CHAPTER VII.

VARZIN.

Purchase of Varzin.—The Verandah.—The Park.—The name of Bismarck famous.—House Inscriptions.—Popularity of Bismarck.—In an Ambush of School-girls.—Conclusion.

In the April of 1867 Count Bismarck went to see the Estates of Varzin (consisting of Varzin, Wussow, Puddiger, Misdow, and Chomitz), near Schlawe, in Farther Pomerania, and soon afterwards purchased them. In the autumn of that year, as we have said, he spent some weeks at Varzin, but in the following year he remained there, unfortunately in great illness, from June to December. He soon made himself at home there, and is fond of Varzin, as may be readily understood from its being close to the birthplace of his wife—beloved Reinfeld. Nothing is wanting there to his enjoyment—there are trees, and plenty of good riding and hunting. He converses with every one who meets him, in forest and field, in a friendly manner, and is fond of talking “platt” with the country people. Recently he said to an old laborer known to him, who had been ill: “_Nu seid Ihr wohl wieder ganz auf dem Tüge?_” (You’re all right on the main again?) “_I ja_,” replied the old man, “_Sie sollten man ok hie blieven, denn würden Sie noch mal so frisch!_”. (Ay! oh, you’d a vast deal better ztop ’ere; yow’d be eer zo mooch vresher!) Bismarck laughed. “Yes—if one could be as you are, and always stop in Varzin, I believe you!”

If one turn south on the Cöslin-Danzig road, by the large village of Carwitz—recently marked as a station on the railway from Cöslin to Danzig—after a short drive on a good road, some three German miles, one reaches the Bismarck estates with great ease. It is a very pleasant neighborhood, alternating with wooded hillocks, meadows and waters, wood and plough-land. There is nothing very magnificent about it, nothing very pretentious; but it is a pleasant spot, and the Countess Bismarck once merrily called it, very appropriately, “a pretty little humpy countrykin.”

Varzin can not be seen from the distance; it is hidden by woods. The descending road divides the mansion, to the right, from the farm-buildings on the left, forming a long parallelogram.

Varzin does not look nearly so aristocratic as Schönhausen, which Bismarck calls his “old stone-heap.” A building of one story, with two wings, all painted pale yellow, surrounds a somewhat roomy courtyard, open to the road. On the principal building, on the gable, are the arms of Blumenthal. The steps of the stairway are occupied by orange-trees, myrtles, and laurels. We saw a young donkey running about, who was eating the fallen laurel-leaves with a very good appetite. The possessor of Varzin must feel very much flattered that laurels abound so much in his house that there are enough to feed donkeys!

On this open staircase, or rather verandah, Bismarck receives his guests, like a simple country nobleman, in a green coat, white waistcoat, and yellow neckcloth, and with a hearty shake of the hand makes them free of the hospitality of his house. On this verandah the Countess stands with her daughter, and looks with beaming eyes and happy face after the three sportsmen who are proceeding towards the forest and wave their hands in greeting back to her. And for others—for every one—it is a pleasant sight to see Count Bismarck walking between his sons, his rifle over his shoulder, or riding on horseback. On this verandah also the last farewell takes place between mother and sons. After the longest possible holiday, they return to school at Berlin, while Bismarck himself orders the postillion to make haste, that he may not lose the mid-day train at Cöslin. The honest Pomeranian, with the well-fed face above his orange collar, has no idea that there exists an intimate bond between himself and the great Minister—that in his capacity, as Chancellor of the North German Confederation, he is his highest representative.

The interior of the mansion of Varzin is habitable and comfortable, but there is nothing otherwise remarkable about it. To the right of the hall on which you enter, is the dining-room, which is connected with the kitchen and servants’ rooms in the left wing; to the left is the Count’s room, the large centre-table of which is covered with maps. Maps, especially those of a minute kind, are an old hobby of Bismarck’s; if a trip is projected, or guests are departing, the road is accurately measured off beforehand on the map. This zealous study of maps has always seemed to us very characteristic of Bismarck’s whole nature; he always desires to know the road he is travelling in the most accurate manner; he considers the advantages, and weighs them against the annoyance. The windows of this apartment look out on the courtyard. To the right again is the Countess’s room, the windows opening on the park, and thence there is a really magnificent view: in the bright summer moonlight nights, one would think that one had, by enchantment, some fragment of early French court life, from Meudon or Rambouillet. On the other side of a prattling little brook, crossed by a pretty little bridge, the park, with its fine old trees—oaks and beeches—rises in terraces up the hill-side, and the white statues contrast well with the green foliage. At such a sight, one thinks of the “Enchanted Night” of Tieck; and indeed there is somewhat of the “wondrous world of faërie” in the whole aspect of the scene—in its antique but eternally youthful splendor.

Our readers know, from the letters we have given, how passionately Bismarck loves such scenery. There is a great deal more of the romantic poet and sentimental German in the great statesman, than would appear at first sight. He sometimes recognizes this himself with a smile.

The park of Varzin by moonlight has indeed a peculiar old-fashioned appearance; very little imagination is necessary to people it with gentlemen in court uniforms and swords, hats under their arms, and ladies with towering head-dresses, hoops, and high shoes. On these terraces, over the pretty flower-banks, and round the white statues, there breathes the whole inspiration of a life which, for a long time, was unjustly contemned, and afterwards was properly derided, when fashion became its distinguishing trait, after the _petit maître_ style—a life we can not wish back again, but which we can not but love, it having been that of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and containing in it, with many traits of insignificance, some great and admirable features. We may laugh at it, but it contains some pretty ideas!

To return to our description. Next to the Countess’s drawing-room are the bedrooms, and to the right of these again is a hall, where an enormous black-oak staircase, reminding one of the other staircase at Schönhausen, leads to the upper story. In this hall, and in the antechamber, one sees the horns of two immense moufflons, two tremendous stag-antlers, and some others of different ages. These all belong to Bismarck’s hunting expedition in the park at Schönbrunn, when he hunted there after the Danish war, with his royal master, as the guest of the Emperor of Austria. The Emperor Francis Joseph at that time very graciously sent these trophies to Bismarck at Berlin.

On the other side of this hall, by way of a small room, one passes behind the dining-room into a large garden saloon and conservatory, with a pretty pavilion. In one of the guest-chambers of the right wing, on the ground-floor, there is a picture ghastly to look upon, of the master of the house, in life-size, which, as Friedrich Gerstäcker, the unwearied traveller, informs us, is sold in great numbers in Venezuela. A worthy transatlantic Correggio, the name not yet known to fame, has depicted the Count in a sky-blue miller’s coat and bright green trowsers, red neckerchief, and rosy red gloves, such as the dandies of Caraccas probably wear, after a photograph. There is not a trace of likeness in the face, and yet there is something so characteristic in the attitude, that one immediately knows who one has before one—something so like that the very dogs bark at it. Bismarck, it is well known, is an especial favorite among the Germans in America. Several new cities have been named after him; there is a Bismarck on the Conchos in Texas, and a Bismarck in Missouri; the locality of a third we do not recollect. A considerable trans-oceanic trade is carried on in terribly bad photographs of the Minister-President, and a German cutler has made himself a little fortune by his Bismarck knives; these knives are distinguished by a very sharp and strong blade. Nor has the old world remained behind the new in its admiration. German vessels bear Bismarck’s name and likeness, under the black and white and red flag, to the farthest shores. Acute champagne-makers compete with Veuve Clicquot and the Duc de Montebello under the designation of Bismarck-Schönhausen, and from Cannes, in Southern France, to Rügenwaldermünde, in Farther Pomerania, speculative hotel-keepers announce that “Rooms have just been engaged here for Count Bismarck.” After the English style, the name of Bismarck has been bestowed as a baptismal name; we ourselves know a little Fräulein von X., named Wilhelmine Bismarck Sadowa, born the 3d of July, 1866. In Spain the lucifer-match boxes significantly bear the portraits of Bismarck and his royal master.

We have been especially pleased at finding Bismarck’s name in the true German household phrases. Thus, a dear and lately deceased friend, the Privy Councillor Dr. von Arnim, wrote over his door:—

Lang lebe und blühe König Wilhelm, mein Held; Mit ihm soll behalten Graf Bismarck das Feld!

Long live and flourish King William, my hero; with him shall Count Bismarck keep the field.

Several house proprietors in Berlin have adopted this sentence; but still more apposite is the following inscription on the house of a master weaver:—

Als Wilhelm wirkt und Bismarck spann, Gott hatte seine Freude dran. 1866.

As William worked and Bismarck spon, God had his joy thereon. 1866.

Gardeners have started a Bismarck rose, and a giant Bismarck strawberry, and the fashionable world attires itself in Bismarck brown. At our request, the management of the Bazar, the most competent house for such things, has kindly shown us fourteen shades of this color in silk, and informed us at the same time that there are many more of such Bismarck shades; that Bismarck _foncé_ is not nearly so dark as Bismarck _courroucé_. This color originally was called _hanneton_ (May beetle), and soon drove the _Vert Metternich_ from the field; while in Austria a small cake (_semmel_), strewn with a little poppy-seed, shaped like a pigtail, holds its sway with the Radetzky Köpfel. On the Paraná and Paraguay the steamer Count Bismarck runs up and down the river. At Alexandria the passage Bismarck is full of brown and black forms. At Blumberg, in the South Australian colony of Adelaide, the Germans assemble in the Bismarck Hall, and to keep up their national enthusiasm over a drink, they smoke cigars “Conde de Bismarck.” These are considered highly elegant, but cost one hundred and thirty dollars a pound, although there is a cheaper medium Bismarck cigar.

In the Grand Duchy of Posen, by a Cabinet Order of the King, the four places Karsy, Bobry, Budy, and Zwierzchoslaw, in the circle of Pleschen, have been, at the desire of the inhabitants, incorporated as Bismarcksdorf.

In Berlin the Bismarck-Strasse unites the Roon-Strasse with the Moltke-Strasse; while in 1865 the malice of the Berlin wits wanted to change the name of the Wasserthor-Strasse, when the terrible fall of the houses took place there, into Bismarck-Strasse.

In South Germany the belief that Bismarck does every thing and can do every thing, down to the Spanish Revolution, and perhaps even directs the weather, is continually spreading. Oddly enough, the Ultramontane enemies of Bismarck especially take care to spread the name of the Minister-President. They certainly paint black over black, but they make the nation familiar with his fame, and though they may ever depict him as a sort of devil, truth will break through at last.

Is Bismarck really popular? This may be a curious question to ask, but it may still be legitimately put, for in the ordinary sense of the word Bismarck is not popular, despite his worldwide fame. For instance, he is not popular as in our days Cavour and Garibaldi have been. He has not the popularity of the ruling party opinion and that of the day, but, in place of it, his is the historical popularity which will preserve his memory to a grateful posterity. A correspondent of the liberal Paris paper, _Le Temps_, very excellently expresses our meaning in the following remarks:—“The Chancellor of the North German Confederation is not what we can call a popular man; the Prussians, or at least the Berlinese, entertain for him a similar feeling to that entertained by the other Germans for Prussia. They do not love him; they love to exercise their wit upon him, and you know how biting and salted the Berlin wit is; but they acknowledge him and wonder at him, showing him tolerance. They look upon him as the greatest statesman of the present day; are proud of him, although he often presses hard upon them. M. de Bismarck has for the Prussians an incomparable magic, particularly since he opposed the policy of Napoleon. Since 1866, a change has taken place which has surprised me, although there is nothing very surprising in it. Before 1866, the Premier in every thing he did had the world pretty much against him—to-day every impulse is expected from him, and if he gives it, almost every one is at his back.”

The question of popularity, as far as the great world is concerned, may well be left here; but in Varzin and the neighboring districts it has long since been determined. Only ask his farmers and laborers! And with the daring blacksmith—(or was it a miller?)—who secretly poaches on Bismarck’s preserves, the Minister-President is, perhaps, the most popular of any.

