Two personages at this moment hold in their hands the great
question teeming with a new civilization. Honest and determined,
both are patriotic rather than cosmopolitan or Christian,
believing in Prussia rather than Humanity. And the patriotism so
strong in each keeps still the early tinge of iron. I refer to
King William and his Prime-Minister, Count Bismarck.
More than any other European sovereign, William of Prussia
possesses the infatuation of "divine right." He believes that he
was appointed by God to be King--differing here from Louis
Napoleon, who in a spirit of compromise entitled himself Emperor
"by the grace of God and the national will." This infatuation was
illustrated at his coronation in ancient Konigsberg,--first home
of Prussian royalty, and better famous as birthplace and lifelong
home of Immanuel Kant,--when the King enacted a scene of
melodrama which might be transferred from the church to the
theatre. No other person was allowed to place the crown on his
royal head. Lifting it from the altar, where it rested, he placed
it on his head himself, in sign that he held it from Heaven and
not from man, and next placed another on the head of the Queen, in
sign that her dignity was derived from him. Then, turning round,
he grasped the sword of state, in testimony of readiness to defend
the nation. Since the Battle of Sadowa, when the Austrian Empire
was so suddenly shattered, he has believed himself providential
sword-bearer of Germany, destined, perhaps, to revive the old
glories of Barbarossa. His habits are soldierly, and, notwithstanding
his seventy-three winters, he continues to find pleasure in
wearing the spiked helmet of the Prussian camp. Republicans
smile when he speaks of "my army," "my allies," and "my people";
but this egotism is the natural expression of the monarchical
character, especially where the monarch believes that he
holds by "divine right." His public conduct is in harmony with
these conditions. He is a Protestant, and rules the land of
Luther, but he is no friend to modern Reform. The venerable system
of war and prerogative is part of his inheritance handed down from
fighting despots, and he evidently believes in it.
His Minister, Count Bismarck, is the partisan of "divine right,"
and, like the King, regards with satisfaction that hierarchical
feudalism from which they are both derived. He is noble, and
believes in nobility. He believes also in force, as if he had the
blood of the god Thor. He believes in war, and does not hesitate
to throw its "iron dice," insisting upon the rigors of the game.
As the German question began to lower, his policy was most
persistent. "Not by speeches and votes of the majority," he said
in 1862, "are the great questions of the time decided,--that was
the error of 1848 and 1849,--_but by iron and blood_." [Footnote:
"Nicht durch Reden und Majoritaetsbeschluesse werden die grossen
Fragen der Zeit entschieden,--das ist der Fehler von 1848 und
1849 gewesen,--sondern durch Eisen und Blut."--_Aeusserungen
in der Budgetkommission_, September, 1862.]
Thus explicit was he. Having a policy, he became its
representative, and very soon thereafter controlled the counsels
of his sovereign, coming swiftly before the world; and yet his
elevation was tardy. Born in 1815, he did not enter upon diplomacy
until 1851, when thirty-six years of age, and only in 1862 became
Prussian Minister at Paris, whence he was soon transferred to the
Cabinet at Berlin as Prime-Minister. Down to that time he was
little known. His name is not found in any edition of the bulky
French Dictionary of Contemporaries, [Footnote: Vapereau,
Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains.] not even its "Additions
and Rectifications," until the Supplement of 1863. But from this
time he drew so large a share of public attention that the
contemporary press of the world became the dictionary where his
name was always found. Nobody doubts his intellectual resources,
his courage, or strength of will; but it is felt that he is
naturally hard, and little affected by human sympathy. Therefore
is he an excellent war minister. It remains to be seen if he will
do as much for peace. His one idea has been the unity of Germany
under the primacy of Prussia; and here he encountered Austria, as
he now encounters France. But in that larger unity where nations
will be conjoined in harmony he can do less, so long at least as
he continues a fanatic for kings and a cynic towards popular
institutions.
Such is the King, and such his Minister. I have described them
that you may see how little help the great ideas already
germinating from bloody fields will receive from them. In this
respect they are as one.