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 STATE HORMAL SCHOOL, 
 
 Lot Angtitti. Cai. 
 
 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES 
 
 GERMAN 
 
 Political Leaders 
 
 HERBERT TUTTLE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 183 Fifth Avenue 
 
 1880 
 
 10 32 
 
 7 05 43
 
 3 3 5:?
 
 a 05" 
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 HE author of this volume is already well kno'wn to 
 many Americans through his letters from Berlin 
 to the New York Tribune, and to the London 
 Daily Neivs, as well by his Essays on German themes, in 
 the Genikman's Magazine, and elsewhere. Being a native 
 of the United States, and a four years' resident of Berlin, he 
 is remarkably well situated for the preparation of this par- 
 ticular book ; as he may be supposed to understand both 
 his subject and his audience. Our best books of refer- 
 ence afford such scanty information in respect to German 
 statesmen, that a work like this cannot fail to possess 
 great popular value. 
 
 T. W. H. 
 Newport, R. I., April 3, 1876.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 HE larger portion of the men described in this vol- 
 ume will, doubtless, be here introduced to Ameri- 
 can readers for the first time. So overshadowing 
 are the fame and authority of Prince Bismarck, so recent 
 was the introduction, and so crude is the present state of 
 parliamentary life in Germany, that the minor personages, 
 who are concerned with the modest and obscure details of 
 the system, are but little known abroad. This is a misfor- 
 tune, and, also, a mistake. I am firmly convinced that the 
 experiment which Germany is making in constitutional 
 government, is already rich in lessons for the philosophic 
 student of politics, and ought not to be neglected, even by 
 the most hurried observer of current events. The prepar- 
 ation of this book has, therefore, been an agreeable duty. 
 Biogra,phy is often more attractive than history ; and I 
 have taken advantage of this fact, to insinuate, now and 
 then, upon the unsuspecting reader general facts and de-
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 ductions, from which he might otherwise have escaped. 
 But the history of the early constitutional struggles in 
 Prussia and Germany has yet to be written. 
 
 Some of the gentlemen included in the following pages 
 are personally known to me, and the careers of all of them 
 have been critically observed during an uninterrupted resi- 
 dence of nearly four years in Germany, I have not 
 scrupled, therefore, to reproduce a few passages from ear- 
 lier contributions of my own to the daily and other periodi- 
 cal press. All extracts from foreign sources, on the other 
 hand, have been specifically acknowledged. 
 
 H. T. 
 
 Berlin, March, 1876.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I.— THE CHANCELLOR. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 1. Prince Bismarck i 
 
 II.— MINISTERS. 
 
 2. Dr. Falk 25 
 
 3. President Delbruck 39 
 
 4. Herr Camphausen 49 
 
 III.— THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE. 
 
 5. Prince Hohenlohe 61 
 
 6. Count von Arnim , '73 
 
 IV.— THE PARLIAMENTARIANS. 
 
 7. Herr von Bennigsen gi 
 
 8. Dr. Simson loi 
 
 v.— THE PARTY LEADERS. 
 
 9. Herr Lasker.. 113 
 
 10. Herr Windthorst 129 
 
 11. Dr. Loewe 139 
 
 12. Herr Schulze-Delitzsch 148 
 
 13. Herr Jacoby 160 
 
 14. Herr Hasselmann 176 
 
 15. Herr Sonnemann 192 
 
 VL— THE SCHOLARS IN POLITICS. 
 
 16. Professor Gneist 203 
 
 17. Professor Virchow 216 
 
 iS. Professor Treitschke 233 
 
 19. Professor von Sybel 247 
 
 \y
 
 PART I. 
 
 The Chancellor.
 
 I. 
 
 Prince Bismarck. 
 
 ||HE historians have a theory which derives the 
 family name, Bismarck, from " Bischoffs-Marck," 
 or "Bishop's Limits," from a domain that was 
 once ceded by the Bishop of Havelberg to the ancestors of 
 the great Prussian. The family came from Stendal, a 
 town about sixty miles from Berlin, where they are traced 
 back to the fourteenth century. One Rule von Bismarck 
 appears in the records of these turbulent times to have played 
 an important part in the guild of tailors and in the town 
 council, and to have been excommunicated in conse- 
 quence of disputes with the clergy, as to the management 
 of the town schools. His son, Claus, leader of the aris- 
 tocracy, was banished by the Democratic party. Among 
 these earlier representatives, as well as among their de- 
 scendants, we find several who distinguished themselves 
 both in militar)' and political service. In the early part of 
 this century, the house was represented by Carl Wilhelm 
 P'erdinand von Bismarck, who is described as a "noble,
 
 2 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 genial, kind-hearted man," a retired soldier, who rose to 
 the rank of Captain of cavalry. His wife, whom he mar- 
 ried in 1806, was a Friiulein Menken, a refined and culti- 
 vated woman. They lived at Schonhausen, a roomy es- 
 tate near Stendal, which the family had acquired ; and 
 here, on the ist of April, 181 5, Otto Edward Leopold, the 
 fourth child, was born. 
 
 Herr Gorlach, in his excellent little biography of the 
 Prince, describes him as a youth of a very tender nature. 
 In his sixth year, while his family were living on the 
 Knjephof estate in Pomerania, Otto "was sent to an edu- 
 cational institute at Berlin, where the extreme severity of 
 the treatment wounded the boy's soft nature. He had 
 found his brother Bernhard there, but still he suffered 
 greatly from home-sickness, and could not watch the 
 ploughmen ploughing in the fields without tears. The 
 two boys passed from one Berlin school to another, ac- 
 cording to their progress and ages ; and later, when they 
 were living in their father's house in Berlin, the direction of 
 their studies was confided to private tutors." 
 
 His tutor describes him at this period as quick of ap- 
 prehension, industrious, with a good memory, and fond 
 of the history of his own country. As a Protestant he was 
 a pupil of and was confirmed by the great theologian and 
 pulpit orator, Schleiermacher. 
 
