In connection with my report of to-day regarding the attitude of certain
envoys in the Kettenburg affair, I take the liberty of making some
confidential remarks regarding the personal traits of my colleagues in
general, in case it should interest your Excellency to have the
information.
Herr von Prokesch is probably well enough known in Berlin to make
further indications of his personal characteristics unnecessary; at the
same time, I cannot refrain from remarking that the calmness and ease
with which he advances false statements of fact, or contests true
statements, surpass my expectations, although I have been led to expect
a good deal in this direction. These qualities are supplemented by a
surprising degree of coolness in dropping a subject or making a change
of front, as soon as the untruth which he has taken as his point of
departure is identified beyond the possibility of evasion. In case of
necessity he covers a retreat of this sort by an ebullition of moral
indignation, or by an attack, often of a very personal character, which
transfers the discussion to a new and quite different field. His chief
weapons in the petty war which I am obliged to wage with him, as often
as the interests which we represent diverge, are: (1) Passive
resistance, _i.e._, a dilatory treatment of the affair, by which he
forces upon me the rôle of a tiresome dun, and not infrequently, by
reason of the nature of the affair, that of a paltry dun. (2) In case of
attack, the _fait accompli_, in the shape of apparently insignificant
usurpations on the part of the Chair. These are commonly so calculated
that any protest on my part cannot but seem like a deliberate search for
points of controversy or like captious verbal criticism. It is therefore
scarcely possible for me to avoid, in my dealings with him, the
appearance of quarrelsomeness, unless I am willing to sacrifice the
interests of Prussia to a degree which every concession would
increase....
The Bavarian envoy, Herr von Schrenk, I place among the best elements in
the assembly, as regards both his capacity and his character. He is a
thorough and industrious worker, and practical in his views and
opinions; although his predominantly juristic training and mode of
thinking make him at times disputatious, and tend to impede the progress
of affairs. In official intercourse he is frank and obliging, so long as
his [Bavarian] patriotism, which is high-strung and extremely irritable,
is treated with consideration; a foible for which I take particular
pains to make allowance.
Our Saxon colleague, Herr von Nostitz, inspires in me less confidence.
It seems to me that he has at bottom a traditional inclination toward
Prussia and its political system, which is nourished in part by a
Protestantism that is more rationalistic than orthodox, and by his fear
of Ultramontane tendencies. I believe, however,--and I should be glad to
find that I do him an injustice,--that on the whole, personal interests
take precedence with him over political interests, and that the
suppleness of his character permits him to view the latter in whatever
light best suits the former. His economic position is dependent upon his
place, aside from the salary, by reason of the fact that he owns a house
here in which he lives, which he bought before 1848 at a high price, and
which he has vainly attempted to rent for the last five years. His
political course is therefore controlled by his desire of remaining in
his official position under every contingency; and with the present
tendency of the Saxon government, Austria has certainly more opportunity
to help him in keeping his place than has Prussia. This circumstance
indeed does not prevent Herr von Nostitz from avoiding, as far as his
instructions will allow, any patent injury to Prussia; but with his
great capacity for labor, his intelligence, and his long experience, he
constitutes the most effective support of all Austria's efforts in the
federal assembly. He is particularly adroit in formulating reports and
propositions in awkward controversial questions; he knows how to give
his draught a color of compromise without the least sacrifice of any
Austrian interest, as soon as the correct interpretation comes to the
aid of the apparently indeterminate expression. When his draughts become
the basis of subsequent discussion, it is then usually discovered for
the first time that the real purpose for which they were drawn is
contained in what seemed to be casual and incidental words. If the
current in Dresden should shift in the Prussian direction, the valuable
personal assistance which Herr von Nostitz is able to render by means of
his sense, his experience, and the credit both have won him, would be
thrown on the Prussian side with the same certainty as now on the
Austrian, unless too strong a tie were found in the fact that one of his
sons is being educated in the Austrian Naval School, while another is
already an officer in the imperial service.
Herr von Bothmer returned to this place a few days ago as representative
of Hanover; I learn from him, however, with regret, that his further
stay here is in no wise assured. Not only is his a straightforward
character that awakens confidence, but he is also the only one of my
colleagues who has sufficient independence to give me anything more than
passive assistance when I am obliged to protest against the conduct of
the Chair.
His opposite is found in Herr von Reinhard. While Herr von Bothmer is
thorough, clear, and objective in his productions, those of the
Würtemberg envoy bear the stamp of superficiality and confused thinking.
