ome. Bismarck took another line; he said that
he was trying to induce the new King not to sign the Constitution; the
Prince, to Bismarck's obvious annoyance, explained that that would be no
use; he should maintain his claims just the same.

The King disliked the Treaty of London as much as everyone else did; he
had to agree to Bismarck's arguments that it would not be safe to
denounce it, but he would have been quite willing, supposing Prussia was
outvoted in the Diet, to accept the vote and obey the decision of the
majority; he even hoped that this would be the result. Bismarck would
have regarded an adverse vote as a sufficient reason for retiring from
the Federation altogether. Were Prussia outvoted, it would be forced
into a European war, which he wished to avoid, and made to fight as a
single member of the German Confederation. Rather than do this he would
prefer to fight on the other side; "Denmark is a better ally than the
German States," he said. The two parties were contending as keenly at
the Prussian Court as at Frankfort; Vincke wrote a long and pressing
letter to the King; Schleinitz appeared again, supported as of old by
the Queen; the Crown Prince was still in England, but he and his wife
were enthusiastic on the Prince's side.

How much Bismarck was hampered by adverse influences at Court we see
from a letter to Roon:

"I am far removed from any hasty or selfish resolution, but I
have a feeling that the cause of the King against the Revolution
is lost; his heart is in the other camp and he has more
confidence in his opponents than his friends. For us it will be
indifferent, one year or thirty years hence, but not for our
children. The King has ordered me to come to him before the
sitting to discuss what is to be said; I shall not say much,
partly because I have not closed my eyes all night and am
wretched, and then I really do not know what to say. They will
certainly reject the loan, and his Majesty at the risk of
breaking with Europe and experiencing a second Olmuetz will at
last join the Democracy, and work with it in order to set up
Augustenburg and found a new State. What is the good of making
speeches and scolding? Without some miracle of God the game is
lost. Now and with posterity the blame will be laid upon us. As
God will. He will know how long Prussia has to exist. But God
knows I shall be sorry when it ceases."

The only ally that Bismarck had was Austri