 From the private tutor he passed, in 1832, to the Uni- 
 versity of Gottingen. At this place the " tenderness " of 
 his nature seems to have deserted him, as well as his earlier 
 habits of study, for he was a leader in all the most charac- 
 teristic sports and excesses of German student-life. He 
 was a species of college champion, the best boxer and
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. 3 
 
 fencer, drinker, and rider. Of his studies there, it is 
 enough to say that one professor declares he never saw him 
 at his lectures. From a multitude of reminiscences out of 
 the period of Bismarck's life I select one which he himself 
 has very lately furnished. The publisher of the Public Led- 
 ger in Philadelphia, sent the Prince at Varzin a cane 
 made from the wood of Independence Hall ; and in ac- 
 knowledgment of the gift received the following interest- 
 ing letter : 
 
 " Varzin, July 4, 1875. 
 
 " Dear Sir : — You have had the goodness to send me, 
 as a support for my old days, a cane made from the tower 
 from whose heights, ninety-nine years ago, the bell was 
 rung for the first time in honor of that great common- 
 wealth, whose ship bells now sound their full and welcome 
 tongues in all harbors of the world. For this histori- 
 cal treasure I beg you to accept my heartiest thanks. I 
 shall honor it, carefully preserve it, and, with other relics 
 of remarkable years, bequeath it to my children. This 
 day is one of those which always recall to my mind the 
 happy hours that I have spent on many a fourth of July, 
 with American friends, the first time with John Lothrop 
 Motley, Mitchell G. King, and Amory Coffin, in 1832, at 
 Gottingen. I only wish that you, my dear sir, and I 
 could always be as sound and happy as we four lusty fel- 
 lows, when forty-three years ago we celebrated the Fourth 
 of July at Gottingen. Von Bismarck." 
 
 These little glimpses into his early life and character 
 might be supplemented by an extract from a letter to his 
 favorite sister, " Maldewine," and to his wife. To the lat- 
 ter he writes on one occasion : " The day before yesterday
 
 4 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 I went to Wiesbaden, and looked with a mixture of sad- 
 ness and premature wisdom at the scenes of my former 
 follies. If only it W'Ould please God to fill up with clear 
 strong wine the vessel in which at twenty-one the muddy 
 champagne of youth frothed up to so little purpose ! . . . 
 How many of those with whom I flirted and drank and 
 gambled are now underground ! What changes my views 
 of life have undergone in the fourteen years that have 
 elapsed since that time, each in its turn seeming to me the 
 correct one ; how much that I then thought great now ap- 
 pears small ; how much now seems honorable which I 
 then despised ! How much fresh foliage may still grow 
 out of our inner man, giving shade, rustling in the wind, 
 becoming worthless and faded, before another fourteen 
 years are passed, before 1865, if only we live so long ! I 
 cannot imagine how a man who thinks at all about him- 
 self, and yet refuses to hear anything about God, can en- 
 dure life without weariness and self-abhorrence." 
 
 On the occasion of the death of his sister's child, ten 
 years later, he writes a letter of consolation, full of the 
 most tender Christian sentiments, and even in the stormy 
 period of 1864, he closes a political letter to a friend with 
 the following confession of faith : " You see from this that 
 I take a common-sense view ot the question ; besides, my 
 feeling of gratitude for the support which God has given 
 us rises into the conviction that He also knows how to 
 turn our errors into our good ; I feel this daily and am at 
 once humiliated and comforted." 
 
 His domestic tastes were always strong, and find expres- 
 sion in the entire course of his correspondence. His long- 
 ing for a wife and household of his own would seem to
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. 5 
 
 have been very acute, till in 1847, it was satisfied by his 
 
 jtiariiage^Wth Johanna von Putkammer. Three children 
 — Marie, born in 1848, Herbert in 1849, William in 
 1852 — are the fruit of this union. 
 
 We return now to trace the steps in his professional 
 course. After leaving Gottingen, he attended some lec- 
 tures at Berlin, and in jSj^was qualified as Auscidta- 
 lor, the first degree in a German advocate's career. In the 
 
 jvinter of ,lhis_year he was presented at court, and met, for 
 the first time, his present sovereign and master, then Prince 
 
 .^^mUarn of Prussia. In 1836, he was admitted to the S'-r- 
 vice of the Government, and was assigned to duty at Aix- 
 
 _k;Chapelle — a position that gave him much intercourse 
 with .foreigners, and was of great influence in shaping his 
 future political character. A little later he was transferred 
 to the district of Potsdam, where he served his year in the 
 army. In 1839, the death of his mother and illness of his 
 father recalled him to the family estates in Pomerania, 
 of which he and his brother assumed the management, a 
 relation which lasted till 1845, and threatened for ever to 
 put an end to his political career. But in that year his 
 father died, and the property was divided. The estate of 
 Schonhausen fell to the share of Otto, and the term has 
 ever since formed an integral part of his name. The next 
 two years were those of a country gendeman, farming, 
 shooting, riding, with a little local politics, and finally, in 
 1847, ^i^ election to the Assembly of the Estates or United 
 Diet of February. With this event ends one period and 
 begins another of Bismarck's life. 
 
 In this year the political fermentation in Prussia had 
 reached a crisis. The broken pledges of Frederic Wil-
 
 6 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 liam III., to give his people a written constitution, had 
 been renewed by his successor, Frederic William IV., and 
 their fulfilment delayed in the same manner. The conces- 
 sion of the United Diet of 1847, was only wrung from him 
 by the irresistible necessities of the time. Even then it 
 was a concession in form from which the spirit revolted, 
 for in the throne speech at the opening of the deliberation, 
 the king declared that no power on earth should ever succeed 
 in moving him to transform the natural relation between 
 Sovereign and People into a conventional, constitutional one; 
 and never would he consent that a written document should 
 be allowed to intrude between the Lord God in Heaven 
 and his country and to take the place of the ancient faith. 
 These were unpromising ideas on which to base a scheme 
 of constitutional reform, and all patriots foresaw stormy 
 times. But the King was not without stalwart friends. 
 The old coMVLiry Junkers rallied generally around his most 
 arbitrary maxims, and none more heartily 'than Herr Otto 
 von Bismarck. 
 
