| If the majority in the Paulskirche [the Frankfurt Assembly] had been really in earnest in the matter, common sense as well as a jot of respect for law and a little faith in the honesty of my official utterances would have told those patriots to obtain first of all the assent of the lawful authorities. I ask why not? . . . To me (and, thank God, to all sound minds) the answer is not doubtful. Because these patriots (!) wished thereby irrevocably to confirm the Revolution; to establish the sovereignty of the German nation they would buckle a dog's collar on the fool, the King of Prussia, which would fetter him indissolubly to the sovereignty of the people, and make him a bondsman of the Revolution of 1848! That, dearest friend, is the gist of the matter, the only excuse for this contemptible business. . . . I and my Ministry did not need any expenditure of mental effort . . . to discover their meaning. Therefore I base my decision on the incompetency of the Paulskirche deputation. The meaning of the decision is: "I can answer you neither yes nor no. One only accepts or refuses something which can be offered--and you there, you have nothing to offer: I shall settle the business with my equals, or else good-bye to truth; against democracy only soldiers can avail. Adieu!" |
