At the worst they would wait till the death of the King; he was already nearly seventy years of age; the political difficulties had much injured his health.

When he was gone, then with the Crown Prince the constitutional cause would triumph.
How different was the future to be! Year after year the conflict continued.

Each year the House was summoned and the Budget laid before it; each year the House rejected the Budget; they threw out Government measures, they refused the loans, and they addressed the King to dismiss his Ministers.

The sessions, however, were very short; that of 1864 lasted only a few weeks.
Each year Bismarck's open contempt for the Parliament and their unqualified hatred of him increased.

The people still continued to support their representatives.