 One or two speeches will give a rough idea of his views 
 of this period. His first appearance in the tribune was 
 on the 17th of May ; the occasion was to correct what he 
 regarded as a false theory of the uprising in 1813 to expel 
 the French. A deputy had pretended^ that the people 
 came to the relief of their King because he had promised 
 them a written constitution. Bismarck protested that this 
 view was not only false but dishonorable. The people of 
 Prussia, he declared, did not rise to throw oflf the yoke of 
 domestic but of foreign servitude. He did not shrink 
 from the title oi Jtmker. "I am proud of being a Prus- 
 sian y««/^^r, " said he once, "and feel myself honored by
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. 7 
 
 the name." Again, in June of the same year, he said, 
 " The only question is, who has the right to give an au- 
 thentic and legally-binding interpretation of a doubtful 
 law ? In my opinion, no one but the King ; and this 
 conviction lies, as I believe, in the popular sense of right. 
 It is difficult to get at the opinion of the people ; in some 
 of the places in the central provinces I think I have dis- 
 covered it, and have found it to be still the old popular 
 Prussian belief, that the word of a King is more than all 
 the turning and twisting of the letter of the law." 
 
 This is indeed the opinion of an extreme conservative, 
 but of one who did not despise reason and reasoning. 
 English examples were constantly cited, and to these Bis- 
 marck invariably replied : " Give us everything English 
 that we have not got ; give us the English fear of God, 
 English respect for laws, the entire English constitution, 
 but also the exact circumstances of the English land-owner 
 — English riches, and English public spirit, — then we shall 
 be able to govern as they do." 
 
 The first united Landtag gave way to the second, and this 
 in time to the constituent Parliament ; the insurrection of 
 March, after a few angry spurts, had everywhere succumbed 
 to the Prussian military ; and the result was a frightened 
 and obstinate King surrounded by a band of faithful fol- 
 lowers, and anassembly in which a fierce and determined 
 radicalism held control. 
 
 In these preliminary conflicts Herr von Bismarck had 
 shown a determined zeal for the integrity of the Prussian 
 crown, and withal such a generous sympathy with the 
 Austrian element in German politics, that on the as- 
 sembling of the Frankfort Diet in 1851, he was attached
 
 8 * BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 to the Prussian delegation as Councilor and Secretar}'. 
 One of his letters from that city gives an amusing sketch 
 of the method of diplomacy as then, at least, practiced. 
 
 "I am making tremendous progress," he writes, "in 
 the art of saying absolutely nothing in a great many words. 
 I write sheets of reports which read quite well and fluent- 
 ly, like leading articles, but if Manteuffel [then President 
 of the Ministry], when he has read them, can say what they 
 contain, he is cleverer than I am. Each one behaves as if 
 he believed that the other were crammed full of ideas and 
 plans, if he would only tell them ; and, meanwhile, not one 
 of us is an atom the wiser as to what will become of Ger- 
 many, Nobody, not even the most evil-minded skeptic of 
 a Democrat, would believe what an amount of charlatanry 
 and bragging there is in diplomacy." 
 
 Later, the same year, he was appointed Ambassador af 
 the Diet, and gradually became, instead of a friend, a 
 most energetic foe of Austrian policy. This position he 
 retained till 1859, when he was transferred to St. Peters- 
 burg. During this period he had not only obtained a 
 deep practical insight into the German system, or want of 
 system ; but he had made many useful and pleasant visits 
 to different countries. He traveled in Holland, Belo^ium, 
 Denmark, and Sweden, and he was t\vice in Paris, in 1855 
 and 1857. The second time he had a long conversation 
 with the Emperor Napoleon. His appointment to the 
 Russian Court he owed to the partiality of Prince William, 
 who became Regent in 1858. 
 
 In 1 86 1, on the death of Frederic William IV., the 
 Prince Regent became King ; and soon afterward, as is 
 understood, he formed the plan of making his Ambassa-
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. 9 
 
 dor on the Neva, Minister President of Prussia. In the 
 meantime he served a few months at Paris, and entered 
 the Ministry as Premier and IMinister of ForeigiLAffairs on 
 the 8th of October, 1862. The real warfare of his life be- 
 gan at this time. King and Minister had a perfect under- 
 standing about the policy to pursue. The King was a 
 soldier and had the sympathy of Bismarck and the assist- 
 ance of Roon and Moltke in the scheme of military reform, 
 to which he at once began to devote himself. The Minis- 
 ter had resolved on the expulsion of Austria as the condi- 
 tion of a strong and enduring Germany. The details of 
 these two independent schemes — pursued in the face of an 
 unwilling people and in spite of Legislatures which had 
 the constitutional right to defeat them — make up one of 
 the most exciting and instructive epochs in modern his- 
 tory. The government could not reveal its ultimate plans 
 without ruining them ; and it had too much contempt for 
 democracy to respect even the forms of Parliamentary 
 institutions. The House was overwhelmingly Liberal ; it 
 hated Bismarck and distrusted the King ; and to strength- 
 en the army seemed but to strengthen its own fetters. It 
 refused the appropriation^ and the Ministry steadily made 
 them on its own responsibility. Again and again the 
 House was dissolved; new elections only added to the ma- 
 jority of the opposition. 
 
 The Danish war in 1864 did not give pause to the Lib- 
 erals. As men, they felt for provinces which had provoked 
 the rapacity of two great powers ; as patriots, they saw but 
 little glory in such a victory of the national arms. The 
 struggle was continued with fresh bitterness. All the ef- 
 forts of Bismarck at this time were toward the final conflict
 
 10 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 with Austria. In the diplomatic struggle at Frankfort his 
 aim throughout was not only to assert the rights of Prussia 
 in the confederation against the annoyance of Austria, but 
 also to detach from the latter the sympathy and support of 
 the smaller German States. By enticing Austria into 
 a separate alliance with Prussia for the conquest of Schles- 
 wig, he shook or hoped to shake the confidence of the 
 smaller States in their Danubian ally. In regard to inter- 
 nal reforms he even outbid his rival. The Austrian 
 Ministry, in order to prolong their supremacy in the con- 
 federation, offered to establish a Congress of delegates from 
 the different States. Prussia, through her ]\Iinister, took 
 the almost revolutionary step of proposing an electiye na- 
 tional parliament. The conquest and joint occupation of 
 the Duchies was a measure that puzzled everybody. It 
 was made in the face of three great hostile powers, Eng- 
 land and Russia, which were connected by marriage, and 
 France, which was connected by political sympathy with 
 Denmark, and against the opposition of all Liberals, who 
 saw in this alliance of the two leading German States the 
 disappearance of all hopes for a Liberal, united Germany. 
 This is perhaps the period in which Bismarck's sagacity 
 and firmness as a statesman were most severely tried. 
 
