and declared that all 
 offenders against military law should be brought to a court- 
 martial, and visited, if thought necessary, with capital pun- 
 ishment. The insurgents, who were commanded by a Pole 
 named Mieroslawski, sustained several severe defeats, and 
 the rising was effectually quelled. At the close of his brief 
 but decisive campaign the Prince of Prussia received the 
 orders Pour la Merite, Grand Cross of Philip the Valorous, 
 Grand Cross of Maximilian Joseph, and Grand Cross of 
 Charles Frederick. Saxony, as well as Baden, felt the wave 
 of disaffection, and a rebellion broke out at Dresden. Ob- 
 stinate conflicts between the people and the military took 
 place in the streets, but ultimately the revolt was quelled. 
 
 Meanwhile, the constitutional discussions at Berlin con- 
 tinued, and it was not until early in the year 1850 that 
 success crowned the efforts to come to some understanding 
 between King and people. At length after months of 
 difficulty and disquietude, a new Constitution was published, 
 on the 2nd of February. This instrument defined the powers 
 of King and Parliament and the duties of the Ministers of 
 the Crown. Although many modifications were subsequently 
 made, it formed the basis of the Constitution as now by law 
 established. A Kepresentative Chamber as well as a House 
 of Peers was provided for, and a great advance was made in 
 the direction of universal suffrage. It was true that outside 
 of the Kingdom there was still cause for anxiety. Austria 
 was chagrined at the alliance between Prussia, Hanover, and 
 Saxony, which had resulted in the new German Constitution, 
 and at one time war seemed imminent ; but the difficulties 
 were satisfactorily adjusted, and the treaty of Olrnutz was 
 concluded. 
 
 Eeturning to the personal thread of our narrative, for his 
 services in the pacification of Baden, the Prince of Prussia 
 
PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 33 
 
 was appointed to the governorships of Ehineland and West- 
 phalia. In 1850 he was despatched on a mission to St. 
 Petersburg, and from thence he journeyed direct to London, 
 in order to he present at the christening of Prince Arthur, 
 one of whose sponsors he had consented to he. Another 
 visit was paid to this country in 1853, when the Prince was 
 present at the naval and military reviews at Spithead and 
 Chobham respectively ; and on leaving England he proceeded 
 to Vienna upon an inspecting mission connected with the 
 Austrian contingent of the Federal army. In 1854 he was 
 appointed Colonel-General of Infantry, advanced to the rank 
 of Field-Marshal, and nominated governor of the Federal 
 fortress of Mayence. This same year the Prince celebrated 
 his silver wedding, and gave his consent to the betrothal of 
 his onlv son Prince Frederick William now Crown Prince 
 of Germany to the Princess Koyal of Great Britain. Lord 
 Palmerston considered that such a union would unquestion- 
 ably be to the interests of the two countries immediately 
 concerned, and of Europe in general. In her Journal, the 
 Queen gives the following interesting account of the be- 
 trothal, under date September 29th, 1855 : ' Our dear 
 Victoria was this day engaged to Prince Frederick William 
 of Prussia, who had been on a visit to us since the 14th. He 
 had already spoken to us, on the 20th, of his wishes ; but we 
 were uncertain, on account of her extreme youth, whether he 
 should speak to her himself, or wait till he came back again. 
 However, we felt it was better he should do so, and during 
 our ride up Craig-na-Ban this afternoon, he picked a piece 
 of white heather (the emblem of " good luck ") which he gave 
 to her ; and this enabled him to make an allusion to his 
 hopes and wishes as they rode down Glen Dirnoch, which led 
 to this happy conclusion.' Prince Albert wrote to Stockmar : 
 ' Prince Fritz William left us yesterday. Vicky has indeed 
 behaved quite admirably, as well during the closer explana- 
 tion on Saturday, as in the self-command which she displayed 
 subsequently and at the parting. She manifested towards 
 
34: WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Fritz and ourselves the most child-like simplicity and 
 candour and the hest feeling. The young people are ardently 
 in love with one another, and the purity, innocence, and 
 unselfishness of the young man have been on his part equally 
 touching.' The Queen and Prince Albert were anxious to 
 keep the engagement secret for a time, but knowledge of it 
 oozed out, and the Times published an article referring to 
 * the projected alliance in language as little considerate to the 
 feelings of the Sovereign and her husband, or of the young 
 people themselves, as it was insulting to the Prussian King 
 and nation, and indeed, to all Germany.' Sir Theodore Martin 
 affirms, in his Life of the Prince Consort, that the article was 
 one of the worst of a series by which the leading journal had 
 done its best to make England detested throughout Germany. 
 The Crimean War had just broken out, and the relations 
 between England and Prussia were of none too cordial a 
 character, in consequence of the uncertain policy of the 
 Prussian Court. The young Prince Frederick William and 
 his father were strongly opposed to the principles of the 
 party at Berlin, which had done its best to prostrate Prussia 
 at the feet of the Emperor of Eussia. We learn from the 
 work from which we have just quoted that the dominant 
 influence of Kussian counsels was made clearly apparent by 
 the dismissal from the Prussian King's service of all the 
 men Bunsen, General Bonin and others who had made 
 themselves obnoxious to the Czar by their known antagonism 
 to his policy in Turkey. These changes were effected by the 
 King without communication with the Crown Prince, his 
 brother, to whom they were so distasteful, that he left 
 Berlin for Baden-Baden, urging the necessities of his health 
 as a reason. The King .of Prussia, who still professed the 
 warmest friendship for England, felt that some explanation of 
 his conduct was needed, and in a very lengthy letter to the 
 Queen he endeavoured to justify his proceedings. Her 
 Majesty, however, had felt his conduct deeply, and in the 
 course of a trenchant reply, she said to the King : * If such 
 
PRINCE OF PHUSSIA. 35 
 
 men as these a loving brother among them, a Prince noble 
 and chivalrous to the core, and nearest to the throne have 
 felt themselves constrained to part from you at a momentous 
 crisis, this is a serious symptom, which may well give your 
 Majesty occasion to take counsel with yourself, and to test 
 with anxious care whether the hidden source of evils, past 
 and present, may not perhaps be found in your Majesty's 
 views.' 
 
 But in addition to interposing other difficulties in the way 
 of the Allies, King Frederick William, acting in concert with 
 the Princes of the minor kingdoms of Germany, did his 
 utmost to paralyze the action of Austria, which had shown a 
 disposition to take an active part on the side of the Western 
 Powers. While negotiations between France, England, and 
 Austria were going forward, Prussia formally declared that, 
 if Austria should enter the field against Eussia, she would 
 consider herself absolved from the conditions of the defensive 
 and offensive treaty which subsisted between Austria and her- 
 self. As soon as this became known, the indignation roused 
 against Prussia both in France and England, was so great, 
 that Prince Albert considered it expedient to call the attention 
 of the Prince of Prussia to the serious alienation between the 
 countries likely to ensue from Prussia's perseverance in this 
 line of policy. But nothing was done Prussia adhered to 
 her foolish course, and France and England, with the aid of 
 Victor Emmanuel, were left to engage the gigantic power of 
 Eussia, and they succeeded ultimately in crushing her designs 
 in the East ; but had the German Powers cordially supported 
 the Allies, the Crimean War would happily have been brief 
 and decisive. 
 
 The Prince of Prussia presided in 1855 over the Military 
 Commission, which decided upon the adoption of the needle- 
 gun throughout the Prussian army. On the 1st of January, 
 in the succeeding year, he celebrated his fifty years of 
 military service, when the King conferred upon him the 
 command of the 7th Hussars, and gave him a sword of 
 
 D 2 
 
36 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 honour. The officers of the army, by whom the Prince was 
 held in high esteem, presented him with a massive silver 
 shield, and the veteran old warriors gave him a magnificent 
 silver helmet. The Queen of England, moreover, sent him 
 the insignia of the Bath, hy the hands of the gallant Sir 
 Colin Camphell. 
 
 While the Prince of Prussia was at Baden in 1857, he 
 became acquainted with his future antagonist, Napoleon III. 
 In the following autumn King Frederick William had a 
 paralytic stroke, upon which softening of the brain 
 supervened. He did not recover, and being the victim of a 
 second stroke in October, on the 23rd of that month the 
 Prince of Prussia, by royal decree issued from Sans Souci, 
 was entrusted with the administration of the government for 
 a period of three months. As the condition of the Sovereign 
 became manifestly hopeless, the Prince was periodically 
 confirmed in his office, but these provisional arrangements 
 never extended beyond the time of three months originally 
 fixed, until, as we shall see in the ensuing chapter, he became 
 permanent Regent. 
 
 The Princess Koyal of Great Britain was married to Prince 
 Frederick William of Prussia on the 25th of January, 1858. 
 The Prince of Prussia came over for the ceremony, which 
 took place in the Chapel Koyal, St. James's. When the fair 
 English girl went out to the land of her adoption, never had 
 a Princess been received by the Prussians with as much 
 enthusiasm as she. And their first impressions of her have 
 only been confirmed and strengthened by the good and 
 noble life she has since led amongst the people. 
 
 In the month of August following the marriage, Queen 
 Victoria and the Prince Consort went over to Germany to 
 visit their daughter. At Aix-la-Chapelle the Royal travellers 
 were received by the Prince of Prussia, who was their 
 companion for the rest of the journey to Babelsburg. 
 Dusseldorf, Potsdam, Herrenhausen, Madgeburg, Berlin, and 
 other places were visited. At the small station of Wildpark, 
 
PRINCE OF PRUSSIA. 37 
 
 near Potsdam, the Queen and Prince found their daughter 
 waiting for them, and embraces and tears of joy followed. 
 The Koyal party were magnificently entertained during their 
 stay by the Prince of Prussia and the Court circle, but they 
 took up their residence at the house of their son-in-law and 
 daughter. After a stay of nearly seven weeks in Germany, 
 her Majesty and the Prince Consort returned to England 
 with feelings of rejoicing over the happiness of their eldest 
 child, and of thankfulness for the cordial understanding 
 which existed between the courts of St. James's and Berlin. 
 
38 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 THE PRINCE AS -REGENT. 
 
 So long as the Prince of Prussia remained provisional Eegent 
 only, the members of the Berlin cabinet were independent of 
 his authority ; and, as on many questions of policy they were 
 by no means agreed, a good deal of friction ensued. Even- 
 tually, an end was put to a situation which the Prince felt 
 to be irksome, for, on the 7th of October, 1858, he was 
 formally appointed to the Kegency with full p >~vers. The 
 King's decree ran that the Prince should act as Regent 
 ' until the moment the King should be again able to fulfil 
 the duties of his Eoyal functions.' 
 
 The Crown Prince assumed office on the 8th, and issued a 
 series of orders in the official journal, indicating a policy in 
 which the Constitution would be respected, and measures of 
 useful reform promoted to meet the wants of the time. A 
 meeting of the Prussian Chambers was convoked for the 
 20th of October, and on that day the Kegent addressed them 
 in a speech of much gravity, delivered with deep emotion. 
 Having referred to the sad condition of the King, taking 
 God to witness that his prayers never ceased for ( his 
 brother's recovery, the Crown Prince went on to say : 
 
 ' 1 have taken upon myself the heavy load and responsi- 
 bility of the Regency, and I have the firm will to continue to 
 perform what the Constitution and the laws exact from me. 
 I expect no less from you, gentlemen. Special messages will 
 submit to you in the sitting of the two united Chambers the 
 documents relating to the Eegency, and, on your request, 
 every explanation which may be useful will be given to you. 
 
THE PRINCE AS REGENT. 39 
 
 Gentlemen, the more serious the times are, in consequence of 
 the illness of our King, the higher must we exalt the flag ot 
 Prussia by the conscientious fulfilment of our duty, and by 
 remaining united by a bond of mutual confidence. I conclude 
 this solemn act by that shout which formerly so joyously 
 responded through this Chamber " Long live the King ! " 
 
 A joint committee of the two Chambers was elected, which 
 agreed upon a report recommending the Chambers to declare 
 the Kegency necessary. This report was adopted without 
 dissentient voices by the Chambers, and on the 26th of 
 October, the Kegent, after tl anking them for their unanimity, 
 took the oath required by the constitution in the Weisse Saal, 
 or White Hall of the Palace, in the presence of the members 
 of both Houses. 
 
 The policy of the new ruler of Prussia was foreshadowed 
 in a formal address by the Prince. On the questions of 
 religion and education, the Regent thus expressed himself: 
 ' In religion there had been many abuses, and both churches 
 would be strenuously opposed if religion again were to be 
 used as a political cloak. The Evangelical Church had re- 
 turned to an orthodoxy which was not in harmony with her 
 principles, and that orthodoxy had placed the greatest bar 
 on Evangelical union. The Catholic Church had her rights 
 constitutionally confirmed, but encroachments could no longer 
 be suffered. The education of the State would be so devised 
 that Prussia would be foremost in the intelligence of the 
 world.' As to the all-important question of the Prussian 
 army, the Regent observed : ' The army has created the 
 greatness of Prussia, though both the army and the State 
 suffered severely at one time from neglect. The war of 
 emancipation has proved the capabilities of the Prussian 
 arms, but the victories of the past must not dazzle us to 
 blindly overlook the defects of the present. There are many 
 things requiring alteration which money and time will effect, 
 It would be a grave mistake to be satisfied with merely ;i 
 cheap army reorganization, which could never realize the 
 
40 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 expectation of the country at a critical moment. Prussia 
 should he respected, and to that end it was imperative that a 
 powerful army should be maintained, so that when the 
 supreme moment came, she could throw her full weight in 
 the scale.' \Vith regard to Prussia's relations with other 
 Powers, the Prince said: 'The world must learn to know 
 that Prussia is always ready to protect her rights. A firm 
 and, if necessary, energetic policy, developed with caution 
 and prudence, will procure for Prussia that political respect 
 and power which it would be impossible for her to gain by 
 force of arms alone.' 
 
 The Prince of Prussia's appointment as Regent was hailed 
 with great satisfaction in England, and especially by the 
 Prince Consort, who looked forward to the substitution of 
 a liberal policy for the reactionary system under which 
 Prussia had long been suffering. 
 
 The fall of the Manteuffel Ministry, which represented the 
 old aristocratic party in Prussia, was a necessary consequence 
 of the change in the supreme direction of affairs. At first, 
 indeed, Baron Manteuffel declined to resign, but his ministry 
 was at an end when the Prince Eegent sent him an official 
 announcement to the effect that he had summoned the Prince 
 of Hohenzollern to Berlin, and charged him with the forma- 
 tion of a ministry. Prince Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was a 
 relative of the Eoyal family of Prussia, and was a lieut.- 
 general in the army. He became head of the Ministry 
 without a portfolio. Baron Schleinitz was appointed Foreign 
 Minister; Herr Patow, Minister of Finance; Herr Flottwell, 
 Minister of the Interior; General von Bonin, Minister of 
 War ; Herr Bethmann-Hollweg, Minister of Public Instruc- 
 tion; Herr von Massow, Minister of the Household; and 
 Herr von Auerswald, a member of the Cabinet without office. 
 All these names gave ' a strong guarantee for the infusion of a 
 sounder and more liberal spirit into the future government 
 of the country, while the appointment as Minister of War of 
 General von Bonin, who had made himself obnoxious to the 
 
THE PRINCE AS REGENT. 41 
 
 late government by his anti-Kussian policy, was hailed as an 
 indication that the foreign policy of the country would no 
 longer he unduly controlled by influence from St. Petersburg.' 
 The Prince Consort was so delighted with these appoint- 
 ments that on the 9th of November he thus wrote from 
 Windsor Castle to the Prince of Prussia : ' Let me from my 
 heart of hearts wish you joy of the brilliant solution of the 
 second part of your great and difficult task. Your Ministry 
 is, indeed, one of honourable men ; it will command respect 
 both abroad and at home, and you will, and rightly, be 
 applauded for the calm and resolute way in which you have 
 managed to effect what justice and the best interests of your 
 country seemed to you to enjoin. You will have had to 
 encounter hostility from without as well as struggles within 
 your own soul, and I can quite understand how much the 
 conflict must have cost you. Still, at the same time, in your 
 own convictions you doubtless found much to cheer and 
 strengthen you, and the growth in self-reliance, of which you 
 speak to me as the result of the success that has attended 
 the line you took up in the affair of the Regency, cannot fail 
 to be further augmented by this second success. Prince 
 Hohenzollern has acted nobly and patriotically in under- 
 taking the post of President of the Ministry, and you will 
 have a true, a staunch, and an active friend in him.' 
 
 Baron Stockmar was on a visit to Berlin at this time, and 
 he was much impressed by the character of the Prince 
 Eegent, and the injustice which had been done him in some 
 quarters. ' I have had an opportunity,' he wrote to Prince 
 Albert, ' of gaining a clearer insight into his nature, and 
 found that he deserves much more regard, esteem, and 
 confidence than the majority of the people about him have 
 given him. On one occasion, when he expounded to me his 
 views as to the policy of Prussia in regard to a neighbouring 
 State, I found them so sound, so simple, so sincere and 
 honourable, that I kissed his hand.' 
 
 The Prince of Prussia's statement to his new Ministry, in 
 
42 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Council assembled, set forth his domestic and foreign policy 
 in the clearest manner, and one which augured well for the 
 future of Germany, and also of Europe. Yet he had a 
 difficult task in reconciling the demands of the aristocratic 
 party on the one hand, and those of the democrats on the 
 other. But the Prince's guiding principle was that there 
 could he no just conflict of interests between Sovereign and 
 subjects, and he had demonstrated his faith in the nation by 
 insisting that his Ministry should in no way interfere with 
 the elections to the Chambers. The result of those elections 
 gave an overwhelming majority to the Liberals, so that the 
 Prince was amply justified in his trust of the people. 
 
 Before the Italian War of 1859 broke out, the Prince of 
 Prussia was anxious to know the views of England on the 
 complications which had arisen, especially as France had 
 made direct advances to Prussia, with the view of inducing 
 her to hold aloof from Austria in any eventuality. In an 
 able memorandum addressed to the Prince Consort, the 
 Regent said : ' The pretext for a war in Italy is to be the 
 form of government of the different States. But the true 
 cause is Sardinia's desire for aggrandizement. And Govern- 
 ments which are not concerned with the matter are asked 
 to take part in it. Where is the statute of international law 
 to be found, that teaches us to wage war against a State 
 because we do not like its form of government ? Or are we 
 compelled to aid the unjustifiable desire for aggrandizement 
 of one State at the cost of another ? 
 
 * There is also another reason which will drive Napoleon 
 into war, viz., his opinion that a Napoleonide must break 
 through the Treaties of 1815 whenever an opportunity for 
 doing so arises. To this there is a simple answer, that all 
 the other Governments are called upon to ensure the main- 
 tenance of these treaties. If France be perfectly convinced 
 of this, she will think twice before going to war. But, on 
 the other hand, Austria must also be exhorted to desist from 
 taking any provoking steps in Italy. "Whoever provokes 
 
THE PRINCE AS REGENT. 43 
 
 war wantonly will not easily find allies ! " This is a standing 
 phrase of mine with foreign diplomatists here ; it expresses 
 my firm conviction. 
 
 ' Now the question arises for Prussia : What is she to do 
 if France assists Italy in a conflict with Austria ? Public 
 opinion has for the last four weeks expressed itself through- 
 out Germany in such a decided manner against France in 
 case of such an emergency, that one cannot shut one's eyes 
 to the fact. And herewith Prussia's line of action would 
 seem to be clearly marked out ; for the wars of the Revo- 
 lution have shown us that, should the French arms be 
 victorious, they would soon be turned against Germany and 
 Prussia, if they had remained neutral and had quietly looked 
 on at all the disasters of Austria. 
 
 t But what would be our position if England should declare 
 in favour of France, and thereby of Italy, in such a war ? 
 And further, what are we to do, if Kussia should threaten to 
 join such an Anglo-French alliance ? Would not such an 
 alliance force a neutrality (though an armed one) upon 
 Germany and Prussia? On the other hand, suppose that 
 England and Eussia should remain neutral, and Austria be 
 victorious against the Franco-Italian alliance, while Germany 
 and therefore Prussia remained idle spectators, what would 
 be the position of Prussia? How are we to escape the 
 dangers of such alternatives ? This question I put to you.' 
 
 The Prince Consort, in a reply which was approved by 
 Lord Derby and Lord Malmesbury, enforced upon the Prince 
 Eegent the importance of trusting, not to arrangements with 
 other Powers, but to a frank and cordial understanding and 
 sympathy with his own people. At the same time it was 
 the one main essential thing for Prussia's safety and strength 
 that her language should be loud and firm. 
 
 The war was eventually circumscribed between France, 
 Italy, and Austria ; Prussia and England remaining neutral. 
 But Prussia placed her army on a war footing, and in closing 
 the session of the Chambers on the 14th of May, the Prince 
 
44 WILLIAM I. AND THE OEltMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Regent thus alluded to the position that the country would 
 maintain in the conflict which had then commenced 
 ' Prussia is determined to maintain the basis of European 
 public right, and the balance of power in Europe. It is 
 Prussia's right and duty to stand up for the security, the 
 protection, and the national interests of Germany, and she 
 will not resign the assertion of these her prerogatives. 
 Prussia expects that all the German Confederate Powers will 
 stand firmly by her side in the fulfilment of that mission, 
 and trusts that her readiness to defend the common Father- 
 land will merit their confidence.' After the war had pro- 
 gressed for some time to the disadvantage of Austria, it was 
 brought to a conclusion by the Peace of Villafranca. 
 
 The army reforms which the Prince carried out during 
 his Eegency were most thorough in character. They were 
 strongly opposed by the Legislative body, but the Eegent 
 insisted on carrying them through, feeling convinced that 
 they were necessary for the future glory and safety of the 
 country. The old general-service law of 1814 was rigidly 
 enforced, and 60,000 instead of 40,000 men were called out 
 annually for exercise. Not long after he came to the throne, 
 four new regiments of guards, thirty-two of infantry, ten of 
 cavalry, and five of artillery had been created ; the chasseur 
 and engineers' companies were strengthened ; the artillery 
 was reorganized, and the military train, as well as three new 
 military academies and a non-commissioned officers' school, 
 were all added to the existing army institutions of Prussia, 
 thus giving her a martial strength which drew upon her the 
 eyes of Europe. 
 
 One of the German Emperor's biographers forcibly ob- 
 serves that 'the Prince Eegent, as soon as he came into 
 power, hastened to prepare his people for the long series of 
 struggles which he foresaw to be inevitable, if Prussia were 
 destined, under his guidance, to achieve her mission in 
 Europe, viz., to take, and keep in such sort that it might 
 never escape her, the leadership of Germany. To this end 
 
THE PRINCE AS REGENT. 45 
 
 he drew the whole vigorous youth of the nation into the 
 ranks of the army, and revived that warlike tone in Prussian 
 feeling that had almost died out since the war of eman- 
 cipation. This martial temper, once aroused, smoothed many 
 difficulties from Prince William's path, after his accession 
 to the throne, and may with truth be said to have ignited 
 the enthusiasm which, hlown into a flame by Prussia's first 
 successes in the field, burnt brightly and more brightly 
 throughout the momentous period of transition inaugurated 
 by the campaign of 1864, until, in the spring of 1866, it 
 suddenly burst into a furious blaze, and, annihilating all 
 that stood in its way, swept along with awful might, an 
 irresistible torrent of roaring fire that consumed Prussia's 
 " favourite foes " and Germany's ancient fetters in one grand 
 and terrible conflagration.' 
 
 The Congress of German Princes held at Baden-Baden in 
 1860, strengthened Prince William in his resolve to push 
 onward the work of the reorganization of the army. He was 
 very solicitous for the future, and observed to his fellow- 
 potentates : ' I consider it my duty to guard Germany and 
 protect her frontiers, nor will I be deterred in the execu- 
 tion of this, even though my apprehensions are not shared 
 by my allies.' 
 
 When the provinces of Savoy and Nice were annexed to 
 France in 1860, the Prince Kegent of Prussia addressed a 
 memorandum on the subject, dated Berlin, March 4th, to the 
 Prince Consort. He denied that the annexation was in any 
 way justified, and added : * No one is more interested in the 
 question than Prussia and Germany, because of the left bank 
 of the Ehine, which corresponds exactly to what the 
 versants des Alpes, as a geographical protective line would 
 be, in the event of an invasion by the Alpine passes. In 
 this point of view we are therefore more interested, and 
 bound to speak out against schemes of annexation of this 
 kind, than all the other great Powers, so that an approval of 
 them may not at some future day be cited against us as a 
 
46 WILLIAM /. AND THE GERMAN EMPIItE. 
 
 precedent, and that you, too, may not by acquiescence now, 
 have to take part some day in forcing upon us a surrender of 
 the left bank of the Rhine. Another point to which Prussia 
 could not assent is that of the recognition of non-interven- 
 tion as a principle. ... In Italy the sovereigns have on 
 their side rights secured to them by treaty, and all that the 
 people desire is reasonable reforms, which unhappily the 
 sovereigns have failed to grant at the right time. But they 
 have not on their side any covenanted rights to such 
 reforms. At the same time the probability is, that the 
 failure of these sovereigns to grant reforms at the right time 
 will result in their being deposed. Oh, that this example 
 might open the eyes of many a German sovereign ! But, so 
 far from its doing so, they grow blinder and blinder.' The 
 far-seeing anticipations in this letter were destined to be 
 realized in the South of Europe. Meanwhile, the cession of 
 Savoy and Nice to France, having been decided upon, the 
 Prince Consort wrote to Baron Stockmar : ' Russia gives her 
 silent assent ; Austria intimates her delight that Sardinia is 
 to have justice meted out to her according to her own code ; 
 Prussia is, as usual, timorous and undecided ; and so one of 
 the most perilous arrangements is brought about which 
 Europe, and Prussia in particular, could by possibility have 
 had to face ! ' 
 
 Yenetia almost immediately afterwards became a subject 
 of anxiety, it being apprehended that Sardinia, in order to 
 regain it, unless restrained by France, would be impelled 
 forward by the impetus which the national movement in 
 Italy had received from the successes of the insurgents and 
 the Garibaldian army in Sicily. Diplomatists were most 
 anxious that Austria should not be forced into the field by 
 an attack on Venetia, because that would certainly have 
 involved other Powers in the conflict. The action of 
 Prussia and Germany, therefore, became a matter of the 
 gravest interest. The Emperor of Austria and the Prince 
 Regent of Prussia met at Toplitz on the 25th of July, and 
 
THE PRINCE AS REGENT. 47 
 
 the wildest speculations were soon afloat as to what had 
 occurred. The British Government, however, were speedily 
 made acquainted with the exact facts, through a letter 
 addressed hy Prince William on the 29th to the Prince 
 Consort. From this it appeared that there had been no 
 written or even verbal engagement, but only a thorough 
 discussion and communication of ideas. While the Emperor 
 of Austria was anxious that Prussia and Germany should 
 act in common in case of a common danger, he (the Empe- 
 ror) had not the least intention of acting aggressively, and 
 he proved to be right in his conjecture that there would be 
 no attack upon Venetia that year. 
 
 Another meeting of Sovereigns, on the 22nd of October, 
 gave rise to all kinds of rumours throughout Europe. The 
 Emperors of Eussia and Austria, and the Prince Eegent of 
 Prussia, foregathered at Warsaw. Francis II., the despot of 
 the Two Sicilies, fondly hoped that the result would be to 
 put down the movement for Italian freedom, but, in this, 
 happily, he was disappointed. Other conjectures asserted 
 that there was a coalition of the northern Powers to secure a 
 revision of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, to guarantee Austria 
 from attack in Venetia or Hungary, and even to effect the 
 isolation of England from the other European Powers. 
 Again Prince William wrote to the Prince Consort, and 
 assured him that the reports above referred to, as to what 
 had taken place at Warsaw, were mere fables. It was 
 agreed between Prussia and Austria, with regard to the 
 subjects of conference which might be fitly settled in a 
 congress, that England must be previously informed of 
 everything before decisions were taken. The Prince Kegent 
 declared that there was no mention of a treaty, nor of a 
 revival of the Holy Alliance. ' The Sovereigns were unani- 
 mous in their conviction of the danger arising out of the 
 ambiguous policy of the Emperor Napoleon, and of the 
 necessity of demanding guarantees from him in order to 
 preserve the peace of Europe, to uphold the shaken founda- 
 
48 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 tions of public law, and to arrest the progress of a general 
 revolution.' 
 
 Prussia, however, did not relish England's recent policy 
 in Italy, and she was especially angry with Lord John 
 Kussell's despatch strongly approving of the means by 
 which Italian freedom was being secured. Then the Times 
 was engaged at this period in incessant attacks upon 
 Prussia, and everything Prussian, so that a feeling of 
 irritation was set up between England and Prussia, which 
 did not die away until a considerable period had elapsed. 
 
 While the Prince Regent was thus engaged in interna- 
 tional diplomacy, that event occurred in Berlin which raised 
 him to the actual sovereignty of the kingdom. On the 
 2nd of January, 1861, Frederick William IY. expired at 
 the palace of Sans Souci, The Princess Frederick William 
 (now Crown Princess of Germany) had been suddenly 
 summoned, on New Year's eve, to the death-bed of the King, 
 and in a letter which she wrote to Queen Victoria, she 
 described the last sad hours of the amiable and talented 
 man, whose last days had been passed in intellectual gloom. 
 His Majesty was interred in the Friedenskirche at Potsdam, 
 on the 7th of January. 'Immediately behind the coffin 
 came the royal standard, borne by General Wrangel, and 
 followed by the King, leading the Queen Dowager. Her 
 visible emotion was shared by every member of the Eoyal 
 family, and by the throng of kings and princes, who had 
 come to pay the last honours to one whose political faults 
 were at that moment buried in the recollection of his kind 
 heart and distinguished gifts.' 
 
 The King is dead ! Long live the King ! Prussia had 
 lost one sovereign, but in William I. she had gained a 
 monarch stronger in will than most of her previous rulers, 
 and one who was destined to lift the Prussian people and 
 the German race to such a pinnacle of greatness as they 
 had never hitherto achieved. 
 
CHAPTEK V. 
 
 KING OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 KING WILLIAM marked his accession to the throne by the 
 publication of an amnesty for political offences, and this was 
 accepted as a good augury by the Liberals. Their anticipa- 
 tions of constitutional reforms, however, were not destined to 
 be realized, for his Majesty soon manifested his intention of 
 consolidating the throne and strengthening the army, rather 
 than launching forth upon a career associated with popular 
 progress. 
 
 The Queen of England created the King of Prussia a 
 Knight of the Garter, and Lord Breadalbane, at the head 
 of a special mission, went over to Berlin with the insignia. 
 The ceremony of the investiture took place on the 6th of 
 March, amid circumstances of great state and splendour, in 
 the White Saloon of the Palace at Berlin. The King thus 
 wrote to the Prince Consort a few days afterwards: 'A 
 thousand hearty thanks for the welcome lines with which 
 you greeted me as a new brother of the Order through Lord 
 Breadalbane, whom I was delighted to see on this festive 
 and to me most gratifying errand. I cannot sufficiently 
 express to you how happy the Queen has made me by the 
 grant of the ancient and noble Order, to possess which is a 
 real distinction. To you also I must express my thanks, as 
 I cannot help thinking you have not been without some 
 share in prompting her Majesty's determination. We have 
 given the ceremonial as much state and solemnity as we 
 could, and this was no more than the Queen's gracious act 
 demanded. We flatter ourselves with the hope that those 
 
 E 
 
50 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 who formed your mission have been thoroughly satisfied. I 
 share your hope that this event may prove a new hond of 
 friendship between us and our respective countries.' 
 
 On the 14th of July the startling news was telegraphed 
 to the English Court from Baden-Baden, that an attempt 
 had been made to assassinate King William, by a young 
 Leipzig student named Oscar Becker. His Majesty was 
 taking an early morning walk in the Allee of Lichtenthal, 
 when he met a young man, who appeared to manifest great 
 satisfaction in seeing the most popular of German sovereigns 
 a satisfaction which he exhibited by taking off his hat and 
 bowing several times. The King presently met Count 
 Flemming, and continued his walk in conversation with 
 that nobleman. Soon afterwards a firearm was discharged 
 close behind, and the King felt that he was struck by a 
 bullet. Happily the missile first encountered the collar of 
 the King's coat, which it penetrated, and then his cravat ; 
 and by these its force was so much deadened that it inflicted 
 no more than a severe contusion on the left side of His 
 Majesty's neck. The wound did not bleed, but the King 
 was for a short time stunned. Two shots were fired, accord- 
 ing to one account. The assassin was immediately seized 
 by the bystanders, and proved to be the same person who 
 had shortly before saluted the King with such apparent 
 cordiality. On the ground was found a pistol which had 
 recently been discharged. 
 
 Becker was a young man, twenty-two years of age, and 
 came of a respectable family. At his lodgings, a second 
 pistol was found. On his examination, the accused freely 
 admitted that he had gone to Baden with the express design 
 of killing the King, not because he had any hatred of kings 
 in general, and still less of King William, whom on the 
 contrary he greatly loved, but because he considered that 
 his Majesty stood in the way of the unity of Germany, 
 which would be promoted by cutting him off. He was 
 tried at Bruchsal, and the proceedings were somewhat 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 51 
 
 singular. Becker now denied all his previous statements. 
 He asked why he should seek to kill King William, knowing 
 that his son would be unable to do more for German unity ? 
 He denied that he had any intention of killing the King ; and 
 asserted that his sole motive was to alarm him, and so to cause 
 a commotion in Germany, and then to kill himself. For this 
 purpose he said he had loaded one pistol with powder only, 
 which he intended to fire at the King, and the other with 
 powder and ball, with which he intended to kill himself. 
 He declared that when he found that the King was wounded 
 he was utterly astonished, and could only account for the 
 catastrophe by supposing either that he had taken with him 
 from his lodgings the wrong pistol, or that he had, in his 
 confusion of mind, loaded the same pistol first with powder 
 and then with powder and ball. 
 
 The prisoner at first treated the matter very lightly; 
 afterwards he began to sob and faint, and then to exhibit 
 excitement. He was a foolish youth, of weak mind, excited 
 by the idea of the unity of Germany, but without any 
 definite understanding of what it meant, how it was to be 
 brought about, or what its consequences might be. He was 
 found guilty, but as the execution of one who was only an 
 imbecile would have given importance to a senseless and 
 abortive act, he was placed in confinement. ' It is most 
 extraordinary,' wrote Lord Palmerston to the Queen respect- 
 ing the attempted assassination, ' that such an attempt 
 should have been made, as it can scarcely be imagined that 
 the King of Prussia can have a personal or political enemy 
 in the world.' 
 
 The King of Prussia visited the Emperor Napoleon at 
 Compiegne on the 6th of October, and as the interviews 
 of sovereigns always give rise to speculation, it was said 
 of this meeting that its object was a close alliance between 
 France and Prussia, with a detachment from England. The 
 visit, however, was merely one of courtesy, in return for that 
 paid by the Emperor of the French at Baden-Baden. Some 
 
 E 2 
 
52 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 of the journals, nevertheless, asserted that the old question 
 of rectifying the French frontier as settled in 1815 had 
 been discussed by the two monarchs. Sir Theodore Martin 
 observes respecting the interview : { The King of Prussia left 
 Compiegne with a grateful consciousness of the admirable 
 good taste and feeling shown by the Emperor in forbearing 
 to entangle him in disagreeable discussions, not only upon 
 this subject, but upon any of the other European problems 
 whiclj. were at that moment waiting for solution. It was 
 almost a matter of course that very varied accounts, some 
 of them sufficiently disquieting, of what had passed at 
 Compiegne should reach the English Government; but 
 thanks to the same frank spirit, which, through the medium 
 of the Prince Consort, had possessed them of the truth as to 
 the interviews at Baden-Baden, at Toplitz, and at Warsaw, 
 they were early made aware of the fact that nothing had 
 occurred of the slightest significance in a political point of view. 
 A magnificent spectacle was witnessed on the 18th of 
 October, 1861, in the Church of the Castle of Konigsberg. 
 The coronation of King William, an act which had been 
 opposed by many leading men, took place amid great pomp. 
 There had been no coronation in Prussia for one hundred 
 and sixty years. Since the time of Frederick I., the 
 provinces and guilds had paid their homage to each successive 
 sovereign by deputation shortly after his accession ; and the 
 Royal economists who occupied, one after another, the 
 Prussian throne, had forborne from saddling their treasuries 
 with coronation expenses, laying out in public works the 
 sums thus saved to the exchequer. But the King deemed 
 that, as his brother had, by granting a constitution to 
 Prussia, parted with some of his hereditary privileges and 
 Eoyal prerogatives, it would be highly desirable to impress 
 the fact upon the Prussian people that kingship was not 
 esteemed by its new representative as a mere honorary office, 
 but as a great and momentous charge and a solemn responsi- 
 bility, with all but unlimited functional powers. 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 53 
 
 The spirit in which the King viewed the ceremony may be 
 gathered from what he said in addressing the members of the 
 Prussian Chambers the day before his coronation : ' The 
 Rulers of Prussia receive their crown from God. This is the 
 signification of the expression, " King, by the grace of God," 
 and therein lies the sanctity of the Crown, which is in- 
 violable.' So King William placed the crown upon his own 
 head. After this, the most notable feature of the ceremony, 
 it is interesting to read of another incident, which is thus 
 described in a letter written by Lord Clarendon from Berlin, 
 to Queen Victoria: 'Everything was conducted with the 
 most perfect order the service not too long, the vocal 
 music enchanting ; but the great attraction of the ceremony 
 was the manner in which the Princess Eoyal did homage to 
 the King. Lord Clarendon is at a loss for words to describe 
 to your Majesty the exquisite grace and the intense emotion 
 with which her Eoyal Highness gave effect to her feelings 
 on the occasion. Many, and older as well as younger men 
 than Lord Clarendon, who had not his interest in the 
 Princess Royal, were quite as unable as himself to repress 
 their emotion at that which was so touching, because so 
 unaffected and sincere.' The Crown Princess herself, in 
 writing to her mother, said : ' I should like to be able to 
 describe yesterday's ceremony to you, but I cannot find 
 words to tell you how fine and how touching it was. It 
 really was a magnificent sight. The King looked so very 
 handsome, and so noble with the crown on ; it seemed to 
 suit him so exactly. The Queen, too, looked beautiful, and 
 did all she had to do with such perfect grace, and looked so 
 vornehm (distinguished). The moment when the King put 
 the crown on the Queen's head was very touching. I think 
 there was hardly a dry eye in the church.' 
 
 But the King's enunciation of the Divine Right of Kings, 
 and his further announcement that he entered into no 
 obligation to regard the Diet as a Parliament, gave rise to 
 much solicitude in England. The Prince Consort wrote to 
 
54 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Baron Stockmar : ' The speeches of the King of Prussia at 
 Konigsberg have produced a bad impression here, and the 
 theory of the Divine Eight of Kings (apart from being an 
 absurdity in itself, and exploded here for the last two 
 hundred years) is suitable neither to the position and 
 vocation of Prussia, nor to those of the King. The difficulty 
 of establishing united action between Prussia and England 
 has been again infinitely augmented by this royal programme.' 
 
 A curious and amusing accident occurred at King William's 
 coronation. It appears that all the flags and standards of 
 the Prussian army had been brought to Konigsberg, and set 
 up provisionally in a room, the door of which faced the 
 entrance to the King's apartments in the Schloss. As soon 
 as their temporary adjustment had been completed, on the 
 day before the ceremony, the room was vacated and the doors 
 were locked, to prevent any unauthorised persons from 
 meddling with the standards. A loud crash was suddenly 
 heard within the room, and when the doors were opened it 
 was found that the gigantic stand of colours had fallen to 
 the ground, carrying with it all the emblematic honours of 
 the army. The King smiled when he was informed of the 
 circumstance, and said, ' Let the flags be set up again, and 
 in the throne room itself this time. Perhaps it will be as 
 well to say nothing about the accident, which, if they knew 
 of it, might make a great many worthy people unnecessarily 
 uncomfortable.' The incident was kept secret for some 
 years, but when at length the knowledge of it oozed out, 
 there were certain superstitious persons who declared it to 
 be prophetic of the King's ultimate downfall. 
 
 When the session of the Prussian Chambers was opened in 
 January, 1862, the Deputies were addressed by the King, 
 who, in a lengthy speech, reviewed the condition of public 
 affairs. He congratulated them on the satisfactory state of 
 the country and of the national finances, and announced a 
 modification in the law concerning the obligation of military 
 service. The constitutional movement in the Electorate of 
 
KINO OF PBUSSIA. 55 
 
 Hesse was then the all-engrossing topic, and his Majesty 
 said that the efforts of the Government were being directed 
 towards the re-establishment of the constitution of 1831, 
 with the modification of articles contrary to the federal laws. 
 A vehement debate on the subject took place subsequently 
 in the Chamber of Deputies. It was the object of the 
 Liberal party to induce the Prussian Government to interfere 
 and compel the Elector of Hesse to re-establish the con- 
 stitution of 1831, which had been suppressed by the armed 
 intervention of Austria in 1852. A resolution binding the 
 Government to interfere was carried by a majority of 241 to 
 58, and Prussia, in conjunction with other German States, 
 addressed a note to Austria on the subject. 
 
 The Prussian Ministry and the Lower Chamber being at 
 variance, the King abruptly dissolved the Chambers on 
 the llth of March, and appealed to the constituencies. 
 The ground of the quarrel was this. The Chambers, 
 being strongly opposed to any increase of the army, and 
 wishing instead to reduce its numbers, demanded that the 
 Ministry should submit the Budget for consideration, item 
 by item ; this the Ministry refused, alleging that the state 
 of Europe rendered such a measure inexpedient. A resolu- 
 tion was carried against the Government by 171 votes to 
 143, and the Ministry resigned. The King declined to 
 accept their resignation, and dissolved the Chambers instead. 
 But the Cabinet fell to pieces on the retirement of three of 
 its most Liberal members, and a new one was formed under 
 Prince Hohenlohe. The King issued a proclamation to the 
 people on the 20th of March, to the effect that he should 
 maintain the constitution and the rights of the crown, and 
 that the weakening of the crown would be greatly injurious 
 to the Fatherland. As touching foreign policy he should 
 maintain without change the course he had hitherto pursued. 
 In a second proclamation his Majesty stated that while he 
 would consent to any savings which might be provisionally 
 effected in the military budget, he must positively repeat his 
 
56 WILLIAM I. AND TEE OEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 former declarations that in the department of the military 
 administration there could be no reductions which would 
 endanger the strength and effectiveness of the army. 
 
 The elections went strongly against the Ministry, and the 
 King was greatly exasperated. Instead of opening the Diet 
 in person, he deputed the Prime Minister to take his place. 
 But, notwithstanding that the royal mouthpiece insisted 
 upon the army reorganization measures being carried, the 
 Chamber of Deputies voted an address to the King, in which 
 they called upon him to grant, amongst other concessions, a 
 reduction of taxation, and to interfere in the affairs of Hesse- 
 Cassel. 
 
 Matters had now come to a dead lock, and it is said that 
 when the Ministry informed the King that it was impossible 
 to carry on the Government in the face of the opposition of 
 the Chamber, his Majesty exclaimed, ' If you still find it im- 
 possible to pass the ^Reorganization Bill through the Chamber, 
 tell me where I can find the man with courage enough to 
 uphold it in defiance of the Deputies.' 
 
 The man with the iron hand was soon forthcoming, and it 
 proved to be none other than Herr von Bismarck, who in the 
 course of the next generation was to become the most 
 prominent figure in Europe. Otto von Bismarck-Schon- 
 hausen came of a noble family. He was born at Schon- 
 hausen, in one of the Elbe provinces, in 1815. At a very 
 early period he showed a firmness of character more than 
 ordinary. Having passed the studies prescribed for young 
 men of his position, and adopted the profession of the law, he 
 entered the army and served the allotted period. After that 
 preliminary school of training, this descendant of blue-blooded 
 Pomeranian squires was appointed member of the Diet of 
 Saxe, and there became conspicuous for his vigorous and 
 persistent denunciation of democracy and constitutionalism. 
 In 1848 he maintained an expectant attitude, watching the 
 revolutionary storm as it swept by. In 1851, when the 
 popular movements had been crushed, and the democratic 
 
KINO OF PRUSSIA. 57 
 
 elements broken up, Bismarck entered the diplomatic service. 
 He was appointed to the Frankfort Legation, at that critical 
 time one of the most important which a German statesman 
 could occupy. He had not long held this position before he 
 came to the conclusion that Austria was the deadly antagonist 
 of Prussia, and that sooner or later there must be a struggle 
 for the ascendency in Germany. Even in his efforts for the 
 common Fatherland there was always present the desire to 
 elevate the House of Hohenzollern, at the expense, and to the 
 humiliation of the House of Hapsburg. In 1852 he was sent 
 to Vienna, fwhere he successfully exerted his influence in 
 driving Austria away from junction with the Zollverein. 
 There had been nothing since the peace of 1815 which so 
 helped forward the unity of Germany under the supremacy 
 of Prussia as this great commercial convention. In 1859 
 Bismarck was appointed to the Embassy at St. Petersburg, 
 and three years later he was transferred to Paris, where he 
 vas favourably received. He went over to London on a visit, 
 nd was introduced, amongst other personages, to Mr. 
 Jisraeli, who, however, regarded Bismarck's views upon the 
 regeneration of Germany as the ' mere moonshine of a 
 German baron.' But these views were realized to the full, 
 and there were few of Bismarck's contemporaries in 1862 
 who had the remotest idea of his resolute nature, and that 
 indomitable will which, in militarism and politics, is the 
 synonym for genius. 
 
 Such was the man who was recalled from France to become 
 the Parliament-tamer of Berlin. While enjoying the scenery 
 of the Pyrenees in the middle of September, the future 
 German Chancellor was overtaken by a telegram from King 
 William summoning him to Berlin. With all haste Bismarck 
 obeyed the summons, and arrived in Berlin on the 19th of 
 September. ' Who in Heaven's name is Herr von Bismarck, 
 that he should be placed in such a high station ? ' Such, 
 says Mr. Lowe, was the question which most people in 
 Prussia began to ask. The reply of the Liberal press was, 
 
58 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 1 Bismarck cest le coup d'etat ,' and lie was greeted with a 
 storm of abuse, receiving such epithets as ' a swaggering 
 Junker,' 'a hollow braggart,' 'a Napoleon-worshipper,' and 
 ' a town uprooter.' Junkerism, it may be mentioned, was the 
 term applied to the reactionary Conservative landed gentry, 
 who were the deadly enemies of reform. 
 
 Bismarck soon put himself in evidence, and King William 
 only smiled over the great unpopularity of his new Prime 
 Minister. The monarch had perfect confidence in the man 
 of his choice, and it is said that when a Eussian princess 
 complimented the King upon an improvement in his looks, 
 he pointed to Bismarck and said, ' Voila mon medecin ' 
 ' there is my physician.' 
 
 Into the conflict with the Chambers the new minister threw 
 himself with energy and spirit. There was no shrinking in 
 him from the strongest measures when he considered them 
 to be necessary. Only a few days after his accession to 
 power, when speaking in the Budget Committee, he said : ' It 
 is not by speechifying and majorities that the great questions 
 of the time will have to be decided that was the mistake 
 made in 1848 and 1849 but by blood and iron.' This now 
 historic phrase represented the policy upon which Bismarck 
 meant to proceed both in the treatment of constitutional 
 questions and in the unification of Germany. The circum- 
 stances which followed his accession to power led to a 
 comparison between ' demented Bismarck and his ditto King, 
 and Strafford and Charles I. versus our Long Parliament.' 
 But Carlyle pointed out that the issues between King 
 William and his Diet were very different ; they were l as like 
 as Monmouth to Macedon, and no liker.' No fair standard of 
 comparison could be instituted between Parliamentary life in 
 England and that in the less free States of the Continent. 
 
 1 Bismarck,' says a writer whom I have just quoted, ' had 
 the conviction of a Luther, and, like a Luther, nothing could 
 daunt or shake him.' But there is all the difference in the 
 world between a Luther strongly denouncing the crying evils 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 59 
 
 of a corrupt church, and a Bismarck riding rough-shod over 
 the representatives of the Prussian people. ' In the Chamher 
 dehates Bismarck was contemptuous but never angry, cutting 
 and sarcastic without being coarse; and his social accom- 
 plishments gave him a great advantage over his opponents, 
 in whom over-education contrasted strongly with under- 
 breeding. He was as cool under Parliamentary fire as the 
 Duke of Wellington ever was under a hail of bullets ; and 
 when the doctrinaires and the professors, who were the curse 
 of the Chamber, were thundering against him about tyranny, 
 revolution, impeachment, and all the rest of it, he would 
 calmly sit down before them to write a chatty letter to his 
 wife, or to thank his sister for a present of sausages and black 
 puddings.' But the spirit of opposition in both parties soon 
 degenerated into a habit of aggression, and from quarrelling 
 about the constitution they began to wrangle about the rules 
 of debate. Yet it must be said that the Ministers of whom 
 Bismarck was chief were more tyrannical in spirit, and paid 
 less regard to the authority of the Speaker, than any other 
 members of the Prussian Diet. 
 
 In the closing days of September the Chamber passed a 
 vote adverse to the Government, whereupon Bismarck in- 
 formed the Deputies that the Chamber, having rejected the 
 charges for reorganizing the army, included by Government 
 in the Budget for 1862, the Ministry must presume that 
 the House would adopt a similar course with regard to the 
 new items in the Budget for 1863. The King, therefore, 
 had authorized him to withdraw the Budget for 1863 ; but 
 it would be laid before the House in the following session, 
 ' with a bill supporting as a vital condition the reorganiza- 
 tion of the army.' At the instigation of Ministers, a vote 
 was procured in the Upper Chamber annulling the pro- 
 ceedings of the Deputies. This the Lower House resented, 
 and the session was closed by a message from the King. 
 Bismarck read the message, which stated, without any cir- 
 cumlocution, that ' the Budget for the year 1862, as decreed 
 
60 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 by the Lower Chamber, having been rejected by the Upper 
 Chamber on the ground of insufficiency, the Government of 
 his Majesty is under the necessity of carrying out the 
 Budget as it was originally laid before the Lower House, 
 without taking cognizance of the conditions prescribed by 
 the Constitution.' 
 
 This extremely arbitrary act must have spread dismay 
 amongst the Deputies, pointing, as they no doubt felt it did, 
 to a policy of future repression of the rights and liberties of 
 the people. The King's action was equivalent to saying that 
 taxes would be levied and the government carried on inde- 
 pendently of Parliament ; and, indeed, for the remainder of 
 the year this was the state of things. The views of the 
 King on this momentous question were specifically formulated 
 in his answer to an address drawn up and submitted to him 
 by various deputations from the country. After recapitu- 
 lating the course pursued by the Chamber of Deputies, his 
 Majesty said : ' I wish to preserve the Constitution intact to 
 my people ; but it is my indispensable mission, and my firm 
 will also, to maintain intact the Crown inherited from my 
 ancestors and its constitutional rights. This is necessary for 
 the interests of my people. But to do this, or for the defence 
 of the blessings I have already alluded to, a well-organized 
 army is requisite, and not a self-styled national army, which 
 ought, as a Prussian has not blushed to say, to stand behind 
 the Parliament. I am firmly resolved not to sacrifice any- 
 thing more of my hereditary rights. Say so to those who 
 have delegated you. You now know, you now have heard my 
 view of things. Let every one of you propagate them and 
 support them in extended spheres. If this is done, matters 
 will improve; for Almighty God has always watched over 
 Prussia. He will continue to protect us. Is not Prussia's 
 motto, " With God, for the king and the country " ? ' 
 
 The constitutional struggle was renewed in 1863. The 
 session of the Chambers was opened on the 14th of January, 
 when Bismarck, as President of the Council, read the King's 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 61 
 
 speech. This document reaffirmed the Eoyal policy of the 
 previous year. The Government had acted as its own 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer and Parliament, hut promised 
 that, as soon as the accounts had heen finally balanced, it 
 would move for the retrospective approbation of both Houses 
 of Parliament for the expenses incurred. The speech also 
 intimated that the position of Prussia relatively to the 
 Federal Diet must be taken into consideration. During the 
 debate on the Address in the Chamber of Deputies, Bismarck 
 made a speech which caused intense dissatisfaction amongst 
 the members. * Your decisions,' he said, ' are only to regulate 
 the Budget as regards its total amount and its details. If 
 you are to have the right to demand of the King the 
 dismissal of ministers who do not enjoy your confidence; if, 
 by your decisions with regard to the expenditure, you are to 
 have the right to do away with the army reorganization ; if 
 you had the right (as you constitutionally have it not, though 
 claiming it in this Address) to control the relations between 
 the executive power and its functionaries; if you had all 
 these rights you would be de facto in possession of the 
 complete power of government in this country. On the 
 basis of these demands this Address reposes. By it the 
 Koyal House of Hohenzollern is required to abdicate its 
 constitutional rights of government in favour of the majority 
 of this House.' 
 
 A storm of contradiction here drowned the speaker's voice, 
 and the President rang his bell. Bismarck, resuming, said, 
 'It is the same thing in another form. You declare the 
 Constitution violated so soon as the Crown and the Upper 
 House do not do your will. You know as well as any one in 
 Prussia that the Ministry acts in the name and according to 
 the commands of his Majesty. The Prussian Ministry is in 
 this respect quite different from the English. The latter, 
 call it what you will, is only the Ministry of the Parliament, 
 but we are the Ministers of the King.' The President of the 
 Council proceeded to say that theoretically it was undeniable 
 
62 WILLIAM I, AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 that the Chamber had the right to reject the whole Budget, 
 and thereby bring about the dismissal of all functionaries, 
 the abandonment of the army reorganization, and many 
 other things besides. But such a theory was incompatible 
 with practice, and practically the like had not yet happened. 
 ' We closed the last session in the hope that you would return 
 hither in a more conciliatory mood than that in which you 
 departed. The Government have made great concessions ; it 
 is now your turn to make concessions, and, unless you do so, 
 we shall have difficulty in terminating the conflict.' 
 
 But, instead of making concessions, the Deputies carried 
 by 255 to 68 votes an Address to the King, in which 
 they severely commented upon the unconstitutional mode in 
 which the government was conducted. Amongst other 
 things, the Address said : * Since last session Ministers 
 have carried on the public administration against the Con- 
 stitution and without a legal Budget. The supreme right of 
 the representatives of the people has thereby been attacked. 
 The country has been alarmed and has stood by its repre- 
 sentatives. Abuses of the power of the Government are now 
 taking place just as in the sad years preceding the Regency. 
 Your Majesty recently declared that nobody should doubt 
 your intention of maintaining the Constitution; but the 
 Constitution has already been violated by the Ministers. 
 Our position imposes on us the most urgent duty of solemnly 
 declaring that peace at home and power abroad can only be 
 restored by the return of the Government to a constitutional 
 state of things.' 
 
 The King was exceedingly wroth when he heard what had 
 been done, and refused to receive the deputation appointed 
 to carry up the Address. But he communicated a reply to 
 the President of the Chamber, which was read in the House. 
 His Majesty emphatically affirmed that the Government had 
 not been guilty of violating the Constitution. With respect 
 to the Budget, the Deputies had altered it until it became 
 impracticable; and the Upper Chamber, in the exercise of 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 63 
 
 its constitutional right, rejected it. It was rather a trans- 
 gression of the constitutional powers of the Chamber of 
 Deputies that that body persisted in regarding its one-sided 
 decisions concerning the grant or refusal of the State ex- 
 penditure as definitely binding on the Government. On the 
 question of the right of the representatives of the people to 
 grant expenditure, the King said : ' I also recognize that 
 right, and will observe and guard it so far as it is founded 
 on the Constitution. But I must call the attention of the 
 House to the fact that, according to the Constitution, the 
 members of both Houses of the Diet represent the whole 
 people, and the Budget can be established only by law to 
 wit, by a resolution agreed to by both Chambers, and ap- 
 proved by me. If such agreement was not to be brought 
 about, it was the duty of the Government, until such time as 
 it should be arrived at, to carry on the administration with- 
 out interruption. It would have acted unjustifiably if it had 
 not done so.' 
 
 This was carrying the constitutional war into the enemy's 
 camp ; but although the voice was the voice of the King, 
 the hand which wrote these lines was the hand of Bismarck. 
 In conclusion the King observed : ' After I have, for a year 
 past, proved, by a diminution of nearly four millions in the 
 sums demanded from the people, as well as by ready acquies- 
 cence in the practical wishes of its representatives, that my 
 sole aim is to bring about a termination of the opposition 
 which the measures of my Government have encountered, as 
 well in great things as in small, I expect that the Chamber 
 of Deputies will no longer disregard these proofs of a con- 
 ciliatory disposition, and I now call upon it to testify on its 
 part its desire to meet my patriotic and paternal views in such 
 a manner as to render possible that work of agreement which 
 is a necessity of my heart of my heart, whose only desire 
 is to promote the welfare of the Prussian nation, and to main- 
 tain for the country the position assigned to it by a glorious 
 history, through the faithful union of King and people.' 
 
64 WILLIAM I. AND THE GEE MAN EMPIRE. 
 
 A thoroughly Ministerial address was brought before the 
 two Chambers, and the Upper House proved itself con- 
 veniently subservient. Out of a total of 240 members 144 
 absented themselves, and when the Address was put the 
 remaining 96 supporters of the Government carried it ' unani- 
 mously.' The King in his reply said ' it did his heart good ' 
 to receive so loyal an address, and the Government was em- 
 boldened to abide firmly by the view which it had taken up. 
 The Polish question now intervened. Kussian Poland 
 was during the whole of this year the theatre of a great 
 patriotic revolt. It was carried out with Mieroslawski's 
 assistance, and had the sanction of Mazzini. The resources 
 of Kussia were taxed to the uttermost before the insurrection 
 could be subdued; but her usually cruel and terribly re- 
 pressive policy prevailed. Some exciting debates took place 
 in the Prussian Chamber on the relations of Prussia towards 
 Eussia and Poland. An intense feeling of indignation had 
 been roused throughout Europe in consequence of a report 
 that the Prussian Government had entered into a convention 
 with Kussia to surrender to her the fugitive Poles who 
 sought refuge in Prussia, and to permit Kussian troops to 
 enter her territory for the purpose of seizing them. During 
 a debate in the Lower Chamber on the 26th of February, 
 Bismarck declared that the statements made with respect to 
 the agreement with Kussia were incorrect ; but he refused to 
 explain what the agreement was. According to contemporary 
 reports, his speech was remarkable for the bold insolence 
 with which he treated the Chamber and the authority of the 
 Yice-President. Bismarck began by denouncing the suc- 
 cessive interpellations with respect to the Prusso-Kussian 
 convention ; and then referring to a suggestion by Deputy 
 Unruh, that if the measures taken by the Government for 
 the security of Prussian frontiers and interests were to lead 
 to external complications, the means for the defence of the 
 country should be refused to the King, he asked, ' Is not 
 that saying to the foreigner, " Come hither ; the moment is 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 65 
 
 favourable ? " The speaker was here interrupted by loud 
 exclamations and contradictions ; but after he had proceeded 
 again for a short time, the President told him that his 
 language had nothing whatever to do with the question 
 before the Chamber. 
 
 Bismarck then became very angry, and said in his super- 
 cilious way : ' I am not subject to the disciplinary influence 
 of the Chamber. My only superior is his Majesty the King, 
 and I have yet to learn that any legal or constitutional 
 enactment has placed me under the discipline of the President 
 of this House.' 
 
 Vice-President Belirend : ( I have not deprived the Minister- 
 President of the word, nor could I do so consistently with 
 the Constitution. But, according to the regulations of this 
 House, its President exercises disciplinary power so far as 
 its four walls extend (loud applause), and that power will I 
 exert.' 
 
 Vo\i Bismarck: 'I do not speak here in virtue of your 
 regulations, but in that of the authority deputed to me by 
 the King. On the ground of the paragraph of the Constitu- 
 tion, which prescribes that the Ministers must be allowed 
 to speak, and must be heard as often as they demand it ' 
 (interruption) ' you have no right to interrupt me. I must 
 mark that view as an erroneous one, which the Government 
 does not share. I was saying, then, the same Deputy Von 
 Unruh who, in 1848, indelibly associated his name with the 
 refusal of taxes ' (violent commotion arose in the Chamber, 
 with cries of ' It is scandalous ! ' ' adjourn ! ' The President 
 rang his bell continuously). 
 
 The Yice-President threatened to adjourn, but ultimately 
 Bismarck was allowed to conclude. This little scene throws 
 a side-light upon the manner in which constitutional questions 
 were debated between the Ministers and the Chamber. On 
 the present occasion the Chamber of Deputies adopted, by 
 246 to 57 votes, a resolution * That the interest of Prussia 
 requires that the Government, in face of the insurrection 
 
 F 
 
66 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 which has broken out in Poland, should not assist or favour 
 either of the contending parties, or allow armed persons to 
 touch the Prussian soil without at the same time disarming 
 them.' 
 
 Another iftiseemly episode occurred on the llth of May, 
 when Bismarck behaved in so aggressive a manner, that he 
 was peremptorily ordered by the President to be silent. 
 This was a little too much for the Minister, who was high 
 in the favour of his Sovereign ; so in a few days he brought 
 down ' a most high message from his Majesty the King to 
 read to the House.' This document was really a scolding 
 for the Deputies. It was signed by the King and counter- 
 signed by the Ministers, and it denounced the claim of the 
 President of the Chamber of Deputies ' to subject our Ministers 
 to disciplinary power, and to impose silence upon them.' An 
 Address, in reply to this message, was drawn up and carried. 
 It was presented to the King, who in his reply reasserted 
 the privilege of Ministers, and thus marked his disapproba- 
 tion of the course pursued by the Chamber. ' My Ministers 
 possess my confidence ; their official acts have been done 
 with my consent, and I thank them for their care to oppose 
 the anti-constitutional attempt of the House to extend its 
 power. By the co-operation which the House declares that 
 it refuses to my Government, I can only understand that 
 co-operation to which the House is entitled by the Con- 
 stitution ; any other can neither be claimed by it, nor has 
 been asked for by my Government. In presence of such a 
 refusal, the real meaning of which, moreover, is made by the 
 whole contents and tone of the Address, as well as by the 
 demeanour of the House during the last four months, a 
 further continuation of the present session can lead to no 
 result. Neither as regards domestic affairs, nor with respect 
 to foreign relations, would it be favourable to the interests 
 of the country.' 
 
 Bismarck was accordingly despatched to close the session 
 of the Chambers, and this was done on the 27th of May, in 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 67 
 
 the White Hall of the Palace. The Speech from the Throne, 
 which was read by the Minister, recited that the Chamber of 
 Deputies had placed itself in direct opposition to the Govern- 
 ment, and, notwithstanding the answer of the King, had 
 remained in a position adverse to an understanding. By its 
 debates upon foreign politics the Chamber had endeavoured 
 to paralyse the influence of the Government, and had thereby 
 increased the excitement prevalent in the provinces bor- 
 dering upon Poland. It had accepted misrepresentations of 
 the opponents of Prussia, and aroused apprehensions of 
 external dangers and entanglement in war, for which the 
 existing relations to foreign Powers gave no well-founded 
 cause. In its recent Address, moreover, the Chamber had 
 altogether refused its co-operation with the Government. 
 This rendered the close of its deliberations unavoidably 
 necessary. The Government reserved to itself the power of 
 determining the manner in which the unsettled financial 
 measures should be brought to a conclusion, and hoped to 
 come to a future understanding with the representatives of 
 the people. 
 
 The Bismarck Ministry proceeded to further high-handed 
 measures, and on the 1st of June a Royal decree was issued 
 authorizing the suppression of newspapers ' which per- 
 sistently exhibited tendencies dangerous to the welfare of the 
 State' thus striking at the Liberal press and the ex- 
 clusion altogether of foreign journals for the same cause. 
 
 The conduct of the Sovereign and his Ministers led to a 
 temporary estrangement between King William and his son, 
 the Crown Prince, whose views were shared by his wife, our 
 Princess Eoyal. On the 31st of May, the Crown Prince 
 addressed a letter to his father, which showed how keenly 
 sensible the heir-apparent was of the unconstitutional course 
 which his Eoyal parent was pursuing. The Prince thus 
 wrote : ' Expressions you lately made use of in my presence 
 regarding the possibility of forcing your measures upon the 
 country oblige me to speak out on the subject. On dis- 
 
 F 2 
 
68 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 missing the Auerswald Cabinet you told me that, being more 
 Liberal than yourself, I had now got an opportunity for 
 enacting the usual part of a Crown Prince, and throwing 
 difficulties in the way of your Government. At that time I 
 promised you to keep back and maintain silence, and offer no 
 opposition. Intending to keep my promise, as I do, I yet 
 feel it my duty to speak to you in private. I beseech you, 
 my dearest father, not to invade the law in the way you 
 hinted. Nobody is more fully aware than myself that to 
 you an oath is a sacred thing, and not to be trifled with. 
 But the position of a Sovereign in regard to his Ministers is 
 sometimes very difficult. Skilled as they are in the lawyer's 
 art, and expert at interpretation, they know how to repre- 
 sent a measure as fair and necessary, and by degrees to 
 force a Sovereign into a path very different from that he 
 intended to tread.' 
 
 Not very pleasant reading this, either for King or 
 Minister'. One can, see the former twisting his moustachios 
 in a paternal rage as he reads his son's virtual con- 
 demnation of Ministers, and justification of the course 
 pursued by the representatives of the people. But there 
 must be a reply, of course, so the King wrote : ' You say you 
 do not intend to offer any opposition. You. must not have 
 been cautious, then. Opposition speeches of yours have got 
 abroad and found their way to me. You have now an 
 occasion for making amends by expressing yourself in a 
 different way, by slighting the Progressists and courting the 
 Conservatives. The decree of June 1, besides being in 
 consonance with the Charter, and more particularly with 
 clause 63, will be laid before the Landtag. The decree, so 
 far from being the enormity you say, ought to have been 
 introduced in the shape of a bill, even under the late Liberal 
 Cabinet ; for it was on this condition only I sanctioned the 
 law protecting printing offices against the supervision and 
 interference of the police.' 
 
 But the breach between the King and the Crown Prince 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 69 
 
 widened. On the 3rd of June the latter lodged a formal 
 protest against the decree affecting the press. It was 
 addressed to Bismarck, with a request that he would com- 
 municate it to the Cabinet. The Prince thus strongly 
 expressed himself : ' I deem the proceedings of the Cabinet 
 to be both illegal and injurious to the State and the dynasty. 
 I declare the measure to have been taken without my 
 wishing and knowing it, and I protest against any inferences 
 and ascriptions to be possibly based upon my relation to the 
 Council of State.' On the following day the Prince wrote 
 again to the King, stating emphatically that the Charter had 
 been evaded and set aside in the case of the decree on the 
 press. At Dantzic, moreover, where he arrived on the 5th 
 of June on a tour of military inspection, he returned an 
 answer to an address from the municipality, the tone of 
 which greatly offended the King. His Majesty wrote to his 
 son, and demanded a disavowal of sentiments which he 
 assumed must have been falsely reported. If not, and they 
 were repeated, he threatened to recall him to Berlin and 
 deprive him of his military command. 
 
 The Prince thus courageously replied : * The address I 
 delivered at Dantzic is the result of calm reflection. I long 
 owed it to my conscience and my position, to profess, in the 
 face of the world, an opinion the truth of which has forced 
 itself upon me more fully from day to day. The hope only 
 of being able after all to avoid placing myself in opposition 
 to you stifled the monitions of my internal voice. But now, 
 ignoring my different views, the Ministry have taken a step 
 imperilling' my future and that of my children. I shall 
 make as courageous a stand for my future as you, my dear 
 father, are making for your own. I cannot retract anything 
 I have said. All I can do is to keep quiet. Should you 
 wish me to do so, I hereby lay at your feet my commission 
 in the army and my seat in the Council of State. I beg you 
 to appoint me a place of residence, or to permit me to select 
 one myself, either in Prussia or abroad. If I am not allowed 
 
70 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 to speak my mind, I must naturally wish to dissever myself 
 entirely from the sphere of politics.' 
 
 Ultimately the storm hlew over, though not until it had 
 greatly disturbed the Koyal Household and the Court, for 
 the Crown Prince had his sympathizers as well as the King. 
 
 A Koyal decree was published on the fourth of September, 
 dissolving the Prussian Chambers. The Ministry regarded 
 the situation as hopeless, knowing that the Deputies would 
 never cease to oppose their arbitrary and unconstitutional 
 measures. So they made a report to the King, upon which 
 his Majesty promptly acted. 
 
 The new Chambers met in December, and the Liberal 
 party .was as strong as ever ; but circumstances occurred 
 which seemed to open up a prospect of reconciliation 
 between the Deputies and the Government. The death of 
 the King of Denmark raised the question of the right of 
 succession to the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The 
 Prussian Liberals enthusiastically espoused the cause of the 
 Prince of Augustenburg, in opposition to that of Christian 
 IX., the present King of Denmark. 
 
 We shall presently trace the course of the Schleswig- 
 Holstein difficulty, but in the meantime it may be stated 
 that an Address to King William was drawn up in the 
 Chamber of Deputies, the object of which was to set aside 
 the Treaty of London entered into in May, 1852, with 
 respect to the succession to the Danish Crown, and to compel 
 the Prussian Government to recognize the Prince of Augus- 
 tenburg as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. Now the Govern- 
 ment had applied for a loan in order to be prepared for the 
 possible necessity of war arising out of the complications in 
 the Schleswig-Holstein question, but they refused to adopt 
 the extreme course of withdrawing from a treaty which the 
 King of Prussia had solemnly signed in 1852, and the 
 Chamber was unwilling to grant the loan, except upon that 
 condition. The Committee on the loan agreed to the Address 
 by a majority of sixteen to five votes. The dissentients were 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 71 
 
 anxious to refuse the ministerial demand altogether. Bis- 
 marck hinted that a refusal of the loan by the Chamber 
 would facilitate the course of the Government on other 
 questions besides that of Schleswig-Holstein which was 
 intended as a threat to intimidate the members into sub- 
 mission by holding over their heads the probability of a 
 prorogation or dissolution of the Chamber. Notwithstanding 
 the threat, however, the proposal for the loan was ultimately 
 rejected by the Chamber. 
 
 In the struggle which now ensued between the gallant 
 little state of Denmark and the powerful kingdom of Prussia, 
 the sympathies of England were enlisted on the side of the 
 weaker Power. It was felt that she had right on her side, 
 and it was felt also that the antiquated pretensions which 
 German jurists had raked up from the dust of her libraries 
 were merely a cover to conceal the real object of Prussia, 
 which was to obtain the strong harbour of Kiel as a port in 
 which some German navy of the future might ride at 
 anchor. 
 
 The Danish Monarchy as we find from historical facts and 
 statistics published at the time of this new struggle con- 
 sisted of the Kingdom of Denmark Proper and the Duchies 
 of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg. The Kingdom of 
 Denmark and Schleswig formed together the original Danish 
 realm, whilst Holstein and Lauenburg were German terri- 
 tories which had been acquired since, and were known as the 
 German Duchies of the King of Denmark, by right of which 
 he sat as a member of the Germanic Confederation. The 
 Duchy of Schleswig, or South Jutland, covered 3,530 English 
 square miles, with 409,907 inhabitants, who belonged to 
 three different nationalities, Danish, Frisian, and German, 
 more than half being Danes. Schleswig was originally a 
 part of the Danish province of Jutland, but in the year 1232 
 it was detached and became a fief of the Danish Crown. In 
 1459 it escheated to the Crown, but was maintained as a 
 separate fief, and was soon afterwards divided between the 
 
WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 of the House of Oldenburg. 
 
 guarantees from England, France, 
 for the quiet possession of the duchy in 
 future times. The whole dnehy was reincorporated into 
 the Crown, and once more made an integral and insepar- 
 able part of the Danish State, first by letters patent of 
 August 22, 1721, and subsequently by the homage of the 
 
 The Dnehy of Holstein comprised 3,280 English square 
 mOes, with 544,419 inhabitants of purely German nationality. 
 Though a fief of the German Empire until 1806, it had been 
 in connection with Denmark ever since 1460, when it was 
 acquired by King Christian L, on the occasion of the rever- 
 sion of Schleswig, the last Duke haying possessed also 
 Holstein. As in the case of Schleswig, so the descendants 
 of Christian L divided Holstein amongst themselves; the 
 Boyal branch obtaining the Gluckstadt division, the Gottorp 
 branch the Kiel division, and the Sonderburg branch the 
 Ploen division* The Danish kings, however, bought back 
 the Ploen division, and regained in 1773 the Kiel division by 
 a treaty of exchange with the then reigning Duke of Gottorp, 
 who afterwards ascended the Russian throne. When the 
 German Empire was dissolved Holstein was declared allodial, 
 and became united to the body politic of the Danish Monarchy 
 by letters patent of Sept. 9, 1806. The Duchy of Lauen- 
 burg, which contained 402 English square miles, with 50,147 
 inhabitants, was acquired in 1815, and was * for ever incor- 
 porated into the Danish Monarchy/ by letters patent of 
 Dec, 6, 1815, and the homage of the estates Oct. 2, 1816. 
 
