On the 23d May, 1862, Bismarck was appointed Ambassador to Paris, and set out thither. He had previously remained a few weeks at Berlin, where it is certain several conferences took place as to his acceptance of the office of Minister-President; a passage in a letter to his wife below alludes to this.
On the 17th May the statue of the Count of Brandenburg was dedicated on the Leipziger Platz, in the presence of King William. At that time, as it may be said, the Ministry of Bismarck was in the air. Bismarck was present. When the cover of the statue had fallen, amidst the strains of the Hohenfriedberg March, H. R. H. the Prince Carl advanced to him, and shook him by the hand, with a “Good-morning, Bismarck!”
“Salute the new Minister-President!” said a member of the former Ministry of Manteuffel, in a very animated manner, to a representative of the new era.
The acclamations for the King, and the trumpet-call of the trumpeters of the Cuirassiers, accompanied the prophecy.
The three following letters to his wife show that he felt himself painfully oppressed by the uncertainty of his then position:
Berlin, 17th May, 1862.
Our future is still as obscure as in Petersburg. Berlin is more in the foreground. I do nothing for or against it, but shall drink a good drop when I have my credentials to Paris in my pocket. Nothing at all is said about London just now, but things may change again. I go to the dedication of Brandenburg, and then to ——, at ——, to dinner. I have not been able to detach myself all day from Ministerial conversations, and do not find these gentlemen at all more united than their predecessors.
Berlin, 23d May, 1862.