It is a real pleasure to see Bismarck at Varzin among his trees; not during those restless nocturnal wanderings in the park, to which his sleepless illness only too frequently impels him, but when he is pleasantly pointing out his favorites to his guests. It was an event when the North German Chancellor, the summer before last, discovered three magnificent beeches in the midst of a thicket.

On a declivity with a beautiful view, there is a rich deer preserve. Bismarck might even erect a falconry, and hunt with hawks—there are plenty in the Netherlands still. But this Imperial and Royal amusement is for him too—reactionary.

One day Bismarck thought, as he was riding to the Crangener frontier, whither he had sent his gamekeeper, that he caught a glimpse of a peculiar blue animal which fled before him. But when he came up with it, it proved to be a blue parasol, and he himself had fallen into an ambuscade, for he found himself suddenly surrounded by a crowd of young ladies, who received him with songs. The pastor in Crangen kept a young ladies’ school, who, having heard that Bismarck was coming, thus paid their respects to him in so unexpected a way, and left him, delighted with his amiability. Crangen, an ancient hunting castle of the Dukes of Pomerania, standing picturesquely, with its four stately towers and high gables, between three lakes and high mountains, is, without doubt, the most beautiful spot in this neighborhood. It belongs to the Royal Major Retired Rank Freiherr Hugo von Loën, who is Bismarck’s nearest neighbor in that direction.

The long residence of Bismarck at Varzin during the summer before last has directed the eyes of all Europe on this modest seat in Farther Pomerania. Varzin was an old fief of the family of Von Zitzewitz, who possessed many estates in this neighborhood. It is said that it came _per fas et nefas_ into the possession of the very powerful Privy Minister of State and War and Principal President of Pomerania, Caspar Otto von Massow, who then sold it to Major General Adam Joachim, Count of Podewils. Count Podewils and his brothers received a renewal of the fief, and it was a heritage in their family, until in this century it passed through an heiress to a Von Blumenthal, Werner Constantine von Blumenthal, who was raised to a Countship in 1840. Bismarck purchased the Varzin estates from the younger sons of this Blumenthal. They form, with Varzin, Wussow—where the church is situated, Puddiger, Misdow, Chomitz, and Charlottenthal, a considerable property. The soil is not equal throughout; the forests are very fine and stately; the wood in good condition. The game is very plentiful—few stags, but plenty of roes, hares, and smaller game. The Wipper, which falls into the Baltic at Rügenwaldermünde, five German miles from Varzin, serpentines through the forests of the Bismarck property, and in part forms the boundary of the estate, and is very useful for the transportation of the timber.

Formerly there were considerable glass factories in Misdow and Chomitz, but they are no longer worked, nor is any spirit distilled there; but a wood factory it is said is in use—certainly a profitable business in this neighborhood, so full of wood.

FOOTNOTES

[1] _Edinburgh Review_, vol. cxxx., pp. 457, 458.

[2] _Alvensleben._ This family was of noble origin in the Alt Mark, and has been partly elevated to the rank of Count. Its annals extend to 1163. The original seat of the family was Alvensleben on the Bever; the lines consisted of three—red, black, and white. Of these the red line died out in 1534 and 1553, at Erxleben and Kalvörden. The white line, divided into three, through Joachim Valentine, at Isernschnippe, Eimersleben, and Erxleben—the first expired in 1680, the second in 1734—the third, founded by Gebhard Christoph, still flourishes. The black line was always the most extensive. It divided into two branches, that of Ludolf and that of Joachim. Only a portion of this family exists at the present day. Of the branch of Ludolf, there existed Philip Karl (born 1745, 16th Dec.), who became a Prussian diplomatist and was a favorite of Friedrich II. and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He died a Count, 21st Oct., 1802, at Berlin, unmarried. Johann Aug. Ernst was born at Erxleben, 6th Aug., 1758; he was Minister for Brandenburg and Privy Councillor of Prussia; died 27th Sept., 1827, a Prussian Count. The black line died out with his son, the Prussian Minister Albrecht v. A. The white, or Gardelegen line, was elevated to the rank of Count in the persons of Fried. Wilh. Aug. (born 31st May, 1798; died 2d Dec., 1853), and Ferd. Friedr. Ludolf (born 23d Jan., 1803), at the ascension of Fried. Wilh. IV., 15th Oct., 1840. Albrecht, the representative of the black line, was distinguished for his devotion to his king, much as Bismarck has been. He died 2d May, 1858; his large property went to his sister and her children.—K. R. H. M.

[3] This rank in Germany, and especially in North Germany, is held to be noble. We have no corresponding title in English; it is higher than esquire, but not exactly that of a knight or baronet. Perhaps it corresponds to “honorable.”—K. R. H. M.

[4] In the original, _Schlossgesessen_, literally “seized of or seated at a castle.”—K. R. H. M.

[5] _Knesebeck._ Of this family one was celebrated as Prussian Field-Marshal (born 5th May, 1768, at Carwe, near New Ruppin, of an ancient Brandenburg family). He fought with distinction in 1792-’94, and was placed on the staff by the Duke of Brunswick. He fulfilled a singular diplomatic mission to Petersburg in 1811-’12, which had for its real motives an incitement to the Russian emperor to withstand Napoleon to the utmost, and to decoy him into the interior of Russia. The world knows the rest. He was an enthusiast in poetry, as well as war. Many poems of his have been privately printed—the chief of these is one in praise of war (_Lob des Kriegs_). Think of a Tyrtæus in a Prussian general’s uniform! He died 12th Jan., 1848.—K. R. H. M.

[6] The Archbishopric of Magdeburg took its rise from a Benedictine convent in honor of St. Maurice, founded by Emperor Otto I. in 937; and in 967 it was made an archbishopric, and the primacy of Germany was given by Pope John XIII., with Havelberg, among others, as a dependency.—K. R. H. M.

[7] _Holzendorff._ This family still exists, and has numbered among its prominent members, gallant soldiers and eminent jurists. Karl Friedr. von H. was a distinguished general of artillery, born the 17th Aug., 1764, and the son of a famous artillery general, under Friedrich II. (died 10th Dec., 1785). After a brilliant career, during which he commanded the artillery of the army of Blücher (1815), when he was wounded at Ligny, he died at Berlin, 29th Sept., 1828. There is still living a member of this family, Franz von Holzendorff—an eminent writer on criminal jurisprudence—born at Vietmannsdorf in the Uckermarck, 14th Oct., 1829. He is editor of a newspaper connected with the subject he has treated of in so many works.—K. R. H. M.

[8] _Quitzow._ A very ancient and important family, still existing at the village of the same name, near Peoleberg, in the Priegnitz. During the Bavarian and Luxemburg regency, this family attained formidable proportions. Hans von Quitzow was nominated administrator by Jobst von Mähren in 1400, but shortly dismissed, for undue severity and ambition. Friedrich I. of Hohenzollern, first governor under Emperor Sigismund, and then elector as feoffee of the Marks, had as his opponents the brothers Hans and Dietrich von Quitzow, sons of Sir Kuno—born at Quitzhöfel, near Havelberg. They were repressed, but still the authority of the governor could not be established until after their death in 1414. One Dietrich von Quitzow was a field-marshal in the Brandenburg service, in 1606.—K. R. H. M.

[9] Briest was also included in the permutation.—K. R. H. M.

[10] _Asseburg._ This family is noble and well-endowed in Prussia Proper and Anhalt. The name is derived from Asseburg in Brunswick, a noble structure of considerable antiquity. It was finally sacked in 1492, and destroyed altogether in the Brunswick troubles. The present family hold the lesser countyship of Falkenstein in the Mansfeld district and the knight’s fee of Eggenstadt.—K. R. H. M.

[11] _Katte._ This remarkable family needs scarcely any thing at my hands. It is ancient and aristocratic, and has continued to exist despite all kinds of mutations till now. There was in the line of Wust, John Henry von Katte, whose unfortunate son was beheaded for undue zeal towards Frederick the Great: of him some account is presented—the date of his murder being 6th November, 1730. Other members of the family have distinguished themselves to recent days.—K. R. H. M.

[12] _Möllendorff._ One of the Möllendorffs was a Prussian field-marshal, Richard Joachim Henry von M. (born 1725; died 1816). He was with “_der olle Fritz_” and was even respected by his enemies. Napoleon gave him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.—K. R. H. M.

[13] _Bardeleben._ This family exists in the best condition, and has done good service to the Prussian state. The most distinguished member of this family is Kurt von Bardeleben, jurist and judge at Minden.—K. R. H. M.

[14] Gneomar Dubislaw von Natzmer was a field-marshal in the time of King Frederick William I., and frustrated the flight of the Crown Prince, afterwards Frederick II. Among his proximate descendants, through the mother, was a distinguished Prussian general, Oltwig Ant. Leop. v. Natzmer, born 18th April, 1782, at Villin, in Pomerania. He took part in the many illustrious struggles of the growing kingdom of Prussia—was present at the battle of Auerstädt, 1806; taken prisoner at Prenzlau and exchanged in 1807. He received promotion to the staff after the peace of Tilsit, accompanied the King to the conference of princes at Dresden, and was sent on a secret mission to Russia. He was also in action at the battles of Gross-görschen (1813), Hainau (1813), Bautzen, and others down to Leipzig. He was also in the campaign of 1815, in high command. After a life of devotion to his sovereign, he died 1st Nov., 1861. It may be as well to state here that my object in these notes is to show how entirely devoted the military officials of Prussia are to the house of Hohenzollern, and that these side-illustrations throw a light upon the central figure of this book, Count Bismarck himself, and the motives of his steady, although apparently inconsistent, patriotism.—K. R. H. M.

[15] Biron (Ernst Johann von), Duke of Courland, was born in 1687, the son of a landed proprietor named Bühren. He was the favorite of the Duchess of Courland, Anna Iwanowna, niece of Peter the Great, from his elegant manners and attainments. She ascended the Russian throne in 1730, and though it had been expressly stipulated that Biron should not be allowed to come to Russia, he soon made his appearance at the court. Assuming the arms of the French Dukes of Biron, he governed Russia, through Anna. His life was stormy until near its close, when he returned to his Duchy of Courland, which he governed wisely. In 1769 he abdicated in favor of his son Peter, and died 28th December, 1772. This son Peter governed till 28th March, 1795, then resigning Courland to the Czarina Catherine, but retaining all his sovereign rights. He then passed his time alternately at Berlin and his estates of Sagan and Nachod, dying 12th Jan., 1800, at Gellenau in Silesia. One of the collateral descendants of Biron, Prince Gustav Calixt von Biron, born 29th Jan., 1780, died in the Prussian service, a Lieut. General and Governor of the fortress of Glatz, 20th June, 1821. He had three sons. The second, Calixt Gustav, born 3d Jan., 1817, is alive, having married, 1845, the Princess Helene Meschtscherskii, by whom he has issue Gustav Peter Jon, born 17th Oct., 1859.—K. R. H. M.

[16] Nassau-Usingen, Princess Augusta Amalia, was married 2d Aug., 1804, to Louis William, Landgrave of Hesse-Hombourg (died 19th Jan., 1839); separated 1805. She was the daughter of Duke Frederick Augustus (died 24th March, 1816, the last of his house) and of Louise, born Princess of Waldeck (died 17th Nov., 1816). The Almanach de Gotha does not recognize the subsequent marriage with Count Bismarck.

[17] The battle of Chotusitz was fought the 17th May, 1742, by Frederick II., when he obtained a victory over the Austrians under Prince Karl of Lorraine. The place has some 1200 inhabitants, and is situated near Czaslau in Bohemia. This decided the cession of almost the whole of Silesia.—K. R. H. M.

[18] This rhapsody will convey a good idea of what was thought fine writing in those days, but it is fulsome to the last degree.—K. R. H. M.

[19] From Platt, or low German.—K. R. H. M.

[20] The reader must excuse the free and somewhat irregular rendering of this legend—_penes me_.—K. R. H. M.