 His views at the time are clearly stated in the following 
 dispatch to the smaller German courts, dated March 24th, 
 1866: 
 
 "The interests of Prussia and of Germany," he says, 
 " are identical from their geographical position. This mat- 
 ter concerns our advantage as well as that of Germany. 
 If we are not sure of Germany, then our situation will be 
 more endangered than that of the other European States ;
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. II 
 
 but the fate of Prussia will draw that of Germany after it, 
 and we do not doubt that, if her power were once broken, 
 Germany would only retain a passive share in European 
 politics. The German Governments ought all to consider 
 it a sacred duty to guard against this, and therefore to unite 
 with Prussia." 
 
 This reasoning was lost on the Southern powers. When 
 the conflict finally came, and Prussia and Austria met at 
 Sadowa, nearly all the pettyiGiermarL princes fought and 
 Jost wkh the latter. 
 
 The peace of P rague gave the conquered provinces of 
 ^hleswig. -to. Prussia, as well as Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, 
 Nassau, and the free City of Frankfort on the Main. The 
 NbftH German Confederation, which was formed on the 
 ruins of the old confederation, included Prussia, the States 
 and free cities of the Baltic Coast, and Saxony, Saxe- 
 Weimar, Brunswick, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Anhalt, 
 while the remaining States organized the South German 
 Confederation. By the same peace, Italy, the ally of 
 Prussia, recovered Venice from Austria ; while the Em- 
 peror Napoleon, who. had been trying to obtain — first from 
 Prussia, then from Austria — a share of the spoil, was a 
 helpless spectator of events. 
 
 The interval from the Austrian war to the French war — 
 from iSGG^tojSyo — was one, for the most, of peaceful leg- 
 islative reform. Domestic aff'airs received the most atten- 
 tion, just as foreign affairs had done before that period. 
 These, of course, exacted of a statesman a different class of 
 qualities. There is a school of critics who pretend that Bis- 
 marck, though a bold and astute diplomatist, fitted to cope 
 with giants in international politics, is not adapted by na-
 
 12 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 ture or training for the more humble but equally import- 
 ant details of home legislation. This theory is worth a 
 moment's examination. 
 
 I have already given in extracts from letters the reflec- 
 tions which the Frankfort Diet inspired in Herr von Bis- 
 marck. I have also mentioned his sweeping proposal, in 
 1866, to concede the German people a national representa- 
 tive parliament, as a means of satisfying the Democratic 
 aspiration of the people, and of cementing the proposed 
 German Union. When the constituent Parliament of the 
 North German Confederation met, and not before, Bis- 
 marck, now become Count Bismarck, had an opportunity 
 to try the experiment. The First National Parliament of 
 Germany was called into being. The other great measure 
 of unification was the re-establishment, with improved mod- 
 ifications, of the Zollverein. A common parliament and a 
 common tariff were held to be the two chief pillars of 
 unity. The latter institution, too, was extended to the 
 South German States. Throughout this period Count 
 Bismarck appeared to good advantage. He was in the 
 prime of life, he had conquered his previous unpopularity, 
 a good feeling subsisted between court, ministry, and ma- 
 jority, and the work of internal reform proceeded for the 
 most part smoothly. The only sharp debates were over 
 the relations of the North German States to the Northern 
 Confederation ; and here Bismarck was often forced to 
 check the zeal of Liberals, who would have driven those 
 States into an unwilling union. No man was more thor- 
 oughly and effectively a German, but he saw that, at some 
 date, the force of circumstances would effect a more durable 
 union than any act of legislation.
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. 1 3 
 
 Prince Bismarck has gained such an extraordinary posi- 
 tion in the field of diplomacy and general politics, that to his 
 position as a leader in legislation is awarded a minor im- 
 portance. But he would have won no insignificant rank 
 even as a private and untitled member. A great orator, 
 indeed, he is not, and would in no circumstances become. 
 Not to mention other defects, he wants imagination, the 
 power of pathos, real or counterfeit, grace or art of man- 
 ner, an effective voice, and a ready utterance. Without 
 these, or some of these qualities, oratory, even of the sec- 
 ond rank, is impossible. But without accepting Earl 
 Russell's theory, that eloquence has no influence on par- 
 liamentary leadership, it is easy to show from history that 
 the two are by no means inseparable. Such qualities as 
 fit one for power in an assembly, independently of elo- 
 quence. Prince Bismarck conspicuously possesses. He can 
 persuade or command with equal skill and equal efi"ect ; 
 but he is, moreover, a debater of no ordinary accomplish- 
 ments. He has a resolution which wins respect, if not 
 obedience, and which, with a little less-military imperious- 
 ness, would be wonderfully effective. He is witty and 
 humoraus above most t»f his countrymen. He is always 
 'concise and forcible. His delivery is somewhat slow and 
 hesitating, so that his speeches read as well as they sound ; 
 but they may be studied as models of exact, logical lan- 
 guage. His faculty of condensing a plan or a policy into 
 an epigram is so well known, that I shall surely be par- 
 doned for citing such phrases as: "The battles of this 
 generation are to be fought out with iron and blood," or, 
 " We shall not go to Canossa," which has been adopted 
 into the popular heart. And, finally. Prince Bismarck has
 
 14 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 the valuable art of keeping silent when it is inexpedient to 
 speak. 
 
