Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/144

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BIRMINGHAM—BISMARCK.
127

its Anatomists," "Matter and Ether, or the Secret Laws of Physical Change"; "The Difficulties of Belief," "The Ways of God," "The Victory of Divine Goodness," "The Scripture Doctrine of Creation," "The Sacraments, Science and Prayer"; "Commentary on the Book of Isaiah," "First Principles of Moral Science," "Modern Utilitarianism," "Modern Physical Fatalism," "Supernatural Revelation," an answer to Supernatural Religion; "An Essay on the Right Estimation of Manuscript Evidence in the Text of the New Testament," "Thoughts on Sacred Prophecy," 1880; besides various papers for the Christian Observer, The Victoria Philosophical Institute, and other pamphlets.


BIRMINGHAM, Bishop of. (See Ullathorne.)


BISMARCK-SCHŒNHAUSEN (Prince von), Karl Otto, statesman, born at Schœnhausen, April 1, 1815; studied at Göttingen, Berlin, and Griefswald; entered the army, and was afterwards a lieutenant in the Landwehr. He became a member of the Diet of the province of Saxony in 1846, and of the General Diet, in which he made himself remarkable by the boldness of his speeches, in 1847. On one occasion he argued that all great cities should be swept from the face of the earth, because they were the centres of democracy and constitutionalism. Nor did the events of 1848 modify his opinions. In 1851 he entered the diplomatic service, and was intrusted with the legation at Frankfort. Regarding Austria as the antagonist of Prussia, he was sent in 1852 to Vienna, where he proved a constant adversary to Count Rechberg. In 1858, a pamphlet entitled "La Prusse et la Question Italienne" appeared, the authorship of which was generally attributed to him. In this publication reference was made to the antagonism existing between Austria and Prussia, and a triple alliance between France, Prussia, and Russia was advocated. In March, 1859, M. von Bismarck was sent as Ambassador to St. Petersburg, which post he held until 1862, and having conciliated the Czar, was decorated with the order of Saint Alexander Newski. In May, 1862, he was appointed Ambassador to Paris, where he received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour from the Emperor Napoleon, and he was made Minister of the King's House and of Foreign Affairs in Prussia, Sept. 22. The budget having been rejected by the Deputies, but adopted by the Upper Chamber, M. Bismarck, in the name of the king, dissolved the former after a series of angry altercations. The newspapers which protested against this despotic act were proceeded against with great severity, as were numerous public officials, magistrates, and others who openly expressed views hostile to the Government. In Jan., 1863, he protested against an address which the Deputies presented to the King, in which he was accused of having violated the constitution. Shortly after, the affairs of Poland caused fresh difficulties. The Chamber of Deputies, by a majority of five to one, censured the Ministry for having concluded (Feb. 8) a secret treaty with Russia. After the close of the aggressive war waged by Prussia and Austria against Denmark, in which Austria had very reluctantly taken part, Bismarck thought the time had arrived for carrying out his long-cherished project of making Prussia the real head of Germany. His preparations for another aggressive war were completed, and, aided by an alliance with Italy, in a campaign of a few weeks' duration Austria and her allies were defeated. It is probable that dread of a still more formidable alliance induced M. von Bismarck to stop short in his career of victory, as the Emperor Napoleon, in his speech to the French Chambers, declared that he had