[21] Goethe’s “Fiction and Truth” (_Dichtung und Wahrheit_).—K. R. H. M.

[22] For the most eloquent account of this sad affair, the reader is requested to refer to Mr. Carlyle’s “Frederick the Great,” Book vii. chap. ix.—K. R. H. M.

[23] _Katte._ This illustrious family has been historically famous for its liege adherence to the Prussian-Brandenburg house. John Henry von Katte (born 16th Oct., 1681; died 31st May, 1741), of Wust, was a Field-Marshal General and Count. His son was the unfortunate friend of Frederick the Crown Prince, beheaded at Küstrin, 6th Nov., 1740. Several others of this family have distinguished themselves, despite the cruelty of the kings, in the Prussian service.—K. R. H. M.

[24] About £13,300 sterling.

[25] Herzberg, Ewald Fred. (Count von), a distinguished Prussian diplomatist, born at Lotten, near New Stettin, in 1725. He published many most valuable diplomatic, historical, and juridical works, and died on the 27th May, 1795, after having been somewhat harshly treated by those in power.—K. R. H. M.

[26] Bischofswerder (John Rud. von), General and Minister of Frederick William II., born at Dresden, 1737, of an old Saxon family. He entered the Prussian service, 1760, and was a Major in 1779. The confidence the King, first as Crown Prince, had in him, was unlimited; and he was employed in important diplomatic matters at Szistowe and at Pilnitz. He was ambassador to Paris in 1793. He died in October, 1803.—K. R. H. M.

[27] Now (1869) American Ambassador to St. James’s.

[28] It is again necessary to explain that the translation is as close as the translator can make, without violating sense and metre. The reader will find the original of this, and other interjected poems in the Appendices.—K. R. H. M.

[29] In English miles about eighteen and thirty.—K. R. H. M.

[30] This requires explanation, the pun not being susceptible of translation. The derivation of Kniephof is uncertain; _Knie_ is, however, _Knee_, and it might have come from its being granted for knee-service. _Kneipe_ is a _pot-house_: _Hof_, a court.—K. R. H. M.

[31] The passage is written by Bismarck in English. I have put inverted commas.—K. R. H. M.

[32] It is obvious that this pride arose from the smallness of the river, not the loss of the man and horse.—K. R. H. M.

[33] So in Bismarck’s letter.—K. R. H. M.

[34] Lucchesini, Girolamo, Marchese, was born at Lucca in 1752 of a patrician family, and presented by the Abbé Fontana to King Frederick II., by whom he was appointed librarian and reader with the title of Chamberlain. He was sent to Rome in 1787 to obtain certain ratifications from the Pope, and thence to Warsaw, where he succeeded in 1790 in bringing Poland and Prussia into a treaty of amity. He attended the congress of Reichenbach as Minister Plenipotentiary in 1791. In 1792 he went to Warsaw and destroyed the very treaty he had himself negotiated between Prussia and Poland. Hence the above strictures on him. He was Ambassador to Vienna in 1793, but was generally with the King. In September, 1802, he was sent to Paris as Ambassador Extraordinary, and followed Napoleon to Milan. He was present at the battle of Jena, and signed the truce at Charlottenburg with Napoleon. This not being sanctioned by the King, he resigned. He then became Chamberlain to Napoleon’s sister, the Duchess of Lucca, and died the 19th October, 1825, at Florence. He was the author of some political works on the Rhenish Confederation and the like. He seems to have been a shifty and unprincipled politician. His younger brother, Cesare Lucchesini, was a distinguished author and antiquary.—K. R. H. M.

[35] This Constitution is given in the Appendix, being an important state document.—K. R. H. M.

[36] An account of this family has been given at p. 47 in a note. Those who wish to pursue further details may consult Klöden’s history, published in 1828.—K. R. H. M.

[37] A short anecdote of the venerable Alexander von Humboldt, as illustrative of the popular spirit, deserves preservation here. During the eventful days of March, when barricades were the order of the day, a mob came rushing into the Oranienburger-Strasse, where Humboldt resided. Materials for a barricade were required, and every door was besieged for the purpose. One of these opened, and a venerable-looking man presented himself and begged the excited mass not to disturb him. Such a request was not to be borne by the sovereign people, and he was asked menacingly who he was, that he should use such language. “I am Alexander von Humboldt,” was the quiet reply. In a moment every hat was off, and with reverent greetings the multitude swept forward and left the scholar and philosopher at peace. It is only right to record such a fact, as it may serve to show that the fierce revolutionists at least knew how to restrain themselves, even in the midst of their enthusiastic fury. I give the anecdote on the authority of the admirable German newspaper _Hermann_, of the 11th September, 1869.—K. R. H. M.

[38] “Preussen’s Deutsche Politik”—“Prussia’s German Policy,” 3d edition (Leipzig, 1867, p. 236).

[39] About £2 sterling per annum.—K. R. H. M.

[40] £5 2_s._ to £7 10_s._—K. R. H. M.

[41] We should think not. 6 sgr. per day at 213 days = 46.18. = £7 within a fraction.—K. R. H. M.

[42] One of the Putkammer estates in Pomerania.—K. R. H. M.

[43] 74° Fahr.—K. R. H. M.

[44] _See_ Wangemann’s “Ringen und Regen,” (“Strife and Activity”), on the Ostsee Shore.

[45] Why not? I really must here join issue with a writer who assumes too much, and hides his own very small personality, possessing no personal courtesy, behind weighty cloudiness and the permission to copy Bismarck’s correspondence.—K. R. H. M.

[46] The Austro-Prussian Campaign in Denmark receives so little notice on the part of Bismarck’s biographer, that I shrewdly suspect he does not approve of it as a just act on the part of the hero of this book. Opinions are much divided on the merits of this annexation; in any case, the limit of aggression seems to be too great, as the German party has not dared to appeal for justification to any _plébiscite_. In the end, when animosities are healed, it must be confessed that substantial benefit may accrue to the new subjects of Prussia. It is worth while in this place to preserve a political squib, extensively posted in the towns of the Duchies during the war; probably rather an instigation of the Austrians, whom it indirectly compliments, than a spontaneous outburst of Danish satire. All the walls were covered with it one fine morning, thus:

“Es giebt nur eine Kaiserstadt, Und die heisst Wien; Es giebt nur ein Räubernest, Und das ist Berlin!”

“There is but one Emperor’s town, that is called Wien; There is but one robbers’ nest, and that is Berlin!”

But perhaps annexation was better than such a kinglet as the Prince of Augustenburg.—K. R. H. M.

[47] “Preussen’s Deutsche Politik”—“Prussia’s German Policy,” p. 273.

[48] 35° Fahr.—K. R. H. M.

[49] A copy of the ninety-first Psalm.

[50] 55° Fahr.

[51] See the Appendix for this stirring national song, and a version I have attempted.—K. R. H. M.

[52] 1 Maccabees iii., 58, 59.—K. R. H. M.

[53] At the important battle of Königsgrätz, according to a recent number of the _Preussische Jahrbücher_, the Prussians lost in dead, wounded, and missing, 359 officers, and 8,794 men; the Austrians 1,147 officers and 30,224 men. The proportions seem thus to have been: for the Prussians, 1/23; for the Austrians 1/7; average loss on both sides 1/11. In the battle of Malplaquet (1709) proportion of losses, 1/5; at Rossbach (1757) 1/25; at Leuthen (1758) 1/11; at Zorndorf (1758) 3/8; at Austerlitz (1805) 1/4; at Eylau (1807) 1/4; at Wagram (1809) 1/8; at Borodino (1812) 1/3; at Leipzig (1813) 1/5; at Belle Alliance (1815) 1/3; at Solferino (1859) 1/8. The three greatest battles were those of Leipzig (460,000 men); Königsgrätz (430,000 men); and Wagram (320,000 men). At Leipzig were lost 90,000 men, at Borodino 74,000, and at Belle Alliance 61,000 men.—K. R. H. M.

[54] Bismarck’s nephew.

[55] L. Bamberger. Monsieur de Bismarck, Paris, 1868. Graf von Bismarck, Breslau. Count Bismarck, London, 1869, p. 39, sq.

[56] Count Bismarck, p. 41.

[57] Count Bismarck, p. 117. It should be named here that though I have quoted the authorized English translation, I do not agree with its exactitude.—K. R. H. M.

[58] But not so in the English edition as quoted.—K. R. H. M.

[59] _See_ Büchmann, Geflügelte Wörter (Winged Words), 4th edition, p. 224.

[60] Say £225,000.—K. R. H. M.

APPENDIX A.

It has been thought desirable to give the originals of the two poems translated respectively at pages 70-72, and pages 124, 125, by the present Editor, for the benefit of those who may like to see them.

Das Blatt, das grün und kräftig Des Wandrers Blick entzückt, In purem Golde prächtig Den Schild der Bismarck schmückt; Das Kleeblatt gülden leuchtend, Das ist im blauen Feld Von Nesselblättern dräuend Gar scharf und blank umstellt. Es was vor alten Zeiten Ein Fräulein wonnesam, Durch die der Nessel Zeichen Ins Schild der Bismarck kam. Um Fräulein Gertrud warben Viel Edle, kampferprobt, Die auf Geheiss des Vaters Dem Vetter schon verlobt. Da kam ein Fürst der Wenden Herab vom nord’schen Meer, Er kam mit hundert Pferden— Jung Gertrud sein Begehr; Jung Gertrud lehnte höflich Die hohe Ehre ab, Der Fürst, erzürnet höchlich, Erhub den güld’nen Stab; Er winkte seinen Knechten Und rief, von Zorn entbrannt: “Ich will das Kleeblatt brechen Mit meiner eignen Hand! Ja, wär’s noch eine Nessel, Gäb’s doch ein kleines Weh, Doch lustig ist’s zu brechen, Grün oder gold den Klee!”— Und noch am selb’gen Tage, Da stürmt mit reis’gem Tross Der Fürst vom Wendenstamme Jung Gertruds festes Schloss. Der Burgvogt, überfallen, Fiel fechtend in dem Tross, Und über Wall und Graben Der Wende drang ins Schloss. Des leichten Siegs frohlockend Der Fürst schaut freudig drein, Und trat mit stolzem Worte In Gertruds Kämmerlein: “Ich komme, Dich zu brechen, Du güldner Herzensklee, Du brennst ja nicht wie Nesseln, Das Kleeblatt thut nicht weh!” Drauf that er sie umarmen, Wie brünst’ge Liebe thut, Doch plötzlich schrie er: “Gnade!” Und sank ins heisse Blut. Jung Gertrud, wunderprächtig, Schwang über ihm den Stahl, Den Dolch stiess sie ihm kräftig Ins Herz zum andern Mal, Und rief: “Das sind die Nesseln, Die Nesseln brennen, weh! Wer hat noch Lust zu brechen Der Bismarck güldnen Klee!” Und seit jung Gertruds Zeiten Dräut in der Bismarck Schild Der Nesseln blankes Zeichen, Rings um des Kleeblatts Bild; Mit scharfem Stahl sie haben Ihr Kleinod stets bewahrt; Ja, seit jung Gertruds Tagen Blieb das der Bismarck Art!

From Dr. G. Schwetschke’s “Bismarckias.” _See_ pages 123, 124.

Abgeschüttelt von den Sohlen Ist der Schulstaub; hohe Wogen Tragen jetzt das Schiff des Jünglings. Alle Anker sind gelichtet, Alle Segel aufgezogen, Und der Burschenfreiheit Flagge Lustig flatternd zeigt die Inschrift: “Nitimur in vetitum!”

Schöne Tage wilder Freiheit! Fröhlich sammelt ihr die Jünger Der kastalischen neun Schwestern Auch in andrer Götter Hallen. An den duftenden Altären Eines Bacchus und Gambrinus, Edler Säfte milder Spende, Opfert froh der Neophyt.