His removal from the federal assembly might justly be regarded as a
great gain for us. I do not know whether his departure from Berlin was
connected with circumstances which have left in him a lasting dislike of
Prussia, or whether confused political theories (regarding which he
expresses himself with more ease and with greater interest than
regarding practical affairs) have brought him to believe that the
Prussian influence in Germany is deleterious: but at all events his
antipathy to us exceeds the degree which, in view of the political
situation of Würtemberg, can be supposed to exist in the mind of his
sovereign; and I have reason to assume that his influence upon the
instructions which are sent him, and his activity, so far as this is
independent of instructions, are exerted, as a matter of principle, to
the disadvantage of Prussia.... In his bearing towards me personally
there is nothing which would justify the conclusion that his feelings
are of the sort I have indicated; and it is only rarely that a point is
reached in our debates at which, moderated by a certain timidity, his
suppressed bitterness against Prussia breaks out. I may remark
incidentally that it is he who invariably appears at our sessions last,
and too late; and who, through want of attention and through subsequent
participation in the discussion on the basis of misapprehensions,
occasions further repetitions and waste of time.
The envoy from Baden, Herr von Marschall, is not without sense and
fitness for affairs, but is scrupulously careful to avoid the
responsibility of an independent opinion, and to discover in the least
dubitable matter an intermediate point of view from it may be possible
to agree with both sides, or at least to disagree with neither. If there
is no escape, he inclines, either for family reasons or because his
government is more afraid of Vienna than of Berlin, to the Austrian side
rather than to ours. Support against the Chair--as, for example, in the
matter of the order of business, upon which he is charged with a
report--I can hardly expect from him.
Our colleague from the Electorate, Herr von Trott, takes as little part
as possible in the affairs of the Diet; especially avoids reports and
committee work; and is frequently absent, making the representative from
Darmstadt his proxy. He prefers country life and hunting to
participation in assemblies, and gives the impression rather of a jovial
and portly squire than of an envoy. He confines himself to announcing
his vote, briefly and in the exact language of his instructions; and
while the latter are invariably drawn by the Minister, Hassenpflug, in
accordance with the directions received from Austria, it does not appear
to me that either Austria or the States of the Darmstadt coalition enjoy
the personal support of Herr von Trott any more than we do--an
impartiality which is rendered easy to the Hessian envoy as much by his
distaste for affairs, and I like to think by the revolt of his
essentially honorable nature against all that savors of intrigue, as by
his formerly indubitable sympathy for Prussia's interests.
We find a more inimical element in the Grand-Ducal Hessian envoy, Baron
von Münch-Bellinghausen. While this gentleman is attached from the start
to the interests of Austria by his family connections with the former
presidential envoy of the same name, his antagonism to Prussia is
considerably intensified by his strong, and I believe sincere, zeal for
the Catholic Church. In private intercourse he is a man of agreeable
manners; and as regards his official attitude, I have to this extent no
cause of complaint--that beyond the degree of reserve imposed upon him
by the anti-Prussian policy of his government, I have observed in him no
tendency towards intrigue or insincerity. For the rest, he is a natural
opponent of the Prussian policy in all cases where this does not go hand
in hand with Austria and the Catholic Church; and the warmth with which
he not infrequently supports his opinion against me in discussion, I can
regard only as a proof of the sincerity of his political convictions. It
is certainly, however, an anomalous thing that a Protestant sovereign,
who at this moment is in conflict with Catholic bishops, is represented
in the Confederacy by Herr von Münch....
One of our trustiest allies is Herr von Scherff, who personally is
altogether devoted to the Prussian interests, and has moreover a son in
our military service; he is experienced in affairs, and prudent to the
point of timidity. This latter trait, as well as the sort of influence
which his Majesty the King of the Netherlands exercises upon the federal
instructions, often prevents him from giving me, in the sessions of the
Diet, that degree of support which I should otherwise receive from him.
Outside of the sessions I have always been able to count on him with
confidence, whenever I have called upon him for advice, and whenever it
has been a question of his aiding me through his influence upon some
other envoy or through the collection of information. With his Royal
Highness the Prince of Prussia, Herr von Scherff and his family justly
stand in special favor.