 It is important to note that the Act of Incorporation of 
 1721, by which the Duchy of Schleswig was made an integral 
 part of the Danish kingdom, established the succession for 
 that duchy according to the Boyal law of Denmark. 
 Nothing could be clearer or more emphatic than thi 
 oath of allegiance for Schleswig, taken by the then Duke of 
 Augustenburg and Schleswig ;-' I therefore promise 
 
KIXO OF PBUSSLL 73 
 
 engage for myself, my heirs and successors, by these presents, 
 and in virtue of them, that I and they will acknowledge and 
 hold your Royal Majesty of Denmark, Norway, &c., as our 
 only Sovereign Lord, will be to you and your Boyal hereditary 
 successors in the Government seenmdwm temarem legis regix, 
 true, fcithful and obedient So help me God and His Holy 
 Word.' 
 
 TVith so long a possession of these duchies on the part of 
 Denmark, and with so dear a title, bow arose the dispute 
 which was to wrench the duchies from the Danish Crown ? 
 The quarrel began in 1848, when an insurrectionary party 
 in the Danish Monarchy, known as the ScUeswig-Hobtein 
 party, appealed to Germany for aid in ewtabfahing the 
 of the two Duchies of Hoistein and ScUeswig, with a 
 fjomfftttptJQf^) existence from the rest of tfr^ monarchy, 
 insurrection was fostered by Germany, and after a prolonged 
 struggle the Peace of Berlin of Jury 2, 1850, was signed, by 
 vhich Germany withdrew from the war, and agreed to 
 *cify the Duchy of Hoistein. Notwithstanding the con- 
 elusion of :::- peace, hovsior, tbfl psonVi ii. 
 open. At the request of Denmark, German 
 into Hoistein, and occupied the duchy. But wben the 
 country bad been pacified, Germany refused to withdraw her 
 troops, and to reinstate the King of Denmark in his full 
 sovereign authority in Hobtein and Laucdbng, the 
 duchies which constituted the only German federal 
 tori*? n&nead n the Dun* m*mu*v. 
 
 upon assurances as to the Mure government of the terri- 
 tories, and the conditions for reinstating the ^g of Denr 
 mark in bis fall sovereign authority formed the avJgeet of 
 Ike diplomatic correspondence of l^li On the 28th of 
 January, 185% the King of Denmark issued a 
 iteming 
 
74 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 regulation of the positions of the federal territories embraced 
 in the Danish Monarchy. 
 
 The dispute between Denmark and Germany was now 
 regarded as settled, and the King of Denmark was reinstated 
 in his full sovereign authority, both in Holstein and Lauen- 
 burg. The Rigsraad, or Council of the Eealm, a general 
 Legislative Assembly for the whole monarchy, was consti- 
 tuted in 1855, and to this assembly, numbering 80 
 members, Denmark Proper contributed 47 representatives ; 
 Schleswig, 13 ; Holstein, 18 ; and Lauenburg, 2. In 1858, 
 however, the Constitution of 1855 was abrogated as re- 
 garded Holstein and Lauenburg, with the result that these 
 duchies were put out of all constitutional union with 
 the other parts of the Danish Monarchy. They were 
 once more placed under the absolute authority of the 
 Sovereign, with Assemblies having jurisdiction over local 
 affairs. But difficulties arose owing to the pretensions of 
 the Holstein Assembly, and these were temporarily adjusted 
 by the mediation of Great Britain. Prussia and Austria 
 declared themselves satisfied if Denmark would, for the 
 present, confine the contributions of Holstein towards the 
 general expenditure of the monarchy to the sums fixed by 
 the normal budget of 1856. 
 
 A very important step was taken by the Danish Govern- 
 ment on the 30th of March, 1863. An ordinance or 
 proclamation was issued, endeavouring to meet the require- 
 ments of the Diet in respect to placing the Assembly of 
 Holstein on an equal footing with the Eigsraad for Denmark 
 Proper and Schleswig. It was decreed that no law should 
 be valid in Holstein which had not obtained the sanction of 
 the Assembly of that Duchy, and that no expenditure beyond 
 the sums fixed by the normal budget of 1856 should be 
 defrayed by Holstein, without the previous approval of the 
 Holstein Assembly. And the Danish Government even 
 agreed to abolish this limitation of the financial jurisdiction 
 of the Holstein estates, if it should be objected to by the 
 
KINO OF PRUSSIA. 75 
 
 Germanic Diet. This ordinance had momentous consequences. 
 Although Denmark had thus given every evidence of her 
 desire to act fairly by the Duchies, Germany was dissatisfied. 
 She asserted that the proclamation was a violation of Federal 
 rights, and that the Danish Government had torn in pieces 
 the treaties of 1852. The Germanic Diet, by two decrees, 
 demanded the repeal of the ordinance of March 30, under 
 threat of ' a process of execution.' The Diet, in its decrees, 
 did not confine itself to the affairs of Holstein and Lauen- 
 burg, but expressly included the Danish crown-land Schles- 
 wig, the alleged ground being a violation by Denmark of 
 the agreements of 1851-2. 
 
 Thus the whole subject of dispute was again opened up. 
 Denmark asserted her rights, and received the sympathy of 
 Sweden. Germany showed a spirit of aggression by wanting 
 to compel the separation of Schleswig from all connection 
 with Denmark Proper in respect of common affairs ; 
 and unfortunately certain proposals which had been made 
 )y the English Foreign Secretary in September, 1862, 
 were used as an additional pretext by Germany for her 
 interference. 
 
 Europe was startled, on the 15th of November, by the 
 announcement of the sudden death of the King of Denmark. 
 His successor, Prince Christian, the father of the Princess 
 of Wales, ascended the Danish throne as King Christian IX., 
 but on the following day there appeared a proclamation of 
 Frederick, Prince or Duke of Augustenburg, who as his father 
 had abdicated his claims insisted on his right to be recognized 
 as the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. Strange to say, the 
 father of this claimant to the Duchies, had, on the 30th of 
 December, 1852, signed a renunciation in which he said, ' We 
 promise for us and our family, by our princely word and honour, 
 not to undertake anything whereby the tranquillity of his 
 Majesty's dominions and lands might be disturbed, nor in any 
 way to counteract the resolutions which his Majesty might 
 have taken, or in future take, in reference to the arrangement of 
 
76 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 the succession to all the lands now united under his Majesty's 
 sceptre, or to the eventual organization of the monarchy.' The 
 Duke, moreover, had accepted from the Danish Government a 
 sum of 3,500,000 dollars in compensation for the surrender 
 of his claims. The Prussians, anxious to find some excuse 
 for their interference, alleged that the money paid under this 
 very clear compact was compensation merely for the loss of 
 property, and not for the surrender of seignorial rights ; but ? 
 owing to the part which the Duke of Augustenburg took in 
 the rebellion of 1848, his whole estates became legally 
 forfeited. Besides, there could be no two readings of his 
 undertaking not to disturb the right of succession ' to all the 
 lands then united under his Majesty's sceptre.' As King 
 Frederick YII. was the last of his line, and had no issue, the 
 Great Powers, in conjunction with the Crown of Denmark, 
 had provided for the eventual succession to the throne by a 
 solemn treaty. By this instrument, known as the Treaty of 
 London, of May, 1852, the succession was secured by Christian 
 IX., whose queen would, according to the lex regia, have been 
 entitled, on the death of Frederick VII., to reign over Denmark 
 Proper and Schleswig, but she ceded her rights to her husband. 
 Touching Holstein-Gottorp, the legal heir to that duchy, after 
 the Sovereigns of Denmark, was the Emperor of Kussia, but 
 in June, 1851, he ceded his rights of inheritance to the present 
 dynasty. The Treaty of London provided that Prince Christian 
 of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, married to 
 Louise, only daughter of the Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel, 
 and named by King Frederick VII. as his successor, should 
 be recognized by them, on the decease of Frederick, as King 
 of Denmark. By the articles of the above treaty, the rights 
 and reciprocal obligations of the King of Denmark and the 
 Germanic Confederation concerning the Duchies of Holstein 
 and Lauenburg established by the Federal Act of 1815, and 
 the Federal right existing at the time of the treaty, were 
 declared not to be altered by the said treaty. King Christian 
 issued on the 6th of December, a proclamation to the inhabi- 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 77 
 
 tants of Holstein, in which he stated that his claims had been 
 recognized by the Powers, and that if necessary armed force 
 would be employed in putting down any insurrectionary 
 movements which had for their object the dismemberment 
 of the Danish Monarchy. But the Frankfort Diet met, and 
 resolved to administer government in the Duchies of 
 Holstein and Lauenburg, without reference to the disputed 
 right of succession. Federal Commissioners were appointed, 
 and the Danish Government was summoned to withdraw its 
 troops from the Duchies within seven days. Austria, 
 Prussia, and Saxony further supplied soldiers to be in 
 readiness to enter Holstein, in case resistance should be made 
 by the Danes, and hostilities begin. The Prince of Augus- 
 tenburg addressed a letter in support of his claims to the 
 Emperor of the French, who, in a cautious reply, and one 
 conceived in a waiting spirit, expressed the hope that the 
 Prince's claims might be investigated by the German Diet, 
 and that its decisions might be submitted to the Powers 
 represented in the Convention of London. 
 
 When the Federal Commissioners entered Holstein they 
 were warmly greeted by the inhabitants, who were very 
 hostile to the Danish rule. The Prince of Augustenburg 
 made his appearance about the same time at Kiel, and was 
 welcomed with enthusiasm as the rightful Duke of Schleswig- 
 Holstein. Several of the German States, flagrantly setting 
 aside the Treaty of .London which they had signed, now 
 strenuously opposed the Danish right of succession. Mean- 
 while the Government of Copenhagen withdrew the Pro- 
 clamation of the 30th of March, which had been made the 
 ostensible ground of Federal interference ; and the British 
 Government endeavoured, but in vain, to induce the King to 
 procure the repeal of the Constitution of November, by 
 which the Germans alleged that Schleswig had, contrary to 
 good faith, been incorporated with Denmark Proper. The 
 year therefore closed with the Constitution of November in 
 full force, and the Danish and German troops confronting 
 
78 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 each other on the opposite banks of the Eider, waiting for 
 the signal which should inaugurate the conflict. 
 
 Concurrently with the Schleswig-Holstein imbroglio, 
 difficulties arose in connection with the Germanic Confede- 
 ration. A congress of German sovereigns and princes met 
 at Frankfort in the month of August to discuss a project for 
 the reformation of the Bund. It was the Emperor of Austria 
 who took the initiative, and he invited the other German 
 potentates to deliberate with him upon a scheme of 
 reform. The Emperor of Austria had a personal interview 
 at Gastein with the King of Prussia, and tried to induce 
 him to attend, but the King declined. Bismarck was also 
 strongly against the scheme. However, nearly the whole 
 of the other kingdoms, principalities, and free towns of 
 Germany accepted the invitation, and Frankfort became the 
 scene of such a gathering of kings and princes as had rarely 
 been witnessed in Europe. 
 
 The Emperor Francis Joseph opened the proceedings, and 
 the Congress, disappointed at the non-representation of Prussia, 
 sent the King a collective invitation by the hands of the King 
 of Saxony. His Majesty declined this second invitation as 
 decidedly as he had done the first, and Bismarck waxed 
 extremely angry. ' I was so nervous and excited,' he after- 
 wards said, ' when the King of Saxony came, that I could 
 scarcely stand on my legs, and in closing the door of the 
 adjutant's room I tore off the latch.' Writing to his wife, he 
 remarked, ' I cannot leave the King on account of all this 
 Frankfort " windbaggery." ' In his introductory address to 
 the Congress, the Emperor of Austria thus indicated his 
 proposed plan of reform : ' Being of opinion that the sphere 
 of action of the Bund shall be enlarged, I propose that the 
 Executive power shall be placed in the hands of a Directory, 
 which shall have a Federal Council at its side. We require 
 the periodical meeting of an assembly of deputies which shall 
 have full power to participate in the legislation and in the 
 control of the finances of the Bund. I propose that there shall 
 
KING OF PRUSSIA. 79 
 
 be periodical meetings of the German Princes. By the intro- 
 duction of an independent Federal Court a satisfactory 
 guarantee is given for the proper administration of justice 
 in Germany. In all these matters the principle of the 
 equality of the several independent states will, as strictly 
 as possible, be upheld. At the same time, due regard must 
 be paid to their political influence and to the number 
 of their inhabitants, in order that an effective executive 
 power and a general representation in the Bund may be 
 inseparably united.' 
 
 The Emperor could not conceal his chagrin, however, that 
 King William had declined his invitation. The same feeling 
 thus found expression in the collective answer of the other 
 sovereigns and princes to the speech of the Emperor as read 
 by the King of Bavaria : ' I deeply share with your Majesty, 
 and certainly all our dear confederates share it with me, the 
 regret that we cannot yet salute his Majesty the King of 
 Prussia among us. Let me firmly hope that at our next 
 meeting this strong ring will complete the great chain of 
 German power and grandeur.' 
 
 There were thirty-five states in the German Confederation, 
 and the only princes who had declined to take part in the 
 Congress, were the King of Prussia, whose contingent to the 
 Federal Army was 79,484 men, and the Prince of Lippe- 
 Detmold, whose contingent was 691. 
 
 Yet another effort was made to overcome the scruples of 
 the King of Prussia, in an autograph letter from the Emperor 
 Francis Joseph. King William, writing from Baden-Baden 
 on the 20th "of August, replied as follows to this latest 
 invitation : ' In my letter of the 4th inst. I expressed to your 
 Majesty my readiness to co-operate in an improvement of the 
 Federal Constitution, in accordance with the age, and, at the 
 same time expressed the conviction that, if the intended aim 
 was to be reached, such a work could not be commenced by a 
 meeting of sovereigns without harmonious preparatory 
 discussions ; and on this account I regret to be obliged to 
 
80 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 decline your Majesty's invitation to be present at the 
 meeting at Frankfort on the 16th inst. 
 
 ' If I unwillingly repeat my declination of the invitation 
 which in its form is so honourable to me, my conviction is 
 still the same as that expressed in my explanation of the 4th 
 inst. ; and I retain it the rather as I have yet received no official 
 information of the basis of the propositions. -The information 
 which has reached me by other means only strengthens me in 
 the view to fix my determination only when, by business-like 
 deliberations on the matter by my Council, the proposed changes 
 in the Federal Constitution may be harmoniously discussed in 
 their relations to the just power of Prussia and to the just 
 interests of the nation. I owe it to my country and the cause 
 of Germany to give no explanations which may bind me to my 
 federal allies, before such discussion has taken place. With- 
 out such, however, my participation in the discussions would be 
 impracticable. This consideration will not restrain me from 
 giving the same consideration to any communication which my 
 federal allies may transmit to me, which I have always devoted 
 to the development of the general interests of the country.' 
 
 The King of Prussia was not to be caught, and Bismarck, 
 in giving to the representative of Prussia at the Frankfort 
 Diet the reasons why his Majesty declined to take part in 
 the Congress, wrote, inter alia : ' Your Excellency will 
 receive from the Ministry at Berlin the more detailed 
 development of the views of the Government of the King 
 upon our own plans of reform, and the actual propositions of 
 Austria. For the moment, I restrict myself to declaring that 
 these last, as we think, do not correspond to the position to 
 which the Prussian Monarchy has a right, nor to the 
 legitimate interests of the German people. Prussia would 
 be renouncing the position which her power and her history 
 have made for her among the whole of the European nations, 
 and would risk making the forces of the country serve for 
 purposes alien to the interests of the country, and for the 
 determination of which we could not exercise the degree of 
 
KING OF PEUSSIA. 81 
 
 influence and control to which we can with justice 
 pretend/ 
 
 The Prussian King and his Minister saw that the time was 
 rapidly approaching which must decide the question of 
 supremacy in Germany. The Emperor of Austria was 
 regarded by many of the German princes as their natural 
 head, but Herr Yon Bismarck took a very different view, and 
 would not countenance any step which might seem to 
 give a secondary position to Prussia. The rights of his 
 country were not to be maintained or extended by a mere 
 palaver like that at Frankfort. The Minister had other ends 
 in view which would have been defeated had the Prussian 
 eagle once but had its claws clipped by the Frankfort Con- 
 gress. So Francis Joseph was left to ruminate over the new 
 position he had created in German diplomacy. The Congress 
 passed a great many articles and resolutions, but Bismarck 
 knew that the sword was capable of cutting through any 
 such paper settlements of German interests. 
 
82 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE WAB WITH DENMAKK. 
 
 WHEN the year 1864 opened there was still some hope that 
 war might be averted. England sympathized strongly with 
 Denmark in regard to her difficulties with Prussia. Besides 
 the natural feeling of interest and admiration she felt for 
 a minor Power, which was in all but mortal conflict with a 
 greater, England was moved by the fear that 'the dis- 
 memberment of the Danish monarchy might lead to an 
 undue and dangerous predominance of Prussia on the Baltic.' 
 Moreover, there was a third consideration with Englishmen, 
 and a strong one, albeit one only of national sentiment and 
 affection. The Princess of Wales, the wife of our heir 
 apparent, was a daughter of the King of Denmark, and 
 she had already won all British hearts by her beauty, her 
 gentle nature, and her winning manners. When, rightly or 
 wrongly, the idea gained ground that her father was being 
 unjustly treated by Prussia, the feelings of British sympathy 
 with the Danish Sovereign were still further strengthened. 
 
 The Prince of Augustenburg had been received at Kiel by 
 the Commissioners who administered the Federal Government 
 in Holstein ; and Denmark, acting under the advice of the 
 British Government, withdrew from a province which she 
 had neither the legal right to defend against the repre- 
 sentatives of the Diet, nor the physical power to hold. It 
 was matter of regret with many statesmen that Denmark 
 did not act as judiciously in respect to Schleswig, by 
 evacuating that duchy and accepting the comparatively 
 moderate terms which were still offered by the Great Powers. 
 
TEE WAR WITH DENMARK. 83 
 
 Austria and Germany, which in January were denounced by 
 the German Liberals as enemies to the national cause, still 
 recognized the rights of Christian IX. to the entire Danish 
 monarchy, under the treaty of 1852. But demanding from 
 Denmark the immediate repeal of the common constitution 
 of the kingdom of Schleswig, they proposed to the Diet that 
 in case of refusal the duchy should be occupied as a 
 guarantee for the required concession. 
 
 To the wonder of Europe, Austria and Prussia, notwith- 
 standing their antagonistic interests, were now to be seen 
 moving in concert in the Schleswig-Holstein question. The 
 minor German States, acting under the guidance of the 
 Saxon Minister, Baron Beust, clamoured for immediate war, 
 and, for the first time since the creation of the confederacy, 
 they outvoted Prussia and Austria in the Diet. This vote 
 decided the two Great Powers upon asserting their political 
 supremacy in Germany, and their united forces were speedily 
 concentrated on the frontier of Schleswig. The troops 
 crossed the Eider on the last day of January, and after a few 
 skirmishes, the Danish soldiers evacuated the line of the 
 Dannewerke, falling back upon the fortified position of 
 Diippel, opposite the island of Alsen. The Austrian generals 
 next proceeded to occupy the northern portion of Schleswig, 
 and a part of Jutland ; while the Prussians, assisted by an 
 Austrian contingent, laid siege to Diippel. 
 
 Meanwhile the King of Prussia and Bismarck were fighting 
 the Chamber of Deputies on the question of the supplies 
 rendered necessary by the military movements undertaken 
 by Prussia. As the Chamber persisted in its refusal to pass 
 the bill which authorized the loan, the King peremptorily 
 closed the session on the 25th of January. The Chamber 
 had taken up a strong position in its previous conflicts with 
 the King and the Ministry, but now it laid itself open to 
 animadversion, inasmuch as while it urged upon the Govern- 
 ment an armed interference in the affairs of the Duchies of 
 Schleswig and Holstein, it persistently denied the Govern- 
 
 G 2 
 
84 WILLIAM L AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 ment the means of carrying on its operations. The King's 
 speech to the Deputies contained the following passages : 
 
 ' While the Upper House has expressed, in an address to 
 the King, its confiding readiness to support the Crown in 
 this serious question, the required consent to a loan has been 
 refused by the Chamber of Deputies, and even the grant of 
 those supplies has been withheld which Prussia, as a member 
 of the German Confederation, is undoubtedly bound to con- 
 tribute. . . . The inimical character of these resolutions, in 
 which is expressed an endeavour to subject the foreign policy 
 of the Government to unconstitutional coercion, is heightened 
 by resolutions by which the majority of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives side beforehand against the Prussian fatherland on 
 the supposition, arbitrarily raised by them, of warlike 
 complications between Prussia and other German States. 
 Such conduct on the part of the House of Eepresentatives 
 can only act in a pernicious manner on the strengthening 
 and development of our constitutional condition, and we 
 must for the present renounce hopes of an understanding. 
 The Government of his Majesty must, however, consider 
 itself bound, under all circumstances, to maintain with all its 
 power, and in the full exercise of the royal rights, the 
 preservation of the State, and the welfare and honour of 
 Prussia. It is still firmly convinced that it will find sufficient 
 and increasing support in the patriotic sentiments of the 
 country.' 
 
 Public opinion was divided upon the legal rights of 
 Denmark, in regard to the two duchies Schleswig and 
 Holstein. While it all surged in favour of Denmark, as 
 regarded the former, the popular feeling in Holstein was 
 almost unanimously in favour of Germany. A deputation 
 from that duchy presented an address to the Federal Diet, 
 in which, after stating that their fathers knew how to 
 preserve German rights and German manners, German truth 
 and German feeling, against all attacks, and that the people 
 had risen as one man to offer homage to the Duke of 
 
THE WAR WITH DENMARK. 85 
 
 Augustenburg as their rightful Sovereign, they called for 
 justice to be done. The Danes, however, denied that there 
 was any such thing as a Schleswig-Holstein crown, or even 
 a Schleswig-Holstein State. In the Upper House at 
 Copenhagen, Bishop Monrad, the President of the Council, 
 elicited loud cheers when he said, ' The programme which 
 we have to follow, simply, clearly, and without evasion is 
 this not to allow a single German soldier to pass the Eider, 
 without offering the best resistance in our power, and to use 
 every effort to expel from Schleswig all who shall venture to 
 intrude/ 
 
 In acting thus confidently, Denmark relied upon the 
 support of the Western Powers, believing that England and 
 France would interfere to prevent the violation of the Treaty 
 of London of 1852, to which they were parties, and which 
 covenanted to secure to the Danish Crown all the dominions 
 which then belonged to it. The Danes furthermore relied 
 upon the strength of their fortifications called the Danne- 
 werke, on the north side of the Eider. Field-Marshal von 
 Wrangel commanded the Prussian forces which were 
 assembled at Kiel, and on the 1st of February they marched 
 out of the town and crossed the Schleswig frontier, occupying 
 Gottorp, while the Danish troops retired at their approach. 
 General de Meza commanded the Danish army, and he was 
 summoned by Wrangel to evacuate the town of Schleswig, 
 to which his answer simply was that he had orders to defend 
 it. A severe conflict took place on the 2nd of February 
 between the Danes and Germans, near Missunde, on the 
 Schlei, upon which General de Meza had retired with 
 the first division of his army. Unable to contend with 
 the superior forces of the Germans, the Danes retreated 
 northwards. Schleswig was evacuated, the Austrians 
 occupied Flensburg, and the Prussians pushed on towards 
 Diippel. 
 
 Indignation at the abandonment of the Dannewerke broke 
 out in Copenhagen, and the Commander-in-Chief was de- 
 
86 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 prived of his post. De Meza, however, with his greatly 
 inferior forces, had no other option, and the Danish Eigsdag 
 passed a vote of thanks to the army for the gallant spirit it had 
 displayed in the unequal struggle. On the 7th of February, 
 General Yon Wrangel issued a proclamation, in which he 
 announced that Austrian and Prussian commissioners would 
 administer the civil government of Schleswig, and ordered 
 that the German language should be thenceforth used in all 
 branches of the administration. But the smaller States of 
 the Federal Diet now became dissatisfied with the mode in 
 which Austria and Prussia were superseding the authority of 
 the Diet in their conduct of the campaign. Those Powers, 
 nevertheless, took little notice of the protests made against 
 their action. 
 
 The Danish army now concentrated itself at Fredericia, a 
 fortress on the confines of Schleswig and Jutland, Diippel 
 opposite to Alsen and in the little island of Alsen itself, 
 which was held by 12,000 men. The siege of Diippel was 
 undertaken by the Prussians, who brought all the resources 
 of modern artillery against it. Line after line of the 
 Danish defence was gradually taken, and on the 18th of 
 April the last remaining bastions were stormed, and the 
 Prussians became masters of the place. Fredericia was then 
 abandoned by the Danes. The conduct of the Prussians in 
 Jutland was most arbitrary and oppressive. Von Wrangel 
 issued a proclamation in which he imposed a forced contri- 
 bution upon the province of 96,000, ' in compensation for 
 the damage to property caused to Prussian as well as to 
 other German subjects by ships and cargoes captured by the 
 Danes.' From the small town of Viborg, containing a 
 population of less than 5000, a Prussian general demanded 
 the immediate delivery of 19,600 Ibs. of bread, 30,000 Ibs. of 
 oats, 380 Ibs. of roasted coffee, 2700 Ibs. of rice, 380 bottles 
 of wine, 1200 bottles of brandy, 3000 cigars, 1300 Ibs. of 
 tobacco, 25,000 Ibs. of hay, and 11,000 Ibs. of straw. This 
 requisition was followed up by others equally exorbitant. 
 
THE WAR WITH DENMARK. 87 
 
 In a naval engagement off Heligoland, the Danes for the 
 first time gained an advantage over their opponents. 
 
 England now endeavoured to avert the further prosecu- 
 tion of the war by a conference of the Great Powers. 
 Together with Denmark, she took her stand upon the pro- 
 visions of the treaty of 1852 ; but Prussia at once threw that 
 treaty to the winds, alleging that war had abrogated it, and 
 that she was no longer bound by it. Austria was not quite 
 so emphatic in her declarations, and the Federal Diet, after 
 considerable difficulty, agreed to send a representative to the 
 conference. The first meeting took place in London on the 
 25th of April, and on strong representations being made by 
 England, France, Eussia, and Sweden, it was agreed that 
 hostilities should be suspended from the 12th of May to the 
 12th of June. In the meantime Denmark was to raise her 
 blockades. The plenipotentiaries of Austria and Prussia 
 were asked to explain why their governments had occupied 
 a large portion of the Danish territory, and what their 
 future intentions were ; and the answer was given that the 
 treaty of 1852 was no longer in force. The conference 
 failed to come to an ^understanding upon the points in dis- 
 pute, but a prolongation of the armistice was arranged, and it 
 was agreed to continue the suspension of hostilities until the 
 26th of June. Proposals were then made by England as to 
 the boundary-line which was to separate Denmark from 
 the duchies, but the Danish and German plenipotentiaries 
 hopelessly disagreed upon this point, and the labours of the 
 conference consequently came to an end with an abortive 
 result. 
 
 A new cabinet was formed at Copenhagen, and in opening 
 the session of the Kigsraad on the 25th of June, the King 
 expressed a hope that the sympathy of England would grow 
 into active support. A few days afterwards hostilities were 
 renewed. The Prussians crossed over to Alsen, and after a 
 sharp engagement the Danish troops which came up were 
 compelled to retreat with a loss in killed and wounded of 
 
88 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 nearly 3000 men. In the following month a quarrel arose 
 between the Federal and Prussian troops, and the forcible 
 occupation of Eendsburg by the latter led to much bad 
 blood. The affair blew over after a strong resolution passed 
 by the Saxon chambers. 
 
 The struggle with Denmark practically concluded with 
 the capture of Alsen and the abandonment of Fredericia. 
 As the Danes were left alone to pursue a very unequal war, 
 they were at length compelled to yield and make overtures 
 for a peace. Negotiations were accordingly opened at 
 Vienna, between the plenipotentiaries of Austria, Prussia, 
 and Denmark, for the purpose of settling the preliminaries 
 between those Powers. On the 1st of August these pre- 
 liminaries of peace were signed : by them the King of 
 Denmark renounced all his rights to the Duchies of 
 Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, in favour of the King 
 of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria, engaging also to 
 recognize any arrangements those Powers might make in 
 respect to the duchies. The frontier dispute was settled by 
 mutual concessions. Debts contracted on account of the 
 Danish monarchy were to be divided between the Kingdom 
 of Denmark upon the one hand, and the ceded duchies upon 
 the other, in proportion to the population of the two parts. 
 But the loan contracted in England by the Danish Govern- 
 ment in the month of December, 1863, was to remain at the 
 charge of the Kingdom of Denmark ; and the repayment of 
 the war expenses incurred by the Allied Powers was to be 
 undertaken by the duchies. A treaty of peace, upon the 
 basis thus laid down, was ultimately signed at Vienna on the 
 1st of October. 
 
 Bismarck, having now obtained all he wanted, wrote a 
 very cool note to the Prussian Minister in London, to the 
 effect that he hoped the British Government would not 
 refuse to recognize the moderation and placability which had 
 been displayed by the two German powers, Austria and 
 Prussia. They did not wish, he said, to dismember the 
 
TEE WAR WITH DENMARK. 89 
 
 ancient and venerable Danish monarchy, but to bring about 
 a separation from it of parts with which a further union had 
 become impossible through the force of circumstances and 
 events. The Danish monarchy had received no wounds 
 which could not be healed. 
 
 This view of the crippling of Denmark was a little too 
 cynical for the British Government ; and as England was 
 directly challenged for her opinion, Earl Kussell gave 
 expression to the grave dissatisfaction of his Government at 
 the course pursued by the German Powers. His lordship 
 wrote : ' Her Majesty's Government would have preferred a 
 total silence, instead of the task of commenting on the 
 conditions of peace. Challenged, however, by Herr Von 
 Bismarck's invitation to admit the moderation and for- 
 bearance of the great German Governments, Her Majesty's 
 Government feel bound not to disguise their own sentiments 
 upon these matters. Her Majesty's Government have, in- 
 deed, from time to time, as events took place, repeatedly 
 declared their opinion that the aggression of Austria and 
 Prussia upon Denmark was unjust, and that the war as 
 waged by Germany against Denmark had not for its ground- 
 work either that justice or that necessity which are the only 
 bases on which war ought to be undertaken. Considering 
 the war, therefore, to have been wholly unnecessary on the 
 part of Germany, they deeply lament that the advantages 
 acquired by successful hostilities should have been used by 
 Austria and Prussia to dismember the Danish monarchy, 
 which it was the object of the treaty of 1852 to preserve 
 entire. ... If it is said that force has decided this question, 
 and that the superiority of the arms of Austria and Prussia 
 over those of Denmark was incontestable, the assertion must 
 be admitted. But in that case it is out of place to claim 
 credit for equity and moderation.' 
 
 Immediately after her victorious contest with Denmark, 
 Prussia began to treat the smaller States of the German 
 Diet with superciliousness and hauteur. They soon found 
 
90 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 that in egging on Prnssia and Austria to the very uneven 
 conflict with Denmark, they had heen making a rod for their 
 own hacks. 
 
 Bismarck addressed a note, on the 13th of December, 
 to the Prussian Ambassador at Munich, in which he openly 
 manifested his contempt for any resolution which the Federal 
 Diet might pass in opposition to the alleged rights and 
 interests of Prussia. 
 
 The man of iron had triumphed, and Denmark had heen 
 the first to feel the weight of his oppressive hand. It was 
 with sadness and deep emotion that the King of Denmark 
 received a deputation who conveyed a farewell address from 
 the inhabitants of Schleswig. * You have told me/ said his 
 Majesty, with pathos and simple dignity in his reply, ' how 
 bitterly yon grieve to be separated from Denmark and the 
 Danish Koyal House, and I pray you to believe that it has 
 also been most painful to me to be placed under the necessity 
 of relinquishing the ancient Danish crown land of Schleswig, 
 united for centuries with Denmark. Of all the cares and 
 sorrows which have been heaped upon me during my brief 
 rule, nothing has more depressed my mind, nothing weighed 
 more deeply upon my heart, than the separation from the 
 brave, faithful, and loyal Schleswigers, who have, upon so 
 many difficult occasions, constantly given the most brilliant 
 proofs of fidelity and devotion to Denmark and the Danish 
 Eoyal House, and who have cherished no dearer or more zealous 
 wish than to remain united with the kingdom under my 
 sceptre. But, my friends, we must all bow to the will of 
 Providence, and I will pray to the Almighty that He may 
 give both to you and to me the requisite strength and 
 endurance to bear the bitter pangs of separation. I thank 
 yon heartily for your presence at this place, and will consider 
 it as an additional proof of your devotion to me and the 
 Danish Boyal House. *My best wishes for your future 
 welfare will always be with yon. May God preserve and 
 bless you all!' 
 
Eorml Hone may wefl regard 
 
 find awe aolaee tfcorem the &ct that it 
 King far Greece; and that the ffivstnm 
 aTf lonaed UKVC fp^ren. to 
 
 IB 
 
92 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 
 
 FOR some time the relations between the two great German 
 Powers, Austria and Prussia, were to remain of a friendly 
 character. The Emperor Francis Joseph gave many proofs 
 of his esteem and friendship for his royal brother of Prussia, 
 and he decorated Bismarck with the order of St. Stephen. 
 The Prussian Minister had already received from King 
 William the coveted order of the Black Eagle, and not long 
 afterwards he was created a Count. 
 
 On the meeting of the Prussian Chambers in January, 
 1865, Count Bismarck, in the debate on the speech from the 
 throne, evolved further ideas upon constitutional questions 
 which must have alarmed the Deputies. Constitutional rule 
 he declared to be based on a compromise, especially in 
 Prussia, where there were side by side three estates with 
 equal powers. The Chamber of Deputies, by its resolution of 
 September, 1862, had abandoned the path of compromise, and 
 the existing Government, on its entry into office, had found 
 a conflict already in progress. * The Chamber of Deputies,' 
 observed the Minister, 'asks that this conflict should be 
 ended by an alteration of the present organization of the 
 army. This is impossible. As regards foreign policy, a 
 premature statement of the intentions of the Government in 
 reference to pending questions is also impossible. I can only 
 state that the interests of the country will be maintained. 
 The blood of our soldiers will not have been shed in vain. 
 The public Press and the Chamber of Deputies have re- 
 proached the Government with having entered into an 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 93 
 
 alliance with Austria. On this question the future will throw 
 a clearer light.' 
 
 But the Ministerial oracle was dumb as regarded any 
 further revelations. The Government was secretly working, 
 but declined to unfold its plans. The Chamber of Deputies 
 could only see a solution of the conflict with the King and 
 his Ministers by a formal acknowledgment on the part of the 
 Government of the constitutional right of the Chamber to 
 vote the Budget, and an assurance that the military expenses 
 of the country should be diminished as much as possible. 
 The Minister of the Interior nevertheless replied that the 
 King would not yield a single iota on the question of military 
 reform, and the House must, therefore, select another test of 
 the extent of its constitutional power namely, its right to 
 vote the Budget. But the Upper House was staunch to the 
 throne, and the King thanked it in warm terms for its loyal 
 address. He attributed the success of the army to the fact 
 that all its triumphs had been carried through and effected 
 upon the one basis of the fear of God. As for those repre- 
 sentatives with whom the Ministry was at loggerheads, he 
 practically said : * I shall try to make peace with them ; but, 
 if I cannot, then I shall do without them.' 
 
 But the Deputies might well view the condition of the 
 public finances with alarm, seeing that the Budget had 
 increased since 1849 from 94,000,000 to 151,000,000 thalers, 
 while the population had only risen from 16,300,000 to 
 19,500,000 in the same period. The yield from the income- 
 tax alone had gone up from 20,500,000 to 32,000,000 thalers. 
 
 Bismarck now brought in a bill for the increase of the 
 navy, and he was anxious for the Prussian Diet to declare 
 that the acquisition of the port of Kiel was necessary. He 
 was looking ahead, and, when questioned as to whether 
 Austria would be compensated in the event of an increase of 
 the power of Prussia in the duchies, he would not commit 
 himself beyond saying that no proposal had either been made 
 or accepted by which the rights of Prussia would be violated 
 
94 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 or her destinies influenced for a long period to come. As the 
 Minister remained reticent, the Chamber continued hostile, 
 and passed a resolution, declining to grant any loans to the 
 Ministry, which had practically set aside the right of voting 
 the Budget. Bismarck had claimed during the debate that 
 Kiel and the entire duchies were owned by Prussia. He 
 admitted that they were owned in common with the Kaiser, 
 but affirmed that the share which Prussia had in the property 
 would never be abandoned except on condition of Kiel 
 Harbour being handed over to her for good. No votes of the 
 Schleswig-Holstein estates, no proclamations of the Preten- 
 ders would drive Prussia from the duchies ; she would stick 
 to her programme, defending the justice and the necessity of 
 it to the last man. 
 
 Yet the Lower House not only refused a loan, it rejected 
 also the bill brought in to legalize the increase of the army. 
 Again the King closed the Chambers, Bismarck dissolving 
 them in his name on the 17th of June. As he could not get 
 a Budget from the Chamber, King William now resolved to 
 become his own Budget-maker, and to act as though a 
 representative constitution did not exist. A Eoyal decree 
 was issued, in which his Majesty said: 'Not having succeeded 
 in coming to an understanding with the Diet upon the bill 
 for the Budget of the year 1865, I order, in accordance with 
 the Eeport of the Ministry of State, dated the 4th of July, 
 inst., that the estimate returned herewith, showing the ex- 
 pected revenue and expenditure for the current year, shall 
 serve as a regulation for the administration of the finances. 
 I hereby at the same time place at the disposal of the 
 Minister of Marine a sum not exceeding 500,000 thalers for 
 the construction of heavy cast steel guns for the fleet, and 
 the Ministers of Marine and Finance will have to account to 
 me for the employment of this sum at the end of the year.' 
 
 A further stage in German affairs was marked on the 14th 
 of August, when an important convention between Prussia 
 and Austria was signed at Gastein, by the respective 
 
TEE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 95 
 
 Ministers of the two countries, Bismarck and Count Blome. 
 The convention was afterwards signed at Salzburg by the 
 King of Prussia and the Emperor of Austria. It began by 
 declaring that ' their Majesties, the King of Prussia and the 
 Emperor of Austria, having become convinced that the co- 
 dominion hitherto existing in the countries ceded by 
 Denmark through the treaty of peace of the 30th of October, 
 1864, leads to inconveniences which endanger, at the same 
 time, the good understanding between their governments 
 and also the interests of their duchies; their Majesties 
 have, therefore, come to the determination no longer to 
 exercise in common the rights accruing to them from article 
 3 of the above-mentioned treaty, but to divide geographi- 
 cally the exercise of the same until further agreement.' 
 So, by the Gastein Treaty, the sovereignty of Schleswig 
 now virtually centred in Prussia, and that of Holstein in 
 Austria ; while, in consideration of the payment of two- 
 and-a-half millions of Danish dollars, the Emperor Francis 
 Joseph ceded to King William all his rights of co-pro- 
 prietorship in the Duchy of Lauenburg. 
 
 But this mutual arrangement, while pleasant enough to 
 the two monarchs, drew forth strong protests from the 
 Cabinets of Paris and London. M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the 
 French Minister for Foreign Affairs, wrote : * Upon what 
 principle does the Austro-Prussian combination rest? We 
 regret to find no other foundation for it than force, no other 
 justification than the reciprocal convenience of the co-sharers. 
 This is a mode of dealing to which the Europe of to-day has 
 become unaccustomed, and precedents for it must be sought 
 for in the darkest ages of history. Violence and conquest 
 pervert the notion of right and the conscience of nations/ 
 In almost identical terms, Earl Kussell likewise wrote : 
 ' All rights, old or new, whether based upon a solemn 
 agreement between sovereigns or on the clear and precise 
 expression of the popular will, have been trodden under 
 foot by the Gastein Convention, and the authority of force 
 
96 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 is the sole power which has been consulted and recognized. 
 Violence and conquest, such are the only bases upon which 
 the dividing Powers have established their Convention. 
 Her Majesty's Government greatly deplores the disregard 
 thus manifested for the principles of public law and the 
 legitimate claim that a people may raise to be heard when 
 their destiny is called into question.' 
 
 When the Frankfort Diet assembled on the 24th of 
 August, the Prussian and Austrian representatives laid 
 before the Diet copies of the convention. But the smaller 
 German States condemned the treaty, for it overthrew all 
 the grounds on which the war with Denmark had been 
 jmdertaken, while the only result of the spoliation of the 
 northern kingdom was the aggrandizement of Prussia. 
 Accordingly, a committee of delegates from the minor German 
 States which met at Frankfort, issued a circular in which 
 they affirmed that by the Gastein Convention the Govern- 
 ments of Austria and Prussia had violated in the most 
 flagrant manner the clearest principles of right, and es- 
 pecially that of the duchies to settle their own future. 
 The document further stated that the measures which 
 it foresaw must follow the Convention, would, in addition 
 to shaking the sentiment of right of the German people, 
 probably annihilate for years the material and moral 
 prosperity of the duchies, freed from the Danish yoke 
 by German blood. 
 
 General von Manteuffel was appointed Prussian Governor 
 of Schleswig, and he issued a proclamation in which he made 
 the following large assumptions on behalf of Prussia : ' By 
 the Gastein Convention you are transferred to a separate 
 administration under the authority of the King of Prussia. 
 Government by Prussia signifies justice, public order, 
 and the advancement of the general prosperity. In as- 
 suming the Government, I promise to regard your interests, 
 and expect obedience to his Majesty's commands.' Field- 
 Marshal von Gablenz, the new Austrian Governor of 
 
TEE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 97 
 
 Holstein, adopted a different tone. ' Holding aloof/ he 
 said, ' from the exercise of any decided policy, I am inspired 
 solely by the desire of remaining a stranger to all party 
 intrigues, of striving incessantly to develop the prosperity 
 of the country, and, strengthened hy the confidence of the 
 population, of meeting the justly founded wishes of the 
 people.' 
 
 The King of Prussia now assumed, by Koyal proclamation, 
 the title of Duke of Lauenburg. Shortly afterwards an 
 important document was published to wit, the decision 
 of a Commission which had been appointed by the Prussian 
 Government to investigate the question of the legal rights 
 involved in the dispute relative to the Duchies. The Com- 
 mission, which included the Prussian Crown lawyers, re- 
 ported that the King of Denmark was the rightful Sovereign 
 of the ' entirety' of the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, 
 Sonderburg, and Gliicksburg, and that the only pretence 
 of title on the part of Prussia and Austria to those 
 provinces, was the cession of them by the treaty of October, 
 1864, which had been extorted from King Christian IX. at 
 the point of the sword. Further, that the claim of Prince 
 Frederick of Augustenburg was barred by the renunciation 
 made by his father ' for himself and his heirs ' in December, 
 1852. This was equivalent to saying that the only title of 
 Prussia and Austria was derived from the right of conquest, 
 because they had been victorious in a war unjustly provoked 
 by themselves. The allies were not only thus condemned by 
 the public opinion of Europe, but by a judicial body com- 
 posed of Germans, whose decision was above suspicion. 
 
 With the permission of King William, in October Bismarck 
 had an interview with the Emperor Napoleon at Biarritz. 
 The latter did not know what to make of his visitor, and 
 asked Prosper Merimee if he was mad. But subsequently, 
 in his Letters to an Unknown, Merimee said, ' Bismarck has 
 quite won me ; as, indeed, he also captivated Napoleon 
 himself by his frankness and the charm of his manners.' 
 
98 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 But politically the interview appears to have led to nothing 
 definite. 
 
 The Prussian Government did not go the right way to 
 conciliate the people by forcibly interfering to prevent a 
 banquet announced to be given by the citizens of Cologne 
 to the Liberal members of the Chambers. "When the session 
 opened on the 17th of January, 1866, Herr von Grabow, 
 President of the Lower House, condemned this incident, 
 and added that the Deputies were still waiting in vain for a 
 settlement from Ministers of educational, trade, district, and 
 principal affairs, based upon Liberal principles. The ad- 
 ministration of the State was altogether devoid of Liberal 
 principles, proof of which was afforded by the measures 
 taken against Liberal newspapers, associations, and meetings, 
 and Liberal officials and citizens. 
 
 The Lower House boldly continued its opposition to the 
 Ministry, and in February it voted by a large majority that 
 the union of the Duchy of Lauenburg to the Crown of 
 Prussia should not take place until it had been approved of 
 by both the Chambers. This hostile and courageous attitude 
 greatly displeased the King, and the session was abruptly 
 closed on the 23rd of February, after an existence of only 
 six weeks. Before the Chambers adjourned, Herr Gneist 
 caustically and eloquently reviewed the history of the 
 dispute between the Government and the Deputies, and 
 observed, 'Let us hear no more of compromise. What we 
 require is an atonement for the offence given to the public 
 conscience an atonement for the violation of the laws of 
 this people.' 
 
 King William indicated his opinion of any interference 
 with his sovereign rights in Schleswig, by issuing a procla- 
 mation which declared that any Schleswiger signing an 
 address or delivering a speech in favour of the Duke of 
 Augustenburg would thenceforth be liable to be imprisoned 
 for a period varying from three months to five years, while 
 the actual attempt to abolish the Austro-Prussian sovereignty 
 
THE STRUG OLE WITH AUSTRIA. 99 
 
 over the duchies, and hand over the country to any of the 
 rival pretenders, rendered the offender liable to a penalty of 
 from five to ten years' hard labour. What would such 
 patriots as Pym and Hampden have done if they had been 
 handed over without their consent to a new ruler, and had 
 been forbidden even to discuss the supposed title and claims 
 of their new sovereign ? 
 
 Great events were impending that soon overshadowed 
 the differences between King and Deputies. As in the case 
 of individuals, Powers which have worked together for a 
 common object are sure to quarrel in the long run, especially 
 if their enterprises have been unjustifiable. Prussia and 
 Austria, the whilom bosom friends, began to upbraid each 
 other, the ostensible cause of the dispute being the occupa- 
 tion of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Beneath the 
 surface, however, was the deep-seated rivalry between the 
 two Powers, each of which aspired to be master in Germany. 
 As they were in the constant habit of giving checks to each 
 other, much irritation ensued. Nor was Prussia alone 
 causing concern to Austria; Italy was anxious to come 
 to hostilities with the latter Power, and made active warlike 
 preparations for a contest which she resolved should not 
 long be delayed. Seeing what was before her in the Italian 
 quarter, Austria increased her armaments, whereupon Prussia 
 took umbrage at her proceedings, and asserted that the 
 increase in the military strength of Austria was really a 
 menace against herself. 
 
 Count Bismarck now set to work in earnest, glad to get a 
 pretext of any kind for falling out with Austria. He was 
 resolved upon the exaltation of Prussia at any cost. In 
 March the Berlin Government sent a circular despatch to 
 the minor German States, pointing out the necessity of 
 their coming to an immediate decision as to which of the 
 two Powers they would side with in the struggle which the 
 armaments going on in Austria seemed to render imminent. 
 ' It is urgent for Prussia to know if, and to what extent, she 
 
 H 2 
 
100 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 may rely upon assistance in case she should be attacked hy 
 Austria, or forced into war hy unmistakable menaces.' It 
 was Bismarck's lot frequently to get the worst of the logic, 
 and some of the States now replied hy referring him to the 
 llth clause of the Federal Act, hy which war between 
 German Governments, members of the Bund, was prohibited, 
 and a pacific mode of settling disputes was provided. The 
 Bavarian Government plainly said that any Federal State 
 which declared war against another Federal State must be 
 considered as having violated the Federal Constitution. 
 The upshot was, that seventeen out of the thirty-three 
 States which formed the Bund seceded from it ; and all the 
 minor northern States, with the exception of the elder house 
 of Keuss, took the part of Prussia. 
 
 But Bismarck went on his way, and scored a strong point 
 by making a secret treaty of alliance with Italy, according to 
 which the two countries agreed to engage in war with Austria, 
 though each on its own account. It did not seem a very manly 
 way of fighting an enemy this one to cripple her in a certain 
 quarter, and the other to keep her engaged in another. 
 Allies fighting for a common cause is a different thing. 
 But Italy engaged to declare war against Austria as soon as 
 Prussia should have either declared war or committed an act 
 of hostility. Prussia, on her part, agreed to continue the 
 war until the mainland of Yenetia, with the exception of 
 the fortresses and the city of Venice, either was in the hands 
 of the Italians, or until Austria declared herself ready to 
 cede it voluntarily ; and King Victor Emmanuel promised, 
 on his part, not to lay down his arms until the Prussians 
 should be in full and legal possession of the Elbe duchies. 
 
 Now ensued a long correspondence between the Govern- 
 ments of Austria and Prussia, each endeavouring to lay the 
 blame upon the other of making hostile preparations in 
 anticipation of a conflict, and each calling upon the other to 
 disarm. We find the Emperor Francis Joseph expressing 
 his sincere satisfaction at the announcement that Prussia 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 101 
 
 had agreed to a simultaneous disarmament of the two 
 Powers ; but as Italy was preparing for an attack upon 
 Yenetia, of course Austria must look after herself in that 
 quarter. To this Count Bismarck replied that Austria must 
 disarm altogether, and that there was no ground for saying 
 that Italy meditated an unprovoked attack upon the Empire, 
 which was an astounding assertion in view of the provisions 
 of the secret treaty between Prussia and Italy. 
 
 The Austrian Emperor rejoined by issuing orders for placing 
 the whole army upon a war footing, and for concentrating a 
 portion of it on the Bohemian and Silesian frontiers. At 
 the same time Count Mensdorff wrote to the Austrian 
 Minister at Berlin to the effect, that it was ridiculous to say 
 Italy meditated no attack upon Austria, when the forcible 
 detachment of a part of the Austrian territory was the 
 already announced programme of the Florence Government. 
 If Austria was not to be allowed to make preparations for 
 warding off this attack, then she must consider the negotia- 
 tions for a simultaneous disarmament on the part of Prussia 
 on the one side, and of Austria on the other, as being at an 
 end. Austria had given solemn assurances, both at Berlin 
 and at Frankfort, and Prussia could therefore have no 
 reason to apprehend aggression on her part, while Germany 
 could have no cause to fear that she would disturb the peace 
 of the German Confederation. ' In Berlin,' said Count 
 Mensdorff, i it cannot be unknown that we have not only to 
 provide for the integrity of our own Empire, but also to 
 protect the territory of the German Bund against an 
 aggressive movement on the part of Italy ; and we therefore 
 may and must, in the interests of Germany, seriously ask of 
 Prussia whether she thinks the demand that the frontiers of 
 Germany shall be left unguarded, compatible with the duties 
 of a German Power.' 
 
 Bismarck was not careful to answer this question ; but 
 his policy had become very apparent a few days before, when 
 a peremptory demand was made by the Prussian Government 
 
102 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 upon the Saxon Government to give an account of the 
 reasons why the Saxon army had been strengthened ; and 
 they were told that if the armaments were not at once 
 discontinued, the Berlin Cabinet would take such measures 
 as might appear to be necessary. But by way of reply to 
 this threat, on the 5th of May a motion was made in the 
 Federal Diet at Frankfort by the representative of Saxony, 
 that the Bund, l in accordance with Article XI of the Act 
 of Confederation, do summon Prussia to give a formal decla- 
 ration that her intentions are of a pacific nature ; ' and this 
 was carried by a majority of ten votes to five. 
 
 Meanwhile a startling incident occurred at Berlin, which 
 diverted for a moment the attention of Prussians from foreign 
 affairs, while it at the same time testified to the feeling of 
 hatred with which Count Bismarck was regarded by a portion 
 of his own countrymen. On the afternoon of the 7th of May, 
 as the First Minister was returning to his own residence 
 from the Palace, and was passing down the central avenue 
 of the Linden, two shots were fired at him. Bismarck 
 turned round and grasped the wrist of the assassin with one 
 hand, and his throat with the other ; but his assailant, 
 though a very young man, struggled desperately, and man- 
 aged to fire off three more bullets from a six-chambered 
 revolver, two of which actually grazed the Minister's breast 
 and shoulder. Notwithstanding a momentary feeling of 
 weakness, Bismarck held on to his antagonist, and gripped 
 him as in a vice ; and as a battalion of the Guards was by 
 this time marching down the Linden, he handed him over to 
 the soldiers, by whom he was taken off to prison. Bismarck 
 went home and wrote an account of the affair to the King. 
 Then he entered the drawing-room, where several guests had 
 assembled for dinner, and very calmly confided to his wife 
 the intelligence, ' They have shot at me, my child ; but don't 
 fear ; there is no harm done. Let us now go in to dinner.' 
 The family doctor afterwards declared that the Minister 
 had been saved only by a miracle. The King came to 
 
THE STEUOQLE WITH AUSTRIA. 103 
 
 offer his congratulations, and the day closed with popular 
 rejoicings. 
 
 The youth who made the attempt proved to be one 
 Ferdinand Cohen, twenty-two years of age. ' He was the 
 stepson of Karl Blind, a political exile from Baden, residing 
 in London, and now well known in the literary circles of the 
 metropolis. Cohen, who had adopted the name of Blind, 
 was a youth of good education. He had espoused Kepublican 
 principles, and journeyed from South Germany to Berlin 
 with the set purpose of removing a man who was ' universally 
 denounced as the oppressor of Prussian liberties, and the 
 diaholic disturber of German peace.' 
 
 Young Blind was executed, which from the Minister's 
 point of view was perhaps not the wisest thing to do ; for 
 Bismarck many years afterwards (May 9, 1884) complained 
 in the Keichstag that the dead body of his would-be assassin 
 * became the object of a cult ; that ladies of considerable 
 name, whose husbands enjoyed a certain reputation in the 
 scientific world, crowned it with laurels and flowers, and 
 that this was tolerated by the police the mass of the 
 ordinary officials, perhaps even some of the higher ones, 
 being rather on his side.' By way of correcting certain 
 erroneous inferences from the Chancellor's statement, how- 
 ever, Herr Karl Blind thus wrote to the Times concerning 
 his adopted son: 'The nobility of his character, and the 
 patriotic nature of the motives which carried him away 
 to the deed, were universally acknowledged at the time, even 
 by political adversaries. His death was made the theme of 
 a eulogistic poem by Marie Kurz, the wife of Hermann 
 Kurz. His portrait, crowned with oak-leaves, was worn by 
 many militiamen in the south on their helmets when they 
 were called out for the war. With Nihilist ideas he had 
 nothing whatever to do. His object was to prevent what 
 the Imperial Chancellor in recent years himself has twice 
 designated as a " war between brethren." I hold a number 
 of letters of warmest sympathy, written in the days of 
 
104 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 deepest grief and sorrow, to my wife and myself, by men of 
 political standing in Germany, of the moderate National 
 Liberal, as well as of the Progressist and Democratic parties.' 
 
 Keturning to the historical thread of our narrative, ' when 
 the two giant brothers (Austria and Prussia) began to feel 
 for their swords and shake their gauntleted fists at each 
 other, Napoleon III., like another lago feigning horror at 
 the brawl between Cassio and Koderigo, made a show of pro- 
 posing that they should submit their quarrel to a European 
 congress at Paris a proposal which, though accepted by 
 Prussia, was virtually rejected by her rival ; but he had 
 previously plied Bismarck with offers of an alliance against 
 Austria, whereof the main objects were the cession of the 
 Duchies to Prussia, of Yenetia to Italy, and of more than 
 the left bank of the Ehine to France.' And as a comment 
 upon modern sovereigns and their diplomatic wiles, it may 
 be stated that while Napoleon was tempting Bismarck with 
 offers of an alliance against Austria, he was at the same time 
 secretly treating with Francis Joseph for the cession of 
 Venetia in return for Silesia 'the province most proudly 
 prized by Prussian king and people.' 
 
 General Gablenz, the Austrian Governor of Holstein, con- 
 voked an assembly of the States, to meet on the llth of 
 June; but other events of moment intervened. The Prussian 
 troops in Schleswig crossed the frontier on the 7th of May, 
 to assert the right of Prussia to a joint occupation of the 
 duchy ; and as the Austrians were not in sufficient force to 
 offer any effectual resistance, they retired from Holstein. 
 The Prussian Governor of Schleswig, General Manteuffel, 
 then issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Holstein, 
 in which he declared that the Provisional Government estab- 
 lished there in September, 1865, was abolished, and appointed 
 a Prussian President for the administration of the affairs of 
 both the duchies Schleswig and Holstein. 
 
 In vain did Austria protest against these acts, and accuse 
 Prussia of a violation of the Gastein Convention. The 
 
TEE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 105 
 
 Frankfort Diet passed a resolution, that the military commis- 
 sion should watch that the ordinary Federal contingents in 
 Federal garrisons should not be exceeded, the object being 
 to prevent Prussia from reinforcing her proportion of the 
 garrison in the important fortress of Mayence. The repre- 
 sentative of Prussia, by way of retort, then announced in 
 the Diet, that she would consider the imperative require- 
 ments of her self-preservation as more important than her 
 relations to a Confederation which, in its opposition to the 
 supreme Federal laws, did not add to the security of the 
 members of the Confederation, but rather endangered it. 
 
 It was at this juncture that the other Great Powers of 
 Europe endeavoured to avert the outbreak of hostilities by a 
 conference ; and England, France, and Kussia invited 
 Austria, Prussia, and Italy, and the German Diet, to send 
 representatives to meet in Paris and settle the terms of 
 peace. Prussia, Italy, and the Diet accepted this invitation, 
 but Austria made it a condition to her assent, that the 
 negotiations should exclude all pretensions on the part of 
 any one of the Powers to obtain an aggrandizement of 
 territory. This stipulation obviously pointed to the claim 
 of Prussia upon the two Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, 
 which she was not now in the least likely to abandon ; so 
 the French Emperor declared that it was useless for the 
 Powers to meet, and the proposed Conference fell through. 
 Two persons, Napoleon and Bismarck, were delighted with 
 this abortive result. Prussia had agreed to the Conference 
 with reluctance, and when the despatch announcing the 
 failure of the Congress was brought to Bismarck, he ex- 
 claimed, ' Vive le Roi ! ' 
 
 King William himself was much averse to this war in the 
 outset. He was not only personally attached to the Emperor 
 of Austria, but he did not like to be the first to break 
 through the old German traditions. Those religious scru- 
 ples, moreover, which have moved him at many stages in his 
 history, intervened to make him shrink from incurring the 
 
106 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 responsibility of a European war. Then, protests and 
 addresses poured in from all quarters, invoking a curse upon 
 that Power which should be the first to cause a deadly strife 
 between brethren. But Bismarck's iron will overcame all 
 obstacles, and within six or seven days from the failure of 
 the project for a Conference, Prussia withdrew from the 
 Germanic Confederation, and by that step virtually declared 
 war against Austria. 
 
 The two great German Powers now made active pre- 
 parations for meeting in the field. The Frankfort Diet 
 decreed, on the 14th of June, that the forces of the different 
 States, members of the Bund, should be mobilized. What 
 Prussia did is thus paraphrased in graphic language by 
 Mr. Lowe, in his Life of Prince Bismarck : ' " Look here, you 
 ravenous and unreliable hawks," said Bismarck, on the day 
 after the Prussian eagle had escaped from the discordant 
 aviary at Frankfort ; " look here, you Kings of Saxony and 
 Hanover, and you also, Elector of Hesse Cassel ! Your 
 geographical facilities for dealing Prussia an open or secret 
 blow are too great for us to remain in a day's doubt about 
 your intentions. Therefore declare unto us before midnight 
 your readiness to disarm and to accept our reform schemes, 
 in return for our guarantee of your territorial and sovereign 
 integrity, or your blood be upon your own heads ! " 
 
 ' "What were a Catholic and literary King John ruled by a 
 diplomatic Dugald Dalgetty of a Beust, and a poor old blind 
 King George boastful of his ancient lineage, and a whimsical 
 tyrant of an Elector of Hesse, to say to a terribly imperative 
 summons of this kind ? All three returned equivocal 
 answers tantamount to " No ! " and in less than two days 
 their capitals were in the grip of Prussian troops, the two 
 kings fugitive from their dominions, and the Elector on his 
 way to Stettin as a State prisoner ! Never had there been 
 such prompt and splendid action since Frederick the Great, 
 suspecting the designs of the Saxons, marched on Dresden 
 and seized the proofs of their conspiracy with his foes ; or 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 107 
 
 since Nelson sailed to Copenhagen and disabled the Danish 
 fleet from serving the Corsican robber against the Mistress 
 of the Seas.' 
 
 Prince Frederick Charles, who commanded the Prussian 
 troops in Saxony, upon entering that kingdom, issued from 
 Gorlitz a proclamation to the inhabitants, in which he said : 
 * We are not at war with the people and country of Saxony, 
 but only with the Government, which, by its inveterate 
 hostility, has forced us to take up arms.' Hesse-Cassel was 
 overrun without any opposition. The Prussian force was 
 divided into three main armies. Prince Frederick Charles 
 commanded in Saxony and Bohemia, the Crown Prince 
 operated in Silesia, and General Herwarth commanded the 
 third army, called the army of the Elbe. 
 
 In Yon Moltke Prussia now found the first strategist in 
 Europe, as she had already found the first diplomatist in 
 Bismarck. ' The confidence with which Bismarck had 
 spoken and acted was to a great extent the result of his 
 complete trust in the capability of the Prussian army, and of 
 the soldier who was its mind and brain, to make good his 
 actions and his words ; and now he drew back and watched, 
 while Hellmuth von Moltke set all the wondrous machinery 
 in harmonious motion by a gentle pressure of his finger, and 
 while he pored over his map in the office of the Grand 
 General Staff at Berlin, as at a pensive game of chess, and 
 moved his military pawns by touch of electric wire. Never 
 before had war been waged in this way ; never had any 
 method of waging war been more swiftly, more surprisingly 
 successful.' Nevertheless, at the opening of the campaign, 
 there were not wanting those in Europe who thought that 
 Austria might emerge victorious from the struggle. 
 
 The Emperor of Austria issued a war manifesto to his 
 people on the 17th of June. Beginning with a review of the 
 course of events which led up to the brink of hostilities, he 
 explained why he was compelled to draw the sword. ' While 
 engaged in a work of peace, which was undertaken for the 
 
108 WILLIAM I. AND THE GEBMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 purpose of laying the foundation for a Constitution which 
 should augment the unity and power of the Empire, and at 
 the same time secure to my several countries and peoples 
 free internal development, my duties as a sovereign have 
 obliged me to place my whole army under arms. On the 
 frontiers of my empire, in the south and in the north, stand 
 the armies of two enemies who have allied with the intention 
 of breaking the power of Austria as a great European State. 
 To neither of those enemies have I given cause for war. I 
 call on an Omniscient God to bear witness that I have 
 always considered it my first, my most sacred duty, to do all 
 in my power to secure for my peoples the blessings of peace.' 
 
 'One of the hostile Powers,' continued the Emperor, 
 referring to Italy, ' requires no excuse. Having a longing to 
 deprive me of parts of my Empire, a favourable opportunity 
 is for him a sufficient cause for going to war. The nego- 
 tiations with Prussia in respect to the Elbe duchies clearly 
 proved that a settlement of the question in a way compatible 
 with the dignity of Austria, and with the -rights and in- 
 terests of Germany and the duchies, could not be brought' 
 about, as Prussia was violent and intent on conquest. The 
 negotiations were therefore broken off, the whole affair was 
 referred to the Bund, and at the same time the legal 
 representatives of Holstein were convoked. 
 
 'The danger of war induced the three Powers France, 
 England, and Russia to invite my Government to par- 
 ticipate in general conferences, the object of which was to 
 be the maintenance of peace. My Government, in accordance 
 with my views, and, if possible, to secure the blessing of 
 peace for my peoples, did not refuse to share in the con- 
 ferences, but made their acceptance dependent on the 
 confirmation of the supposition that the public law of 
 Europe and the existing treaties were to form the basis of 
 the attempt at mediation, and that the Powers represented 
 would not seek to uphold special interests which could be 
 prejudicial to the balance of power in Europe, and to the 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 109 
 
 rights of Austria. The fact that the attempt to mediate 
 failed because these natural suppositions were made, is a 
 proof that the conferences could not have led to the main- 
 tenance of peace. Recent events clearly prove that Prussia 
 substitutes open violence for right and justice.' 
 
 This able and now historic document next recapitulated 
 the facts connected with the withdrawal of Prussia from the 
 German Bund, and her employment of force against those 
 sovereigns who had faithfully discharged their Federal 
 duties. The Emperor's manifesto thus concluded : ' The 
 most pernicious of wars a war of Germans against Germans 
 has become inevitable, and I now summon before the 
 tribunal of history before the tribunal of an eternal and 
 all-powerful God those persons who have brought it about, 
 and make them responsible for the misfortunes which may 
 fall on individuals, families, districts, and countries. . . . We 
 shall not be alone in the struggle which is about to take 
 place. The princes and peoples of Germany know that 
 liberty and independence are menaced by a Power which 
 listens but to the dictates of egotism, and is under the 
 influence of an ungovernable craving after aggrandizement ; 
 and they also know that in Austria they have an upholder of 
 the freedom, power, and integrity of the whole of the German 
 Fatherland. We and our German brethren have taken up 
 arms in defence of the most precious rights of nations. We 
 have been forced so to do, and we neither can nor will disarm 
 until the internal development of my Empire and of the 
 German States, which are allied with it, has been secured, 
 and also their power and influence in Europe. My hopes are 
 not based on unity of purpose on power alone. I confide in 
 an Almighty and a just God, whom my house from its very 
 foundation has faithfully served a God who never forsakes 
 those who righteously put their trust in Him. To Him I 
 pray for assistance and success, and I call on my peoples to 
 join me in that prayer.' 
 
 If Prussia had her Moltke, Austria had her Benedek, a 
 
110 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 brilliant and an experienced soldier, and a man of high 
 reputation. He was appointed Commander-in-chief of the 
 Austrian army of the North, and distributed his forces along 
 the frontier that separates Moravia from Saxony and Silesia. 
 But his plans were differently laid from those of the Prussian 
 strategist. Not anticipating the rapid movements of the 
 enemy, General Benedek hoped to encounter his foes in 
 detail, and to cut them off as they penetrated the passes and 
 entered the Austrian territory at separate points. General 
 von Moltke, on the contrary, had so constructed his plans 
 that the three great German armies were all to converge 
 upon a given point, which they actually did ; so that masterly 
 strategy, aided by the terribly-destructive power of the new 
 needle-gun, wrought havoc amongst the Austrians, and 
 ultimately brought the war to an end in an incredibly short 
 space of time. Days sufficed for military movements which, 
 in past times, would have required months to execute. 
 
 Prince Frederick Charles established himself with the 
 First Prussian Army on the 22nd of June at Hirschfeld, a 
 village near the frontier town of Zittau, which guards the 
 passes leading from Friedland in Bohemia to Lusatia in 
 Saxony. From this place he issued a proclamation, and on 
 the following day the First Prussian Army crossed the 
 Bohemian frontier in two columns, one marching by way of 
 Gorlitz, and the other by Zittau. Several small skirmishes 
 with the enemy took place, and on the 28th there was a 
 severe battle at Miinchengratz. The Austrians, who were 
 reinforced by the Saxons, fought well, but were finally driven 
 back upon Gitschin. The Prussians still pressed them, and 
 took up their position on the high ground in front of the 
 town. 
 
 Meanwhile the Second Prussian Army, under the command 
 of the Crown Prince, by a strategic movement, which com- 
 pletely deceived the Austrians, suddenly made its appearance 
 at Nachod and Frantenau in Bohemia, having passed without 
 opposition the frontier at Eeinerz and Landshut. The 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. Ill 
 
 mountain defile leading to Nachod was occupied by the 
 Austrians, but, after a short skirmish, they abandoned it on 
 the 27th of June. The advance-guard of the Prussians, 
 however, whose leading columns were under the command of 
 General Steinmetz, was soon afterwards engaged by a strong 
 Austrian force, and for the moment compelled to retreat; 
 but the Crown Prince came to Steinmetz's aid, and, after a 
 hotly-contested battle, the Austrians were ultimately de- 
 feated with a loss of 4000 men. A second sanguinary battle 
 was fought on the same day between the armies of the 
 Crown Prince and the Austrian Field-Marshal Gablenz at 
 Frantenau, when the soldiers of Francis Joseph were again 
 defeated. The Prussians pushed forward as far as Skalitz, 
 of which town they took possession. All through the contest 
 the Prussian Generals understood each other's plans, which 
 were carried out to a nicety ; but the course pursued by the 
 Austrians was full of mistakes and strategic blunders. 
 Archduke Leopold, for example, is said to have disobeyed 
 the positive orders of his Commander-in-Chief, General 
 Benedek, which were that he was not on any account to 
 attack the Prussians when he confronted them at Skalitz, 
 but to retire slowly until he could meet with more support. 
 Benedek's object was to draw the enemy from their strong 
 position on the rising ground above Skalitz, and to enable 
 the Archduke to occupy the ridge opposite, the Prussians 
 being thus inveigled into the valley beneath. But the 
 Archduke, by some strange piece of infatuation, completely 
 traversed these orders, and attacked the Prussians on the 
 heights. The result was that he was driven back and 
 pursued by the Prussians, who seized upon a formidable and 
 advantageous position, from which subsequently they could 
 not be dislodged. The Prussians were now very jubilant, 
 and on the 1st of July the Crown Prince issued a general 
 order, in which he recalled the successive incidents of the 
 short but brilliant campaign. 
 
 The Third Prussian Army, that of the Elbe, under General 
 
112 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Herwarth, after engaging the enemy near Turnau, and 
 driving him back, effected a junction with the First Army 
 under Prince Frederick Charles. This was near the town of 
 Gitschin. Benedek, therefore, ordered Count Clam Gallas, 
 with the First Austrian Corps d'Armee, to hold Gitschin 
 while he himself took up a position at Dubenitz, in order to 
 meet the army of the Crown Prince as it debouched from the 
 passage of the Elbe. But Clam Gallas, also against his 
 orders, it is stated, attacked the Prussians, with the result 
 that he was driven out of his position, while the enemy 
 captured Gitschin. General Benedek now found his left 
 flank exposed, and ordered his army to fall back in the 
 direction of Koniggratz. The Times' correspondent, de- 
 scribing this new and perilous situation, wrote: 'Benedek, 
 who had taken up a strong position with his centre near 
 Dubenec, his left towards Miletin, and his right covered by 
 the river and by Josephstadt, found himself in the twinkling 
 of an eye placed in a position of the greatest danger. His 
 left was " in the air." The Prussians were not only on his 
 left, but in his rear ; and at the same time another great 
 army was marching to effect its junction with them where 
 he was altogether exposed. He instantly wheeled back his 
 left and centre, and then, retiring his right, took up a line 
 at Koniggratz at right angles to the line he had occupied to 
 the west of Josephstadt.' But so serious was his danger, 
 and so distrustful was Benedek of the moral of his troops, 
 that, before the great battle was fought, he telegraphed to 
 the Emperor of Austria,, ' Sire, you must make peace ! ' 
 
 Peace was not made, and there was soon such a shock of 
 arms as the battle-grounds of Europe have rarely witnessed. 
 The King of Prussia entered Gitschin on the 2nd of July, 
 and, on receiving a deputation from the authorities of the 
 town, he thus addressed them : ' I carry on no war against 
 your nation, but only against the armies opposed to me. If, 
 however, the inhabitants will commit acts of hostility against 
 my troops without any cause, I shall be forced to make 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 113 
 
 reprisals. My troops are not savage hordes, and require 
 simply the supplies necessary for subsistence. It must be 
 your care to give them no cause for just complaint. Tell 
 the inhabitants that I have not come to make war upon 
 peaceable citizens, but to defend the honour of Prussia 
 against insult/ 
 
 On the following day, the 3rd of July, was fought the great 
 battle of Koniggratz, as it was called by the Prussians, or 
 Sadowa, as it was called by the Austrians. King William 
 was received with wonderful enthusiasm by his troops, and he 
 thus spoke of his reception in a letter to Queen Augusta : 
 ' The rejoicing which broke out here ' (he was at Langenhof 
 on the Koniggratzer Chaussee) ' when the Guards caught sight 
 of me is simply indescribable. The officers seized my hands 
 to kiss them, which, for once in a way, I was obliged to permit, 
 and so it went on all the time under fire, from one body of 
 troops to another, ever forwards! and everywhere hurrahs 
 without end ! ' 
 
 The disposition of the Prussian army was as follows : The 
 First Army, under Prince Frederick Charles, formed the 
 centre ; the Elbe Army, under General Herwarth, the right ; 
 and the Second Army, under the Crown Prince, the left wing. 
 The 7th Division marched in front of the First Army, 
 through Goritz, Czerknitz, and Sadowa, to effect a junction 
 with the right wing of the Crown Prince. The 8th Division 
 marched upon Milowitz, being destined to advance upon 
 Koniggratz. The Second Army Corps was to operate against 
 Donalitz, south of Sadowa. The Third Army Corps formed 
 the reserve of the centre. The Elbe Army pushed forward 
 from Smidar towards Nechanitz. The army of the Crown 
 Prince was directed to march from Koniginhof in a straight 
 line upon Koniggratz. The Austrian army was drawn up on 
 a range of low hills between Smiritz and Nechanitz, and 
 extended over a length of about nine miles, the centre 
 occupying a hill on which was the village of Chlum or Klum, 
 distinguished by a clump of trees. This was the key of the 
 
 T 
 
114 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Austrian position. The Prussian army consisted of 256,000 
 men, and against this General Benedek had nominally 
 an army of 225,000 men ; but as a large deduction must be 
 made for the baggage guards, the various escorts, the 
 garrisons of Josephstadt and Koniggratz, the sick, and those 
 tired by marching, and the killed, wounded, and prisoners in 
 recent actions he had not more than 190,000 or 195,000 
 soldiers actually at his command. 
 