Auch des kampfesfrohen Mavors Heiligthum erschliesst sich prangend. Hört ihr dort den Schall der Waffen? Hört ihr dort des Kampfes Tosen? Hei! wie blitzen scharfe Klingen, Hei! wie pfeifen Terz und Quarten, Wie so Mancher haut so Manchem Ueber’s Maul, und wird gehau’n.

Und so schlang ein rother Faden (Nämlich der von Blut und Eisen) Damals schon durch unsres “Burschen. Erdenwallen” sich; es melden Göttingen, Berlin und Greifswald Kühnen Muthes hohe “Thaten Von vergangner Jahre Tagen”— Wie einst Ossian es sang.

APPENDIX B.

THE PRUSSIAN CONSTITUTION OF 1847.

(Page 166.)

The great interest and importance of the following documents, from their forming the absolute point of departure of Bismarck’s political activity, has induced their republication in this volume, together with some few other papers bearing upon various matters in relation to German and Prussian politics. At the present day they can not fail to be read with interest, inasmuch as they illustrate in a remarkable degree the impolicy of hasty concessions. The Prussia and Germany of 1847 was hardly prepared by political education and enlightenment for such concessions, and the immediate effect, which the English editor of these pages personally witnessed, was a stimulant to the ultra party to demand more and more at the hands of the King. The text amply illustrates the excited state of public opinion at the time, which culminated in the days of March, 1848, and has required the steady and fearless hand of Count Bismarck to rein in. Political students can make their own comments.

The following is a translation of a decree dated Berlin, February 3d, 1847:—

We, Frederick William, by the grace of God, King of Prussia, etc., give notice, and herewith ordain to be known:—

Since the commencement of our government we have constantly applied particular care to the development of the relations of the States of our country.

We recognize in this matter one of the weightiest problems of the kingly calling bestowed on us by God, in the solution of which a twofold aim is marked out for us—namely, to transmit the rights, the dignity, and the power of the Crown, inherited from our ancestors of glorious memory, intact to our successors on the throne; but at the same time to grant, to the faithful States of our monarchy that co-operation which, in unison with those rights, and the peculiar relations of our monarchy, is fitted to secure a prosperous future to our country.

In respect whereof, continuing to build on the laws given by His late Majesty our Royal Father, now resting with God, particularly on the Ordinance respecting the national debt of the 17th of January, 1820, and on the law respecting the regulation of the Provincial Diets of the 5th of June, 1828, we decree as follows:—

1.—As often as the wants of the State may require either fresh loans, or the introduction of new taxes, or the increase of those already existing, we will call together around us the Provincial Diets of the monarchy in an United Diet, in order, firstly, to call into play that co-operation of the Diets provided by the Ordinance respecting the national debt; and secondly, to assure us of their consent.

2.—We will for the future call together at periodical times the Committee of the United Diet.

3.—To the United Diet, and, as its representative, to the Committee of the United Diet, we intrust—

(a.) In reference to counsel of the Diet in legislation, the same co-operation which was assigned to the Provincial Diets by the law of June 5th, 1823, Sec. 3, No. 2, so long as no general assemblies of the Diet take place.

(b.) The co-operation of the Diets in paying the interest on, and liquidation of, the State debts, provided, by the law of January 17th, 1820, in so far as such business is not confided to the Deputation of the Diet for the national debt.

(c.) The right of petition upon internal, though not merely provincial, matters.

All the above, as is more closely defined in our Ordinances of this day respecting the formation of an United Diet, the periodical assembling of the committee of the United Diet and its functions, and the formation of a deputation of the Diet for the national debt.

While we thus far refer to the promises of that Gracious Sovereign our Royal Father, on the raising of new loans, as well as the increase of existing taxes, which are founded on that system of the German Constitution, bound up with the assent of the States, and in thereby giving to our subjects a special proof of our royal confidence; so we expect in return the like confidence from their often-proved fidelity and honor, as was shown when we ascended the throne of our father, and also we expect that they will support us and our efforts directed solely to the welfare of the country, on which efforts success under God’s gracious assistance can not fail to await.

Officially authenticated by our own subscription, and sealed with our royal seal.

FREDERICK WILLIAM.

Given at Berlin, Feb. 3d, 1847. (L.S.)

ORDINANCE OF THE THIRD OF FEBRUARY, 1847, FOR THE FORMATION OF THE UNITED DIET.

We, Frederick William, by the grace of God, King of Prussia, etc., having taken the opinion of our Ministers of State, make the following Ordinance, in pursuance of our letters patent of this day, in the matter of the affairs of the Diets, respecting the formation of an United Diet:—

Section 1.—We shall unite the eight Provincial Diets of our monarchy in one Diet, as often as is necessary, according to the tenor of our letters patent of this day, or on any other occasion when we think it needful on account of urgent matters of State.

With regard to the place of assembly, and the continuance of the Session of this United Diet, as well as with regard to its opening and close, we will make a special determination in each particular case.

Section 2.—We grant to the Princes of our Royal House, as soon as, according to the prescriptions of law, they have attained majority, the right of sitting and voting in the Estate of Princes, Counts, and Lords, at the United Diet. The Estate of Nobles in this Diet is composed, besides, of the Princes and Counts of the old Imperial Constitution, who have seats in the Provincial Diets, as well as of the Silesian Princes and noblemen, and all other founders, Princes, Counts, and Lords of the eight Provincial Diets who are entitled either to a single or collective vote in those Assemblies.

The Princes of our House may, under our sanction, in case of hindrance, intrust some other Prince of our House with the disposal of their votes.

Single members of the Estate of Nobles, who are invested with full powers in the Provincial Diet, retain this privilege in like manner for the United Diet.

In respect to the organization and enlargement of the Estate of Nobles, we reserve to ourselves the right of further regulations.

Section 3.—The Deputies of the Estate of Knighthood, and the Commoners of the eight Provinces of our monarchy, are to appear in the United Diet in the same numbers as in the Provincial Diets.

Section 4.—To the United Diet we intrust the co-operation reserved to the Provincial Diets in case of State loans by Article 2 of the Ordinance relative to the national debt, dated January 17th, 1820; and, accordingly, no new loans, for which the collective property of the State may be assigned as security (Article 3 of the Ordinance of January 17th, 1820), shall be contracted without the concurrence and guaranty of the United Diet.

Section 5.—If new loans, of the nature mentioned in Section 4, are required for covering the expenses of the State in time of peace, we will not contract them without the consent of the United Diet.

Section 6.—If, however, in the event of expected war, or war already broken out, the funds in our Treasury, and other reserve funds, are insufficient for the requisite purpose, extraordinary supplies and loans must therefore be raised; and if urgent political circumstances should not admit of our appeal to the United Diet, the said loan shall be raised with the concurrence of the deputation for the national debt, which concurrence shall stand in lieu of the co-operation of the States. Loans for the above-mentioned objects, contracted with the concurrence of the deputation, will be raised on the same security as that which, in Article 3 of the Ordinance of January 17th, 1820, is assigned for the national debt.

Section 7.—Should a loan be raised in the manner mentioned in Section 6, we will, on the removal of the obstacles which prevented an appeal to the United Diet, call it together, and explain the object and application of the loan.

Section 8.—Moreover, the United Diet, conformably with Article 9 of the Ordinance of January 17th, 1820, must propose to us the candidates for vacant posts in the chief department for the administration of the national debt; and, conformably with Article 13 of the said Ordinance, the accounts for the administration of the national debt, drawn up by the deputation, must be carefully examined by the United Diet, and submitted to us for discharge in separate resolutions.

When the United Diet is not sitting, this business must be transacted by the Committee of the United Diet.

Section 9.—Without the consent of the United Diet, we will not introduce any new imposts, nor increase the amount of the existing taxes, either generally or in any particular province.

This condition does not, however, extend to import, export, and transit duties, nor to those indirect taxes, the specification, levying, or administration of which may be the subjects of an understanding with other Powers; neither does that condition refer to domains or royal property (whether the arrangements relate to income or to substance), or to taxes for objects relating to provinces, circles, or communes.

Section 10.—In the event of a war, we reserve to ourselves the right of levying extraordinary taxes without the assent of the United Diet, when urgent political circumstances do not permit us to call it together. In such cases, however, we will, as soon as circumstances permit, or at latest on the termination of the war, make known to the United Diet the object and application of the extraordinary taxes which may have been levied.

Section 11.—Should the Diet be called together on any of the occasions specified in Sections 4-10, copies of the finance estimates and the accounts of the State for the intervals between the sittings of the Assembly shall be submitted to the members for their information.

The fixing of the finance estimates, as well as determining the employment of the State revenue, and the application of the surplus to the wants and welfare of the State, remains an exclusive privilege of the Crown.

Section 12.—Conformably with a law of the 5th of January, 1823, we reserve to ourselves the right of demanding extraordinary counsel from the United Diet in framing laws relating to alterations in the rights of persons and property, or on other matters than those alluded to in Section 9, which have for their object alterations in the taxes, whether those laws concern the whole monarchy or several provinces. The Diet is authorized to give the required counsel, with full lawful effect.

Should we deem it necessary to seek counsel of the Diet concerning changes in the constitution of the Diet—changes which, not being limited to any particular province, are not to be arranged by the Diet of that province—we shall demand an opinion from the United Diet, for whose consideration changes in such matters of State are exclusively reserved.

Section 13.—To the United Diet belongs the right of laying before us petitions and complaints relating to the internal affairs of the whole kingdom, or of several provinces; on the other hand, petitions and complaints which concern merely the interests of particular provinces must be referred to the provincial Diets.

Section 14.—When the United Diet has determined on raising new State loans (Section 5), or the introduction of new taxes, or increasing the existing rate of taxes (Section 9), the Estate of the Nobles must take part with the other estates in the discussion and decision. In all other cases the deliberations and votes of the Estate of the Nobles in the United Diet are to take place in a separate assembly.

Section 15.—Every member of the Estate of the Nobles is entitled to a full vote in the United Diet, but when (as mentioned in Section 14) the Estate of the Nobles is united with the other estates in one Assembly, the members of that Estate, taking part in the discussions of the United Diet, have only that number of votes which belongs to them in the Provincial Diets.

Section 16.—Resolutions are to be carried by the majority of votes.

Petitions and complaints are only to be brought under our cognizance when they have been deliberated on in both Assemblies (that is, in the Assembly of the Estate of Nobles, and in the Assembly of Deputies of the Knighthood and Commoners), and when in each of these Assemblies at least two-thirds of the votes have been in favor of such petitions or complaints.

When the two above-named Assemblies, or one of them, after the discussion of a law, or of certain articles of a law, shall decide against that law by a majority less than that above-named, the views of the minority shall be submitted to our consideration.

Section 17.—If on a subject in respect to which the interests of two different estates or provinces may be at variance with each other, a particular estate or province should have reason to complain of a resolution according to the terms of Section 16, a separation of the Assembly into its component parts takes place, if a majority of two-thirds of the said estate or province be obtained.

In such case the estate or province must discuss the matter separately, or pass a separate vote, and the various views entertained on the subject will afterwards be submitted to our decision.

Also, in other cases, we reserve to ourselves the privilege of requiring, when we think fit so to do, a separate opinion from each of the estates and provinces.

Section 18.—For the Estate of Nobles of the Assembled Diet, as well as for the Assembly of the Knighthood and Commoners, we will appoint a Marshal to conduct the business and to act as president. The places of both these Marshals may, in the event of their being disabled from attending, be supplied by Vice-Marshals.

When, as mentioned in Section 14, the Estate of Nobles and the other estates unite together, the Presidency of the Assembly devolves on the Marshal or Vice-Marshal of the Estate of Nobles.

Section 19.—The United Diet is not connected in its functions with those of circles, communes, or corporations; its functions are likewise independent of the classes or persons which it represents; and these are not allowed to give to the Deputies either instructions or commissions.

Section 20.—Petitions or complaints must not be presented or delivered by any except the members of the United Diet.

Section 21.—Petitions and complaints which we have once rejected must not again be presented to us by the said Assembly, and must only be renewed when new causes give occasion for them.

