“When I entered that study—where the peace of Europe, as it were, was hanging by a thread, but which I found was only guarded by a bolt—I saw before me a man of tall stature, and of animated countenance. On his broad, high, and smooth forehead, I perceived with some surprise the presence of much benevolence, mingled with persistency. Monsieur de Bismarck is fair and somewhat bald; he wears a military mustache, and speaks rather with soldier-like brevity than with diplomatic caution. His air is that of the aristocrat and courtier, improved by all the charm of the most polished courtesy. He advanced to receive me, took me by the hand, led me to a seat, and offered me a cigar.
MAJOR-GENERAL AND CHANCELLOR OF THE CONFEDERATION.
“‘Monsieur le Ministre,’ I said to him after a little preliminary conversation, ‘I, like many of my countrymen, am most anxious to be thoroughly enlightened on the true interests of the German nation. Permit me, therefore, to express myself with entire frankness. I am glad to confess that, in her foreign policy, Prussia seems, at the present time, to be pursuing objects with which the French nation sympathizes in no ordinary manner, such as the complete emancipation of Italy from Austrian influence, and the establishment of an united Germany, based on universal suffrage. But is there not a flat contradiction between your Prussian and German policies? You declare a national parliament to be the only fountain in which Germany can find rejuvenescence, the only form of supreme authority by which she can realize her future destiny. Yet, at the same time, you treat the Second Chamber at Berlin in the manner of Louis XIV., when he entered the Houses of Parliament whip in hand. In France we do not admit the possibility of any association between absolutism and democracy; and, to speak the whole truth, allow me to state to you that in Paris your plan of a national parliament has not been considered as a serious one. It has been looked upon as an acutely constructed engine of war, and it is generally believed that you are quite the man to break it up when it has served your purpose, the moment it seems to have become inconvenient or useless.’
“‘A la bonne heure, you go at once to the root of things,’ replied M. de Bismarck. ‘In France, I know, I am as unpopular as in Germany. Everywhere I am held responsible for a state of things I did not create, but which has been forced upon me as upon every one else. I am the scapegoat of public opinion; but that does not much trouble me. I follow out a plan, with a perfectly calm conscience, which I consider useful to my country and to Germany.
“‘As to the means to this end, I have used those within my reach, for want of others. Much might be said as to the internal condition of Prussia. To judge of it impartially, it is necessary to study the peculiar character of the people of this country in the most thorough way. France and Italy are now compact social polities, each animated by one spirit and one sentiment; while, on the contrary, Germany is given up to individualism. Here, every one lives apart in his own narrow corner, with his own opinions; his wife and children round him; ever suspicious of the Government, as of his neighbor; judging every thing from his personal point of view, and never from general grounds. The sentiment of individualism and the necessity for contradiction are developed to an inconceivable degree in the German. Show him an open door, and, rather than pass through it, he will insist on breaking a hole in the wall at its side. No government however it may act, will be popular in Prussia; the majority in the country will always be opposed to it; simply from its being the Government, and holding authority over the individual, it is condemned to be constantly opposed by the moderates, and decried and despised by the ultras. This has been the common fate of all successive governments since the beginning of the dynasty. Neither liberal ministers, nor reactionary ministers, have found favor with our politicians.’
“And while thus passing in review the various governments and forms of rule which have existed since the foundation of the monarchy, M. de Bismarck strove to prove to me, in brilliant, graphic language, sparkling with wit, that the Auerswalds and the Manteuffels had shared the same fate as himself, and that Frederick William III., surnamed the Just, had succeeded as little as Frederick William IV. in satisfying the Prussian nation.
“‘They shouted,’ he added, ‘at the victories of Frederick the Great, but at his death they rubbed their hands at the thought of being delivered from the tyrant. Despite this antagonism, there exists a deep attachment to the royal house. No sovereign or minister, no government, can win the favor of Prussian individualism. Yet all cry from the depths of their hearts, “God save the King!” And they obey when the King commands.’