 The King of Prussia had determined to give his army a 
 day's rest on the 3rd, intending to begin the supreme 
 struggle on the 4th ; but at midnight of the 2nd of July, a 
 Prussian reconnaissance revealed the fact, that the Austrians 
 were preparing to attack. Accordingly a council was held 
 between the King, Moltke, Bismarck, and Yon Koon, and it 
 was decided to begin the attack with the dawn of day. The 
 Prussian cavalry and horse artillery accordingly began to 
 move at seven in the morning, and the Austrian guns opened 
 upon them from a battery near the village of Sadowa. The 
 battle which ensued has been described by many skilful 
 writers, but from the accounts furnished by the corre- 
 spondents of the Times we select one or two passages as 
 being best descriptive of the crucial features of this 
 memorable engagement. The military correspondent, who 
 was present with the Prussians at the battle, wrote : 
 
 ' It was ten o'clock when Prince Frederick Charles sent 
 General Stuhnapl to order the attack on Sadowa, Dohilnitz, 
 and Mokrowens. The columns advanced, covered by 
 skirmishers, and reached the river bank without much loss ; 
 but from there they had to fight every inch of their way. 
 The Austrian infantry held the bridges and villages in force, 
 and fired fast upon them as they approached. The Prussians 
 could advance but slowly along the narrow ways and against 
 the defences of the houses, and the volleys sweeping through 
 the ranks seemed to tear the soldiers down. The Prussians 
 fired much more quickly than their opponents, but they could 
 not see to take their aim ; the houses, trees, and smoke from 
 
TEE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 115 
 
 the Austrian discharges, shrouded the villages. Sheltered by 
 this, the Austrian Jagers fired blindly where they could tell 
 by hearing that the attacking columns were, and the shots 
 told tremendously on the Prussians in their close formations ; 
 but the latter improved their positions, although slowly, and 
 by dint of sheer courage and perseverance, for they lost men 
 at every yard of their advance, and in some places almost 
 paved the way with wounded. Then, to help the infantry, 
 the Prussian artillery turned its fire, regardless of the enemy's 
 batteries, on the villages, and made tremendous havoc 
 amongst the houses. Mokrowens and Dohilnitz both caught 
 fire, and the shells fell quickly and with fearful effect among 
 the defenders of the flaming hamlets ; the Austrian guns also 
 played upon the attacking infantry, but at this time these were 
 sheltered from their fire by the houses and trees between. 
 
 1 In and around the villages the fighting continued for 
 nearly an hour ; then the Austrian infantry who had been 
 there, driven out by a rush of the Prussians, retired, but only 
 a little way up the slope into a line with their batteries. 
 The wood above Sadowa was strongly held, and that between 
 Sadowa and Benatek, teeming with riflemen, stood to bar the 
 way of the 7th Division. But General Fransky, who com- 
 mands this division, was not to be easily stopped, and he 
 sent his infantry at the wood, and turned his artillery on the 
 Austrian batteries. The 7th Division began firing into the 
 trees, but found they could not make any impression, for the 
 defenders were concealed, and musketry fire was useless 
 against them. Then Fransky let them go, and they dashed 
 in with the bayonet. The Austrians would not retire, but 
 waited for the struggle ; and in the wood above Benatek was 
 fought out one of the fiercest combats which the war has 
 seen. The 27th Prussian regiment went in nearly 3000 
 strong, with 90 officers, and came out on the further side 
 with only two officers and between 300 and 400 men standing ; 
 all the rest were killed or wounded. The other regiments 
 of the division also suffered much, but not in the same 
 
 i 2 
 
116 WILLIAM I. AND THE QEBMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 proportion ; but the wood was carried. The Austrian line 
 was now driven in on both flanks, but its commander formed 
 a new line of battle a little higher up the hill, round Lipa, 
 still holding the wood which lies above Sadowa.' 
 
 Meanwhile, General Herwarth was fighting a desperate 
 battle with the Saxon troops at Nechanitz, a village seven 
 miles from Sadowa. Courageously did the Saxons meet the 
 foe, but they were slowly driven backwards upon the main 
 body of the Austrian army. The Prussians now endeavoured 
 to carry the wood above the villages of Sadowa and Dohilnitz, 
 a very important strategical point, but the Austrian batteries 
 played upon them with murderous effect. The whole battle 
 line of the Prussians could gain no more ground, and was 
 obliged to fight hard to retain the position it had won. At 
 one time it seemed as if it would be lost, for guns had been 
 dismounted by the Austrian fire, and in the wooded ground 
 the needle-gun had no fair field, and the infantry fight was 
 very equal. Herwarth, too, seemed checked upon the right. 
 The smoke of his musketry and artillery, which had hitherto 
 been pushing forward steadily, stood still for a time. 
 Fransky's men, cut to pieces, could not be sent forward to 
 attack the Sadowa wood, for they would have exposed them- 
 selves to be taken in rear by the artillery on the right of the 
 Austrian line formed in front of Lipa. All the artillery was 
 engaged except eight batteries, and these had to be retained 
 in case of a reverse, for at one time the firing in the Sadowa 
 wood, and of the Prussian artillery on the slope, seemed 
 almost as if drawing back towards Bistritz. The First Army 
 was certainly checked in its advance, if not actually being 
 pushed back. 
 
 The chances of victory were now exactly even for both 
 armies, and the moment was critical. The Prussian Generals 
 were waiting uneasily for the Crown Prince, and the position 
 reminded the Times correspondent of the closing hours of 
 the battle of Waterloo, when the Duke of Wellington so 
 anxiously awaited the coming of Bliicher. But at half-past 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 117 
 
 one in the afternoon the army of the Crown Prince emerged 
 into view, and at once engaged the Austrian right. The 
 Austrians failed to carry the village of Klum, and now found 
 themselves exposed to a cross fire. What followed is thus 
 described : ' Suddenly a spattering of musketry breaks out of 
 the trees and houses of Klum right down on the Austrian 
 gunners, and on the columns of infantry drawn up on the 
 slopes below. The gunners fall on all sides their horses 
 are disabled the firing increases in intensity the Prussians 
 press on over the plateau : this is an awful catastrophe two 
 columns of Austrians are led against the village ; but they 
 cannot stand the fire, and after three attempts to carry it 
 retreat, leaving the hill-side covered with the fallen. It is 
 a terrible moment. The Prussians see their advantage ; 
 they here enter into the very centre of the position. In 
 vain the staff-officers fly to the reserves, and hasten to call 
 back some of the artillery from the front. The dark blue 
 regiments multiply on all sides, and from their edges roll 
 perpetually sparkling musketry. Their guns hurry up, and 
 from the slope take both the Austrians on the extreme right 
 and the reserves in flank. They spread away to the woods 
 near the Prague road, and fire into the rear of the Austrian 
 gunners. 
 
 'The lines of dark blue which came in sight from the 
 right teemed from the vales below as if the earth yielded 
 them. They filled the whole background of the awful 
 picture, of which Klum was the centre. They pressed down 
 on the left of the Prague road. In square, in column, 
 deployed, or wheeling hither and thither everywhere pour- 
 ing in showers of deadly precision penetrating the whole 
 line of the Austrians still they could not force their stubborn 
 enemy to fly. On all sides they met brave but unfortunate 
 men ready to die if they could do no more. At the side of the 
 Prague road the fight went on with incredible vehemence. 
 The Austrians had still an immense force of artillery ; 
 and although its concentrated fire swept the ground before 
 
118 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 it, its effect was lost in some degree by reason of the rising 
 ground above, and at last by its divergence to so many 
 points to answer the enemy's cannon. Chesta and Visa were 
 now burning, so that from right to left the flames of ten 
 villages, and the flashes of guns and musketry, contended 
 with the sun, that pierced the clouds for the honour of 
 illuminating the seas of steel and the fields of carnage. It 
 was three o'clock. The efforts of the Austrians to occupy 
 Klum and free their centre had failed ; their right was driven 
 down in a helpless mass towards Koniggratz, quivering and 
 palpitating as shot and shell tore through it. " Alles ist 
 verloren ! " Artillery still thundered with a force and vio- 
 lence which might have led a stranger to such scenes to 
 think no enemy could withstand it. The Austrian cavalry 
 still hung like white thunder-clouds on the flanks, and 
 threatened the front of the Prussians, keeping them in 
 square and solid columns. But already the trains were 
 steaming away from Koniggratz, placing the Elbe and 
 Adler between them and the enemy.' 
 
 Thus was won for Prussia the great battle of Sadowa, or 
 Koniggratz, which was to have an important effect in aggran- 
 dizing one great State engaged at the expense of the other, 
 and to make King William the paramount German Sovereign. 
 Many interesting anecdotes are related of the bearing of the 
 King of Prussia and his Generals during the deadly conflict. 
 Writing to his wife after the battle, Bismarck said : ' On 
 the ord the King exposed himself to danger all day, and it 
 was very fortunate that I was with him, for all the caution- 
 ings of others were of no effect. No one would have ventured 
 to speak as I permitted myself to do the last time, and with 
 success, too, when a whole mass of ten troopers and fifteen 
 horses of the 6th Kegiment of Cuirassiers lay wallowing in 
 their blood close to us, and the shells whirred in unpleasant 
 proximity to the King. The worst, fortunately, did not go 
 off. Still, I would rather it be so than that he should err 
 on the side of caution. He was very enthusiastic about his 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 119 
 
 troops, and rightly so, and did not appear to notice the shells 
 that were whirring and bursting around him. He was just 
 as quiet and comfortable as on the Kreuzberg (parade-ground 
 at Berlin), and kept on finding battalions which he wanted 
 to thank and say good-evening to, until we were once more 
 under fire.' 
 
 A writer in the Deutsche Revue for October, 1884, recalled 
 a very interesting and characteristic incident of Sadowa: 
 * At a critical point in the battle Bismarck met Moltke, and 
 offered him a cigar. The strategist carefully selected the 
 best weed in the Chancellor's case, and the latter took 
 comfort, thinking to himself that if the General was still 
 calm enough to make a choice of this kind, things could not 
 be going so very bad with them after all.' Moltke, however, 
 was just the man to be perfectly immovable and impassive 
 when other men would be tremulous with excitement and 
 shaking with fear. 
 
 Again, in the course of conversation on one occasion, 
 Bismarck thus spoke of the demeanour of King William on 
 this memorable day : ' The attention of the King was wholly 
 fixed on the progress of the battle, and he paid not the 
 slightest heed to the shells that were whizzing thickly around 
 him. To my repeated request that his Majesty might not 
 so carelessly expose himself to so murderous a fire, he only 
 answered : " The Commander-in-Chief must be where he 
 ought to be." Later on, at the village of Lipa, when the 
 King in person had ordered the cavalry to advance, and the 
 shells were again falling round him, I ventured to renew 
 my request, saying, " If your Majesty will take no care of 
 your own person, have pity at least on your (poor) Minister- 
 President, from whom your faithful J Russian people will 
 again demand their King; and in the name of that people 
 I entreat you to leave this dangerous spot." Then the King 
 gave me his hand, with a " Well, then, Bismarck, let us ride 
 on a little." So saying, his Majesty wheeled his black 
 mare, and put her into as easy a canter as if he had been 
 
120 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 riding down the Linden to the Thiergarten. But for all 
 that I felt very uneasy about him ; and so, edging up with 
 my dark chestnut to Sadowa ' (the name given to the King's 
 mare after the battle) 'I gave her a good (sly) kick from 
 behind with the point of my boot; she made a bound 
 forward, and the King looked round in astonishment. I 
 think he saw what I had done, but he said nothing.' 
 
 After the victory of Skalitz, the King had despatched an 
 aide-de-camp to the Crown Prince's head-quarters with the 
 order Pour le Merite for his Koyal Highness, as a recognition 
 of his important services. So rapid were the movements of 
 the Prince's army, however, that the decoration could not 
 reach its destination before the battle of Sadowa. On the 
 evening of that day the King met his brave son near the 
 village of Streselitz, and after clasping him fondly in his 
 arms, the King took the collar of the order from his own 
 neck and flung it round that of his son. Both were unable 
 to speak from emotion, and the King thus wrote concerning 
 the incident : ' At last I came upon Fritz, with his staff. 
 What a moment, after all we had gone through, and upon 
 the evening of such a day ! I gave him the order Pour le 
 Merite with my own hands, so that the tears ran down his 
 cheeks for he had never received my telegram announcing 
 the conferment. It was, therefore a complete surprise.' 
 
 The battle of Sadowa cost Prussia 10,000 men in killed 
 and wounded ; but Austria lost 40,000 men, including 18,000 
 prisoners, 11 standards, and 174 guns. When he saw how 
 the day had gone, General Benedek exclaimed, ' I have lost 
 all except, alas ! my life.' 
 
 As a result of this sanguinary engagement, General von 
 Gablenz was sent from the Austrian lines to the Prussian 
 head-quarters to propose an armistice. But the enemy 
 decisively rejected this proposition, and the whole of the 
 Prussian forces proceeded to advance, the army of Prince 
 Frederick Charles making for Briinn, the capital of Moravia. 
 The Crown Prince moved on Olmiitz, and General Herwarth, 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 121 
 
 with the army of the Elbe, went westward in the direction 
 of Iglau. The Emperor of Austria superseded General 
 Benedek in his command, and appointed the Archduke 
 Albert, who was then at the head of the Austrian army in 
 Venetia, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the North. 
 This was a severe blow to Benedek, upon whom the hand of 
 fate weighed heavily. He had been more unfortunate than 
 culpable, and the officers under him had committed serious 
 blunders in defiance of his express orders. The rank and 
 file of the Austrians had fought splendidly. 
 
 Francis Joseph was in terrible straits, and saw that 
 something must be done. His army in the north had been 
 beaten by the Prussians, and could not recover itself, and 
 his dominions were threatened with complete ruin. Add to 
 this, that the second large portion of his armies was engaged 
 in another critical struggle, that of endeavouring to hold 
 Venetia against the Italians. It was at this juncture that 
 the wily French monarch, Napoleon III., stepped in. He had 
 done not a little, as we have seen, in the way of making 
 overtures to both Prussia and Austria on previous occasions, 
 and he now offered himself as arbitrator between them. 
 Francis Joseph, in the hope of putting a stop to the Italian 
 war, ceded Venetia to France, to be held in trust for Italy. 
 This step would of course enable the Emperor of Austria to 
 release his troops south of the Tyrol, and to despatch them 
 against the Prussian forces which were marching onwards 
 upon Vienna. Napoleon telegraphed to the King of Prussia, 
 offering his mediation and proposing an armistice ; and his 
 offer being accepted, an armistice of five days was arranged, 
 to begin from the 22nd of July. 
 
 But we must now go back a little, and glance at other 
 ramifications of this brief but brilliant campaign against 
 Austria and her supporters. As soon as war was declared 
 the Hanoverian army was placed on a stronger footing, and 
 it began its march from Gottingen against the Prussian 
 forces. On the 27th of June the Hanoverians were attacked 
 
122 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 at Merschelen, on the left bank of the Unstrut. They 
 fought gallantly, and claimed the victory, as they repulsed 
 the enemy, though they were too much exhausted to follow 
 up their success. But on the following day they were 
 surrounded by a vastly superior force, and, finding them- 
 selves cut off on all sides, were compelled to capitulate. On 
 giving an undertaking not to serve against Prussia during 
 the remainder of the campaign, they were treated with all 
 the honours of war. 
 
 The Emperor of Austria, after the defeat of Sadowa, 
 issued this manifesto to his 'faithful peoples' of the 
 Kingdom of Hungary : ' The hand of Providence weighs 
 heavily upon us. In the conflict into which I have been 
 drawn, not voluntarily, but through the force of circum- 
 stances, every human calculation has been frustrated, save 
 only the confidence I placed in the heroic bravery of my 
 valiant army. The more grievous are the heavy losses 
 by which the ranks of those brave men have been smitten ; 
 and my paternal heart feels the bitterness of that grief with 
 all the families affected. To put an end to the unequal 
 contest to gain time and opportunity to fill up the voids 
 occasioned by the campaign and to concentrate my forces 
 against the hostile troops occupying the northern portion of 
 my Empire, I have consented, with great sacrifices, to 
 negotiations for the conclusion of an armistice. 
 
 ' I now turn confidently to the faithful peoples of my 
 Kingdom of Hungary, and to that readiness to make 
 sacrifices so repeatedly displayed in arduous times. The 
 united exertions of my entire Empire must be set in motion, 
 that the conclusion of the wished-for peace may be secured 
 upon fair conditions. It is my profound belief that the 
 warlike sons of Hungary, actuated by the feeling of 
 hereditary fidelity, will voluntarily hasten under my 
 banners, to the assistance of their kindred, and for the 
 protection of their country, also immediately threatened 
 by the events of war. Rally, therefore, in force to the 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 123 
 
 defence of the invaded Empire ! Be worthy sons of your 
 valiant forefathers, whose heroic deeds gained never-fading 
 wreaths of laurel for the glory of the Hungarian name.' 
 
 Three days later the Emperor issued another manifesto, in 
 which, after referring to the heavy misfortune that had 
 befallen the Army of the North, he announced that he 
 had accepted Napoleon's offer of mediation. ' I am prepared 
 to make peace upon honourable conditions, in order to put 
 an end to the bloodshed and ravages of war. But I will 
 never sanction a treaty of peace by which the fundamental 
 conditions of Austria's position as a Great Power would 
 be shaken. Sooner than that should be the case, I am 
 resolved to carry on the war to the utmost extremity, and 
 in this I am sure of my peoples' approval/ 
 
 The Diet of Frankfort had become practically extinct 
 owing to recent events, and on the 16th of July the 
 Prussians occupied the city (from which the Bund had 
 departed), and heavily requisitioned the inhabitants. The 
 First Prussian Army entered Brunn, the capital of Moravia, 
 on the 12th of July. The Crown Prince, with the Second 
 Army, marched southwards, and the Army of the Elbe, by the 
 morning of the 14th, was only about fifty miles from Vienna. 
 Notwithstanding the negotiations for an armistice, on the 22nd 
 of July, owing to some misunderstanding, an engagement 
 took place between the troops of Prince Frederick Charles and 
 the Austrians, in which the latter were once more severely 
 worsted. This was the battle of Blumenau. With the 
 object of capturing Presburg, General Fransky requested 
 permission from Prince Frederick Charles to attack Blumenau. 
 This was granted, and Fransky, with three Prussian divisions, 
 set to work. The Austrians were surrounded, and the 
 fighting became desperate. The combat was still pro- 
 gressing furiously when an Austrian officer appeared with 
 a flag of truce. Firing ceased on both sides, and the 
 Austrians were then able to realize the deadly peril in 
 which they were placed, for the Prussians had taken them 
 
124 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 in front and in rear. This was the last engagement of 
 the campaign, and the armistice averted another scene of 
 terrible slaughter. After a good deal of difficulty the corps 
 under Benedek, and various other Austrian corps, reached 
 positions of security on the Danube. The Emperor directed 
 an immense entrenched camp to be constructed completely 
 surrounding Vienna on the north side of the Danube, and 
 the bulk of the army assembled at a short distance from the 
 capital. 
 
 But these and other precautions in view of the prosecution 
 of the war happily proved unnecessary. Peace preliminaries 
 between Austria and Prussia were signed at Nikolsburg on 
 the 26th of July. Bismarck once more re-constructed the 
 map of Germany, and Europe was anxious to know what 
 would become of Saxony under the new arrangement. As 
 Mr. Lowe observes, Bismarck ' was finally moved from his 
 firm resolve to annex the Kingdom of Saxony, whose 
 stubborn and intriguing opposition (under its Prime 
 Minister, Herr von Beust) to his reform schemes had 
 been one of the main causes of the war. But on the 
 subject of Saxony, which had bled so freely for him on 
 the field of Koniggratz, Francis Joseph was, or pretended 
 to be, quite inexorable; and his protestations were sup- 
 ported by the Emperor of the French, who had been 
 personally implored by Beust to stand up for the King 
 of Saxony in his hour of stress, as the King of Saxony, 
 alone of all the German Princes, had stood by the Great 
 Napoleon after his collapse at Leipzig a prayer with which 
 Napoleon the Little was all the more willing to comply, as, 
 under the mask of magnanimity, he would thus be able to 
 thwart the ambitious and disquieting schemes of successful 
 Prussia. As a matter of fact, Saxony was less essential to 
 the territorial perfection of Prussia than Hanover and 
 Hesse; and Bismarck wisely deemed it not worth the 
 while to provoke a renewal of the conflict for the sake of 
 this kingdom, provided its accession to the new con- 
 
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA. 125 
 
 federation of the North were secured. Kather, however, 
 than yield on the latter point, he threatened to break off 
 the peace negotiations ; and thus a compromise was effected 
 which saved the sovereign integrity of Saxony, hut yet 
 defeated her desire of throwing in her fate with the States of 
 the South, under in all probability a French protectorate/ 
 
 The treaty was definitively signed at Prague on the 
 23rd of August. Apart from the question of Saxony, the 
 territorial gains of Prussia under the treaty were very 
 great. Before the war broke out, the Kingdom of Prussia 
 consisted of the following nine provinces : Eastern Prussia, 
 Western Prussia, The Grand Duchy of Posen or Polish 
 Prussia, Silesia, Brandenburg, Pomerania, Saxon Prussia, 
 Westphalia, and Khenish Prussia. The Treaty of Prague 
 brought the following accessions to these territories : 
 Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, Hesse-Homburg, that part 
 of Hesse-Darmstadt which lies to the north of the Maine, 
 and the little principality of Hohenzollern, described as 
 the cradle of the Prussian Eoyal House. The Duchies of 
 Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg had been previously 
 annexed. 
 
 The last act in connection with the war was the ex- 
 change of prisoners between Austria and Prussia on the 
 27th of August. Some idea of the strength of the forces 
 engaged in the conflict may be gathered from the ex- 
 traordinary facts of this exchange. There were released on 
 the Prussian side 523 Austrian officers, and 35,036 rank and 
 file, while about 13,000 Austrian prisoners were still left 
 behind in the Prussian hospitals. Austria only released 7 
 Prussian officers, and 450 non-commissioned officers and men ; 
 while about 120, severely wounded, remained behind in 
 Austrian hands. The proportion of Austrians given up to 
 Prussians was 83 to 1. Altogether, the loss of the Austrians, 
 in killed, wounded, prisoners, and missing, was computed 
 at about 90,000, and that of the Prussians at 21,989. 
 
 Well might the King of Prussia and Count Bismarck 
 
126 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 congratulate themselves upon the results of the Bohemian 
 campaign. But there was still important work before them 
 not in the battle field, but in the Prussian Chambers. If 
 the Prussian power was to be consolidated, it must be by the 
 support of the people, and the strengthening of home 
 interests. Much blood had been shed, and it was for the 
 King and the nation to see that it had not been shed in 
 vain. 
 
( 127 ) 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 
 
 AMID feelings of deep thankfulness and rejoicing in 
 Berlin, the new session of the Prussian Chambers was 
 opened by the King, in person, on the 5th of August. His 
 Majesty was now more popular than ever with the people 
 at large, and also with a considerable proportion of the 
 Deputies. l The speech from the throne,' wrote an English 
 correspondent, who was present at the inaugural ceremony, 
 ' did not disappoint the expectations raised by the promising 
 state of politics. The King, who entered with the Crown 
 Prince and other Princes of the House, received the pregnant 
 manuscript from the hands of his Premier, and read it aloud 
 with a firm and sonorous voice. His Majesty began by 
 thanking God for the victory accorded to his arms. He 
 hoped that the results of the campaign would redound to the 
 permanent benefit of the country, and pave the way for the 
 attainment of the national objects of Germany. Then 
 passing to domestic affairs, he briefly commented upon the 
 constitutional controversy that had been going on before the 
 war, and accounting for the irregular military expenditure, 
 by a reference to the necessities of the time, asked for a Bill 
 of Indemnity. His Majesty's words sober and unpretending 
 as ever were received with loud applause. As the royal 
 speech, so the attitude of the House : business-like, and 
 without the slightest tinge of an elation which might have 
 been pardonable in the first flush of a brilliant success.' 
 
 The passages in the King's speech relating to the Bill 
 of Indemnity and the constitutional questions at issue 
 
128 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 between the Government and the Chambers, ran as follows : 
 ' An agreement with the representatives of the country, as 
 to the settlement of the Budget, has not been able to be 
 effected in the last few years. The State outlay incurred 
 during this period is, therefore, destitute of that legal basis 
 which, as I again acknowledge, the Budget can alone receive 
 through the law. Article 99 of the Constitution ordains it 
 annually to be agreed upon by my Government and the 
 two Houses of the Diet. Although my Government has, 
 nevertheless, carried on the Budget for several years without 
 this legal basis, this has only been done after conscientious 
 examination, and in the conviction, in accordance with duty, 
 that the conduct of a settled administration, the fulfilment of 
 legal obligations towards public creditors and officials, the 
 maintenance of the army and of the State establishments, 
 were questions vital to the interests of the State, and that 
 the course adopted, therefore, became one of those inevitable 
 necessities which, in the interest of the country, a Govern- 
 ment cannot and must not hesitate to adopt. 
 
 ' I trust that recent events will in so far contribute to effect 
 the indispensable understanding, that an indemnity for 
 having carried on the administration without a law regulating 
 the Budget application for which will be made to the 
 representatives will readily be granted to my Government, 
 and the hitherto existing conflict be therewith finally, and 
 the more securely, brought to a conclusion ; as it may be 
 expected that the political position of the Fatherland will 
 admit an extension of the frontiers of the State, and the 
 establishment of a united Federal army under the leadership 
 of Prussia, the costs of which will be borne in equal pro- 
 portion by all members of the confederation.' 
 
 The whole tone and spirit of this address were in striking 
 contrast to the messages which the irate monarch had been 
 previously accustomed to send down to the Chambers by the 
 hand of his iron-willed Minister. The King now spoke with 
 every consideration for constitutional principles, and his 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 129 
 
 speech from many points of view disarmed criticism. More- 
 over, it is not so easy for men to fight against success, and 
 the victorious King and an exalted Prussia formed an 
 imposing spectacle which even recalcitrant Deputies could 
 not resist. The Koyal speech, however, gave great umhrage 
 to the French Emperor. It made no allusion to his medi- 
 ation, nor any reference to Italy. There was a vague 
 mention of the King's 'few but faithful allies/ and that 
 was all. 
 
 A Bill was brought forward for the incorporation of 
 Hanover, Electoral Hesse, Nassau, and Frankfort with the 
 Prussian Dominions, and after a discussion as to the date of 
 its operation it became law. Next, a Bill of Indemnity, to 
 save the Government from the consequences of having acted 
 in violation of the law by collecting taxes which had not 
 been voted by the Chambers, was introduced. It passed the 
 Lower Chamber by the large majority of 230 against 
 75 votes, and in the Upper House was accepted unani- 
 mously. In the Chamber of Deputies, Count Eulenberg, 
 Minister of the Interior, stated that by the adoption of the 
 Bill the Government would be morally compelled to act in a 
 friendly spirit towards the House. The indemnity was not 
 an armistice with the Government; its adoption would be 
 the preliminary to a real and lasting peace. Count Bismarck 
 no doubt laughed in his sleeve at these Ministerial as- 
 surances, for whenever occasion required it, as he or the 
 Sovereign might think, the Government would have no 
 scruple in again traversing the Constitution, Indemnity Bill 
 or no Indemnity Bill notwithstanding. But for the time 
 being he was delighted that the Legislative wheels moved so 
 easily. All went exactly as he would have it to go. 
 
 Nor did Bismarck and the other directors of the war go 
 without reward in the shape of substantial current coin of 
 the realm. Bismarck was not only made a Major-General, 
 but received a money gift amounting to 60,000, English 
 sterling ; General Eoon, the War Minister, received 45,000, 
 
 K 
 
130 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 and Generals Moltke, Steinmetz, Yogel, Yon Falckenstein, 
 and Herwarth von Bittenfeld, 30,000 each. 
 
 On the day when the Treaty of Prague was signed 
 though as yet he was unaware of that diplomatic act 
 Thomas Carlyle wrote to a friend : ' That Germany is to 
 stand on her feet henceforth, and not be dismembered on the 
 highway; but face all manner of Napoleons, and hungry, 
 sponging dogs, with clear steel in her hands and an honest 
 purpose in her heart this seems to me the best news we or 
 Europe have heard for the last forty years or more. May 
 the heavens prosper it ! Many thanks also for Bismarck's 
 photograph; he has a Koyal enough physiognomy, and I 
 more and more believe him to be a highly considerable man ; 
 perhaps the nearest approach to a Cromwell that is possible 
 in these poor times.' 
 
 When King William received an address from a Committee 
 of the Lower House, he felt impelled to say something 
 respecting the kings whose territories he had absorbed. 
 1 Since the war,' remarked his Majesty, i I have been obliged 
 to dispossess certain sovereigns, and annex their territories. 
 I was born the son of a King, and taught to respect 
 hereditary rights. If, in the present instance, I have never- 
 theless profited by the fortune of war to extend my territory 
 at the cost of other sovereigns, you will appreciate the 
 imperative necessity of the step. We cannot permit hostile 
 armies to be raised in our rear, or in localities intervening 
 between our provinces. To preclude the recurrence of such 
 an event was a duty imposed upon me by the law of self- 
 preservation. I have acted for the good of the country, and 
 I beg you to convey my sentiments to the House.' 
 
 This was excellent special pleading in its way, and the 
 King no doubt felt that some justification was necessary for 
 the annexations. But Hanover was unquestionably harshly 
 treated. She naturally did not like the idea of being 
 completely gobbled up by Prussia, and in September, a 
 deputation of Hanoverians had an interview with King 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 131 
 
 William in Berlin. They presented an address, in which the 
 King was earnestly entreated to preserve the independence 
 of Hanover. It was urged that it was particularly hard 
 upon a Prince whose dynasty had been connected with the 
 country for nearly a thousand years, to dethrone him simply 
 because he took a different view of the Federal law from 
 Prussia, which view ultimately compelled him to take up 
 arms in its defence. But his Majesty was inexorable. He 
 had resolved on cutting the claws of the eagle of Hanover. 
 After reviewing the circumstances of the war, he plainly told 
 the deputation that there was no hope for them. ' We have 
 frankly said to each other what we think, and I prefer that, 
 because it holds out a hope of a better understanding in 
 future. The most careful consideration, which has been 
 painful because of my relationship to the House of Hanover, 
 imposes annexation upon me as a duty. I owe it to my 
 country, to compensate it for the immense sacrifice it has 
 made, and therefore I am bound to render impossible in the 
 future any recurrence of danger from the hostile attitude of 
 Hanover.' It is astonishing what arbitrary actions become 
 reconcilable to conscience under the name of duty. 
 
 Prussia scored heavily all round in connection with this 
 war and its after results. How Bismarck outwitted Napoleon 
 is thus dramatically told by his biographer, from whom we 
 have recently quoted : 
 
 1 Bismarck had left Berlin on the 30th of June, and on the 
 4th of August he returned with the King after an absence of 
 little more than a month, with the draft of the Treaty of 
 Prague, embodying the results of the war already referred 
 to, in his pocket. Sitting in his cabinet two days after his 
 arrival home, pondering proudly on the undreamt-of issue of 
 the campaign and the jubilant acclamations which had 
 greeted his return, he is aroused from his reverie by a knock 
 at the door, and enter the Genius of Compensation in the 
 shape of bland Monsieur Benedetti with the draft of a treaty 
 in his hand. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 ' " Ah, Ion jour, votre Excellence, how can I serve you ? " 
 
 1 " Well, to be brief, by restoring to France her Khine 
 frontier of 1814." 
 
 ' " What ? Your Excellency must be mad ! ' 
 
 ' " No, indeed. ' My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep 
 time and makes as healthful music.' The dynasty of my 
 master were in danger if public opinion in France is not 
 appeased by some such concession from Germany." 
 
 ' " Tell your Imperial master that a war (against us) in 
 certain eventualities would be a war with revolutionary 
 means, and that, amid revolutionary dangers, the German 
 dynasty would be sure to fare much better than that of the 
 Emperor Napoleon." 
 
 ' " No prevarication Mayence, or an immediate declaration 
 of war." 
 
 ( tt y er y we ii ? then, let there be war," said Bismarck, who 
 knew that the Southern States had already agreed to sign 
 secret treaties, conferring the command of their several 
 armies on the King of Prussia in the event of a national 
 struggle. 
 
 * And this, then, was the consideration which had induced 
 Bismarck to let off the States of the South on such easy 
 terms. At Nikolsburg he had put off French claims of com- 
 pensation until after the conclusion of peace with Austria, 
 and now he had devised means of defying them altogether. 
 Now it was that Monsieur Benedetti bitterly experienced 
 how bootless it is to shut the stable-door after the steed is 
 stolen. He and his master had been completely duped.' 
 
 We shall have more of M. Benedetti anon. For the 
 present it is ours to note how the King of Prussia and his 
 minister consolidated the kingdom, and put themselves into 
 a state of preparedness. In the first place a bill was intro- 
 duced into the Prussian Chambers and carried through, which 
 provided for the annexation of the Duchies of Holstein and 
 Schleswig, ' except a portion to be agreed upon hereafter by 
 a contract with the Grand Duke of Oldenburg.' The 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 133 
 
 Prussian Constitution was to come into force in the specified 
 districts on the 1st of October, 1867. 
 
 Berlin was alive with loyalty and excitement on the 20th 
 of September, 1866, when the Prussian army made its tri- 
 umphal entry into the city. The gallant and soldierly King 
 rode first on horseback, and was accompanied by Count 
 Bismarck and Generals Moltke, Koon, Yoigtsretz, and Blu- 
 menthal. The correspondent of an English newspaper thus 
 described the scene immediately before the brilliant cavalcade 
 passed down the Linden : ' For my part I own I could spare 
 but little attention for the King himself. A few yards 
 further on there stood a group of horsemen. One was 
 General von Eoon, the Minister of War, another was General 
 Moltke, the soldier to whom more than any single person the 
 conduct and conception of the campaign are due. On the 
 extreme right, in the white uniform of a major-general of 
 Landwehr Cuirassiers, a broad-shouldered, short-necked man 
 sat mounted on a brown bay mare. Yery still and silent the 
 rider sits, waiting patiently until the interview between the 
 King and the civic authorities is concluded. The skin of his 
 face is parchment-coloured, with dull leaden-hued blotches 
 about the cheeks ; the eyes are bloodless ; the veins about the 
 forehead are swollen ; the great heavy helmet presses upon 
 the wrinkled brows ; the man looks as if he had risen from a 
 sick-bed which he ought never to have left. That is Count 
 Bisniarck-Schonhausen, Prime Minister of Prussia. Yesterday 
 he was said to be well-nigh dying ; ugly rumours floated 
 about the town ; his doctors declared that rest, absolute rest, 
 was the only remedy upon which they could base their hopes 
 of his recovery. But to-day it was important that the 
 Premier should show himself. The iron will, which had 
 never swerved, before any obstacle, was not to be daunted 
 by physical pain or to be swayed by medical remonstrances. 
 And so, to the astonishment of all those who knew how 
 critical his state of health had been but a few hours before, 
 Count Bismarck put on his uniform and rode out to-day to 
 
134 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 take his place in the royal cortege. Even now the man, who 
 has made a united Germany a possibility, and has raised 
 Prussia from the position of a second-rate Power to the 
 highest rank among Continental empires, is but scantly 
 honoured in his own country ; and the cheers with which he 
 was greeted were tame compared with those which welcomed 
 the generals who had been the instruments of the work his 
 brain had planned. But to those, I think, who looked at all 
 beyond the excitement of the day the true hero of that 
 brilliant gathering was neither King nor Princes of the blood 
 royal generals nor soldiers, but the sallow, livid-looking 
 statesman, who was there in spite of racking pain and doctors' 
 advice and the commonest caution, in order that his work 
 might be completed to the end.' 
 
 By way of marking the day with a white stone, an amnesty 
 was proclaimed for all persons who had been convicted of 
 high treason or other offences against the Crown, resistance 
 to the State authorities, violation of public order, offences 
 committed by the press in infringement of the Press Law of 
 1851, and for infractions of the ordinance of the llth of 
 March, 1851, regulating the right of public meetings. 
 
 A Bill for determining the mode of election to the new 
 German Parliament was passed by the Chamber of Deputies; 
 and when, during the debate, Count Bismarck was taunted 
 with having made very little use of the late Prussian victories, 
 he replied that history would explain concurrent events, when 
 it would be found that the Prussian Government had made 
 even a daring use of the victories gained by the army. The 
 new constitutional measure provided that every Prussian, 
 who had completed his twenty-fifth year, should be an 
 elector, and that there should be one deputy for each 100,000 
 souls of the population as ascertained by the last census. 
 Each deputy was to be elected for a distinct electoral district, 
 and the right of election was to be exercised by personally 
 depositing an unsigned voting-paper in a box to be provided 
 for the purpose. Manhood suffrage was thus practically 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 135 
 
 established, with the protection of the ballot. The Upper 
 House adopted the new electoral law without alteration. 
 
 An important Treaty of Confederation was now entered 
 into between the Governments of Prussia, Saxe-Weimar, 
 Oldenburg, Brunswick, Sachsen-Altenburg, Sachsen-Coburg- 
 Gotha, Anhalt, Schwartzburg-Sondershausen, Schwartzburg- 
 Eudolstadt, Waldeck, Keuss (of the younger line), Lippe, 
 Schaumburg-Lippe, Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg. These 
 States embraced a population of about 2,000,000. Adding 
 to this the 19,000,000 which constituted the Prussian 
 monarchy before the war, with the 4,500,000 belonging to 
 the annexed territories of Hanover, Electoral Hesse, Nassau, 
 Frankfort, and the districts taken from Grand Ducal Hesse 
 and Bavaria, the whole gave a population of about 25,000,000 
 for the Northern Confederacy. Bismarck's scheme was 
 realized by the treaty, for it was agreed that a Confederate 
 Constitution should be adopted by a German Parliament, 
 and that the troops of the Confederates were to be under the 
 supreme command of the King of Prussia. It was further 
 mutually agreed to maintain the independence and integrity 
 of the contracting States, and to guarantee the defence of 
 their territories. 
 
 But while things were thus going well outside, the Finance 
 Minister had some difficulty with the Lower Chamber. He 
 asked for sixty million thalers, urging that a good many 
 things remained to be settled, that Prussia must defend what 
 she had acquired, and that she must always be able to take 
 up arms for this purpose. ' The financial question is the 
 chief point, and if the right moment be allowed to pass, the 
 accomplishment of Prussia's aims may be deferred for years, 
 and her very existence again endangered. Money must be at 
 the disposal of the Government. We must have our hands 
 upon our swords and our purses well filled ! ' The Deputies, 
 however, would only vote forty million thalers, or two-thirds 
 of the sum asked for, and with this the Government had to 
 be content. 
 
136 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Count Bismarck made a very important speech in the 
 Lower House in December, during a debate on the question 
 of the union of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein with 
 Prussia, and the cession of the northern part of Schleswig to 
 Denmark. What was to be the attitude of Prussia if, on an 
 appeal to the inhabitants, as proposed by France, they 
 determined by a plebiscite in favour of such a re-annexation ? 
 The Minister pointed out that war with France was not 
 to the interest of Prussia, who had little to gain even by 
 beating her. The Emperor Napoleon himself wisely recog- 
 nized the fact, that peace and mutual confidence should 
 prevail between the two neighbouring nations. But to 
 maintain such relations with France, a strong and indepen- 
 dent Prussia was alone competent. If this truth were not 
 admitted by all subjects of Napoleon III., it was a consolation 
 to know that his Cabinet at least thought differently, and 
 Prussia had to deal with his Cabinet only. l Looking upon 
 this vast country of Germany from the French point of 
 view,' said Bismarck, ' the Emperor's Cabinet cannot but 
 tell themselves that to combine it again with Austria into 
 one political whole, and make it a realm of 75,000,000 
 inhabitants, would be contrary to French interests. Even if 
 France could make the Khine her boundary, she would be no 
 match for so formidable a Power, were it ever established 
 beside her. To France it is an advantage that Austria does 
 not participate any longer in our common Germanic institu- 
 tions, and that a State whose interests conflict with her own 
 in Italy and in the East, cannot henceforth constitutionally 
 rely upon our armed assistance in war. It is natural for 
 France to prefer a neighbour of less overwhelming might, a 
 neighbour in fact whom 35,000,000 or 38,000,000 of French 
 are quite strong enough to ward off from their boundary 
 line in defensive war. If France justly appreciates her own 
 interests, she will as little allow the power of Prussia as that 
 of Austria to be swept away.' 
 
 There was a good deal of frank common sense in this 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 137 
 
 presentment of the international relations of three of the 
 leading European Powers towards each other ; and for a 
 time Napoleon felt the weight of Bismarck's arguments. 
 The question also of the cession of Northern Schleswig was 
 allowed to sleep for the present. 
 
 The King of Prussia closed the Legislature on the 9th of 
 February, 1867, and in doing so thanked the Deputies for 
 having brought his hopes to a fulfilment. By granting the 
 indemnity for the financial administration carried on for 
 several years without a Budget Law, they had held out the 
 hand to a settlement of the dispute upon a matter of 
 principle which had for years obstructed the co-operation of 
 the Government with the representatives of the country. 
 His Majesty recapitulated the many home blessings which 
 had been secured during the expiring session. ' Assisted by 
 agreement with the representatives of the country, my 
 Government has been able to call into existence important 
 facilities and improvements in all departments of public life. 
 The preparatory steps towards abolishing the salt monopoly 
 and the increase of judicial costs, the settlement of the 
 relations of trading and innkeeping companies, the removal 
 of the limitation of the rate of interest, the postal and 
 commercial treaties, the conversion of the Pomeranian fiefs, 
 the abolition of the Rhine navigation dues, the increase of the 
 salaries of lower-class officials and of schoolmasters, together 
 with the grant of the supplies for the construction and 
 completion of important railways, will be hailed by large 
 circles as grateful fruits of the session just completed.' 
 So with a pat on the back from the head-master for being 
 such good boys, and getting through their lessons, the 
 Deputies were let out of school, and departed for their 
 homes. 
 
 An imposing ceremony shortly afterwards took place in 
 the throne-room of the Eoyal palace at Berlin, for on the 
 24th of February the first North German Parliament was 
 opened by King William. The three hundred or so deputies 
 
138 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 of which this constituent assembly was composed had been 
 returned from the various allied States, by universal suffrage. 
 ' The walls of the time-honoured apartment/ wrote an 
 English correspondent, ' looked down upon a gathering such 
 as had never before been witnessed there. There met men 
 from the Prussian frontier, where the winter lasts seven 
 months, with the more fortunate sons of the Ehine, whose 
 climate has little experience of northern rigours. The 
 Schleswiger, a genuine descendant of the Saxon, preferring 
 to this day the homely idiom of his race to the literary 
 language of the common Fatherland, shook hands with a 
 Frank from Coburg, whose ancestors, under Charlemagne, 
 combated and converted to Christianity the tribes of the 
 German North. The Thuringian and Hessian from the 
 central parts of the country, after long years of separation, 
 associated again with the Pomeranian from the Baltic, and 
 the Frisian, the Anglo-Saxon brother of the Englishman, 
 from the North Sea. With the exception of two, the various 
 branches of the German national family were all represented 
 in the Hall ; and, though the absence of the missing ones was 
 noted, and commented upon with regret, the hope of soon 
 comprehending the Bavarians and Suabians in the goodly 
 company beat strongly in many a loyal heart. When 
 everything was ready, Count Bismarck, in his white cavalry 
 uniform, repaired to the Koyal apartment to inform the 
 King that the first Parliament of the North German Con- 
 federacy was awaiting the Koyal presence. Then the Koyal 
 train came into view, more solemn, more numerous, and 
 more richly attired than any that has ever graced a similar 
 display in Prussia.' 
 
 The King was elated in spirits, and his face glowed with 
 pleasure as with manly and truly regal bearing he moved 
 towards the throne. He was not only the acknowledged 
 head of a powerful confederacy, but the Sovereign of a 
 kingdom which had now taken first rank in Europe. In his 
 speech to the ' illustrious, noble, and honoured gentlemen of 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 139 
 
 the North German Confederation,' he began as he always did, 
 by expressing his firm reliance upon Divine Providence, 
 which had led Prussia by paths she neither chose nor 
 foresaw. But as the Emperor of Austria claimed to have 
 been led by the same guiding Hand, and he had been 
 hopelessly beaten, it was obvious that both could not be the 
 chosen children of Providence at this juncture. Perhaps 
 King William would have adopted the opinion of the Great 
 Napoleon, that * God is always on the side of the big 
 battalions.' He is more frequently, however, with those 
 who are temporarily defeated and dispirited. However, be 
 that as it may, the King of Prussia could certainly point to 
 the astonishing success of the Prussian arms. 
 
 But while something had been gained, more yet remained 
 to be striven for by Germany. His Majesty, consequently, 
 thus indicated in the Eoyal speech the work which was still 
 left to be achieved : ' The point of supreme importance at 
 present is not to neglect the favourable moment for laying 
 the foundation of the building ; its more perfect completion 
 can then safely remain entrusted to the subsequent com- 
 bined co-operation of the German Sovereigns and races. The 
 regulation of the national relations of the North German 
 Confederation towards our brothers south of the Maine has 
 been left by the Peace Treaties of last year to the voluntary 
 agreement of both parties. Our hands will be openly and 
 readily extended to bring about this understanding, as soon 
 as the North German Confederation has advanced far enough 
 in the settlement of its constitution, to be empowered to 
 conclude treaties. The preservation of the Zollverein, the 
 common promotion of trade, and a combined guarantee for 
 the security of German territory, will form fundamental 
 conditions of the understanding which it may be foreseen 
 will be desired by both parties. 
 
 ' As the direction of the German mind generally is turned 
 towards peace and its labours, the Confederate Association 
 of the German States will mainly assume a defensive 
 
140 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 character. The German movement of recent years has 
 borne no hostile tendency towards our neighbours, no 
 striving after conquest, but has arisen solely from the 
 necessity of affording the broad domains, from the Alps to 
 the sea, the essential conditions of political progress, which 
 the march of development in former centuries has impeded. 
 The German races unite only for defence, not for attack; 
 and that their brotherhood is also regarded in this light by 
 neighbouring nations is proved by the friendly attitude of 
 the mightiest European states, which see Germany, without 
 apprehension and envy, take possession of those same ad- . 
 vantages of a great political commonwealth which they 
 themselves have already enjoyed for centuries. 
 
 ' It therefore now only depends upon us, upon our unity 
 and our patriotism, to secure to the whole of Germany the 
 guarantees of a future in which, free from the danger of 
 again falling into dissension and weakness, she will be able 
 to further, by her own decision, her constitutional develop- 
 ment and prosperity, and to fulfil her peace-loving mission 
 in the Council of Nations. I trust in God that posterity, 
 looking back upon our common labours, will not say that 
 the experience of former unsuccessful attempts has been 
 useless to the German people ; but that, on the other hand, 
 our children will thankfully regard this Parliament as the 
 commencement of the unity, freedom, and power of the 
 Germans. 
 
 ' Gentlemen, all Germany, even beyond the limits of our 
 Confederation, anxiously awaits the decisions that may be 
 arrived at here. May the dream of centuries, the yearning 
 and striving of the latest generations, be realized by our 
 common labours ! In the name of all the allied Govern- 
 ments in the name of Germany, I confidently call upon you 
 to help us to carry out rapidly and safely the great national 
 task. And may the blessing of God, upon which everything 
 depends, accompany and promote the patriotic work ! ' 
 
 The Federal Assembly consisted of ten sections or parties, 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 141 
 
 with the following distribution of strength : Conservatives, 
 59 ; Free Conservatives, 40 ; Centre, 27 ; Federal Consti- 
 tutionalists, 18 ; National Liberals, 79 ; Free Unionists, 18 ; 
 Eadical Left, or Progressists, 19; Poles, 13; Danes, 2; and 
 ' Savages ' or Independents, 25 ; total, 297, which included 
 deputies from the provinces annexed by Prussia. The 
 balance of power was thus held by the National Liberals, a 
 party which had sprung into being with the battle of 
 Koniggratz. It was led by two men of marked ability, of 
 whom Germany was destined to hear considerably more as 
 time went on Herr von Bennigsen, a country squire from 
 Hanover, and Dr. Edward Lasker, a Jewish lawyer from 
 Posen. Lasker had sat amongst the Kadicals in the 
 Prussian Chamber, but the striking events of 1866 had 
 convinced him and many others that the best and truest 
 course in the interests of Prussia, was to support the 
 national policy of Count Bismarck. With the aid of the 
 National Liberals, the objects of the Confederation pro- 
 gressed most satisfactorily. 
 
 A Bill was brought in to determine the constitution of the 
 North German Confederation. This gave rise to prolonged 
 debates, in the course of which Bismarck delivered an im- 
 portant speech, begging the deputies not to allow the 
 lessons of six hundred years to remain ignored. It would 
 be well, he urged, to take to heart the teachings inculcated 
 by the abortive attempts to secure unity made at Frankfort 
 and Erfurt. The failure of those attempts plunged Ger- 
 many into a state of uncertainty and dissatisfaction; which 
 lasted no less than sixteen years, and had to be terminated 
 as was manifest from the first by some such catastrophe 
 as that experienced in 1866. 
 
 But on the threshold of the deliberations, the Polish 
 members of the united Parliament entered their protest 
 against the incorporation of the former Polish territory into 
 the North German Confederation. They were followed by 
 other deputies, favourable to Denmark, who likewise brought 
 
142 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 forward a protest against the inclusion of North Schleswig. 
 In reply to the Polish representatives, Bismarck asserted 
 that the majority of the Prusso-Polish population were 
 satisfied with their condition, especially the peasants, who 
 had valiantly fought as Prussian soldiers against Denmark 
 and Austria. It was only the nobility and clergy of Prussia 
 who carried on political agitation. Then taking a firmer 
 tone, the Minister added that the restoration of Poland was 
 not to be thought of. Touching the Danish protest he said, 
 1 The Emperor of Austria alone has the right, by virtue of 
 the Austro-Prussian treaty, to require that a vote should be 
 taken in North Schleswig to determine the future position of 
 the Northern districts of that duchy. It is a matter of 
 small importance for the power of the Prussian monarchy 
 whether a few Schleswigers who speak Danish belong to 
 Prussia or Denmark. The boundary line between the two 
 countries will be drawn in conformity with the interests of 
 Prussia. We do not intend to have to conquer Diippel 
 afresh. The portion of Schleswig which will be ceded to 
 Denmark will, at all events, be smaller than people in 
 Copenhagen imagine ; and before this cession is made, an 
 understanding is necessary with Austria with reference to 
 certain financial questions relating to the Duchies. The 
 completion of the North German Confederation cannot wait 
 for the settlement of these questions/ 
 
 This speech was Bismarckian all over. There is little 
 consideration or none for smaller powers like Denmark, and 
 every consideration for the interests of Prussia. So, when 
 the deputies were discussing questions of taxation, military 
 supplies, &c., he cut the matter short by saying, l Let us not 
 differ on trifles, when greater things are at stake. We 
 cannot now have everything we want, but something may be 
 gained. Assist Germany to vault into the saddle, and trust 
 her to ride alone.' Bismarck attained his object ; the 
 North German Parliament framed its constitution, and in 
 closing the session on the 17th of April, the King of 
 
AN INTEEREGNUM OF PEACE. 143 
 
 Prussia congratulated the members on the patriotic earnest- 
 ness with which they had accomplished their task. 
 
 His Majesty opened an extraordinary session of the 
 Prussian Chambers on the 29th of April. The Koyal speech 
 noted, that the newly-formed confederation at present only 
 included the States of North Germany, but an intimate 
 national community would always unite them with the 
 South German States. The firm relations which the 
 Prussian Government concluded for offensive and defensive 
 purposes with those States in the previous autumn, would 
 have to be transferred to the enlarged North German 
 commonwealth by special treaties. The object of the special 
 session was the ratification by the Prussian Legislature of 
 the new North German Constitution, and this having been 
 achieved, the sittings were brought to a close on the 24th 
 of June. 
 
 A very grave international question arose this year, which 
 spread disquietude throughout almost the whole of Europe. 
 This w r as known as the Luxemburg question. France was 
 terribly chagrined by the long course of aggrandisement 
 which had marked the fortunes of Prussia, and Napoleon 
 had for some time been looking for a means of enriching 
 France, and thus strengthening his own position with the 
 people. He at last believed he had found this set-off in 
 proposals for the cession of the Duchy of Luxemburg, with 
 its strong fortress, to France. The Emperor considered that 
 it would be a great thing if he could secure this formidable 
 barrier on his north-eastern frontier. Luxemburg be- 
 longed to the King of Holland as Grand Duke, and it 
 formed part of the German Federation which was broken up 
 by the Prusso-Austrian war of 1866. The territory was 
 guaranteed to the King of Holland in April, 1839, by a 
 treaty concluded between Great Britain, Austria, France, 
 Prussia, Russia, and the King of Holland as Grand Duke. 
 The city of Luxemburg, as part of the German Confederation, 
 had been garrisoned for some time past by Prussian troops ; 
 
144 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 and the view now taken by Louis Napoleon was that the 
 fortress would no longer be a merely defensive position for 
 Germany, but, garrisoned as it was by Prussians, it would 
 occupy an offensive position towards France. 
 
 The subject gave rise to many debates both in the French 
 and North German Chambers. Count Bismarck, being 
 questioned in the North German Parliament towards the 
 close of March, said that it was necessary for Germany to 
 take into account the just susceptibilities of France. Ad- 
 mitting that Luxemburg was an independent State, which 
 the King of Holland could dispose of as he liked, and 
 admitting also that the inhabitants of the duchy experienced 
 a strong repugnance to being incorporated with Germany, 
 he insisted upon the influence which the desire of maintaining 
 pacific and friendly relations with its powerful neighbour 
 must exercise upon the duchy. 
 
 The Emperor of the French had been greatly surprised by 
 the publication of the secret treaties of alliance concluded in 
 the preceding year between Prussia and the Southern States, 
 and he now felt it high time to make a counter-move. This 
 move was the taking over of Luxemburg by arrangement 
 with the King of Holland. At first Bismarck inclined to 
 favour the scheme, but it was only a diplomatic ruse to lead 
 the French on ; and when the question was discussed in the 
 German Parliament, it led to a great explosion of patriotic 
 wrath. ' Let France pause and consider her course before 
 she acts/ exclaimed Herr Bennigsen. ' Germany seeks no 
 war ; but if France will not allow us to become a united 
 country, we are ready to give her the most indubitable proof 
 that the time of our domestic division is past, and that 
 her attempts will be henceforth resisted by the entire 
 nation.' 
 
 In reply to an interpellation on the Luxemburg question, 
 in the Prussian Chambers on the 1st of April, Bismarck 
 briefly recounted the course of the diplomatic negotiations. 
 The Prussian Government, he observed, did not adopt the 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 145 
 
 opinion, that an arrangement had been entered into between 
 Holland and France ; but it could not, on the other hand, 
 assert that the contrary was the case. When asked by the 
 King of Holland what course Prussia would adopt, in case 
 His Majesty should in any way cede his rights over the 
 Duchy, King William had declared that he would leave the 
 responsibility of such a step to the King of Holland. Prussia 
 would simply assure herself of the views entertained by the 
 Powers which signed with her the Treaty of 1839, and by 
 her Federal allies, as well as of the state of public opinion as 
 represented by the North German Parliament. An offer on 
 the part of Holland of her good offices to further negotiations 
 between France and Prussia had been declined. 
 
 France now felt called upon to give her version of the 
 negotiations, and in the Corps Legislatif on the 8th of April, 
 the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Marquis de Moustier, 
 announced that he had received orders from his Imperial 
 master to acquaint the Chamber with the actual position of 
 the Luxemburg difficulty. The explanation was briefly to 
 the effect, that the French Government had always considered 
 the matter from three points of view, namely, as connected 
 with the free consent of Holland, the loyal examination of 
 the Treaties by the great Powers, and the consultation of the 
 wishes of the inhabitants by means of universal suffrage. 
 France was quite ready to examine the question in concert 
 with the great Powers, and she therefore believed that peace 
 could not be disturbed. 
 
 This was a backing down on the part of the French 
 Government. It really meant that France was not prepared 
 for war ; and amidst much that was tortuous and sinister in 
 the Emperor's policy at this juncture, it was certainly to his 
 credit that he saw it would be suicidal on the part of France 
 to force on an immediate war with Germany. Consequently, 
 it was agreed to hold a Conference in London for the settle- 
 ment of the Luxemburg question. The Conference met on 
 the 7th of May, when there were present representatives of 
 
 L 
 
146 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the following Powers England, France, Austria, Prussia, 
 Russia, Holland, Italy, and Belgium. A Treaty was con- 
 cluded on the llth, by which Prussia agreed to withdraw her 
 garrison from Luxemburg, and to dismantle the fortress ; 
 while the Powers guaranteed the complete neutrality of the 
 Grand Duchy under the crown of Holland. On the other 
 hand, in consideration of the political or territorial loss 
 sustained by Germany as the result of the neutralization, it 
 was agreed that Luxemburg should continue to be a member 
 of the Zollverein ; and five years later a further bond of 
 connection between it and the Fatherland was established, 
 when the German Government acquired by treaty the ad- 
 ministration of all the railways in the Grand Duchy. The 
 treaty in connection with Luxemburg had a beneficial effect 
 in many ways. It relieved France from the dangers 
 attending a strong fortress upon her borders, and it gave to 
 her northern frontier the guarantee of another neutralized 
 State ; while it secured to the King Grand Duke complete 
 independence, and gave fresh pledges for the strengthening 
 of good relations and for the maintenance of the peace of 
 Europe. Of course France had not secured the great prize 
 she had been striving for, the cession of the Duchy ; but, 
 failing that, it was certainly something to effect its complete 
 neutralization. 
 
 The King of Prussia visited Paris in June, arriving in that 
 city on the 5th with Counts Bismarck and Moltke. The 
 King's nephew, the Emperor of Kussia, was already there, 
 and on the day after they had exchanged friendly greetings, 
 an attempt was made to assassinate the Czar in the Bois de 
 Boulogne by a young Pole, named Berezowski. Fortunately 
 the attempt failed. There was a good deal of jubilant feeling 
 between the visitors and their Parisian hosts, for it was a 
 great festival of peace, signalized by the opening of the 
 International Exhibition of Paris, a scheme which owed its 
 origin to the French Emperor. The only distinguished 
 potentate whose feelings were damped on the occasion was 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 147 
 
 the Czar, and he naturally felt angry and chagrined that in 
 a time of rejoicing, and while the guest of a foreign Sovereign, 
 he should have been made the mark for an assassin's bullet. 
 
 The North German Parliament was opened by the King 
 of Prussia on the 10th of September. It was the first 
 Parliament assembled on the basis of the Federal Consti- 
 tution. Money, military, marine, and commercial bills of 
 various kinds were promised in the Eoyal speech. In the 
 subsequent sittings of the Confederation, the question arose 
 as to the entrance of South Germany into the North German 
 Bund. Count Bismarck stated that no pressure whatever 
 would be exercised upon the Southern States. If South 
 Germany should give it to be understood that it was her 
 wish to be excluded from the Bund, no Federal Government, 
 he observed, would be so wanting in self-respect as to oppose 
 such a wish. But Parliament would not desire to force him 
 to abandon a certain necessary reserve on the subject, as such 
 a course would probably conduce to bring about objects 
 entirely opposed to those which he had in view. 
 
 The Northern Schleswig question again came up. 
 Prompted by France, the Danish Cabinet asked the Berlin 
 Government whether, in accordance with the Treaty of 
 Prague, a plebiscite would now be taken in North Schleswig 
 to determine its cession to Denmark or otherwise. 
 Bismarck, who was always ready with a reply, pointed out 
 that, before discussing the subject, Denmark must give 
 Prussia guarantees for the protection of the German element 
 in the ceded population, and agree to take over a propor- 
 tionate share of the public debt of the Duchies. Denmark 
 did not quite see this, and declined to push the matter 
 further, so that Napoleon was again foiled in his efforts to 
 discover some cause or other for international embroilment. 
 
 A good deal of ill-feeling was created in the diplomatic 
 circles of Berlin, by the meeting of the French and Austrian 
 Emperors at Salzburg, in August ; Napoleon gave it out 
 that his object was simply to pay a visit of condolence 
 
 L 2 
 
148 WILLIAM L AND TEE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 to the Emperor Francis Joseph in consequence of the sadly 
 tragic death of his brother Maximilian in Mexico ; but 
 Bismarck did not accept this as exhaustive of the reasons 
 for the Imperial meeting. So he indited a circular to the 
 diplomatic agents of Prussia abroad, the tone of which was 
 severely commented upon by the French press, and 
 denounced as menacing and unfriendly towards France. 
 He stated that the Prussian Government rejoiced that the 
 domestic affairs of Germany had not been the object of 
 political conversation at Salzburg. It had always been the 
 aim of Germany to direct the stream of national development 
 so as to fertilize, and not to destroy. They had avoided 
 everything calculated to precipitate the national movement ; 
 had endeavoured, not to irritate, but to calm and quiet. It 
 was therefore to be hoped that their efforts in this direction 
 would be successful, if foreign Powers were as careful to 
 avoid all which might lead the Germans to apprehend plans 
 of possible foreign interference, and which in consequence 
 might arouse in them a sense of violated dignity and 
 independence. Consequently, in the interest of the peaceful 
 development of her own affairs, Germany received with the 
 most lively satisfaction the disavowal of any intention to 
 interfere with her internal policy. 
 
 These references to possible foreign interference gave 
 great annoyance to France, but the time was not yet ripe for 
 a French march upon the Khine. 
 
 King William opened the Prussian Chambers on the 15th 
 of November, and in the course of his speech he thus alluded 
 to the aspect of foreign affairs : ' The relations of my 
 Government with foreign Powers have not undergone any 
 change in consequence of the new conditions in which 
 Prussia is placed in the midst of the North German Con- 
 federation. With the friendly character of those relations 
 the personal interviews with the majority of the reigning 
 sovereigns in Germany and abroad, the opportunity for 
 which was offered me last summer, perfectly harmonize. 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 149 
 
 The peaceful object of the German movement is recognized 
 and appreciated by all the Powers of Europe ; and the 
 peaceful endeavours of the rulers are supported by the 
 wishes of the peoples, to whom the increasing development and 
 amalgamation of moral and material interests make peace 
 a -necessity. The recent anxiety respecting a disturbance of 
 peace in one part of Europe, where two great nations, both 
 most amicably connected with us, appeared to be threatened 
 by a serious complication, I may now look upon as having 
 disappeared.' 
 
 Soon after the opening of the Session, Dr. Lasker brought 
 forward a bill, the object of which was to protect members 
 of the Legislature from being prosecuted before the legal 
 tribunals for the opinions they might express in the 
 Chambers. As this was really a bill to secure liberty of 
 speech, and as two deputies, Herr Franzel and Herr Twesten, 
 had been prosecuted and convicted for speeches they had 
 made in the Chamber, Bismarck did not like to oppose the 
 measure out and out. He deprecated the length to which 
 the prosecutions had been carried, but reminded the House 
 that the accusations launched against the Cabinet for 
 consecutive years had been so exceedingly offensive as to 
 become unendurable to any but the low, mean, and cowardly. 
 There was a marked difference between a spoken and a 
 written insult ; oral accusations were quickly wafted away, 
 but when printed they were communicated to millions, ' and 
 he could not hinder their being cast up against him by any 
 obscure scribbler who chose to do so.' He therefore proposed 
 that the Deputies should be declared free to say what they 
 liked, but that the reports in the public papers should be 
 subject to the operation of the ordinary press laws. 
 
 Ultimately, the first reading of the proposed bill was 
 carried by a majority of twenty-one votes. 
 
 Two of the Sovereigns whom the King of Prussia had 
 dispossessed now began to give some trouble. From the 
 pecuniary point of view, King William had behaved very 
 
150 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 handsomely to them. By way of compensating the King of 
 Hanover for the loss of his crown, sixteen million thalers 
 were voted to him out of the confiscated revenues of his 
 kingdom, and the Elector of Hesse and the Duke of Nassau 
 received the capital sum of eight and nine million thalers 
 respectively. The Chamber opposed the grant to King 
 George, hut Bismarck threatened to resign if the indem- 
 nity were not voted, and the Deputies gave way. Then the 
 King of Hanover, in his retirement near Vienna, began a 
 series of active intrigues against Prussia. These did not long 
 remain unknown to Bismarck, who was tolerably well aware 
 of what was going forward in every Court in Europe. Yet in 
 spite of this, Bismarck still supported the large indemnity to 
 King George, assigning subsequently the following grounds 
 for doing so : ' We were actuated by three several motives ; 
 in the first place, we wished to spare the feelings of his former 
 subjects, who apprehended that the ilast of an ancient 
 dynasty might be exposed to pecuniary difficulties ; secondly, 
 we wished to oblige those friendly Courts, England especially, 
 who had addressed us in favour of the late Sovereign, and 
 whom we had no wish to offend in a matter wherein our 
 interests were not at stake ; thirdly, we had been assured by 
 some of those Courts, that though King George could not be 
 prevailed upon to sign a formal act of abdication, still the 
 acceptance of our money would make him feel " bound in 
 honour " to desist from active intrigues.' 
 
 It soon became manifest, however, that the hope of King 
 George's quietude was delusive. Whenever he had an 
 opportunity he acted against the King of Prussia, and when 
 war appeared probable, in consequence of the Luxemburg 
 difficulty, a Hanoverian legion was formed for the purpose 
 of fighting with France against Prussia. ' It was well 
 known that King George was maintaining a treasonable 
 correspondence with leading men in his late dominions. 
 Through his agents he had enlisted some subjects of the 
 King of Prussia, and caused others to desert. He had 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 151 
 
 established journals to wage incessant war against the new 
 order of things; he continued to support his legion in 
 France, which cost him 300,000 thalers a year; a numer- 
 ously-signed petition to the Emperor Napoleon, entreating 
 him to liberate Hanover from the Prussian yoke, had been 
 taken to Paris by a confidant of King George ; and on the 
 occasion of his silver wedding at Hietzing, about a fortnight 
 after the Prussian Chamber sanctioned the indemnity treaties, 
 he indulged in most inflammatory language to a crowd of 
 his previous subjects, who, at His Majesty's cost, had made 
 a pilgrimage to see him, and drink to the restoration of his 
 kingdom.' 
 
 Under the circumstances, there was nothing for it but to 
 impound the dethroned monarch's indemnity, and this King 
 William proceeded to do. The same course was adopted 
 towards the Elector of Hesse, who had likewise appealed to 
 the rulers of Europe to win him back his throne. But as 
 the indemnities were only sequestrated, and not yet actually 
 confiscated, there was still opportunity for the King and the 
 Elector to make their peace with Prussia, had they been 
 inclined so to do. The dispossessed Sovereigns, however, 
 proceeded to subsidize a number of journals, which attacked 
 Prussia with singular malevolence, and endeavoured to pre- 
 cipitate a war between France and Germany. It was in 
 relation to these newspapers that Bismarck said : * There is 
 nothing of the spy in my whole nature, but I think we shall 
 deserve your thanks if we devote ourselves to the pursuit 
 of wicked reptiles into their very holes, in order to see what 
 they are about.' The means by which these journals were 
 supported thus came to be known as the ' reptile fund.' 
 But although the Prussian Minister felt compelled to act 
 against King George, he was considerate towards the people 
 of Hanover ; and he proposed to the Chambers to grant to 
 Hanover the interest on a capital of twelve million thalers 
 as a provincial fund for the administration and support of 
 certain local institutions. This proposal was changed to an 
 
152 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 annual grant of half a million, and in that form was 
 adopted. 
 
 The Prussian Diet was closed by the King on the 29th of 
 January, 1868. In his speech from the throne, His Majesty 
 expressed his satisfaction that important measures had been 
 passed, mainly by the joint action of the Government and the 
 representatives of the country. He thanked both Chambers 
 of the Diet for the readiness they had displayed in 
 voting additional grants for the maintenance of the dignity 
 of the Crown. The King then alluded to the measures which 
 had been adopted to alleviate the distress in the province of 
 East Prussia, and for the establishment of a provincial fund 
 for Hanover. He also commended the unanimity of views 
 displayed by the Chambers and the Government respecting 
 the compensation treaties concluded with the former rulers 
 of Hanover and Nassau. 
 
 The Reichstag, or Parliament of North Germany, was 
 opened on the 22nd of March. The King announced that the 
 re-organization of the postal service was in an advanced stage, 
 and that postal conventions had been concluded with the 
 South German States, with Austria, Luxemburg, Norway, 
 and the United States of America. A treaty had also been 
 concluded with the United States to define the nationality 
 of emigrants between the two countries, and thus to prevent 
 causes of misunderstanding between countries so closely 
 united by commercial interests and bonds of relationship. 
 In domestic matters many reforms had been conceded, while 
 others were in progress. All through this year the Prussian 
 Government expressed an earnest desire for the preservation 
 of peace in Europe. It was engaged with many matters of 
 internal policy, to which the warlike spirit was directly and 
 strongly opposed. On the 15th of September King William 
 himself, in answer to an address from the rector of the 
 University of Kiel on the peace question, expressed himself 
 satisfactorily and unequivocally : ' As to the hope you ex- 
 press/ he said, ' for the preservation of peace, no one can 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 153 
 
 share it more sincerely than I do ; for it is a painful 
 necessity for a Sovereign, who is responsible before the 
 Almighty, to give the word for war. And yet there are 
 circumstances in which a Prince neither can nor should 
 avoid such responsibility. You yourselves have witnessed 
 here, with your own eyes, evidence of the fact, that the 
 necessity of a war may force itself upon a Prince as well as 
 upon a nation. If there exists between us a link of con- 
 fidence and friendliness, it is to war that we owe it. How- 
 ever, I do not see in all Europe any circumstance menacing 
 peace, and I say so confidently, in order to tranquillize you.' 
 
 A new session of the Prussian Diet began on the 4th of 
 November, and the King, in his opening speech, referred 
 both to the subjects that would engage the attention of 
 the Diet, and the various questions which had been satis- 
 factorily adjusted since the last sittings. Many important 
 benefits had been secured to Germany. By the conclusion 
 of a revised Khine Navigation Act, a new international agree- 
 ment had been obtained for the traffic upon one of the most 
 important of rivers. Further, there was no apprehension of 
 a return of the distress which had grievously afflicted a 
 portion of the Prussian provinces during the past winter a 
 result due to the excellent precautionary measures taken, 
 and to the favourable harvest in every province of the 
 monarchy. 
 
 The relations of the Prussian Government with foreign 
 Powers were in every direction friendly and satisfactory. 
 The events in the Western Peninsula of Europe gave some 
 little cause for anxiety, but there was every confidence that 
 the Spanish nation would succeed in finding in the in- 
 dependent formation of her national position a guarantee 
 of her future prosperity and power. Something had been 
 done towards realizing one of the dreams of civilization and 
 humanity by the International Congress of Geneva, which 
 had succeeded in completing and extending to the navies 
 of the maritime Powers the principles already adopted for 
 
154 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the amelioration of the wounded in war. Altogether, the 
 sentiments of the Sovereigns of Europe and the desire of 
 the nations for peace, gave ground for the belief, that the 
 advancing development of the general welfare would not 
 only suffer no immediate material disturbance, but would also 
 be freed from those obstructing and paralyzing effects which 
 had only too often been created by groundless fears, and taken 
 advantage of by the enemies of peace and public order. 
 
