Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 05
History
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 05
Literature -- Collections
Our Saxon colleague, Herr von Nostitz, inspires in me less confidence.
It seems to me that he has at bottom a traditional inclination toward
Prussia and its political system, which is nourished in part by a
Protestantism that is more rationalistic than orthodox, and by his fear
of Ultramontane tendencies. I believe, however,--and I should be glad to
find that I do him an injustice,--that on the whole, personal interests
take precedence with him over political interests, and that the
suppleness of his character permits him to view the latter in whatever
light best suits the former. His economic position is dependent upon his
place, aside from the salary, by reason of the fact that he owns a house
here in which he lives, which he bought before 1848 at a high price, and
which he has vainly attempted to rent for the last five years. His
political course is therefore controlled by his desire of remaining in
his official position under every contingency; and with the present
tendency of the Saxon government, Austria has certainly more opportunity
to help him in keeping his place than has Prussia. This circumstance
indeed does not prevent Herr von Nostitz from avoiding, as far as his
instructions will allow, any patent injury to Prussia; but with his
great capacity for labor, his intelligence, and his long experience, he
constitutes the most effective support of all Austria's efforts in the
federal assembly. He is particularly adroit in formulating reports and
propositions in awkward controversial questions; he knows how to give
his draught a color of compromise without the least sacrifice of any
Austrian interest, as soon as the correct interpretation comes to the
aid of the apparently indeterminate expression. When his draughts become
the basis of subsequent discussion, it is then usually discovered for
the first time that the real purpose for which they were drawn is
contained in what seemed to be casual and incidental words. If the
current in Dresden should shift in the Prussian direction, the valuable
personal assistance which Herr von Nostitz is able to render by means of
his sense, his experience, and the credit both have won him, would be
thrown on the Prussian side with the same certainty as now on the
Austrian, unless too strong a tie were found in the fact that one of his
sons is being educated in the Austrian Naval School, while another is
already an officer in the imperial service.
Herr von Bothmer returned to this place a few days ago as representative
of Hanover; I learn from him, however, with regret, that his further
stay here is in no wise assured. Not only is his a straightforward
character that awakens confidence, but he is also the only one of my
colleagues who has sufficient independence to give me anything more than
passive assistance when I am obliged to protest against the conduct of
the Chair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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