[142] On April 2, 1848, at midday the second general Diet was opened at Berlin in one Chamber without any distinction of rank or representation. The commissary of this Diet, Herr von Camphausen, the President of the Council, accompanied by all the Ministers, opened the Diet in the King's name. He delivered a speech, at the conclusion of which he brought forward proposals for a law concerning elections for the purpose of bringing into force upon a wide basis the constitution which the King had granted to his people after the events of March 18.
_Berlin, April 8, 1848._--The effects of the revolution in Paris have been felt here and the consequences have been violent, far-reaching and irremediable. Everything is still in a ferment and the impetus, far from being exhausted is still proceeding, though not in an upward direction. The peasants' rising in the provinces is a most disastrous element in the situation: I am obliged to remain in the town in consequence, though here the continuance of popular excitement disagreeably breaks the monotonous and profound melancholy of this capital. The Metternich family are in Holland preparing for their crossing to England.[143]
[143] After a collision between the troops and the people at Vienna on March 13, 1848, and after the insurrection in Venice, Prince Metternich, who was too prone to overrate his capacity for resistance, was forced by an infuriated mob to resign and to flee from Austria with his wife. At first they stayed in Dresden, but the unpopularity of the Prince was so great that they were obliged to proceed to Holland and thence to England. In 1849 they settled at Brussels.
_Berlin, April 12, 1848._--Life is very sad and all classes of society in great agitation. The members of the Diet all left Berlin yesterday to seek re-election by their constituents. The fate of the country depends upon the manner in which this constitutional assembly is to be composed; it is therefore the duty of all right-minded people to attempt to secure a seat, and such is the general opinion; but many things may happen between now and May 22. A net-work of clubs enfolds the capital and the provinces ever more closely in its toils; outbreaks are of constant occurrence in every direction; the temper of the militia is doubtful; the audacity of the agitators, foreign complications and the infectious examples which have been set in the west and south and in certain disaffected quarters in the north and in the east, are enough to make any one lose his head; while the hesitating attitude of the Government and the absolute abandonment of any repressive measures are not calculated to restore confidence. The fifty little tyrants established at Frankfort will certainly do their best to turn the balance of things; no one has given them any mandate and yet every one obeys them.[144] The state of affairs, as we see it, is utterly inexplicable; forecast is impossible. We must live from hand to mouth and be satisfied when every twenty-four hours have passed without some unusual shock. We see many bands of police passing through the town on their way to Posen or Cracow. The Polish landowners are giving their peasants full liberty, to avoid the danger of massacre at their hands. The Polish nationality is in arms against the German and no one can see which of the two will emerge triumphant, if attempts at reconciliation should fail.[145]