 Of himself Bismarck once said : "I am no orator. . . . 
 I am not capable of working upon your feelings or obscur- 
 ing facts with a play of words. ]\Iy speech is simple and 
 clear. " 
 
 The following description is more just : 
 
 "There is no charm of speech, no fullness of expression 
 in him, nothing to carry away the hearer. His voice, 
 though clear and intelligible, is dry and unattractive, and 
 its tone is monotonous. He interrupts himself ; comes 
 to a standstill, and sometimes almost stammers, as if his 
 refractory tongue refused obedience, and he had to strug- 
 gle painfully for the right way of expressing his thoughts ; 
 his restless movements backwards and forwards do not at 
 all add to the impression produced by his words. But 
 the longer he speaks, the more he overcomes all difficul- 
 ties ; he succeeds in fitting his words to his thoughts in 
 the closest manner, and ends by throwing out powerful 
 invectives, which, as we know, are often too powerful." 
 
 It does not fall within the province of the writer to pass 
 judgment on the dispute between Prussia and France, nor 
 do our limits allow even a recapitulation of the leading 
 events. That a war with France had always been regarded 
 by Bismarck as an inevitable condition of the future Ger- 
 man Empire may confidently be affirmed, as well as that 
 his foreign policy had steadily kept that fact in view. Beyond 
 that, statesmanship retired before the army. When Bis- 
 marck had become assured of the fidelity of his South 
 German allies, of the non-intervention of Russia, and of 
 the impotence of Austria, England, and Italy, he was
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. I 5 
 
 ready for the war. The course of events was marvelously 
 in accordance with his previous plans. 
 
 Bismarck accompanied the army throughout the war 
 until the final capitulation at Versailles. The direction 
 of military affairs he left wholly to the soldiers, and took 
 an active part only in the settlement of political questions. 
 He himself has given an account of a characteristic camp 
 scene after the battle of Gravelotte, when he was sitting 
 with the King on a ladder supported by a barrel and a 
 horse's carcass, composing the telegram with the news of 
 the victory : "A telegraph official handed me his dispatch 
 book, and then stood behind me, holding his horse. His 
 IMajesty dictated, I wrote. Thinking that a little mousseux 
 de Champagne was advisable for the benefit of foreign coun- 
 tries, I had allowed myself to add a few embellishments to. 
 the telegram. But the modesty of our Royal Master, who 
 always holds sternly to the plainest truth, would not tol- 
 erate this. In a second telegram the result of the victory 
 was reduced to the barest limits. Then Moltke interfered, 
 and also Roon, because certain errors had slipped into 
 the military estimates. At last the fourth telegram was 
 correct, and the official dashed off to the office with 
 it." 
 
 He has also left accounts of the capitulation of Sedan, 
 which have a biographical as well as an historical value. 
 The crowning event of his life, the proclamation of the 
 German Empire at Versailles, on the i8th day of January, 
 1871, wanted no element of picturesque effect, of histori- 
 cal solemnity, or of political significance. The prelimi- 
 nar^treaty of peace was ratified by the French Assembly 
 on the ist of March. On the 21st of the same month,
 
 l6 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Count von Bismarck became Prince von Bismarck and 
 Chancellor of the German Empire. 
 
 The French war, like the Austrian, introduced a new 
 order of things, to which it was necessary to adjust the 
 civil and political machinery ; and it has been followed by 
 a course of domestic legislation extending to the present 
 time. Most of this could have but little interest for for- 
 eign observers. On the 21st of March, 1871, the First 
 Imperial Parliament of Germany — Deutscher Reichstag — 
 met in Berlin, and was opened by the Emperor in person. 
 The new Constitution was proclaimed on the i6th of 
 April. In the fall of 1872, in consequence of ill-health 
 and dissatisfaction with the adjustment of works, Prince 
 Bismarck resigned the presidency of the Prussian cabinet, 
 which was temporarily assigned to the Minister of War, 
 Roon. The next spring, Roon retired from political life and 
 Bismarck resumed his old place, with a vice-president to 
 relieve him of routine work. In the winter of 1874, again, 
 he sent in his resignation on account of a partial defeat in 
 the Reichstag over the new army bill. A compromise was 
 effected, however, and the Prince remained at his post. 
 The important, nay, indispensable character of his services 
 to Germany was shown by the widespread consternation 
 produced by the rumor of retirement. His enemies allege 
 that his original infirmities of temper have been aggravated 
 by age and prolonged power. It is certain that he is very 
 impatient under opposition and defeat. 
 
 By far the most important enterprise in which this active 
 statesman has engaged since the French war, is the cam- 
 paign against the power of the Roman Catholic Church in 
 Germany. While the result is still pending, it would be
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. 1 7 
 
 premature to write the history of that conflict. ' Enough, 
 that the proclamation of infalHbiUty and the re-organization 
 of the German Empire so affected the relation between 
 Pope and Kaiser, that in the opinion of Prince Bismarck, 
 — which the Emperor and the great mass of liberal Germans 
 share, — a new adjustment, which should secure the State 
 greater freedom of action, and more ample means of self- 
 defense, had become imperatively necessary. This was a 
 mixed Prussian and Imperial movement ; and both govern- 
 ments, always, of course, under Bismarck's guidance, have 
 taken legislative steps in the premises. The issue, as we 
 have said, is still open. Both parties are confident of final 
 victory ; but it cannot be questioned, that the undertaking 
 on the part of the Chancellor was one of the most extreme 
 danger, and was sure to encounter the most formidable 
 obstacles. 
 
 The adoption of this policy threw Prince Bismarck into 
 a closer alliance with his old foes the Liberals, though his 
 measures of home reform, since 1866, had generally enjoyed 
 the support of that faction. In these later years, the old 
 extreme Conser\-atives have been his most bitter opponents. 
 This vast revolution in Bismarck's political opinions — and 
 one more vast than from the old Junker reactionists to the 
 Prussian Liberals can hardly be imagined — is orue of the 
 facts in his later career that have most invited the inquiry 
 of critics. He represents in himself, in fact, two distinct 
 phases or stages of a political career, and is admired from 
 two quite different points of departure. He is at once a 
 Prussian statesman and a German, and his course in the 
 former capacity is often irreconcilable with that in the lat- 
 ter. Where the latter begins, the former seems to end.
 
