The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-01-17
CHAPTER w.
The King and the Camplausen Ministry.

The King and the Camphausen Ministry
The revolutionary movement in Prussia re-
manned without organization, because the people
had not been prepared for IL. They had been
surprised by it, They could not throw of al
once their old habits of implicit reliance on the
Government for the execution of everything re.
quired for the general veal. They bad never
learned to conduct their own affairs, nor had they
| been sohooled to dstrust by long political strug-
giles They had not learned by the experience
Of thirty years Of political combats, as in Baden
and wurtemburg, that the system is everything,
and the person of the ruler nothing. In Prussia,
the King was considered even after the Revou-
ton, as the source of all power and law
The general opinion among the people was, that
the King had been badly advised, and that the
Revolution had been necessary, to free him from
his counselors and convince him of his errors.
II was certain that he would now be true to the
people and TO the cause of liberty.
The vanqushed party, the Bureaucracy and
Arstocracy, repeated everywhere that the King
had always favored popular liberty, and his pres
ent resolutions were In perfect harmony with his
previous views The concessions made were all
Of his own free will The Revolution was nothing
more than an unfortunate Misunderstanding
There had been no need Of it, for the royal grants
were dated before IL broke out. These views
Universal Py1smn Journal, and excited such a
commotion among the people against DIR. Zinkei-
sen the editor that he nserteds notice, a.tribut-
ing the authorship directly to the Ministry itself
This notice cost him bis place.
The March Revolution left the Prussan Gov.
eminent In "a singular position, had become
constitutional, and there was no constitution the
ministry responsible, and there was no law TO
regulate its power or tribunal TO enforce the re-
sponsjbili,yj and the King had lost, in theory,
his absolute authority, while in reality he had
been left AZ absolute as ever Ii was from him
all the promised reforms were to come. The old
Conservative party considered him the only legal
power the Liberals as the keystone Of the Gov
ernmental arch, and the necessary representative
Of the legislative power while the Democrats all
dressed to him all their petitions, and expected
from him alone the accomplishment of their wish
es. Nobody spoke Of the conquests Of the Revo-
luton, but only Of "the grants and concessions
Of the royai gracen The Camphansen Ministry
used the same language. On the 10Th Of May,
il named the Prince Of Prussia ms the guaranty
Of the rights which the King intended to soon
FRI on the Assembly representing the people
The King WAS thought the author Of the Revou-
ton and not the people.
The Campbausen ministry should have availed
themselves of this doctrine to push the King for
warn toW9Fds the accompaniment OF MS own
work, TO make him continue to march vigorously
on the road he had entered. The absolute King
should have been used to destroy the absolute
monarchy.
Unfortunately for the cause Of liberty in Prus-
sia and Germany, the Ministers did not see that
this was their proper course or IL they did, they
were misl'd by q mis-tmed veneration for an old
monarchy or by sickly sympathy for the " fallen
grandeur Of the monarch and bis family.
This error Of Mr. Csmphausen and his col
leagues Is more objectionable, because the King
had throws himself in the desperation OF the first
moment, entirely into the arms OF the Revolution
lists. An apparently impossible cham seemed to
have been opened between his past and his pres
emit views Like Paul, he had found his day Of
Damascus. His new faith was strong enough to
remove mountains, II II hsd only lasted long
enough. During the first part Of the combat Of
the eighteenth, the King had retained bis old