Effects of the French Revolution - Europe page 5

The members returned to their seats; the officer and his escort went outside, as if to send for fresh instructions. Meantime, the resolution against the Government was put from the chair, and carried with. acclamation, after which the House adjourned, and so escaped forcible expulsion. The Brandenburg Government was fully prepared for all eventualities. The burgher guard did not give up their arms, but they quietly allowed them to be taken from them - a work which occupied a whole day. A great number of arrests were made, and all the gaols were crammed with prisoners. This was the end of the King's declamations about liberty. The Assembly met on the 27th of November, at Brandenburg, and was adjourned without doing anything, as the number of members was not sufficient to form a House. It was finally dissolved on the 5th of December. The Frankfort Assembly, however, stood by the King, and declared the decree against the payment of taxes null and void, stating that the Prussian Assembly had loosened the bonds of political existence, deeply shaken the foundations of civil society, and brought Prussia, and with it the whole of Germany, to the verge of civil war. At the same time, Archduke John, Regent of the empire, issued a proclamation in the name of the "Imperial Assembly" at Frankfort, declaring that it represented the German nation in the aggregate; that its decision was supreme law to all; and that he would not allow the resolution against the pavement of taxes to be carried into effect. While the conflict between the Crown and the Assembly was going on at Berlin, the city was in a deplorable state. The respectable inhabitants had nearly all left; the houses were empty; the streets appeared nearly deserted, except by a few work-people and military patrols. Nothing could be more dreary or desolate than the appearance of the town. In fact, to the well-to-do Berliners the National Assembly brought nothing but trouble, alarm, and loss of business. They had seen the red flag hoisted in front of the Assembly House; they witnessed the violence of the mob; they dreaded a communistic revolution; and therefore they felt a real relief when order was restored, and they were permitted to resume their avocations. Accordingly, when the King and Queen went to the opera, they met with an enthusiastic reception. But although the King had proclaimed a liberal constitution as his own gift, Berlin continued in a state of siege. On the 1st of January His Majesty issued an address to the army, couched in the most glowing terms of praise and gratitude for the services they had rendered, and for their fidelity and devotion during the year of revolution. The new Chambers were opened on the 26th of February by the King in person, Count Brandenburg having conducted him to the throne. He stated that circumstances having obliged him to dissolve the National Assembly, he had granted to the nation a constitution which by its provisions fulfilled all his promises made in the month of March. This constitution was modelled after that of Belgium. The House was to consist of two Chambers, both elective - the former by persons paying 24s. a year of direct taxes, and the latter by a process of double election: that is, the deputies were chosen by delegates, who had themselves been elected by universal suffrage, there being one deputy for every 750 inhabitants. All Prussians were declared equal in the eye of the law, freedom of the press was established, and all exclusive class privileges were abolished. The judges were made independent of the Crown, and no ordinance was to have the force of law without the sanction of the Assembly.

The Frankfort Parliament had spent a year doing nothing but talking. They came, however, to the important resolution of offering the imperial crown of Germany to the King of Prussia. As soon as the Prussian Assembly heard this, they adopted an address to the King, earnestly recommending him to accept the proffered dignity. They were deeply interested by seeing the house of Hohenzollern called to the direction, of Fatherland, and they hoped he would take into his strong hands the guidance of the destinies of the German nation. On the 3rd of April, 1849, the King received the Frankfort deputation commissioned to present to him the imperial crown. He declined the honour unless the several Governments of the German states should approve of the new imperial constitution, and concur in the choice of the Assembly. As soon as this reply was made known, the second Prussian Chamber adopted a motion of "urgency," and prepared an address to the King, entreating him to accept the glorious mission of taking into firm hands the guidance of the destiny of regenerated Germany, in order to rescue it from the incalculable dangers that might arise from the conflicting agitations of the time. The address was carried only by a small majority. The King had good reason for refusing the imperial diadem; first, because Austria, Wiirtemburg, Bavaria, and Hanover decidedly objected; and, secondly, because the King required changes in the Frankfort constitution which the Parliament refused to make. These facts enabled His Majesty to discover that the imperial supremacy was an "unreal dignity, and the constitution only a means gradually, and under legal pretences, to set aside authority, and to introduce the republic."

The Prussian Cabinet, therefore, recommended that the Frankfort constitution should not be accepted by Prussia. On this point, however, the Government were defeated in the Chamber, which accepted the Frankfort constitution by a considerable majority. The Chamber further showed its independence by declaring the state of siege at Berlin illegal, and calling upon the Government to put an end to it. Immediately upon this, the King, without a word of explanation, declared the second Chamber dissolved, and the Upper Chamber adjourned. The members were astounded. They could scarcely trust their ears till the decree was read a second time. In the evening the Gazette contained an explanation to the effect that the second Chamber had gone beyond its province in condemning the state of siege which the Government considered indispensable for the preservation of order. The abrupt dissolution caused tremendous excitement in Berlin. The people turned out in large numbers; collisions with the military took place, and seven persons were killed. At length, in July, the state of siege was terminated at Berlin. The new elections went in favour of the Government, and the Prussian Parliament met again on the 7th of August. On the 20th of December, the same year, apparently sick of the empty dignity, and of the Assembly of which he was the organ, the Archduke John resigned his office as Regent, and the plenipotentiaries of Austria and Prussia resumed their old places. 4'Thus ended the year 1849. Thus ended the grand scheme for the regeneration of Germany. The flame slowly flickered in the socket, and burned so low, that at last no one quite knew when it went out.