 l8 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Where the old school of Prussians cease to celebrate and 
 abandon him as a renegade, there the great German nation 
 takes him up and makes him an Imperial hero. Even the 
 Krenz Zeiiung, the ultra Conservative organ, eulogizes him 
 up to Sadowa, up to the fatal hour in which, returning a 
 patrician conqueror, like Coriolanus, he made the fatal 
 compromise with the spirit of plebeian Liberalism, It is 
 sure that it would have been better for him to have fallen 
 on the plains of Bohemia. When it warns the admirers 
 of the Chancellor to be discreet and moderate in their 
 tributes, it means that the path of commendation is clear 
 only to 1866, and after that loses itself rapidly in the wil- 
 derness. This being the case, it would seem that the con- 
 verse must be true, and that the period hallowed by the 
 Reactionists must be odious to Liberals. It is, of course, 
 easy, by selecting isolated expressions, oral or written, 
 from a man's history, to convict him of almost any shade of 
 political or other doctrine ; but the diligent collection and 
 ingenious arrangement of such passages has never, perhaps, 
 been regarded with favor by the better class of philoso- 
 phers. The same holds true, of course, with regard to 
 Prince Bismarck. To attempt to make him out a Liberal 
 in disguise from 1862 to 1866, because in letters he now 
 and then expresses no abhorrence of Parliaments, is hard 
 work in the face of the events of that period. This line 
 of treatment is not complimentary to the Prince himself. 
 He himself has often publicly explained that since 1866, 
 and gradually, changes in his political opinion have taken 
 place, and he has gloried in this elasticity. He calls it 
 adapting one's self to circumstances, and again a growth in 
 wisdom and experience. This honorable flexibility, he has
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. I9 
 
 said, distinguishes him from his old Conservative friends 
 — from Gerlach, for instance. If Bismarck was always a 
 Liberal, so was Gerlach ; or, on the other hand, if Bis- 
 marck has not changed since 1866, he is to-day an intoler- 
 ant Junker like Gerlach. The biographical test applied to 
 practical politics is always one of the most treacherous and 
 least useful. 
 
 It is, too, a striking illustration of Prince Bismarck's 
 change of party relations, that he has provoked not only 
 the enmity, but the cowardly vengeance of two different 
 political factions. Two attempts on his life have been 
 ma.de. The first was in 1866, on the 7th of March, by one 
 Blind, an adopted son of the well-known philanthropist 
 and radical, Carl Blind, One or two of the shots grazed 
 the clothes of Bismarck ; but he had the coolness to seize 
 his assailant and deliver him over to the police, after which 
 he walked home and took part in a dinner party which he 
 had appointed. The second attempted assassination was 
 in 1874, at Kissingen, in Bavaria, the villain, this time, 
 being an Ultramon ane fanatic, named Kullman. On this 
 occasion, too, the Prince was but slightly bruised in the 
 hand by the bullet that was aimed at his heart. 
 
 Prince Bismarck may be called the founder of Prussian 
 diplomacy. At his advent that branch of the public ser- 
 vice was chiefly in the hands of dull- country gentlemen, 
 who were unfitted as well for the daily routine as for the 
 occasional adventure, which are both in their time de- 
 manded ; and they fell now into the hands of Nicholas of 
 Russia, now of Metternich. Goethe was by no means 
 a political satirist, but he makes the Chancellor say, in 
 the second part of "Faust," that the priests and the
 
 20 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 knights, Church and Army, are the two chief props of 
 State. In a theory not essentially different from this the 
 Prussian people were educated. Accordingly, the profes- 
 sion of diplomacy long held a low rank there. In so far 
 as the opposition of the military class was the natural op- 
 position of brave and straightforward men to a service 
 which is too often associated with trickeiy and falsehood, 
 the feeling was respectable. Unfortunately it did not end' 
 there, nor was this its true basis. It sprang out of the 
 narrow contempt felt by all Prussian soldiers for civil occu- 
 pations, and was stimulated by jealousy for a service which is 
 becoming such a powerful and indispensable servant of the 
 State. Bismarck himself first gave the example of an 
 active diplomatist, and afterward, becoming Premier, he 
 made his example the rule of the service. He cemented 
 the Italian alliance and threw dust in the eyes of France, 
 while the army was fighting in Bohemia ; he kept Russia 
 firm and friendly, while the Second Empire was going 
 down under the charge of Moltke's legions. The Prince 
 himself once described modestly his own services in the 
 late war. It was on the eve of a great victory, and men 
 were flocking around to congratulate him. He said, " I 
 know nothing about strategy or the science of war. Let 
 Moltke and the army have the credit. But you have seen 
 Bavarians to-day on the field. Well, the presence of the 
 Bavarians and other South Germans here, fighting with 
 you, and not on the other side, is my work. " 
 
 The case of Bismarck has sometimes been cited against 
 the value of professional training for politicians. He ap- 
 peared so suddenly on the field of European events, and 
 assumed at once such a commanding position, that many
 
 PRINCE BISMARCK. " 21 
 
 have treated him as a prodigy in whom inspiration might 
 almost be assumed. The premises here are as false as the 
 inference from them is pernicious. It is true that no 
 amount of study will wholly supply the place of natural 
 genius or talent, but it is true also that simple genius with- 
 out training and discipline, is often credited with achieve- 
 ments that it never performs. Otto von Bismarck is one 
 of the most distinct results of thorough political educa- 
 tion. His whole career previous to entering the Prussian 
 IMinistry, was one of study and preparation. At the gym- 
 nasium he acquired control of the English and French 
 languages ; and throughout his career they have served 
 him in many a diplomatic crisis. At the university, he 
 was a profound and philosophical student of history, partic- 
 ularly that of his own country ; and even to-day, in Parlia- 
 mentary debates, he often astonishes his colleagues by his 
 mastery of such details. While he was at Frankfort, his 
 letters show that he prized the position chiefly for the ex- 
 perience and the valuable lessons that it afforded him. 
 At St. Petersburg there is but one report of his behavior. 
 He lived in frugal style and gave few entertainments, but 
 devoted himself assiduously to study and inquiry, and 
 even became quite a proficient in the Russian language. 
 These occupations did not give him notoriety, but they 
 were not quite profitless. When in 1862 he assumed the 
 direction of Prussian affairs, he brought to the duties a ripe 
 experience, a familiarity with..the languages and habits and 
 politics of other nations, the resources of a mind which 
 had never ceased to acquire arid assimulate useful knowl- 
 edge, and habits of industry which have since astonished all 
 Europe. This and nothing else is the secret inspiration 
 of the great German statesman.
 
