On the 2d of January, 1861, Frederick William IV., who had for some time been insane, died, and was succeeded by the Prince Regent, William I., already in his sixty-fifth year, every inch a soldier and nothing else.  Bismarck was soon summoned to the councils of his sovereign at Berlin, who was perplexed and annoyed by the Liberal party, which had the ascendency in the lower Chamber of the general Diet.  Office was pressed upon Bismarck, but before he accepted it he wished to study Napoleon and French affairs more closely, and was therefore sent as ambassador to Paris in 1862.  He made that year a brief visit to London, Disraeli being then the premier, who smiled at his schemes for the regeneration of Germany.  It was while journeying amid the Pyrenees that Bismarck was again summoned to Berlin, the lower Chamber having ridden rough-shod over his Majesty’s plans for army reform.  The king invested him with the great office of President of the Ministry, his abilities being universally recognized.

It was now Bismarck’s mission to break the will of the Prussian parliament, and to thrust Austria out of the Germanic body.  He considered only the end in view, caring nothing for the means:  he had no scruples.  It was his religion to raise Prussia to the same ascendency that Austria had held under Metternich.  He had a master whose will and ambition were equal to his own, yet whose support he was sure of in carrying out his grand designs.  He was now a second Richelieu, to whom the aggrandizement of the monarchy which he served and the welfare of Fatherland were but convertible terms.  He soon came into bitter conflict, not with nobles, but with progressive liberals in the Chamber, who detested him and feared him, but to whom he did not condescend to reveal his plans,—­bearing obloquy with placidity in the greatness of the end he had in view.  He was a self-sustained, haughty, unapproachable man of power, except among the few friends whom he honored as boon companions, without ever losing his discretion,—­wearing a mask with apparent frankness, and showing real frankness in matters which did not concern secrets of state, especially on the subjects of education and religion.  Like his master, he was more a Calvinist than a Lutheran.  He openly avowed his dependence on Almighty God, and on him alone, as the hope of nations.  In this respect we trace a resemblance to Oliver Cromwell rather than to Frederic the Great.  Bismarck was a compound of both, in his patriotism and his unscrupulousness.

The first thing that King William and his minister did was to double the army.  But this vast increase of military strength seemed unnecessary to the Liberal party, and the requisite increase of taxes to support it was unpopular.  Hence, Bismarck was brought in conflict with the lower Chamber, which represented the middle classes.  He dared not tell his secret schemes without imperilling their success, which led to grave misunderstandings.  For four years the