Section 22.—In all deliberations of the United Diet, or of single estates or provinces of the same (Sections 14 to 17), our Ministers of State, and also such of our high officers as we appoint to attend during the whole sitting, or for particular occasions, shall be present, and shall take part in the discussions when they think necessary. They are not, however, to vote, except when they are authorized to do so as members of the Diet.

Section 23.—The business of the United Diet is to be regulated according to rules approved by us.

Given under our autograph signature and royal seal.

FREDERICK WILLIAM.

Berlin, Feb. 3d, 1847.

ORDINANCE OF THE THIRD OF FEBRUARY, 1847, RESPECTING THE PERIODICAL ASSEMBLING OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED DIET AND ITS PRIVILEGES.

We, Frederick William, by the grace of God, King of Prussia, etc., after having taken the opinion of our Ministers of State, make the following Ordinance, in pursuance of our letters patent of this day, in the matters of the affairs of the Diet, respecting the periodical assembling of the Committee of the United Diet and its functions:—

Section 1.—The Committees of the Provincial Diets are to be convened to form the Committee of the United Diet, according to the regulation laid down by the Ordinances of June 21st, 1842. The former Princes of the Empire in the province of Westphalia, as well as those in the Rhine Province, are to be entitled to depute from amongst themselves two members each to the Committee of the United Diet, who may participate in its proceedings either in person or through plenipotentiaries from the members of the Estate of Nobles of the United Diet. Besides this, a Deputy is to proceed to the Committee of the United Diet from each of the provinces of Prussia, Brandenburgh, Pomerania, and Posen, to be elected by and from the members of the First Estate entitled to single or collective votes. As regards the province of Pomerania, the Prince of Putbus is to assume this post without election, so long as he remains the only nobleman in the province possessed of the qualification specified.

The election of the other members of the Committee is to take place at the United Diet, in accordance with the Ordinances of the 21st of June, 1842, through the representatives of the several provinces; but in the interval between one United Diet and another as hitherto, viz., at each Provincial Diet.

Section 2.—The Committee of the United Diet will be convened by us as often as a necessity arises therefor, but, at the farthest, four years after the close of the last assembly of the same; or, if a United Diet has been held in the mean time, within the same lapse of time after the close of the latter.

We shall require, as a general rule, from the Committee of the United Diet, requisite advice, according to the general law of the 5th of June, 1823, respecting the laws which have for their object alterations in the rights of persons and property, or others than the alterations in taxation designated in Section 9 of the Ordinance of this day, upon the formation of the United Diet, if these laws concern the whole monarchy or several provinces; and we hereby confer upon it the privilege of giving such advice, with full legal effect. The regulation in Article 3, No. 2, of the above-mentioned law is annulled by the present regulation.

As, however, we have already reserved to ourselves, in the Ordinance concerning the formation of the United Diet, the right to acquire from it opinions of the same kind, in appropriate cases, we will equally reserve to ourselves the right to submit laws of the above-mentioned description which concern the whole monarchy or several provinces, in exceptional cases, for the opinion of the Provincial Diets, if this should appear advisable for particular reasons—for example, for the sake of dispatch.

Section 4.—The Committee of the United Diet, as the representative of the United Diet, is to attend to business relating to the State debts, pointed out in our Ordinance of this day, on the formation of the United Diet.

Section 5.—The right of petition appertains to the Committee of the United Diet to the same extent as to the United Diet itself. Herefrom are excepted, however, all proposals having alterations of the constitution of the Diet in view.

Section 6.—Should we find ourselves induced to make communications to the said Committee of the United Diet upon the State finances, the regulations of the 11th Section of the Ordinance on the formation of the United Diet are to come into full operation.

Section 7.—The conduct of business and the presidency of the Committee of the United Diet is to be assumed by a Marshal, to be appointed by us, who will be represented, in case of need, by a Vice-Marshal, to be similarly appointed.

Section 8.—The Committee of the United Diet is to deliberate as an undivided assembly. Its resolutions are, as a general rule, to be adopted by a simple majority of votes.

Petitions and complaints are only to be laid before us if they have been voted by at least two-thirds of the members.

If the Committee of the United Diet declares itself, on the deliberation of a law, against the law, or some of the provisions of the same, by a less majority than that above mentioned, the views of the minority are also to be laid before us.

Section 9.—The Provincial Diets are to communicate to their several Committees no instructions or proposals for the Committee of the United Diet.

Section 10.—The regulations of the 17th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d Sections of the Ordinance of this day, on the formation of the United Diet, are also to come into full operation in the Committee of the United Diet.

Given under our royal hand and seal, at Berlin, February 3d, 1847.

FREDERICK WILLIAM.

ORDINANCE FOR THE FORMATION OF A DEPUTATION OF THE DIET FOR THE AFFAIRS OF THE STATE DEBTS.

We, Frederick William, etc., ordain as follows:—

1. In the execution of the co-operation proposed in the 6th Section of the Ordinance of this day, relative to the formation of the United Diet, in the contraction of State loans in times of war, and for the current co-operation of the Diet in the reduction and extinction of the State debt.

A deputation of the Diet shall be formed for the affairs of the State debt.

2. This deputation to consist of eight members, of whom one is to be chosen in each of the eight provinces, by the States of the province, for a period of six years.

The election to take place at the United Diet, but in the interval between one Diet and another, at the Provincial Diets, according to the regulation relative to the proceedings in election of Diets of the 22d June, 1842. The election must only fall on persons who are members of the Diet in question. If one of the elected members loses the qualification before the lapse of the sexennial period, he is also to secede from the deputation. If, however, his secession is caused by his not having been re-elected as a Deputy of the Diet, he is to remain a member of the deputation till the next Diet.

To each member of the deputation two _locum tenentes_ are to be chosen, of whom one is to replace him in case of emergency, as well as in the event of a vacancy occurring in the interval between one Diet and another. The choice of these _locum tenentes_ is to be made conformably with the regulations respecting the actual members.

3. The members of the deputation are to be sworn to the fulfillment of their duties in their summons.

Section 4.—To the province of the deputation appertain the following duties, exclusively of the co-operation in the contraction of war loans conferred by the six sections already mentioned.

1. The deputation is to take charge of the redeemed State debt documents, according to the regulation of Article 14 of the Ordinance of 17th January, 1820, and to effect their deposit in the Judicial Chamber.

2. It is to audit the annual accounts of the interest and extinction of the State debts, after they have been previously revised by the upper chamber of accounts, and to cause them to be presented to us for our approval by the United Diet, or the Committee thereof, on its next assembly, according to the 14th Article of the Ordinance of January 17th, 1820.

3. It is authorized to undertake extraordinary revisions of the fund for the extinction of the State debts and the control of the State papers, on the occasion of its meeting.

The deputation for the affairs of the State debt will regularly meet once a year, and besides this, as often as occasion demands; the summons to be made by the Minister of the Interior.

6. The deputation is to elect a President at each meeting, who must be presented to the Minister of the Interior.

The presence of at least five members will be requisite to constitute a valid act of the deputation.

Given under our hand, etc.,

FREDERICK WILLIAM.

Berlin, Feb. 3, 1847.

OPENING OF THE PRUSSIAN DIET.

THE KING’S SPEECH.

APRIL, 1847.

[King Frederick William IV., on opening the Diet, made the following speech, of sufficient importance to be added here, when the circumstances of the grant of the Constitution are considered.]

Illustrious noble Princes, Counts, and Lords, my dear and trusty Orders of Nobles, Burghers, and Commons, I bid you from the depth of my heart welcome on the day of the fulfillment of a great work of my father, resting in God, never to be forgotten, King William III., of glorious memory.

The noble edifice of representative freedom, the eight mighty pillars of which the King of blessed memory founded deep and unshakably in the peculiar organization of his provinces, is to-day perfected in your Assembly. It has received its protecting roof. The King wished to have finished his work himself, but his views were shipwrecked in the utter impracticability of the plans laid before him. Therefrom arose evils which his clear eye detected with grief, and, before all, the uncertainty which made many a noble soil susceptible of weeds. Let us bless, however, to-day the conscientiousness of the true beloved King, who despised his own earlier triumph in order to guard his folk from later ruin, and let us honor his memory by not perilling the existence of his completed work by the impatient haste of beginners.

I give up beforehand all co-operation thereto. Let us suffer time, and, above all, experience, to have their way; and let us commit the work, as is fitting, to the furthering and forming hands of Divine Providence. Since the commencement of the operation of the Provincial Diets, I have perceived the defects of individual portions of our representative life, and proposed to myself conscientiously the grave question, how they were to be remedied? My resolutions on this point have long since arrived at maturity. Immediately on my accession I made the first step towards realizing them by forming the Committees of the Provincial Diets, and by calling them together soon after.

You are aware, Lords and Gentlemen, that I have now made the days for the meeting of those Committees periodical, and that I have confided to them the free working of the Provincial Diets. For the ordinary run of affairs their deliberations will satisfactorily represent the desired point of union. But the law of January 17th, 1820, respecting the State debts, gives, in that portion of it not as yet carried out, rights and privileges to the Orders which can be exercised neither by the Provincial Assemblies nor by the Committees.

As the heir of an unweakened crown, which I must and will hand down unweakened to my descendants, I know that I am perfectly free from all and every pledge with respect to what has not been carried out, and, above all, with respect to that from the execution of which his own true paternal conscience preserved my illustrious predecessor. The law is, however, carried out in all its essential parts; an edifice of justice has been built upon it, oaths have been sworn on it, and it has, all unfinished as it is, maintained itself as a wise law for seven-and-twenty years. Therefore have I proceeded, with a cheerful heart indeed, but with all the freedom of my kingly prerogative, to its final completion. I am, however, the irreconcilable enemy of all arbitrary proceedings, and must have been a foe, above all, to the idea of bringing together an artificial arbitrary assembly of the Orders, which should deprive the noble creation of the King, my dear father—I mean the Provincial Diets—of their value. It has been, therefore, for many years my firm determination only to form this Assembly, ordained by law, or by the fusion together of the Provincial Diets. It is formed; I have recognized your claim to all the rights flowing from that law; and, far beyond—yes, far beyond—all the promises of the King of blessed memory, I have granted you, within certain necessary limits, the right of granting taxes—a right, gentlemen, the responsibility of which weighs far more heavily than the honor which accompanies it. This august Assembly will now denote important periods in the existence of our State, which are treated of in my patent of February 3d. As soon as those periods occur, I will assemble the Diets on each separate occasion round my throne, in order to deliberate with them for the welfare of my country, and to afford them an opportunity for the exercise of their rights. I have, however, reserved the express right of calling together these great Assemblies on extraordinary occasions, when I deem it good and profitable; and I will do this willingly and at more frequent intervals, if this Diet gives me proof that I may act thus without prejudice to higher sovereign duties.

My trusty and free subjects have received all the laws which I and my father have granted them for the protection of their highest interests, and especially the laws of the 3d of February, with warm gratitude, and woe to him who shall dare to dash their thankfulness with care, or to turn it into ingratitude.

Every Prussian knows that for twenty-four years past all laws which concern his freedom and property have been first discussed by the Orders, but from this time forward let every one in my kingdom know that I, with the sole necessary exception of the occurrence of the calamity of war, will contract no State loan, levy no new taxes, nor increase existing ones, without the free consent of all Orders.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, I know that with these rights I intrust a costly jewel of freedom to your hands, and that you will employ it faithfully. But I know, as certainly, that many will mistake and despise this jewel—that to many it is not enough. A portion of the press, for instance, demands outright from me and my Government a revolution in Church and State, and from you, gentlemen, acts of importunate ingratitude, of illegality—nay, of disobedience. Many also, and among them very worthy men, look for our safety in the conversion of the natural relation between Prince and people into a conventional existence, granted by charters and ratified by oaths.