 PART II. 
 
 The Ministers.
 
 II. 
 Dr. Falk. 
 
 HE title prefixed to this gentleman's name is a 
 scholastic, not a professional one. Nothing is 
 more strange than the popular German regard for 
 this distinction, except, perhaps, the capricious way in 
 which it cUngs to some men till it becomes almost an insep- 
 arable part of their names, while with others it is and re- 
 mains an alien intruder. Bismarck, for instance, is a Doc- 
 tor of Philosophy honoris causa, and always figures as such 
 in books of record, but " Dr. Bismarck" is unknown to 
 the public. Forckenbeck, the present president of the 
 Reichstag, is never m.entioned with the "Doctor's" title; 
 his predecessor, Simson, never without it. The rising 
 young politician who stands at the head of the Ministry of 
 Public Worship and Education, Herr Adalbert Falk, is one 
 to whom it is always applied by universal public consent. 
 Measured by the duration of his actual political service, 
 Dr. Falk is, indeed, very young. Since the winter of 1872, 
 he has been a minister with an independent portfolio ;
 
 26 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 previous to that, he was a bureau official without the right 
 of initiating measures. These distinctions in the official 
 hierarchy are less rigid elsewhere than in Prussia, and much 
 less so in the United States, for instance, where the caprice 
 of favoritism may defy the rules of prescription ; but in 
 Prussia they are of the greatest consequence. The rule is 
 that the bureaucrat lives and dies as such. Promotion for 
 him is only within the bounds of his clerical domain, and 
 only an exception lifts him out into the region of minis- 
 terial independence. It is no uncommon thing to read in 
 the press of some veterau celebrating the fiftieth anniversary 
 of his entry into the public service. Haifa century in the 
 life of such a man has consumed perhaps a barrel of ink, 
 several tons of paper, and quills enough to thatch the roof 
 of the royal castle. He has sworn allegiance to three 
 kings and put tallow candles in his window for two or 
 three successful wars. The revenues of the kingdom for a 
 twelvemonth could not tempt his official integrity. Be- 
 ginning at a tall desk and standing, he passes thence to a 
 three legged stool ; next, to a wooden chair ; and finally 
 to a chair with a cushion ; and here he remains on a sal- 
 ary of two or three thousand thalers a year, till, in his de- 
 clining days, he is retired on a modest pension. These are 
 the men, and this is the system that make up the bureau- 
 cratic government of Prussia. 
 
 By superior ability or superior fortune, Adalbert Falk 
 escaped from this career of routine. He was born 
 in the year 1827 at Metschkau, in Silesia. His father, 
 a clergyman and member of the provincial consistory, 
 belonged to the Schleiermacher school of liberal theol- 
 ogy ; but on the arrival of an era of doctrinal reaction
 
 DR. FALK. 27 
 
 under the orthodox King, Frederic William IV., he 
 fell into disfavor, and retired to a country parish. Like 
 so many of the so-called " liberal theologians," the elder 
 Falk did not, I believe, extend his liberalism into politics. 
 The meager salarj' of a " Landpastor " did not prevent the 
 son from pursuing the ordinary educational course of Ger- 
 man youth. He studied- first in the " Realschule " of 
 Landeshut, then at a gymnasium in Breslan, and finally 
 at the university of the latter city. This is one of the tvi^o 
 Prussian universities that have a Catholic faculty in theol- 
 ogy, side by side with the Protestant. In 1847, he began 
 his legal career, which in Prussian usage is treated almost 
 as a state charge ; in 1850, he became an assistant of the 
 Public Prosecutor in Breslau ; in 1853, chief of this office 
 at Lyck ; in 1861, he assumed the same functions before 
 the Kammergericht, or Superior Court, with duties in the 
 Ministry of Justice ; in 1862, Judge of the Court of Ap- 
 peals at Glogau ; and in 1868, he was permanently assigned 
 as Privy Councillor, or Geheimeralh, to the Ministry of Jus- 
 tice. Bismarck was Premier, and the Minister of Justice, 
 Dr. Leonhardt, was one of the first fruits of the new policy of 
 preferring able plebeians to incapable nobles for public 
 office. 
 
 It may be said in explanation of Dr. Falk's rapid rise in 
 the official scale, that it was a time of reform and experi- 
 ment, when inventive genius was prized. A fresh man 
 and a practical lawyer was likely to be more fertile in ideas 
 and suggestions than one whose brain had become inert 
 from prolonged routine. The newly-annexed provinces 
 exacted new conditions of the national jurisprudence, 
 while the North German Confederation called for an entire
 
 28 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 system of imperial laws. In this work of codification and 
 drafting Dr. Falk was one of the most efficient. But soon 
 he was assigned to a task of quite a different character. 
 The conflict with the Church had broken out ; the Prus- 
 sian Government determined on a course of repressive or 
 defensive legislation ; and, after casting his eyes about for 
 the proper man, Bismarck fixed on Dr. Falk. From this 
 point most of the political interest in this gentleman dates. 
 In order, however, to understand the subject, a passing 
 acquaintance is necessary with the order of events, which 
 led to the retirement of Dr. Von Miihler from the " Cul- 
 tus " Ministry, and to the vast change of policy that retire- 
 ment in itself alone implied. 
 
 Up to the year 1817, there was in Prussia no Ministry of 
 Public Worship and Education. Those subjects had been 
 assigned to bureaus in the Ministry of the Interior and 
 placed in charge of subordinate officials ; but in 1817, the 
 king created a special department and placed Baron 
 Altenstein at the head of it. He was a faithful officer and 
 a prudent statesman. Without any meddlesome theories 
 on theology, he worked in a practical way for educational 
 reform, and to him, as much as to any one man, Prussia is 
 indebted for her common schools. The successors of 
 Altenstein, among whom Eichhorn and Stahl were the 
 most eminent, made themselves notorious, not to say 
 odious, by their hostility to the cause of natural science, 
 which they systematically repressed at the command cf a 
 dictatorial theology. Protestants though they were, they 
 preferred the sublime dogmatism of the Roman Catholic 
 Church to the daring results of physical investigation. 
 Accordingly, the Catholics made grave advances along the
 
 Lm Angeltt. tal' 
 
 DR. FALK. 29 
 
 whole line of social, educational, and political interests. 
 Under Raumer, a nephew of the great historian, and Holl- 
 weg, things were no better. The Church, or the ecclesias- 
 tical element, wielded paramount authority in the public 
 councils. 
 
