he had written a few days before.  After a few days of indecision a compromise therefore was agreed upon.  The joint administration of the Duchies was to be given up; Austria was to administer Holstein, Prussia, Schleswig; they both undertook not to bring the question before the Diet; the Duchy of Lauenburg was to be handed over absolutely to the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Austria receiving two million thalers for his share.  Lauenburg was the first new possession which Bismarck was able to offer to the King; the grateful monarch conferred on him the title of Count, and in later years presented to him large estates out of the very valuable royal domains.  It was from Lauenburg that in later years the young German Emperor took the title which he wished to confer on the retiring Chancellor.

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CHAPTER X.

OUTBREAK OF WAR WITH AUSTRIA.

1865-1866.

The arrangement made at Gastein could not be permanent; it was only a temporary expedient to put off the conflict which henceforward was inevitable—­inevitable, that is, if the Emperor of Austria still refused to sell Holstein to Prussia.  It was, however, so far as it went, a great gain to Prussia, because it deprived Austria of the esteem of the other German States.  Her strength had hitherto lain in her strict adhesion to popular feeling and to what the majority of the Germans, Princes and people alike, believed was justice; by coming to a separate agreement with Prussia, she had shaken their confidence.  Bavaria especially was much annoyed by this change of front, and it seemed probable that the most important of the southern States would soon be ranged on the side of Prussia.  This was a consummation which Bismarck ardently desired, and to which he addressed himself with much energy.

The attitude of France was more important than that of the German States, and in the autumn Bismarck made a fresh visit to that country.  Just as he had done the year before, he went to take the sea-baths at Biarritz.  This step was the more remarkable because Napoleon had received the news of the Treaty of Gastein with marked displeasure, and had given public expression to his opinions.  Bismarck saw Drouyn de Lhuys at Paris and then went on to Biarritz where the Emperor was; for ten days he lived there in constant association with the Imperial family.  The personal impression which he made was very favourable:  “A really great man,” wrote Merimee, “free from feeling and full of esprit.”  He saw Napoleon again on his return through Paris; the two succeeded in coming to an understanding.  Napoleon assured him that he might depend on the absolute neutrality of France, in case of a war between Prussia and Austria; it was agreed also that the annexation of the Duchies to Prussia would not be an increase of territory which would cause any uneasiness at Paris; Napoleon would view it with favour.  Bismarck went farther than this; he opened the subject of a complete reform of the German Constitution on the lines that Prussia was to have a free hand in the north of Germany; he pointed out