What probably not even he foresaw was that the new Constitution so greatly added to the power of the Minister that even the authority of the King began to pale before it.  As before, there was only one department of State where his authority ceased,—­the army.

It will be easily understood that this Constitution, when it was laid before the assembly, was not accepted without much discussion and many objections.  There were some—­the representatives of conquered districts, Poles, Hanoverians, and the deputies from Schleswig-Holstein—­who wished to overthrow the new Federation which was built up on the destruction of the States to which they had belonged.  Theirs was an enmity which was open, honourable, and easy to meet.  More insidious and dangerous was the criticism of those men who, while they professed to desire the ends which Bismarck had attained, refused to approve of the Constitution because they would have to renounce some of the principles of the parties to which they belonged.

There were some to whom it seemed that he gave too much freedom to the individual States; they wished for a more complete unity, but now Bismarck, for the first time, was strong enough to shew the essential moderation of his character; he knew what the Liberals were ready to forget, that moderation, while foolish in the moment of conflict, is the proper adornment of the conqueror.  When they asked him to take away many of the privileges reserved to the smaller States, he reminded them that, though Mecklenburg and the Saxon duchies were helpless before the increased power of the Prussian Crown, they were protected by Prussian promises, and that a King of Prussia, though he might strike down his enemies, must always fulfil in spirit and in letter his obligations to his friends.  The basis of the new alliance must be the mutual confidence of the allies; he had taught them to fear Prussia, now they must learn to trust her.

The Prussian Conservatives feared that the power of the Prussian King and the independence of the Prussian State would be affected; but Bismarck’s influence with them was sufficient to prevent any open opposition.  More dangerous were the Progressives, who apprehended that the new Constitution would limit the influence of the Prussian Parliament.  On many points they refused to accept the proposals of the Government; they feared for liberty.  For them Bismarck had no sympathy and no words but contempt, and he put curtly before them the question, did they wish to sacrifice all he had attained to their principles of Parliamentary government?  They demanded, for instance, that, as the Constitution of Prussia could not be altered without the consent of the Prussian Parliament, the new Federal Constitution must be laid before the Prussian Parliament for discussion and ratification.  It is curious to notice that this is exactly the same claim which Bismarck in 1852 had supported as against Radowitz; he had, however, learned much since then; he pointed out that the same claim which was made by the Prussian Parliament might be made by the Parliament of each of the twenty-two States.  It was now his duty to defend the unification of Germany against this new Particularism; in old days Particularism found its support in the dynasties, “now it is,” he said, “in the Parliaments.