 A personal episode relating to Baron Beust, the Austrian 
 Prime Minister, caused some excitement in the Prussian 
 Diet in December. For some time back the Austrian 
 statesman had jealously watched the conduct and policy of 
 his great Prussian rival. A severe attack having been made 
 by one of the Prussian deputies upon Baron Beust, Count 
 Bismarck rose and said : ' It is absolutely impossible for me 
 to defend a foreign Minister without dilating on the policy 
 of the State he serves a task I do not feel called upon to 
 perform at this moment with regard to the Chancellor of 
 the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Still, I may observe that 
 I am ignorant of the existence of personal hostility to myself 
 or this Government in if I may call him so my Austrian 
 colleague. In former years I was on a friendly footing 
 with him, and have no reason to suppose that a change 
 has occurred. I should, therefore, deem myself bound to 
 vindicate his conduct against what has fallen from a 
 preceding speaker, had I not reasons for wishing to steer 
 clear of the quicksands of international policy in to-day's 
 debate. As to Austria's Liberalism, it consists in an army 
 of 800,000 men, demanded and voted for a period of ten 
 years, and some municipal arrangements introduced in 
 Prussia fifty years ago. Even these Count Beust has 
 taken care to render innocuous by a vigorous supervision 
 on the part of the administrative authorities.' After de- 
 livering himself of these sneers, Bismarck concluded with a 
 comparison which evoked much laughter : ' Au reste, there 
 is this similarity between Liberal Governments and the 
 
AN INTEEEEONUM OF PEACE. 155 
 
 reigning beauties of the season, that the last out generally 
 carries the day.' 
 
 An important constitutional change was resolved upon in 
 this sitting of the Diet. The Chamber of Deputies adopted 
 a resolution, requesting the Government to take steps for 
 causing the Prussian Ministry for Foreign Affairs to be 
 amalgamated by the year 1870 with a concentrated Foreign 
 Office for the North German Confederation. Count Bismarck, 
 rising during the debate, said that confidential negotiations 
 with the Federal allies had convinced him that he would 
 be able to lay the necessary bill on the subject before the 
 North German Parliament at its next meeting. 
 
 There can be no question that the attitude of Austria at 
 this juncture, and subsequently, did much to preserve the 
 peace of Europe. With all our admiration for Bismarck as 
 a strong man, we greatly doubt whether he would have 
 adopted and maintained the same magnanimous attitude, 
 had similar opportunities been placed within the grasp of 
 Prussia after she had been humbled by a neighbouring 
 Power. While Austria had lost her position in Germany, 
 she still retained her sympathies towards her former Federal 
 allies, though she would not side with Prussia in the 
 Luxemburg difficulty. On the other hand, she did not 
 attempt to profit by a war between France and Prussia, 
 and her Government took care to prevent the Emperor 
 Napoleon and the French Cabinet from expecting the co- 
 operation of Austria in a conflict with Prussia. Impartial 
 and neutral, her attitude, as we have observed, must have 
 greatly contributed towards the maintenance of peace. Yet 
 Austria had a difficult role to play, for she desired neither to 
 exercise pressure upon Prussia to induce her to sacrifice 
 German national interests, nor to lay herself open to the 
 suspicion of confirming Prussia in her resistance, with a 
 view of bringing about a conflict. She steered well between 
 the international Scylla and Charybdis. 
 
 The year 1869 opened with a continuance of these peace 
 
156 WILLIAM I. AND THE OEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 prospects. The North German Parliament assembled on the 
 4th of March, and the King, in his speech from the throne, 
 congratulated the Deputies on the unclouded state of Europe. 
 A hill relative to the electoral law was promised, framed in 
 accordance with Article 20 of the Constitution of the 
 Confederation. It was intended to secure a uniform system 
 of electoral procedure throughout the entire Confederation, 
 and also to define the legal status of the Federal officials. 
 The Budget of 1870 showed that an increase of the revenue 
 was necessary. In regard to the postal arrangements between 
 the Confederation and Foreign States, conventions had been 
 concluded with the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, and the 
 Danubian Principalities. The organization of the Federal 
 consular system was approaching completion. A consular 
 convention concluded with Italy would regulate the re- 
 spective powers of the consuls of both nations, thus ensuring 
 uniformity in the conduct of the consular administration and 
 the diplomatic representation abroad of North Germany. 
 His Majesty observed that the first duty of the diplomatic 
 agents abroad would be to secure the maintenance of peace 
 between all nations who, like Germany, knew how to value 
 its benefits. The fulfilment of that duty would be facilitated 
 by the friendly terms existing between the North German 
 Confederation and all Foreign Powers, and which were 
 proved afresh by the peaceful solution of the difficulty 
 that but lately threatened to disturb peace in the East. 
 The negotiations and the result of the Paris Conference 
 had proved the sincere endeavours of the European Powers 
 to regard the blessings of peace as a valuable and common 
 benefit, to be guarded by all as common property. Germany, 
 having seen the success of this action, and having proved 
 that it possessed both the will and the power to respect 
 the independence of foreign States and to defend its own, 
 was justified in trusting in the continuance of peace to 
 disturb which neither Foreign Governments had the in- 
 tention, nor the enemies of order the power. 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 157 
 
 The Deputies got through their work amicably, and when 
 they were dismissed on the 22nd of June, the Eoyal speech 
 congratulated them on the completion of the first German 
 conflict, which was a memorial both of German activity 
 and sagacity. The unanimous co-operation of the Federal 
 Governments with the national representatives in the 
 common labouring for Germany's welfare, would reiterated 
 the King with God's help, strengthen, as heretofore, the 
 general confidence with which Germany, in fortifying herself 
 at home, reckoned upon the preservation of peace abroad. 
 
 But although on matters of public policy generally there 
 was a good understanding between the Prussian Government 
 and the Deputies, the financial question continued to be 
 discussed with great animosity. The agitation continued 
 after the closing of Parliament, and gained in strength upon 
 the retirement of Count Bismarck for the summer on the 
 ground of ill-health. In his absence, the administration was 
 entrusted to Count Eulenberg and Yon Miiller, who were 
 regarded as uncompromising reactionists. 
 
 The Prussian Chambers met again on the 6th of October, 
 and the King, who opened the session in person, said that an 
 unavoidable deficit in the finances rendered an augmentation 
 of the taxes necessary. ' The restoration and preservation 
 of order in financial affairs is absolutely essential for the 
 successful development of all the State institutions, and this 
 cannot be delayed. The sacrifices demanded must not be 
 eluded ; the longer they are postponed, the more oppressive 
 they will be for the country. Convinced that you share 
 these views, I rely confidently upon your not refusing your 
 assent to the propositions of my Government.' The King 
 then announced that reforms would be introduced and the 
 income tax remodelled, in order to secure a more efficient 
 working of the law. The Eastern provinces would be placed 
 on a basis of self-government, and new laws would be sub- 
 mitted with respect to public education. The speech con- 
 cluded with an allusion to the success of the King's efforts to 
 
158 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 preserve peace and to maintain friendly relations with 
 foreign Powers. 
 
 But the propositions concerning the taxes met with much 
 opposition. The Finance Minister, Yon der Heydt, finding 
 that he was in danger of defeat, resigned, and was succeeded 
 by Herr Camphausen, whose appointment strengthened the 
 National Liberal element in Count Bismarck's Ministry. On 
 October 30, the new Finance Minister explained his pro- 
 gramme to the Diet, which he said was one to ' restore order 
 in the administration of the finances, while the resources of 
 the country should be spared as much as possible.' His 
 proposed plan of consolidation, arranged to furnish means for 
 covering a portion of the deficit, and to improve the method 
 of paying the public debt, was passed by a large majority of 
 the Diet in December. At the same time the Lower House 
 adopted a resolution to extend the jurisdiction of the Fede- 
 ration over the entire civil law. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the national debt of Prussia, 
 at the end of 1869, amounted to 442,639,372 thalers, 
 184,471,491 of which were, however, railway debts. It was 
 computed that the interest and sinking fund for the payment 
 of the principal would, in 1870, require 28,648,600 thalers ; 
 but 10,223,511 thalers of this sum belonged to the railways, 
 and would be covered by their profits. Of the total national 
 debt 377,925,827 thalers belonged to the old provinces; viz., 
 211,225,925 thalers State debt bearing interest, 133,061,000 
 thalers railway debt bearing interest, 2,553,902 thalers 
 provincial debt bearing interest, 12,835,000 thalers interest- 
 bearing notes, and 18,250,000 thalers bank-notes bearing no 
 interest. The debts of the provinces united to the kingdom, 
 in 1866, were as follows: Hanover, 21,096,291 thalers; 
 Hesse, 15,249,950 thalers; Nassau, 20,158,755 thalers; 
 Hesse-Homburg, 99,429 thalers ; Frankfort, 7,754,171 tha- 
 lers; and Schleswig-Holstein, 354,948 thalers. A large 
 portion of these debts, however, was for railways, and would 
 be covered by their profits. 
 
AN INTEEEEGNUM OF PEACE. 159 
 
 Towards the close of the year two incidents occurred 
 which were of considerable interest in relation to Protestant 
 Prussia and its monarch. King William, regarding himself 
 as the guardian of Protestantism, issued the following decree 
 touching a day of special prayer for the Church : ' The great 
 movements which in our age are making themselves felt in 
 the religious life "both of nations and individuals, and are 
 pressing forward to a decision ; and the tasks they impose on 
 the Protestant Church of our country are apparent to all, 
 and admonish us to entreat the support of Almighty God. 
 It is therefore my will that a day be set apart in the 
 Protestant Churches of my country for special prayer, that 
 God may pour out His blessing on the present important 
 deliberations as to the constitution of our Church, and to 
 implore Him to protect the Protestant Church from all 
 dangers that threaten it ; and, to strengthen the ties which 
 unite its members to each other and to the Church universal, 
 I have appointed the 10th of November, the birthday of Dr. 
 Martin Luther, for this purpose, and hereby commission the 
 Minister and the highest ecclesiastical authorities of Prussia 
 to make the necessary arrangements.' 
 
 Early in the ensuing December, in receiving a deputation 
 from the Brandenburg Synod, His Majesty said: 'I am much 
 obliged to you for your kind and cordial wishes, and shall be 
 happy to see you finish your work in peace. It is very 
 necessary, indeed, that something should be done to quiet 
 the excitement lately prevailing in matters ecclesiastical. 
 The enemies of the Church are numerous in these days. In 
 this I am not alluding to the Koman Catholics, but to those 
 who have ceased to believe. What is to become of us if we 
 have no faith in the Saviour, the Son of God ? If He is not 
 the Son of God, His commands, as coming from a man only, 
 must be subject to criticism. What is to become of us in 
 such a case ? I can only repeat, that I wish to see you finish 
 in peace the work in which you are engaged.' 
 . At this time Rationalism was spreading rapidly on the one 
 
160 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 hand, while on the other the Pope was issuing a bull against 
 heretics, and formulating the Infallibility policy which was 
 shortly to see the light. 
 
 During the interregnum of European peace which was 
 now drawing to a close, Prussia had been perfecting her 
 military organization, and we cannot do better than close 
 this chapter by detailing her war strength, as it existed in 
 1869. The Prussian Military Gazette stated that a million 
 of soldiers could, at any moment, be placed under arms by a 
 single telegram from Berlin. The Prussian troops consisted 
 of 325 battalions of infantry, 268 squadrons of cavalry, 11 
 regiments of artillery, with 1146 guns, and 12 battalions 
 of engineers, making in all 410,000 soldiers. The Federal 
 contingents were of the following strength : Saxony, 29 
 battalions, 24 squadrons, 96 batteries, and 6 guns; Bruns- 
 wick, 3 battalions, 4 squadrons, and 6 guns ; Mecklenburg- 
 Strelitz, 1 battalion ; and Hesse Darmstadt, 10 battalions, 
 8 squadrons, 24 guns, and one battalion of engineers 
 total 53,000 men. But this force of 463,000 only 
 represented the standing army of North Germany. In 
 case of emergency, Prussia could also command the 
 services of the troops of Baden, Wurtemberg, and Bavaria, 
 and immediately order a levy of her reserve, consisting 
 of 120 battalions of infantry, 76 squadrons of cavalry, 
 240 guns, and 12 battalions of engineers ; or an army 
 of 143,000 men. Then there was an additional force of 
 200,000 men at her disposal for the occupation of towns 
 and garrisons. Finally, the above numbers did not include 
 the officers' military train, military labourers, nor special 
 corps of any kind. 
 
 With regard to her navy also, Prussia had made great 
 strides, and, whereas not long before she had no fleet worth 
 speaking of, the Prussian navy was now second to none in 
 the Baltic Sea. Russia was jealous of the facility and the 
 rapidity with which she turned out vessel after vessel, 
 obviously intending to make good her pretensions to supre- 
 
AN INTERREGNUM OF PEACE. 161 
 
 macy in the Baltic, where hitherto Kussia had ridden alone. 
 In 1868 the Prussian and Kussian fleets cruised together; 
 but when Count Bismarck proposed to do the same in 1869, 
 Kussia indignantly refused. The Goloss of St. Petersburg 
 thus gave vent to the feelings animating the Russian official 
 mind : ' After seizing Kiel and the Bay of Jahde, Prussia has 
 constructed in that bay the naval port of Keppens, and thus 
 at once become a naval power and a dangerous rival to us in 
 the Baltic. When the canal between the Baltic and the 
 North Sea, the construction of which is already seriously 
 contemplated at Berlin, is completed, the naval power of 
 Prussia, which formerly only existed in the dreams of 
 Prussian patriots, will become an accomplished fact.' The 
 Goloss accused Prussia of false dealings in her relations with 
 Russia, and added : * Our commercial legislation has been such 
 that, if the Prussian Minister of Commerce had been asked 
 for his advice, he could not have invented anything more 
 advantageous for Prussian interests. The sliding scale of the 
 customs tariffs which have been recently abolished, and the 
 obstacles created by our bureaucracy, have drawn nearly all 
 our northern maritime commerce into Prussian harbours. 
 The Crimean War and the construction of the railway 
 communication between our western provinces and Konigs- 
 berg have made that port the head-quarters of our northern 
 trade. Moreover, the mercantile marine of North Germany 
 increases yearly, while merchant ships under the Russian flag 
 are scarcely ever seen on foreign waters.' 
 
 But the real sting of this remarkable article in the Goloss 
 came in its closing sentence : ' If France does not think 
 proper to put a stop to Prussian impetuosity, that Power will 
 in a few years absorb the whole of Germany, or, in other 
 words, become the arbiter of Europe/ Russia did not want 
 to fight Prussia, and yet she wished to see her crippled 
 because of her own interests. So, with a Mephistophelian 
 smile, she threw out hints which she knew would make 
 France wince and goad her into action perhaps. The very 
 
 II 
 
162 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 ideas so frankly expressed in the Goloss article had been 
 flitting through the mind of Napoleon for several years back. 
 He knew how rapidly Prussia was pushing to the front, and 
 that even now she might almost be called the mistress of 
 Europe. How long was this to continue, while the war 
 party in France chafed under the inactivity and irresolution 
 of the Emperor ? It was destined to continue until just such 
 time, and no longer, as Napoleon could find some good or bad 
 pretext for war, and then the war flame was to burst out over 
 Europe. 
 
( 163 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE CLOUD GATHERING. 
 
 BEFORE reciting the circumstances which led to one of the 
 greatest wars of the century, several matters affecting 
 Prussian history during the first half of the year 1870 
 demand attention. Count Bismarck, who was almost over- 
 whelmed by his Herculean labours, became on the 1st of 
 January Foreign Minister, no longer of Prussia solely, but 
 of the whole of the North German Confederation. As, in 
 addition to this office, he also held the onerous post of 
 Chancellor, two subordinates were appointed to assist him in 
 the Chancellorship Herr von Thile, who transacted the 
 minor details in the department of Foreign Affairs, and Herr 
 von Delbriick, who assumed charge of those in the Home 
 Department. 
 
 The Federal Parliament was opened by the King on the 
 12th of February. His Majesty announced that the Assembly 
 would be called upon to extend and complete the institutions 
 which had been agreed upon by the separate governments of 
 the Confederation. In particular he adverted to the new 
 penal code, that was to establish a uniform system of 
 criminal procedure throughout North Germany, thereby 
 greatly advancing the work of national unity. 
 
 The question of the speedy admission of the Grand Duchy 
 of Baden into the North German Bund was brought forward 
 this session by the National Liberal party. Count Bismarck, 
 whose views in favour of centralization were well known, 
 caused considerable astonishment by opposing this measure. 
 The opinion gained currency, that he was anxious for the 
 
 M 2 
 
164 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 moment not to give ground of offence to France. He wanted 
 the provocation to come from that quarter. So he told the 
 Deputies that the adhesion of Baden was not yet desirable, 
 and would tend to retard the natural progress of the South 
 German States if precipitately carried out. The North 
 German Confederation would reserve to itself the right of 
 designating a more favourable moment for the reception of 
 the Duchy as one of its members. But while he thus 
 abstained from any territorial extension of the Bund, he used 
 all diligence to make sure of the ground already gained. 
 For example, a measure was passed to assimilate weights and 
 measures throughout North Germany in connection with the 
 intended assimilation of the coinage, and a copyright law 
 was also passed. Further, a general penal code for North 
 Germany was adopted before the close of the session. 
 
 When the King of Prussia closed the Diet, he thankfully 
 acknowledged the readiness shown by both Houses to assist 
 the Government in its aims by the sanction of the proposed 
 law of consolidation, which, he felt assured, would offer 
 increased facilities for a more rapid amortization of the public 
 debt. The Government had succeeded in establishing an 
 equilibrium between the revenue and expenditure in the 
 Budget for 1870, without being compelled to resort to 
 onerous taxation. But the King expressed his grief and 
 surprise that the comprehensive administrative reforms 
 which had been submitted to the Diet for consideration and 
 approval in the earlier part of the session had not been 
 brought to a satisfactory conclusion the more so, as the 
 wants of the country imperatively demanded those reforms, 
 especially that of a change of the mortgage system. 
 
 Upon the conclusion of the session, King William, accom- 
 panied by Bismarck, left Berlin for Ems, on a visit to the 
 Emperor of Russia. 
 
 Internal difficulties now sprang up in Germany. An 
 organization known as the Democratic Workmen's party, 
 nicknamed the ' Honest ' party, suddenly acquired promin- 
 
THE CLOUD GATHERING. 165 
 
 ence. It had its head-quarters at Stuttgart and Leipsic, 
 and its main object was to break up Europe, and more 
 especially Prussia and the North Grerman Confederation, into 
 a number of small communistic republics. Its leaders were 
 Bebel, a master-turner, and Liebknecht, a journalist. Then 
 there was the Progressive Workmen's party, formerly led 
 by Schultze Delitsch, who was not a socialist, but now by 
 Hirsch and Dunker. Strikes were advocated, and the 
 English trades-unions held up to admiration. A third party, 
 and the most advanced of all, was that of the German 
 Socialists, followers of Ferdinand Lassalle. This organization 
 sought to secure for the labourer a share in the profits of all 
 commercial and industrial undertakings ; and in order to 
 obtain this, the Socialists demanded State assistance, en- 
 couraged strikes, denounced all indirect taxation, and assailed 
 the capitalists. After Lassalle's death the party split up into 
 three sections, each of which was hostile to the others, and 
 to the world at large. These various parties caused the 
 bureaus at Berlin no little trouble and solicitude. 
 
 But internal difficulties were soon to be overshadowed by 
 events which were to draw upon France and Prussia the eyes 
 of the whole civilized world. The close of June saw Europe 
 in the enjoyment of profound peace, but there were subtle 
 influences at work that were destined shortly to change 
 the calm into a storm ; to cause the death of thousands of 
 brave men ; and to blight and lay waste some of the most 
 fertile, industrious, and prosperous provinces on the face of 
 the earth. Yet, so late as the 30th of June, the Prime 
 Minister of France, M. Emile Ollivier, officially declared in 
 the Corps Legislatif that peace was more secure than ever. 
 The false security which this assurance gave rise to was 
 soon dispelled. Within two or three days the political 
 horizon was menaced by a dark war-cloud, and in the 
 course of a fortnight war was formally declared, with the 
 sequence of one of the bloodiest conflicts witnessed in modern 
 history. 
 
166 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 The ostensible causes of this war were wholly inadequate, 
 and upon France lay the blame of provocation. The 
 pretexts or grounds upon which she acted may be briefly 
 stated. The Provisional Government of Spain, after several 
 unsuccessful attempts to induce a foreign prince to accept 
 the Spanish crown, resolved on the 4th of July to propose 
 to the Cortes Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen 
 as King of Spain. This news created great excitement in 
 France, and suggestions of Bismarckian intrigues were rife, 
 with an alleged design on the part of the Prussian monarch 
 to plant a subservient relative on the southern frontier of 
 France. On the 6th of July, two of the ministers, the 
 Prime Minister and the Due de Gramont, declared in the 
 Corps Legislatif that the candidacy of a Prince of the House 
 of Hohenzollern, agreed upon without the knowledge of the 
 French Government, would be injurious to the honour and 
 the influence of the French nation. The Spanish Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs hastened to assure France that the Prince 
 was the free choice of the Spanish Government, and had been 
 elected without previous negotiation with, or the co-operation 
 of, any other European Power. France was profoundly 
 indignant, however, and this explanation did not suffice. 
 She demanded the formal withdrawal of the candidate, 
 affirming that his occupancy of the Spanish throne was 
 prejudicial to French interests. 
 
 King William was at Ems, and M. Benedetti, the French 
 Ambassador to the North German Confederation, personally 
 requested His Majesty, on the 9th, to forbid Prince Leopold's 
 acceptance of the Spanish crown. The King declined, 
 stating he had no right to give orders to a Prince of Hohen- 
 zollern who was of age. The King added that, beyond giving 
 his personal sanction as head of the Hohenzollern family, he 
 had had no hand in the candidature. After this interview 
 the Prussian Government issued a circular despatch to its 
 representatives in Germany to the effect, that the Govern- 
 ment of Prussia had no part whatever in the selection of 
 
THE CLOUD GATHERING. 167 
 
 Prince Leopold to the Spanish crown. The Prince himself, 
 seeing the dangers which threatened Europe, of his own 
 motion sent in his resignation on the 12th of July. 
 
 Sanguine spirits now hoped that the difficulty would he 
 got over, but they had reckoned without the war party in 
 France. With singular recklessness and culpability, the 
 Due de Gramont notified the Prussian Ambassador in Paris, 
 Baron von Werther, that France was not satisfied, and that 
 the King of Prussia himself must write to the Emperor 
 Napoleon, excusing himself for having personally sanctioned 
 Prince Leopold's candidature, take a definite part in its 
 present withdrawal, and promise that under no circumstances 
 should that candidature be renewed. Count Bismarck 
 declined to lay these new and humiliating claims of France 
 before the King. Accordingly, on the 13th of July, M. 
 Benedetti forced himself into the presence of the King in a 
 public walk at Ems, and renewed the propositions in an 
 imperious manner. The King, with great indignation, 
 refused to listen to the demands of the Ambassador, and 
 turned upon his heel. The Ambassador was further notified 
 by one of the adjutants of His Majesty that he would not 
 grant another audience upon the matter. 
 
 Next day Baron von Werther was recalled from Paris, and 
 M. Benedetti from Ems. A mad war excitement now seized 
 upon both nations, though there were not wanting far-seeing 
 men among the French Left who inveighed against the 
 injustice as well as the danger and impolicy of a war with 
 Germany. King William returned to Berlin on the 15th, 
 and was greeted with frantic enthusiasm. Addresses now 
 poured in from all parts of Germany, and when the Federal 
 Council of the North German Confederation met at Berlin, 
 it unanimously recognized the necessity of energetically 
 repelling ' the arrogance of France.' Orders were issued 
 for the mobilization not only of the army of the North 
 German Confederation, but also of the armies of those 
 South German States which, according to treaty, were to be 
 
168 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 under the supreme command of the King of Prussia in the 
 event of war. The South German States at once promised 
 their aid, greatly to the surprise of France. In the French 
 Corps Legislatif, M. Emile Ollivier speaking in the name 
 of the Government demanded the arming of the Garde 
 Mobile, with a grant of 500,000,000 francs for the land 
 army, and 16,000,000 for the navy, all of which demands 
 were at once granted. The Senate also passed the desired 
 credit, and on Sunday, the 18th, went to St. Cloud to con- 
 gratulate the Emperor on the decision arrived at. The 
 Paris populace was strangely excited. On the Boulevards 
 crowds assembled, singing the Marseillaise and ' Mourir 
 pour la Patrie,' and shouting l Vive la Guerre ! ' ' A Berlin!' 
 and l A las la Prusse ! ' 
 
 Never did a nation rush so headlong upon its fate. 
 Napoleon has been almost wholly blamed for the war, but, as 
 he said after the crowning disaster of Sedan, he had no power 
 to arrest the belligerent feeling. It is true the fever had 
 seized upon the entire population, but the feeling ought 
 never to have reached this height of frenzy ; and it would 
 not have done so but for the Emperor's previous policy. 
 Alarmed by the progress of Prussia, he had long sought an 
 opportunity for humbling her, and in the fateful summer of 
 1870, he rashly jumped to the conclusion that his destiny 
 pointed him to Berlin. 
 
( 169 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE. 
 
 THERE was little hope that the thunderbolts of war might be 
 averted, but the English Government resolved to make a 
 final effort. Our ambassador at Berlin, Lord Loftus, tendered 
 an offer of mediation, but it was declined by Count Bismarck 
 so long as France should not declare her readiness to accept 
 the intervention of England. There was only one brief 
 period when the French Ministry paused. It was when they 
 found that there was no likelihood of Austria striking in on 
 her own account, and avenging herself for the disaster of 
 Sadowa. But the hesitation lasted only for a moment. The 
 French people were bent upon war, quite as much so, it 
 must be confessed, as the Emperor Napoleon himself. But 
 French officialism was disgracefully at fault. When Marshal 
 Leboeuf, the War Minister, was questioned by the Due de 
 Gramont, he replied, ' Ready ? ay, more than ready ! ' The 
 event proved that he spoke with fatal ignorance of the real 
 state of things. And when the mobilization of the French 
 army was undertaken, it brought to light grave facts which 
 had not previously been suspected. The Due de Gramont 
 subsequently said, ' I could easily have avoided the war in 
 twenty ways.' The Prussian Government afterwards pub- 
 lished Napoleon's correspondence, found at St. Cloud, and it 
 showed that the imposing regiments of the army of the Rhine 
 were actually destitute of the most necessary commissariat 
 appliances. Invaluable days were frittered away, and 
 nothing was ready. The Prussians carried through their 
 mobilization with their accustomed accuracy and despatch ; 
 
170 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 and the Governments of Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and Baden 
 unanimously sent in their adhesion to the cause of the King 
 of Prussia. 
 
 With regard to weapons, the French had for some time 
 been trying to find a rival to the formidable needle-gun of 
 the Prussians, and they believed they had discovered it in the 
 chassepot, which was said to have given proof of its capacity 
 to carry bullets to further ranges and to be more manageable 
 by the holder, than the weapon which had won the campaign 
 against Austria. Then the French had another powerful 
 engine of death, the mitrailleuse. It was a small moveable 
 cannon revolver, which could discharge from its various 
 mouths between three and four hundred bullets in the space 
 of one minute. With these weapons the French deemed 
 themselves secure. 
 
 The French army was disposed in a slightly curved line 
 from Strasburg to the frontier of Luxemburg, thus extending 
 over about 150 miles of country. There were seven corps, in 
 addition to the Imperial Guard. Macmahon was at Strasburg 
 with the 1 st corps ; De Failly with the 5th, near Saargemund ; 
 Frossard with the 7th, opposite Saarbriick ; then came 
 General 1'Amirault, with the 4th corps ; and last on the line 
 Bazaine with the 3rd corps, stationed at Sierck, to the 
 north of Thionville. The 7th corps, under General Douay, 
 occupied Belfort, in the Upper Bhine Department ; the 
 Imperial Guard was at Metz, under Bourbaki ; and Canrobert 
 commanded the 6th corps, or the army of reserve, at Chalons. 
 
 The formal declaration of war presented by France to 
 Count Bismarck, rested upon the following basis : 1. The 
 insult offered at Ems to M. Benedetti, the French Minister, 
 and its approval by the Prussian Government. 2. The 
 refusal of the King of Prussia to compel the withdrawal of 
 Prince Leopold's name as a candidate for the Spanish throne ; 
 and 3. The fact that the King persisted in giving the Prince 
 liberty to accept the throne. As the Prince of Hohenzollern's 
 candidature was no longer before Europe, the French were 
 
THE GEE AT WAR WITH FRANCE. 171 
 
 virtually rushing upon a terrible war because of a fancied 
 insult to M. Benedetti by the King of Prussia. 
 
 Before the first blow was struck, yet one more attempt 
 was made at mediation, the Pope writing . an identical letter 
 to King William and the Emperor Napoleon. The King of 
 Prussia thus replied : ' Most august Pontiff, I am not sur- 
 prised, but profoundly moved, at the touching words traced 
 by your hand. They cause the voice of God and of peace to 
 be heard. How could my heart refuse to listen to so power- 
 ful an appeal ? God witnesses that neither I nor my people 
 devised or provoked war. Obeying the sacred duties which 
 God imposes on sovereigns and nations, we take up the 
 sword to defend the independence and honour of our country, 
 ready to lay it down the moment those treasures are secure. 
 If your Holiness could offer -me, from him who so un- 
 expectedly declared war, assurances of sincerely pacific 
 dispositions, and guarantees against a similar attempt upon 
 the peace and tranquillity of Europe, it certainly will not be 
 I who will refuse to receive them from your venerable hands, 
 united as I am with you in bonds of Christian charity and 
 sincere friendship.' As Napoleon did not give the assurances 
 demanded, the Pope's mediatorial offer fell through. 
 
 The French blundered in the very outset of the campaign. 
 It had been the Emperor's intention to mass 150,000 men 
 at Metz, 100,000 at Strasburg, and 50,000 at the camp at 
 Chalons. Then to unite the two armies of Metz and Stras- 
 burg, and at the head of 250,000 men to cross the Ehine at 
 Maxau, leaving on his right the fortress of Kastadt. Next, 
 the 50,000 men at Chalons, under the command of Canrobert, 
 were to proceed to Metz to protect the rear of the army and 
 guard the north-east frontier. Meanwhile the fleet, cruising 
 in the Baltic, would have held a portion of the Prussian 
 force in check, to guard against invasion from the coast. 
 But these plans ignominiously broke down. Only 100,000 
 men were ready for the army of Metz ; 40,000 only for that 
 of Strasburg ; Canrobert's corps was divided, and neither 
 
172 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 cavalry nor artillery were ready. When the Emperor ordered 
 the missing regiments to be pushed on, the reply came that 
 Algeria, Paris, and Lyons could not be left without garrisons. 
 The French fleet, which was the only thing ready, sailed for 
 the Baltic ; but, as fortune or fate would have it, its services 
 were not required. 
 
 The Germans took the initiative in the field, and were 
 somewhat surprised that they should have been called upon 
 to do so, as they expected to have been anticipated by the 
 French. The King of Prussia arrived at Mayence on the 
 31st of July, accompanied by Generals Yon Moltke and Von 
 Koon. His Majesty assumed the style of Commander-in- 
 Chief, though the real head and moving spirit of the German 
 hosts was that great strategical genius Yon Moltke. The 
 Prussian forces were distributed in three armies ; the com- 
 mand of the first army, forming the right wing of the entire 
 force, was assigned to General von Steinmetz; that of the 
 second, or centre army, to Prince Frederick Charles, ' the 
 Eed Prince,' the King's nephew; and that of the third 
 division, consisting of the armies of the south, to the Crown 
 Prince. The whole of the three armies amounted in number 
 to about 450,000 men. 
 
 The first decisive movement began on the 2nd of August, 
 when the French corps of General Frossard, numbering 
 about 30,000 men, advanced from St. Avoid against Saar- 
 bruck. In view of the Emperor and the Prince Imperial it 
 shelled the open town, and the Prussian advanced post 
 retired. The French occupied the heights, but not the town 
 itself, and Napoleon telegraphed to the Empress : ' Louis 
 has received the baptism of fire. He displayed an admirable 
 sangfroid, and was in no way excited. He has preserved a 
 ball which dropped close to him. There were soldiers who 
 wept when they saw him so calm.' 
 
 More serious business was soon to follow. After a German 
 success at Wissemburg, in which General Abel Douay was 
 killed, the great battle of Worth was fought on the 6th of 
 
THE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE. 173 
 
 August. The Crown Prince was on his way towards the 
 passes of the Vosges, when Marshal Macmahon intercepted 
 his advance, taking up a strong position west of Worth. He 
 had not, however, got his forces together in full strength, 
 and before he could do so he was attacked by the Crown 
 Prince's superior divisions. For fifteen hours the ground 
 was desperately contested ; but although the French were 
 reinforced by Failly's corps, they were ultimately defeated. 
 Their loss in killed and wounded was estimated at 10,000, 
 and amongst the dead were Generals Colson and Kaoul. 
 Two eagles, thirty cannons, six mitrailleuses, 360,000 francs, 
 and 8000 prisoners fell into the hands of the Germans. The 
 German loss was about 4000 in killed and wounded. Out 
 of Macmahon's army corps of 40,000 men, only 5000 were 
 at length able to retrace their steps, broken and dispirited, 
 towards Chalons. On the same day as the battle of Worth, 
 a desperate fight occurred on the heights of Spicheren, near 
 Saarbriick, between the advanced Guard of the 1st German 
 Army, under General Goben, and the left wing of the French, 
 under General Frossard. The French position was again 
 strong, and the conflict went on for hours. General Stein- 
 metz and Prince Frederick Charles came on the field towards 
 the last, and the French were beaten back to Forbach, 
 where they again made a gallant stand ; but in vain. The 
 Germans took 2500 prisoners, and a vast quantity of war 
 material. 
 
 Disguise it .how the French might, their army of invasion 
 had been beaten at all points. Paris had been buoyed up 
 by false telegrams, one report actually announcing a great 
 victory, with the capture of 25,000 prisoners, including the 
 Crown Prince himself. When the truth became known, the 
 rage and disappointment of the people found vent in loud 
 execrations; and these feelings were not allayed by the 
 following telegram from the Emperor : ' Marshal Macmahon 
 has lost a battle. General Frossard, on the Saar, has been 
 compelled to fall back. The retreat is being effected in good 
 
174 WILLIAM I. AND THE GEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 order. Tout pent se retdblir.' But how was all to be put 
 right ? 
 
 The entire French army now fell back, and Macmahon, 
 closely pursued by the Germans, retreated precipitately upon 
 Nancy and Metz. Other corps followed his example, until 
 the French occupied a new position along the line of the 
 Moselle. Meanwhile, Paris was greatly moved. A procla- 
 mation issued by the Empress Eugenie, who had been 
 appointed Kegent, left no room to doubt that the French 
 had suffered serious reverses. Paris was declared in a state 
 of siege ; the Chambers immediately assembled, and a new 
 Cabinet was appointed, with Count Palikao as President. 
 The Senate and the Corps Legislatif agreed to an increase 
 in the army, and a reorganization of the National Guard ; 
 it was resolved to push on the war vigorously, and the war 
 credit was raised to 1,000,000,000 francs. Marshal Bazaine 
 was appointed to the supreme conduct of the war, in place 
 of Leboeuf; nothing was said of the Emperor, and the 
 command of the forces of Paris was entrusted to General 
 Trochu, who, singularly enough, three years before, had 
 lifted up his voice alone against the ill-prepared condition 
 of the French army, and whose warning was now rapidly 
 being verified. 
 
 The German armies speedily effected a change of front to 
 the right. The King of Prussia moved his head-quarters on 
 the llth of August, establishing himself across the frontier 
 at St. Avoid. On leaving Saarbruck he addressed the 
 following proclamation in French to the French people 
 1 We, William, King of Prussia, make known the following to 
 the inhabitants of the French territories occupied by the 
 German armies. The Emperor Napoleon having made, by 
 land and by sea, an attack on the German nation, which 
 desired and still desires to live in peace with the French 
 people, I have assumed the command of the German armies 
 to repel this aggression, and I have been led by military 
 circumstances to cross the frontiers of France. I am waging 
 
THE QBE AT WAR WITH FRANCE. 175 
 
 war against soldiers, not against French citizens. The latter 
 consequently will continue to enjoy security for their persons 
 and property so long as they themselves shall not hy hostile 
 attempts against the German troops deprive me of the right 
 of according them my protection. By special arrangements 
 which will be duly made known to the public, the Generals 
 commanding the different corps will determine the measures 
 to be taken towards the communes or individuals that 
 may place themselves in opposition to the usages of war. 
 They will, in like manner, regulate all that concerns the 
 requisitions which may be deemed necessary for the 
 wants of the troops, and they will fix the rate of exchange 
 between French and German currencies, in order to facilitate 
 the individual transactions between the troops and the 
 inhabitants.' 
 
 The French now continued to retreat, and it was the 
 object of Napoleon to fall back across the Meuse in the 
 neighbourhood of Verdun, and to form at Chalons a junction 
 with Macmahon and the new corps, thus being able to oppose 
 the further advance of the Germans by an army of more than 
 300,000 men. The German generals regarded it as a matter 
 of supreme importance to prevent the concentration of the 
 French at Chalons, and to that end to cut off the retreat of 
 Bazaine. Accordingly, on the 14th of August, the German 
 vanguard, belonging to the army of Steinmetz, came up with 
 the three corps of Decaen, Frossard, and L'Amirault, near 
 Courcelles, and a sharp contest ensued. Both sides fought 
 well and equally claimed the victory, but in the end the 
 Germans were the gainers ; for the French retired into Metz 
 and the Prussians remained on the field of battle. Next day 
 the army of the Moselle, under the command of Bazaine, left 
 Metz, accompanied by the Emperor and the Prince Imperial, 
 in order to retreat by way of Verdun to Chalons. On the 
 16th, as their presence had become an obstruction to the 
 army, Napoleon and his son left the troops, and started alone 
 in a carriage upon the route to Chalons. They narrowly 
 
176 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 escaped being captured by the Prussians on the way, but at 
 length reached their destination. 
 
 On the 16th King William's head- quarters were fixed at 
 Pont a Mousson, between Metz and Nancy. It was now the 
 object of the Prussians to cut off the retreat of the French 
 army on Verdun and Chalons. Several sanguinary en- 
 gagements ensued, but they all ended to the advantage of 
 the Prussians. On the day above-named, Tuesday the 
 16th, a number of French divisions, with the Imperial 
 Guard, were stopped on their march westwards near Mars- 
 la-Tour by General Von Alvesleben with three Army Corps, 
 subsequently reinforced by Prince Frederick Charles and 
 another corps, and were driven back towards Metz after a 
 battle lasting twelve hours. The French made another 
 stand at Gravelotte on the 18th, but were again completely 
 defeated. On this occasion the King of Prussia commanded 
 his troops in person. These two battles were desperately 
 contested. Gravelotte was the bloodiest battle of the 
 whole campaign. The French had 112,000 men in action 
 and reserve, with 540 guns ; the Germans had 211,000 men 
 with 822 guns. Against this vastly superior force of the 
 Germans the French had the advantage of position, but it 
 was not sufficient against such overwhelming odds. The 
 Germans suffered even worse than the enemy, for their loss 
 amounted to one-seventh of the effective strength, and that 
 of the French to one-eighth. Bismarck complained that the 
 jealousy of some of the Prussian leaders was the cause of his 
 side losing many of their men. Between the 14th and 18th 
 of August, the French lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
 50,000 men. The German losses were likewise terribly 
 severe. At Mars-la-Tour they amounted to 17,000 ; and at 
 Gravelotte to a higher number still. Some regiments were 
 completely decimated. The wife of a Prussian officer wrote, 
 ' The first regiment of Dragoon Guards went first under fire, 
 and were so slaughtered that only 120 men were left ; the 
 2nd Dragoons were taken to make up the number of the 1st, 
 
TEE GEE AT WAR WITH FRANCE. Ill 
 
 and were in their turn cut down. The very flower of the 
 Prussian nobility has perished. Our friends and familiar 
 faces that we had met every year in society are all dead, and 
 there is the saddest desolation.' This fearful havoc was 
 caused by the French infantry, which had masked a line of 
 mitrailleurs and concealed them from the advancing Prussians, 
 opening out when charged, and thus leaving the foe exposed 
 to the fire of the machines. Amongst the killed was Prince 
 Salm-Salm, who was with the Emperor Maximilian in Mexico. 
 The result of these fiercely contested engagements was that 
 henceforth Bazaine's army was effectually sealed up in Metz ; 
 it had entirely lost communication both with Paris and 
 Macmahon. 
 
 Late at night on the 18th of August, Bismarck penned 
 this telegram to Queen Augusta, at the dictation of the King : 
 * The French army in a very strong position westward of 
 Metz, attacked, completely beaten after a battle of nine 
 hours, cut off from its communication with Paris, and 
 hurled back on Metz.' 
 
 Dr. Busch gives the following graphic recital from Count 
 Bismarck's own lips of his experiences on that awful day : 
 1 The whole day I had nothing to eat but the soldiers' bread 
 and fat bacon. Now we found some eggs five or six the 
 others must have theirs boiled ; but I like them uncooked, 
 so I got a couple of them, and broke them on the pommel 
 of my sword, and was much refreshed. When it got light, I 
 took the first warm food I had tasted for six- and- thirty 
 hours ; it was only pea- sausage soup, which General Goeben 
 gave me, but it tasted quite excellent. ... I had sent 
 my horse to water, and stood in the dusk near a battery, 
 which was firing. The French were silent, but when we 
 thought their artillery was disabled, they were only concen- 
 trating their guns and mitrailleuses for a last great push. 
 Suddenly they began quite a fearful fire, with shells and 
 suchlike an incessant cracking and rolling, whizzing and 
 screaming in the air. We were separated from the King, 
 
 K 
 
178 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 who had been sent back by Koon. I stayed by the battery, 
 and thought to myself, " if we have to retreat, put yourself on 
 the first gun-carriage you can find." We now expected that 
 the French infantry would support the attack, when they 
 might have taken me prisoner, unless the artillery carried 
 me away with them. But the attack failed, and at last the 
 horses returned, and I set off back to the King. We had 
 gone out of the rain into the gutter, for where we had ridden 
 to, the shells were falling thick, whereas before they had 
 passed over our heads. Next morning we saw the deep holes 
 they had ploughed in the ground. 
 
 ' The King had to go back farther, as I told him to do, 
 after the officers had made representations to me. It was 
 now night. The King said he was hungry, and what could 
 he have to eat ? There was plenty to drink wine and bad 
 rum from a sutler but not a morsel to eat but dry bread. 
 At last, in the village, we got a few cutlets, just enough for 
 the King, but not for anyone else, so I had to find out some- 
 thing for myself. His Majesty wanted to sleep in the 
 carriage, among dead horses and badly-wounded men. He 
 afterwards found accommodation in a little public-house. 
 The Chancellor had to look out somewhere else. The heir of 
 one of the greatest German potentates (the young Hereditary 
 Grand Duke of Mecklenburg) kept watch by our common 
 carriage, that nothing should be stolen, and (General) 
 Sheridan and I set off to find a sleeping place. We came to 
 a house which was still burning, and that was too hot. I 
 asked at another " full of wounded soldiers." In a third, 
 also full of the wounded. In a fourth, just the same, but I 
 was not to be denied this time. I looked up and saw a 
 window which was dark. " What have you got up there ? " 
 I asked. " More wounded soldiers." " That we shall see 
 for ourselves." I went up and found three empty beds, with 
 good and apparently fairly clean straw mattresses. Here 
 we took up our night quarters, and I slept capitally.' 
 
 Once more the Germans showed their great superiority in 
 
TEE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE. 179 
 
 all that concerns the strategical aspects of war. They even 
 carried on the conflict with still greater vigour and aggressive- 
 ness than ever. Barrack huts were rapidly constructed round 
 Metz, for which even doors and windows from the neigh- 
 bouring villages were called into requisition as material. A 
 telegraph was carried round the whole of the investing camp, 
 and a railroad formed at a little distance from the works, to 
 connect the lines of operations. All the officers were 
 provided with maps of the country, on which the minutest 
 details were carefully set down, even to the marking of 
 trees, hedges, and watercourses. Meanwhile, since the 
 battles of Wissemburg and Worth, the Crown Prince had 
 received large reinforcements, and he now detached his 
 Baden contingent to besiege Strasbourg, while some of his 
 Bavarian troops proceeded to besiege Phalsbourg and other 
 fortresses of the Vosges. The Prince himself, with his main 
 army, marched westwards across Lorraine, took the town of 
 Nancy without resistance, and crossed the Moselle ; then he 
 turned northwards and had joined the direct road from Metz 
 to Yerdun, at the time the armies of Steinmetz and Frederick 
 Charles were occupied in pushing Bazaine back into Metz. 
 These two armies were now left to beleaguer Metz, under 
 the command of the Ked Prince, Steinmetz being removed 
 from his leadership on the ground, as alleged, that he was 
 too prodigal of life in conducting his military operations. 
 
 The campaign which followed may soon be narrated, the 
 details being gathered from the accounts of the special 
 correspondents published at the time. The Crown Prince 
 marched towards Chalons, and King William, following his 
 movements, had his head-quarters at Bar-le-Duc on the 
 24th of August. But the French camp at Chalons had 
 broken up three days before, and Macmahon, with 180,000 
 men, had begun what proved to be his fatal movement 
 through Eheims to the north-east. His object was to join 
 hands with Bazaine, and thus bring the united armies down 
 on the rear of the Crown Prince, cutting him off from his 
 
 N 2 
 
180 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 communications with Prince Frederick Charles and also with 
 Germany, or else compelling him to retreat hastily, in fear 
 of such a contingency. This Macmahon is said to have 
 done in opposition to the Emperor's wish, hut in compliance 
 with the orders of the Paris Kegency. 
 
 These movements exactly suited Von Moltke, and fell in 
 with the great strategical ruse he had practised upon the 
 French. He had purposely encouraged the idea that the 
 bulk of the German army was marching straight on Paris, 
 and that a comparatively insignificant force only was left 
 with Prince Frederick Charles before Metz. But Frederick 
 Charles's army was already so strongly entrenched round 
 Metz, that it was able to spare the 4th and 12th North 
 German Corps and Prussian Guard to take shape as a 4th 
 Army, 80,000 strong, which was confided to the command of 
 the Crown Prince of Saxony, and designated the Army of 
 the Meuse. This army now marched westward, to block the 
 passage of the French down the valley of the Meuse, and to 
 join the forces of the Crown Prince. As soon as he learnt 
 of Macmahon's north-easterly march, the Crown Prince 
 also struck northwards to Grand Pre and Yarennes. There 
 was thus a race between the two armies, and the Germans 
 again gained the advantage, owing to the bad organisation of 
 their enemies. Macmahon lost several valuable days at 
 Bethel as the result of commissariat difficulties. An impor- 
 tant engagement took place at Beaumont on the 29th, when 
 the French were surprised by two Prussian and a Bavarian 
 corps, and driven into Mouzon ; and at Carignan, on the 
 following day, they were again defeated, the Prussians 
 entering the place and taking 23 guns and 3000 prisoners. 
 
 Owing to masterly strategy, by the evening of the 31st 
 the German armies had concentrated round Sedan. Mac- 
 mahon was almost completely surrounded by an iron circle. 
 Twelve hours' fighting had taken place, with the result that 
 the French army, baffled and diminished, had been forced to 
 take shelter under the walls. Macmahon was wounded, and 
 
THE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE. 181 
 
 surrendered the chief command to General Ducrot ; but soon 
 after General de Wimpffen arrived on the battle-field with 
 an order from the Minister of War, appointing him com- 
 mander-in-chief in case any accident should befall Marshal 
 Macmahon. On September 1st, when the French were 
 retreating on all sides, Wimpffen proposed to Napoleon, who 
 in a fit of gloom and desperation had exposed himself reck- 
 lessly in the thickest of the fight, to concentrate a large 
 force in order to break through the enemy's lines at 
 Carignan, and to save him from being made a prisoner ; but 
 the Emperor refused to sacrifice the troops to save himself. 
 Wimpffen, who recoiled at the idea of capitulation, then 
 asked to resign, but this also Napoleon would not permit. 
 Soon after five o'clock a French colonel left Sedan with a 
 white flag. Firing suddenly ceased, and the news of the 
 proposed capitulation, with the presence of Napoleon in the 
 surrendering army, flashed like lightning through the 
 German ranks. Frantic shouts rent the air: 'Victory, 
 victory ! the Emperor is there ! ' 
 
 King William meanwhile had sent Lieut.-Colonel Bronsart 
 to Sedan to demand an unconditional surrender. The Emperor, 
 in return, sent his adjutant, General Eeille, to the King 
 with the following letter : ' My brother, since I have not 
 been vouchsafed to meet death in the midst of my troops, I 
 lay my sword at the feet of your Majesty.' The King said 
 before opening the letter, ' But I demand as a first condition 
 that the army lay down its arms ; ' then after a few minutes' 
 conversation, he thus replied to the fallen sovereign : ' My 
 brother, I accept your sword, and ask you to appoint some 
 one with whom the negotiations concerning the capitulation 
 of your army may be conducted.' Moltke as military 
 and Bismarck as political commissioner, afterwards met 
 Wimpffen at Donchery. Moltke demanded an unconditional 
 surrender of the fortress and the whole army, but offered to 
 liberate all generals and officers on their giving a written 
 pledge not to take up arms again in the course of the war, 
 
182 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 nor to act in any other manner against the interests of 
 Germany. Wimpffen declared that sooner than sign such a 
 capitulation he would "blow up himself and the fortress. To 
 which the saturnine Moltke responded, ' Yery well, then, if 
 the capitulation be not signed hy nine o'clock to-morrow 
 morning the bombardment will begin anew.' 
 
 Early on the morning of September 2nd, the Emperor 
 Napoleon left Sedan with the hope of getting more lenient 
 conditions from King William; but Bismarck the astute 
 waylaid him at Donchery and took him into a small house, 
 where they discussed the capitulation. Moltke soon arrived, 
 and was requested by Napoleon to present his wishes to the 
 King. His Majesty, however, would only ratify the terms of 
 capitulation as proposed by Moltke, and declined to see 
 Napoleon until after the conclusion of the capitulation. 
 WimpfFen was at last obliged to yield, and the capitulation 
 was signed by him and Moltke. 
 
 The first act in the Franco-Prussian drama was thus 
 played out. Never had so dramatic a day dawned upon 
 either of the sovereigns who formed its most conspicuous 
 figures. For one, there was a still greater height of glory 
 than any he had yet attained ; for the other, there was the 
 loss of everything except life. The events which im- 
 mediately culminated in the surrender of Sedan, as well 
 as the particulars of the surrender itself, were very graphi- 
 cally described in a letter written by King William himself 
 to Queen Augusta at Berlin. No other account gives a 
 better description of the events than this, and as it is also 
 deeply interesting from the personal point of view, we 
 shall give it entire. The letter, dated Yendresse, South 
 of Sedan, September 3rd, is as follows : ' You will have 
 learned through my three telegrams the whole extent of 
 the great historical event which has just taken place. It 
 is like a dream, even when one has seen it unroll itself hour 
 by hour ; but when I consider that after one great successful 
 war I could not expect anything more glorious during my 
 
THE ORE AT WAR WITH FRANCE. 183 
 
 reign, and that I now see this act follow, destined to be 
 famous in the history of the world, I bow before God, who 
 alone has chosen my army and allies to carry it into 
 execution, and has chosen us as the instruments of His 
 will. It is only in this sense that I can conceive this 
 work, and in all humility praise God's guidance and grace. 
 I will now give you a picture of the battle and its results 
 in a compressed form. On the evening of the 31st and the 
 morning of the 1st, the army had reached its appointed 
 positions round Sedan. The Bavarians held the left wing, 
 near Bazeilles, on the Meuse ; next them the Saxons, towards 
 Moncelle and Daigny ; the Guards still marching towards 
 Givonne, the 5th and llth Corps towards St. Menges and 
 Fleigneux. As the Meuse here makes a sharp bend, no 
 corps had been posted from St. Menges to Donchery; but 
 at the latter place there were Wurtemburgers, who covered 
 the rear against sallies from Mezieres. Count Stolberg's 
 cavalry division was in the plain of Donchery as right wing ; 
 the rest of the Bavarians were in the front towards Sedan. 
 
 ' Notwithstanding a thick fog, the battle began at Bazeilles 
 early in the morning, and a sharp action developed itself by 
 degrees, in which it was necessary to take house by house. 
 It lasted nearly all day, and Scholer's Erfurt division 
 (Keserve 4th Corps) was obliged to assist. It was at eight 
 o'clock, when I reached the front before Sedan, that the 
 great battle commenced. A hot artillery action now began 
 at all points. It lasted for hours, and during it we 
 gradually gained ground. As the above-named villages were 
 taken, very deep and wooded ravines made the advance of 
 the infantry more difficult, and favoured the defence. The 
 villages of Illy and Floing were taken, and the fiery circle 
 drew gradually closer round Sedan. It was a grand sight 
 from our position on a commanding height behind the 
 above-mentioned battery, when we looked to the front 
 beyond Pont Torey. The violent resistance of the enemy 
 to slacken by degrees, which we could see by the 
 
184 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 broken battalions that were hurriedly retreating from the 
 woods and villages. The cavalry endeavoured to attack 
 several battalions of our 5th Corps, and the latter behaved 
 admirably. The cavalry galloped through the interval 
 between the battalions, and then returned the same way. 
 This was repeated three times, so that the ground was 
 covered with corpses and horses, all of which we could 
 see very well from our position. I have not been able to 
 learn the number of this brave regiment, as the retreat 
 of the enemy was in many places a flight. The infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery rushed in a crowd into the town and 
 its immediate environs, but no sign was given that the 
 enemy contemplated extricating himself from his desperate 
 situation by capitulation. No other course was left than 
 to bombard the town with the heavy battery. In twenty 
 minutes the town was burning in several places, which, 
 with the numerous burning villages over the whole field, 
 produced a terrible impression. 
 
 ' I accordingly ordered the firing to cease, and sent Lieut.- 
 Colonel von Bronsart, of the general staff, with a flag of truce, 
 to demand the capitulation of the army and the fortress. He 
 was met by a Bavarian officer, who reported to me that a 
 French parlementaire had announced himself at the gate. 
 Colonel von Bronsart was admitted, and on his asking for the 
 Commander-in-Chief, he was unexpectedly introduced into 
 the presence of the Emperor, who wished to give him a 
 letter for myself. When the Emperor asked what his 
 message was, and received the answer, " to demand the 
 surrender of the army and fortress," he replied that on 
 this subject he must apply to General de Wimpffen, who 
 had undertaken the command in place of the wounded 
 General Macmahon, and that he would now send his 
 Adjutant-General, Keille, with the letter to myself. 
 
 ' It was seven o'clock when Keille and Bronsart came to 
 me, the latter a little in advance ; and it was first through 
 him that I learnt with certainty the presence of the 
 
THE QBE AT WAR WITH FRANCE. 185 
 
 Emperor. You may imagine the impression which this 
 made upon all of us, hut particularly on myself. Keille 
 sprang from his horse, and gave me the letter of the 
 Emperor, adding that he had no other orders. Before I 
 opened the letter, I said to him, "But I demand, as the 
 first condition, that the army lay down its arms." The 
 letter hegins thus " N^ayant pas pu mourir a la tete de 
 mes troupes, je depose mon epee a votre Majeste" leaving all 
 the rest to me. My answer was that I deplored the manner 
 of our meeting, and begged that a plenipotentiary might 
 be sent, with whom we might conclude the capitulation. 
 After I had given the letter to General Keille, I spoke a 
 few words with him as an old acquaintance, and so this 
 act ended. I gave Moltke powers to negotiate, and directed 
 Bismarck to remain behind in case political questions should 
 arise. I then rode to my carriage and drove here, greeted 
 everywhere along the road with the loud hurrahs of the 
 trains that were marching up and singing the National 
 Hymn. It was deeply touching. Candles were lighted 
 everywhere, so that we were driven through an improvised 
 illumination. I arrived here at eleven o'clock, and drank 
 with those about me to the prosperity of an army which 
 had accomplished such feats. 
 
 * As on the morning of the 2nd I received no news from 
 Moltke respecting negotiations for the capitulation, which 
 were to take place in Donchery, I drove to the battle-field, 
 according to agreement, at eight o'clock, and met Moltke, 
 who was coming to obtain my consent to the proposed 
 capitulation. He told me at the same time that the Emperor 
 had left Sedan at five o'clock in the morning, and had come 
 to Donchery, as he wished to speak with me. There was a 
 chateau and park in the neighbourhood, and I chose that 
 place for our meeting. At ten o'clock I reached the height 
 before Sedan. Moltke and Bismarck appeared at twelve 
 o'clock with the capitulation duly signed. At one o'clock I 
 started again with Fritz (the Crown Prince), and, escorted 
 
186 WILLIAM I. AND THE QERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 by the cavalry and staff, I alighted before the chateau, where 
 the Emperor came to meet me. The visit lasted a quarter 
 of an hour. We were both much moved at seeing each 
 other again under such circumstances. What my feelings 
 were I had seen Napoleon only three years before at the 
 summit of his power is more than I can describe. After 
 this meeting, from half-past two to half-past seven o'clock, 
 I rode past the whole army before Sedan. The reception 
 given me by the troops, the meeting with the Guards, now 
 decimated all these are things which I cannot describe to- 
 day. 1 was much touched by so many proofs of love and 
 devotion. Now, farewell! A heart deeply moved at the 
 conclusion of such a letter. WILHELM.' 
 
 The devotional and religious element in King William's 
 communication to his wife, which extended even to his 
 telegrams, caused much comment, generally of a good- 
 humoured, rallying kind, in the French and English journals. 
 The following quatrain was an amusing parody upon his 
 characteristic telegrams : 
 
 ' By will Divine, my dear Augusta, 
 We've had another awful buster ; 
 Ten thousand Frenchmen sent below 
 Praise God from whom all blessings flow.' 
 
 Yet there can be no doubt that the King was perfectly 
 sincere in his expressions of gratitude to Almighty God. 
 He holds strongly to the Lutheran faith; and it has 
 been his custom, even from his youth, to trace the hand 
 of the Divine in all the great and varied incidents of his 
 career. 
 
 The interview between the two sovereigns took place at 
 the beautiful chateau of Bellevue, near Fresnoy, a few miles 
 from Sedan. It is stated that the King and his Imperial 
 captive retired into a conservatory leading from one of the 
 saloons, and had a few minutes' earnest conversation, after 
 which the Emperor spoke to the Crown Prince, and expressed 
 
TEE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE. 187 
 
 his sense of King William's kind and courteous manner. 
 Napoleon's great anxiety seemed to be not to be exhibited 
 to his own soldiers. On leaving, his course was altered, so 
 as to avoid Sedan ; but, on the other hand, this exposed him 
 to the painful humiliation of passing through the lines of 
 the Prussian army. ' He was depressed,' wrote the King to 
 Queen Augusta at Berlin, ' but dignified in his bearing, and 
 resigned.' The Emperor had assigned to him as a residence 
 the chateau of Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel, a palace formerly 
 belonging to the Electors of Hesse-Cassel. On the way 
 thither he had an interview with Prince Pierre Bona- 
 parte at Jemelle. A small crowd gathered at Liege to 
 see the deposed Sovereign; but they maintained perfect 
 silence. Napoleon himself was very calm, and smoked a 
 cigarette. 
 
 By the capitulation of Sedan, about 83,000 men, inclusive 
 of 4000 officers and over 50 generals, fell into the hands of 
 the Germans. In the battles around Sedan, 25,000 men had 
 been previously made prisoners, together with 25,000 more 
 at the battle of Beaumont. There were also 44,000 wounded. 
 The Germans captured, in addition, 70 mitrailleuses, 400 
 cannon, 10,000 horses, and an immense amount of am- 
 munition. The French prisoners were interned in the 
 several German States. 
 
 Rendered desperate by his position, Bazaine made a sortie 
 from Metz at the very time the battle of Sedan was in 
 progress. He endeavoured to break through the forces of 
 Generals Manteuffel and Kummer, and was at first successful, 
 expelling the Germans from several villages. But the 
 arrival of the 9th German Army Corps and the 28th Brigade 
 of Infantry enabled the Germans to re-establish themselves. 
 They recaptured the lost positions, and drove the French 
 back into the fortress. 
 
 The news of the surrender at Sedan caused intense excite- 
 ment and agitation in Paris. Crowds of people assembled on 
 the Boulevards shouting ' Vive la lii'.puUique ! ' The Corps 
 
188 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Legislatif was hastily called together, and the Emperor was 
 deposed. The National Guard and the Mobiles entered the 
 Palace of the Tuileries. The Empress was prevailed upon to 
 make her escape by a back door of the palace to the house of 
 an American dentist, Mr. Evans, by whom she was escorted 
 to Trouville, and consigned to the charge of an English 
 gentleman, Sir John Burgoyne, who was just about to sail 
 for England in his yacht. The vengeance of the Paris mob 
 wreaked itself upon everything bearing the Napoleonic name 
 or being in any way connected with the fallen dynasty. The 
 Imperial correspondence in the bureau at the Tuileries was 
 seized, and subsequently published. It proved that official 
 corruption had long lain at the base of the Imperial regime, 
 and this system, becoming at length absolutely indispensable, 
 had * culminated in an utter negligence or betrayal of duty, 
 truth, and honour by the very marshals and ministers whom 
 Napoleon most trusted.' 
 
 The people clamoured for the continuance of the war. 
 Gambetta and the Eepublican leaders assembled at the Hotel 
 de Ville, and constituted themselves a provisional Govern- 
 ment. General Trochu was elected President and Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Military forces, and the Government 
 included Jules Favre, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gambetta, 
 Cremieux, Simon, Keratry, Arago, and others. The new 
 Government decreed the dissolution of the Corps Legislatif, 
 and the suppression of the Senate. The Kepublic was 
 proclaimed at Lyons, Bordeaux, Marseilles, and other 
 provincial cities, and was everywhere enthusiastically 
 welcomed. 
 
 Thus perished the Second Empire, which only a few 
 months before had seemed stable and impregnable. With 
 the supreme disaster at Sedan, Napoleon's sun set for ever. 
 Nothing more dramatic has been seen in modern history, and 
 even his bitterest foes felt pity and compassion for the fallen 
 Emperor. A broken-hearted man, the rest of his life was 
 doomed to be passed in physical suffering and mental 
 
THE GEE AT WAR WITH FRANCE. 189 
 
 anguish. The lesson taught by the career of the great 
 Napoleon, of the mutability of human power and grandeur, 
 had again been enforced by that of his relative, who, 
 far from being Bonaparte's equal in genius, had aspired 
 to something like his ambitious role of the arbiter of 
 Europe. 
 
190 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 PROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 
 
 THOSE who regarded the war as the Emperor's war hoped it 
 would conclude with the collapse of the Napoleonic dynasty, 
 but the first manifesto of Jules Favre soon demonstrated 
 that the French nation meant to reconquer its position if 
 possible. On the other hand, in England and neutral States 
 generally, there were many who thought that the Germans 
 should have made overtures for peace, remaining content 
 with an ample money indemnity for the sacrifices they had 
 incurred in repelling the Imperial invader. But in reply 
 to the French circular, Bismarck issued a counter manifesto 
 to the foreign representatives of Germany, in which he stated 
 that the demand for an armistice without any guarantees for 
 the German conditions of peace could be founded only on 
 the erroneous supposition that they were either indifferent 
 to the interests of Germany, or assumed that she lacked 
 military and political judgment. So long as France re- 
 mained in possession of Strasburg and Metz, so long was .< 
 its offensive power strategically stronger than Germany'sl 
 defensive power, in all that concerned German territory on 
 the left bank of the Ehine. Strasburg in the possession of 
 France was always a gate wide open for attack on South 
 Germany; whereas in the hands of Germany, Strasburg 
 and Metz would obtain a defensive character. 
 
 Bismarck was never lacking in reasons when he desired to 
 obtain possession of territory or fortresses. He wanted now 
 Strasburg and Metz for Germany, and the French were 
 determined he should not have them. We can hardly blame 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 191 
 
 them for this, for although the onus of war in the outset 
 rested upon the French, it was scarcely to be marvelled at 
 from their point of view that they should resist spoliation 
 and dismemberment. 
 
 Accordingly, both parties again took up the sword. 
 France had still considerable numerical strength left. On 
 the 13th of September General Trochu was able to review 
 from 200,000 to 300,000 men of the National Guard and 
 Mobiles. In addition there were in the provinces about 
 190,000 men. But undoubtedly the best and only compact 
 army was that shut up in Metz with Bazaine. It was nearly 
 300,000 strong, and the French hoped every day to hear that 
 it had succeeded in breaking through the Prussian lines. 
 For some reason or other its leader had retired from the 
 active command, which was now in the hands of Canrobert. 
 
 The Crown Prince's army set forward on its march to 
 Paris, and on the 5th of September King William made his 
 entry into Eheims. On the 14th his head-quarters were at 
 Chateau Thierry, and on the 20th at Ferrieres. After 
 fighting several successful engagements, by the 19th the 
 Germans had completely invested Paris. The besieging 
 troops numbered from 200,000 to 230,000 men. Jules 
 Favre desired an armistice in order to convoke a Constituent 
 Assembly which could speak in the name of the people ; but 
 as Bismarck demanded by way of preliminary the cession of 
 Toul, Yerdun, and Strasburg, and as the French Minister 
 had said 'not an inch of our territory, not a stone of our 
 fortresses,' the proposition fell through. M. Thiers now made 
 a voluntary tour of visits to the Courts of London, St. 
 Petersburg, Vienna, and Florence, in the hope of inducing 
 the several governments to use their efforts to bring about 
 at least a pause in the operations of the war ; but his 
 diplomatic mission proved unsuccessful. 
 
 Paris was now cut off from the rest of the world, and the 
 beautiful city was put in a state of preparation for the ex- 
 pected bombardment. Some courageous persons who wished 
 
192 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 to leave did so by means of balloons, which were also used 
 as a method of communication with the provinces. Mean- 
 while many events were transpiring away from Paris, which 
 caused deep regret and uneasiness in the French mind. 
 Laon surrendered to the Germans on the 9th of September, 
 Toul was taken on the 23rd, and on the 28th Strasburg 
 capitulated, after being besieged for seven weeks. The rare 
 and valuable old library of Strasburg was unfortunately 
 destroyed. The districts of Lorraine and Alsace had now 
 been entirely conquered, and were placed under the rule of 
 German governors. 
 
 On the 1st of October nearly a sixth part of the French soil 
 was held by the invaders, whose numbers reached 650,000. 
 Troops which had recently been engaged in besieging 
 Strasburg and Toul were now despatched to invest Belfort, 
 Schlettstadt, Neu Brisach, and Soissons. The King of Prussia 
 moved his head-quarters to Versailles on the 5th. As he 
 drove with a military escort into the famed quarters of the 
 Lewises, he was regarded with mingled feelings of anger 
 and curiosity by the French. Some, as they gazed, described 
 him as that * old William,' and after acknowledging that he 
 was a handsome man, added with the truly national shrug, 
 * Nevertheless, I should have been very well content not to 
 see the good King of Prussia at Versailles.' Amongst all the 
 Princes and Generals who followed in the train of His 
 Majesty, none excited so much interest as Moltke and 
 Bismarck, the two pillars of his fortunes. The bombardment 
 of Paris, which had been expected for some time, did not 
 begin, so that the magnificent city was saved from the 
 ravages of shot and shell ; the Germans had resolved to 
 reduce it by famine instead of by fire. Outside the German 
 lines there was a good deal of guerilla warfare, French 
 peasants in some instances causing great provocation, which 
 led to severe measures against the population on the part of 
 the Germans. The reprisals, however, were in many instances 
 cruel and indefensible. 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 193 
 
 The French Provisional Government was established at 
 Tours ; Gambetta, who was now the chief moving spirit of 
 the people, left beleaguered Paris on the 7th of October by 
 means of a balloon. This novel mode of conveyance nar- 
 rowly escaped being riddled by the Prussian needle-guns, and 
 subsequently it had a mishap near Amiens. The courageous 
 amateur aeronaut, however, landed on terra firma with only 
 a few bruises, and pushed on to Tours. His energy and 
 activity infused into both Government and people new 
 feelings of hopefulness. Gambetta became virtual Dictator 
 of the nation, and his administration of the country and 
 vigorous direction of the military operations excited 
 universal admiration. Amongst others to whom he gave an 
 important command was Garibaldi, but this appointment 
 was far from pleasing to the Catholic party. In the second 
 week of October, the French Army of the Loire was defeated 
 by the 1st Bavarian corps under General Von der Tann. 
 The Germans entered Orleans, and exacted from the Mayor 
 a contribution of one million francs, which Bishop Dupanloup 
 in vain endeavoured to get reduced. 
 
 A greater disaster still was in store for the French, and 
 one which filled the War Minister, Gambetta, and his com- 
 patriots with grief and indignation. Bazaine began to feel 
 that it was hopeless to think of holding Metz, when the pro- 
 visioning of 173,000 men was no longer a possibility. This 
 was his own explanation of his extraordinary conduct ; but 
 he was openly accused of Imperialist intrigues, and of a 
 desire to re-enact the part of General Monk. The French 
 commander first offered through General Boyer to surrender 
 his army, but not the fortress ; but this was peremptorily 
 refused. 
 
 Several fruitless efforts were now made to diminish 
 the number of mouths to be fed by sending bodies of in- 
 habitants to the Prussian lines, from which they were 
 inexorably driven back again, and ultimately, on the 27th of 
 October, the * virgin fortress ' of Lorraine surrendered. By 
 
 o 
 
194 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 this capitulation, three Marshals of the Empire Bazaine, 
 Leboauf, and Canrohert - more than 6000 officers, 173,000 
 subalterns and private soldiers, 3000 guns, 53 eagles, and 
 forty millions of francs in treasure, fell into the grasp of the 
 victors. A capture of such magnitude was probably un- 
 exampled in the annals of war. Up to this time it was 
 estimated that the whole number of French prisoners taken 
 by the German armies amounted to no less than four 
 Marshals, 140 Generals, 10,000 other officers, and 323,000 
 rank and file. The news of the capitulation excited the 
 utmost rage and consternation inside the fortress. Some of 
 the inhabitants wept like children, and others marched 
 through the city inciting the people to fight in their own 
 defence and to die rather than surrender. Cries were heard 
 of ' Oh, poor Metz ! once the proudest of cities. What a 
 misfortune ! What an unheard-of catastrophe ! We have 
 been sold. All is lost! France is betrayed.' When 
 Bazaine passed through Ars, on his way to Wilhelmshohe, in 
 a close carriage, and escorted by soldiers, he was greeted by 
 women of the village with exclamations of ' traitor ! ' 
 1 coward ! ' ' thief ! ' &c., ' Where are our husbands whom 
 you have betrayed ? Give us back our children whom you 
 have sold ! ' They even broke the windows of the carriage, 
 and the Marshal would have been lynched but for the 
 intervention of the Prussians. 
 
 By the terms of the capitulation all French officers were 
 allowed to retain their swords, and all who pledged them- 
 selves not to take up arms against Germany during the 
 remainder of the war were exempted from captivity. When 
 the Imperial Guard, the elite of the French army, marched 
 out of Metz, and laid down their arms at Frascaty, they 
 were received by the Prussian troops with respectful dignity, 
 and not a note of exultation was heard. As soon as the 
 surrender became known, it was said that no General would 
 betray an army of 173,000 men to an army of 200,000, if he 
 did not want to be betrayed. The officers had spent their 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PAEIS. 195 
 
 time in Metz in discreditable amusements and luxury, 
 leaving the soldiers to starve and grow mutinous. 
 
 Thus, in less than four months, the second great French 
 army, which was to have marched on Berlin, capitulated to the 
 enemy. For his brilliant services in connection with the 
 siege of Metz, Prince Frederick Charles was promoted by 
 King William to the dignity of Field Marshal, and the same 
 rank was conferred upon the Crown Prince for the very 
 important victories he had won. This military dignity the 
 highest known in Prussia had never before been conferred 
 upon a Prince of the House of Prussia, and altogether, during 
 the 230 years of the existence of the royal House of 
 Brandenburg-Prussia, only upon sixty-two persons. General 
 Moltke, who had just completed his seventieth year, received 
 the title of Count. King William also issued this address to 
 the united German forces under his command : ' Soldiers 
 of the Confederate Armies ! when we took the field three 
 months ago I expressed my confidence that God would be 
 with our just cause. This confidence has been realized. I 
 recall to you, Worth, Saarbriick, and the bloody battles 
 before Metz, Sedan, Beaumont, and Strasburg ; each en- 
 gagement was a victory for us. You are worthy of glory ; 
 you have maintained all the virtues which especially 
 distinguish soldiers. By the capitulation of Metz the last 
 army of the enemy is destroyed. I take advantage of this 
 moment to express my thanks to all of you, from the general 
 to the soldier. Whatever the future may still bring to us, I 
 look forward to it with calmness, because I know that with 
 such soldiers victory cannot fail.' 
 