May, however, the example of the one happy country, whose constitution centuries and a hereditary wisdom without a parallel, but no sheets of paper, have made, not be lost upon us, but find the respect which it deserves. If other countries find their happiness in another way than that people and ourselves, namely, in the way of “manufactured and granted” constitutions, we must and will praise their happiness in an upright and brotherly manner. We will, with the justest admiration, consider the sublime example, when a strong will of iron consequence and high intelligence succeeds in delaying, in mastering, and allaying every crisis of serious importance; and above all, when this tends to the welfare of Germany, and the maintenance of the peace of Europe. But Prussia, gentlemen, Prussia can not bear such a state of things. Do you ask why? I answer, cast your eyes at the map of Europe, at the position of our country, at its component parts; follow the line of our borders, weigh the power of our neighbors, throw before all an enlightened glance on our history. It has pleased God to make Prussia strong by the sword of war from without, and by the sword of intellect from within; not, surely, by the negative intellect of the age, but by the spirit of moderation and order. I speak out boldly, gentlemen. As in the camp, unless in cases of the most urgent danger or grossest folly, the command can only be rested in the will of one, so can the destinies of this country, unless it is to fall instantly from its height, only be guided by one will; and if the King of Prussia would commit an abomination, were he to demand from his subjects the subserviency of a slave, so would he commit a far greater abomination were he not to demand from them the crowning virtue of freemen—I mean obedience for the sake of God and conscience. Whoever is alarmed at the tenor of these words, him I refer to the development of our laws for a century back, to the edicts of the Orders, and finally, to this Assembly and its rights; there he may find consolation if he will.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, I am forced to the solemn declaration, that no power on earth will ever succeed in moving me to change the natural—and, in our own case, so imperatively necessary—relation between Prince and people, into something merely conventional or constitutional; and that, once for all, I will never suffer a written sheet of paper to force itself in, as it were a second providence, between our Lord God in Heaven and this people, in order to rule us with its paragraphs, and to replace by them our ancient and time-hallowed trusty reliance on each other. Between us be truth. From _one_ weakness I feel myself entirely free—I strive not for idle popular favor; who could do so if he has read history aright? I strive alone to fulfill my duty, so as to satisfy my understanding and my conscience, and to deserve the thanks of my people, even though it be never my lot to obtain it.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, it has often caused me care and impatience during the first years of my reign, that I could not remove hinderances which opposed an earlier convocation of your Assembly. I was wrong. On both sides we should have been poorer by many experiences, poorer by experiences in part of a costly nature; but all of them, if not always good, yet for us of priceless worth. We have now lying open before us the experiences of seven years, and, by God’s good pleasure, not in vain. The working of parties on one side, and the temper of my people on the other, are now clear and indubitable. It is a splendid privilege of the kingly office, that it can on all occasions call things by their right names without fear. I will do this to-day before you, as a duty which I have to fulfill. I beg you now to follow me a moment, while with a sharp eye we consider the state of things at home.

The dearth which has visited Europe of latter years, has also penetrated to us, if with less severity than in other countries. It has, however, found us well prepared, and I can give my Government the honorable testimonial that it has honestly done its part towards alleviating the calamity. There are, also, means further to resist it, if God spares us from new failures in the crops. Here I must mention private benevolence, which, in these times, has manifested itself anew so nobly, so cheeringly; and I pay it here, before you, the tribute of my admiration and my gratitude.

The extinction of the national debt is progressing. The taxes are diminished, the finances are put in order. I have to-day the happiness to offer the provinces, for the use of their treasuries, a donation of 2,000,000 rix-dollars.

The management of affairs, and the administration of justice, are with us in a purer condition than almost in any other country; publicity is established in our Courts; roads, canals, all kinds of improvements of the land are proceeding to an extent before unknown; science and art are in the most flourishing condition; the national prosperity is increasing; trade and industry, if, alas! not protected against their European vicissitudes, are comparatively satisfactory; paternal care and good-will are certainly nowhere to be mistaken; the press is as free as the laws of the Confederation permit; the freedom of confession is associated with animating power to our old liberty of faith and conscience; and our just pride and strong shield, my army of the line and militia, may be called incomparable.

With our neighbors and with the Powers on this and the other side of the ocean we stand on the best terms, and our relation to our allies, in combination with whom we once freed Germany, and from the happy concord of whom depends the maintenance of a thirty-two years’ peace in a great part of Europe, is firmer and closer than ever.

I could add much which would be calculated to bend our knees in thanks towards God, but this will suffice. For it is quite sufficient to found this gratitude, and a state of contentment, which in an honest comparison, in spite of many just wishes, appears quite natural. Before all, one would think that the press must diffuse gratitude and contentment on all sides, for I venture to say that it is the press which, to a particular extent, owes me thanks. Noble Lords and faithful States, I require your German hearts to grant me those thanks. While recognizing the honorable endeavor to elevate the press by a noble and conscientious spirit, it is yet unquestionable that in a portion of it a dark spirit of destruction prevails, a spirit that entices to revolution, and that deals in the most audacious falsehood, disgraceful to German fidelity and Prussian honor. I know that the genuine sense of the people remains firm, but we do not deceive ourselves as to the evil fruits of the evil tree, which meet us in the shape of dissatisfaction and want of confidence, attended by still worse facts, such as open disobedience, secret conspiracy, a declared revolt from all which is sacred to good men, and attempted regicide. Even in our churches are seen those fruits, together with the twofold death in indifference and fanaticism. But ecclesiastical matters do not belong to the States. They have their legitimate organs in the two confessions. One confession of faith I am, on this day, unable to suppress, bearing in mind the frightful attempt to defraud my people of its holiest jewel—its faith in the Redeemer, Lord and King of itself and of us all. This avowal is as follows. [Here his majesty arose, and spoke the word standing, and with right hand uplifted] “I and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

I turn my troubled glance from the aberrations of a few to the whole of my people. Then does it grow bright with tears of joy; there, my lords, amid all the heavy troubles of government, is my consolation. My people is still the old Christian people—the honest, true, valiant people—which has fought the battles of my fathers, and the honorable qualities of which have only grown with the greatness and fame of their country, which once, like no other, in the days of trouble, bound itself to its paternal King, and bore him, as it were, upon its shoulders from victory to victory,—a people, my lords, often tempted by the arts of seduction, but always found proof against them. Even out of the strongest of these trials it will come forth pure. Already is the impious sport with Christianity, the abuse of religion as a means of distinction, recognized in its true form as sacrilege, and is dying away. My firm reliance upon the fidelity of my people, as the surest means of extinguishing the conflagration, has been ever nobly rewarded both by the older and the younger sons of our Prussian country, even where another language than ours is spoken.

Therefore, hear this well, Lords and faithful States, and may all the country hear it through you. From all the indignities to which I and my Government have been exposed for some years, I appeal to my people! From all evils which perhaps are still in reserve for me, I appeal beforehand to my people! My people knows my heart, my faith and love to it, and adheres in love and faith to me. My people does not wish the association of representatives in the Government, the weakening of rank, the division of sovereignty, the breaking up of the authority of its kings, who have founded its history, its freedom, its prosperity, and who alone can protect its dearest acquisitions, and will protect them, God willing, as heretofore.

Know, my lords, I do not read the feelings of my people in the green arches and huzzahs of festivity; still less in the praise and blame of the press, or in the doubtful, sometimes criminal, demands of certain addresses which are sent to the Throne, and States, or elsewhere. I have read them with my own eyes in the touching thanks of men for benefits scarcely promised, scarcely begun; here, where broad districts of land stood under water; there, where men scarcely recovered from hunger. In their grateful joy, in their wet eyes, did I read their feelings three years ago, when the lives of myself and the Queen were so wonderfully preserved. This is truth—and in my words is truth, when I say, that it is a noble people; and I feel entirely the happiness of presiding over such a people. And your hearts will understand me and accord with me, when in this great hour I urgently call upon you—“Be worthy of this people!”

Illustrious Princes, Counts, and Lords, you will have recognized in the position assigned to you by law in this United Diet, my intention that that position should be a dignified one, at once answering to the conception of a German order of nobles, and also beneficial to the whole community. I rely upon your deeply feeling at this hour, and in these times, what is meant by being the first of a nation, and also what is required at your hands. You will repay my confidence.

You, my Lords of the nobility, and my faithful Burghers and Commons, are, I am firmly persuaded, impressed with this truth, that on this day, and in this hour, you are the first of your respective Orders; but, therefore, also the protectors of your ancient renown. Look at this throne! Your fathers and mine—many princes of your race, and of mine, and myself—have fought for the preservation, the deliverance, and the honor of that throne, and for the existence of our native land. God was with us! There is now a new battle to be fought on behalf of the same glorious possessions—a peaceful one, indeed, but its combats are not a whit less important than those of the field of war. And God will be with us yet again, for the battle is against the evil tendencies of the age. Your unanimity with me, the prompt expression of your wish to aid me in improving the domain of rights (that true field for the labor of kings), will make this Diet a pitched battle gained against every evil and lawless influence that troubles and dishonors Germany; and the work will be to your renown and that of the country, and the contentment and satisfaction of the people.

Representatives of the Nobles, be now and for the future, as of old, the first to follow the banner of the Hohenzollerns, that for three centuries has led you on to honor. And you, Burghers, give to the whole world a living testimony that the intelligence—the great mass of which you are proud to represent—is, among us, that right and true one which ennobles by the development of religion and morality, and by the love of your King and country. And you, representatives of the Commons, you and your Order are never the last when your country and your King call on you, whether it be in peace or in war. Hear the voice of your King, that tells you they require you again!

In my kingdom, neither of the three Orders ranks above or beneath the other. They stand beside each other on an equality of rights and honor, but each within its limits, each with its own province. This is a practicable and reasonable equality. This is freedom.

Noble Lords and trusty Orders, a word more on the question—yes, the question of existence between the Throne and the different Orders. The late King, after mature consideration, called them into existence, according to the German and historical idea of them; and in this idea alone have I continued his work. Impress yourselves, I entreat you, with the spirit of this definition. You are German Orders, in the anciently received sense of the word—that is, you are truly, and before all, “representatives and defenders of your own rights,” the rights of those Orders whose confidence has sent here the far greater portion of this Assembly. But after that you are to exercise those rights which the Crown has recognized as yours; you have, further, conscientiously to give the Crown that advice it requires of you. Finally, you are free to bring petitions and complaints, after mature deliberation, to the foot of the throne.

Those are the rights, those the duties, of German Orders; this is your glorious vocation. But it is not your province to represent opinions, or bring opinions of the day, or of this or that school, into practical operation. That is wholly un-German, and, besides, completely useless for the good of the community, for it would lead necessarily to inextricable embarrassments with the Crown, which must govern according to the law of God and the land, and its own free, unbiased resolution, but which can not and dares not govern according to the will of the majority, if “Prussia” would not soon become an empty sound in Europe. Clearly recognizing my office and your vocation, and firmly resolved to treat that recognition faithfully under all circumstances, I have appeared among you, and addressed you with royal freedom. With the same openness, and as the highest proof of my confidence in you, I here give you my royal word that I should not have called you together had I had the smallest suspicion that you would otherwise understand your duties, or that you had any desire to play the part of what are called representatives of the people. I should not have called you together for that purpose, because, according to my deepest and most heartfelt conviction, the Throne and State would be endangered by it, and because I recognize it as my first duty, under all circumstances and events, to preserve the Throne, the State, and my Government, as they at present exist. I remember the axiom of a royal friend, “Confidence awakens confidence.” That is this day my brightest hope. That my confidence in you is great, I have proved by my words, and sealed by my act. And from you, gentlemen, I expect a proof of confidence in return, and an answer in the same manner—by your acts. God is my witness, I have summoned you as your truest, best, and most faithful friend; and I firmly believe that, among the hundreds before me, there is not one who is not resolved, at this moment, to preserve that friendship. Many of you were at Königsberg on the 10th of September, 1840; and I can even now hear the thunder of your voices as you pronounced the oath of fidelity, that then penetrated my soul. Many of you, on the day on which I received the homage of my hereditary estates, joined with thousands in the still echoing “Yes!” with which you replied to my demand whether you would, “in word and deed, in heart and spirit, in truth and love, help and assist me to preserve Prussia as it is, and as it must remain, if it would not perish: that you would not let or hinder me in the path of considerate but vigorous progress, but endure with me through good days and through evil.” Now redeem your word—now fulfill that vow!

