modification to the
present day. In numerous directions, especially in relation to
economic conditions, the work of Stein was continued by that of the
succeeding minister, Prince Hardenberg. By Scharnhorst and Gneisenau
the military regime was overhauled and a body of spiritless soldiery
kept in order by fear was converted into "a union of all the moral and
physical energies of the nation." By Wilhelm von Humboldt the modern
Prussian school system was created; while by Fichte, Arndt, and a
galaxy of other writers there was imparted a stimulus by which the
patriotism and aspiration of the Prussian people were raised to (p. 248)
an unprecedented pitch.[361]

[Footnote 360: It is to be observed that while
Stein was officially the author of this reform, the
substance of the changes introduced had been agreed
upon by the king and his advisers before Stein's
accession to office (October 4, 1807). The Edict of
Emancipation was promulgated October 9, 1807. It
made the abolition of serfdom final and absolute on
and after October 8, 1810.]

[Footnote 361: E. Meier, Reform der
Verwaltungsorganisation unter Stein und Hardenberg
(Leipzig, 1881); J. R. Seeley, Life and Times of
Stein, 3 vols. (Boston, 1879), Pt. III., Chaps.
3-4, Pt. V., Chaps. 1-3.]

*264. Obstacles to the Establishment of a Constitution.*--Such an epoch
of regeneration could not fail to be a favorable period for the growth
of liberal principles of government. In June, 1814, and again in May,
1815, King Frederick William promised, through the medium of a cabinet
order, to give consideration to the question of the establishment of a
constitution in which provision should be made not merely for the
estates of the provinces but also for a national diet. After the
Congress of Vienna the task of framing such a constitution was
actually taken in hand. But the time was not ripe. Liberalism had
gained headway as yet among only the professional classes, while the
highly influential body of ultra-conservative landholders were
unalterably opposed. Between the eastern provinces, still essentially
feudal in spirit, and the western ones, visibly affected by French
revolutionary ideas, there was, furthermore, meager community of
i