 Gambetta charged Bazaine with treason in surrendering 
 Metz ; but the latter indignantly denied the charge, 
 and said that he had held out until he could hold out 
 no longer, in consequence of sickness and hunger, and 
 because so many of his soldiers had been placed hors de 
 combat. In Paris the Belleville Kevolutionists demonstrated 
 against the Government, but a plebiscite being taken of 
 
 o 2 
 
196 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Paris on the 2nd of November, the Government were 
 triumphantly supported by 557,996 votes against 62,638 
 dissentients. 
 
 It was fortunate for the Germans that Metz had fallen, 
 for the troops round Paris were beginning to cry out for 
 reinforcements. As 200,000 soldiers were now liberated, 
 however, it became necessary both to strengthen the army 
 before Paris, and to attack the concentrating forces of the 
 enemy in other directions. Accordingly, Prince Frederick 
 Charles and the Duke of Mecklenburg moved upon the 
 capital; General Manteuffel, with the newly-constituted 
 First Army, pushed westward through the denies of the 
 Argonne into Picardy, and three corps marched to the 
 south of Paris, to reinforce Yon der Tann and his Bavarians. 
 The first real German reverse of the war took place on the 
 9th and 10th of November, when General d'Aurelle de 
 Paladines defeated Yon der Tann, with the loss of 10,000 
 prisoners at Coulmiers, near Orleans. The French General 
 did not know what to do with his victory, however, and 
 he allowed the enemy to be strongly reinforced. Then 
 on the 28th he vehemently attacked the left wing of 
 Prince Frederick Charles at Beaume la Eolande, but was 
 signally repulsed. The Germans, through the indecision of 
 D'Aurelle, more than recovered their lost ground. On the 
 4th of December the Ked Prince fell upon D'Aurelle's forces, 
 and after severe fighting the Germans entered Orleans at 
 midnight, the French being then in full retreat. 
 
 Gambetta threatened to bring D'Aurelle before a military 
 tribunal. But the General had been only in command of a 
 1 scratch ' army, and he was determined not to capitulate 
 to the Germans. He now resigned his command, and the 
 War Minister appointed General Chanzy to succeed him 
 with the western portion of the divided army, while 
 General Bourbaki rallied the eastern portion at Bourges. 
 The victory of Coulmiers had filled the capital with hope, 
 and on the 29th of November the Second Army of Paris, 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 197 
 
 under General Ducrot, began its offensive movements by a 
 feigned sortie in the direction of L'Hay and Choisy le Koi. 
 The real attack was opened on the following morning, when 
 Ducrot advanced on the right bank of the Seine, near its 
 juncture with the Marne. The French took the villages of 
 Brie, Champigny, and Yilliers, but after a terrible amount 
 of desperate fighting they were driven from these, and 
 Ducrot retired under the walls of Paris. Meanwhile Prince 
 Frederick Charles pushed on in the direction of Tours, and 
 the Duke of Mecklenburg encountered General Chanzy, who 
 managed for the most part to hold his own. The Pro- 
 visional Government, being now insecure at Tours, moved 
 to Bordeaux. 
 
 Count Moltke having informed the Governor of Paris of 
 the fall of Orleans, a special meeting of Ministers was 
 called. Some were in favour of making overtures for peace, 
 but General Trochu, by his eloquence and enthusiasm, in- 
 fluenced the council to decide unanimously on the con- 
 tinuance of the war. He affirmed that Paris could hold 
 out until help came from the provinces, and that victories 
 might follow reverses. It was hoped that General Faid- 
 herbe would soon be able to relieve the capital, but he was 
 engaged near Amiens with General Manteuffel's army. A 
 severe battle was fought at Pont de Noyelle on the 29th of 
 December, and both sides claimed the victory; but, so far 
 from being able to help the beleaguered Parisians, Faidherbe 
 had his own hands full. 
 
 There was one other scene of operations, extending from 
 the Yosges to the Jura, General Werder being in command 
 of the Germans. A good deal of fighting took place, and 
 a success achieved by Eicciotti Garibaldi at Chatillon made 
 the invaders somewhat anxious as to their communications. 
 General Garibaldi himself, with his army of volunteers, 
 was at Autun, and, if he had no striking successes, he main- 
 tained his position. But in the course of November and 
 December the Germans captured the following fortified 
 
198 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 places Verdun, Neu Brisach, Thionville, La Fere, Phals- 
 burg, and Montmedy. With these were taken 20,000 
 prisoners. The French, notwithstanding, were more re- 
 solute in defence of their soil than the enemy expected ; and 
 as the war must now be carried through at all costs, a new 
 levy of G-erman Landwehr, to the number of about 200,000 
 men, was demanded from Germany and despatched across 
 the Ehine in the middle of December. 
 
 As Paris did not surrender, and a terrible frost had set 
 in, the Germans at length resolved upon bombarding the 
 city. Operations began on the 27th, when fire was opened 
 from the powerful Krupp guns upon Mont Avron. The 
 fort was soon silenced, and two days later the Germans 
 occupied the position. The siege at once actively com- 
 menced, Lieutenant-General Yon Kameke being appointed 
 chief engineer by the German Commander-in-Chief. The 
 besiegers were now in a favourable situation for the efficient 
 bombardment of Forts Noisy, Eosny, and Nogent. 
 
 Such was the condition of things before Paris at the 
 close of the year. We must now retrace our steps, and 
 take up the historical thread of our narrative, as regards 
 Germany, where we left it on the declaration of war. The 
 King of Prussia issued a decree on the 19th of July, reviving 
 the military order of the Iron Cross. It was to be be- 
 stowed without difference of rank or station, as a reward 
 for merit gained either in actual conflict with the enemy, 
 or at home in service connected with the defence of the 
 honour and independence of the country. Another Eoyal 
 decree related to the Voluntary Society for the care of the 
 sick and wounded, together with the kindred brotherhoods 
 of the knights of Malta and St. John. The French had 
 their Central Committee in the Champs Elysees, and the 
 English, though neutral in the war, rendered assistance to 
 the sufferers in both armies out of the funds of the National 
 Society for giving Aid to the Sick and Wounded in War. 
 Queen Augusta and the Crown Princess assumed the head 
 
FEOM SEDAN TO PARIS. 199 
 
 of the working institutions in Berlin, and superintended 
 the preparation of material for the hospitals; and to com- 
 memorate the victory of Sedan, King William sent an 
 order for the foundation of an invalid institution for the 
 sick and wounded in war, to be called after his name. 
 The 27th of July was observed as a general Fast Day 
 throughout Prussia, to implore God's blessing on the 
 German Army. The King thus characteristically expressed 
 himself in a proclamation issued to his people : ' My 
 conscience acquits me of having provoked this war, and I 
 am certain of the righteousness of our cause in the sight 
 of God. The struggle before us is serious, and it will 
 demand heavy sacrifices from my people and from all 
 Germany. But I go forth to it looking to the Omniscient 
 God, and imploring His Almighty support. From my 
 youth upwards I have learnt to believe that all depends 
 upon the help of a gracious God. In Him is my trust, and 
 I beg my people to rest in the same assurance.' 
 
 When the news of the fall of Sedan arrived in Berlin there 
 was naturally a great popular demonstration. The statues 
 of the national heroes on Unter den Linden were decorated 
 with laurel leaves ; the city was dressed in flags ; and 
 illuminations and fireworks closed the evening of the 3rd of 
 September. Sunday, the 4th, was devoted to thanksgiving 
 services, and on the 5th the Philharmonic Societies of Berlin 
 serenaded the Queen with all the national songs in chorus. 
 Luther's Eiri feste Burg ist unser Gott, the Wacht am Rhein, 
 the Deutsches Vaterland, and l God save the King,' were all 
 sung with great spirit and energy. The victory had also 
 another effect, for it hastened on the work of German unity 
 which the French had hoped to destroy. King William 
 received addresses from all parts recommending the immedi- 
 ate reunion of Northern and Southern Germany, as a measure 
 which would make the nation free and strong, and enable it to 
 bear with equanimity the ill-will of so many of its neighbours. 
 Negotiations were now opened for the admission of Bavaria 
 
200 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 and Wurtemburg into the North German Bund, and many 
 who were previously the bitter enemies of such a step now 
 supported it. 
 
 But one incident to mar the unanimity of German feeling 
 upon the war caused great excitement towards the close of 
 September. Dr. Jacoby, and several other prominent leaders 
 of the Democratic party in Prussia, were arrested for their 
 violent opposition to the continuance of the war, and the 
 annexation of Alsace and Lorraine. They thought that 
 German ends should have been satisfied with the victory of 
 Sedan and the fall of Napoleon, and gave vent to their 
 opinions at a public meeting at Konigsberg. 
 
 General Vogel von Falkenstein, military Governor of the 
 Prussian provinces on the Baltic Sea, had the Democrats 
 incarcerated in the fortress of Loetzeln ; Dr. Jacoby pro- 
 tested against his arrest, and in a letter addressed to Count 
 Bismarck demanded his release. The latter not only refused 
 to interfere, but wrote a letter of approval to Von Falkenstein. 
 The arrests created so much bad feeling, however, that the 
 Government were compelled to abandon their high tone; 
 and King William personally communicated to General von 
 Falkenstein his desire for the removal of all obstacles for the 
 holding of public meetings, and for the non-enforcement of 
 all penalties attached thereto by the provisoes of martial 
 law. His Majesty also ordered the immediate release of the 
 prisoners already arrested for violating these laws. 
 
 Considerable difference of opinion undoubtedly existed in 
 Germany as to the projected annexation of Alsace and 
 Lorraine. The war party supported the annexation, alleging 
 that the formidable military fortresses of Strasburg and Metz 
 were necessary for the protection of the German frontier; 
 others supported it because the inhabitants were German in 
 race ; a third party thought the cession of Strasburg alone 
 ought to content Germany ; while a fourth party objected to 
 all annexation, as contrary to the wishes of the population 
 concerned, and likely to lead to an enduring loqal hatred 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 201 
 
 between nation and nation, besides being a source of embarrass- 
 ment to Germany. Bismarck bimself felt tbe difficulties 
 attending the proposed annexation, and for a time be gave no 
 indications as to tbe policy be should adopt. He bad only 
 as yet suggested part of tbe Prussian programme to tbe effect 
 tbat France should cede Strasburg, Metz, and a strip of 
 territory in connection with the latter citadel, so as to give 
 it a communication with the German frontier. Moltke and 
 the military authorities insisted upon this cession as being 
 strategically necessary to the future safety of Germany 
 against a sudden invasion like that of 1870. By way of 
 making his position clear, Bismarck issued a circular on the 
 1st of October to the North German embassies and legations 
 at Foreign Courts. Keplying to Jules Favre's contention 
 that Prussia would continue the war and reduce France to 
 the condition of a second-rate Power, Bismarck said : * The 
 cession of Strasburg, Metz, and tbe adjacent territory, 
 alluded to by me as part of our programme, involves the 
 diminution of French territory by an area almost equal to 
 that gained by Savoy and Nice ; but the population of the 
 territory we aspire to exceeds, it is true, that of Savoy and 
 Nice by three quarters of a million. Now considering that 
 France, according to the census of 1866, has 38,000,000 inha- 
 bitants, and with Algeria, which latterly supplies an essential 
 portion of her army, even 42,000,000, it is clear that a loss 
 of 750,000 will not affect the position of France in regard to 
 other Powers ; but, on the contrary, leaves this great empire 
 in possession of the same abundant elements of power by 
 which, in Oriental and Italian wars, it was capable of exer- 
 cising so decisive an influence upon European destinies. 1 
 There is no doubt that Bismarck rapidly educated the 
 Germans to look for territorial acquisitions from France. 
 
 The internal reconstruction of Germany was meanwhile 
 proceeding apace. Conventions were signed with Baden, 
 whose military contingent became a direct portion of the 
 Federal Army ; with Hesse Darmstadt ; and with Wur- 
 
202 WILLIAM L AND THE GEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 ternburg. Bavaria was allowed to retain her independent 
 military administration ; but the organization and formation 
 of her army were to be in conformity with the rules 
 governing the Federal Army. 
 
 The North German Parliament met on the 24th of 
 November, and the King's speech (read in his absence) 
 announced the new Constitution for a German Confederacy 
 which had been agreed upon by the North German Con- 
 federation and the Grand Duchies of Baden and Hesse 
 Darmstadt, and which had been unanimously adopted by the 
 Federal Council. The agreements with Bavaria and Wur- 
 temburg would also be brought forward for ratification. 
 The Federal treaties were adopted, and on the 10th of 
 December a bill determining the amendments of the Con- 
 stitution necessitated by the introduction of the words 
 ' Empire ' and ' Emperor ' was read three times and passed by 
 188 ayes to 6 noes. An address was also voted to the King. 
 A war credit of 100 million thalers was carried by 178 to 8 
 votes ; but during the debate Herr Liebknecht caused much 
 excitement by declaring that the policy of the Government 
 was in no way national, or the German Austrians would not 
 have been shut out, and he asserted that the war was against 
 Eepublicanism, as proved by Bismarck's undeniable nego- 
 tiations with the ex-Empress of the French. 
 
 The King of Bavaria was the first potentate to suggest that 
 the title of Emperor should be pressed upon King William. 
 He wrote to the King of Saxony and the other German 
 princes proposing that they should all urge on the King of 
 Prussia to accept the reward of presidential rights in Germany 
 together with the Imperial dignity. He also addressed King 
 William himself on the subject, but the offer was in the 
 outset declined. 
 
 However, a change was effected in the King's view, as was 
 apparent from the reply made by His Majesty to the deputa- 
 tion which waited upon him at Versailles, on the 17th of 
 December, from the North German Confederation. After 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 203 
 
 thanking the deputation in his own name, and on behalf of 
 the army and the country, the King said : ' The victorious 
 German armies, among which you have sought me, have 
 found in the self-sacrificing spirit of the country, in the 
 loyal sympathy and ministering care of the people at home, 
 and in its unanimity with the army, that encouragement which 
 has supported them in the midst of battles and privations. 
 The grant of the means for the continuation of the war 
 which the Governments of the North German Confederation 
 have asked for, in the session of the Diet that is just con- 
 cluded, has given me a new proof that the nation is determined 
 to exert all its energies to ensure that the great and painful 
 sacrifices, which touch my heart as they do yours, shall not 
 have been made in vain, and not to lay aside its arms until 
 the German frontier shall have been secured against future 
 attacks. 
 
 ' The North German Diet, whose greetings and congratula- 
 tions you bring me, has been called upon before its close to 
 co-operate by its decision in the work of the unification of 
 Germany ; I feel grateful to it, for the readiness with which 
 it has almost unanimously pronounced its assent to the 
 treaties which will give an organic expression to the unity 
 of the nation. The Diet, like the allied Governments, has 
 assented to these treaties in the conviction that the common 
 political life of the Germans will develop itself with the 
 more beneficial results, inasmuch as the basis which has been 
 obtained for it has been measured and offered by our South 
 German allies of their own free choice, and in agreement 
 with their own estimate of the national requirements. I 
 hope that the representative assemblies of those States before 
 which the treaties have still to be laid will follow the 
 Government in the same path. 
 
 ' The summons addressed to me by His Majesty the King 
 of Bavaria for re-establishing the imperial dignity of the 
 ancient German Empire has moved me deeply. You, 
 gentlemen, request me in the name of the North German 
 
204 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Diet, not to shrink from responding to this summons. I am 
 glad to gather from your words the expression of the confi- 
 dence and the wishes of the North German Diet ; but you 
 are aware that in this question, touching such high interests 
 and grand recollections of the German nation, it is not my 
 own feelings, nor even my own judgment, which can deter- 
 mine the decision. 
 
 * It is only in the unanimous voice of the German princes 
 and free cities, and the corresponding wish of the German 
 nation and its representatives, that I can recognize that call 
 of Providence which I can obey, and trust in God's blessing. 
 It will be a source of satisfaction to you, as well as to myself, 
 to know that I have received intelligence from his Majesty 
 the King of Bavaria that the assent of all the German princes 
 and free cities is secured, and that the official ratification may 
 be shortly expected.' 
 
 The new Constitution of Germany provided that the 
 Emperor, as President of the German Bund, should have 
 absolute power of declaring war when there might be danger 
 of invasion, and of making peace under all circumstances. 
 When there was no danger of invasion, the Emperor could 
 only make war with the support of a majority in the Federal 
 Council. Any proposed alteration in the Constitution could 
 be vetoed if there were fourteen votes against it. The 
 German armies in times of peace were to be under separate 
 heads, the King of Bavaria having exclusive control over the 
 Bavarian troops, but the Emperor over all others. The 
 taxes of each State were still to be levied under their 
 separate systems. The Diet, now to be called the German 
 Parliament, was to be elected by a wide suffrage, the repre- 
 sentation of every State being proportionate to its population. 
 The Unionists regarded this Constitution as being very far 
 short of the great national amalgamation which they desired ; 
 but it was ratified by the Legislatures of the separate 
 German States. 
 
 A Eussian Note, issued by Prince Gortschakoff in Novem- 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 205 
 
 ber, repudiated the treaty obligations of 1856, by which the 
 Black Sea had been neutralized. It was at first thought 
 that this pointed to a secret understanding with Prussia, but 
 Mr. Odo Kussell drew from Count Bismarck an assurance 
 that he had no knowledge whatever of the .document, and 
 that he should be ready to accede to the proposal for a 
 Conference. A second sensation was caused by a declaration 
 on the part of Germany that the Federal Government no 
 longer held itself bound to respect the neutrality of the 
 Grand Duchy of Luxemburg in the execution of military 
 operations. This was on the ground of the alleged violation 
 of the duties of neutrality by the inhabitants of the Grand 
 Duchy a charge which wass trenuously denied by the latter. 
 The people and the Luxemburg Chamber protested against 
 the action of Germany, and a popular address to the Grand 
 Duke, the King of Holland, was got up and signed by 
 43,773 persons in a few days. The Grand Duke was im- 
 plored to save the country, and never to permit its destinies 
 to be disposed of without a free vote of the population. 
 
 Another question which deeply affected Germany in 1870 
 was the promulgation of the doctrine of the Infallibility of 
 the Pope. It was strongly opposed by Dr. Dollinger and 
 others, who formed, in opposition to the decrees of the 
 (Ecumenical Council, a new party in the Church, called by the 
 name of the Old Catholics. But while the Pope proclaimed 
 himself infallible, the doctrine found him collaterally weaker 
 from the terrestrial point of view, for his temporal sovereignty 
 came to an end this year. King Victor Emmanuel entered 
 Kome, and the Eternal City became the capital of Italy. 
 
 The year 1871 opened in gloom for the French, but with 
 hopefulness on the part of the Germans that the war would 
 soon be ended. On the first day of the new year there was 
 enacted at Versailles, in the famous Hall of Mirrors, a scene 
 which must have caused poignant anguish to every French 
 heart. The victorious leader of the German hosts, King 
 William of Prussia, gathered round him his companions in 
 
206 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 arms, who exchanged congratulations upon the downfall of 
 French power and prestige. ' The apartments of the Eoyal 
 palace,' wrote a correspondent, 'have been thrown open 
 with something of royal pomp, and the Hohenzollerns have 
 fairly taken possession of the quarters of the Bourbons. 
 After a Lutheran service in the public chapel, with a splendid 
 military band to assist, the King went over to the Gallerie 
 des Glaces, where all the princes and officers were drawn up 
 in a long line on one side, and where the King, after address- 
 ing to them a few words in a loud voice words of thanks 
 and of compliment on the great work of United Germany- 
 wished them heartily a happy New Year.' The ceremonies 
 of the day closed with a banquet, when the Duke of Baden, 
 as the spokesman of the other German Princes, proposed the 
 toast of ( King William the Victorious.' 
 
 But the work of the Germans outside Paris was not very 
 easy. A force 220,000 strong had not only to invest a city 
 with 500,000 fighting men and a vast circuit of forts, but 
 to oppose the three armies of relief, which considerably 
 outnumbered the detachments opposed to them in the north 
 by Manteuifel, in the east by Werder, and in the west by the 
 Duke of Mecklenburg and Yon der Tann. Large draughts 
 of men were being despatched from Germany, and the 
 Germans themselves were now longing for the end of the 
 war. Inside Paris, although good rations were given out, 
 it was felt that a prolonged resistance was hopeless. The 
 death rate was rapidly increasing, and now amounted to a 
 total of 4000 per week. Even the favourite Trochu could no 
 longer infuse courage into the inhabitants, and he was 
 nonplussed what to do. On the 2nd of January Mezieres 
 capitulated with 2000 prisoners, but as a set-off against this 
 the Garibaldians defeated a German column near Dijon. 
 The battle of Bapaume was fought between the respective 
 forces under Faidherbe and Manteuffel, but the result was 
 indecisive. The French were checked, nevertheless, in their 
 attempt to advance to the relief of Paris. From the 7th to 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 207 
 
 the 10th engagements took place both in the east, where the 
 French forces iwere under General Bourbaki, and in the 
 south where they were commanded by General Chanzy, but 
 the French suffered defeat in both instances. On the 12th 
 General Chanzy was again defeated at Le Mans by Prince 
 Frederick Charles and the Duke of Mecklenburg, and the 
 Germans occupied Le Mans. Twice General Bourbaki 
 attacked General Werder south of Belfort, but although the 
 French fought with great obstinacy and gallantry they were 
 repulsed. King William wrote to Yon Werder as follows 
 from Versailles : ' Your heroic three days' victorious defence 
 of your position, in the rear of a besieged fortress, is one of 
 the greatest feats of arms in all history. I express my royal 
 thanks, my deepest acknowledgments, and bestow upon you 
 the Grand Cross of the Ked Eagle, with the sword, as 
 a proof of this acknowledgment. Your grateful King, 
 Wilhelm.' 
 
 A sortie from Paris, on a larger scale than any hitherto 
 attempted, was made on the 19th of January. General 
 Trochu himself led this movement. No fewer than 100,000 
 men were engaged in it ; but it was felt afterwards that had 
 this army been divided into twenty corps of 5000 each, 
 and had these corps been directed at the same moment 
 against twenty points held by the Germans, a signal triumph 
 might possibly have been secured. As it was, the immense 
 masses only offered a mark for the German artillery. The 
 French troops also were utterly wanting in steadiness and 
 discipline. Thousands of men were butchered, and the 
 French were driven back into Paris. The German loss, in 
 killed and wounded was estimated at 1300; that. of the 
 French at 6000 or more, besides prisoners. Trochu requested 
 an armistice of forty-eight hours, but this was peremptorily 
 refused by Moltke. On the same day as the sortie, General 
 von Goeben drove back the advanced divisions of General 
 Faidherbe's army from Beauvais to St. Quentin, so that the 
 advance of the French relieving force was effectually checked 
 
208 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 on the north, south, and west. Longwy capitulated on the 
 25th, with 4000 prisoners and 200 guns. 
 
 The French were everywhere overmatched, and had troubles 
 likewise of their own to contend with in Paris. The news 
 of the Tjarious disasters to the French forces without Paris, 
 and the failure of the sortie from the city itself, greatly 
 exasperated the Red Republicans. There had been an emeute 
 on the 22nd, and although the Government succeeded in 
 quelling it, Generals Trochu and Le Flo had been compelled 
 to resign as a sop to the public discontent. General Yinoy 
 was appointed Governor of Paris, and General Clement 
 Thomas Commandant of the National Guard. But the end 
 was approaching ; the week's death rate had risen to 4405 ; 
 the rations of bread were reduced, and 8000 horses were sent 
 to the shambles. An examination proved that the city was 
 eight days nearer starvation than its rulers had calculated 
 upon. 
 
 Capitulation had become a necessity, and on the 27th 
 M. Jules Favre and General Beaufort went to Versailles to 
 settle the terms with Count Bismarck. An armistice was 
 arranged, and on the 29th of January the Emperor William 
 telegraphed as follows to the Empress at Berlin : 
 
 ' Last night an armistice for three weeks was signed. The 
 troops of the line and the Mobiles will be interned in Paris 
 as prisoners of war. The Garde Nationale Sedentaire under- 
 takes the preservation of order. We occupy all the forts. 
 Paris remains invested. It will be allowed to procure 
 provisions as soon as the arms have been delivered up. A 
 Constituent Assembly will be summoned to meet at Bordeaux 
 in a fortnight. The armies in the field retain possession of the 
 respective tracts of country occupied by them, with neutral 
 zones intervening. This is the first blessed reward of 
 patriotism, heroism, and heavy sacrifices. I thank God for 
 this fresh mercy. May peace soon follow ! ' 
 
 Jules Favre had many an earnest contention with Bismarck 
 respecting the army, and at length the latter consented to 
 
FROM SEDAN TO PARIS. 209 
 
 allow 12,000 men under General Vinoy to retain their arms, 
 and serve as guardians of public order. The National Guard 
 were also allowed to retain their arms, and act as a police 
 force within the city. Paris was to pay a contribution of 
 200,000,000 francs within a fortnight. The forts were 
 to be surrendered, and prisoners exchanged at once. The 
 city was soon relieved with provisions, the Germans sending 
 in large quantities, and the London Belief Committee also 
 despatching consignments. 
 
 The news of the capitulation was received with great 
 indignation at Bordeaux, and Gambetta, in an animated 
 proclamation, declared that his policy was still the same, and 
 that he was for war a outrance. The Paris Government 
 condemned his action, however, and he resigned his post as 
 War Minister after a sharp documentary conflict. New 
 French elections were held, and the National Assembly was 
 convened at Bordeaux. 
 
 With the surrender of Paris all active fighting ceased. 
 On the 13th of February Garibaldi resigned his command of 
 the Army of the Yosges, and on the same day Belfort 
 surrendered with the honours of war, this being the last 
 military operation of the great Franco-German War of 
 1870-71. Statistics recently compiled show that out of 
 33,101 officers and 1,113,254 rank and file of the German 
 army who entered France, no fewer than 98,233 were killed 
 or wounded. The French losses were considerably greater 
 than these, and they were destined to be still further increased 
 by internal dissensions and the sanguinary reign of the 
 Commune. 
 
210 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 KINO WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER. 
 
 AFTER the consolidation of the North German States, 
 followed by the great and glorious war with France, the King 
 of Prussia could no longer contend against the unanimous 
 feeling in favour of his assumption of the Imperial dignity. 
 Accordingly, on the 18th of January, within the Hall of 
 Mirrors in the palace of Versailles, he was proclaimed 
 German Emperor in presence of all the princes associated 
 with him, and surrounded by representatives of the different 
 regiments. It was a grand and imposing spectacle, this 
 coronation under the standards of the army before Paris. 
 When the King entered the magnificent hall about noon, he 
 walked with stately tread through the line of soldiers, him- 
 self as fine and upright a figure as any to be seen there. 
 
 Followed by his son, the Crown Prince, and the princes 
 and generals of the Empire, he took up his place near the 
 altar, and the group formed round him in a semicircle. The 
 King wore a general's uniform, the Eiband of the Black 
 Eagle and a number of orders, and he carried his helmet in 
 his hand. A chorale having been sung, the Court preacher, 
 Dr. Rogge, read the Lord's Prayer and a Litany, to which 
 the responses were sung by the band and by the princes and 
 the congregation. The twenty-first Psalm followed, after 
 which the reverend chaplain delivered a discourse founded on 
 the words, ' Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,' and addressed to 
 France. Then was sung a hymn, after which the Lord's 
 Prayer was again read, and the religious service concluded 
 with a German chorale. 
 
KINO WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER. 211 
 
 Bismarck, without whose services there would have been 
 no united Germany and no Emperor, then stood forward at 
 the King's command, and read this proclamation : ' We, 
 William, by God's grace King of Prussia, hereby announce 
 that the German Princes and Free Towns having addressed 
 to us a unanimous call to renew and undertake with the 
 re-establishment of the German Empire the dignity of 
 Emperor, which now for sixty years has been in abeyance, 
 and the requisite provisions having been inserted in the 
 Constitution of the German Confederation, we regard it as a 
 duty we owe to the entire Fatherland to comply with this 
 call of the united German Princes and Free Towns, and to 
 accept the dignity of Emperor. Accordingly, we and our 
 successors to the Crown of Prussia henceforth shall use the 
 Imperial title in all the relations and affairs of the German 
 Empire, and we hope to God that it may be vouchsafed to 
 the German nation to lead the Fatherland on to a blessed 
 future, under the auspices of its ancient splendour. We 
 undertake the Imperial dignity conscious of the duty to 
 protect with German loyalty the rights of the Empire and 
 its members, to preserve peace, to maintain the independence 
 of Germany, and to strengthen the power of the people. We 
 accept it in the hope that it will be granted to the German 
 people to enjoy in lasting peace the reward of the arduous 
 and heroic struggles within boundaries which will give to 
 the Fatherland that security against renewed French attacks 
 which it has lacked for centuries. May God grant to us and 
 to our successors to the Imperial Crown, that we may be the 
 defenders of the German Empire at all times ; not in martial 
 conquests, but in works of peace in the sphere of national 
 prosperity, freedom, and civilization.' 
 
 Officers and soldiers listened eagerly to the proclamation, 
 given in the clearest tones by the Chancellor, and when the 
 reading had ended, the Grand Duke of Baden advanced, and 
 exclaimed in German in a loud voice, ' Long live the German 
 Emperor William ! ' The whole of the distinguished as- 
 
 p 2 
 
212 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 gembly, numbering some six hundred souls, took up the cry 
 as one man, and a military hand stationed under the windows 
 of the Salle struck up the Prussian National Anthem. 
 Meanwhile, the reverberation of the French Artillery added 
 another kind of impressiveness to the scene. The Emperor 
 and the Crown Prince embraced each other thrice, and the 
 German Princes paid homage to the former as the Kaiser. 
 With this the ceremony concluded. 
 
 The Emperor William then received the deputations of 
 officers from distant corps, and withdrew, accompanied by 
 the Princes, Generals, and other illustrious personages. The 
 deputations, with the rest of the guests, were entertained by 
 the Emperor in the afternoon, previous to their leaving 
 Versailles, at the Hotel de France. An order of the day, 
 addressed by his Majesty to the army, made mention that on 
 this day, ' memorable for me and my house, I take, with the 
 consent of the German Princes, and the adhesion of all the 
 German people, in addition to my rank as King of Prussia, 
 that of German Emperor. Your bravery and endurance, 
 which I again recognize to the fullest extent, have hastened 
 the work of the unification of Germany a result which you 
 have achieved by the expenditure of blood and lives. Let it 
 always be remembered that the feeling of mutual friendship, 
 bravery and obedience rendered the army great and vic- 
 torious. Maintain this feeling; then will the Fatherland 
 always regard you with pride as to-day, and you will always 
 remain its strong arm.' The Upper House of the German 
 Diet congratulated the King on his accession to the Imperial 
 title. In his reply the Emperor said, ' May it be vouchsafed 
 to me to lay for a united Germany the foundation stone of a 
 glorious history, such as Prussia can show to-day after a 
 period of seven hundred years.' The Emperor was anxious 
 at all times to impress upon his subjects that this revival of 
 the Empire was not merely a military revival ; he wished it 
 to be accompanied by signs of internal prosperity, and the 
 progress of commerce and the industrial arts. But to the 
 
KINO WILLIAM BECOMES KAISEE. 213 
 
 world at large the new Germany was an empire built up by 
 the sword, and none knew better than its builders that the 
 sword must ever be kept ready to be unsheathed if the 
 empire was to be maintained with lasting strength. 
 
 There were great rejoicings in Berlin on the 27th of 
 February over the acceptance of the peace preliminaries. 
 These rejoicings were renewed on the 3rd of March, when 
 the patriotic devotion of the Germans was made manifest, 
 but with dignified moderation and a complete absence of 
 electrical sentiment or enthusiasm. The crowd gathered in 
 the streets of the Prussian capital was one of the most 
 composed and orderly possible. There was no cheering, and 
 no jokes of any kind were interchanged. * Like regiments 
 marching along in regular array, people moved from street 
 to street, steadily, industriously, but without any outward 
 sign of emotion. Only when the Crown Princess and the 
 other Princesses drove along to inspect the charming sight 
 was enthusiasm kindled, which vented itself in deep and 
 continuous cheers.' While the French would have thronged 
 the boulevards, the theatres, and the dancing gardens under 
 similar circumstances, the Germans flocked to the churches, 
 which were crowded with earnest worshippers. 
 
 The Treaty of Peace between France and Germany, con- 
 cluded at Versailles on the 26th of February, was no doubt 
 hard upon the former Power, though not so exacting as was 
 at first feared. The negotiations were conducted in secret, 
 and the plenipotentiaries on both sides were removed from 
 all clanger of outside pressure. The surrender of Metz was 
 the great stumbling-block, and it was stoutly opposed by 
 the French negotiators until they saw that continued re- 
 sistance would imperil the cause of peace, and lead to the 
 immediate resumption of hostilities. The only modification 
 the Germans made in the original severity of their terms 
 though this was an important one was the restitution of 
 the fortress of Belfort, commanding the passes in the Yosges. 
 This was conceded as tin equivalent for permitting the, 
 
214 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 German army to march through Paris. The principal 
 conditions of the Treaty were the cession of Alsace and 
 German Lorraine, and the payment of a war indemnity of 
 five milliards of francs, being 200,000,000 in English money. 
 It was considered that these demands were as great as 
 Europe would allow, and that they were not unlikely to create 
 a permanent feeling of hatred between the two countries a 
 foreboding which has unfortunately been realized. The 
 boundary of the new frontier was described as commencing 
 at the north-west portion of the Canton of Cattenom, 
 towards the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, tending southward 
 to Kezonville, south-eastward to St. Marie, and again south- 
 ward to the Swiss frontier by way of St. Maurice, Giro- 
 magny, and Delle. It was stipulated that the payment of 
 one milliard of francs was to take place during 1871, and the 
 remainder within three years from the ratification of the 
 preliminaries. The third article provided for the gradual 
 withdrawal of the German troops from France in proportion 
 as the indemnity was paid or financial guarantees given. By 
 a Convention subjoined to the Treaty it was provided that 
 that part of the City of Paris in the interior of the enceinte 
 comprehended between the Seine, the Eue de Faubourg St. 
 Honore, and the Avenue des Ternes, should be occupied by 
 German troops, the number of which should not exceed 
 30,000 men. Access to that quarter was to be interdicted to 
 the French troops, and to the armed National Guard, while 
 the occupation lasted. 
 
 When the terms had been finally arranged, the Emperor 
 William, ' with a deeply moved heart and with gratitude to 
 God,' telegraphed at once the result to Berlin, while the 
 French executive gave instructions to all the prefects, and 
 recommended them to inform military commanders of the 
 fact. M. Thiers, who had been appointed head of the 
 executive power in France, brought forward the terms of the 
 Treaty in the National Assembly at Bordeaux, but by the 
 time he had read through the first article he was so over- 
 
KING WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER. 215 
 
 powered by his feelings, that he had to descend from the 
 tribune and leave the hall. The details of the Treaty were 
 then read by M. Barthelemy St. Hilaire. The terms of the 
 Treaty were ratified by 546 votes to 107, and a resolution 
 was subsequently passed, amid loud cheers, deposing 
 Napoleon III. as the person ' responsible for all the misfor- 
 tunes, the ruin, the invasion, and the dismemberment of 
 France.' 
 
 Great uneasiness prevailed respecting the projected entry 
 of the German troops into Paris. A cry of vengeance against 
 the Prussians arose in the Republican quarters, and it was 
 feared that serious disturbances would ensue. But a pro- 
 clamation by M. Thiers, appealing to the patriotism and 
 self-restraint of the populace, and an order of the day by 
 General Vinoy to the army, exercised a tranquillizing effect. 
 It was resolved that the Bourse and the theatres should be 
 closed ; that no newspapers should be issued ; and that the 
 Germans should only find silence, emptiness, and mourning. 
 Every possible precaution was taken to avoid a conflict. 
 
 On the morning of the 1st of March, the German army, to 
 the number of 30,000, entered the French capital. The first 
 Uhlan appeared at the Arc de Triomphe about nine o'clock? 
 and he must have been surprised that he preserved a whole 
 skin. Then came the main body of the occupying troops, 
 the 6th and llth Prussian corps, with about 11,000 Bava- 
 rians who had previously been reviewed by the Emperor at 
 Longchamps. The troops turned down the Avenue des 
 Champs Elysees, and proceeded in the direction of the Place 
 de la Concorde, their bands meanwhile playing the popular 
 Wacld am Ehein. The Duke of Coburg, General Blumenthal, 
 and their staffs rode at the head of the troops, followed by a 
 squadron of Bavarian Hussars, with bright pennons of blue 
 and white silk. Next came two batteries of Bavarian 
 artillery, and then rifles and infantry. The Leib regiment 
 attracted much attention. Its shattered companies were 
 onfy a quarter of their original strength, and the flag of the 
 
216 WILLIAM L AND THE GEBMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 regiment was hanging in ribbons from the stump of a broken 
 staff. The Arc de Triomphe was closed, so that the troops 
 could not march through. In passing by the closed arch, an 
 officer's horse slipped and fell, and a crowd pressed round the 
 dismounted rider. A comrade rode to his assistance amid 
 the hisses of the onlookers ; one man was ridden over, and 
 two or three horsemen charged along the pavement. This 
 scattered the mob, which from that moment looked on in 
 profound silence. The Bavarians occupied an hour and a 
 half in their march, and they were brought up by the Duke 
 of Mecklenburg. Bismarck himself, calmly smoking a cigar, 
 surveyed the scene for a short time, and then rode off to join 
 the Emperor and the Crown Prince at Versailles. 
 
 The German soldiers began to leave Paris on the 3rd of 
 March, and on that day the Emperor William telegraphed 
 from Versailles to Berlin : ' I have just ratified the conclusion 
 of peace, it having been accepted yesterday by the National 
 Assembly in Bordeaux. Thus far is the great work complete, 
 which by seven months' victorious battles has been achieved, 
 thanks to the valour, devotion, and endurance of our in- 
 comparable army in all its parts, and the willing sacrifices of 
 the whole Fatherland. The Lord of Hosts has everywhere 
 visibly blessed our enterprises, and therefore by His mercy 
 has permitted this honourable peace to be achieved. To Him 
 be the honour ; to the army and the Fatherland I render 
 thanks from a heart deeply moved.' His Majesty's telegram 
 was publicly read at Berlin amid salvoes of artillery and 
 peals from the church bells. The city was illuminated, 
 and an enthusiastic reception given to the Empress and 
 Princesses. 
 
 The Prussian head-quarters at Versailles finally broke up 
 on the 7th of March. The Emperor William remained for a 
 few days at Baron Eothschild's chateau at Ferrieres, but 
 Count Bismarck returned straight to Germany. The Crown 
 Prince reviewed the Northern Army at Rouen on the 12th, 
 and then left for the Fatherland. The Crown Prince* of 
 
KINO WILLIAM BECOMES RAISER. 217 
 
 Saxony was left in France at the head of the German army 
 of occupation until a portion of the war indemnity had been 
 paid. A grand public entry into Berlin was made on the 
 16th, when the Emperor, the Crown Prince, Prince Frederick 
 Charles, and Count Moltke, with the whole of the head- 
 quarters staff, proceeded from the railway station to the 
 Palace amid enthusiastic acclamations. 
 
 The Emperor's seventy-fifth birthday was celebrated on 
 
 the 22nd of March at Berlin with unusual splendour. A 
 
 number of German Princes offered their congratulations in 
 
 person, and the municipalities of Berlin, Breslau, and 
 
 Charlottenburg presented addresses. At the close of his 
 
 address the Burgomaster of Berlin said : ' The glorious 
 
 sceptre of the Hohenstauffens is now transferred to the hand 
 
 of the Hohenzollerns. We pray God to permit your 
 
 Imperial and Royal Majesty long to enjoy the fruits of your 
 
 exertions amid the love and reverence of the German people 
 
 and the admiration of the world. May the German people 
 
 be benefited for many years by the wisdom, firmness, and 
 
 strength of him who has re-established the Empire ! May 
 
 the Emperor, who has extended our frontiers, and added 
 
 fresh laurels to our banners,*be destined alike to promote the 
 
 blessings of peace, and to increase and develop our liberty, 
 
 welfare, and culture. May God grant this ! ' After the 
 
 Emperor had responded to the municipal addresses, the 
 
 representatives of Austria, Spain, and Italy added their 
 
 congratulations. The Emperor signalized the day by 
 
 promotions amongst his most distinguished subjects. 
 
 Bismarck was created a Prince ; Moltke was made a Field 
 
 Marshal and presented with the Order of the Iron Cross ; 
 
 Von Boon was raised to the rank of Count; and large 
 
 dotations in land and money were subsequently accorded to 
 
 these and other heroes of the war, as well as additional titles 
 
 conferred upon the Princes of the Imperial House. 
 
 The first United German Parliament assembled on the 
 21st of March, and the session was one which caused an 
 
218 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 unusually severe strain upon Bismarck. The Ultramontane 
 Deputies assumed a militant attitude and caused a great 
 deal of trouble. The Emperor in his opening speech, after 
 alluding to the accomplished work of German unity, pro- 
 ceeded to say : ' In former times, Germany, misled by the 
 policy which its rulers adopted from foreign traditions, 
 imbibed the seeds of decay through interference in the life 
 of other nations. The new Empire takes its birth from the 
 self-subsisting spirit of the people itself, which, never taking 
 up arms except for defence, is steadfastly devoted to the 
 works of peace. In its intercourse with foreign nations, 
 Germany demands for her citizens no greater consideration 
 than what justice and civilization involve, and uninfluenced 
 by liking or disliking, leaves it to every nation to find its 
 own way to unity, to every State to determine for itself the 
 form of its constitution. We trust that the days of inter- 
 ference in the life of other nations will never, under any 
 pretext or in any form, return.' This passage was a distinct 
 intimation that Germany would not interfere on behalf of 
 the Pope's temporal sovereignty. The Ultramontanes read 
 it as such, and moved an amendment to the Address. Beaten 
 upon this, they sought for other grounds on which to oppose 
 the Government ; but Bismarck proved too strong for 
 them, though the prolonged conflict was harassing to the 
 Chancellor. 
 
 The Bill for the Incorporation of Alsace and Lorraine was 
 another question of a momentous and delicate character. 
 Prince Bismarck knew that he must expect opposition, and 
 by way of anticipating it, in a speech delivered on the 
 3rd of May, he made some important revelations. ' Ten 
 months ago,' he observed, ' no one in Germany desired war, 
 but all were determined, if it should be forced upon us, to 
 carry it through, and to obtain guarantees against a recur- 
 rence of attacks by France. France, possessing Alsace, 
 continually threatened Germany. On the 6th of August, 
 1866, the French Ambassador handed me an ultimatum 
 
KINO WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER. 219 
 
 demanding the cession of Mayence to France, and telling 
 us, in the alternative, to expect an immediate declaration 
 of war. It was only the illness of the Emperor Napoleon 
 which then prevented its outbreak. During the late war 
 neutral powers made mediatory proposals. In the first 
 instance we were asked to content ourselves with the costs 
 of the war, and the razing of a fortress. This did not 
 satisfy us. It was necessary that the bulwark from which 
 France could sally forth for attack should be pushed further 
 back. Another proposal was to neutralize Alsace and 
 Lorraine. But that neutral State would have possessed 
 neither the power nor the will to preserve its neutrality in 
 case of war. We were obliged to incorporate Alsace with 
 the territory of Germany in order to ensure the peace of 
 Europe. It is true the aversion of the population of Alsace 
 and Lorraine is an obstacle to such a measure. Still, the 
 population is thoroughly German, forming a sort of aris- 
 tocracy in France by virtue of its noble and Teutonic 
 qualities. We shall strive to win back to us this population, 
 by means of Teutonic patience and love. We shall especially 
 grant communal liberties. The Federal Council will care- 
 fully examine all amendments proposed by the Keichstag. 
 Let us work together with mutual confidence.' 
 
 The Chancellor could not disguise the difficulties attending 
 the incorporation, but with his usual indomitable spirit he 
 resolved to overcome them. To do this he obtained per- 
 mission to govern the annexed provinces as he chose, until 
 the beginning of 1873 ; and he resolved to proceed by easy 
 stages, gradually gaining the people over to look with 
 complacency upon the German rule. The Bill for Incor- 
 poration was finally adopted with only two dissentient votes, 
 and it was provided that the sole and supreme control of 
 the two provinces sjiould be vested in the Emperor of 
 Germany and the Federal Council until the 1st of January, 
 1873, when the Constitution of the German Empire was to 
 be introduced. This was a triumph for Prince Bismarck, as 
 
220 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 it practically meant the Government of Alsace and Lorraine 
 by the German Chancellor. 
 
 The Poles once more demanded the separation of the 
 Polish districts from the German Empire, a demand which 
 drew a harsh and bitter speech from Bismarck. He told the 
 Polish Deputies that they had no nationality, and that they 
 had received no mandate either to represent the Polish 
 people, or the Polish nationality. He did not share their 
 fiction that the Polish rule was good or not bad. He could 
 assure them that it was truly bad, and that therefore it 
 would never return. The session ended with the Govern- 
 ment as victorious in the Senate as it had been in the 
 field. 
 
 Peace being now thoroughly assured between France and 
 Germany, on the 16th of June the Prussian troops made 
 their triumphal entry into Berlin, amid demonstrations of 
 great joy. Business was suspended, and 200,000 strangers 
 were reported to have arrived in the city. The body of 
 troops which entered numbered about 42,000, consisting of 
 the Prussian Koyal Guards, and picked deputations from 
 all the regiments of the German Federal and Allied Armies, 
 infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Marshal von Wrangel, who 
 was too old to take part in the war, led the cavalcade, and 
 then came other generals and staff-officers. Next appeared 
 the general officers who had served, like Falkenstein, as 
 civil governors in the conquered territories ; and then rode the 
 commanders of different army corps, and the illustrious men 
 who commanded whole armies the Duke of Mecklenburg, 
 the Crown Prince of Saxony, and Field-Marshal Steinmetz. 
 Generals Manteuffel, Werder, Von der Tann, and Goeben, 
 who had also commanded armies, were among the party of 
 general officers preceding. 
 
 Loud applause greeted the arrival of Bismarck, Moltke, 
 and Eoon, and this was deepened and intensified as soon as 
 the Emperor emerged into view. He was in his field 
 uniform, and rode his favourite dark bay war-horse. Close 
 
KING WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER. 221 
 
 behind him rode the Field Marshals of the Koyal House 
 the Imperial Crown Prince on a chestnut horse, and Prince 
 Frederick Charles on a bright bay charger. A bevy of 
 princes succeeded, guests of the Emperor, with their personal 
 staff, glittering in varied uniforms, and making a gallant 
 show. Lastly came the under officers of various German 
 nationalities, bearing the spoils of war, the eagles and the 
 colours. The Emperor, having received an address from 
 the Burgomaster of Berlin, proceeded to inaugurate the 
 equestrian war statue of his father, King Frederick 
 William III., in a square at right angles with the Opera 
 Platz. At night the whole city presented the appearance 
 of an illuminated fairyland. A solemn thanksgiving service 
 was celebrated in all the churches on the following Sunday. 
 
 There was an interchange of Imperial visits during the 
 summer months of 1871 which attracted the attention of 
 Europe. The Czar visited the Emperor William at Berlin in 
 the first week of June, and a few days afterwards the 
 Emperor went to Ems to meet the Czar. An interview 
 between the Emperor William and the Emperor Francis 
 Joseph took place at Ischl on the llth of August. The 
 ostensible reason for the conference was a settlement of the 
 dispute respecting the repudiation of certain railway bonds 
 by the Roumanian Government. But Bismarck had another 
 object in view. Accompanying his Imperial master he desired 
 to have a personal interview with the Austrian Chancellor 
 Count Beust, to see whether a joint representation could 
 not be made to the Italian Government for the amelioration 
 of the Pope's position at Home. The Old Catholic movement 
 was in full force in Germany, and the Ultramontane element 
 was very wroth with the Government on other grounds. 
 Bismarck thought that by this little attention to the Pope 
 matters might be somewhat smoothed over. Bismarck and 
 Beust met at Gastein, but separated before the negotiations 
 came to a definite issue. 
 
 The German and Austrian Emperors, however, with their 
 
222 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 respective Chancellors, met again at Salzburg on the 6th of 
 September. Europe wondered what these interviews meant, 
 and all kinds of rumours were immediately set afloat. No 
 formal league was concluded between the sovereigns, but the 
 general results of the meeting became known, partly through 
 Count Beust's circular to the diplomatic representatives of 
 Austria, and partly through the statements of semi-official 
 organs. From these it appeared that ' in the matter of the 
 Roumanian railway bonds, the Austrian Government declined 
 to act, alleging that it could not recognize the principle of 
 State interposition to enforce the claims of private specula- 
 tion, and had no desire to complicate its own relations with 
 so near a neighbour as the Danubian Principality. With 
 regard to the Pope, it was promised that Austrian influence 
 should be exerted to further the course proposed by Bismarck- 
 But the subject that probably lay nearer to the heart of both 
 the negotiating parties than either of those just named, 
 related to the rising tide of Socialism the great revolutionary 
 element which was threatening all fixed institutions in 
 Europe, and of which the history of France had lately dis- 
 played so terrible a development. It is said that at this 
 conference a resolution was taken to institute statistical 
 inquiries on the same plan in both empires as to the nature, 
 tendencies, and extent of the movement, to be followed up, 
 if necessary, by a conference of special commissioners ; also 
 that it was agreed to sound the other principal Continental 
 governments as to their willingness to take part in the in- 
 vestigation. For the rest, both interviews, that of Ischl and 
 Gastein and that of Salzburg, resulted in a cordial under- 
 standing between the two Emperors and their chief ministers. 
 Francis Joseph acquiesced in the position which the Prussian 
 sovereign had taken as leader of Germany, and William the 
 First engaged not to tamper with the German provinces of 
 the Austrian Empire. When the potentates and statesmen 
 on both sides met and compared ideas, it was to recognize 
 that for both Powers there existed a common policy which 
 
KINO WILLIAM BECOMES KAISEE. 223 
 
 it was their interest to pursue, and which the popular instinct 
 in both nations had already sanctioned.' 
 
 The German Parliament met again at Berlin on the 16th 
 of October. Public affairs wore a roseate hue, and the Em- 
 peror's speech was conceived in a gratulatory vein. His 
 Majesty announced that the session would be short, and that 
 the principal task before the Parliament was the regulation 
 of the Imperial Budget. The existing transitional budget 
 would be extended to the coming year ; a gold coinage fitted 
 for general circulation was to be established ; and with re- 
 gard to France, while relying upon a steady pacification 
 and consolidation, the Government considered it practicable 
 to permit the immediate evacuation of those departments 
 which, according to the terms of peace, was to have occurred 
 in the following May. Touching upon the relations between 
 Germany, Eussia, and Austria, the Emperor said : * I rejoice 
 to think that the interviews which I had this summer with 
 the Sovereigns of these Empires Sovereigns with whom I am 
 personally on such intimate terms will, by strengthening 
 public confidence in a pacific future, materially contribute to 
 secure it to Europe. The German Empire and the Austro- 
 Hungarian Imperial State are, by their geographical situation 
 and history, absolutely compelled to entertain friendly and 
 neighbourly relations towards each other. The obliteration 
 of the memory of a struggle forced upon us, much against 
 our will, by the dissensions of a thousand years, will give 
 sincere satisfaction to the whole German people.' 
 
 The controversy between the State and the Roman Catholic 
 Church now passed into an acute stage ; Parliament had no 
 sooner met, than a manifesto was addressed to the Emperor 
 by the Archbishops of Cologne and Gnesen and eleven other 
 prelates, complaining of various infractions of the agreement 
 subsisting between the Eomish Church and the Prussian State 
 by the Ministry of Public Worship and Education, and 
 especially in the case of the Gymnasium of Braunsberg, 
 where the Government had kept a religious teacher in office 
 
224 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 despite his open adherence to Old Catholic doctrines. A flash 
 of the Emperor's fiery but well-controlled temper hurned in 
 his reply. He told the bishops that he was surprised at their 
 language, which was calculated to shake the confidence of 
 his Catholic subjects ; and he was the more astonished, as 
 the Pope had hitherto freely acknowledged the just treatment 
 extended to the Church in Prussia. His Majesty denied that 
 the Government had meddled with doctrinal controversies, 
 or done more than its duty in seeking to avert the threatened 
 conflict between Church and State. For himself, he could 
 declare that whether his hopes of harmonious co-operation in 
 promoting the interests of the new Empire were fulfilled or 
 not, he would continue, as before, to grant to each community 
 the fullest liberty consistent with the rights of others, and 
 their equality before the law. 
 
 The religious freedom thus accorded to the Old Catholics 
 was very distasteful to the Catholic bishops, who retired 
 reproved and crestfallen from the Imperial presence. But 
 a further blow to the intolerance and bigotry of the prelates 
 and their co-religionists was shortly dealt in the Parlia- 
 ment itself. Yon Lutz, the Bavarian Minister, brought in a 
 Bill making it penal for clergymen to abuse their office by 
 political agitation in the pulpit. Though the measure was 
 general in character, and applied to the clergy of all denomi- 
 nations, it was specially aimed at the fanatical and aggressive 
 Ultramontanes. In the Khenish Provinces, Bavaria, and 
 elsewhere, the Koman Catholic priesthood had been in the 
 habit, during the elections, of delivering political sermons to 
 their congregations, describing in pathetic terms the situation 
 of the Pope, and urging their hearers to elect Ultramontane 
 candidates, whom they represented as ready to assist the 
 Holy Father in his struggle. The abuse of the clerical office 
 and the pressure exercised upon the people became so great 
 that legislation was necessary. Some of the Bavarian clergy 
 had threatened to excommunicate all who circulated an 
 official document issued by the Government on the Old 
 
KING WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER. 225 
 
 Catholic question. Nothing could be said for the Ultramon- 
 tanist practices, and the bill was carried by a large majority. 
 
 A new Imperial Coinage Bill passed into law in November, 
 and a resolution was adopted for placing the civil and 
 criminal law, and the judicial procedure and organization 
 in the various Federal States, under the control of the 
 Imperial Legislature. Although a Bill founded on this 
 motion was passed by the Keichstag, it was rejected by the 
 Federal Council on the ground that they had no right to 
 sanction such fundamental changes without authority from 
 the minor Parliaments. A very important measure carried 
 this session, however, inaugurated a new arrangement re- 
 garding the immovable War Fund, which was demanded in 
 the interests of German unity. Prussia had long maintained 
 as one of her special institutions a war reserve fund of 
 thirty million thalers ; and as the result of the great political 
 changes just accomplished, this arrangement was now to be 
 extended to the whole empire. The War Treasury, instead 
 of belonging to Prussia, was henceforth to be appropriated to 
 the uses of all Germany ; and it was to be raised from thirty 
 to forty million thalers. It was curiously provided that 
 this sum was to be deposited in gold and silver in the cellars 
 of some citadel, and, lying torpid without yielding interest, 
 to wait for the moment when the alarm of war should 
 call it into service. There was a long discussion over this 
 buried treasure, but the Government proposals were adopted 
 in the end. 
 
 Socialism caused the rulers of Germany no small concern 
 at this time. Bismarck knew that there was a good deal of 
 discontent amongst the humbler classes, though in public 
 he made light of the signs of this discontent. Herr Bebel, 
 one of the Prussian deputies, gave utterance to the views of 
 the Socialists in Parliament, and after remarking that what 
 the Communists had done in Paris was but an outpost 
 skirmish, which would be followed up some day by a great 
 European battle, he said : ' War to the palaces, peace to the 
 
 Q 
 
226 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 cottages, and death to luxurious idleness is, and ever will 
 be, the watchword of the proletariat in all parts of the 
 world.' Several strikes of workmen, notably in Berlin, 
 occurred in the autumn; and, before the year closed, a 
 meeting of working-men was convened in the capital by the 
 Social Democratic Union. Its objects were to protest against 
 the petty remunerations given to the landwehr and reserves, 
 as compared with the munificent grants made to the Generals 
 and other officers ; and to adopt some plan for greater in- 
 dustrial co-operation among Berlin working-men. The Union 
 had always protested against the continuance of the war 
 after Sedan, and condemned the annexation of Alsace and 
 Lorraine, except with the assent of the inhabitants. It now 
 passed a resolution condemning the retention of French 
 prisoners in German fortresses, seeing that peace had been 
 concluded. As a counter-balancing movement to that of 
 the workmen, when the manufacturers assembled for their 
 annual autumn meeting at Leipsic, they took into considera- 
 tion the interests of the capitalists, and sought to contrive 
 measures for overcoming the hostility of the workmen. 
 Meanwhile, notwithstanding the complaints of the Socialists, 
 the commercial condition of the Empire was most prosperous. 
 The war had not sensibly interfered with business, and taxes 
 yielded as much in 1870 and 1871 as in the preceding and 
 less-disturbed years a sure proof that the trade of the 
 country was sound at heart. After the peace was concluded, 
 commercial prosperity advanced ' by leaps and bounds,' and 
 money was so plentiful that means could scarcely be found 
 to employ it. 
 
 Financially, the German Empire presented a remarkable 
 spectacle. Its great political reforms had been achieved 
 without the imposition of additional burdens upon the people. 
 Even in the year 1870, with the war in full force, the in- 
 come from the Customs and Excise fully came up to the 
 estimates. For 1872 the outlook was very encouraging. 
 The Empire was presumed to spend in the coming year 
 
KING WILLIAM BECOMES KAISER. 227 
 
 110,500,000 thalers. This sum only represented the amount 
 required for Federal purposes, and not the total of the 
 German budgets. Then, in addition to the common outlay, 
 there were the local budgets of the various States, computed 
 at something like 260,000,000 thalers, making 370,500,000 
 thalers for the grand total of the German public expenditure. 
 The Federal outlay of 110,500,000 thalers was covered by 
 the Customs and certain indirect taxes permanently handed 
 over to the Imperial Exchequer, as well as by the direct 
 contributions of the various States. These various items 
 amounted to about 78,000,000, so that there remained 
 32,500,000 thalers to be contributed by the treasuries of 
 the various States. 
 
 The Prussian Diet was opened by the King on November 22, 
 and in the speech from the throne he drew a broad line of 
 demarcation between the jurisdiction of the German Keich- 
 stag and that of the Prussian Diet. While the maintenance 
 of the national power and security, said His Majesty, be- 
 longed to the German Empire, it was for the Prussian 
 representatives more thoroughly to devote themselves to the 
 healthy development of the internal institutions. During 
 this session Herr Camphausen, the Minister of Finance, 
 carried through propositions for the use of the reserve funds 
 of the public treasury in paying off the public debt, for 
 increasing the salaries of the public teachers, for making 
 liberal grants for the encouragement of art and science, and 
 for making a considerable reduction in the public debt. 
 
 The year thus closed with happy omens both for Prussia 
 and the newly-constituted Empire. Though there were 
 some causes for internal solicitude, as is the case with all 
 nations, the state of Germany in general was most satis- 
 factory. As for the venerable Emperor himself, he had 
 never been in better health or spirits. Physically, he could 
 compete with the best of his subjects, as was proved in the 
 month of December by his exploits in the Hanoverian forest 
 of Gohrde, when with his own hand he brought down no 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 fewer than twenty-one wild boars. Further, to increase his 
 light-heartedness, and his sense of security over the future 
 of Germany, he was well aware that in Bismarck and Moltke 
 he had two buttresses which could not easily be shaken by 
 adverse storms. The Empire was powerful, because peaceful, 
 and it was advancing by rapid strides on the golden path of 
 progress. Though, as we shall presently see, questions of 
 moment were pressing forward for settlement, the German 
 Government was quietly gathering strength to meet them. 
 
( 229 ) 
 
 CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 
 
 THE German conflict with the Ultramontanes, of which 
 there had been several premonitory symptoms, was waged 
 with great vigour in 1872. The storm began in an un- 
 looked-for and almost accidental manner. After transacting 
 business one day with the Emperor, Bismarck went into the 
 Prussian House of Deputies merely for a passing visit, 
 when Dr. Windthorst, leader of the Catholic reactionary 
 party, was on his legs. The Doctor made a speech com- 
 plaining of the diminished advantages open to the Catholics 
 in the State and in education ; and his observations, which 
 were of a very biting character, put the Chancellor into a 
 fury. 
 
 Bismarck rose and delivered an impromptu reply, remark- 
 able for its energy, its sarcasm, and its eloquence. It was 
 received all through with continuous laughter and applause. 
 A strange man for peace was this Windthorst, he intimated, 
 whose own language displayed so total an absence of 
 Christian gentleness. It was the tone and temper of the 
 Centre party which made it impossible to give them a 
 Catholic representative on the Ministerial Council. The 
 head of that party had joined the Prussian body politic 
 with repugnance and ill-will, and he had never shown by 
 speech or action that he had overcome this repugnance, so 
 that it was doubtful even now whether the new formation 
 of the German Empire was pleasing or distasteful to him. 
 Passing from the personal to the general aspect of the 
 question, the Chancellor next made a dashing attack upon 
 
230 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the clerical party, which afterwards led to great re- 
 criminations, followed by repressive legislation. 'When I 
 returned from France to devote myself to home affairs,' he 
 observed, ' the Clerical or Centre party, which had just been 
 formed, seemed to me a party whose policy was directed 
 against the predominance and unity of the State. I will 
 not conceal from you that the Government had hoped to 
 rely upon the assistance of the orthodox element in the 
 people. I thought it had a right to expect that they, 
 above all, would render unto Caesar the things that are 
 Caesar's. Instead of this we find ourselves systematically 
 withstood in the South, and most violently attacked in the 
 papers and in speeches destined for the instruction of the 
 lower classes. This conduct is the more extraordinary 
 inasmuch as the Pope and the Prussian bishops of the 
 Catholic Church, have repeatedly acknowledged the perfect 
 liberty their co-religionists enjoy under our institutions. 
 In their downright hostility, therefore, the Ultramontane 
 party cannot be actuated by dissatisfaction at the position 
 the Catholic Church holds, and indeed has long held among 
 us. Unfortunately we are at no loss to account for their 
 motives. When we find this party leaguing with Radicals 
 of every shade of persuasion when we find them acting 
 in concert with men whose extreme politics make them 
 avowed enemies of the Prussian Constitutional Monarchy 
 and of the German Imperial Commonwealth we need not 
 wonder at their drifting into persistent opposition, and 
 placing us in the painful position in which we now stand 
 with regard to them.' 
 
 The uncompromising views of the Government were not 
 long in bearing fruit. A School Inspection Bill was brought 
 forward in the House of Deputies, as the first definite move 
 on the part of the Ministry. This measure provided that 
 the supervision of all educational institutions, public and 
 private, should be entrusted to the State; that all officers 
 appointed as inspectors should be servants of the State, 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 231 
 
 and in no way responsible to the various religious de- 
 nominations. The reception of the Bill was a curious one. 
 The Catholics of course were strongly against it, but 
 singularly enough the stiff orthodox Protestants united 
 with the Ultramontanes, and the Poles were hostile to it 
 on national grounds, viewing it as a step in the process of 
 Germanizing the Polish provinces. Prince Bismarck could 
 therefore only rely upon the Liberal party, but he had the 
 support of Liberals of all shades of opinion. 
 
 The Court was very lukewarm about the measure, as both 
 the King and the Queen were known to favour denomi- 
 nationalism, and the only supporter Bismarck had in the 
 Koyal circle was the Crown Prince. The Bill required 
 careful piloting through the Chamber of Deputies. The 
 Chancellor in the course of the debates again severely 
 handled Windthorst, who had been rather growing per- 
 sonally in Court favour. Then, towards the close of a 
 memorable speech, and one which had a great effect upon 
 the House, Bismarck put forth his own apologia. 'The 
 previous speaker,' he said, * has reminded me of speeches I 
 made twenty-three years ago in the year 1849. I could 
 simply dispose of this charge with the remark that in a 
 space of twenty-three years especially as they were the 
 best years of a man's life I have learned something, and 
 that in my case I, at least, am not infallible ! But I will 
 go farther. Whatever professions I have made in regard 
 to my Christian faith I now openly reiterate, and I will 
 never hesitate to do so either at home or in public ; but it 
 is this very Christian faith which makes it my duty to the 
 country where I was born, and where a high function has 
 been entrusted to me, to protect it against all attacks. 
 When the foundations of the State were attacked by 
 barricades and the [Republican party, I considered it my 
 duty to stand at the breach; and if it should be attacked 
 by other parties, whose duty it was and is rather to 
 strengthen the State than to overthrow it, you will see me 
 
232 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 there at the breach also. Such is the conduct which 
 Christianity and faith prescribe to me.' The speaker's 
 vigorous pleading carried the Bill by a majority of 197 
 to 171. 
 
 Although the Emperor was not at first enthusiastic about 
 this measure, he saw that its defeat would be a most 
 damaging blow to the Government, and lead to a very un- 
 settled state of affairs. He was consequently now anxious 
 that it should become law. But if it passed the Deputies 
 only by such a narrow margin of votes, what were its 
 chances in the Upper House? Fortunately those chances 
 were strengthened by the arrest of a youth of Polish descent 
 on the charge of plotting and conspiring against the 
 Chancellor. The case against him was trivial, but his 
 examination revealed the important circumstance that he 
 had been residing in the house of Canon de Kozmian, a 
 Jesuit, and in the Canon's residence there were subsequently 
 seized some important papers. When the School Inspection 
 Bill came before the Upper House, Bismarck read out 
 several passages from the confiscated correspondence, which 
 were very damaging to Dr. Windthorst and Bishop Ketteler 
 of Mayence, in regard to Ultramontane intrigues. The 
 Chancellor went straight to the point in describing the 
 aims and objects of the Roman Catholic party. He showed 
 how utterly imcompatible those aims were with the interests 
 and policy of the new Empire, and then read the following 
 extract from a despatch by one of his diplomatic repre- 
 sentatives abroad : ' The revenge for which people are 
 panting in France is being prepared for by getting up re- 
 ligious troubles in Germany. It is intended to cripple 
 German unity by denominational discord, for which purpose 
 the whole of the clergy are to be utilized under immediate 
 orders from Eome. In connexion with the overthrow of 
 German power, the Pope hopes to be able to re-establish 
 his secular power in Italy.' 
 
 The Prince next made a strong appeal to the Conservative 
 
CONSOLIDATING TEE EMPIRE. 233 
 
 Opposition to support the Government. 'Nowhere has a 
 government less interfered with the management of eccle- 
 siastical concerns than in Prussia; nowhere have the two 
 Christian denominations lived so long in such perfect 
 concord. But we are now to he deprived of this invaluahle 
 boon, and must guard against our adversaries carrying out 
 their charitable intention. One of our weapons of defence is 
 the School Inspection Bill. Need I point out who our 
 enemies are ? While two Catholic Powers existed on our 
 borders, each supposed to be stronger than Prussia, and 
 more or less at the disposal of the Catholic Church, we were 
 allowed to live in peace and quiet. Things changed after 
 our victory of 1866, and the consequent ascendancy of the 
 Protestant dynasty of Hohenzollern. And now that another 
 Catholic Power has gone the same way, and we have 
 acquired a might, which, with God's help, we mean to keep, 
 our opponents are more embittered than ever, and make us 
 the butt of their constant attacks.' 
 
 The Chancellor was again victorious. His arguments, 
 personal, religious, and political, prevailed with the Upper 
 House, and the Bill was carried by 125 votes to 76. This 
 was a much more brilliant triumph than the one achieved in 
 the Lower House, for Bismarck had far greater odds against 
 him. 
 
 Very soon afterwards, there was an open quarrel between 
 Germany and the Papacy. Prince Bismarck nominated 
 the Cardinal Prince Hohenlohe as German ambassador at the 
 Vatican. The appointment was variously viewed. The 
 supporters of the Chancellor said that it was a proof of 
 his liberality, and that he did not wish to show ill-will 
 to the Catholics as a body. On the other hand, the 
 Ultramontanes saw in the nomination a subtler purpose. 
 Cardinal Hohenlohe was a Papist, but something more. He 
 was a Liberal, a German Unionist, and an opponent of the 
 Infallibility dogma. So it was held that Bismarck divined 
 in such a prince of the Church a better instrument for 
 
234 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 counteracting Ultramontane intrigues, than any statesman 
 chosen from the ranks of Protestantism. The Pope, however, 
 refused to receive Prince Hohenlohe as German represen- 
 tative at his Court. 
 
 This led to a prolonged debate in the Keichstag, when, on 
 the 14th of May, Prince Bismarck delivered an important 
 speech. He said that the latest dogma as promulgated by 
 the Holy See rendered it impossible to work in harmony 
 with Borne. To restore peace among the religious denomi- 
 nations, it appeared necessary to seek a solution of the 
 difficulties by enacting a law for the empire securing com- 
 plete liberty of conscience. The rejection of an envoy by 
 a government to whom it was proposed to accredit him was 
 not a frequent occurrence. It was not a courteous proceeding, 
 and it had never before happened to Prince Bismarck during 
 a diplomatic career lasting over twenty-one years. It 
 pained him the more, inasmuch as Prince Hohenlohe appeared 
 fitted to bring about a conciliatory feeling. The regret he 
 felt would not, however, justify him in manifesting irrita- 
 tion. Begard for the interests of the Catholic population of 
 Germany, had determined him to nominate another envoy, 
 however difficult it would be to find an equal to Cardinal 
 Hohenlohe, and doubtful as he was of a substitute achieving 
 good results. At a later stage of the discussion, Prince 
 Bismarck declared emphatically that he should always reject 
 any treaty with Borne in which the Papacy might claim that 
 certain State laws should not be binding upon a portion of 
 the subjects of the empire. 
 
 A number of deputies were for striking out of the 
 estimates the cost of an envoy to the Pope, but the Chan- 
 cellor's view was adopted and the charge sanctioned by a 
 large majority. 
 
 The University of Strasburg was opened on the 1st of 
 May with much ceremony. All Germany was profoundly 
 interested in this matter, as it was expected that the 
 University would greatly contribute to the revival of 
 
CONSOLIDATING TEE EMPIRE. 235 
 
 German sentiments in Alsace and Lorraine. As the 
 conquered provinces were not yet ripe, however, for the 
 introduction of the Federal Constitution in its entirety, the 
 Government introduced a Bill proposing to suspend it until 
 January 1st, 1874. The Bill was opposed by the Catholic 
 party and the party of progress, but, being supported by 
 all other sections of the House, it was passed by a large 
 majority. 
 
 The Emperor William acted during this year as arbitrator 
 in a dispute between Great Britain and the United States. 
 The question arose out of the interpretation of a clause in 
 the Washington treaty as to the American and Canadian 
 boundaries, which involved the possession of the Island of 
 San Juan, a territory somewhat larger than the Isle of 
 Wight. The treaty provided that the boundary line should 
 be continued to the middle of the channel which separates 
 the continent from Vancouver's Island. The English 
 reading of this gave San Juan to us, but the Americans 
 maintained that the strait called De Haro, between San 
 Juan and Vancouver, was really meant. By his award, the 
 Emperor decided unreservedly in favour of the American 
 claim. 
 
 One of the most momentous debates which had yet been 
 held in the German Parliament took place on the 15th of 
 May. Several hundred petitions relating to the Jesuits were 
 presented, some advocating their expulsion from the country, 
 but the majority interceding on behalf of the Order. Bishop 
 Monfang of Mayence opened the debate, defending the 
 Jesuits, and he was supported by Herr Keichensperger, a 
 member of the Supreme Court of Appeal at Berlin, and a 
 cultured and accomplished historian. On the other side, the 
 Government was urged to proceed against the Jesuits in the 
 interests of peace by Privy Councillor Wagener, one of the 
 leaders of the Conservative party; Prince Hohenlohe, late 
 Bavarian Premier ; Herr Fischer, Burgomaster of Augsburg, 
 who like the Prince was a Koman Catholic ; and the well- 
 
236 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 known Professor Gneist, of the University of Berlin. A 
 report drawn up on the petitions stated that as a consequence 
 of the pro-Papal tendencies until lately prevalent in the 
 ministry, the number of convents had enormously increased. 
 In 1864 there were only 69 ; in 1865 they had increased to 
 243 ; in 1866 to 481 ; and in 1869 to 826. The number of 
 persons shut up in these institutions had risen from 976 in 
 1855 to something like 10,000 in 1869. 
 