* * * * *
Nassau and Brunswick are represented by the Baron von Dungern, a
harmless character, who has neither the personal capacity nor the
political credit requisite to give him influence in the Federal
Assembly. If the difference that exists in most questions between the
attitude of Brunswick and that of Nassau is settled in most cases in
favor of the views held by Nassau, (i.e., by Austria,) this is partly
due indeed to the connection of Herr von Dungern and his wife with
families that are in the Austrian interest, and to the fact that the
envoy, who has two sons in the Austrian military service, feels more
dread of Austria's resentment than of Prussia's; but the chief mistake
lies in the circumstance that Brunswick is represented by a servant of
the Duke of Nassau, who lives here in the immediate neighborhood of his
own court,--a court controlled by Austrian influences,--but maintains
with Brunswick, I imagine, connections so closely restricted to what is
absolutely necessary that they can hardly be regarded as an equivalent
for the five thousand florins which his Highness Duke William
contributes to his salary.
The Mecklenburg envoy, Herr von Oertzen, justifies in all respects the
reputation of an honorable man which I had heard attributed to him
before he assumed his present position. In the period immediately
following the reopening of the Federal Diet, he, like a large number of
his fellow-countrymen, showed an unmistakable leaning to Austria; but
it seems to me indubitable that his observation for two years of the
methods which Austrian policy employs here through the organ of the
Chair has aroused in Herr von Oertzen's loyal nature, in spite of the
fact that he too has a son in the Austrian army, a reaction which
permits me to count fully upon him as far as his personal attitude is
concerned, and upon his political support as far as his instructions--of
the character of which, on the whole, I cannot complain--in any wise
permit. In any case I can depend upon his pursuing, under all
circumstances, an open and honorable course.... His attitude in the
debates is always tranquil, and in favor of compromise....
The representative of the Fifteenth Curia is Herr von Eisendecher, a man
whose ready sociability, united with wit and vivacity in conversation,
prepossesses one in his favor. He was formerly an advanced Gothaite, and
it seems that this tendency of his has shaded over into a lively
sympathy for the development of the Confederation as a strong, unified,
central power; since in this way, and with the help of Austria, he
thinks that a substitute will be discovered for the unsuccessful efforts
towards unity in the Prussian sense. The Curia, it is reported, is so
organized that the two Anhalts and the two Schwarzburgs, if they are
united among themselves, outvote Oldenburg.
It is in a simpler way and without stating his reasons that the
representative of the Sixteenth Curia, Baron von Holzhausen, throws his
influence on the Austrian side of the scales. It is said of him that in
most cases he draws up his own instructions, even when he has ample time
to send for them, and that he meets any protest raised by his principals
by holding his peace, or by an adroit use of the large number of members
of his Curia and the lack of connection between them. To this it is to
be added that the majority of the little princes are not disposed to
spend upon their federal diplomacy the amount that would be required for
a regular and organized chancelry and correspondence; and that if Herr
von Holzhausen, who after the departure of Baron von Strombeck obtained
the place as the lowest asker, should resign from their service, they
would hardly be able, with the means at their disposal, to secure so
imposing a representative as this prosperous gentleman, who is decorated
with sundry grand-crosses and the title of privy councillor, and is a
member of the oldest patrician family of Frankfort. The nearest
relations of Herr von Holzhausen, who is himself unmarried and
childless, are in the service of Austria. Moreover, his family pride,
which is developed to an unusual degree, points back with all its
memories to the imperial city patriciate that was so closely associated
with the glorious era of the Holy Roman Empire; and Prussia's entire
position seems to him a revolutionary usurpation, which has played the
most material part in the destruction of the privileges of the
Holzhausens. His wealth leads me to assume that the ties that bind him
to Austria are merely ambitious tendencies--such as the desire for an
imperial order or for the elevation of the family to the rank of
Austrian counts--and not pecuniary interests, unless his possession of a
large quantity of [Austrian] mining shares is to be regarded in the
latter light.
If your Excellency will permit me, in closing, to sum up the results of
my report, they amount to what follows:--
The only envoys in the Federal Diet who are devoted to our interests as
regards their personal views are Herren von Fritsch, von Scherff, and
von Oertzen. Herein the first of these follows at the same time the
instructions of the government which he represents. Personally assured
to Austria, on the other hand, without it being possible to make the
same assertion as regards the governments they represent, are Herren von
Eisendecher and von Holzhausen, and von Dungern as representing
Brunswick. On the Austrian side, besides these, are almost always, in
accordance with the instructions of their governments, Herr von Nostitz,
Herr von Reinhard, Herr von Münch, Herr von Trott (who, however,
displays greater moderation than his Darmstadt colleague), and Herr von
Dungern as representing Nassau.
A position in part more independent, in part more mediatory, is assumed
by Herren von Schrenk, von Bothmer, von Bülow, von Marschall, and by the
representatives of the Free Cities; and yet in the attitude of these
envoys also, Austrian influences are not infrequently noticeable.