You can do it by the exercise of one of your most important duties—namely, by choosing from among you faithful and upright friends of the Throne and of our good purpose for your Committees—men who have comprehended that at this time it is the first duty of the Orders to encourage and support the good disposition and fidelity of the country by their own example, and, on the contrary, to strike down and discountenance every kind of many-headed faithlessness—men who, enemies of every kind of slavery, are, above all, enemies of that shameful yoke which a misguiding opinion (branding the name of freedom of thought) would lay upon your necks. This selection is a very critical act—one pregnant with consequences. Weigh it in your hearts, and choose conscientiously.

Remember, also, that the day of uncertainty as to the form which the activity of the Orders is to take is passed. Many things, which, under this uncertainty, forbearance could excuse, have henceforth no excuse remaining. The 3d of February of this year, like the 3d of February, 1818, has opened to the real children of our fatherland that path they have now to pursue: and the same unspeakable happiness which then fell to the lot of my glorious father is now also mine—mine in this moment. I speak, as he did, to the hearts of German-of Prussian men!

Go, then, illustrious Princes, Counts, and Lords—dear and faithful Orders of Nobles, Burghers, and Commons—proceed, with God’s help to your task. You will, I am certain, in this moment, when all Europe is gazing on you, and through all the future labors of the Diet, prove yourselves true Prussians; and that one thing, believe me, will not be absent—namely, God’s blessing, on which all things depend. Out of our unanimity it will descend on the present and future generations, and, I hope, on all our glorious German fatherland, in one broad stream, beside which we may dwell in peace and safety, as by the shores of the blessing-bringing rivers that water the earth. And now, once more, and out of the fullness of my heart,—welcome!

APPENDIX C.

(Page 394.)

ICH BIN EIN PREUSSE!

Ich bin ein Preusse, kennt ihr meine Farben? Die Fahne schwebt mir weiss und schwarz voran; Dass für die Freiheit meine Vater starben, Das deuten, merkt es, meine Farben an; Nie werd’ ich bang verzagen; wie jene will ich’s wagen; Sei’s trüber Tag, sei’s heitrer Sonnenschein: Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein!

Mit Lieb’ und Treue nah’ ich mich dem Throne, Von welchem mild zu mir ein Vater spricht; Und wie der Vater treu mit seinem Sohne, So steh’ ich treu mit ihm und wanke nicht. Fest sind der Liebe Bande: Heil meinem Vaterlande! Des König’s Ruf dringt in das Herz mir ein; Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein!

Nicht jeder Tag kann glühn im Sonnenlichte, Ein Wölkchen und ein Schauer kommt zur Zeit; Drum lese Keiner mir es im Gesichte Dass nicht der Wünsche jeder mir gedeiht. Wohl tauschten nah’ und ferne mit mir gar Viele gerne. Ihr Glück ist Trug, und ihre Freiheit Schein; Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein!

Und wenn der böse Sturm mich einst umsauset, Die Nacht entbrennet in des Blitzes Gluth; Hat’s doch schon ärger in der Welt gebrauset, Und was nicht bebte, war des Preussen Muth. Mag Fels und Eiche splittern, ich werde nicht erzittern; Es stürm und krach; es blitze wild darein! Ich bin ein Preusse, will ein Preusse sein!

Wo Lieb’ und Treu’ sich so dem König weihen, Wo Fürst und Volk sich reichen so die Hand: Da muss des Volkes wahres Glück gedeihen, Da blüht und wächst das schöne Vaterland. So schwören wir auf’s Neue dem König Lieb und Treue! Fest sei der Bund! Ja, schlaget muthig ein! Wir sind ja Preussen, lasst uns Preussen sein!

THIERSCH.

This noble song, perhaps, emphatically—but rather in the sense of England’s “Rule Britannia” than its “God save the Queen”—may be regarded as the national anthem of the Prussians. The air to which it is sung is wild and martial; derived undoubtedly from an ancient Polish hymn, to which it bears a striking affinity, and of which it may be regarded as a musical synonym. The present editor offers a version which is tolerably close, although he can not hope to preserve the actual tone of the original author.

I AM A PRUSSIAN.

I am a Prussian! see my colors gleaming— The black-white standard floats before me free; For Freedom’s rights, my fathers’ heart-blood streaming, Such, mark ye, mean the black and white to me! Shall I then prove a coward? I’ll e’er be to the toward! Though day be dull, though sun shine bright on me, I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be!

Before the throne with love and faith I’m bending, Whence, mildly good, I hear a parent’s tone; With filial heart, obedient ear I’m lending— The father trusts—the son defends the throne! Affection’s ties are stronger—live, O my country, longer! The King’s high call o’erflows my breast so free, I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be!

Not every day hath sunny light of glory; A cloud, a shower, sometimes dulls the lea; Let none believe my face can tell the story, That every wish unfruitful is to me. How many far and nearer, would think exchange much dearer? Their Freedom’s naught—how then compare with me? I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be!

And if the angry elements exploding, The lightnings flash, the thunders louder roar, Hath not the world oft witnessed such foreboding? No Prussian’s courage can be tested more. Should rock and oak be riven, to terror I’m not driven; Be storm and din, let flashes gleam so free— I am a Prussian, will a Prussian be!

Where love and faith so round the monarch cluster, Where Prince and People so clasp firm their hands, ’Tis there alone true happiness can muster, Thus showing clear how firm the nation’s bands. Again confirm the fealty! the honest noble lealty! Be strong the bond, strike hands, dear hearts, with me, Is not this Prussia? Let us Prussians be!

KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE.

INDEX.

A.

Aberg, 363.

Aich, 363.

Alben, Frederick William von der, 59.

Alten, Plotho, mansion of, 77.

Alvensleben, Armengard von, wife of George II. von Bismarck, 48.

——, family of, 32, _n._, 40.

——, Sabine von, Henning II. von Bismarck’s wife, 47.

——, Sophie von, wife of Ludolf IV. von Bismarck, 58.

Amsterdam, 247.

André, 201.

Anna, Empress of Russia, 60.

Archangelski, 290, 291.

Armorial bearings of the Bismarcks, 68-76.

Arnim, Frau von; marries Oscar von Arnim, 136.

——, Boytzenburg, Count, 131, 192.

——, E. F. A. H. C. Oscar von, 103, 120; letter to, 304, 305.

Asseburg, Bertha von der, wife of Valentine von Bismarck, 58.

——, the family of, 58, _n._

——, Joh. Marg. von der, wife of Lud. Aug. von Bismarck, 59.

——, Louise Marg., wife of Fred. Chris, von B., 59.

Auerswald, Rudolf von, 192.

Augusta Amalia, Princess von Nassau-Usingen, 61.

Augustenburg, Duke of, 245.

B.

Bamberger, L., an historian, 423.

Bardeleben, Von, wife of Valentine Basso von Bismarck, 58, 59.

Bartenslebens, the von, 40.

Bayonne, 321.

Becker, Professor, 224.

Beckerath, 167.

Below, Alexander von, 283.

Beust, Count, 382.

Beutner, Dr. Theodor, 147.

Biarritz, 324-356.

Biron, E. J. von, Duke of Courland, 60, _n._

Bischofswerder, General J. R. von, 102.

Bismarck, Abraham von, 57.

——, Albertine Louise von, 59.

——, Anna Ottilie von, 57.

——, Alex. Fred. Ferd. von, 103.

——, August von, 58.

——, August Fred. von, 61, 62, 103.

——, Bernhard von, 103.

——, on the Biese, 31, 32.

——, Busso von, 48.

——, Charles Alexander von, 62.

——, Charles William Ferdinand von, 67; born, 101; character of, 108.

——, Christian von, 37.

——, Claus von, 35-46.

——, Claus II. von, 46.

——, Claus III. von, 46.

——, Claus IV. von, 48.

——, Dietrich von, 48.

——, Ernst Frederick Alexander von, 66.

——, Francis von, 103.

——, Franziska Angelika Malwina. _See_ Arnim.

——, Frederick von, 48.

——, Frederick von, Count, 67.

——, Frederick Christopher von, General, 59.

——, Frederick William, Count, General, 60.

——, Frederick Adolf Ludwig von, 67.

——, George von, 48.

——, George II. von, 48.

——, Günther von, 48.

——, Heidrich von, 47.

——, Henning von, 46.

——, Henning II. von, 48.

——, Henning III. von, 48.

——, Henry von, 48, 57.

——, Joachim von, 48.

——, Jobst von, 48.

——, John von, 37.

——, Laurence von, 48.

——, Levin von, 48.

——, Louise Johanne von, 103.

——, Louse, a tower, 31.

——, Ludolf von, 47.

——, Ludolf II. von, 48.

——, Ludolf III. von, 48.

——, Ludolf IV. von, 58.

——, Ludolf August von, 59.

——, Mary Elizabeth Johanna von, 150.

——, Nicolas Ferdinand Herbert von, 151.

——, Otto Edward Leopold, Count von, born, 103; enters the Plamann Institute, 107; passes to the Gymnasium, 107; resides at Berlin, 107; ambition of his mother, 108; letter to his sister, 109-111; confirmation of, 111; at the Gymnasium, Zum Grauen Kloster, 111; holiday-time, 113; passes to Dr. Bonnell, 115-117; his teachers, 115, 116; education of, 116; falls from his horse, 118; returns to Kniephof, 119, 120; appearance and early habits, 120; friends, 120; proverb of Bismarck, 121; enters at Göttingen, 123; duels, 124-127; studies but lightly at Berlin, 128; sworn Examiner, 128; goes to Court, 129; introduced to Prince, afterwards King, William, 129; in society, 130; goes into Administrative Department, 131; at Aachen, 131; at Potsdam, 132; joins the Jäger Guards, 132; at Greifswald, 132; administers the family estates, 132; Deputy to the Circle, 133; life at Kniephof, 133-135; travels, 135; betrothal of his sister, 136; division of the property, 136; elected Dyke Captain, 136; letters to his sister, 137-144; saves his servant’s life, 145; enters the 4th Uhlans, 145; falls in love, 148; marriage, 149; meets Frederick William IV., 149; settles at Schönhausen, 150; birth of his daughter Marie, 150; his children, 150, 151; his policy, 157-164; Representative in the United Diet, 166; his first speech, 168-170; on the Periodicity Debate, 171-174; on the Jews’ Debate, 174-177; retirement, 178; the February Revolution, 181; the March days, 182; opening of the Diet, 183; speech on the Address, 184, 185; foundation of the Kreuzzeitung, 187; on organization of labor, 187-190; at Stolpe, 191; elected Member of the Second Chamber, 191; opposes the amnesty, 193; opposes the Frankfurt Imperial Constitution, 194; opposes the Triple Alliance, 195-197; opposes taxation by the Diet, 198; opinions on England, 198; winters in Berlin, 200; birth and baptism of his second child, 200; as a paragraphist, 203; returns to Schönhausen, 204; at Erfurt, 204; speech there, 204, 205; letters to his sister, 206-209; journey to Külz, defends the treaty of Olmütz, 211; defends the Prussian nobility, 211; Ambassador to Frankfurt, 217; interview with Frederick William IV., 219; visit of the Prince of Prussia to Frankfurt, 222; Society at Frankfurt, 224; negotiations with Austria, 227; dinner to the Emperor of Austria, 232; Halle, 233; at Vienna, 235; at Ofen, 236; at Szolnok, 241; at Pesth, 243; at Vienna, 245; at Blankenburg, 245; negotiations for the Duke of Augustenburg, 245; journey to Italy, 246; at Ostend, 246; at Brussels, 246; at Amsterdam, 247; at Norderney, 248; at Paris, 249; at Reinfeld and Frankfurt, 250; at Paris, 252; conference with Napoleon, 253; at Copenhagen, 253; at Räsbyholm, 253; at Tomsjönas, 254; at Königsberg, 256; at Frankfurt, 257; on the Zollverein, 258, 259; at St. Petersburg, 262; at Hohendorf, 270; at Stolpmünde, 274; at Berlin, 275; Ambassador to Russia, 280; illness, 281; return to Petersburg, 283; at Baden-Baden, 285; personal appearance in 1861, 286; at Pskow, 286; at Moscow, 289; at Peterhof, 292; at Petersburg, 294; at Berlin, 295; journey through Russia, 296-298; at Peterhof, 298, 299; at Zarskoe-Selo, 299-301; at Petersburg, 301-309; Ambassador at Paris, 313; at Berlin, 313-315; at Paris, 315-318; received by the Emperor, 316; goes to London, 318; at Trouville, 320; at Bordeaux, 320, 321; Bayonne, 321; at San Sebastian, 322; at Biarritz, 324; at Luchon, 326; at Toulouse, 327; appointed Minister-President, 331-337; Policy as Premier, 334; farewell audience with Napoleon III., 342; conference with Count Karolyi, 344-348; cession of the Duchies, 357; raised to the rank of Count, 360; the great year 1866, 382; shot at by Kohn-Blind, 389; war with Austria, 393; battle of Sadowa, 400; peace, 406; goes to Varzin, 427; falls from his horse, 428; visits Holstein, 429; gives a ball, 431; his house, 441; his country estate, 448.