 In accordance with a resolution of the House, the Govern- 
 ment introduced a Bill placing the Society of Jesus under 
 police supervision, and giving the Federal Council power to 
 remove its members from any part of Germany where their 
 presence should appear inconsistent with the public interest. 
 Subsequently, as modified and adopted by a majority of the 
 Federal Council, including all but the Polish and Ultramon- 
 tane sections, the measure enacted that all convents and 
 other establishments of the Crder on German soil should be 
 abolished ; that the same veto should extend to all other 
 orders and religious societies connected with the Jesuits, 
 leaving the Government to determine the nature of such 
 societies ; and it conferred on the administrative authorities 
 the right not literally of expelling German members of the 
 Jesuit Crder, but of assigning them localities where alone 
 they might reside. Foreign members of the Crder were to 
 be expelled ; and the authority for carrying the law into 
 execution was vested in a committee of the Federal Council. 
 
 The Emperor William gave his sanction to the Act, and in 
 consequence of these repeated collisions between the spiritual 
 and temporal powers the following law was formally promul- 
 gated on the 4th of July : ' We, William, by the grace of God, 
 Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia, &c., in the name of 
 the German Empire, with the assent of the Federal Council, 
 and of the Parliament, ordain as follows : I. The Crder of 
 the Society of Jesus, as well as the monastic orders of 
 Congregations affiliated to the said Society, are excluded 
 from the territory of the German Empire. The creation 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 237 
 
 of establishments by them is forbidden. Establishments of 
 theirs at present existing shall be suppressed within a period 
 to be settled by the Federal Council, but not later than 
 six months. II. The members of the Order of the Society 
 of Jesus, or of Orders and Congregations affiliated, may, if 
 aliens, be expelled from the territory of the Confederation. 
 If they are natives, their residence in certain districts, or 
 certain places, may be forbidden or prescribed to them. 
 III. The Federal Council will take the measures necessary 
 for securing the execution of this law. In faith of which 
 we have set our hand and seal imperial.' 
 
 The Pope and the Cardinals were exceedingly wroth at 
 this action, though there is no doubt they would have taken 
 similar steps themselves had the positions been reversed, for 
 whenever they have had the power they have used it far more 
 cruelly than Prussia for the suppression of religious opponents. 
 Pius IX. employed extraordinary language in receiving an 
 address from a German Ultramontane Society at Eome. 
 ' Let us hold out,' he said, ' but let us hold out firmly united, 
 and confiding in the justice of God Almighty. Who knows 
 whether a little stone may not soon separate itself from a 
 mountain top, and, coming down unexpectedly, smash the 
 feet of the Colossus.' The allusions to the stone and the 
 mountain were manifestly vague, but there were persons 
 who interpreted them as referring to disloyal plots and 
 intrigues. 
 
 A grand conference was held at Berlin early in September 
 between the Emperors of Germany, Kussia, and Austria. 
 The gathering was a most brilliant one, and the fetes 
 splendid in the extreme. But all was not amusement, and 
 the other European Powers were solicitous respecting this 
 foregathering of powerful monarchs. While the potentates 
 were discussing matters from their own points of view, the 
 three Chancellors, Prince Bismarck, Prince Gortschakoff, and 
 Count Andrassy, were likewise holding long and important 
 .interviews. But all designs, save the wish to bring the three 
 
238 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GEHMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Sovereigns together, and so promote peace and good-will, 
 were strongly repudiated. There were rumours of a Holy 
 Alliance, and of a design to suppress all ' International ' 
 movements and the like. But whatever the objects of the 
 meeting, France and the Pope were by no means pleased over 
 it. The former Power saw its hopes of a foreign alliance 
 against Germany indefinitely postponed, while the Vatican 
 and the Ultramontanes were compelled to renounce the pros- 
 pect of an ally and protector even in the chief of the House 
 of Hapsburg, 'the born defender of the Catholic Church/ 
 Prince Bismarck, in his reply to a deputation of the 
 magistrates of Berlin presenting him with the honorary 
 diploma of citizenship remarked that by means of the festive 
 events of the last few days, confidence in the endurance of 
 peace, which was nearly as valuable as peace itself, would be 
 strengthened. The high persons who had met in Berlin 
 would not leave with disappointed expectations. The meet- 
 ing had not been called forth by aggressive intentions against 
 any Power, or in any direction whatsoever. The amicable 
 personal interview of the Emperors would strengthen the 
 confidence of friends in a lasting peace, and clearly show to 
 enemies the difficulties they would have to encounter in 
 order to disturb that peace. 
 
 The Emperor William, after bidding farewell to his 
 illustrious visitors, journeyed to Marienburg, the capital of 
 West Prussia, to aid in celebrating the centenary of the first 
 partition of Poland, when the province in question was 
 restored to Prussia, of which it originally formed a part. A 
 statue of Frederick the Great was to be erected to com- 
 memorate the event, and his successor now laid the founda- 
 tion-stone of the memorial near the magnificent old castle of 
 Marienburg. Even here the ruler of Germany came upon a 
 thorn in the person of the recalcitrant Bishop of Ermeland, 
 who wrote to the Emperor desiring to pay his respects to 
 him in person at the centenary gathering. The Emperor, 
 who is nothing if not frank, replied to the effect that he 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 239 
 
 should be very glad to see the Bishop if he would retract 
 the offensive expressions in his correspondence with the 
 Ecclesiastical Department of State, and declare himself 
 willing to ohey the laws of the land to their fullest extent ; 
 but if not, well he had better not go. The Bishop decided 
 not to present himself before the Emperor. 
 
 The suppression of the Jesuits was regarded by some as 
 an impolitic step, and it certainly threw the Roman Catholic 
 Church into a militant attitude. A union of German 
 Catholics was organized at Mayence, with the avowed object 
 of supporting the Church in its conflict with the Empire. 
 The members of the union met at Fulda in September, and 
 issued a memorial stating their grievances. They explicitly 
 asserted that canon laws were more binding than those 
 enacted by the secular power ; that the Church and not the 
 State was rightfully supreme in ecclesiastical affairs, in 
 education, and in marriage contracts; and they further 
 upheld the episcopal right of excommunication. 
 
 When the Prussian Chambers reassembled in October, 
 there was a desperate Parliamentary conflict in the Upper 
 House over the New Districts Administration Bill. This was 
 a government measure for remodelling the administration of 
 the Six Provinces of East Prussia. It proposed to abolish 
 the last remnant of feudal government surviving in the 
 Prussian kingdom. Heretofore, in the counties to which the 
 Bill referred, the magistrates and county assemblies in 
 whose functions it lay to make the roads, relieve the poor, 
 and look after other matters of local interest had been 
 exclusively composed of the proprietors of land and estates, 
 who also had the privilege of nominating to all the petty 
 magistracies of their districts. It was now proposed to admit 
 a large number of townspeople and villagers to the County 
 Assemblies, where these classes had formerly scarcely been 
 seen; to create honorary officials, to be elected by these 
 assemblies, to perform the functions of the police on the 
 larger estates, as well as in the villages ; to bestow upon the 
 
240 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIBE. 
 
 villages the right of choosing their municipal officers, and of 
 combining with neighbouring villages for the better manage- 
 ment of local matters ; and last, but not least, to empower the 
 government officer at the head of the county though he 
 should remain a nominee of the Crown and retain the right 
 of interfering with the proceedings of the new election officers 
 and authorities to officiate conjointly with a Board chosen 
 by the County Assembly from the gentlemen of the district. 
 These were great and important changes, practically vesting 
 the right of self-government in the villages. 
 
 The Bill passed the Lower House, as might naturally be 
 expected, but in the Upper it was thrown out. Although the 
 Emperor had himself intimated to Count Bruhl, Yice-President 
 of the Upper Chamber, that he desired and expected it to pass, 
 the peers rejected the Grovernment proposition by the enormous 
 majority of 145 votes to 18. The feudal lords, whose long- 
 standing but arbitrary rights were struck at by the Bill, were 
 largely represented in the Upper Chamber, and they of course 
 declined to vote for the extinction of their own power and 
 influence. Eepresentative institutions and local self-govern- 
 ment were very obnoxious to them ; and several speakers 
 declared that to upset the rural life of the country was to 
 introduce Republicanism at once into the nation. They held 
 that the change was incompatible with the maintenance of 
 the monarchy and the continued existence of the State. The 
 vote in the Upper House brought on a constitutional crisis, 
 and the Chambers were prorogued for twelve days. 
 
 Bismarck was resolved upon "carrying the measure, for, 
 although he had always been in sympathy with the aristocratic 
 party, he held that this measure was absolutely essential to 
 the more liberal requirements of a united Germany. Accord- 
 ingly, when Parliament reopened, General von Boon rein- 
 troduced the Bill amended in the Upper House, and stated 
 that the Government were fully resolved on carrying it by 
 every constitutional means at its disposal, thus pointing to a 
 creation of new peers if necessary. This step was eventually 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 241 
 
 found to be requisite, and twenty-five new peers were created. 
 The Emperor, it is stated, only consented with reluctance to 
 a revolutionary step with which his feelings and principles 
 through all his career as King of Prussia had been so little in 
 accordance ; but he felt that he must support his Chancellor 
 in this matter. 
 
 In answer to a communication addressed to him by a 
 highly esteemed Conservative member of the Lower House, 
 His Majesty wrote a wise and timely letter on the subject. 
 He reminded the Deputy that the Conservatives had looked 
 forward to the speedy downfall of the State as an inevitable 
 consequence of the agrarian and municipal reform of 1808, and 
 he expressed his conviction that the time had arrived when 
 the work begun in those early days must be resumed and to 
 a certain extent completed. The Administration had become 
 too complicated an engine to be conducted by professional 
 officials alone ; and the finances required to be lightened by 
 the transfer of a portion of the public business to men not 
 salaried by the State, and in a position to regard the honour 
 of serving their country as their best reward. The Civil 
 Service of Prussia was already 62,000 strong, and so badly 
 paid that its members had a right to demand an increase of 
 salary. As this demand could not any longer be refused, 
 there was nothing left but to obviate the necessity of fresh 
 offices being created as fast as had hitherto been done. 
 
 This was one of the most progressive deliverances the 
 Emperor had yet made, and it caused great gratification, 
 especially to the Liberals. It also turned a great many Con- 
 servative votes in the Upper House, and moderate counsels now 
 prevailing, the measure was carried by 116 votes against 91. 
 Prince Bismarck, who had for some time back contemplated 
 the step, retired after this victory from the Premiership of 
 the Prussian Cabinet, and was succeeded by Count von Boon, 
 the senior Minister of State. The Imperial Chancellor, 
 however, still retained the department of Foreign Affairs in 
 the Prussian Ministry. 
 
242 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 A good many rumours set afloat at the close of 1872 to the 
 effect that Bismarck's retirement from the Prussian Premier- 
 ship was a triumph for the reactionary party, and that it 
 signified a divergence of view between himself and the 
 Emperor, were shown to be utterly unfounded on the first day 
 of the New Year. The Sovereign wrote to his most trusty 
 Chancellor a grateful letter, which was accompanied by the 
 Order of the Black Eagle set in diamonds. Bismarck further 
 tendered explanations in the Chamber of Deputies, denying 
 that there were dissensions in the Ministry, and pointing out 
 that the new Government was merely a continuation of his 
 own. 
 
 Meanwhile the contest with Kome waxed hotter and hotter. 
 The Pope issued a Christmas Allocution so fierce in spirit 
 that it would have brought him within the law had he been 
 amenable to its jurisdiction. Things reached such a pass, 
 that on the 9th of January, 1873, Dr. Falck, the Minister for 
 Education, brought in four very important Bills, dealing 
 with both the State-recognised religions, the Protestant or 
 Evangelical, and the Catholic. Their objects were to protect 
 the freedom of individual persons ; to ensure the training of 
 a German national in contradistinction from an Ultramontane 
 clergy ; and to guard the rights and independence of the 
 clergy themselves as against their ecclesiastical superiors. 
 Hitherto the Churches had been left free to govern themselves 
 and to educate their own clergy. In the case of the Koman 
 Catholics special seminaries had been instituted for the 
 education of those destined for the priesthood from their 
 youth upwards. All institutions of the kind now in existence 
 were by the proposed law to be placed under rigorous State 
 inspection, while it was forbidden to open any new ones. 
 The State thus intended to take into its own hands the direct 
 supervision of the education of the clergy ; and candidates 
 for the priesthood would be required to attend the State 
 Gymnasia and Universities, so that a portion at least of their 
 training might be received among the laity. Before they 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 243 
 
 could enter the clerical ranks they must pass State examina- 
 tions in philosophy, history, German literature, and the 
 classical languages. The State claimed a right of supervision 
 over clerical appointments, and heavy fines were instituted 
 for making appointments which might be unconditionally 
 revoked. Ecclesiastical discipline was dealt with, and the real 
 purport of the measures was to substitute a national or 
 German for a foreign or Ultramontane clergy. A supreme 
 Eoyal Court was to sit at Berlin, and deal with cases in- 
 volving ecclesiastical discipline. These Bills were discussed 
 with much fervour and at great length, but ultimately all 
 of them were passed by both Houses. 
 
 The German Diet opened on the 12th of March. In conse- 
 quence of a report prepared by the Committee on Eeligious 
 Orders, the German Federal Council decided to expel from 
 the Empire the Monastic Orders of Kedemptorists and 
 Lazarists, and the Congregations of the Holy Ghost and the 
 Sacred Heart. This decision gave rise to a warm debate in the 
 Diet, when Prince Bismarck said that he confidently appealed 
 to the judgment of history to pronounce whether he had 
 been guilty of slandering the Ultramontane leaders when he 
 designated them as antagonists, as enemies of the Empire, 
 and as instigators and leaders of the plots against the Empire 
 and the Imperial Government. 
 
 The Prussian Catholic bishops met at Fulda in April, and 
 drew up a solemn protest against the new ecclesiastical 
 laws. It was circulated amongst the clergy and the various 
 dioceses, with the result that active resistance to the laws 
 began to be offered. The State replied by instituting pro- 
 secutions, and the most distinguished of those against whom 
 criminal proceedings were taken was Ledochowski, Arch- 
 bishop of Posen, who had systematically made appointments 
 to benefices in defiance of the laws. He was condemned to 
 a fine of 200 thalers, or four months' imprisonment ; but he 
 still kept on the same course. 
 
 Parliament passed in June the third reading of the Bill for 
 
 B 2 
 
244 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the introduction of the Imperial Constitution into Alsace- 
 Lorraine from the 1st of January, 1874. From that date the 
 annexed provinces would be ruled as an integral part of 
 Germany, and be entitled to send their representatives to 
 the Keichstag. There was one question with respect to 
 which the Emperor was greatly chagrined by the policy 
 of the Diet. A Bill was brought forward for altering the or- 
 ganization of the national army ; but when the House should 
 have discussed it, the Deputies absented themselves. Even 
 Bismarck shrank from rushing the Bill through under such 
 circumstances, and the Emperor closed the session without 
 its becoming law. A Press Bill, which contained several 
 very stringent provisions, was also rejected by the Diet. 
 
 Several Koyal and Imperial visits were exchanged this 
 year. In April, the Emperor William went to St. Peters- 
 burg, where he was sumptuously entertained; then the 
 Shah of Persia and the King of Italy paid visits to Berlin, 
 and between the Eastern monarch and the German Emperor 
 a special treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation was 
 concluded. In October, the Emperor visited Vienna, where 
 he had an enthusiastic reception. On the memorable 
 anniversary of Sedan, the 2nd of September, the monument 
 of Victory was unveiled by the Emperor William, on the 
 Konigsplatz, Berlin. ' The column of Victory unveiled 
 to-day,' observed His Majesty, in a speech delivered at the 
 memorial banquet, ' is a proof to the present and future 
 generations of what self-sacrifice and perseverance can 
 accomplish. In conjunction with our faithful allies in the 
 last glorious war, we strode from victory to victory by the 
 grace and bountiful will of God, until we attained to the 
 Unity of Germany in the establishment of a new Empire. I 
 drink, therefore, in gratitude to my heroic people, my 
 illustrious allies, and our glorious army.' 
 
 The conflict between the Government and the Ultramon- 
 tanes continued all through the year, and in October great 
 sensation was caused throughout Germany and all Europe 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 245 
 
 by the publication of a correspondence between two august 
 personages the Pope and the Emperor William. Writing 
 on the 7th of August, 1873, the Pope charged the German 
 Government with aiming more and more at the destruction 
 of Catholicism. But he had heard that the Emperor did not 
 approve the harshness of the measures adopted by the 
 Government, and if that were the case, the measures com- 
 plained of could have no other effect than that of under- 
 mining His Majesty's own throne. Pio Nono added : ' I speak 
 with frankness, for my banner is truth ; I speak in order to 
 fulfil one of my duties, which consists in telling the truth to 
 all, even to those who are not Catholics ; for every one who 
 has been baptized belongs in some way or other, which 
 to define more precisely would be here out of place belongs, 
 I say, to the Pope.' 
 
 The Emperor of Germany took some weeks to digest this 
 extraordinary Epistle from the Eomans, and on the 3rd of 
 September despatched this masterly reply to the Pope : 
 ' I am glad that your Holiness has, as in former times, done 
 me the honour to write to me. I rejoice the more at this, 
 since an opportunity is thereby afforded me of correcting 
 errors which, as appears from the contents of the letter of 
 your Holiness of the 7th of August, must have occurred in 
 the communications you have received relative to German 
 affairs. If the reports which are made to your Holiness 
 respecting German questions only stated the truth, it would 
 not be possible for your Holiness to entertain the supposition 
 that my Government enters upon a path which I do not 
 approve. According to the constitution of my States, such 
 a case cannot happen, since the laws and Government 
 measures in Prussia require my consent as Sovereign. To 
 my deep sorrow, a portion of my Catholic subjects have 
 organized for the past two years a political party which 
 endeavours to disturb, by intrigues hostile to the State, the 
 religious peace which has existed in Prussia for centuries. 
 Leading Catholic priests have unfortunately not only 
 
246 WILLIAM I. AND THE OEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 approved this movement, but joined in it to the extent of 
 open revolt against existing laws. 
 
 ' It will not have escaped the observation of your Holiness 
 that similar indications manifest themselves at the present 
 time in several European and some Transatlantic States. It 
 is not my mission to investigate the causes by which the 
 clergy and the faithful of one of the Christian denominations 
 can be induced actively to assist the enemies of all law ; but 
 it certainly is my mission to protect internal peace, and 
 preserve the authority of the laws in the States whose 
 government has been entrusted to me by God. I am 
 conscious that I owe hereafter an account of the accomplish- 
 ment of this, my Kingly duty. I shall maintain order and 
 law in my States against all attacks as long as God gives 
 me the power ; I am in duty bound to do it as a Christian 
 monarch, even when to my sorrow I have to fulfil this royal 
 duty against servants of a Church which I suppose acknow- 
 ledges no less than the Evangelical Church that the com- 
 mandment of obedience to secular authority is an emanation 
 of the revealed will of God. Many of the priests in Prussia 
 subject to your Holiness disown, to my regret, the Christian 
 doctrine in this respect, and place my Government under 
 the necessity, supported by the great majority of my loyal 
 Catholic and Evangelical subjects, of extorting obedience to 
 the law by worldly means. 
 
 1 1 willingly entertain the hope that your Holiness, upon 
 being informed of the true position of affairs, will use your 
 authority to put an end to the agitation carried on amid 
 deplorable distortion of the truth, and abuse of priestly 
 authority. The religion of Jesus Christ has, as I attest to 
 your Holiness before God, nothing to do with these intrigues, 
 any more than has truth, to whose banner, invoked by your 
 Holiness, I unreservedly subscribe. There is one more 
 expression in the letter of your Holiness which I cannot pass 
 over without contradiction, although it is not based upon 
 the previous information, but upon the belief of your 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 247 
 
 Holiness namely, the expression that every one who has 
 received baptism belongs to the Pope. The Evangelical 
 creed, which, as must be known to your Holiness, I, like my 
 ancestors and the majority of my subjects, profess, does not 
 permit us to accept in our relations to God any other 
 mediator than our Lord Jesus Christ. This difference of 
 belief does not prevent me from living in peace with those 
 who do not share mine, and I offer your Holiness the 
 expression of my personal devotion and esteem.' 
 
 There can be no question as to who had the best of it in 
 this epistolary warfare. The Emperor won the engagement, 
 and the press supported his views, at the same time 
 vigorously attacking the Pope and his advisers. His German 
 Majesty received congratulatory addresses from all quarters, 
 and the Government was requested strenuously to maintain 
 its course of action. 
 
 Amongst the numerous towns which sent up to the 
 Emperor, Augsburg, in a remarkable address signed by 
 Catholics and Protestants alike, expressed satisfaction and 
 pride at the independent attitude of the nation's Sovereign. 
 The Papal complaint that the Catholic religion was perse- 
 cuted was declared to be a wanton perversion of the truth, 
 and the Emperor was earnestly besought to continue to 
 enforce the laws against the Ultramontanes. 
 
 As the Emperor's letter came opportunely just before the 
 elections to the Prussian and Imperial Diets, it had the effect 
 of deciding many waverers in favour of the policy of the 
 Sovereign and the Premier, while another cause for this was 
 the closeness of the relations between France and the 
 Vatican. To the Prussian Diet there were returned as 
 moderate Liberals that is, those who were prepared to go 
 all lengths with the Cabinet against the Papacy 178 mem- 
 bers as compared with 116 in the previous Diet. Although 
 the Ultramontanes gained some additional strength, yet as 
 both the Liberals and moderate Conservatives might be 
 expected to support the Ministry on most questions of 
 
248 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Church policy, it was computed that the Cabinet could rely 
 on a working majority of 311 in a House of 432 members. 
 Prince Bismarck returned to the post of Prussian Premier 
 just before the Diet opened on the 12th of November. 
 
 In the session now inaugurated another important measure, 
 and one indicative of the signs of the times, was passed. This 
 was a Bill sanctioning Civil marriage and Civil registration 
 of births and deaths throughout the Prussian dominions. 
 The Emperor held back for some time before giving his 
 acquiescence to this measure ; but he at length perceived 
 that it was a natural corollary to the previous ecclesiastical 
 legislation. Marriage had hitherto been a religious act, and 
 it had become a subject of difficulty during the ecclesiastical 
 crisis ; the Ultramontane priests also declined to bury seceders 
 in consecrated ground, and this had led in some cases to the 
 interference of the police. The new proposals were adopted ; 
 and when the Act became law, it proved even a more 
 sweeping measure than had been anticipated. In order to be 
 recognised by the Civil authorities, all marriages, births, and 
 deaths would henceforward have to be registered by the 
 magistrate. The functions of the registrar were made 
 obligatory, while those of the clergy were left optional. 
 
 On the 7th of December the Emperor, as King of Prussia, 
 issued a very important decree intended to meet such cases 
 as those of the recusant bishops. This decree enacted that 
 throughout the Prussian dominions all Catholic bishops 
 should, previous to receiving recognition from the State, 
 take the following oath : ' I will be subject, true, obedient 
 and devoted to His Majesty, carefully observe the laws of the 
 State, and especially strive that the sentiments of honour 
 and fidelity to the King, love of country, obedience to the 
 laws, and all those virtues which denote at once the good 
 subject and the Christian, shall be carefully cherished among 
 the clergy and congregations entrusted to my episcopal 
 guidance, and that I will not allow the clergy subject to 
 me to teach or act in an opposing sense. In particular I 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 249 
 
 promise to hold no communion or connexion within or with- 
 out the country which may be dangerous to the public 
 security.' The object of this new oath was to prevent 
 co-operation with the Papal Court in any measures against 
 Prussian policy ; but it also abrogated the clause in the old 
 oath by which bishops had declared their submission to 
 the laws, but reserved to themselves all rights with regard 
 to their spiritual obligations. There was to be no conflict 
 in future between spiritual duties and the law. 
 
 Pius IX. became furious over the state of ecclesiastical 
 affairs in Germany. In an Encyclical, he described the Old 
 Catholics as ' wretched sons of perdition,' who had conspired 
 against the Holy Ghost and the true successors of St. Peter, 
 and he proceeded to excommunicate their newly-appointed 
 head, Bishop Eeinkens. But the Old Catholics, as in ' The 
 Jackdaw of Kheims,' went on their way, ' not a penny the 
 worse for this terrible curse.' 
 
 Two deaths of note occurred this year, which affected the 
 Emperor not a little. King John of Saxony, a man of 
 considerable culture, an able jurist, and a profound student 
 of Dante, passed away in his seventy-second year. At one 
 time his decease would have had more serious effects ; but the 
 existence of Saxony was now almost sunk in the German 
 Empire. The King was succeeded by the Crown Prince, 
 Albert, who had greatly distinguished himself in the Franco- 
 Prussian War. The second death was that of Elizabeth, 
 Queen Dowager of Prussia, the widow of Frederick William 
 IV. The Emperor felt the loss of his aged relative very 
 keenly, for she had been a favourite with him. At the time 
 of this melancholy occurrence, His Majesty himself was also 
 somewhat seriously indisposed, but he was happily con- 
 valescent in the course of a few weeks. 
 
 The new year, 1874, was remarkable more for the energy 
 and activity of the German Chancellor than for anything 
 else. There was constant friction between himself and the 
 Catholic party, and Prince Bismarck stood almost single- 
 
250 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 handed in the breach. Certainly, it was mainly his strong 
 and overpowering personality which enabled him to gain his 
 ends. The elections to the Imperial Diet, which took place 
 early in the year, caused him some disappointment. The 
 Centre or Ultramontane party increased in strength from 
 sixty-two to about 100, so that altogether the opposition 
 members numbered 170 as against some 4')0 supporters 
 of the Grovernment. The National Liberals rose from 116 
 to 150 members ; the party of progress gained four new 
 members ; the Conservatives lost ground ; and the Liberal 
 National party disappeared entirely, being absorbed in the 
 other sections. 
 
 Although both the Ultramontanes and the Social Democrats 
 were opposed to the Chancellor's repressive ecclesiastical 
 policy, it was supported as a necessity by nearly all the 
 influential and liberal classes in Germany. Referring on 
 one occasion to the ancient strife between Empire and Pope, 
 when the latter was victorious, Bismarck had said, ' We will 
 not go to Canossa ; ' and he now took up the legislation with 
 regard to the Catholics at the point at which it was left in 
 1873. It was necessary to supplement the Falck legislation 
 by three additional Bills. The first simply explained certain 
 terms which had been obscurely worded in the first laws, 
 and had given rise to different interpretations in the law 
 courts ; but the second and third devised very practical 
 measures for the administration of dioceses which might 
 happen to be deprived of their bishops. The legislation was 
 timely, for before many weeks had elapsed no fewer than 
 four out of the twelve Koman Catholic bishops of the 
 Prussian Kingdom came to a rupture with the Government. 
 Three of these dignitaries, Archbishop Ledochowski, the 
 Archbishop of Cologne, and the Bishop of Treves were 
 arrested and imprisoned for refusing to pay the fines imposed 
 upon them for persistent contravention of the Falck Laws. 
 
 But as the incarceration of prelates could not continue for 
 ever, and as it was necessary to adopt Imperial as well as 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 251 
 
 Prussian legislation to meet the difficulty, a Bill was sub- 
 mitted to the Federal Council and the Keichstag, and passed 
 during the spring session, to prevent the reassertion of their 
 claims by offenders whose terms of imprisonment should be 
 over. Such persons could be ordered by the administrative 
 authorities of their several States to leave, or to take up 
 their residence in certain districts. Should an offender still 
 decline to conform to the law, the Government of his State 
 should then be entitled to strip him of his right of citizen- 
 ship, and to expel him from the territory of the German 
 Empire. These provisions were to apply equally to persons 
 who should have exercised the functions of an ecclesiastical 
 office at variance with the law of the land, and had sentence 
 pronounced against them for this offence by the proper 
 court. The Imperial Diet passed this measure by the 
 enormous majority of 257 votes to 95. Then came the 
 Supplementary Falck Laws, which dealt with the question 
 of appointments to vacant dioceses and parishes. It was 
 decreed under certain conditions that Catholic congregations 
 should be permitted to choose their own ministers, and thus 
 to have a hand in the management of Church property. 
 This appeared a very revolutionary change indeed to the 
 Pope and the authorities of the Vatican. 
 
 The Imperial Parliament met in February, when a new 
 Army Bill was brought forward. It was chiefly a systematic 
 codification of the existing statutes, rendered necessary by 
 the adoption of the Prussian laws in the minor States. A 
 new scale of payment to the soldiers being adopted rendered 
 necessary an additional sum of 14,000,000 thalers for the 
 ensuing year. There were also other extras, which brought 
 up the Military Budget to 113,000,000 thalers. The Bill 
 placed the effective force of the army at 401,659 men in time 
 of peace, and Count Moltke, in defending these measures, made 
 some allusions to the prospect of peace or war as regarded 
 foreign countries, which were eagerly commented upon 
 throughout Europe. He pointed out that France had 
 
252 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 introduced compulsory service, lasting in all twenty years, 
 instead of twelve as in Germany. The French Government 
 was in a position to embody 1,200,000 men into the active, and 
 1,000,000 into the territorial army. After observing that 
 Germany was pacifically disposed, but that the mildest of 
 men might be dragged into a quarrel if he had a troublesome 
 neighbour, Count Moltke said: 'If you wish for peace, be 
 ready for war, and I believe that it is our duty, in the present 
 condition of Europe, to declare either that we have no need 
 of a strong army, or else to accord all that is necessary for 
 maintaining it in full force.' 
 
 There was considerable difficulty with this Bill, which 
 the Emperor strongly desired to see passed. He dis- 
 tinctly declined to accept certain compromises which were 
 suggested, till at length Bismarck, foreseeing a complete 
 deadlock, intervened. The Chancellor agreed to a suggestion 
 made by Herr Bennigsen to the effect that the additional 
 force required by the Government should be voted, but for 
 seven years only and not for perpetuity. After much delay 
 the Emperor at last yielded his assent to this, and the Bill 
 was carried by a majority of eighty. 
 
 The affairs of Alsace-Lorraine next occupied the attention 
 of the Diet. On the 16th of February, the Deputies for 
 those provinces solemnly entered the House, two by two, and 
 proceeded to deposit with the Speaker a motion to the effect 
 that the Frankfort Treaty of Peace having been concluded 
 without the sanction of the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine, 
 the opinion of the latter should be taken on the subject. A 
 lengthy debate ensued, and one of the Alsatian Deputies, 
 while agreeing that Germany was entitled to a war in- 
 demnity from France, affirmed that the former had over- 
 stepped the limits by which a civilised nation ought to 
 be bound in annexing Alsace-Lorraine. The Bishop of 
 Strasburg, however, rose and said that he and his co- 
 religionists in Alsace and Lorraine had no wish to question 
 the validity of a treaty concluded between two of the great 
 
CONSOLIDATING TEE EMPIRE. ' 253 
 
 Powers of Europe. The motion was rejected by an over- 
 whelming majority. Other antagonistic propositions were 
 brought forward by the Alsatian Deputies, and at length, in 
 consequence of their hostile attitude, the Government in- 
 structed the Alsatian authorities to avail themselves of the 
 license allowed them under the statutes, of preventing the 
 circulation in the province of such French journals as should 
 advocate revanche. 
 
 Before the Imperial Diet was prorogued, a Press Law was 
 passed, by which the police were to be deprived of the right 
 of seizure previous to the condemnation of the indicted 
 matter by the proper court of law. The clause declaring 
 incitement to violate the laws a culpable offence was thrown 
 out, as being too vaguely worded to appear safe. The 
 practice of mentioning ' dummies ' as responsible editors was 
 by common consent heartily condemned, and was to be 
 henceforth liable to a heavy fine. Alsace and Lorraine, in 
 consequence of the attitude of the French press, were to be 
 excepted from the operation of the law. 
 
 Prince Bismarck went to drink the waters at Kissingen in 
 July, and while at that place he was the victim of an 
 attempted assassination. His assailant was a young man 
 named Kullmann, a journeyman cooper, ill-educated, and 
 imbued with a fanatical hatred of the recent religious laws 
 and their originator. At mid-day on the 13th, soon after the 
 Chancellor had entered his carriage, and while he was in the 
 act of saluting a person in the roadway, the latter drew a 
 pistol from his pocket, and deliberately fired at the Prince. 
 The bullet grazed the palm of the Chancellor's hand, just 
 below the thumb. The coachman, fearing a second shot, 
 struck the assassin across the face with the lash of his whip. 
 The assailant then flung away the pistol and ran for his life. 
 The Prince drove home perfectly calm and collected ; but the 
 wound in the hand caused him much pain for months after- 
 wards. Kullmann was arrested after a desperate effort to 
 escape. Bismarck visited him in prison and questioned him 
 
254 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 as to the reason for the crime. The culprit said his motives 
 were revenge and hatred in consequence of the Ecclesiastical 
 Laws. He did not appear to have any accomplices ; hut 
 he had heen incited to his reckless deed hy the tone of 
 the Ultramontane press and pulpit, and confessed that his 
 immediate motive was what he had heard of the persecution 
 of the Archhishop of Posen. Kullmann was sentenced to 
 fourteen years' imprisonment. 
 
 Meanwhile, arrests of Roman Catholic priests for persistent 
 infraction of the laws, and the sequestration of Church 
 property, proceeded apace. In addition to the prelates pre- 
 viously named, Bishop Martin of Paderhorn was arrested on 
 August 4. Declining to resign his see, he was prosecuted 
 and deposed hy the Government. Great manifestations of 
 sympathy were shown him hy the Westphalian Ultramontanes, 
 and thirty ladies, including the Countess Nesselrode and the 
 Countess von Merveldt, presented an address to him. The 
 ladies were tried for this hreach of the law, found guilty, 
 and fined. Then came a demonstration of sympathy with 
 these fair offenders from English Ultramontane ladies, in- 
 cluding the Dowager Marchioness of Lothian and Lady 
 Herbert of Lea, who went over to Minister to offer them 
 their congratulations on ' suffering in the holy cause.' But 
 the statesman with the iron hand went forward with his 
 work. 
 
 The Emperor William opened the autumn session of the 
 German Parliament on October 26. His Majesty said that 
 important legislative labours awaited the Deputies. There 
 were Bills forthcoming to secure unity of judicial pro- 
 cedure, and Bills for completing the Imperial military system. 
 The most important of these, a measure for organising the 
 Landsturm, was afterwards relegated to a committee. There 
 was a Budget Bill for Alsace and Lorraine, and there were 
 also measures, drawn up hy the Federal Council, rendering 
 Civil marriage obligatory throughout the Empire. A treaty 
 establishing a postal union with Switzerland had been signed 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 255 
 
 at Berne. His Majesty, in concluding his speech, spoke of the 
 friendly relations of the Empire with foreign Powers, and 
 said that the pacific intentions of his Government enabled it 
 to disregard all unjust suspicions against its policy. This 
 was an allusion to the action of certain French statesmen 
 who, while their Government was professedly friendly with 
 Germany, endeavoured to stir up the journals against her. 
 
 A very lively scene occurred in the Diet when the estimates 
 came to be discussed for the Federal Council. The Chancellor 
 having been bitterly attacked by the Bavarian Clerical 
 Deputy, Dr. Joerg rose to reply, and replied to some purpose. 
 After touching upon a recent intervention by Germany in 
 Spain, as well as the relations she bore towards Kussia, Prince 
 Bismarck said: 'The preceding speaker alluded to the attempt 
 on my life at Kissingen and designated Kullmann as a mad- 
 man. He was not a madman. You don't want to have 
 anything in common with Kullmann ? That I comprehend ; 
 but he clings tightly to your coat-tails nevertheless. I asked 
 him myself, " Why did you wish to kill me, who had done 
 nothing to you ? " He replied, " On account of the Church 
 L;i\vs, and because you have insulted my fraction." I asked, 
 " Which is your fraction ? " And he answered, " The Centre 
 fraction." ' Here cheers and great tumult ensued. ' You may 
 thrust Kullmann away/ cried the Prince, * but he nevertheless 
 belongs to you.' 
 
 This remark was received with thunders of applause by 
 the Eight and Left ; but the Centre became wild with rage. 
 1 Fie ! fie ! ' they shouted, which is considered a very insult- 
 ing expression in the German Parliament, and the President 
 called the offending Deputies to order. Then Prince Bismarck 
 added : ' I have no right to censure such exclamations as 
 have been uttered by members on the second centre bench ; 
 but the expression Pfui (fie) is an expression of disgust and 
 contempt. I am myself not a stranger to these feelings, 
 but I am too polite to express them.' More uproar followed, 
 with a passage at arms between Herr Windthorst and the 
 
256 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Chancellor, after which the House broke up in the midst of 
 bitter recriminations. 
 
 In consequence of the strained relations with the Vatican, 
 the German Government resolved to suppress the post of 
 envoy to the Pope. This led to another vehement debate, 
 in the course of which the Catholic Deputies Joerg and 
 Windthorst made a severe attack upon the foreign policy 
 of Prince Bismarck. The Prince replied with equal energy, 
 strongly censuring the Catholic party. The Chancellor's 
 speech closed with these remarkable sentences : ' I am in 
 possession of conclusive evidence proving that the war of 
 1870 was the combined work of Borne and France ; that the 
 (Ecumenical Council was cut short on account of the war ; 
 and that very different votes would have been taken by the 
 Council had the French been victorious. I know from the 
 very best sources that the Emperor Napoleon was dragged 
 into the war very much against his will by the Jesuitical 
 influences rampant at his Court ; that he strove hard to 
 resist those influences ; that in the eleventh hour he deter- 
 mined to maintain peace ; that he stuck to this determina- 
 tion for half an hour; and that he was ultimately over- 
 powered by persons representing Borne.' This speech was 
 received with great satisfaction by a vast majority of the 
 Deputies and the nation ; and it is said that it produced a 
 deeper and more lasting impression than any yet delivered 
 by Prince Bismarck since the commencement of the conflict 
 with the Church. 
 
 A great State trial drew the eyes of all Europe to Berlin 
 towards the close of the year. The person implicated 
 was a scion of the aristocracy, Count Harry von Arnim, 
 who had formerly been an intimate friend of the German 
 Chancellor. He had long been in the diplomatic service of 
 Prussia, and had held posts of the highest distinction. 
 Before the war of 1870 he was stationed at Borne, and after 
 the conflict was appointed German ambassador at Paris. 
 The Count was summoned from the French capital on the 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 257 
 
 ground that he had not only openly expressed his dissent 
 from the policy of Bismarck, hut had even furnished to 
 Austrian and Belgian journals articles attacking him. He 
 was arrested on Octoher 4, and further charged with hav- 
 ing abstracted documents which he received in his official 
 character as German ambassador in Paris. 
 
 The Count's trial began on the 9th of December in the 
 City Court of Berlin. That tribunal found that on two 
 heads of accusation that of withholding papers acknow- 
 ledged to be in his possession, and that of carrying off 
 papers belonging to the Foreign Office there was not 
 evidence sufficient to make Count Arnim guilty on a criminal 
 charge. But on the remaining count that of taking with 
 him from Paris to Carlsbad a series of despatches about 
 ecclesiastical matters, which he said were not suited for the 
 perusal of his successor at the Embassy he was found 
 guilty. The Court sentenced him to three months' imprison- 
 ment ; but from this sentence both the Public Prosecutor 
 and Count Arnim decided to appeal. The trial made it 
 manifest that the Count had hoped, in concert with the 
 Conservative and Catholic opponents of the Chancellor, to 
 drive the latter from his high position, and to become his 
 successor. 
 
 At this juncture, much to the dismay of the Court and 
 the nation, Bismarck resigned the post of Chancellor. He 
 probably took this step with the view of showing how 
 dependent upon him Germany and Prussia were ; and the 
 trial had furnished additional evidence of his sagacity and 
 powers of statesmanship. The immediate cause of his resig- 
 nation was a vote of the Diet liberating one Majuncke, an 
 Ultramontane Deputy, who had been imprisoned for State 
 offences. The Chancellor said he could not act if the Liberal 
 party made common cause against him with his opponents. 
 The Emperor absolutely declined to receive his resignation, 
 however, and the Crown Prince paid him a special visit as 
 a distinct mark of confidence. The Liberal party returned 
 
258 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 to their allegiance, and voted the Secret Service Fund of 
 the Foreign Office as an emphatic mark of their confidence 
 in the Chancellor. Thus, though hated by some of the 
 Deputies, and the subject of plots against his life from 
 without, the close of the year witnessed Bismarck stronger 
 than ever, and more necessary to the Emperor and the State. 
 
 Progress was made with important legislation when the 
 German Diet opened early in January, 1875. The Land- 
 sturm Bill was adopted by 198 against 54 votes. The effect 
 of this new military measure was to extend the limits of 
 liability for active service to all able-bodied Germans from 
 between seventeen and forty-two years of age. The latter 
 limit had previously been thirty-five years. The character 
 of the Landsturm was also changed. It was now placed 
 under the military law, and secured the protection which 
 the law of nations confers in time of war upon organized 
 armies in opposition to freeshooters. The Bill also facilitated 
 the partial mobilization of the force. In the Landsturm 
 the Diet created again the second ban King William gave 
 up in 1860 under the more popular name connected with 
 the days of the War of Independence. When the law came 
 into operation, it was calculated that the disposable force of 
 the German Empire would be raised to 2,800,000 men. 
 
 The Diet also passed a comprehensive measure extending 
 the Civil registration of births, deaths, and marriages from 
 Prussia to the whole Empire. This law made the services 
 of the clergy superfluous in the three great domestic events 
 of human life. Children could enter upon their career with- 
 out having been baptized into any religious denomination 
 whatsoever ; marriages might be solemnized without the 
 consent of the clergy, which was sometimes difficult to 
 obtain in Catholic districts ; and persons who* had no 
 recognised Christian belief or creed might be buried in 
 consecrated ground. The bill also abolished clerical juris- 
 diction in suits for divorce, and it allowed Catholic priests, 
 monks, and nuns to marry with impunity. Of course there 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 259 
 
 was a great outcry in some quarters against what was 
 termed ' godless ' legislation. 
 
 The conflict between Empire and Papacy was again re- 
 newed with all its old bitterness. The Pope issued an 
 Encyclical declaring the Falck Laws to he invalid and con- 
 trary to the Divine institution of the Church, and Bismarck 
 replied by giving the Ultramontanes yet another stringent 
 Falck measure. In March a Bill was brought before the 
 Prussian Diet for withdrawing the State grants from Koman 
 Catholic bishops. In justifying the action of the Govern- 
 ment, Prince Bismarck said they were simply doing their 
 duty in guarding the independence of the State and the 
 nation against the oppression of Rome and the universal 
 supremacy of the Order of Jesuits, and they were doing it 
 with God for King and Fatherland. On the passing of the 
 Bill, the Roman Catholic bishops presented a petition direct 
 to the Emperor, attacking the ecclesiastical policy of the 
 Chancellor. They appealed to the loyalty of the Catholics 
 to the Prussian crown, and called upon his Majesty to deny 
 his sanction to the proposed law. Again the bishops laid 
 themselves open to an Imperial rebuff. Replying through his 
 Ministers, the Emperor expressed astonishment and regret 
 that the petitioners should assert it to be incompatible with 
 Christian faith to comply with laws which in other States 
 had been obeyed for centuries. The bishops were also told 
 that they must have known that the measure to which they 
 asked his Majesty to refuse his sanction could only have 
 reached the Diet with his express consent. The grants 
 would never have originally been made if the bishops and 
 clergy had reserved to themselves the right to obey the laws 
 of the State or not, as they thought fit, according to the 
 Papal will. As to the confusion likely to be caused by the 
 law, those prelates who in 1870, before the proclamation of 
 the Vatican resolutions, saw that such confusion would arise 
 from those resolutions, were reminded that by remaining 
 true to the convictions they then expressed, they ini^lit have 
 
 9 
 
 o 
 
260 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 saved the Fatherland from the troubles which had since 
 occurred. 
 
 But the priests went on remonstrating and ministers went 
 on prosecuting, and the policy of the latter continued to gain 
 ground. The States Grant Bill was triumphantly carried, 
 and the Pope had himself to thank chiefly for this result. 
 His last Encyclical had heen couched in tones so insulting to 
 Germany that many Catholic Deputies, as well as members 
 of the Upper House, openly condemned the conduct of the 
 Vatican. It was remarked by one good Catholic that the 
 Encyclical even exceeded in arrogance the dogma of infalli- 
 bility, and that the Pope demanded in it a concession for a 
 direct railway from Berlin to Canossa ! 
 
 More ecclesiastical measures succeeded. One was passed 
 for repealing articles 15, 16, and 18 of the Constitution. The 
 first of these articles related to the independent administra- 
 tion of ecclesiastical affairs, and another to the unimpeded 
 intercourse between religious associations and their superiors, 
 while the other articles abolished the system by which 
 appointments to clerical offices required the confirmation of 
 the Government. The articles were obviously not in accor- 
 dance with recent legislation, and therefore required to be 
 repealed. The new Bill provided also that the legal position 
 in the State of the Evangelical and Catholic Churches and 
 other religious societies should be regulated in conformity 
 with the new laws. Another Bill introduced struck at the 
 alarming growth of Roman Catholic convents and religious 
 establishments in Prussia. It was enacted that all religious 
 orders and societies of the Catholic Church, having the 
 character of Orders, should be excluded from the Prussian 
 territory, and the establishment of branches of the same be 
 prohibited, that existing branches should not be allowed to 
 receive new members, and should be dissolved within six 
 months, and that associations engaged in education might 
 have the period within which they were to be dissolved ex- 
 tended to four years. This law was defended on several 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 261 
 
 grounds, one being that the members of the various religious 
 societies were passive instruments merely in the hands of 
 their superiors, who were thereby empowered to destroy the 
 basis of society, of the State, of the family, and of individual 
 property. Bismarck was certainly fighting the battle with 
 thoroughness, being convinced that he could not stop half- 
 way in grappling with the evils which threatened the State. 
 
 Before the Prussian Diet closed it completed the work of 
 district organization begun in a previous session. By an Act 
 now carried through both Houses there was secured for 
 Prussian citizens and corporations the right of appeal to 
 independent judges, while the unity and impartiality of the 
 proceedings was guaranteed through the institution of a 
 supreme tribunal in Berlin. There would be a two-fold 
 check upon arbitrary action on the part of the Government 
 and its officials, through the prohibition of unlawful decrees, 
 and through the superior judges, who would have power to 
 rectify unlawful measures. The arbitrariness of bureaucratic 
 action was thus rendered impossible under the new legis- 
 lation. 
 
 As a pleasant contrast to heated debates in the Chambers, 
 we find Berlin quite beside itself in May on the occasion of a 
 visit by the Emperor of Eussia to his Imperial uncle. The 
 city was profusely decorated, and banquets and receptions 
 were the order of the day. On the llth a grand review was 
 held at Potsdam, when upwards of 5000 men were drawn up 
 in line in presence of the two Emperors, all the Princes and 
 Princesses, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, and Field 
 Marshals von Moltke and von Manteuffel. The Emperor 
 William led the first regiment of the Guards, and the Em- 
 peror of Eussia rode at the head of the Alexandra Eegiment. 
 As the review ended, the Emperor Alexander, placing himself 
 again at the head of his regiment, ordered it, as a mark of 
 homage, to present arms before the Emperor William, upon 
 which that venerable potentate, overcome with emotion, 
 pressed the hand of his Imperial guest. The two Sovereigns 
 
262 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 then embraced in presence of the thousands of assembled 
 spectators, who burst into enthusiastic cheers. The Czar's 
 visit closed on the 13th, when the Emperor William bade his 
 nephew an affectionate farewell. 
 
 This meeting of Sovereigns was not without its political 
 significance. There was a war scare on in Europe, in conse- 
 quence of the friction between Germany and France and a 
 closer approximation between Austria and Italy. The Czar 
 and Great Britain were most desirous to preserve peace, and 
 the former journeyed to Berlin with that object. In this he 
 was successful, for, on receiving the Diplomatic Body just 
 before leaving the Prussian capital, the Emperor Alexander 
 told the representatives of the Powers that peace was 
 ensured. 
 
 Several celebrations of deep interest to Germans took 
 place in the summer and autumn. On the 18th of June, 
 which was the second centenary anniversary of the battle of 
 Fehrbellin, the foundation-stone of a monument to the 
 ' Great Elector,' Frederick William, was laid by his name- 
 sake, the Imperial Crown Prince. 'May this stone,' said 
 the Prince, * which we to-day deposit in the soil, and the 
 monument to be erected on this spot, be a witness to remote 
 posterity of the sentiment which has always united my 
 House and our people ! The monument must remind us of a 
 time when our State was still small and hardly known. By 
 trust in God, and by always doing our duty towards our 
 narrower and our larger country, we have now reached the 
 point of having the destinies of Germany placed in our 
 hands for the well-being and prosperity of the Fatherland.' 
 Then, unsheathing his sword, the Prince exclaimed, ' With 
 this feeling, I will call on you to cry, " Long live his Majesty 
 the Emperor and King ! " 
 
 The Emperor himself was present at Detmold, on the 
 16th of August, when the heroic statue to Hermann, the 
 first and ancient liberator of the German tribes, was un- 
 veiled. The monument had been thirty-seven years in 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 263 
 
 building, and Ernst von Bandel, the sculptor, who had 
 planned the work as a student, had grown grey while he 
 executed it. The Emperor warmly grasped the artist by 
 the hand, and congratulated him upon his success, and he 
 was given a seat with the Princes and Princesses. At night 
 bonfires were made, which vividly lit up the colossal and 
 noble figure of Hermann, who, with uplifted sword, looked 
 upon the battlefield of nineteen centuries ago. Nor was 
 Baron Stein, the maker of modern Prussia, forgotten. A 
 statue in his honour was subsequently erected on the 
 Dohnhofsplatz in Berlin. The Emperor was unable to be 
 present from indisposition, and Count von Moltke, who 
 performed the ceremony, gave the signal for cheering by 
 exclaiming, ' Long live his Majesty the Emperor ! ' 
 
 Keturning to European questions, that there was now no 
 danger of a rupture between Germany and Italy was proved 
 by a visit which the Emperor William paid to King Victor 
 Emmanuel at Milan in October. On several occasions during 
 this visit, asseverations of close friendship were made. At 
 a grand banquet given by the King to the Emperor on 
 the 19th, the latter said, in reply to the toast of his health, 
 which had been most warmly received, ' I am deeply moved 
 by the reception I have met with on the part of your 
 Majesty, and in this beautiful country. I know that the 
 sympathy existing between Germany and Italy, and the 
 personal relations of friendship so happily subsisting between 
 us, will continue to be a guarantee for the preservation of 
 the peace of Europe. I feel a pleasure in hoping that these 
 relations will always remain the same, and it is with this 
 wish I drink the health of your Majesty.' 
 
 In the autumn session of the German Diet the question 
 was raised of a gradual European disarmament. Austria, 
 France, and Italy had been sounded upon the subject. It 
 was not intended to propose the dissolution of all standing 
 armies, but merely to reduce the number of soldiers actually 
 under arms, which, in proportion to the productive powers of 
 
264 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the several countries, had attained a fearful height. Nothing 
 definite was done in connection with the subject; but it 
 was obvious that the German Parliament was in favour of 
 military curtailment, inasmuch as it persistently refused to 
 sanction any augmentation of the military estimates, not- 
 withstanding the urgent remonstrances of the Minister of 
 War. By way of showing the expensiveness of the British 
 army, we may mention that while the total army and navy 
 estimates of Germany were only 20,000,000 for 1,700,000 
 men, the estimates for the English army and navy were 
 24,800,000 for 535,000 men. Austria, too, had precisely 
 the same number of men as England, and her expenditure 
 was only 10,800,000. The whole of the armies of Europe, 
 when on a war footing, numbered 9,333,000 men, with the 
 prodigious annual cost of 136,804,000. 
 
 One of the most memorable incidents in 1876 was a visit 
 which Queen Victoria paid to Germany. Her Majesty 
 stopped at Coburg, where she had an interview with the 
 Emperor William. The purpose of this visit was asserted to 
 be the regulation of the succession to the throne of Saxe- 
 Coburg, Prince Alfred (the Duke of Edinburgh) being 
 prospective heir to the Duke, who had no children. While 
 at Coburg, the Queen was also visited by the Crown Princess 
 of Germany, with some of her children. 
 
 Prince Bismarck moved for a second time this year against 
 Count Harry Arnim, who had evaded his previous sentence 
 by leaving the country. He was now tried in connection 
 with the publication of a pamphlet entitled Pro Nihilo, 
 which created a great sensation, and which contained alleged 
 false statements against the Emperor and his Government. 
 It further made known to the detriment of the State what 
 was entrusted to the Count in official confidence. The 
 Chancellor was more embittered than ever against his 
 adversary. A more serious prosecution having now been in- 
 stituted, the trial ended on October 12, when Count Arnim 
 was found guilty by the High Court of State on the charges 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 265 
 
 of betraying his country, offending the Emperor, and 
 insulting Prince Bismarck and the Foreign Office. He was 
 sentenced to five years' penal servitude a terrible sentence 
 to a man in the Count's position. 
 
 The German Parliament passed the Penal Code Amend- 
 ment Bill this year, and finally completed the Judicial 
 Law, by which considerable progress was made towards the 
 desired end of national legal unity. Prince Bismarck also 
 brought forward a daring proposition for the acquisition of 
 all the German railways by the State ; but it was so strongly 
 opposed by the Southern States, that the bill founded upon 
 his motion had to be restricted to Prussia alone. 
 
 The great event of the year 1877 was the Kusso-Turkish 
 war ; but Germany was not involved in the conflict, and the 
 year so far as she was concerned was one of comparative 
 quietude and peace. The 1st of January being the seven- 
 tieth anniversary of the beginning of the Emperor William's 
 military career, his Majesty, in commemoration thereof, held 
 a reception of the officers of the German army. The 
 Crown Prince delivered an address to his Imperial father 
 and Sovereign, and spoke of him as the type of all soldierly 
 virtues, and the creator of the military organization which 
 had consolidated Prussia and raised Germany to her former 
 greatness. The German army was at once the defender of 
 the Fatherland and guardian of freedom and unity. The 
 organization introduced by the Emperor had enabled Prussia 
 to fulfil its mission, and in the last terrible war it became 
 the common property of the nation. 
 
 The Emperor, who was visibly moved, thus replied : c If all 
 the gentlemen, whose presence here to-day affords me especial 
 pleasure, agree with the sentiments expressed by my son, 
 I may esteem myself all the more happy, and I first tender 
 you my thanks on that account. As I look back upon the 
 day when I entered the army, I cannot but remember the 
 state of affairs which then existed, and therefore from the 
 moment when my father's hand led me into the army, and 
 
266 WILLIAM /. AND THE QERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 throughout my life, up to the pleasurable occasion afforded 
 me to-day, my first thought has been to give humble thanks 
 to the Arbiter of our destinies. My position has led to the 
 greater part of my life being devoted to the army. My 
 gratitude is consequently due to all those who have accom- 
 panied me in my military career and seconded my efforts. 
 I always remember them with pleasure. I have to thank 
 the valour, devotion, and constancy of the army for the 
 position which I now occupy. From Fehrbellin to the last 
 gloriously-ended war, the deeds of the Brandenburg-Prussian 
 army are enrolled imperishably in the annals of the world's 
 history. Prussia has become what she is chiefly through 
 the army. I beg those who represent the army in my 
 presence to-day to convey to all in the ranks my personal 
 thanks, which they well merit, as I have been able to 
 convince myself for a long time past of the sentiments and 
 spirit by which the army is animated a spirit which, in 
 conjunction with that of the German troops, has been 
 successful in creating a United Germany and a united 
 army.' 
 
 As the Emperor's remark that his own position and that 
 of Prussia were largely due to the army was perfectly true, 
 it is of interest to note here the invention of the Krupp 
 gun, which was perfected at this time. It was a formidable 
 affair, as the French or any others who might attack 
 Germany could easily find out for themselves. By this gun 
 Herr Krupp completely revolutionised the whole system of 
 fortification and siege operations. It had a fixed shield to 
 prevent recoil, and in this lay its novelty and advantage. 
 As there was no recoil, the gun remained steady, and no 
 fresh aim was required. The result was that the guns could 
 be fired very rapidly, and an experiment demonstrated that 
 sixty shots could be fired in fifteen minutes. 
 
 The elections to the German Keichstag again proved less 
 favourable to the Government. In the previous Parliament 
 they had an absolute majority of 100, but now it was reduced 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 267 
 
 to 80. The Ultramontanes lost considerably at the polling 
 booths, while there was a considerable Conservative reaction, 
 as well as a notable growth in the Socialist vote. During 
 the session a Bill was passed transferring the right to 
 legislate for Alsace-Lorraine from the German to the Alsace 
 Parliament. The Keichstag also decided that the seat of the 
 Supreme Tribunal of Germany should be at Leipsic, and not 
 at Berlin as desired by the Prussian Minister of Justice. 
 
 Great rejoicings throughout Germany marked the Emperor's 
 80th birthday, which occurred on the 22nd of March. From 
 an early hour, as stated by the Times' correspondent in 
 Berlin, congratulatory letters, bouquets, corn-flour wreaths, 
 oak-leaf garlands, and other numerous gifts poured in at the 
 Imperial Palace. Though there were many hundreds of 
 written and telegraphic addresses, the Emperor opened them 
 all with his own hand, and in many instances sent immediate 
 telegraphic replies. By nine o'clock, all the windows of the 
 Palace were adorned with birthday bouquets, and the 
 Emperor now and then appeared behind the fragrant 
 rampart to bow to the cheering multitude in the square. 
 As usual on festive occasions, the ancient standard of the 
 Holy Koman Empire floated over the Imperial Palace. The 
 Crown Prince and Princess, with the Koyal children, waited 
 upon their beloved father and grandfather to offer him their 
 congratulations. They were succeeded by the Princes and 
 Princesses of the blood, and after these illustrious personages 
 came the Court, the Ambassadors, Ministers, Generals, 
 Envoys, and Federal and Parliamentary deputations. 
 
 The Emperor went to the old Palace at three o'clock, 
 where the German Sovereigns, represented by the Grand 
 Duke of Baden, the King of Saxony, the Grand Duke of 
 Mecklenburg, and the Grand Duke of Saxe, were already 
 assembled. His Majesty was presented with a huge oil 
 painting, by Werner, commemorating King William's pro- 
 clamation as German Emperor at Versailles on the 17th 
 of January, 1871. In presenting this historical picture, 
 
268 WILLIAM L AND THE GEItMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 which contains several hundred portraits, the King of Saxony 
 said: 'The day on which your Majesty celehrates your 
 eightieth "birthday, in unimpaired vigour and health, has been 
 selected hy the German Sovereigns and Republics to express 
 their joy at this happy event, and their attachment to your 
 Imperial Majesty. This painting represents one of the most 
 important occurrences in the history of Germany, and in the 
 eventful life of your Imperial Majesty. It perpetuates the 
 moment when your Majesty, complying with the expressed 
 desire of the German Sovereigns and Republics, revived the 
 Imperial dignity lost to our nation at a period of French 
 usurpation. Your Majesty by this act sanctioned the result 
 of our common struggles and victories. If we may add a 
 wish, it is this: that your Majesty may reign in undisturbed 
 peace for many years to come over the Empire re-established 
 on the battlefield. May God grant it ! ' 
 
 There were few Germans, official or otherwise, who did 
 not celebrate this auspicious event. The various sections of 
 the German Parliament dined together in amity, and all the 
 Ministers received. Divine Service was held in the churches, 
 and addresses delivered in all public and private schools. 
 Every city and town in the Empire had its congratulatory 
 celebrations. The Emperor scarcely knew what to give 
 Prince Bismarck on this occasion, but he bestowed upon him 
 and his heirs the hereditary title of Pomeranian Master of 
 the Hunt. Dr. Lauer, his Majesty's physician, was created 
 a Privy Councillor and granted the title of Excellency, 
 which the Emperor jocularly told him years before should be 
 his if he made him an octogenarian. The most interesting 
 of the numerous presents received by the Emperor were an 
 engraving and a book, the former executed by Prince Henry, 
 and the latter bound by Prince Waldemar, the younger sons 
 of the Crown Prince. It is a custom with the dynasty that 
 each of its Princes should learn a craft. The Emperor, for 
 example, is a glazier, and the Crown Prince a compositor. 
 
 A few days after these rejoicings, there was another 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 269 
 
 acute Chancellor crisis. Bismarck had had some difficulty 
 with General Stosch, Chief of the Admiralty, and as the 
 Prince was in ill-health, and had sustained more official 
 friction than he could well bear, he tendered his resignation 
 on the 1st of April, and asked for permission to retire 
 immediately. A medical certificate was put in, showing that 
 the Chancellor's continuance in office would be seriously 
 prejudicial to his health, and might endanger his life. But 
 the Emperor would not listen to Bismarck's resignation ; he 
 would grant him four months' leave of absence instead ; and 
 after much negotiation this settlement of the difficulty was 
 agreed upon. The Prince retired until August; Herr 
 Hofmann, President of the Imperial Chancery, took his place 
 in the Department of Home Affairs ; Herr von Bulow went 
 to the Department of Foreign Affairs ; and Herr Camphausen 
 represented him in the Prussian Cabinet. 
 
 The Emperor William paid a visit to his new dominions of 
 Alsace and Lorraine in May, arriving at Strasburg on the 
 1st. In reply to an address from the Alsace-Lorraine Com- 
 mittee, he urged the wisdom of resignation. The middle 
 classes were very enthusiastic in their reception of his 
 Majesty ; but the upper and lower classes rather held aloof; 
 nevertheless, the Kaiser expressed himself agreeably surprised 
 at his cordial reception ; and it was said that nothing to be 
 compared with the festive celebration was ever witnessed in 
 Strasburg under the French regime. No expense was spared 
 to make the Emperor's visit successful, and every facility was 
 afforded to the peasantry to come into the capital and enjoy 
 themselves. The cathedral was splendidly illuminated. 
 Metz refused to be pacified, however; the Town Council 
 would vote no money for the Emperor's reception, and as the 
 cathedral was injured by the German illuminations, a sullen 
 feeling was created amongst the inhabitants. 
 
 The first week of the following September was called the 
 ' Kaiser week,' as it was given up to celebrations and 
 festivities at Dusseldorf, Darmstadt, Cologne, &c. On the 
 
270 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 8th the Emperor arrived at Benrath Castle, the seat of the 
 hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern, nine miles from Dusseldorf. 
 On his way he visited the famous establishment of Krupp at 
 Essen, where he witnessed the performances of the great 
 hammer ' Fritz ' on a mass of glowing metal weighing 37J 
 tons, which was to be the core of a thousand-pound cannon. 
 An English correspondent wrote : 
 
 * The Emperor attended the Sedan festival at Essen, dined 
 at the villa of Herr Krupp, and afterwards conferred a 
 decoration upon him. Monday was the day of the Kaiser 
 parade, when all the world and his wife assembled at the in- 
 spection field, a wide stretch of sand about three miles north 
 of the town. The Emperor and Empress, Crown Prince and 
 Princess, with their eldest daughter, Princes Carl, Frederick 
 Charles, and Albert, Field Marshals Moltke and Manteuffel, 
 the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg, Sachsen, Oldenburg, the 
 Princes of Wied, Lippe, Schaumburg, &c., arrived at the 
 field about ten o'clock. The Crown Princess was in the 
 uniform of her Hussar regiment. There was a very large 
 staff of foreign officers, from Great Britain, France, Austria, 
 Italy, Eussia, Sweden, and a dusky Major from Japan. Our 
 own country sent the largest contingent, consisting of Lord 
 Airey, the Duke of Manchester, Colonels Wilkinson, Graham, 
 &c. The troops inspected consisted of the Seventh Army 
 Corps, eight regiments of infantry and one of rifles, the 
 cuirassier regiment, two of Hussars, one of Lancers, and two 
 batteries of field artillery, with a train battalion. They 
 marched past first in companies, then in brigades, the 
 artillery, according to German fashion, coming last. The 
 marching of the infantry was said to be very good, and the 
 cavalry seemed in excellent condition. Besides the regular 
 troops, 18,000 in number, there were at least as many old 
 soldiers on the field, with the flags and insignia of their 
 Krieger-Vereine, who towards the close forgot all discipline 
 and completely mobbed their old leader. During the week 
 the Empress and Crown Prince have visited the studios of 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 271 
 
 the principal artists, the picture galleries, and hospitals and 
 public schools. And the army of regular troops was nothing 
 in comparison with the invading host of enthusiastic Germans 
 which has streamed into the town from every quarter. On 
 the day of the Emperor's triumphal progress through the 
 illuminated streets, it is reckoned that 300,000 strangers 
 thronged the thoroughfares, and although trains were 
 despatched in rapid succession throughout the night, daylight 
 found thousands the next morning still in the streets. Such 
 scenes were repeated below Cologne, then in Baden, and 
 lastly at Darmstadt.' 
 
 Though eighty years of age, the Emperor was as vigorous 
 as many men at half his age, and he relaxed few of his 
 ordinary occupations and amusements. In the autumn he 
 went upon his usual shooting excursion into Silesia. A con- 
 temporary observed that he ' usually arrives with the invited 
 guests the evening before the ~battue, and proceeds to the 
 hunting castle of Konigswusterhausen, where, after supper, 
 during which the finest horn-music from Berlin is always 
 played, the whole company assembles as a smoking college, 
 in the same hall in which it was held at the time of Frederick 
 William I. This hall, in the second storey of the castle, is 
 decorated with stags' horns, and stuffed boars' heads, being 
 trophies of animals killed by the Emperor William. It 
 contains the same peculiar chairs and the long oaken table 
 which were in use there 170 years ago. There the merry 
 company relate amusing hunting stories, drink beer out of 
 old earthenware mugs, and smoke Turkish tobacco out of 
 long Dutch clay-pipes till a late hour, just as it was in the 
 days of Frederick William I.' 
 
 The Prussian Diet was considerably exercised in October 
 and November owing to the non-fulfilment of the Government 
 promises to complete the work of administrative reform 
 throughout the provinces. Prince Bismarck had not returned 
 to Berlin for the opening of the Diet, owing to differences 
 with Ministers, it was believed, on certain Church questions. 
 
272 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 But several speakers of the Opposition declared that he never 
 meant to carry out his promises in the former direction, and 
 that administrative reform was a dead letter. The season 
 closed leaving this and other matters, as well as the personnel 
 of the Ministry, in a very unsatisfactory condition. 
 
 On the 1 st of Novemher there passed away Field Marshal 
 Count Wrangel, in the ninety-fourth year of his age. He 
 was the oldest soldier in the Prussian service, and was 
 familiarly known as ' Papa Wrangel.' He was present in the 
 commencement of his career at the battle of Leipsic, and his 
 last military service was in 1864, when he commanded at the 
 beginning of the second Danish campaign, and was created a 
 Count. When very ill, the old hero declined to keep his bed ; 
 he would persist in lying on a sofa in full uniform, saying 
 that a soldier must always hold himself in readiness to wait 
 on his Sovereign, should he be summoned by him. It is such 
 tough customers as Count Wrangel who are the strength of 
 Prussia. The Emperor attended the old warrior's funeral 
 obsequies in Berlin (though he was really buried at Stettin), 
 following on foot a portion of the way. His participation in 
 the procession was a very unusual mark of respect, as the 
 etiquette is that Sovereigns should only follow Sovereigns or 
 widows of Sovereigns. 
 
 Socialism had long caused the German Government deep 
 anxiety and concern, and in 1878 it became necessary to take 
 some active steps for its suppression. The immediate cause 
 for this was an attempted assassination of the Emperor. While 
 driving along Unter den Linden on the llth of May, a man 
 came up behind the carriage, and fired twice at the Emperor- 
 The aged monarch was heard to exclaim, ' Is it possible that 
 those shots are intended for me ? ' The assassin, who was 
 now in the crowd, fired two more shots before he could be 
 secured. He proved to be one Heinrich Max Hodel, a man 
 of no importance, who had thought to foist himself into 
 notoriety by his action. Hodel was brought to trial and 
 executed. The German nation showed its joy over the 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 273 
 
 Emperor's escape by numberless addresses of congratulation, 
 and amongst the most gratifying of foreign messages was one 
 from Marshal Macmahon, President of the French Eepublic. 
 
 In consequence of the Hodel attempt, the Government 
 introduced in the Eeichstag an Anti-Socialist Bill of a very 
 stringent character. It was strongly opposed by Bismarck's 
 own friends, the National Liberals, Herr Yon Bennigsen 
 making a very effective onslaught upon it, and Dr. Lasker 
 showing that, if passed, the Bill would either not work at all, 
 or would have to be extended considerably beyond its present 
 scope. The Government sustained a disastrous defeat, the 
 bill being rejected by 251 to only 57 votes. The measure 
 was withdrawn, and the Parliamentary session prematurely 
 closed. 
 
 But Bismarck soon found plenty of ground for a war 
 against the Socialists. On the 2nd of June, which was 
 Sunday, a far more serious attack than Hodel's was made upon 
 the Emperor. The details were thus given in a notification 
 issued by the Berlin Prefect of Police : ' As the Emperor 
 was passing through the street Unter den Linden, at about 
 three o'clock in the afternoon, two shots were fired from the 
 second floor of the house No. 18, Unter den Linden, and His 
 Majesty was struck in several places. The assassin is Karl 
 Edouard Nobiling, a doctor of philology and an agriculturist ; 
 he was born on April 10, 1848, at Kollno, near Birnbaum, 
 has been living in Berlin during the last two years, and has 
 resided at No. 18, Unter den Linden since the beginning of 
 January last. Immediately after the deed was committed, 
 the would-be assassin was seized, and is now under arrest. 
 The two shots at the Emperor were fired by him from the 
 window of a room on the second floor with a double-barrelled 
 gun loaded with shot. On being arrested he inflicted severe 
 wounds upon himself in the head, after first firing with a 
 ready loaded revolver upon the persons who forced their way 
 into his room. Nobiling confesses his crime, but absolutely 
 refuses to make any statement as to the motives which 
 
 T 
 
274 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 induced him to commit it. The Emperor, according to a 
 bulletin which has been issued, is wounded by about thirty 
 small shot in the face, head, both arms, and the back.' 
 
 Unparalleled excitement prevailed in Berlin when the news 
 spread from one quarter to another. The Emperor, who was 
 alone, was driven back to the Palace and conveyed to bed, where 
 a careful examination was made of his wounds. Some thirty 
 grains of small shot were extracted, and then the operation 
 was suspended, as the wounds caused the skin and muscles 
 to swell. His Majesty was quite calm and composed through- 
 out, and in the interval sent a message to the Shah of Persia 
 regretting his inability to dine with him as previously 
 arranged. It appears that Nobiling, who was a very young 
 man, had been refused employment in the Ministry of 
 Agriculture. He was a gentleman of a good military family, 
 cultivated, and well to do, belonging to one of the darker 
 Socialist sects. He died of his self-inflicted wounds. The 
 Emperor gradually recovered, but during the time he was 
 incapacitated the Crown Prince assumed the functions of 
 Government, and discharged them during the Congress of 
 Berlin, which was just about to assemble. When the 
 Congress met to discuss the Eastern Question, England was 
 represented by Lords Beaconsfield and Salisbury, and under 
 the treaty which was concluded England acquired the island 
 of Cyprus. 
 
 Prince Bismarck, in consequence of Nobiling's attempt upon 
 the life of the Emperor, obtained the consent of the Federal 
 Council to dissolve Parliament. The new elections were held 
 on the 30th of July, and the supplementary elections on 
 August 17th. Every effort was made to defeat the Socialists, 
 and although they polled larger numbers they returned fewer 
 members. The following were the final returns : 60 German 
 Imperialists, 50 Conservatives, 97 National Liberals, 99 
 Ultramontanes, 25 Progressists, 15 Poles, 9 Guelphs, 9 Social 
 Democrats, 3 South German Democrats, 4 Alsatian Autono- 
 mists, 6 Alsatian Protesters, 1 Dane, and 19 Independents, 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 275 
 
 most of whom, however, were in sympathy with the Liberals. 
 The Conservatives largely increased their strength as com- 
 pared with the last Parliament, while the Liberals were 
 greatly weakened ; and the Socialists only returned nine 
 members instead of their previous twelve. 
 
