accept. Hohenlohe was succeeded by Count Bray, a man devoted to
feudalism and the Church, who had been minister under Ludwig I. and
Maximilian II. The clerical party were exultant in their triumph. They
saw that trouble was brewing between France and Prussia, and trusted
that Count Bray would be able to prevent any alliance between the
latter state and Bavaria. They would have preferred a coalition with
France and Austria against Prussia and the kingdom of Italy, with the
ultimate purpose of reinstating the pope as a temporal sovereign. To
this end they were willing to degrade Bavaria to a province of Rome,
and would gladly have dethroned the king if they could have done so;
their hatred of him having been increased in the mean time by his
public recognition of Dr. Döllinger's protest against the decree of
papal infallibility. But when the crisis came their hopes were
speedily frustrated by the king's prompt decision to stand by Prussia
in the contest. He at once declared his intention to Parliament, which
had until then appeared willing to grant only the supplies necessary
to maintain Bavaria in a state of armed neutrality. The decision was
the king's alone--"_My word is sacred_" was his principle of
action--but after he had taken the first step his ministers supported
him throughout the struggle with patriotic zeal. He immediately issued
a proclamation calling his people to arms against their hereditary
enemy, and his message, "_We South Germans are with you_" was the
first pledge of sympathy and assistance that cheered the king and the
citizens at Berlin.

King Ludwig's conduct in this matter is especially deserving of
praise, because his kingdom is of sufficient size and importance to
make its absorption into the empire a great sacrifice of individual
pride; particularly when it is remembered that Prussia, of which
Bavaria had long been jealous, was to be the leading power in the new