Jewish moneylenders ²⁶ The Diet recessed on June 26, 1847, and Bis-
marck, instead of rushing to Reinfeld to see his fiancée, tended to polit-
ical affairs while visiting friends and colleagues.

In this, Bismarck's initial experience in politics, certain aspects of
the attitudes and style that became characteristic of the future chan-
cellor could already be seen: his eagerness to participate in political
debates, his love of a good fight, his desire to influence people, his
confidence in his own judgment, and his disdain of majority opinions.
His political and social views were those of the Prussian conservative
nobility of his region, passionately defensive of the status and priv-
ileges of the landed aristocracy and the monarchy. At the same time
he was keenly aware of the realities of power and was determined to
uphold the power of the Prussian state against what he considered to
be the narrow interests of political -- and especially liberal -- parties.
The style of his speeches and writings also emerged. It was expressive
and to the point, original in concept and economical in language. It was
most effective because he unerringly used those arguments which ap-
pealed to his listeners without being too obvious. At Court he became
the favorite of the royal princes, especially the prince of Prussia, later
Wilhelm I, though King Friedrich Wilhelm IV was less impressed with
this young and radical deputy. Yet when they met during Bismarck's
honeymoon in Venice (the wedding had been on July 28, 1847), the king
let Bismarck know that he approved of his activities in the Diet. To the
liberals, however, Bismarck was the personification of the conserva-
tive, reactionary Junker.

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