 The Emperor's speech, which was read by deputy at the 
 opening of the German Diet on the 9th of September, dealt 
 chiefly with the attempts made upon His Majesty's life, and 
 the Anti-Socialist bill prepared by the Government, which 
 was shortly to be laid before the House. Hope was con- 
 fidently expressed that the newly-elected Deputies would not 
 refuse to grant the means of giving the peaceful development 
 of the Empire the same security against attacks from within 
 as it enjoyed against those from without ; that the spread of 
 the pernicious Socialist movement would be arrested; and 
 that those who had been led away by it might be brought 
 back to the right path. When the Anti-Socialist Bill was 
 introduced on the 10th, Count Stolberg, as spokesman for 
 the Government, admitted that the measure was one of 
 great severity, but added that half measures would only do 
 harm. The Ultramontane party opposed the bill, and re- 
 commended its reference to a select committee. Bebel, a 
 Socialist member, delivered an able speech and denied that 
 there was any connection between social democracy and the 
 crimes of Hodel and Nobiling. Prince Bismarck vindi- 
 cated himself from the reproach of having formerly courted 
 the Socialists. Admitting his intimacy with Lassalle, he 
 said that that prominent Socialist was deeply imbued with 
 national and even with monarchical principles. 
 
 The bill was ultimately referred to a committee of 21 
 members. When the measure some time afterwards came 
 back for its third reading it seemed to be in considerable 
 danger. The Chancellor, however, flung himself into the 
 breach, and asked the Deputies whether they were more 
 afraid of him and of the Federal Government than of the 
 Socialists; and he admitted that his aim went beyond the 
 
 T 2 
 
276 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 present measure, for he wished to unite parties in order to 
 form a bulwark against all tempests to which the empire was 
 exposed. The bill passed by 221 votes to 149. By this 
 measure it was left to the authorities to decide what Socialist 
 and Communist doctrines were, who Socialist and Communist 
 writers were, and to take the most peremptory measures for 
 their suppression. The bill came into force immediately, and 
 four clubs in Berlin and a large number of publications were 
 at once suppressed by the police. In other places it was as 
 promptly and rigorously enforced. 
 
 The Emperor had so far recovered that on the 26th of 
 September, together with the Empress and the Crown Prince, 
 he attended the inauguration, at Cologne, of the monument to 
 Frederick William III., the Emperor's father ; it was under 
 this sovereign that the Ehine province was added to Prussia 
 in 1815. After an absence of three months from the capital, 
 His Majesty returned to Berlin on the 5th of December. 
 Shortly before his arrival, the Minister of State notified, 
 under the Anti-Socialist Act, that for one year no person 
 suspected of designs on the public safety would be permitted 
 to reside in Berlin, Chaiiottenburg, Potsdam, or the neigh- 
 bourhood ; that the carrying of arms, except by soldiers or 
 licensed persons, was prohibited ; that no explosive projectiles 
 might be sold or carried ; and that ' permits ' to carry arms 
 would*be granted only by the police. In resuming the reins 
 of Government the Emperor issued an order publicly thank- 
 ing the Crown Prince for the services he had rendered during 
 six important months. Before the close of the year, 45 
 incriminated newspapers and 171 associations had been 
 suppressed, and 150 books and pamphlets prohibited. The 
 difficulties of another character with the Papacy had not 
 been adjusted, it having been found impossible as yet to 
 establish a modus vivendi between the Eomish Church and 
 the German Government. 
 
 A painful sensation was created throughout Germany by 
 the terrible collision which occurred on the 31st of May, 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 277 
 
 between two German ironclads, the Grosser Kurfurst and the 
 Konig Wilhelm. While advancing in two columns with 
 another vessel up channel, the German squadron met two 
 sailing vessels, to avoid which the Grosser Kurfurst had to 
 give way, and consequently ported her helm. The Konig 
 Wilhelm, which was steering parallel with the Grosser 
 Kurfurst, endeavoured to pass one of the sailing vessels, hut 
 finding there was not time, put her helm hard-a-port, and 
 came into colision with the Grosser Kurfurst, which, having 
 resumed her original course, was now lying right across the 
 bows of the Konig Wilhelm. The latter vessel struck the 
 other between the main and mizen masts, and inflicted such 
 injuries upon her that she sank in about eight minutes, with 
 all on board. Every possible assistance was rendered in 
 saving the men, but the boats on one side of the Grosser 
 Kurfurst had been swept away, and those on the other side 
 could not be got at. The Folkestone fishing fleet, which 
 was passing, rendered valuable service, and saved between 
 eighty and ninety lives. Out of a total crew of 497, however, 
 only 216 were rescued, and three afterwards died from 
 exhaustion. The Konig Wilhelm made into Portsmouth 
 Harbour. The Emperor and all the members of the Imperial 
 family were much moved on learning this disastrous news, 
 and instituted minute inquiries into the catastrophe. 
 
 The Parliamentary history of the year 1879 was notable 
 chiefly for two things an announcement by Prince Bismarck 
 of a startling change of political view, and the collapse of 
 the National Liberal party. The Chancellor exhibited a 
 spirit of opportunism in the foreign relations of Germany, 
 and a spirit of reaction in home politics. Alarmed by the 
 spread of Socialism and Eationalism, he resolved to abandon 
 the National Liberal party, which had been largely his own 
 creation, and under which he had ruled for ten years past. 
 The time had now come when he must choose between his 
 old supporters and the work as he read it of preserving 
 and consolidating the interests of the Empire. Several 
 
278 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 incidents precipitated a declaration on the Chancellor's part 
 of his new departure. The German Eeichsrath unanimously 
 refused permission to the Government to imprison two 
 Socialist deputies who returned to Berlin after their 
 expulsion ; the clerical and Conservative press rejoiced over 
 the disintegration of the National Liberal party ; and three 
 important members of the Government Herr Hobrecht, 
 Minister of Finance, Dr. Falck, Minister of Public Worship, 
 and Herr Friedenthal, Minister of Agriculture, tendered 
 their resignation. Bismarck's acceptance of these resigna- 
 tions was in itself significant, and on the 9th of July 
 he openly announced his separation from the National 
 Liberal party, and his adherence to the Clerical-Conservative 
 coalition. The statement fell like a thunderbolt upon 
 German and European Liberals, for it signified an abandon- 
 ment of all progressive ideas affecting free trade, liberty of 
 speech, education, liberty of the press, &c. Various reasons 
 were given for this change of front, but Bismarck has 
 been a statesman who could always look a long way ahead, 
 and his real object now was to dissever himself from -any 
 political party and to stand alone, putting forward as his 
 one end and aim the superiority of Germany as a whole. 
 When the elections came on in October, the National Liberals 
 were scattered as chaff before the wind, losing no fewer than 
 one hundred seats, and amongst the rejected was their able 
 leader, Dr. Lasker. 
 
 In the meantime the campaign against the Socialists was 
 pushed vigorously forward. The measures of the Govern- 
 ment were unquestionably hard and cruel in many instances, 
 but they were successful far more successful than Kussia's 
 repressive policy against Nihilism. It is said that when the 
 Anti-Socialist Law finally passed, Bismarck chuckled and 
 rubbed his hands, exclaiming, l Now for the pig sticking.' 
 By the end of 1879 there had already been issued 457 
 injunctions under the ''pig-sticking' law. Of these, 189 
 were to clubs and societies ; 58 were to periodical publi- 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 279 
 
 cations, and 210 to non-periodical publications. The 
 liberty of the press and of speech in Parliament were both 
 curtailed. 
 
 The G-overnment now abandoned the policy of free trade, 
 for the Chancellor professed to be guided by the interests 
 of the country and not by abstract principles. At least that 
 was his boast. At the close of February, speaking in the 
 debate on the Commercial Treaty with Austria, Bismarck 
 said that the necessity for protecting home industries must 
 be considered in every such engagement, although he was 
 not altogether opposed to commercial treaties. But he 
 frankly added that l he had no wish to deny that he had 
 changed his views in regard to commercial policy.' The 
 Government in fact had reverted to the system of Protection. 
 The Chancellor, having abandoned his old allies the Liberals, 
 now relied upon the Agrarians, Protectionists, Ultramontanes 
 and the Conservatives generally throughout Germany. 
 Dr. Windthorst became a supporter of the Ministry, and an 
 Ultramontane was elected Yice-President of the Eeichstag. 
 No wonder that the clericals exulted over these things, 
 asserting that after all the man of ' blood and iron* had 
 taken his first step towards Canossa. As the result of 
 Bismarck's volte-face the Corn Duties were passed by 226 to 
 109, and a protective tariff and tariff law was passed in July, 
 after a three months' debate, by 217 to 117 votes. 
 
 At the ensuing Prussian elections the Government secured 
 a great victory. The Conservatives of all shades returned 
 numbered 170, or more than double their previous strength ; 
 the Ultramontanes numbered 95, a gain of 6 ; National 
 Liberals 97, a loss of 78 ; Liberals 17 ; Progressists 34, a 
 loss of 34; Poles, 18; Danes, 2; Guelph, 1; Social 
 Democrat, 1 ; and Christian Democrat, 1. As 217 was a 
 majority of the whole House, the Conservatives only required 
 the aid of fifty Ultramontane votes to command a working 
 majority, and of this support they were practically assured. 
 The Chancellor was again able to ride the storm, and to 
 
280 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 smile at the anger and opposition of those who cried, ' Away 
 with him ! ' So far from going under, when confronted 
 with apparently insuperable difficulties, ' he had reappeared 
 on a higher vantage ground than ever, supported by the 
 overwhelming majority of the German nation, and subse- 
 quently indefinitely reinforced by the moral and political 
 support of the Austrian Empire.' The minister had forsaken 
 the KulturJcampf, but not before it had struck its roots 
 deeply into the German soil. This Kulturkampf ' was the 
 resultant of the spontaneous development of both German 
 Protestant, and Catholic education, fostered and cherished by 
 all the German powers great and small, ever since the battle 
 of Jena. It was this general educational impulse which led 
 without bloodshed to the consolidation of Germany. It was 
 no sudden creation of Prince Bismarck's: generations of 
 German statesmen and German patriots had prepared the 
 instrument to his hands.' 
 
 With regard to Germany's relations towards the Vatican, 
 the accession of the new Pope Leo XIII. had been viewed 
 with disfavour by the Ultramontanes but with com- 
 placency by the German Government. Under no circum- 
 stances would Bismarck relax his hostility to that party, 
 which set at naught the supremacy of the civil authority, 
 yet within proper limits he was far from being averse to 
 the conclusion of a peace with Kome. But this was not yet 
 in sight. 
 
 One of the most important measures adopted by the 
 German Parliament was that for finally regulating the 
 Government of Alsace-Lorraine. The question had given 
 rise to several discussions, and the Emperor was desirous of 
 bringing the matter to a conclusion. After his satisfactory 
 visit to the conquered provinces, His Majesty had written 
 that ' it confirmed him in the belief that the intelligent efforts 
 of the Government and the growing confidence of the popu- 
 lation would soon join Alsace and Lorraine with Germany 
 in indissoluble bonds.' Prince Bismarck brought forward 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 281 
 
 the expected regulation bill on the 15th of May, It was 
 adopted almost in its entirety, and passed on June 23 by a 
 unanimous vote of all parties, except that of the French 
 section. It was duly signed by the Emperor, and an 
 Imperial decree was issued ordering that the law should go 
 into operation on October 1st. By this measure Alsace- 
 Lorraine remained an Imperial possession, and became virtu- 
 ally a federal state, of which the Emperor of Germany as 
 such, and not in his capacity of King of Prussia, is the ruler. 
 The Emperor appoints a Stadtholder, who resides in Stras- 
 burg, and may at any time be recalled. The Stadtholder does 
 not exercise the functions of the Sovereign, but merely those 
 which were hitherto exercised with regard to the Eeichsland 
 by the Imperial Chancellor and by the Lord-Lieutenant of 
 Alsace-Lorraine. A ministry was to be constituted, and the 
 State was to have a representative in the Federal Council, 
 but no vote. General E. F. von Manteuffel was appointed 
 first Stadtholder of the Keichsland. 
 
 The Emperor's speech from the throne at the opening of 
 the Diet had made some references to the northern part of 
 Schleswig. This had long been a vexed question, but a 
 treaty between Austria and Prussia was now ratified which 
 effected a settlement. Article V. of the treaty of Prague 
 was altered to read ' His Majesty the Emperor of Austria 
 transfers to His Majesty the King of Prussia all his rights to 
 the Duchies Holstein and Schleswig acquired by the Peace 
 of Vienna of October 30, 1864.' The provision that the 
 Northern Districts of Schleswig should be ceded to Denmark 
 if a vote of jthe people indicated their desire for this, was 
 abolished. As the Emperor stated in his speech, his Govern- 
 ment had failed in repeated attempts to settle the question 
 with Denmark, and meanwhile the people affected by the 
 promise were kept in uncertainty. The Schleswig-Holstein 
 dispute was thus finally set at rest. 
 
 The German Government at this time paid great attention 
 to its navy, and by the Samoan treaty and other measures 
 
282 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 showed its intention to protect, and possibly to promote, the 
 extension of German commerce, now rapidly and legitimately 
 extending along the sea-board of the world. One incident 
 in connection with the navy which brought up mournful 
 recollections was the court martial apppointed to inquire into 
 the cause of the Folkestone disaster to the Grosser Kurfurst. 
 Kear- Admiral Batsch was sentenced to imprisonment in a 
 fortress for six months, and Captain Klauser to one month, 
 while i Captain Kuhne was acquitted. Admiral Batsch was 
 afterwards pardoned by the Emperor. 
 
 It is worthy of note that a universal Judicature Act was 
 promulgated within three or four years of the Constitution 
 of the German Empire. Other kingdoms and empires have 
 failed to achieve such a vast legal reform in the course of 
 centuries ; but in 1879 the twenty-seven States of which 
 Germany is composed, together with a variety of legally 
 independent provinces, saw put into force a universal and 
 compulsory Imperial Judicature Act. And during the session 
 which witnessed the passing of this Act, a second very 
 important measure was carried for the acquisition of all the 
 railways, under certain conditions, by the State. 
 
 Many incidents of a personal interest, partly pleasurable 
 and partly sad, occurred during the year in connection with 
 the Emperor William and his family. On the 13th of March 
 there was celebrated at Windsor the marriage of the Duke 
 of Connaught with Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia, 
 daughter of Prince Frederick Charles. The Crown Prince 
 represented the Emperor and Empress at the ceremony, 
 which was attended by Her Majesty Queen Victoria and all 
 the members of the Eoyal family. The ' Ked Prince ' gave 
 his daughter away, the Prince of Wales produced the wedding- 
 ring, and, after the nuptial knot had been tied, the Queen 
 warmly embraced the bride. 
 
 Only a few days subsequent to this joyous ceremony there 
 was mourning in the German Imperial Court. Prince 
 Waldemar of Prussia, third son of the Crown Prince, and 
 
CONSOLIDATING THE EMPIRE. 283 
 
 grandson of Queen Victoria, died on March 27 at Berlin, in 
 his eleventh year, of heart disease. The attack began on 
 March 24, when the symptoms were apparently those of a 
 slight attack of diphtheria. No grave apprehensions were 
 entertained until the night of the 26th, when the Prince 
 suddenly became worse, and he died at half-past three on 
 the following morning. The young Prince was a great 
 favourite with his Imperial grandfather. 
 
 No little concern was caused by three several accidents 
 which occurred to the Emperor himself during the year. 
 On the 7th of March he was walking along a waxed floor in 
 the palace at Berlin when he slipped down and slightly 
 bruised himself. He passed a quiet night, and was able to 
 transact business the next day. It subsequently transpired, 
 however, that His Majesty lost consciousness for a few 
 moments when he fell, and had to be assisted up by his 
 attendants. The Emperor's medical advisers recommended 
 him to spend a little time at Wiesbaden. On the 2nd of 
 June, while walking in the Babelsburg Palace, he again 
 slipped, and in his fall injured the knee-cap. For a third 
 time, as he was leaving the theatre at Berlin on the 21st of 
 December, he slipped on the staircase, and in falling again 
 injured his knee. Notwithstanding his advanced age, thanks 
 to a splendid constitution, His Majesty soon recovered from 
 his injuries. 
 
 The Emperor and Empress celebrated their golden wedding 
 on the llth of June, on which occasion they received the 
 representatives of all the European Courts. Public rejoicings 
 were general throughout the Empire, and large sums of 
 money were collected for the endowment of charitable insti- 
 tutions in commemoration of the festival. Shortly before 
 this event the Emperor had become a great-grandfather by 
 the birth of the first child of the heir apparent to the Duchy 
 of Saxe-Meiningen, who in 1878 was married to the eldest 
 daughter of the Crown Prince of Prussia. 
 
 Two meetings of Imperial Sovereigns took place in 1879. 
 
284 WILLIAM I. AND THE QERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 In June the Emperor of Austria visited the Emperor 
 William at Gastein. For some time back there had been 
 rumours of a still closer rapprochement between the two em- 
 pires, and it Was now stated that the interview could only 
 be taken to imply the strengthening of the bonds of amity 
 between Germany and Austria. Kussian journalists were at 
 this juncture waging a very bitter controversy with the 
 German press. The St. Petersburg Gazette even advised the 
 Eussian Government to ' leave the Bosphorus and the Danube 
 for the present to their fate, and to tackle Prussia, the 
 Imperial Chancellor having, in the matter of the Eastern 
 question, wholly leaned to the side of the western Powers.' 
 
 Kussian vituperation was seen to be groundless, however, 
 in September, when the Emperors of Kussia and Germany 
 had an interview at Alexandrowa, in Poland. The cordial 
 relations subsisting between the two monarchs were now still 
 further cemented ; and indeed for the moment no cloud was 
 looming over the European horizon. Each Empire and State 
 was busied with its normal duty of encouraging internal 
 development and national progress. 
 
( 285 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 EUROPE has seldom gone long without ' wars or rumours of 
 wars. 1 There are in every State men who delight to fan the 
 flame of international discord, either for individual or na- 
 tional purposes. It was natural, perhaps, that the great 
 progress which Germany had made in the decade that ended 
 with 1879, should have stirred feelings of jealousy amongst 
 neighbouring Powers. Consequently, either Germany was 
 always asserted to be contemplating mischief against other 
 European States, or they were said to be conspiring against 
 her. 
 
 Although, therefore, the year 1880 opened in quietude, it 
 was not long before another Eussian scare was exploited. 
 The Northern Power was pointed to as the sole element of 
 disturbance in Europe, and Prince Bismarck expressed his 
 distrust of her. France was making advances to Eussia, and 
 tot render these innocuous the German Chancellor cultivated 
 cordial relations with the new Eadical French Ministry. The 
 massing of Eussian troops in the Western provinces of the 
 Czar's dominions, and the contemplated new fortifications, 
 gave Germany some concern, so she gently sounded Austria 
 as to whether this was the right thing to do. Then, too, 
 France was rapidly perfecting her military organization, and 
 the old saying of the great Napoleon was recalled, tha 
 Europe would be either Eepublican or Cossack within fifty 
 years of his time. When Eussia perceived that Bismarck 
 was endeavouring to make friends elsewhere, great chagrin 
 was expressed in St. Petersburg, where it had become an 
 
286 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 article of faith that Germany should adhere to her traditional 
 policy of union with Russia. One thing was proved heyond 
 question, that, whatever might be the cause, the Berlin 
 Chancellor was now assiduously supporting the Austro- 
 German alliance concluded in the previous year. 
 
 The scare passed over, but ' it's an ill wind that blows 
 nobody any good.' The military party at Berlin scored 
 largely by the false rumours, for they enabled the Govern- 
 ment to bring forward with some success their new Army 
 Bill. This measure, by far the most important of the year, 
 was early laid before the Federal Council. It provided that 
 from April 1, 1881, the infantry was to be formed into 503 
 battalions, the field artillery into 340 batteries, the foot 
 artillerylnto 31 battalions, and the sappers and miners into 19. 
 At the same time several new regiments were to be created 
 viz., 11 infantry, 1 field artillery regiment, of 8 batteries, 32 
 field batteries, 1 foot artillery, and 1 sapper regiment. The 
 increase of the expenditure for the different German Govern- 
 ments was calculated as follows: for Prussia, 12,773,896 
 marks ; for Saxony, 1,822,000 marks ; for Wurtemburg, 
 547,242 marks; and for Bavaria, 2,170,104 marks, giving a 
 total of upwards of 17,000,000 marks. For the building of 
 barracks, magazines, &c., a gross sum of 26,713,216 marks 
 was asked, of which Prussia would contribute 20,172,266 
 marks; Saxony, 3,220,400 marks; Wurtemberg, 428,050 
 marks ; and Bavaria, 2,892,500 marks. The strength of the 
 army in peace was to be fixed by the law from April 1, 1881, 
 to March 31, 1888. The strength of the army had hitherto 
 been 401,659, but the population of Germany having largely 
 increased during the past seven years, the number of men 
 under the imperial banners would be augmented in proportion. 
 
 The Bill came before the Keichsrath on the 1st of March, 
 when General Von Kameke, the Minister of War, was charged 
 to pilot it through the House. The General said that the 
 Government regarded it as its duty to maintain the relative 
 strength of the German Army. Germany's neighbours 
 
TUB EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 287 
 
 having considerably added to their military forces, there 
 remained nothing but to follow suit. Germany was 'arming 
 not for any immediate hostilities, but to maintain the balance 
 of power. Count Moltke adduced arguments on similar lines 
 in support of the bill. The Ultramontanes opposed the 
 measure, but the National Liberals supported it, not to 
 oblige the Government, but to ensure the safety of the 
 country. The Bill was ultimately referred to a Committee of 
 21 members, and before this Committee General Yon Kameke 
 revealed the enormous strides made by France and Eussia 
 towards a complete arming of the population; and he 
 depicted lugubriously the unsatisfactory condition of the 
 German forces. The bill came back with an amendment to 
 the effect that the number of supplementary reserves of the 
 first class required to join in the military manoeuvres should 
 in time of peace be settled yearly with the Budget ; but in 
 cases of urgency all such might be called out by Imperial 
 order at any time for a period not exceeding eight weeks. 
 Other amendments were proposed in the Keichstag, but the 
 Minister of War declined to modify his demands, and the 
 military septennate was voted by 186 against 96. On the 
 third reading an amendment was adopted exempting the 
 Catholic and Protestant clergy from serving in the reserves, 
 and the bill finally passed by 186 votes to 128. 
 
 Second only in importance to the Army Bill was a 
 measure for the prolongation of the Anti-Socialist law of 
 1878. The committee appointed by the Keichstag to report 
 on the bill decided, by ten votes against three, to prolong its 
 operation until September 30, 1884, instead of 1886 as 
 proposed by the Government. When the time for the 
 second reading came on in the Chamber, the Socialists 
 resolved upon a protracted struggle ; but Ministers cut it 
 short by passing a resolution combining the various Socialistic 
 amendments. The second reading was carried, and the bill 
 passed on May 4,by 191 to 94 votes. Herr Liebknecht de- 
 livered a powerful speech against it on the third reading, and 
 
288 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 taunted the Government with Cavour's well-known maxim, 
 that any bunglers could govern under a state of siege. 
 
 Yet another resignation by Prince Bismarck of his office as 
 Imperial Chancellor took place in April, in consequence 
 of a vote come to in the Federal Council on the Imperial 
 Stamp Duties Bill. Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony had been 
 outvoted by a combination of the smaller states under the 
 leadership of Wurtemburg. The Emperor William, in a 
 Cabinet order, whilst recognizing the difficulties of the 
 Chancellor's position, declined to relieve him of his office, 
 and called upon him to prepare proposals for bringing about 
 a constitutional solution of such a conflict of duties as led 
 to the recent resignation. On the 12th of May the German 
 Federal Council adopted a resolution declaring receipts for 
 post office orders and remittances liable to a stamp duty, 
 thus reversing the previous vote which led to the resignation 
 of Prince Bismarck. 
 
 With regard to Germany's relations to the Vatican and 
 the Eomish Church, no new laws were passed this year 
 against tlie Catholics, but those on the Statute-book were 
 enforced, gradually depriving the Ultramontanes in the 
 Empire of their religious services, and punishing with 
 rigour any attempt to supply their vacancies. Yet, though 
 successful with his amendment of the Falck or May laws in 
 this sense, Bismarck sustained several rebuffs during the 
 session. Parliament rejected his proposed subvention to 
 the Samoa Company a project to revive by national funds 
 the bankrupt house of Godeffroy, of Hamburg, which had 
 once monopolized the South Sea Trade ; and it also declined 
 to allow the introduction of a tobacco monopoly, the 
 Chancellor being unable to obtain the support of more than 
 a third of the Eeichstag for his project. But Bismarck was 
 enabled to show that he was fully alive to the pecuniary 
 interests of the community at large, by passing a bill for the 
 regulation of usury abuses. 
 
 There was witnessed a disruption of the National Liberals 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 289 
 
 during the recess, when Herr Lasker and a number of his 
 friends formally seceded from the party. Shortly after this 
 it was announced that Bismarck had been appointed Minister 
 of Commerce. All kinds of rumours were afloat as the 
 reasons for this step, but the first practical issue of it was 
 the appointment by Koyal decree of a committee of trade 
 on agriculture, whose function it was to examine all 
 economical questions, and to report on the needs of the 
 country. 
 
 Towards the close of the year the Judenlietze movement, or 
 persecution of the Jews, had passed into an advanced stage, 
 and one which reflected scandalously upon Liberal Germany. 
 In Berlin, the Orthodox clergy, under the leadership of 
 Hofprediger Stocker, had done their utmost to embitter 
 public feeling against the Jewish race ; and the movement 
 was supported by the Ultramontane press, and even by the 
 eminent historian Professor Yon Treitschke. The main 
 argument used in justification was that the internal state 
 of Germany, in view of its widespread Socialism and its 
 external policy, produced a condition of things which 
 rendered the preponderance of the Jewish element a source 
 of danger. The census of 1871 showed that there were in 
 Spain 6000 Jews, in Italy 40,000, in France and Great 
 Britain 45,000 each, but in Germany 512,000. In Prussia 
 alone the number had increased from 124,000 in 1816, to 
 340,000 in 1875. The Jews replied to the charges against 
 them, that if they possessed more influence in Germany 
 than elsewhere, it was because their mental capacities 
 enabled them there to obtain more marked distinction than 
 elsewhere. Biots broke out in the autumn in the Prussian 
 capital, occasionally caused by the Jews themselves, but 
 more frequently by their Christian antagonists. When the 
 Prussian Chambers assembled in October, a petition was 
 laid before the Landtag, praying that the movement of the 
 Jewish population should be the subject of police reports ; 
 that only the lower places in the public service should be 
 
 u 
 
290 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 accessible to its members ; and that restraints should be 
 placed by the Government on the Jewish immigration. No 
 practical issue resulted from the debate, but the Government 
 announced their determination not to permit the question of 
 the civil rights of citizens of any religious denomination to 
 be interfered with. 
 
 The Crown Prince represented his Imperial father on two 
 very interesting occasions this year. On the 20th of April 
 he opened with much pomp at Berlin an International 
 Fishery Exhibition, which proved to be most successful and 
 encouraging; and on the 9th of the following month he 
 inaugurated an exhibition of manufactures, agriculture, 
 forestry, and the fine arts at Diisseldorf. This was the 
 largest exhibition of the kind ever held in Germany, and all 
 the products were of exclusively German origin. 
 
 The foreign relations of Germany were, without exception, 
 of a friendly character. The Austrian alliance was especially 
 strengthened during the year in consequence of a meeting 
 of the two Emperors at Ischl on the 10th of August. 
 Though the German Parliament frequently partook of the 
 aspect of a bear-garden, nearly all parties were agreed upon 
 one thing that a close alliance with Austria was most 
 profitable for the interests of Germany. 
 
 The Emperor William was the leading figure in a public 
 ceremony in March, which must have called up many vivid 
 recollections in his mind. On the llth of that month he 
 unveiled a statue at Berlin to the memory of his brave and 
 patriotic mother, the Queen Louisa, wife of King Frederick 
 William III of Prussia. We have spoken of Queen Louisa 
 in an earlier chapter of this work. Besides the Emperor, 
 there were present at the unveiling the Queen's two other 
 surviving children, Prince Charles of Prussia and the 
 Dowager Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. 
 
 Another celebration of great and unusual interest took 
 place on the 15th of October, when Cologne Cathedral was 
 formally consecrated and opened. It had taken more than 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 291 
 
 six centuries to complete this work. The foundation-stone 
 was laid on the 14th of August, 1248, and actual building 
 commenced in 1257. A portion of the building was con- 
 secrated in 1322, but it was not until 1499 that the nave 
 and aisles were covered with a temporary roof. In 1508 
 the stained glass windows were inserted, but the work was 
 now suspended for many generations. It was resumed in 
 1823, and from that date to its completion 900,000 was 
 expended upon the building, which cost altogether about 
 2,000,000. Cologne towers are the loftiest of any edifice in 
 the world, being upwards of 500 feet in height, and exceeding 
 by nearly 20 feet the spire of St. Nicholas Church at Ham- 
 burg, and by considerably more than that St. Peter's at 
 Kome, Strasburg Cathedral, and the pyramid of Cheops. The 
 Emperor William and the Empress, the Crown Prince and 
 the Crown Princess, the King of Saxony, and several other 
 German sovereigns were present at the opening of the 
 cathedral, but the leaders of the Catholic party absented 
 themselves. 
 
 The first session of the German Parliament in 1881 
 opened on the 15th of February. The Emperor's speech, 
 which contained a direct appeal to working men, declared 
 that the remedy for socialist excesses must be sought, not 
 only in repression, but equally in a positive attempt to 
 promote the welfare of the labouring classes. For this 
 reason he hoped the working men's Accident Insurance Bill 
 would be welcomed by the Parliament as a complement to 
 the legislation against social democracy. In the same 
 category he placed a bill to regulate the constitution of 
 trade guilds by affording means for organizing the isolated 
 powers of persons engaged in the same trade, thus raising 
 their economic capacity and social and moral efficiency. 
 The bill for providing biennial budgets would be again pre- 
 sented for the consideration of Parliament, as the allied 
 governments were still suffering from difficulties inseparable 
 from the simultaneous sitting of the Imperial and Provincial 
 
 u 2 
 
292 WILLIAM L AND THE OEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Parliaments. A stamp tax and a brewing tax were also 
 announced. The Emperor viewed with great satisfaction 
 the new financial policy of the empire, while the negotiations 
 for treaties of commerce with neighbouring nations on 
 the basis of the new customs policy were declared to be 
 near a favourable termination. The relations with foreign 
 nations were amicable and in consonance with the friendship 
 which personally united the Emperor with neighbouring 
 sovereigns. 
 
 The Government programme was severely handled by the 
 Deputies. A custom, which had long been growing with 
 Prince Bismarck, of treating political rather as personal 
 questions, had greatly exasperated them, and they also 
 entertained strong objections of a general kind to the 
 legislation proposed. The principal Government bills were 
 either rejected or considerably altered. The tax bills and 
 the proposition to establish biennial budgets and biennial 
 Parliaments were thrown out, and the bill providing for a 
 working men's accident insurance was remodelled. The 
 brewery tax bill was rejected, and the stamp tax bill com- 
 pletely transformed. To set against all these defeats, the 
 Chancellor could only point to one triumph. The long- 
 pending question of the entrance of Hamburg into the 
 Zollverein was settled on June 15 by a majority of 10 i> to 
 46, the Hamburg Municipal council accepting the convention 
 as drawn up by the Government. 
 
 The elections in October proved on the whole unfavourable 
 to the Government. The Free Conservatives and Mixed 
 Liberals lost largely, while the Secessional Liberals and 
 Progressists gained to an equal extent. The new Parlia- 
 ment was thus constituted: Centre, or Clericals, 110; Pro- 
 gressists, 60 ; the Liberal Union or Secessionists, 48 ; the 
 National Liberals, 45 ; the-German Imperial party, 27 ; the 
 Popularists or South German Democrats, 7 ; the German 
 Conservatives, 50 ; Poles, 18 ; Alsace-Lorrainers, 15 ; Social 
 Democrats, 13 ; and Independents or Savages, 4. The most 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 293 
 
 prominent advocates of the Chancellor's new financial policy 
 were rejected, as was also Herr Stocker, the leader of the 
 Judenhetze, notwithstanding the influence he possessed as 
 chaplain to the Emperor. 
 
 When the Diet met, Bismarck had the amazing courage 
 to bring out his old bills, which were promptly sat upon and 
 extinguished by the Chamber. Nothing could more con- 
 clusively show the close relations between the Emperor and 
 his Chancellor than a daring speech which the latter made 
 in November. Herr Eichter, in opening an attack upon 
 Bismarck's financial schemes, said there was no conflict 
 between the Reichstag and the Crown : the object of the 
 conflict was not the Emperor, but his chief counsellor. 
 Bismarck sprang up and gave a most emphatic statement of 
 his views, proving that he set the Emperor high above the 
 Parliament. The Emperor, he said, constituted a strong 
 element in the German system of government, as was shown 
 by the fact that under the reign of the present sovereign's 
 brother the government of Prussia was carried on according 
 to entirely different principles from those which had now 
 been adopted. The Emperor William's personal share in 
 the Government was such an active one that he would not 
 allow himself to be prohibited from speaking to his people 
 before the elections. As for himself, he completely repre- 
 sented the Emperor's policy. Germany was not to be 
 governed after the English fashion. The conduct of affairs 
 was in the hands of the Emperor, whose responsible adviser was 
 the Chancellor, and he would continue to be so. In another 
 speech the Prince observed that he considered the Govern- 
 ment a better guarantee for the union of Germany than the 
 Keichstag, which caused him many difficulties and greatly 
 increased those already in existence. These bold views were 
 clearly against the supremacy of the people in their own 
 concerns. Bismarck merely looked upon Parliament as a 
 body whose duty it was to register the acts framed by the 
 Government with the sanction of the Emperor; but the 
 
294 WILLIAM L AND THE GEEMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 House remained firm and declined to endorse the Chancellor's 
 policy at command. 
 
 In foreign affairs Germany was now unquestionably the 
 leading European State. Nothing of importance was done 
 by other Powers without her being thought of or consulted. 
 The Emperor William met the Emperor Francis Joseph 
 in August, and the Emperor of Kussia at Dantzic in Sep- 
 tember; this latter meeting caused considerable comment, 
 but the interview was merely one for the renewal of the 
 good feeling hitherto existing between the two empires. In 
 his speech from the throne on November 17 the Emperor of 
 Germany declared that the meetings at Gastein and Dantzic 
 were the expression of the close personal and political rela- 
 tions between the sovereigns and their empires. l The 
 confidence thus existing between the three imperial courts 
 was a trustworthy guarantee of peace, which was the iden- 
 tical aim of their policy.' 
 
 The rising against the Jews became very serious in the 
 provinces of Pomerania and West Prussia, and in the city 
 of Berlin. The agitation in the capital' was led by many 
 prominent men, chief amongst whom was the Court Chaplain 
 Stocker. The students of the University of Berlin were 
 also most rancorous in their hostility. Professor Virchow 
 was amongst the few distinguished Germans who denounced 
 the agitation. Petitions against the Jews poured into the 
 German Parliament; but at length the movement attained to 
 such a pitch of virulence that the Government were obliged 
 to take energetic measures to abate the excitement and 
 arrest the agitation. 
 
 The marriage of the prospective heir to the German crown 
 was celebrated with great pomp on the 27th of February, 
 1881, in the Koyal Schloss at Berlin. The bridegroom was 
 Frederick William Victor Albert, eldest son of the Crown 
 Prince of Prussia and of Germany, grandson of the Emperor 
 'William and of Queen Victoria, nephew in the fifth degree 
 of Frederick the Great, and twenty-fifth lineal descendant 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER TEARS. 295 
 
 of the valorous Conrad, cadet of Hohenzollern. The bride 
 was Augusta Victoria, daughter of Duke Frederick of Schles- 
 wig-Holstein. Germany regarded it as particularly happy 
 that the daughter of the dispossessed Duke of Schleswig- 
 Holstein should thus become the future Empress of Germany. 
 
 Great sensation was caused early in January, 1882, by the 
 introduction of the royal prerogative into the constitutional 
 questions upon which Bismarck and the German Diet were 
 at variance. The Emperor, as King of Prussia, issued a 
 manifesto which made short work of the ideas of the 
 Constitutionalists that Bismarck was sheltering himself 
 behind his master, and that the King reigned but did not 
 rule. The royal rescript declared that the Prussian Consti- 
 tution of 1850 transferred a portion of the law-giving 
 powers to the Legislature, but left the King the full power 
 of initiation and approval. The policy of the Government 
 was the King's policy, although it must be represented by 
 Lis ministers ; his royal acts were his own, although the 
 countersigning minister became responsible for them to the 
 laws and the country. They expressed his will and pleasure, 
 and should not be spoken of as emanating from the ministry 
 but from the King himself. ' It is my will,' said his Majesty, 
 'that both in Prussia and in the legislative bodies of the 
 empire, there may be no doubt left as to my own constitutional 
 right, and that of my successors, to personally conduct the 
 policy of my Government ; and that the theory shall always be 
 gainsaid that the inviolability of the King, which has always 
 existed in Prussia, or the necessity of a responsible counter 
 signature of my Government acts, deprives them of the 
 character of royal and independent decisions.' 
 
 But the real sting of the rescript was in its tail. In the 
 concluding paragraph the King stated, or was made to state, 
 that while he had no wish to restrict the freedom of elections, 
 he would expect all officials to hold aloof from opposing 
 Government candidates. It was actually added that ' the 
 duty which, in their oaths of office, they swore to perform, 
 
296 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 extends to supporting the policy of the Government even 
 at elections. 7 The rescript greatly discomposed the Deputies, 
 some of whom imagined it to portend a coup d' etat. But 
 Bismarck affirmed in the House that the publication of the 
 manifesto did not mean any further restriction of the liberties 
 of the people. 
 
 Ecclesiastical legislation was a feature of the session, and it 
 revealed a desire on Bismarck's part to come to a better under- 
 standing with the Vatican. Dr. Windthorst brought forward 
 a motion for the repeal of the law prohibiting the exercise of 
 ecclesiastical functions without the authority of the Govern- 
 ment. Though opposed by the Conservatives and National 
 Liberals, the resolution was carried by a large majority. 
 The Government remained neutral, owing, it was said, to 
 their wish to secure the support of the Centre for a new 
 Ecclesiastical Bill. By this bill the Government was to be 
 empowered to restore to their sees the deposed bishops, and 
 to dispense with the decrees which prevented foreign priests 
 from exercising ecclesiastical functions in Prussia. When 
 the bill was brought forward, on the motion of Dr. Windthorst, 
 who said the Kulturkampf was now dead, it was referred to a 
 committee. Coming back from thence, it ultimately passed 
 without the clauses compelling Eoman Catholic bishops to 
 notify each appointment of a clergyman in their respective 
 dioceses to the secular authorities. This was a great 
 concession to the Clerical party, and it was followed by the 
 passing of a grant of 90,000 marks for the revival of a 
 Prussian Mission at the Vatican. These were substantial 
 departures from the Chancellor's old policy. 
 
 Amongst the measures brought forward in the German 
 Parliament was the Tobacco Monopoly Bill, which was 
 described in the Emperor's speech as a measure of indirect 
 taxation for increasing the revenue of the Empire. Had it 
 passed, however, it would have had a much wider scope, as 
 it must have vastly increased the power of the Imperial 
 Government at the expense of the local governments of the 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 297 
 
 various states forming the Empire. The Clericals opposed 
 this tobacco monopoly, and so did the Socialists. Though 
 the latter were in favour of State monopolies, they thought 
 the landed interest should be taxed first. During the 
 debate on the second reading, Prince Bismarck denied the 
 allegation that the scheme would injure the interests of the 
 workmen employed in the tobacco trade ; and he was of 
 opinion that the interests of the working classes had been 
 sacrificed to the Moloch of Free Trade, far more than they 
 ever could be by the proposed monopoly. ' You may ask 
 me,' he concluded, ' why I do not resign if you do not adopt 
 this bill. My reply is that I remain out of personal 
 consideration for the Emperor. When I saw him lying in 
 his blood after Nobiling's attempt, I made a vow that I 
 would never resign without his consent. The welfare of 
 the country must mainly rest upon the dynasty, which will 
 preserve the military and political unity of the Empire, and 
 carry us through any difficulties which may fall on the 
 country through the atrophy of faction/ Nearly every 
 speaker of eminence in the House condemned the bill, 
 which had previously been rejected by a special committee 
 by 21 votes to 3. The House now rejected the first article 
 of the bill by 276 to 43 votes ; but being willing to unite 
 with the Chancellor in all measures necessary for the 
 preservation of the Empire, that portion of the committee's 
 report which expressed a want of confidence in the Chan- 
 cellor's financial plans was rejected, and that directed 
 specifically against the Tobacco Monopoly Bill only adopted 
 by 155 to 150 votes. 
 
 In the elections to the Diet which took place in October 
 the Government were victorious. The Old Conservatives 
 and the Free Conservatives gained seventeen seats, while the 
 National Liberals lost eighteen. The Conservatives and 
 Ultramontanes together had a considerable majority over all 
 other sections in the new Prussian Parliament. The German 
 Chancellor's foreign policy during 1882 was conceived in 
 
298 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the interests of peace. This was aided by the death of 
 Gambetta and the removal of Bismarck's rival, Count 
 Beust, from the Austro-Hungarian embassy at Paris, which 
 diminished the probabilities of a French war of revenge. 
 Desirous of avoiding all European complications, the Berlin 
 Chancellor opposed the idea of an Anglo-French occupation 
 of Egypt, which he feared might lead to a conflict like that 
 which followed the Austro-Prussian occupation of Schleswig- 
 Holstein. 
 
 The Emperor William and Prince Bismarck were ex- 
 tremely disappointed that the Reichstag made no progress 
 with the Socialist laws in the session of 1883. Accordingly, 
 on the 14th of April, His Majesty returned to the subject, 
 and issued another rescript. He declared that he deemed it 
 one of the first of his duties as Emperor to address his care 
 and attention to the improvement of the condition of the 
 labouring class, and again urged the Eeichstag to grant a 
 biennial budget, out of consideration for his declining years, 
 in order that the autumn session might be devoted to the 
 plans of social reform which he had at heart, and the hope 
 be fulfilled before his death of the development and realization 
 throughout the Empire of the reforms begun by his father 
 in the beginning of the century. The Emperor expressed 
 his conviction that since the issue of the anti-socialist law, 
 legislation should not be confined to police and penal 
 measures, but should seek to remedy or alleviate the cause 
 of evils combated in the penal code. He was gratified by 
 the success of the first of his endeavours, in the remission of 
 the two lowest grades of the class tax in Prussia, and hoped 
 to see the accident insurance bill (presented in an amended 
 form), with the supplementary project of sick funds under 
 corporative administration, embodied in laws before the 
 separation of the Keichstag. The attention of Parliament 
 could then fce devoted in the ensuing winter session to a 
 further proposal to provide for the maintenance of super- 
 annuated and invalided labourers. 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 299 
 
 But it was a case of piping unto the Deputies, and they 
 would not dance. Although the Chancellor threw the 
 whole weight of his restless energy into the legislative 
 struggle, the indignant Liberal majority referred the pro- 
 positions to the budget committee, which was practically 
 shelving them. The only thing they did before separating 
 in June was to vote the biennial budget, but as the fiscal 
 year had ended it was not difficult to console themselves for 
 this slight infraction of constitutional principle. 
 
 The Socialist question was undoubtedly a matter of grave 
 difficulty in Germany. Bismarck had thrown over the 
 National Liberal party, by whose aid he had accomplished 
 the unity of the Empire, and in order to gain other allies he 
 had been obliged to make great concessions. His legislation 
 for the labouring classes, his conciliation of the Vatican, 
 and the amendment of the Falck laws, were all steps taken 
 with the view of securing Ultramontane support for his 
 Imperial financial policy, and for his measures for the 
 nationalization of the Prussian railroads. It was necessary 
 to pass some measures for the relief of the working classes, 
 or they would revolt against the military system, and rush 
 into still greater socialist excesses. The accident and 
 sickness insurance bill which proposed that the Govern- 
 ment should insure the workpeople, and the employers and 
 communes provide the premiums was passed in almost its 
 original shape. 
 
 Some notable public changes now occurred. General von 
 Kameke, the War Minister, retired owing to a difference 
 with the Emperor. The Progressist deputies insisted that 
 there should be no augmentation of military pensions unless 
 the officers were made subject to direct taxation like 
 civilians. Yon Kameke was willing to accept this com- 
 promise, but the Emperor declined to listen to it. Baron 
 von Stosch, the minister for the navy, retired because of a 
 quarrel with the Chancellor, and the Emperor perpetuated 
 an old anomaly by insisting upon a military man being 
 
300 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 appointed to the direction of the navy. Herr von Bennigsen, 
 leader of the National Liberal party, unable longer to 
 endure the overbearing conduct of Bismarck, resigned his 
 seats in the Eeichstag and Prussian Landtag, and retired 
 from political life. The other great Liberal leader, Lasker, 
 had already retired. 
 
 The Prussian Chamber passed a bill relaxing the Eccle- 
 siastical May Laws. Although it fell short of the demands 
 of the Vatican, it yielded so much that Bismarck was 
 taunted with having made the pilgrimage to Canossa after 
 all. This Belief Act enabled bishops to perform episcopal 
 acts even out of their own dioceses, and to appoint vicars, 
 chaplains, etc., in vacant parishes. The celebration of mass 
 by priests not authorized by the Government was no longer 
 a criminal offence, and the right of appeal to the Minister of 
 Public Worship was granted. 
 
 Germany concluded a commercial treaty with Spain, and 
 also a copyright treaty with France. Her general relations 
 with the latter Power required careful management, but the 
 Chancellor was equal to the occasion. The attendance of 
 King Alfonso of Spain, and King Milan of Servia, besides 
 the King of Saxony, the Crown Prince of Portugal, and the 
 Prince of Wales, as the guests of the Emperor William at 
 the autumn manoeuvres in September, was among the indica- 
 tions of the supreme influence of Bismarck, and the success 
 of his peace policy in Europe. 
 
 An imposing ceremony, in which the Emperor William 
 was the central figure, took place early in the summer. On 
 the 9th of June, accompanied by his son, the Crown Prince, 
 and other members of his family, he laid the foundation 
 stone of the new Houses of Parliament in Berlin. Prince 
 Bismarck, the Secretaries of State, and other high officials, 
 as well as many eminent political personages, attended the 
 ceremony, which was of the most brilliant character. 
 
 The Emperor unveiled the great national monument on 
 the Niederwald, near Kudesheim, on the 28th of September. 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 301 
 
 Eighty thousand persons were present at the celebration. 
 The monument, which overlooks the Khine, was erected in 
 commemoration of the victories over the French in 1870-71. 
 It consists of a colossal statue, said to be an idealized 
 portrait of the artist's daughter, and representing Germania 
 as a woman in a girdle-bound robe, her left hand resting on 
 the hilt of a drawn sword, and her right holding a laurel- 
 wreathed Imperial crown. The bronze figure alone is about 
 thirty-six feet in height, and with the pedestal and socket, 
 measures about eighty feet. The artist was Johannes 
 Schilling, of Dresden, and the founder of the statue, Von 
 Miller of Munich. The total cost of the monument was 
 estimated at 1,196,000 marks, part of which was raised by 
 public subscription, and the rest from a Parliamentary 
 grant. 
 
 The National Liberal party, which had been disorganized 
 by the retirement of its leader, Herr Yori Bennigsen, called 
 a Convention at Berlin on the 18th of May, 1884. It was 
 largely attended, and unanimously adopted a declaration, 
 asserting the loyalty of the National Liberals to the 
 Emperor, and their resolve to maintain, unimpaired, the 
 constitutional rights of the representatives of the people, 
 and pledging them to support the Accidents Insurance Bill 
 and Anti-Socialist Bill. The Secessionists from the National 
 Liberals, however, now united with the Progressists, and 
 the combined party styled itself the ' German Liberals.' Its 
 political programme was of the most advanced character, 
 and it was strongly hostile to the Government, while the 
 National Liberal party adhered to its former policy of 
 promoting the unity and progress of the Empire by main- 
 taining a conciliatory attitude towards Prince Bismarck, 
 notwithstanding his anti-Liberal tendencies. The Chancellor 
 assumed a friendly tone towards the latter party, but on 
 several occasions vehemently attacked that of the new 
 Liberals. He affirmed his conviction that it had no future, 
 and declared that he would fight against it to his last 
 
302 WILLIAM I. AND THE GEBMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 breath, such being his duty to his country and his 
 Emperor. Bismarck's language was largely justified when 
 the elections to the sixth German Parliament came on. 
 The New Liberals sustained a disastrous defeat, their 
 numbers falling from 104 to 63. But a further noteworthy 
 feature of the elections was the great advance of the 
 Socialists from 10 to 24 members. The Socialist vote 
 generally had enormously increased. The Conservatives 
 and National Liberals also gained considerably. 
 
 Two Government bills, dealing with Socialism, were 
 brought forward in the German Parliament early in 1884. 
 The first provided for the prolongation of the law against 
 Socialism for another two years, September 1884-86. The 
 reasons assigned for this measure were, the continuance of 
 the Socialist movement and its danger, as shown by recent 
 criminal attacks on life and property in Germany and other 
 civilized States ; the good effects produced by the law ; and 
 the fact that the fears expressed that its powers might 
 be abused had proved unfounded. The Chancellor spoke 
 earnestly in favour of the bill, and as he also held out a 
 threat of dissolution, the Government gained an unexpected 
 victory, the bill passing by 189 to 157 votes. 
 
 The second measure designed against the Socialists was 
 the Explosives Bill. It was brought forward in consequence 
 of a diabolical attempt made upon the life of the Emperor at 
 the unveiling of the Niederwald monument in the pre- 
 vious September. The knowledge of this attempt did not 
 transpire until some time afterwards. The leader of the 
 conspiracy in connection with this atrocious crime was a 
 compositor named Keinsdorf. At the trial, which took 
 place at Leipsic, Keinsdorf defended himself with much 
 ability, and in an eloquent speech garnished with classical 
 quotations, he argued in favour of the confiscation of 
 private property, and the abolition of central Government. 
 Eeinsdorf's chief accomplices were Kuchler, another com- 
 positor, and Eupsch, a journeyman saddler. The latter 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 303 
 
 confessed, while in prison, that he had, at Keinsdorfs 
 instigation, placed a stone bottle containing dynamite in a 
 drain running across the road by which the Emperor was to 
 pass; but that he did not light the match, as he had 
 intended from the first to frustrate the plan. The judges 
 disbelieved his story, however, and sentenced Keinsdorf, 
 Kiichler, and Kupsch to death. Two other prisoners were 
 sentenced to ten years' penal servitude, while three more 
 were acquitted. It was scarcely surprising after this 
 Anarchist revelation that the Government should introduce 
 their Explosives Bill, or that the Eeichstag should quickly 
 pass it, as it did, on the 15th of May. The measure 
 provided that the manufacture, sale, and possession of 
 explosives, as well as their importation from abroad, should 
 only be permitted if authorized by the police, and that the 
 following offences should be punishable by penal servitude : 
 
 1. Wilfully endangering, by means of explosives, life, 
 person, or property, or ordering explosives with such intent, 
 or under circumstances affording no proof of its having been 
 intended that they should be employed for legal purposes. 
 
 2. Inciting to the commission of the above crimes by 
 delivering speeches before popular assemblages, by placard- 
 ing notices, or by publishing pamphlets. It was further 
 enacted that when the crimes above mentioned should have 
 fatal consequences, they should be followed by the death 
 punishment. 
 
 A new Prussian States Council was established in June 
 with the Crown Prince as President and Bismarck as Vice- 
 President. It consisted of 71 members, 12 of whom were 
 landed proprietors, 6 merchants and manufacturers, 4 
 clerics, and 4 communal officials, the rest of the members 
 being appointed by the King. The Council was to devote 
 itself chiefly to matters of legislation, and was to have a 
 consultative character. 
 
 Prince Bismarck met with several serious reverses in 
 Parliament. Although Government opposed a motion for 
 
304 WILLIAM I. AND THE GEBMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the payment of the Deputies, it was carried by 180 to 99. 
 Herr Windthorst's bill for the repeal of the law empower- 
 ing the Government to expel priests who had been guilty 
 of illegal conduct was also carried, notwithstanding the 
 Chancellor's urgent remonstrances. It passed its first and 
 second reading by a majority of 217 to 93. A third defeat 
 took place on the proposal to pay a salary of 20,000 marks 
 for a second Director at the Foreign Office, which was 
 rejected by 141 to 119 votes. This decision, however, was 
 strongly condemned by the country, and the personal 
 animus in it led to a strong reaction in favour of Bismarck. 
 
 The Chancellor again turned his attention to colonial 
 settlements, with a view of providing new markets for the 
 products of German industry, and opening a vent for the 
 superfluous energy which was too often spent in mischievous 
 agitation. The question of protection to German subjects 
 on the Congo and at Angra Pequena, gave rise to a long 
 diplomatic correspondence between Germany and England, 
 but at length Prince Bismarck made it clear that his 
 Government had a right to protect German subjects at 
 Angra Pequena. Steps were accordingly taken to define the 
 exact rights of Great Britain and Germany respectively on 
 the Congo. As usual, Bismarck, who was now generally 
 known as the ' honest broker ' of Berlin, came in for the 
 largest slice of the cake. Great Britain welcomed Germany 
 as a neighbour in the district of Cape Colony, and as a 
 further step in German colonization a convention was con- 
 cluded between Germany and the Transvaal. 
 
 The Emperor William received a pacific mission from 
 Kussia this year, and there was another meeting between 
 the Austrian and German Emperors at Ischl. The two 
 Sovereigns subsequently held a conference, in September, 
 with the Emperor of Kussia at Skirnievice, in Poland. A 
 formal alliance was concluded between the three Emperors, 
 and one of its chief features was an agreement to maintain 
 the status quo in Europe. 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 305 
 
 Prince Bismarck entered upon his seventieth year on 
 the 1 st of April, and he took this opportunity of announcing 
 that he intended to resign the Presidency of the Prussian 
 Ministry, and the Portfolios of Foreign Affairs and Commerce 
 in the Cabinet, retaining only the post of Imperial Chan- 
 cellor. He had long been taking too much work upon 
 himself, and his health at times appeared greatly shattered. 
 On the ensuing 1st of September, being the thirteenth 
 anniversary of Sedan, the Emperor conferred upon his 
 Chancellor the highest military order in his gift. His 
 Majesty, in presenting the order, thus spoke of Bismarck as 
 a soldier : 
 
 'To-day's anniversary, which recalls one of the most 
 prominent events in the period of twenty-two years during 
 which we have worked together, also reminds me that on 
 this day, as well as during two wars, you stood by my side, 
 not only as a highly-proved man of counsel, but also as a 
 soldier, and that there is in Prussia an Order for Merit which 
 you do not yet possess. It is true this Order has a special 
 military meaning, but, nevertheless, you ought to have had 
 it long ago, for truly at many a grievous time you have 
 shown the highest courage of the soldier, and you have also 
 thoroughly and completely proved at my side in two cam- 
 paigns that, apart from everything else, you have the fullest 
 claim to conspicuous military distinction. I will, therefore, 
 now make up for what I have hitherto neglected, by con- 
 ferring on you the accompanying Ordre pour le Merite, and 
 that, too, with oaken leaves, in token that you ought to have 
 had it long ago, and that you have repeatedly deserved it. 
 Knowing, as I do, how much you are imbued with the spirit 
 of a soldier, I hope it will gratify you to receive this Order, 
 which several of your ancestors proudly wore ; as I, for my 
 part, derive satisfaction from thus bestowing this well- 
 merited soldier's reward on the man whom God in His 
 gracious providence has placed at my side, and who has done 
 such great things for the Fatherland. I shall, indeed, be 
 
306 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 most heartily glad to see you in the future wearing the 
 Ordre pour le Merited 
 
 The expulsion of the Poles from Prussian territory led to 
 a good deal of ill-feeling between Germany and Austria and 
 Eussia. When the latter Powers complained and asked for 
 information, the former replied that the matter was one 
 which concerned the internal affairs of Prussia only. The 
 edict issued by the Government ordered all Poles who were 
 not Prussian subjects to be expelled from the country, and 
 this edict was carried out with great severity. The total 
 number of persons banished exceeded 34,700, the majority 
 of whom were Russian subjects. Most of them found a 
 refuge in Austria, but others emigrated to America. No 
 charge of disloyalty or conspiracy was made against them, 
 neither were the poorest of them paupers. The edict was 
 especially hard upon those thrifty workmen who had for 
 years been members of mutual relief societies, and who had 
 paid the necessary premiums to secure a provision in old 
 age. They now lost their savings and were turned adrift to 
 begin life anew. The question was discussed in the Prussian 
 Diet on the 6th of May, 1885, when the Home Minister, 
 Herr von Puttkamer, affirmed that the measure was dictated 
 by State necessity, and that the Government could not 
 tolerate the presence in Prussia of large numbers of Poles 
 who were not Prussian subjects any more than it could that 
 of Danes in Schleswig-Holstein or of Frenchmen in Alsace- 
 Lorraine. The Polish element in the population had been 
 growing largely in excess of that of the German, and the 
 edict was necessary for the political security of the State 
 and the maintenance of German nationality and German 
 culture. The Minister's explanations were deemed very 
 unsatisfactory, though no practical issue was raised upon 
 them. 
 
 At a later date, however, the subject came up again in the 
 German Parliament, when the Imperial Government was 
 requested to take steps to check the expulsion of Poles from 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 307 
 
 the country. Prince Bismarck opposed to this a declaration 
 from the throne which caused great excitement. The 
 Chancellor was extremely wroth at the supposition that the 
 Imperial Government could be called in to redress wrongs 
 alleged to be committed by Prussia within her own terri- 
 tories. 'There exists,' he said, 'no Government in the 
 Empire entitled, under the control of the Eeichstag, to claim 
 supervision, as this interpellation endeavours to do, of the 
 exercise of the rights of Sovereignty enjoyed by the 
 individual States of the Confederation, in so far as the right 
 to exercise such supervision has not been conceded to the 
 Empire.' The Emperor-King was therefore compelled to 
 express to the Keichstag his conviction that ' the view 
 adopted by the majority of deputies in supporting the inter- 
 pellation in question is at variance with the German consti- 
 tution,' and in case of any endeavour being made to carry 
 the same into effect, he would ' maintain and defend against 
 such endeavour the rights of each of the Federal Govern- 
 ments, as recited in the Treaty of Confederation.' Bismarck 
 concluded by entirely denying the competence of the German 
 Parliament to call the Kings of Prussia and Bavaria, or the 
 Grand Dukes of Baden and Hesse, to account for the way in 
 which they exercised their Sovereign rights within their own 
 particular dominions. He then strode from the Chamber, 
 followed by the other members of the Federal Council. 
 
 A debate on the question of Sunday labour gave Prince 
 Bismarck the opportunity of delivering a singular speech, 
 in which he ventilated his views upon the English Sabbath. 
 The Ultramontanes and the Socialists having brought for- 
 ward in the Eeichstag a Bill for the prohibition of Sunday 
 labour, the Chancellor strongly opposed the scheme on 
 economical and political grounds, and also in the interest 
 of working-men themselves. Workmen who would thereby 
 lose 14 per cent, of their wages would certainly be against 
 such a measure, he said, which would also diminish by 
 one-seventh the production of the country, and inflict a 
 
 x 2 
 
308 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 heavy loss on the manufacturers. Moreover, a Sunday 
 spent in pleasure was likely to be followed by a Monday 
 spent in drink. The industrial prosperity of England and 
 the United States was due to other causes than the Sunday 
 holiday. 
 
 * England/ continued the Prince, * would not enjoy so 
 great an industrial superiority over Germany if her coal 
 fields and her iron mines were not in close proximity to each 
 other, and if she had not enjoyed the blessings of civilization 
 long before Germany did. Even in the time of Shakspeare, 
 about 300 years ago, there was a degree of prosperity, 
 culture, and literary development in England far above 
 what we possessed at that time in Germany. The Thirty 
 Years' War had a retrograde effect on Germany more than 
 on any other nation ; and I cannot admit that Englishmen 
 are better Christians than the Germans. If the keeping 
 of the Sunday had not been from time immemorial an 
 English custom, I doubt very much if any Government or 
 Parliament would now be strong enough to make it com- 
 pulsory. For my part, the English Sunday has always 
 produced an unpleasant impression upon me; I was glad 
 when it was over, and judging by the way the Sunday was 
 passed in England, I think Englishmen were so too. Here 
 in our villages we are glad to see the people enjoying 
 themselves in their Sunday best, and we thank God that 
 we are not under the compulsion of the English Sunday. 
 Some forty years I went to England for the first time, and 
 I was so glad to land, after a bad passage, that I whistled 
 a tune. "Please don't do that," said a fellow-passenger. 
 " Why not ? " I inquired. " Because it is Sunday ! " ' 
 
 There were some truths and some fallacies in this speech, 
 but it was effectual in shelving the Bill, which was put 
 off for inquiries. When the information sought for was 
 forthcoming it was very largely antagonistic to the proposal. 
 
 Two important financial measures became law in Prussia 
 during the year. One provided for a graduated income- 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER TEARS. 309 
 
 tax. There were seventeen different rates of the tax, com- 
 mencing with a rate of about B^d. in the pound for 
 incomes of from 80 to 90, and ending with a rate of l\d. 
 in the pound for incomes of over 500 a year. Besides 
 the usual allowances, relief was provided to the extent 
 of half the rate originally imposed in special circum- 
 stances, such as continued illness or misfortune. The 
 second law was one relating to exchange duties. The 
 fixed stamp introduced by the law of July, 1881, had not 
 proved very productive, and the large profits of speculators 
 on the various exchanges had remained untaxed. By the 
 new law, purchases of stock, shares, foreign bank-notes, &c., 
 were to be subject to a duty of one- tenth per cent., and 
 purchases of goods at the various exchanges, if not pro- 
 duced by one of the contracting parties, were to be taxed 
 at the rate of one-fifth per cent. 
 
 The Brunswick succession caused some excitement in 
 1885, the Duke of Cumberland, only son of the King of 
 Hanover, claiming the throne. As the Duke had long been 
 at the head of the anti-Prussian party in Hanover, how- 
 ever, the Federal Council decided against him, and the 
 Brunswick Diet unanimously elected Prince Albrecht 
 regent. 
 
 The important post of Governor of Alsace-Lorraine 
 became vacant by the death of Field Marshal von Man- 
 teuffel. The Marshal had ruled benevolently and yet 
 despotically, with the object of making Alsace-Lorraine 
 the most German of German States. But he signally failed, 
 and fifteen years of German rule had produced only distrust 
 and discontent. The new Governor appointed was Prince 
 Hohenlohe-Schillingfurst, German Ambassador in Paris, 
 who had for nearly a quarter of a century taken a pro- 
 minent part in German politics. 
 
 Prince Bismarck was once more occupied with important 
 colonial questions. The Congo Conference concluded its 
 labours in the month of February ; and it was decided that 
 
310 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 freedom of commerce should be established in the basin and 
 mouths of the Congo, on the whole coast line between the 
 Colony of Gaboon and the province of Angola, and in the 
 countries between the Congo basin and the Indian Ocean 
 subject, however, to the assent of their rulers. But difficulties 
 next arose between Germany and England, with regard to 
 the German acquisitions in the Cameroons and New Guinea. 
 After a long correspondence between the Foreign Minister 
 of Germany and the English Colonial Minister, these differ- 
 ences, together with others arising out of German Protec- 
 torates in various quarters, were satisfactorily adjusted. On 
 the whole, German relations with Great Britain, and also 
 with France, were of a pacific character. A serious dispute, 
 however, arose between Germany and Spain out of the 
 establishment of a German Protectorate over the Caroline 
 Islands. Spain had claimed the suzerainty of these islands 
 since the seventeenth century, but she had never been in 
 actual possession of the territories. Germany now repudiated 
 her claim, hoisted her own flag upon one of the islands, and 
 placed all the group between the equator and 11 degrees 
 north and 164 degrees east of Greenwich under German 
 protection. Spain protested, and Bismarck feeling for once 
 that he was wrong agreed to submit the matter to the Pope. 
 The result was that by a protocol ultimately signed by the 
 German and Spanish Governments, the Caroline Islands 
 were left under the Sovereignty of Spain, while to Germany 
 was granted the right of forming agricultural colonies in the 
 islands, and she also obtained possession of certain coaling 
 and naval stations. With regard to the Eastern Questions, 
 both Asiatic and European, the German Chancellor still 
 threw his influence into the scale of peace. 
 
 The celebration of Prince Bismarck's seventieth birthday, 
 which occurred on the 1st of April, 1885, was also the 
 celebration of his fiftieth year of public life. The double 
 event excited great enthusiasm through all Germany. Many 
 valuable presents were made to him, but the most important 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 311 
 
 was the gift of the purchase deeds of the ancestral estates 
 of Schonhausen, which had been sold by the family when in 
 difficulties, and were now repurchased for 150,000, raised 
 by subscriptions throughout the Fatherland. Among the 
 congratulations received by the Prince were an autograph 
 letter from the Emperor of Germany, telegrams from the 
 Emperors of Eussia and Austria, the Kings of Saxony, 
 Bavaria, Sweden, Koumania, Siam, Wurtemburg, and Belgium, 
 as well as 2100 letters and 3500 telegrams from various 
 sources. 
 
 The Emperor William, accompanied by the Crown Prince 
 and other members of his family, went to the Chancellor's 
 residence, and, affectionately embracing him with tears in 
 his eyes, presented him with a reduced copy of Von Werner's 
 famous painting of the ' Proclamation of the Empire at 
 Versailles.' The Emperor's letter, referred to above, ran as 
 follows : 
 
 * My dear Prince, The German people having shown a warm 
 desire to testify to you, on the occasion of your seventieth 
 birthday, that the recollection of all you have done for the 
 greatness of the Fatherland lives in so many grateful hearts, 
 I, too, feel strongly impelled to tell you how deeply gratified 
 I am that such a feeling of thankfulness and veneration for 
 you moves the nation. I am rejoiced at this, for you have 
 most richly earned the recognition, and my heart is warmed 
 at seeing such sentiments manifested in so great a measure ; 
 for it dignifies the nation in the present, and strengthens 
 our hopes of its future, when it shows appreciation of the 
 true and the great, and when it celebrates and honours its 
 most meritorious men. To me, and to my house, it is an 
 especial pleasure to take part in such a festival ; and by the 
 accompanying picture, we wish to convey to you with what 
 feelings of grateful recollection we do this, seeing that it 
 calls to mind one of the greatest moments in the history of 
 the House of Hohenzollern one which can never be thought 
 of without at the same time recalling your merits. 
 
312 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 ' You, my dear Prince, know how I shall always be animated 
 towards you with feelings of the fullest confidence, of the 
 most sincere affection, and the warmest gratitude. But, in 
 saying this, I tell you nothing which I have not often enough 
 already repeated to you, and methinks that this painting will 
 enable your latest descendants to realise that your Kaiser 
 and King, as well as his house, were well conscious of what 
 they had to thank you for. With these sentiments and 
 feelings, which will last beyond the grave, I end these lines. 
 Your grateful, faithful, and devoted Kaiser and King, 
 WILHELM/ 
 
 In addition to the fame which Bismarck had acquired, one 
 would think that even a less kingly appreciation than this 
 would have kept him at his post many times when he was 
 tempted to retire to his Pomeranian estates. 
 
 The Prussian Parliament met in January, 1886, and 
 almost immediately the Polish question was again raised. 
 A motion approving the action of the Government was in- 
 troduced by the National Liberals and Conservatives, by 
 way of reply to the previous hostile interpellation of the 
 Ultramontanes. Prince Bismarck, in an able speech lasting 
 more than two hours, placed the whole question on the basis 
 of international policy. He contended that the action of 
 the Prussian Government towards the Poles since 1815 had 
 been an uninterrupted series of blunders, culminating in 
 the philanthropic ideas of 1848. The Polish rising in 1830 
 first opened the eyes of the Prussian authorities to the true 
 aspect of the question. Frederick William IV. hoped to 
 win over the Poles by conciliation, but he was rudely 
 awakened from his dream by the insurrections of 1846 and 
 1848. The concession of certain constitutional privileges 
 since had only increased the disaffection of the Poles, and 
 accentuated their aversion to their German rulers. 
 
 The Chancellor unfolded a plan for the acquisition of such 
 Polish estates as might become free. He proposed to farm 
 them out to Germans, provided that they pledged them- 
 
TEE EMPEROR'S LATER TEARS. 313 
 
 selves to remain German, and, above all things, to marry 
 German wives. The estates would be allotted on leases, but 
 the tenants would become proprietors of the soil in from 
 twenty-five to fifty years. Polish soldiers and officials would 
 at the same time be given an opportunity of availing them- 
 selves of the advantages of German civilization by being 
 posted for service in provinces far away from their homes. 
 Bismarck then concluded with the following peroration, which 
 created great excitement in the House : ' Gentlemen, the 
 future is not wholly free from apprehensions. It is not 
 foreign dangers that menace us, but it is impossible to work 
 with such a majority as that in the Keichstag. We must aim 
 at becoming stronger : we must show that we stand not on 
 feet of clay, but of iron. We must find a means of becoming 
 independent of the obstruction of the majority of the Keich- 
 stag. I do not advocate such a step, but, if the Fatherland 
 should be endangered, I should not hesitate to propose to 
 the Emperor the necessary measures. The minister who 
 will not risk his head to save the Fatherland, even against 
 the will of the majority, is a coward. I will not allow the 
 achievements of our army to perish by internal discord, 
 which I will find the means of counteracting.' This was a 
 bold speech, and it was followed by another in which the 
 Chancellor compared the position of the Poles in Germany 
 to that of the Parnellites in England. After protests from 
 the Poles, the Kadicals, and the Centre party, the policy of 
 the Prussian Government was approved by 234 votes, the 
 Opposition minority having previously left the House. Bills 
 were subsequently brought in and carried through, granting 
 100,000,000 marks to the Government for German coloniza- 
 tion in Polish districts and for transferring to the State the 
 supervision in such districts of popular education. 
 
 As a counter-move against Democratic Socialism the 
 Chancellor introduced into the German Parliament the 
 Spirit Monopoly Bill and the Socialist Bill. The Kadicals 
 opposed the former bill because it strove to bring about an 
 
314 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 aristocratic socialism instead of that which was in favour 
 with the working classes. Bismarck, in supporting the 
 measure, let fall some ominous expressions. ' We do not 
 know what may happen in France,' he said. ' We hope that 
 peace will not he endangered for a long time, but, even at 
 the risk of losing my reputation as a diplomatist and a 
 statesman, I must confess that in the spring of 1870 I did 
 not foresee or fear the war which came a few months 
 later. If any such danger should again threaten us, I want 
 Germany to he at the height of her power. We have had 
 peace for fifteen years, but the nation is not yet fully pre- 
 pared, and I hasten on these reforms in order that the 
 Empire may really stand fast if war should come to test our 
 firmness.' The House was not to be played upon through 
 fear, however, and the Bill was rejected by 181 to 3 votes 
 only. The second measure proposed to prolong the Socialist 
 Law for five years. It was strongly attacked by Herr 
 Bebel, who declared that the incessant pressure of the 
 ruling classes was finally driving the lower orders to use 
 force in self-defence. It was so in Belgium, and, if similar 
 conditions existed in Germany, he would be the first to adopt 
 similar measures to counteract them. Prince Bismarck 
 replied in severe terms. He affirmed that Bebel's words 
 contained a direct threat to assassinate the German Emperor 
 if certain conditions existed in Germany, as to which he and 
 his fellow-socialists were to decide whether they justified 
 such assassination. After a good deal of recrimination the 
 Continuance Laws against the Socialists were passed by a 
 majority of 169 to 137, but they were only to continue for 
 two years instead of five as proposed by the Government. 
 
 Great excitement was caused in June by the news that 
 King Louis II. of Bavaria had become insane, and that, 
 while suffering from mental derangement, he had committed 
 suicide in the Lake of Starnberg, dragging down with him 
 to a watery grave his physician and attendant, Dr. Gudden. 
 King Louis was popular with the lower classes, but his 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER TEARS. 315 
 
 mania for building palaces and his refusal to perform the 
 Koyal functions had caused great embarrassment to his 
 ministers. As the King's brother, Prince Otto, was also 
 suffering from mental derangement, the Eegency was as- 
 sumed by Prince Luitpold, uncle of the late sovereign. 
 Prince Luitpold was a supporter of the new regime in Ger- 
 many, and was opposed to all Ultramontane measures, though 
 a strong Catholic himself. The Emperor William at once 
 accepted the Regent, whose mother, by the way, was a niece 
 of Queen Louisa, the mother of the German Emperor. 
 