——, Pantaleon von, 48.

——, Pantaleon II. von, 58.

——, Lieut. Philip von, 106.

——, Philip Ludwig Leopold Frederick, 67.

——, Rulo von, 46.

——, Rulo von, founder of the family, 36.

——, Rulo II. von, 37.

——, Ruloff von, 47.

——, Schierstein, 67.

——, Theodore Alexander Frederick Philip von, 66, 129.

——, Valentine von, 58.

——, Valentine Busso von, 58.

——, William Otto Albert, 151.

Bismarcks, armorial bearings of the, 68-76.

——, origin of the family of, 32-35.

Blanckenburgs, the family of, 106.

Blanckenburg, Moritz von, 106, 120, 147.

——, Frau von, 147.

Blome, Count, 379.

Bodelschwingh, Velemede von, 183.

Boetzow, castle of, 47, 48.

Bohlen-Bismarck, _see_ Bismarck, Theodore Alex. Fred. Philip von.

Bonnell, Dr., Director, 111, 357, 412.

Bordeaux, 320.

Brandenburg’s, Count of, statue, 313.

Brauchitsch, Lieut. von, 166.

Bredow, Lippold von, 45.

——, Ottilien von, 48.

Brussels, 246.

Bülow of Hoffelde, 134.

Buol-Schauenstein, Count, 227.

Burgstall, castle of, 40, 46.

C.

Camphausen, Ludolf, 167, 183.

Chambord, castle of, 320.

Charles IV., Emperor, 42, 46, 78.

Chotusitz, battle of, 61.

Copenhagen, 253.

Corvinus, King Matthew, 238.

Crevese, abbey of, 54.

Croy, Prince von, 284.

Croze, La, the librarian, 186.

D.

Denmark, 245.

D’Esters, 192.

Dewitz, the family of, 103.

——, Hans von, 120, 134.

——, Stephanie, wife to August Fred. von Bismarck, 62, 103.

Doeberitz, Hedwig von, wife of Ludolf III. von Bismarck, 48.

E.

Erkert, Colonel von, 284.

Eisendecher, Von, 224.

Elizabeth of Denmark, wife of Joachim Nestor, 79.

Engelsmünster, barony of, 78.

Esterhazyweg, 363.

F.

Fischbeck, village of, 78.

Frankfurt-on-the-Maine, 217.

Fransecky, General von, 79.

Frederick von Nürnberg, Burgrave, 47, 51.

——, Charles, Prince, 354.

——, William IV. issues the February Patent, 165; and the Stag, 200; interview with Bismarck, 218.

Fritsch, Von, 224.

Foerster, F., a liberal, 183.

Fuent-Arabia, 322.

Fürstenwald, Treaty of, 45.

G.

Gallot, a teacher, 107.

Gänse of Putlitz, the, 77.

Gastein, Treaty of, 349.

Genthin, 77.

Gerswalde, 209.

Gertrude, legend of, 70-72.

Gleissenthaler, Wolff, General, 58.

Gortschakoff, Prince, 284, 332.

Grabow, 192.

Greifswald, city of, 132.

Guizot, aphorism of, 158.

H.

Hagens, M., 107.

Halle, 233.

Hammer, 363.

Hatzfeld, Count, 249.

Havelberg, the Bishop of, 32, 82.

Helena, Grand-duchess, of Russia, 284.

Hentzi, General, 240.

Herzberg, Minister, Count, 102.

Hohenthal, P. H. von, 103.

Holzendorff, family of, 47, _n._

——, Werner von, 47.

Humboldt, Alexander von, anecdote of, 182, _n._

I, J.

Insterburg, 287.

Jagows, the family of, 40.

Jänsch, Herr, Deputy, 189.

Jarchelin, estate of, 103.

Jerichow, town of, 78.

Joachim I., Elector, 48, 52, 79.

——, Hector, 52.

——, the violinist, 380.

John Cicero, Elector, 52.

John George, Electoral Prince, 52.

Junker, rank of, 34.

K.

Karolyi, Count, 344-348.

Katte, the family of, 81.

——, John Hermann von, 81.

——, Dor. Elizabeth, 58.

——, Dor. Sophie, 61.

Kattenwinkel, the, 81.

——, Ilse von der, 48.

Kayserlingk, Count, of Courland, 121, 128, 284.

Kehrwiederweg, 363.

Kerl, Finanzrath, 123.

Kessel, the family of, 129.

——, Helene von, 131.

Ketskemet, 242.

Keudell, Count von, 393.

Knesebecks, the Von, 40, _n._

Kniephof, estate of, 103; description of, 133.

Kogelwiet, Dietrich, 41-44.

Kohn-Blind, shoots at Bismarck, 389.

Königsberg, 256.

Kottwitz, Helene Elizabeth von, 58.

Krause, Deputy, 177.

Krug, M., a merchant, 220.

Külz, the estate of, 103.

L.

Lauenstein, a pastor, 121.

Lazienki, 296-298.

Letzlingen, a hunting estate, 52, 55, 245.

Lichnowsky, Felix, Prince, 184.

Lindau, Albert von, 45.

Loën, General von, 284.

London, 318.

Lucca, Pauline, 361, 362.

Luchon, 326.

Lucchesini, Girolamo, Marquis, 158, _n._

Ludwig, Marquis of Brandenburg, 37.

Lynar, Count, 220.

M.

Malet, Sir Alexander, 224.

Manteuffel, Von, 167, 190, 192; made minister, 209; goes to Olmütz, 209.

Menken, Anastatius Ludwig, 101, 102.

——, Louise Wilhelmina, 101.

Metternich, Prince, 227, 278.

Mevissen, 167.

Milde, a deputy, 185.

Miltitz, Louise von, 66.

Moerner, Otto von, 45.

Möllendorff, the family of, 59, _n._

——, Frederica Soph., 58.

Motley, Lothrop, 121, 128.

Moltke, General von, 393.

Moscow, description of, 289, 290.

N.

Napoleon III., 253; receives Bismarck, 316, 342.

Natzmer, Gneomar D., 59.

Neiendorff, Ludwig von, 42.

Netzlingen, a hunting-box, 52.

Neumann, Trine, 107.

Nicolsburg, 405.

Nolde, Baron, 284.

Norderney, a bathing-place, 248.

O.

Oertzen, Von, 224.

Ofen, 236.

Oldekop of Hanover, 121.

Olga, Archduchess of Russia, 230.

Olmütz, Treaty of, 209.

Oppermann, 205.

Oranienburg, formerly Boetzow, 47.

Osten, Prokesch von, 223.

Ostend, 246.

Osterburg, the Count of, 32.

P.

Parey, on the Elbe, 77.

Paris, Bismarck Ambassador at, 310-313.

Pesth, 236.

Peterhof, description of, 292-294, 299.

Petersburg, 262, 287, 294, 301-304, 305-309.

Pfordten, Von der, 359.

Plamann, the Institute, 107.

Plehwe, Lieut.-Col. von, 146.

Plotho, the family of, 77.

Portitz, Dietrich von, 41-44.

Pskow, 286.

Putkammer, Henry E. J., 149.

——, Johanna, von, Countess Bismarck, makes acquaintance with Otto von Bismarck, 148; marries, 149; arrives at Frankfurt, 223; nurses her husband, 281.

——, Luitgarde von, 149.

Q.

Quitzow, Dietrich von, 47, 170.

——, family of, 47, _n._

R.

Radden, Frau von, _see_ Lucca, Pauline.

Radetzky, Marshal, 276.

Radowitz, 195, 209.

Räsbyholm, 253.

Rauch, General von, 197.

Redekin, village of, 78.

Reinfeld, 250; description of, 282; Bismarck at, 304, 305.

Retzow, Von Kleist, 201.

Riedel, erroneous view of, 33.

Rochow, General von, 220-223, 229.

Roman, André von, letter to, 361, 362.

Roon, General von, 147, 332, 333, 339.

S.

Sadowa, battle of, 400.

San Sebastian, 322.

Saucken, Von, 167.

Savigny, Von, 201, 221.

Schadewachts, the family of, 34.

Schele, Von, 226.

Schenck, Anna von, 57, 58.

——, Von Lützendorf Emerentia, 48.

——, Herr von, 130.

——, William von, 120.

Scherff, Von, 224.

Schierstaedt, Meinecke von, 43.

Schierstein, Bismarck, Count of, _see_ Bismarck, 67.

Schlabrendorf, John von, 82.

Schmidt, Adolf, historian, 186.

Schönfeld, Christine Charlotte Gottliebe, 62-66.

Schönhausen, 55-83; Mansion of, 84-96.

Schulenburg, Dietrich von der, 45.

——, Anna von der, 58.

——, Fritz von der, 57.

Schulenburgs, the family of, 40.

Schwarzenberg, Prince, 227, 387.

Schwerin, J. U. F. von, 104.

Senfft von Pilsach, Baron, 135.

Siegobodo, Bishop, 83.

Sigismund, Margrave and Archbishop, 53.

Skianiawicze, 298.

Solms-Hohen-Solms-Lich, Prince, 183.

Sprengels of Halberstadt, the, 32.

Stahl, Dr., 206.

Stendal, town of, 31.

Stolberg-Wernigerode, Theodor von, 220.

Stolpe, on the Baltic, 190, 273.

Szolnok, 241.

T.

Tangermünde, kaiser-house of, 78.

Temmes, 192.

Templar, the Knights, 93.

Thadden, Von Trieglaff, 167, 171.

Thun-Hohenstein, Count von, 219, 223, 348.

Tomsjönas, 254.

Toulouse, 327.

Tresckow, Frederica Charlotte von, 62.

Treyden, Trotte von, 60.

Trouville, 320.

V.

Varzin, 106; description of, 448.

_Vaticinium Lehninense_, 187.

Victoria, Queen, 380.

Vienna, 235.

Vilbort, M. de, 408, 414-421.

Vincke, Von, 167, 192.

W.

Waldemar the Pretender, 41.

Wedell, Von, 167.

Wenckstern, Anna von, 48.

Wentzel, Otto, 220.

Werder, General von, 394.

William I., 223, 332.

Winckelmann, Dr., 107.

Winkler, Rev. Adam, 83.

Wirballen, 287.

Y.

Yxkull, Count, 284.

Z.

Zarskoe-Selo, 294, 299.

Zechlin, Treaty of, 52.

Zimmerhausen, the estate of, 106.

Zinzendorf, Count, 59.