 The difficulties with Eome, which for four years had 
 caused great friction in Germany, were satisfactorily ad- 
 justed in May of this year. A revision of the May Laws 
 was carried by a majority of 260 to 108. Neither Bismarck 
 nor the Pope could claim a complete triumph in regard to 
 this legislation, for, although the Chancellor made consider- 
 able concessions, he by no means surrendered the control of 
 the Eoman Catholic Church in Prussia, while the Vatican 
 had been obliged also greatly to abate its demands. Shortly 
 before the Bill was introduced in the Prussian Parliament, 
 the Pope had said in reply to an address from a party of 
 German Catholics : i I believe that you may now look with 
 confidence to the future. The Emperor William has assured 
 me of his kind sentiments and of his determination to meet 
 the wishes of his Catholic subjects.' Practically this new 
 legislation abrogated all the provisions of the May Laws 
 except that which gave the State control over the ecclesias- 
 tical appointments of the Eoman Catholic Church in Prussia. 
 This provision was conceded by the Pope whom Bismarck 
 described as ' a wise, moderate, and pacific gentleman ' in 
 return for the abandonment by the Prussian Government of 
 various checks, such as those relating to State examinations 
 of candidates for the priesthood, which had been described 
 by the Chancellor as almost worthless, but which were 
 regarded as very important at the Vatican. 
 
 Germany over sea still continued to be a matter of much 
 
316 WILLIAM I. AND TEE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 concern with Prince Bismarck. His colonial policy was 
 vigorous and adventurous, though he caused it to be known 
 that the German flag would only go where German trade 
 had already penetrated. Nevertheless, the naval expendi- 
 ture greatly increased, for in addition to keeping ships at 
 the six existing trans-oceanic naval stations, the German 
 Government held in constant readiness a flying squadron, 
 so as to be prepared for all emergencies. Other evidences 
 of colonial enterprise were the founding of a seminary of 
 Oriental languages in connection with the University of 
 Berlin, and the grant of a Government subsidy to a line 
 of German mail-steamers to Eastern Asia, with a branch 
 service to Australia. 
 
 An agreement was concluded between Prince Bismarck 
 and Baron Courcel, the French Ambassador, as to the 
 possessions of Germany and France respectively on the 
 West Coast of Africa. Germany ceded to France all her 
 rights of sovereignty or protectorate over the territories of 
 the Campo River ; while France, on her part, recognized the 
 German protectorate over the Togo country, and withdrew 
 the claims arising from her relations with King Mensa to 
 the territory of Porto Seguro. She further recognized the 
 protectorate of Germany over Little Popo, and in both 
 territories the French and German settlers were to be 
 treated alike. With respect to the South Seas, Germany 
 engaged not to do anything to prevent the occupation by 
 France of islands in the immediate vicinity of the Society 
 Islands or of the New Hebrides. Great Britain and 
 Germany also came to an agreement as to the boundaries 
 of their respective possessions in the Western Pacific, and a 
 further settlement was concluded between the two Powers 
 of the difficulties which had arisen on the West Coast of 
 Africa. A convention was likewise concluded between 
 Germany and Portugal as to South Western and Central 
 Africa. 
 
 European relations, however, became seriously strained. 
 
TEE EMPEROR'S LATER TEARS. 317 
 
 France had completed her powerful armaments, Kussia was 
 assuming a threatening attitude, and Austria had grown 
 lukewarm in her demeanour towards Germany. All this, 
 of course, meant the fanning of the war spirit in Germany. 
 Prince Bismarck decided to prepare for all eventualities 
 by an increase of the German army. A Bill was accordingly 
 brought forward in the Keichstag for raising the peace 
 strength of the army which stood at 427,274 men by 
 about 40,000 men, and for strengthening the artillery by 
 twenty-four new batteries : the augmentation to take effect 
 from the beginning of the ensuing financial year, namely 
 April 1, 1887. The existing Septennate, which fixed the 
 peace strength of the army, did not expire until 1888 ; but 
 the Government represented that, although its relations 
 with Foreign Powers were friendly, it was necessary in 
 view of the recent augmentation of the armies of Kussia 
 and France to establish an increased peace strength of the 
 German army before the expiration of the Septennate. The 
 Bill was opposed by the Liberals and the Centre, on the 
 ground that there was no urgent necessity for it, but Count 
 Moltke declared that Europe was ' bristling with arms/ and 
 that the rejection of the measure would 'involve a very 
 serious responsibility perhaps the misery of a hostile in- 
 vasion.' The Count's speech made a profound impression, 
 and the Bill was unanimously referred to a committee. This 
 committee offered to grant the Crown 450,000 men for three 
 years, instead of 468,000 for seven years; but the Govern- 
 ment refused to accept any compromise, and the debate was 
 consequently adjourned sine die. 
 
 Prince Bismarck now sought to achieve his ends by 
 diplomacy, and was once more successful. The Emperor 
 William, in a letter to the Czar, appealed to him to help in 
 maintaining peace at least during the few years remaining 
 to him (the German Emperor) ; and Austria was given to 
 understand that if she interfered with Kussian policy in 
 Bulgaria she would receive no countenance from Germany. 
 
318 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 Shortly afterwards the European horizon became more 
 peaceful. 
 
 The year 1886 was a very busy one for the Emperor William 
 personally, though he was now nearly completing his ninth 
 decade. On the 3rd of January, the twenty-fifth anniversary 
 of his accession to the throne of Prussia was celebrated with 
 cordial feelings through the whole of Germany. At Berlin, 
 this Silver Jubilee of his rule was observed with more public 
 demonstrations than had been the aged Emperor's desire. 
 He was borne onward, however, by the current of the people's 
 will. In the Chapel of the Royal Schloss there was a brief 
 religious ceremony, attended by the Emperor and Empress, 
 his Majesty's sister, the Dowager Duchess of Mecklenburg- 
 Schwerin, the Crown Prince and Princess, with other 
 members of the Eoyal Family, Prince Bismarck, Count 
 Moltke, and other notabilities, the Foreign Ambassadors and 
 their wives, &c. The ceremony, which was very short, only 
 lasted for half an hour. The religious service consisted 
 mainly of the deeply pious * Now thank we all our God,' 
 most effectively performed by a military band, and of a 
 sermon by the chief Court preacher, Dr. Kogel, which par- 
 took of a politico-historical character. 
 
 The illustrious company then withdrew to the adjacent 
 White Saloon, or Throne Eoom, where their Majesties re- 
 ceived the congratulations of all those assembled. The 
 ladies of the Diplomatic Corps first began to file past and to 
 do obeisance. * The Empress sat out this tedious ceremony 
 to the end,' wrote an English correspondent, ' but the Kaiser 
 stood the whole time without even wincing, and without so 
 much even as changing from one foot to the other. The 
 Emperor gives his hand to most of the Ambassadresses of 
 the great Powers, and has a kindly word to say to each. 
 With the profound courtesies of these diplomatic dames he 
 seems chivalrously pleased. But when, at the head of their 
 husbands, Prince Bismarck paces up to the throne, the 
 Emperor is very visibly affected. The Chancellor stoops 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 319 
 
 low to press his lips to the hand of his beloved Kaiser, and 
 the latter returns the compliment by embracing his mighty 
 and devoted servant, and kissing him on either cheek. That 
 was an incident which few who saw it will ever forget. But 
 our attention is for the moment diverted from it by the 
 Russian Ambassador, who now approaches the throne, and, 
 after making what seems to be a little set speech, quietly 
 presents to the Emperor a sealed missive, which doubtless 
 contains the personal congratulations of his lord and master 
 the Czar, with, perchance, a brotherly assurance that peace 
 and order in the East of Europe are now secured, so far as 
 the policy of his particular Government is concerned. After 
 this the Emperor gives his hand to Baron de Courcel, as if 
 to express his pleasure at the friendly relations between the 
 Empire and the French Eepublic, and then his Majesty 
 beckons the approach of Sir Edward Malet, with whom he 
 speaks a few words, as also of Lord Wolseley, to whom he 
 flatteringly extends his hand. This honour is not accorded 
 to all, and a long string of various dignitaries flows past 
 without receiving any special mark of Imperial favour. But 
 the continuity of this mutely reverencing stream is at last 
 broken again, when Moltke glides up with a grave but 
 courtly grace. To him the Emperor makes haste to give his 
 hand, which Moltke, like Bismarck, would fain press to 
 his lips ; but his Majesty, with unmistakeable emotion, 
 assumes himself the burden of gratitude, and embraces the 
 great strategist in the same manner as he honoured his 
 Chancellor. And again in the Throne Eoom there was a 
 suppressed murmur of admiration of the mighty deeds which 
 were recalled by this touching attachment of the Kaiser to 
 the men who had done such great things for him and his 
 House.' 
 
 The Emperor was busily engaged all day, and in the 
 evening attended the opera. The house rang with ' Hochs ! ' 
 when he took his seat, and also on his departure after the 
 performance. The way to the Palace was blocked with a 
 
320 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 dense and cheering multitude ; and Unter den Linden and 
 the other main thoroughfares of Berlin were brilliantly 
 illuminated. 
 
 In the Prussian capital, on the 10th of June, the Emperor 
 William unveiled the equestrian statue of his brother, 
 Frederick William IV., which has been placed in front of the 
 National Gallery. The ceremony was imposing, but essen- 
 tially military in character. All the garrison regiments of 
 Berlin were represented, and the principal State dignitaries 
 were present. The Emperor and the members of his family 
 occupied a pavilion which had been erected opposite the 
 statue. In unveiling the memorial the Emperor saluted it 
 thrice, and the troops presented arms. A Koyal salute was 
 then fired, and all the bells of the city pealed forth. At 
 the foot of the statue was the simple inscription, i To the 
 memory of King Frederick William IV. King William.' 
 
 The centenary of the death of Frederick the Great was 
 celebrated on the 17th of August at Berlin, and in the 
 chief cities of the Empire. But the most interesting public 
 ceremonial was that at Potsdam, the cradle of the Prussian 
 Army. The garrison church of the town, where the great 
 Frederick still reposes, was hung with hundreds of conquered 
 flags and standards. The Emperor William, surrounded by 
 all the members of his family, his Generals, his Ministers, 
 and deputations from the Potsdam regiments, attended 
 service in the chapel. At its conclusion the Emperor rose, 
 and, approaching the open vault containing the remains of 
 his distinguished ancestor, deposited a large wreath of 
 laurels on the coffin, his example being followed by the 
 Crown Prince and the other members of the Imperial House. 
 All the troops then defiled before the Emperor in the Castle 
 Garden, his Majesty himself giving the words of command, 
 and thrice, too, he saluted with his sword when the Crown 
 Prince led past him the 1st Foot Guards, wearing the con- 
 ical brass head-gear of Frederick's time. Next followed the 
 most characteristic incident of the centenary. The Emperor 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 321 
 
 drove off to Sans-Souci, and spent several minutes of silent 
 and solitary devotion in the room where his heroic ancestor 
 breathed his last a hundred years before, and within little 
 more than a decade of his Majesty's own birth. What 
 surprising events had intervened between the reigns of the 
 two Prussian kings ! 
 
 Alsace-Lorraine, under its new Governor, Prince Hohen- 
 lohe, took a completely new departure in the year 1886. 
 Although previously it had been bitterly hostile to the 
 German rule, at the municipal elections of July the German 
 party carried most of their candidates. At Metz their 
 numbers in the Council were increased from four to twelve, 
 and at Strasburg the * protest ' party could only elect nine 
 members out of thirty-six. When the Emperor William 
 visited Strasburg for the army manoeuvres in September he 
 was extremely well received. His Majesty reviewed 38,000 
 men on the Polygon outside the city, and the people were 
 apparently much gratified by the Imperial visit, as well as 
 strongly impressed by the martial bearing and admirable 
 skill of the troops. The Emperor, on receiving the principal 
 dignitaries of the city, assured the Bishop that he had 
 offered his hand to help to restore religious peace to 
 Germany, and he trusted the clergy would support him in 
 that difficult task. He also expressed great satisfaction to 
 the Burgomaster at the result of the recent municipal 
 elections. His Majesty added that the people of Strasburg 
 were quite as loyal as in the older provinces ; and he saw 
 with great pleasure that though he had acceded with 
 much hesitation to Prince Hohenlohe's urgent wish for the 
 re-establishment of the Strasburg municipality his mis- 
 givings had proved totally groundless. 
 
 We have seen that the Emperor William was present at 
 the formal opening of Cologne Cathedral, and an interesting 
 incident which has recently occurred in connection with the 
 Cathedral and the German Kaiser may be recalled here. A 
 bell weighing nearly twenty-seven tons, the clapper itself 
 
 Y 
 
322 WILLIAM L AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 being three quarters of a ton, has been placed in position 
 in the Cathedral. The inauguration ceremony was carried 
 out amidst great pomp, a solemn religious service forming 
 part of the proceedings. The bell was constructed from 
 twenty-two cannons taken from the French in the war of 
 1870-71, and presented by the Emperor for that purpose. 
 It bears an inscription recording that 'William, the most 
 august Emperor of the Germans and King of the Prussians, 
 mindful of the heavenly help granted to him whereby he 
 conducted the late French war to a prosperous issue, and 
 restored the German Empire, caused cannons taken from 
 the French to be devoted to founding a bell to be hung in 
 the wonderful Cathedral then approaching completion.' A 
 likeness of St. Peter, the name-patron of the Church, is on 
 the one side, beneath which is a quatrain in the style of 
 the medieval concerts, praying that as devout hearts rise 
 heavenward at hearing the sound of the bell, so may the 
 door-keeper of heaven open wide the gates of the celestial 
 mansion. On the opposite side is an inscription in German, 
 the English of which runs as follows : 
 
 'I am called the Emperor's bell; 
 I proclaim the Emperor's honour; 
 On the holy watch-tower I am placed. 
 1 pray for the German Empire, 
 That peace and protection 
 God may ever grant to it.' 
 
 This biographical and historical record cannot more fitly 
 close than by some references to the ninetieth anniversary 
 of the Emperor William's birth. Such an event is rare if 
 not unparalleled in the history of sovereigns, and the 
 celebrations which accompanied it were of a remarkable 
 character. Not only Germany, but Germans all the world 
 over, honoured the event by the most enthusiastic de- 
 monstrations of loyalty. In Berlin, of course, the greatest 
 interest naturally centred ; and amongst those who journeyed 
 thither to present their congratulations to the Emperor in 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER YEARS. 323 
 
 person, were the Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince of 
 Austria, the King and Queen of Saxony, the King and 
 Queen of Koumania, the Crown Princes of Denmark and 
 Sweden, representatives of the Czar, the King of Italy, and 
 other sovereigns, while even the far East rendered its tribute 
 in the person of Prince Komatsu of Japan. The whole of 
 this memorable day, March 22, 1887, was given up to 
 commemorative processions, services, and banquets ; and the 
 accounts furnished by the correspondents of English journals 
 in the Prussian capitals show that the celebration was truly 
 unique. Although the Kaiser had not gone to bed till past 
 midnight, he was up and dressed at eight o'clock. The first 
 to congratulate His Majesty, as in many years past, were 
 his two faithful valets. When Engel, the keeper of the 
 wardrobe, addressed his Imperial master, the Emperor re- 
 plied, * It has been God's will that I should live to see this 
 day. It was a favour I could scarcely hope for, but if it be 
 God's will, I may, perhaps, even live to see one more birth- 
 day.' All the royal servants received as keepsakes a medal 
 with an inscription and the dates, ' 1797, 22nd March, 1887.' 
 At half-past nine the Empress made her affectionate 
 congratulations, and conducted her husband to a room in 
 which quite a legion of birthday presents had been arranged. 
 The whole palace wore the aspect of a flower garden ; and 
 indeed all day long magnificent floral offerings continued to 
 arrive from all parts of the Empire. 
 
 When the Emperor appeared at the window of the Palace 
 at ten o'clock, cries of ' Long live the Kaiser ! ' rent the air, 
 and these were carried onwards and repeated by thousands 
 who were not fortunate enough to see him, till the distant 
 streets were filled with a hoarse roar, and the whole city 
 seemed to ring with acclamations. Immediately in front of 
 the Palace the loyal cries were repeated with renewed vigour 
 every time the aged monarch showed himself, while as far 
 as eye could reach the air was alive with fluttering handker- 
 chiefs. Dressed in his parade uniform, with broad silver 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 epaulettes and scarlet facings, the Emperor looked exceed- 
 ingly well. No sign of treniulousness was apparent in the 
 hand which he constantly waved in salutation to his subjects, 
 and his figure was firm and upright. 
 
 The distinguished visitors were received in the Emperor's 
 apartments on the first floor of the palace, which were 
 fragrant with exotics and spring flowers from the north and 
 south of Europe. The Emperor's birthday table was in a 
 room adjoining the reception chamber, and it groaned 
 beneath its burden of mementoes, presented by the members 
 of the Kaiser's family. Amongst these welcome offerings 
 was a portrait of the Emperor's great-grandson, a noble and 
 beautiful boy. There was also amongst other presents a 
 General's sash, after the exact pattern of the sashes worn by 
 Frederick the Great. Of presents by foreigners, one very 
 tastefully arranged basket, sent by six little English girls at 
 school in Berlin, attracted much attention. The Christian 
 names of the girls were written on the cards, with the 
 words, * To the dear Emperor,' and the following humane 
 wish, ' Please make your people be kind to the poor horses 
 that drag the bricks about.' 
 
 Though the Emperor was strong and well the reception 
 was very wisely not prolonged too much. It was a touching 
 sight, and one rendered doubly interesting and memorable 
 by the fact that the Kaiser profited by the opportunity 
 to announce the formal betrothal of his grandson, Prince 
 Henry, the Crown Prince's sailor son, to the Prince's cousin, 
 Princess Irene of Hesse, granddaughter of Queen Victoria. 
 Congratulations were, under the happy circumstances, of 
 course given to the young pair, who were now looking out 
 upon life, as their patriarchal grandparent looked back upon 
 it. The Empress Augusta, though somewhat infirm, kept 
 up bravely through the presentation ceremony, and leaned 
 upon the arm of her grandson, Prince William, whose 
 charming young wife led up her little sons to present their 
 congratulations to their Imperial great-grandsire. As for 
 
THE EMPEROR'S LATER TEARS. 325 
 
 the Emperor, he actively threaded his way about among the 
 guests ; and ' the gaiety of his manner, the erectness of his 
 gait, and the elasticity with which he stooped to kiss a lady's 
 hand at parting, must all have tended to make his visitors 
 doubt the fact that he had already lived a score of years 
 beyond the Psalmist's allotted span of threescore years and 
 ten.' 
 
 The various Eoyal personages excited much interest as 
 they were driven up to the Palace. ' Perhaps the greatest 
 excitement was associated with the approach of Prince 
 William. His Eoyal Highness rode in a State coach, 
 splendidly decorated in green and gold, of the unwieldy 
 shape of a century ago. Silver crowns surmounted the 
 roof, and the six splendid Pomeranian browns that drew 
 it were caparisoned in silver and pale blue. The German 
 Crown Prince and the Princess Eoyal, with their two 
 daughters, rode in a carriage and six, with liveries of 
 purple, blue, and silver. Volleys of cheers greeted the 
 appearance of this carriage. The Crown Princess was en- 
 veloped in an ermine cloak, and smiled, with evident 
 satisfaction, at the warmth with which they were welcomed. 
 The Prince of Wales, who drove up in a splendid carriage 
 and six, was heartily cheered by the people. The manner 
 in which the Queen of Eoumania was greeted was also 
 most enthusiastic, and when she bowed her acknow- 
 ledgments in her own peculiarly graceful manner, the cheers 
 were redoubled. It seemed as if the people were not only 
 welcoming the Queen, but Carmen Sylvia, the poetess. 
 
 'The reception was over, but the people still remained 
 behind. They were rewarded for their patience, for a 
 sudden stir among the people, succeeded by loud " Hochs ! " 
 showed that something important was happening. A plain 
 carriage and pair drove slowly up, in which was seated 
 Prince Bismarck. A similar movement again ran through 
 the crowd, and Count Yon Moltke appeared in a small open 
 carriage, drawn by two spirited bays. They entered the 
 
326 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 Palace within a few minutes of each other, and when the 
 Emperor appeared at the window they could be seen on 
 each side of him in the background ; Prince Bismarck on 
 his right, and Count Moltke on his left hand. It was a 
 thrilling moment when these three men, who have accom- 
 plished so much for the Empire in common, showed them- 
 selves side by side. It is impossible to know what they 
 said; but it is easy to imagine the thoughts which filled 
 their hearts. As the great statesman and general drove 
 away shortly afterwards there were signs of deep emotion 
 on their faces.' 
 
 Wherever the stranger turned in the Prussian capital 
 on this memorable day, he saw nothing but patriotic 
 crowds; the shops were filled with patriotic mottoes; 
 patriotic banners hung from the outward walls; in the 
 theatres, at night, the patriotic plays and prologues elicited 
 the chief interest. Portraits and busts of the Emperor, sur- 
 rounded by wreaths, were to be seen everywhere ; and above 
 all the tumult of the day resounded the cheers for the 
 nonagenarian monarch. Berlin had never witnessed such a 
 scene; even the triumphal entry of the victorious German 
 army in 1871 could not vie with it in enthusiasm. For 
 days the rejoicings were maintained with an interest that 
 never tired or grew faint. 
 
 The celebration was more than a mere personal one it 
 was the apotheosis of the G-erman nation. The central 
 figure of the Emperor represented its strength, its 
 grandeur, and its powers of endurance. German unity 
 was at last complete in all its far-reaching and magnificent 
 development; and could the spirit of Stein have looked 
 down upon the scene, and contemplated the vast work 
 which had been achieved, that master mind would have 
 been abundantly satisfied. 
 
( 327 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 THE interest attaching to the great historical figures of the 
 world is not all concentrated upon their public relations. 
 Men are anxious to know something about the man as well 
 as the ruler, nor is this curiosity injurious or unworthy. It 
 is a matter which sensibly affects the meanest to know how 
 the greatest wears that humanity which is common to both. 
 How a monarch lives, what he does, and what are his traits 
 of character, are points upon which we are all glad to learn 
 something; for the same nature and passions are given to 
 us all. Shakspeare has beautifully shown how the peasant 
 and the king are one in the sight of Him who fashioned 
 men in the same mould. 
 
 The German Emperor has always set before himself a 
 high ideal of conduct and morals. In accordance with one 
 of the family statutes of the Hohenzollerns, every member 
 of that House, before confirmation, is required to draw up 
 and submit to his or her parents, sponsors, and religious 
 instructors, a profession of faith, which shall demonstrate to 
 those responsible for the moral training of the candidates, 
 whether their vows have been duly kept and their duties 
 and obligations fulfilled. Such a statement Prince William 
 composed, at the age of eighteen, when preparing for con- 
 firmation, and the document was ' equally remarkable for 
 its pure doctrinal orthodoxy, devotional feeling, and vigorous 
 literary style.' But in addition to this, the Prince drew 
 up a supplementary manifesto, which he entitled 'Life 
 Principles.' Of this manifesto which sets in a clear light 
 
328 WILLIAM /. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 the manly and robust moral character of the Prince the 
 following free translation has been published : 
 
 ' With a thankful heart I acknowledge God's great bene- 
 ficence in permitting that I should be born in an exalted 
 station, because thereby I am better enabled to educate my 
 soul and heart, and am put in possession of copious means 
 wherewith to build up worthiness in myself. I rejoice in this 
 station not on account of the distinction it confers upon 
 me amongst men, nor on account of the enjoyments it places 
 at my disposal, but because it enables me to achieve more 
 than others. In humility I rejoice in my station, and am 
 far from believing that God has intended, in this respect, to 
 put me at an advantage over my fellow-men. I am equally 
 far from considering myself better than anybody else on 
 account of my exalted station. My Princely rank shall 
 always serve to remind me of the greater obligations it 
 imposes upon me, of the greater efforts it requires me 
 to make, and of the greater temptations to which it 
 exposes me. 
 
 ' I will never forget that a Prince is a man before God, 
 only a man having his origin, as well as all the weaknesses 
 and wants of human nature, in common with the humblest 
 of the people ; that the laws prescribed for general observ- 
 ance are also binding upon him ; and that he, like all the 
 rest, will one day be judged for his behaviour. For all good 
 things that may fall to my share, I will look up gratefully 
 to God ; and in all misfortunes that may befall me, I will 
 submit myself to God, in the firm conviction that He will 
 always do what is best for me. I know what, as man and 
 Prince alike, my duty is to true honour. I will never seek 
 honour to myself in things illusory. My capacities belong 
 to the world and to my Fatherland. I will therefore work 
 unintermittently within the circle of activity prescribed to 
 me, make the best use of my time, and do as much good as 
 it may be in my power to do. 
 
 *I will maintain and keep alive within me a sincere and 
 
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 329 
 
 hearty good will towards all men, even the most insigni- 
 ficant for they are all my brethren. I will not domineer 
 over anybody in virtue of my princely dignity, nor bring to 
 bear upon any one the pressure of my princely prestige. 
 When compelled to require any service at the hands of 
 others, I will do so in a courteous and friendly manner, 
 endeavouring, as far as in me lies, to render the fulfilment 
 of their duties easy to them. But, in accordance with my 
 own duty, I will do all I can to destroy the works of 
 hypocrisy and malignity, to bring to scorn whatever is 
 wicked and shameful, and to visit crime with its due 
 measure of punishment ; no feelings of compassion shall 
 hinder me therefrom. I will, however, be careful not to 
 condemn the guiltless ; on the contrary, for me it shall ever 
 be a labour of love to defend the innocent. 
 
 ' To the utmost of my ability I will be a helper and 
 advocate of those unfortunates who may seek my aid, or of 
 whose mishaps I may be informed especially of widows, 
 orphans, aged people, men who have faithfully served the 
 State, and those whom such men may have left behind them 
 in poverty. Never will I forget the good that has been 
 done to me by my fellow-men. Throughout my whole life 
 I will continue to value those who have rendered me service. 
 
 ' For the King, my father, I entertain a respectful and 
 tender affection. To live in such sort that I may be a joy 
 to him will be my utmost endeavour. I yield the most 
 punctilious obedience to his commands. And I entirely 
 submit myself to the laws and constitution of the State. I 
 will perform my service-duties with absolute exactitude, and 
 whilst assiduously keeping my subordinates to their duty, 
 will treat them amicably and kindly.' 
 
 Few Princes of eighteen, or indeed men of any other age 
 or station, have ever drawn up such a moral code for their 
 guidance as this. What is much more noble, however, and 
 more to the purpose, the Emperor has throughout his long 
 career conscientiously endeavoured to fulfil its obligations. 
 
330 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 The sterling uprightness of his character found another 
 strong verification in a memorandum which, as King of 
 Prussia, he drew up and caused to be appended to an ordin- 
 ance respecting officers' courts of honour. Many are the 
 anecdotes told illustrative of the high value which the 
 Emperor attaches to duty, but one very simple incident 
 must suffice. A distinguished personage was once in con- 
 versation with His Majesty when the guards came by. The 
 Kaiser was most particular to fasten the top button of his 
 uniform before showing himself to the soldiers, whereat the 
 visitor marvelled greatly. He asked the Emperor why he 
 should stand so much upon ceremony with men who saw 
 him almost daily face to face. The Emperor replied, ' That 
 is not the question at all: as the head of the Army, I am 
 bound to show my soldiers an irreproachable example in the 
 way of tenue. They have never seen me with my coat un- 
 buttoned, and I do not intend that they ever shall. For, 
 let me tell you, it is the one button left unbuttoned that is 
 the ruin of an army ! ' The French paid dearly for this 
 perfect soldierly form and preparedness on the part of the 
 Germans during the war of 1870-71. 
 
 The Emperor has always cared more for the substance of 
 a thing than the appearance. This holds true in great 
 things as well as in little. A good example was furnished 
 at the time when he accepted the Imperial dignity. Those 
 Sovereigns who were great sticklers for forms and cere- 
 monies represented to His Majesty that only his Coronation 
 was wanting to set the seal upon the New Empire and 
 himself as Emperor. The Kaiser heard all they had to 
 urge, and then replied : * I am very much obliged to you 
 for attaching so much importance to my Coronation as 
 German Emperor, although I do not share your views in 
 that particular direction. However, if the German people 
 make a point of it, I am quite ready to be crowned whenever 
 and wherever the nation may please, provided the needful 
 insignia are placed at my disposal for the ceremony. Per- 
 
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 331 
 
 sonally, I experience no desire to be crowned, and nothing 
 is farther from my intention than to spend a single penny 
 of my private means upon regalia. In a word, if Germany 
 wants her Kaiser crowned, let her pay for his crown ; I 
 certainly will not. Crowned or not crowned, I am what 
 the voice of the nation has by acclamation pronounced 
 me to be, and shall remain so, please God, as long as I 
 live ! ' The sovereigns are still waiting for the Imperial 
 Coronation. 
 
 The uniform kindness of heart and forgiving disposition 
 of the Kaiser are proverbial. It is said that in the past, 
 the exercise of these qualities has sometimes been called for 
 even in his relations with the Empress. Her Majesty is 
 reported to have tried occasionally the fine and chivalrous 
 temper of her husband, who is fourteen years her senior. 
 The Emperor is a soldier, frank, open-hearted, and now and 
 then somewhat impatient of the mere convenances of society ; 
 but the Empress Augusta has little sympathy with military 
 habits or the military life. She is a dilettante in literature, 
 science, and the arts ; and she is reputed to have sometimes 
 attempted to thwart the schemes of Bismarck, but in vain. 
 Nevertheless, the Emperor's devotion to her has always 
 been conspicuous, and his thoughts have gone out first to 
 his wife when he has been fighting for the cause of Germany 
 on the battlefield. 
 
 When at Ems the Emperor has always delighted to 
 mingle with ordinary folk and enter into conversation with 
 them. He has borne his ninety summers lightly, and 
 exhibited a freshness and energy which men two-thirds his 
 age might envy. Under the colonnade at Ems, on the 
 occasion of his last visit, His Majesty entered into con- 
 versation with a number of ladies and gentlemen. Then he 
 visited the goldsmiths' shops, and made large purchases, 
 joking with the jewellers meanwhile. In one shop he took 
 up an ornament, and when the jeweller pointed out what 
 a fine piece of work it was, he remarked in reply, ' Yes, and 
 
332 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 it will be a fine price, no doubt. If you find a purchaser, 
 I shall congratulate you.' ' I know who might buy it, 
 your Majesty.' ' Who, then ? ' ' Your Majesty, yourself.' 
 1 Can't be.' The Emperor is very partial to seals, of which 
 he has a valuable collection. He now asked the price of 
 one which pleased him. ' It costs a thousand marks, your 
 Majesty.' ' That is too dear.' * Your Majesty will recollect 
 that in the year 1882, you bought one that cost fifteen 
 hundred marks.' The Emperor immediately remembered 
 the fact, and replied, ' Yes, you are right ; but the handle 
 was much larger.' As the Kaiser was walking in the 
 colonnade, he observed a young cadet, and beckoning to 
 him to come near, said, ' What do you mean to be, my son ? ' 
 ' A Field-Marshal, your Majesty.' The Emperor laughed, 
 and remarked to his companions, ' He knows how to 
 answer.' Like a venerable father, he wandered hither and 
 thither, with a friendly v\ord for many of his subjects, and 
 kind greetings for all. By his desire, some thirty officers 
 and soldiers who were staying at Ems for the sake of the 
 waters took up their station before the Emperor's lodging. 
 His Majesty came among them, and kindly inquiring 
 after their circumstances, and the cause of their stay at 
 Ems, wished each separately a speedy recovery. This 
 paternal interest in his subjects has done much to strengthen 
 their affection for him. 
 
 In his habits of life the Kaiser is extremely simple. 
 When at home in the Palace at Berlin, he breakfasts every 
 morning at half-past seven, invariably using coffee, with a 
 large allowance of milk, and bread without butter. Should 
 the weather permit, he takes walking exercise daily before 
 luncheon, which is served at one o'clock. Boiled crab is 
 a favourite dish at this meal, and is partaken of with great 
 relish. Between luncheon and dinner, affairs of State are 
 attended to for at least two hours, and sometimes longer. 
 Then he rests until it is time to dress for dinner. The 
 fixed hour for this is four o'clock. Every morning the 
 
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 333 
 
 chief cook submits the bill of fare for approval. It usually 
 consists of five courses. The Kaiser has a decided pre- 
 ference for plain food. He is liberal in the use of fruit, and 
 drinks mineral water procured from a natural spring. A 
 cup of tea, without bread or cake, is the only refreshment he 
 takes between dinner and bedtime. He makes a point of 
 resting for half an hour after breakfast and luncheon, and 
 an hour after dinner. When there are guests invited to 
 dinner they meet him in an ante-chamber, where a quarter 
 of an hour is spent in chatting. He then leads the way to 
 the dining-room. The invitations are always sent out at 
 an early hour, and the seats discussed with the Court- 
 Marshal. When there are no guests the Emperor dines 
 with the Empress,- and the cook takes orders from her. 
 
 In summer, while at Gastein or some other watering- 
 place, the Emperor goes to the bath-room at half-past seven 
 o'clock in the morning. He breakfasts at eight, and walks 
 at ten, accompanied by a personal adjutant and special 
 attendant. Luncheon is served at eleven o'clock, and 
 between twelve and three he confers with the officers of 
 the civil and military cabinets, who are in waiting. Dinner 
 is served at four : it consists of soup, fish, boiled beef, two 
 entrees, dessert, and fruit. All the members of the Imperial 
 suite attend. At six o'clock he takes a carriage ride, makes 
 a social call, and chats for an hour or longer. He is never 
 out of bed later than ten o'clock. The Emperor takes 
 considerable interest in sanitary science, and is very par- 
 ticular in the matter of air and ventilation. Eiding to 
 hounds has always been one of his favourite amusements ; 
 and he is a splendid figure on horseback. It is not too 
 much to say that such a simple life as is here sketched out, 
 with its accompanying wise and wholesome regimen, would 
 do much to prolong many an existence which is now cut 
 short by luxury and indulgence. 
 
 Some other traits of the Emperor may be mentioned. 
 His firmness is well-known ; whenever he has made up his 
 
334 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 mind as to what is right to be done, his will is inflexible, 
 and nothing would move him from his purpose. Constancy 
 might well be his motto constancy in friendship, in truth, 
 and in religion. He can, moreover, be very generous, as 
 his personal treatment of the dispossessed King of Hanover 
 testified ; the Emperor Napoleon also well knew this fact. 
 He is humane too, and has always entered upon war with great 
 reluctance. Bismarck, who upon this point is well qualified 
 to speak, has said that there could not be a more humane 
 man than his Imperial master. Strangely enough for one 
 who has been concerned in so many wars, His Majesty is a 
 lover of peace, and has repeatedly smoothed over difficulties 
 which might easily have led to European conflicts. More 
 than once he has declared that the blood of Germans shall 
 only be shed to protect the honour and interests of the 
 Fatherland. The Emperor's sincere and unaffected piety we 
 have already had occasion to refer to in the course of this 
 work. In all the great crises of his life, he has been 
 strangely moved and influenced by it; but his faith has 
 been of a robust nature, weakened by none of the grosser 
 elements of superstition. 
 
 It seems strange that one who has been equally noble, 
 both as a man and as a sovereign, should have been a mark 
 for the assassin's bullet. This very point was the subject 
 of an interesting conversation between Prince Bismarck and 
 General Grant shortly after Dr. Nobiling's attempt. The 
 ex-President of the United States happened to be in Berlin 
 at the time. General Grant having expressed his horror at 
 the crime, and made an allusion to the Kaiser's venerable 
 years, Bismarck replied with much emotion : ' Here you 
 have an old man, one of the best men on earth, and yet 
 they try to take his life. There never was a man of simpler, 
 more magnanimous, and more humane character than the 
 Emperor. He is totally different from those who are born 
 to such a high position, or at least from many of them. 
 You know that persons of his rank, princes by birth, are 
 
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 335 
 
 inclined to look upon themselves as something wholly differ- 
 ent from other men, attaching but little value to the feelings 
 and wishes of others. But the Emperor, on the contrary, 
 is a man in all things. He has never in his life wronged 
 any one, nor hurt any one's feelings, nor acted with severity. 
 He is one of those men whose kindly disposition wins all 
 hearts ; and he is always occupied with, and mindful of, the 
 happiness and welfare of his subjects, and of those about 
 him. It is impossible to imagine a finer, nobler, more 
 amiable, and beneficent type of a nobleman, with all the 
 high qualities of a sovereign and the virtues of a man. I 
 should have thought that the Emperor could have passed 
 through all his dominions alone without danger ; and now 
 they seek to kill him.' 
 
 The Chancellor further said : * In certain respects the 
 Kaiser resembles his ancestor Frederick William, the father 
 of Frederick the Great ; inasmuch as the old King had the 
 same homely sort of character lived simply and retired, 
 and led a true family life, possessing all republican virtues. 
 And so it is with our Kaiser, who is in all things so repub- 
 lican, that even the most incarnate democrat would admire 
 him if his judgment were impartial.' General Grant observed 
 that he did not see why a person who committed such a 
 crime as Nobiling's, which not only imperilled the life of 
 an aged sovereign, but filled the world with horror, should 
 not be visited with the severest punishment. To this 
 Bismarck responded: 'That is precisely my view; and my 
 conviction on this head is so strong, that (among other 
 reasons) I resigned the reins of power in Alsace so as not 
 to have to exercise mercy in cases of capital punishment. 
 It was impossible for me to force my conscience. Well, 
 now, look at this aged nobleman, this Emperor of ours, 
 whose subjects sought to murder him such is his largeness 
 of heart, that he never will confirm a sentence of death. It 
 is impossible to imagine anything more unique a monarch, 
 whose clemency, so to speak, has abolished capital punish- 
 
336 WILLIAM I. AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 
 
 ment, becoming himself on that very account the victim of 
 a murder, or an attempt to murder ! That is a fact ; but 
 in this respect I cannot agree with the Emperor; and in 
 Alsace, where I as Chancellor had to countersign acts of 
 mercy, I always inwardly rebelled against doing so. In 
 Prussia that is the business of the Minister of Justice, but 
 in Alsace it fell to me. I feel, as the French say, that we 
 owe justice something, and that in the case of crimes like 
 this they must be severely punished.' Grant and Bismarck 
 were at one in thinking that such criminals should be 
 destroyed, but the Emperor invariably leaned to mercy's 
 side. 
 
 It is a curious reflection that the greatest of all the 
 European States should, in this the most active and advanced 
 era in the world's history, be ruled by a nonagenarian 
 monarch. He only succeeded to the throne of Prussia at 
 sixty-four years of age, a period when most men begin to 
 'shuffle off this mortal coil.' Yet he has lived more than 
 a quarter of a century since then, and such a quarter of a 
 century as has rarely been seen in the annals of any nation 
 or people. Vast upheavals have taken place, and the map 
 of Europe has been several times reconstructed, always to 
 the greater glory and advantage of Prussia and the German 
 race. Nothing more surprising in the way of territorial 
 and historical changes could well be conceived. The life of 
 the German Kaiser spans the whole momentous period from 
 Jena to Sedan. 
 
 The life of the Emperor William is the rampart of the 
 peace of Europe. No other agent is so powerful in ensuring 
 tranquillity. His Majesty hopes to be permitted to end 
 his days in peace; and it would require very strong pro- 
 vocation indeed to cause him once more to draw the sword. 
 He is a pacific interposing force between Austria and Kussia, 
 and exercises a modifying influence upon both those Powers. 
 So long as the alliance between Germany and her Imperial 
 neighbours lasts there will be no war. Of course, it needs 
 
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 337 
 
 but a slight thing to kindle the war flame in Europe ; but 
 when so many Powers are armed to the teeth and ready for 
 war, the responsibility is all the greater for the individual 
 Power which casts the match into the powder. This is 
 the one paramount, restraining consideration. 
 
 What will be the future of Germany after the Emperor's 
 death ? That is a question which has no doubt often caused 
 deep solicitude to the Kaiser and his Chancellor. It cannot 
 be forgotten that all the co-makers of Germany and not alone 
 the Emperor William have, like their Imperial master, been 
 growing old together. ' Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
 thereof is a good maxim for individuals, but newly-formed 
 Empires and States are to a great extent compelled to fore- 
 cast the future. Time only can prove whether the new and 
 younger race which, in the nature of things, must at no dis- 
 tant date succeed to the Imperial inheritance in Germany, 
 will be able to maintain it intact, and to deepen and 
 strengthen the foundations of the Empire. Meanwhile, as 
 the venerable Emperor approaches that ' bourne from whence 
 no traveller returns,' the eyes of the whole civilized world 
 follow him with kindly and wondering interest. Viewed in 
 its relations to the German race and the German Empire, 
 his career has been great and glorious beyond that of any 
 contemporary sovereign ; and, notwithstanding the imper- 
 fections which cling to all of human mould, when history 
 comes to delineate his character it will depict him as a man 
 amongst men, a king amongst kings, and a true father to 
 his people. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 z 2 
 
( 341 ) 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 STATISTICS OF THE GERMAN EMPIEE. 
 
 IT will be of value, as well as interest, to add here certain 
 facts and statistics concerning the Constitution, population, 
 finances, &c., of the German Empire. This information is 
 gleaned from recent official returns. 
 
 The confederated States known as the German Empire, 
 were formally united under the Emperor William on May 4, 
 1871, when the constitution of the German Empire replaced 
 the articles of confederation between the North German States, 
 and the treaties by which the Grand Duchies of Baden and 
 Hesse, and the kingdoms of Bavaria and Wiirtemburg, entered 
 the League during the Franco-Prussian War. The Sovereign 
 powers of the Empire are vested in the Prussian Crown and 
 the Federal Council (Bundesrath), but the concurrence of the 
 Reichstag (Parliament) is necessary to the exercise of certain 
 functions. The Reichstag is elected by universal suffrage. It 
 has certain rights of control over the acts of the Government. 
 For example, to declare war (if not merely defensive) the 
 Emperor must have the consent of the Federal Council, in 
 which body, conjointly with the Reichstag, are vested the 
 legislative functions of the Empire. The Federal Council 
 represents the individual States, and the Reichstag the entire 
 nation. The Federal Council consists of sixty-two members, 
 who are appointed by the governments of the individual States 
 for each session, while the members of the Reichstag, 397 in 
 number, are elected by universal suffrage, under the ballot, for 
 a term of three years. The Chancellor of the Empire (Prince 
 Bismarck) presides over the Bundesrath, or Federal Council, 
 and he has also the right to interpose in the deliberations of 
 the Reichstag. The Emperor calls both bodies together 
 
342 APPENDIX. 
 
 annually. All Imperial laws must be voted by a majority in 
 both Houses, and the Emperor's assent, with the counter- 
 signature of the Chancellor, are necessary to give them effect. 
 Prussia and the other States, in addition to their joint Imperial 
 relations, have of course a separate Constitution, Parliament, 
 and Ministry of their own. 
 
 The area of Germany is 211,149 square miles. The census 
 of December 1, 1880, gave the total population of the Empire 
 at 45,234,061, of whom 22,185,433 were males, and 23,048,628 
 females. The number of foreigners scattered throughout 
 Germany was only 275,856, of whom 117,547 were born in 
 Austria-Hungary, 28,244 in Switzerland, 23,593 in Denmark, 
 17,772 in the Netherlands, 17,393 in France, 15,107 in Eussia, 
 11,155 in Great Britain and Ireland, 10,326 in the United 
 States, and the remainder in various other countries. By 
 December, 1885, the number of foreigners in Germany had 
 made no perceptible increase, being then only 276,057. Ac- 
 cording to an enumeration of the population of the Empire 
 with reference to professions and employments, made on June 
 5, 1882, the inhabitants of the Empire were thus distributed: 
 Those engaged in agriculture, stock-raising, and gardening, 
 18,838,653 ; forestry, hunting, and fishing, 384,593 ; mining 
 industry and works of construction, 16,054,291 ; commerce and 
 transportation, 4,529,780 ; labour for hire and domestic service, 
 938,143; public service, ecclesiastical, and liberal professions, 
 2,223,184 ; and those without profession or employment, 
 2,245,257. As compared with the year 1871, the number of 
 those engaged in agriculture had increased enormously, whilst 
 those engaged in personal and domestic service had decreased 
 in like proportion. The latest census of the German Empire, 
 taken on December 1, 1885, gives the total area of the twenty- 
 five States of the Empire at 211,149 English square miles (as 
 stated above) and the total population at 46,852,680. 
 
 At the time of the census of 1880, the population was thus 
 divided as regards religious belief: Evangelical, 28,318,592; 
 Catholic, 16,229,290; other Christians, 93,894; Jewish, 561,612; 
 and those unassigned, 30,673. The Protestant element thus 
 embraced 62 6 per cent, of the entire population. 
 
 In 1881 there were 47,720 emigrants who renounced German 
 nationality, as compared with 28,780 in 1880. With every 
 
APPENDIX. 343 
 
 year since 1880, the number of emigrants from the German 
 Empire has been very great. In 1881 the total number of 
 emigrants reached 210,547; in 1882 it was 193,687; in 1883, 
 166,119; in 1884, 143,586 ; and in 1885, 103,642. The total 
 emigration from 1820 to the end of 1882 was nearly 4,000,000, 
 of which number about 3,250,000 emigrated to the United 
 States. 
 
 The population of German cities containing upwards of 
 100,000 inhabitants in 1880 was as follows: Berlin, 1,122,330; 
 Hamburg, 285,859 (with suburbs 410,127); Breslau, 272,912; 
 Munich, 230,023; Dresden, 220,818; Leipsic, 149,081; Cologne, 
 144,772 ; Konigsberg, 140,909 ; Frankfort-on-the-Main, 136,819 
 (including faubourgs, 164,697); Hanover, 122,843 (with Lin- 
 den, 145,227); Stuttgart, 117,303; Bremen, 112,458; Dantzic, 
 108,551 ; and Strasburg, 104,471. 
 
 Education is compulsory throughout all the German States, 
 and the elementary schools are supported by the Communes. 
 It appeared from the returns of 1878, that all recruits of the 
 army could read and write, though in Bavaria, and some other 
 parts of South Germany, there was a small percentage whose 
 education generally was backward. The Empire, however, will 
 contrast favourably with other European States in the matter 
 of education. In the universities of Munich, Miinster, Freiburg, 
 and Wurtzburg, Eoman Catholic theology is taught, and in 
 Bonn, Breslau, and Tubingen, both Catholic and Protestant ; 
 all the other universities are of an exclusively Protestant 
 character. In addition to students for degrees, there are non- 
 matriculated students, who in Berlin always number con- 
 siderably more than a thousand annually. 
 
 With regard to the financial condition of the Empire, the 
 Budget for the year 1884-5 which was voted July 2, 1883 
 estimated the yield of the customs duties at 196,450,000 marks, 
 the mark being equal to one shilling in English money. The 
 excise duty on sugar was estimated at 46,865,000 marks ; on 
 salt, 37,262,600 marks; on tobacco, 13,940,920 marks; on 
 spirits, 35,925,900 marks; on malt, 15,791,000 marks; the net 
 receipts of posts and telegraphs, 25,832,193 marks ; of railroads, 
 16,690,600 marks; stamp duties, 19,436,680 marks; receipts of 
 the invalid funds, 28,665,120 marks ; and surplus of the budget 
 of 1882-83, 15,825,000 marks. The extraordinary receipts 
 
344 APPENDIX. 
 
 were estimated as follows : From construction fund for forti- 
 fications, 10,400,000 marks; for Parliament-house, 2,000,000; 
 from loan for extraordinary purposes, 22,192,720 making a 
 total of 34,592,720 marks. The above sums, together with 
 receipts from minor sources amounting to 83,702,768 marks to 
 be provided by the matricular quota shares of the States made 
 up a total budget of 590,819,344 marks. This amount was to 
 be appropriated as follows : Current expenditure, 544,327,866 
 marks; extraordinary expenditure, 46,491,478 marks. The 
 military administration absorbed no less than 339,872,490 
 marks of the current, and 26,762,678 of the extraordinary 
 expenditure. 
 
 The German Budget for the year 1887-88 presented an 
 estimated revenue and expenditure of 746,888,121 marks, the 
 permanent expenditure being placed at 627,351,430 marks, and 
 the non-recurring at 119,536,691 marks. The total estimated 
 expenditure showed an increase of 53,554,816 marks over that 
 of the previous year; and to meet the extraordinary ex- 
 penditure of 1887-88 a loan of 66,000,000 marks would be 
 necessary. 
 
 The various loans authorized by the Eeichstag, and the dates 
 of the laws authorizing them, were as follows : June 14, 1877, 
 77,731,321 marks; June 14, 1878, 97,484,865 marks; March 13, 
 1879, 68,021,071 marks ; October 13, 1880, 37,627,203 marks ; 
 April 5 and December 12, 1881, 64,912,885 marks; February 
 15, 1882, 29,674,405 marks; and July 2, 1883, 18,192,720 
 marks. Of the amount authorized prior to April 1, 1882, 
 there had been issued at that date 319,239,000 marks. The 
 value of the bank-notes of the Empire in circulation at the 
 same date was 153,164,210 marks. 
 
 On October 1, 1886, the total funded debt was estimated to 
 amount to 460,000,000 marks; and there was in addition an 
 unfunded debt amounting to 137,527,800 marks. As a set-off 
 against the debt of the Empire, there existed the following 
 invested funds : the fund for -invalids, 514,360,717 marks ; 
 the fortification fund, 30,950,600 marks; fund for Parliament 
 buildings, 20,996,400 marks ; and a war treasure fund, 
 120,000,000 marks. 
 
 Touching the commerce of the Empire, the total value of the 
 imports in 1881 was 2,961,000,000 marks; and the total exports 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 2,974,000,000 marks. The imports of cereals were 372,000,000, 
 and the exports 96,000,000 marks ; the imports of fermented 
 liquors, 43,000,000, and the exports 75,500,000; imports of 
 live animals and animal products 330,000,000, and exports 
 186,000,000. The exports of manufactured products were 
 nearly 90,000,000 marks more than in 1880. In 1885 the 
 total German imports amounted in value to 2,989,969,000 
 marks, and the total exports to 2,915,257,000 marks. The 
 strength of the German merchant marine on January 1, 1882, 
 was as follows : Ordinary vessels, 4,509 ; tonnage, 1,194,407 ; 
 crews, 39,109; steamers, 458; tonnage, 251,648; crews, 9,516. 
 
 The iron industry, as investigated by the Iron and Steel 
 Manufacturers' Association of Germany, gave some very re- 
 markable results, which followed upon the introduction of 
 protective duties. In January, 1879, 325 private firms and 
 joint-stock companies employed 153,979 hands, and paid in 
 wages 9,333,396 marks monthly ; in January, 1883, they gave 
 employment to 206,150 labourers, an increase of 33'9 per cent., 
 and paid in wages 14,754,350 marks monthly an increase of 57'2 
 per cent. These statistics, however, were compiled by a protec- 
 tive body, and they might be susceptible of modification now. 
 
 The strength of the German Army on the peace footing, 
 1886-7, is as follows: Officers, 18,143; rank and file, 427,274; 
 horses, 81,773 ; guns, 1,374. The war strength of the army is 
 (as regards rank and file), more than treble this number, being 
 raised to 35,427 officers, 1,500,000 men, 312,731 horses, and 
 2,500 guns. If to these figures be added the Landsturm and 
 the one-year volunteers, the total war-strength of trained 
 soldiers would be about 2,650,000 ; while with the addition of 
 those not trained, on account of not being up to the standard at 
 the time of drilling, the total available force of all classes would 
 be 5,670,000. Every German is liable to service, and no sub- 
 stitution is allowed. The strength of the German Navy on 
 April 1, 1886, was as follows: Number of vessels, 98; guns, 
 554; indicated horse-power, 162,405; crews, 17,472. 
 
 In all parts of Germany, except the Mecklenburg States, 
 complete free trade in land has been established, and all 
 personal and material burdens removed that would interfere 
 with the operation of this principle. In the West German 
 States, small estates and peasant proprietorship are the rule, 
 
346 APPENDIX. 
 
 but in the North large estates prevail. The land is very 
 serviceable, for of the whole area of Germany 94 per cent, is 
 classed as productive, and only 6 per cent, as unproductive. 
 On the 5th of June, 1882, there were no fewer than 5,276,344 
 separate agricultural enclosures, each cultivated by one house- 
 hold. Corn crops, and hay and grass are the principal growths, 
 though there is also a considerable produce from the vineyards. 
 Forestry is an industry of great importance. The value of 
 domestic animals in 1883 was 5,944,511,000 marks horses and 
 cattle furnishing more than three-fourths of the whole. The 
 iron industry in Germany is a large one. In 1883 there were 
 335 works in operation, producing finished iron ; besides 75 steel 
 works ; and a total of nearly 200,000 men were employed in 
 the iron trades. With regard to shipping, on January 1, 1886, 
 Germany had engaged in the foreign trade, 4,135 vessels; and 
 on January 1, 1883, she had 18,372 ships engaged in the river, 
 canal, and coast trade of the Empire, 2,460 of which had a 
 tonnage of 150 and upwards. 
 
 The railways of the Empire completed and open for public 
 traffic in 1886 had a total length of 23,535 English miles ; of 
 these lines 20,407 miles belonged to and were worked by the 
 State, 422 miles were owned by private companies but were 
 worked by the State, and the remainder were owned and 
 worked by private companies. In a short time, however, all 
 the railways will be absorbed by the State. 
 
 The telegraphic and postal services of Germany have made 
 great strides. In the year 1885 the total number of telegraphic 
 despatches was 19,131,225, of which 13,622,250 were inland, 
 and the remainder international. The length of telegraph lines 
 in the Empire at the end of 1885 was 51,537 miles, and of 
 telegraph wires 184,380 miles. The Imperial Post Office 
 carried, in 1885, 815,689,030 letters, 243,871,890 post-cards, 
 19,117,000 patterns, 224,382,000 stamped wrappers, 524,473,250 
 newspapers, and 176,353,000 registered packets and money 
 orders, &c., of the value of 18,296,431,600 marks. The total 
 receipts from the post office and telegraphic services amounted 
 in 1884-85 to 193,607,130 marks, and the total expenditure to 
 168,976,045 marks. The number of post offices was 17,452, 
 with 13,413 telegraphic stations at the end of 1885, and 93,845 
 persons employed. 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 Germany extended her Empire in 1884 by taking under her 
 protection certain portions of the West Coast of Africa. By a 
 treaty concluded in 1886 the German East Africa Company 
 acquired still further rights over territory exceeding in area 
 100,000 square miles. Other territories annexed in 1885 were 
 Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, New Guinea, 70,300 square miles in 
 extent, the New Britain and other islands, now known as the 
 Bismarck Archipelago, embracing an area of 18,150 square 
 miles; and, in 1886, three islands in the Solomon Group, to 
 the east of Bismarck Archipelago, with an area of 6,000 square 
 miles. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Alexander, the Emperor, visits Berlin, 
 
 261 
 Alsace and Lorraine incorporated by 
 
 Germany, 218 
 
 the government regulated, 280 
 Arnim, Count, prosecution of, 256 
 
 further proceedings against, 264 
 Augustenberg, proclamation by the 
 
 Prince of, 75 
 
 Austria, Emperor of, at Frankfort 
 Congress, 78 
 
 - War Manifesto by, 107 
 
 his Manifesto to the Hungarians, 
 122 
 
 Austria and Prussia, hostile prepara- 
 tions by, 100 
 Austro-Prussian War, the, 106 
 
 - battle of Sadowa, 114 
 
 - effects of the, 124 
 
 losses in the, 125 
 
 Battle of Munchengratz, 110 
 
 - Nachod, 111 
 
 Frantenau, 111 
 
 Sadowa or Koniggratz, 114 
 
 Blumenau, 123 
 
 Saarbruck, 172 
 
 Wissemburg, 172 
 
 Worth, 173 
 
 Spicheren, 173 
 Forbach, 173 
 
 - Mars-la-Tour, 176 
 
 Gravelotte, 17(5 
 Rezonville, 176 
 
 Battle of Beaumont, 180 
 
 Carignan, 180 
 
 Sedan, 181 
 
 Orleans, 193 
 Coulmiers, 196 
 
 Beaume la Rolande, 196 
 
 Pont de Noyelle, 197 
 
 Bapaume, 206 
 
 Le Mans, 207 
 
 Belfort, 207 
 
 Bavaria, suicide of the King of, 314 
 Bazaine surrenders Metz, 193 
 
 charged with treason, 195 
 
 Becker, Oscar, attempts the life of the 
 
 Emperor, 50 
 
 his trial, 51 
 
 Benedek, Marshal, Austrian com- 
 
 mander-in-chief, 109 
 Benedetti, M., interviews Bismarck, 
 
 131 
 forces himself upon the Emperor 
 
 at Ems, 167 
 
 Berlin, meeting of Emperors at, 237 
 triumphal entry of the Prussian 
 
 army into, 133 
 
 rejoicings at the fall of Sedan, 199 
 
 triumphal entry of the Emperor, 
 
 220 
 
 the university established, 4 
 
 revolution in, 7 
 
 Beust, Baron, and Bismarck, 154 
 Bismarck, Prince, his first meeting with 
 
 the Emperor, 22 
 sketch of, 56 
 
350 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bismarck, appointed Prime Minister, 57 
 
 his conflict with the Chambers, 58 
 
 violent scene with the Deputies, 
 
 65 
 
 on Frankfort congress, 78 
 
 dismembers the Danish mon- 
 archy, 89 
 
 created a Count, 92 
 
 his financial and military mea- 
 sures, 93, 94 
 
 interview with Napoleon at 
 
 Biarritz, 97 
 
 seeks a quarrel with Austria, 
 
 99 
 
 concludes treaty of alliance of 
 
 Italy, 100 
 
 Blind's (Cohen) attempt to 
 
 assassinate, 102 
 
 rewards to, after the Prussian 
 
 war, 129 
 
 outwits Napoleon, 131 
 
 described, 133 
 
 on France and Austria, 136 
 
 his official appointments, 163 
 
 created a Prince, 217 
 
 on Ultramontanism, 230 
 
 his Apologia, 231 
 
 quarrels with the Papacy, 233 
 
 retires from Prussian premier- 
 ship, 241 
 
 . will not go to " Canossa," 250 
 
 Kullmann's attempt to assassi- 
 nate, 253 
 
 . temporary retirement of, 269 
 
 joins the clerical Conservatives, 
 
 278 
 
 his campaign against the Social- 
 ists, 278 
 
 abandons free trade, 279 
 
 on the Emperor and Parliament, 
 
 293 
 
 opens new colonial settlements, 
 
 304 
 
 appears as the " honest broker," 
 
 304 
 
 Bismarck resigns the Presidency of the 
 
 Prussian Cabinet, 305 
 receives the ordre pour le merite, 
 
 305 
 
 on Sunday labour, 307 
 
 celebrates his seventieth birthday, 
 
 310 
 congratulated by the Emperor, 
 
 311 
 
 on the Polish difficulty, 312 
 
 on Socialism, 314 
 
 his Colonial policy, 316 
 
 interview with General Grant, 
 
 334 
 
 his views of the Emperor, 335 
 
 Blind, Ferdinand, attempts to assassi- 
 nate Bismarck, 102 
 
 his character, 103 
 
 Bliicher in London, 18 
 
 and Napoleon, 19 
 
 Brunswick succession, the, 309 
 Bunsen, Baron, on the German E mperor, 
 
 20 
 
 Carlyle and Frederick the Great, 1 
 Catholic bishops prosecuted, 243 
 
 sympathy with, 254 
 
 Chancellors, meeting of German and 
 
 Austrian, 222 
 Christian IX. of Denmark, his accession, 
 
 75 
 farewell to his Schleswig subjects, 
 
 90 
 Cologne Cathedral opened, 290 
 
 - the great bell of, 321 
 Crown Princess of Germany at King 
 
 William's coronation, 53 
 on Bismarck and Germany, 130 
 
 Denmark and Prussia, 71 
 
 England's sympathy with, 82 
 
 fails in the struggle with Austria 
 
 and Prussia, 88 
 
INDEX. 
 
 351 
 
 England mediates on behalf of Den- 
 mark, 87 
 
 Eugenie's, Empress, escape from 
 Paris after Sedan, 188 
 
 European armies, cost of, 264 
 
 Franco-German war, origin of the, 166 
 
 the claims of France refused, 167 
 
 excitement in Paris, 168 
 conflict begins, 169 
 
 disposition of the French army, 
 
 170 
 French blunders in, 171 
 
 the Prussian forces, 172 
 French defeats, 172-3 
 
 Paris declared in a state of siege, 
 
 174 
 proclamation of King William, 
 
 174 
 Napoleon leaves the French 
 
 army, 175 
 
 battles of Mars la Tour, Grave- 
 lotte, Eezonville, 176 
 
 Metz, siege of, 179 
 
 surrender of Sedan, 187 
 
 indignation in Paris, 187 
 
 continuation of, 191 
 
 the French desire an armistice, 
 191 
 
 the war continued, 193 
 
 engagements round Paris, 196 
 
 - French success at Coulmiers, 
 196 
 fall of Orleans, 196 
 
 bombardment of Paris, 198 
 battles round the city, 207 
 
 great sortie from Paris, 207 
 
 capitulation of the capital, 208 
 
 Treaty of Versailles, 213 
 
 entry of the Germans into Paris, 
 
 215 
 Frankfort Assembly and the Imperial 
 
 Crown, the, 7 
 
 congress of, 78 
 
 Diet, meeting of, 96 
 
 Frankfort Diet, extinction of, 123 
 Frederick Charles, Prince, besieges 
 
 Metz, 180 
 commands the armies in Saxony 
 
 and Bohemia, 107 
 created a Field Marshal, 195 
 Frederick the Great, 1 
 
 his characteristics, 2 
 
 his centenary celebrated, 320 
 
 Frederick William II., 2 
 
 his foolish policy, 2 
 
 Frederick William III., 3 
 
 his alliances with France and 
 
 Eussia, 3 
 
 loses part of his dominions, 4 
 
 his despotism, 4 
 
 superstition of, 22 
 
 death of, 23 
 
 Frederick William IV., 5 
 
 a scholar but no king, 6 
 
 difficulties with his subjects, 6 
 
 refuses the Imperial crown, 6 
 
 his life twice attempted, 8 
 
 vacillating policy during the 
 
 Crimean war, 34 
 
 death of, 48 
 
 Frederick William, Crown Prince of 
 
 Germany, bora, 21 
 betrothal to the Princess Eoyal 
 
 of Great Britain, 33 
 
 marriage, 36 
 
 opposes his father's policy, 67 
 
 correspondence with the Em- 
 peror, 69 
 in the Austrian war, 111 
 
 at the battle of Sadowa, 117-119 
 
 in the Franco-German War, 179 
 
 marches towards Paris, 191 
 
 is created a Field Marshal, 195 
 
 Frederick William Victor Albert, 
 
 marriage of, 294 
 French Eepublic proclaimed, the, 188 
 
 Gablenz, Marshal von, appointed Gov- 
 ernor of Holstein, 96 
 
352 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gambetta, dictator of France, 193 
 
 Gastein convention, the, 94 
 
 protested against by France and 
 
 England, 95 
 Geneva, International Congress at, 
 
 153 
 
 German armaments, strength of, 160 
 German embassy to the Pope sup- 
 pressed, 256 
 
 German Houses of Parliament, 300 
 German ironclads, collision between, 
 
 276 
 German Parliament, North, meeting of 
 
 the first, 137 
 
 King William's speech to, 138 
 
 the first united, 217 
 
 and the Jesuits, 235 
 
 German States, treaty of confederation 
 
 between, 135 
 Germany, democratic feeling in, 164 
 
 arrests of democrats, 200 
 
 Bismarck on annexations to, 201 
 
 internal reconstruction of, 201 
 
 new constitution of, 204 
 
 gains after the war with France, 
 
 213 
 - the Catholic difficulty in, 223 
 
 Imperial coinage bill, 225 
 
 financial position of, 226 
 
 school inspection bill, 230 
 
 districts administration bill, 239 
 
 religious legislation for, 242 
 
 civil marriage bill passed, 248 
 
 new army bill, 251 
 
 press law carried, 253 
 
 organization of the Landsturm, 
 
 258 
 new laws on births, deaths, and 
 
 marriages, 258 
 
 ecclesiastical measures, 260 
 
 the anti-Socialist Bill, 275 
 
 collapse of the national Liberals, 
 
 277 
 
 and the Samoan Treaty, 281 
 
 universal judicature Act, 282 
 
 Germany, the new Army Bill, 286 
 anti-Socialist law, 287 
 
 ecclesiastical legislation, 296 
 
 the Tobacco Monopoly Bill, 296 
 
 the Workmen's Insurance Bill, 
 
 299 
 
 the Explosives Bill, 302 
 
 the graduated income tax, 309 
 
 colonial developments of, 309 
 
 the difficulties with Eome ad- 
 justed, 315 
 
 proposed increase of the army, 
 
 317 
 
 the future of the Empire, 337 
 
 statistics of the E mpire, 341 
 
 constitution of the Empire, 341 
 
 area and population, 342 
 
 emigration, 342 
 
 education, 343 
 
 financial condition, 343 
 
 Imperial Budget 344 
 
 loans, 344 
 
 public debt, 344 
 
 commerce, 344 
 
 the iron industry, 345 
 
 the army, 345 
 
 land laws, 345 
 
 railways and postal service, 346 
 
 colonial extension, 347 
 
 Grant, General, on the Emperor 
 
 William, 334 
 Great Elector, monument to the, 262 
 
 Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, scene in the, 
 
 205 
 
 Imperial ceremony in, 210 
 
 Hamburg enters the Zollverein, 292 
 Hanover, Prussian annexation of, 130 
 the King of, his intrigues against 
 
 Prussia, 150 
 Hermann, statue to the liberator, 
 
 262 
 Herwarth, General, in the Austrian 
 
 war, 116 
 
INDEX. 
 
 353 
 
 Hohenlohe, Prince, forms a cabinet, 55 
 Governor of Alsace Lorraine, 321 
 
 Infallibility dogma, the, 205 
 Ischl, meeting of emperors at, 304 
 
 Jesuits expelled from Germany, 236 
 
 Jews, persecution of the, 289 
 
 agitation against, in Berlin, 294 
 
 Krupp gun, invention of the, 266 
 
 Lauenburg, duchy of, united to 
 
 Prussia, 97 
 Leopold, Archduke, disobeys Benedek's 
 
 orders, 111 
 
 London treaty of 1852, 76 
 Louisa, Queen of Prussia (mother of 
 
 the Emperor), 3 
 Napoleon's insulting treatment 
 
 of, 4 
 
 her lofty spirit, 11 
 
 her estimate of Napoleon, 13 
 
 death, 14 
 
 Luxemburg question, the, 143 
 attitude of France, on, 145 
 
 MacMahon, his errors hi the Franco- 
 Prussian war, 179, 180 
 
 Manteuflel, General von, appointed 
 Governor of Schleswig, 96 
 
 death of, 309 
 
 Metz, siege of, 179 
 
 surrender of, 193 
 
 King William on the capitulation 
 
 of, 195 
 
 Moltke, the great strategist, 107 
 
 coolness at Sadowa, 119 
 
 and the French surrender at 
 
 Sedan, 181 
 
 created a Field Marshal, 217 
 
 Napoleon III. mediates between 
 
 Austria and Prussia, 121 
 at Saarbriiek, 172 
 
 Napoleon III. surrenders at Sedan, 181 
 
 end of his empire, 188 
 
 National Liberals, convention of, 301 
 
 Paris, capitulation of, 208 
 
 Poland, Russian, revolution in, 64 
 
 Poles expelled from Prussian territory, 
 306 
 
 Pope, the, and the Franco-Prussian 
 war, 171 
 
 Prague, Treaty of, 125 
 
 Prince Consort's letter to the Prince of 
 Prussia, 41 
 
 Prussia after Leipsic, 4 
 
 and Waterloo, 4 
 
 at war with Bonaparte, 10 
 
 territorial gains from Austria,125 
 
 electoral reforms in, 134 
 
 national debt of, 158 
 
 increases her navy, 160 
 
 Prussian Constitution of 1850 promul- 
 gated, 32 
 
 Prussian States council formed, 303 
 
 Prussian Chamber of Deputies, scene in 
 the, 61 
 
 Eoman Catholic controversy in Ger- 
 many, 223 
 
 Russia and the Black Sea, 204 
 Russian war scare, 285 
 
 Salzburg, imperial meeting at, 147 
 Saxony, death of the King of, 249 
 Scharnhorst advocates national de- 
 fence, 10 
 
 Schleswig-Holstein, 73 
 Sedan, capitulation of, 181 
 
 French losses at, 187 
 
 Skirnievice, alliance of emperors at, 
 
 304 
 
 Socialism, spread of German, 225 
 Strasburg university opened, 234 
 
 Tilsit, Treaty of, 4 
 provisions of, 12 
 
354 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Treaty of Kalisch between Kussia anc 
 Prussia, 16 
 
 Ultramontanes, German conflict with 
 229 
 
 Versailles, Treaty of, 213 
 
 William I., the German Emperor, 1 
 
 compared with Frederick the 
 
 Great, 1, 2 
 
 his birth, 8 
 
 enters the army, 9 
 
 his education, 10 
 
 his first commission, 11 
 
 his early character, 12 
 
 at Breslau, 16 
 
 his " baptism of fire," 17 
 
 rewarded for bravery, 17 
 
 first visits England, 18 
 
 marriage to Princess Augusta of 
 
 Saxe- Weimar, 21 
 
 first meeting with Bismarck, 22 
 
 becomes Prince of Prussia, 23 
 
 interview with Bunsen, 24 
 
 visits Queen Victoria and Prince 
 
 Albert, 25 
 
 leaves Berlin in 1848, 26 
 
 accusations against, 26, 27 
 
 on constitutional reforms, 28 
 
 elected to the National Assembly, 
 
 30 
 
 suppresses the revolt in Baden, 32 
 
 celebrates his fifty years of mili- 
 tary service, 35 
 
 appointed Regent, 38 
 
 exposition of his policy, 39 
 
 on the Italian war of 1859, 42 
 
 inaugurates army reforms, 44 
 
 on the French annexation of Savoy 
 
 and Nice, 45 
 
 meeting with the Emperors of 
 
 Austria and Russia, 46, 47 
 
 created a Knight of the Garter, 49 
 
 attempted assassination of, 50 
 
 William I., the German Emperor* 
 
 visits Napoleon III. at Compiegne 
 
 51 
 
 coronation of, 52 
 
 curious incident at his coronation, 
 
 54 
 reproves the Chamber of Deputies, 
 
 63 
 estrangement with the Crown 
 
 Prince, 67 
 declines to attend Congress of 
 
 Frankfort, 79 
 
 at the battle of Sadowa, 114-118 
 
 speech after Austrian war, 127 
 
 visits Paris, 146 
 
 on Prussian finances, 157 
 
 and Protestantism, 159 
 
 and the Franco-Prussian war, 174 
 
 demeanour on the battle-field, 177 
 
 and Napoleon at Sedan, 181 
 
 letter to Queen Augusta on the 
 
 Prussian victories, 182 
 
 his meeting with Napoleon, 186 
 
 at Versailles, 192 
 
 accepts the Imperial dignity, 202 
 
 assumes the title of Kaiser, 210 
 proclaimed at Versailles, 211 
 
 celebration of his seventy-fifth 
 birthday, 217 
 
 meets Francis Joseph at Ischl, 221 
 
 on the Catholic controversy, 224 
 arbitrates between England and 
 
 the United States, 235 
 
 correspondence with the Pope, 
 
 245 
 
 on the Ultramontane conflict, 295 
 
 visits Victor Emmanuel, 263 
 
 seventieth anniversary of his mili- 
 tary career, 265 
 
 his eightieth birthday, 267 
 
 visits Alsace and Lorraine, 269 
 
 at Essen, 270 
 
 his relaxations in Silesia, 271 
 
 Hodel attempts to assassinate, 272 
 
 Nobiling's attempt upon, 273 
 
INDEX. 
 
 355 
 
 William I., the German Emperor, 
 inaugurates his father's monument, 
 276 
 
 accidents to, 283 
 
 his golden wedding celebrated, 283 
 
 appeals to the working-classes, 291 
 on his constitutionaPrights, 295 
 
 on the Socialist laws, 298 
 
 unveils the great national monu- 
 ment/ 300 
 
 on Bismarck, 305 
 
 his silver Jubilee as King of 
 Prussia, 318 
 
 unveils the statue of Frederick 
 William IV., 320 
 
 William I, the German Emperor, 
 
 visits Alsace-Lorraine, 321 
 his ninetieth anniversary cele- 
 brated, 322 
 
 his religious faith, 327 
 
 attachment to duty, 330/ 
 
 contempt for forms, 330 
 
 general characteristics, 331 
 
 habits of life, 332 
 
 his visits to Gastein, 333 
 
 his life a security for peace, 336 
 
 Wrangel, death of Field-Marshal, 272 
 
 Zollverein established, the, 4 
 
 THE END. 
 
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