 This brings us to the first Cabinet of Bismarck in 1862, 
 and his Minister of Public Worship, Dr. Von Miihler. 
 He is the last representative of the old spirit. A learned, 
 austere, and conscientious man, he held the most exalted 
 theories of ecclesiastical prerogative, of the claims of 
 birth, of divine right ; and the policy adopted toward the 
 Church of Rome after the close of the French war, met 
 his opposition from the first. He was the reluctant agent 
 of resistance to two of the earlier and more flagrant of- 
 fences of the Catholic clergy. He conducted for the gov- 
 ernment the correspondence with Dr. Krementz, the 
 obstinate and disobedient bishop of Ermeland. He sanc- 
 tioned the removal of the Catholic Chaplain General, 
 whom the Pope, in violation of legal forms, had endowed 
 with the rank and functions of a bishop. Farther than 
 this Von Miihler could not go ; and when he heard that 
 general laws, covering all such cases as the above, were in 
 preparation, he resigned his office and retired from public 
 life. On the 22d of January, 1872, he was succeeded by 
 Dr,„Falk. 
 
 The new minister was welcomed by the Provinzial Cor- 
 respondenz, a weekly organ of the government, in the fol- 
 lowing words : " This ministerial change is an expression 
 of the necessity, recognized by the crown, that the power 
 of the State in religion and educational affairs be wielded 
 ty a spirit which offers guaranties of complete indepen-
 
 30 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 dence and rectitude, as well as of the earnest purpose to 
 vindicate both the inalienable rights of the State, and the 
 just claims of moral and spiritual interests." This was by 
 no means a revolutionary programme. The significant 
 hint about the acquiescence of the crown, was at the same 
 time a species of pledge, that the course of innovation 
 would not exceed the patience of a prudent, pious, and 
 orthodox monarch. 
 
 The first reform proposed by the new minister, was re- 
 ceived by the Liberal party and the Ecclesiastical party in 
 a widely different spirit. The Liberals called it : "Saving 
 the Common School System of Prussia." The Church- 
 men, both Catholic and Protestant, said it was "The sur- 
 render of the schools to Materialism and Infidelity." In 
 both phases, as in partisan statements is generally tlie case, 
 there is a palpable exaggeration, as well as an element of 
 truth. The schools of Prussia were half a century old. 
 They had proved themselves, on the whole, the most effi- 
 cient in Europe ; and their fruits, by which they are chiefly 
 to be known, were part of every achievement in letters or 
 science, part of every victory in war. Their scope was 
 unquestionably narrow, and their spirit timid in the ex- 
 treme. They were more distinguished, perhaps, for the 
 method and the discipline which produced an educated 
 people, than for the freedom and breadth of treatment 
 which develop original genius. But the correction of faults 
 cannot always be called the salvation of the subject. The 
 modifications made by Dr. Falk's bill, which aimed, by 
 reducing the controlling influence of the clerical element, 
 tc give the schools a more secular character, and to strike 
 at one great source of strength in the Catholic Church,
 
 DR. FALK. 31 
 
 were just and expedient, and they have our cordial sympa- 
 thy ; but it is not easy to recognize a revolution in their 
 modest provisions. The complaints of the Ultramontanes, 
 on the other hand, were both extravagant and absurd. To 
 cut the lower schools loose from the leading strings of a 
 jealous and bigoted ecclesiasticism, and to put them in the 
 hands of men selected only on a scientific basis, would not 
 have been a surrender to infidelity and Atheism. But the 
 government did not go even so far as this. It simply re- 
 sumed that active supervision, which the constitution 
 claimed for the State, but which . had ceased to be more 
 than an empty form. The State dia not affirm that thence- 
 forth the teachers should be required to abjure the INIosaic 
 account of creation, nor did it aim at excluding religious 
 instruction at all from the curriculum. Public opinion is 
 not ripe for that in Prussia. The aim of the bill, in short, 
 was to shut out of the schools teachers who were not, first 
 and absolutely, servants of the State and loyal. As laws 
 must be general, this one, of course, curtailed the 
 authority of the Protestant as well as of the Catholic 
 clergy. 
 
 The defence of this bill was, also, the occasion of Dr. 
 Falk's d'ebui as a parliamentary leader. It was by no means 
 his first parliamentary experience. He had sat in the 
 Prussian House of Deputies from 1858 to 1861, in the 
 Constituent North Q^xmasv Reichstag in 1867, and he had 
 been a member of the Imperial Parliament from the first. 
 At one time he was Clerk or Secretary of the House. In 
 these days, however, he was mainly a silent member, and 
 won only the modest renown of punctual attendance. It 
 was, therefore, with some curiosity that the politicians
 
 32 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 awaited the first appearance of the new minister. Although 
 the Liberals, his friends, were largely in the majority in the 
 Lower Chamber, the opposition numbered many practised 
 debators, who, as the servants of an infallible spiritual mas- 
 ter, were apparently placed above those restraints of mod- 
 eration, courtesy, and truthfulness, which apply in secular 
 relations. Mallinckrodt and Windthorst and Reichensper- 
 ger were amply endowed with means and inspired with 
 zeal for the defence of a hopeless cause. They made a 
 prodigal use of invective, in the name of a Church which 
 teaches the virtue of humility and forbearance. They led 
 their hearers into tortuous mazes of sophistry ; they 
 wrapped the subject in clouds of paltry fallacies, at the com- 
 mand of bishops whose gospel is light. They seemed, in 
 fact, to imitate the manners of Santa Clara, and the dialec- 
 tics of Schiller's Domingo. 
 
 The subject of these debates, too, was of the most com- 
 prehensive, intricate, and recondite description. It in- 
 cluded Church histor}' from the Fathers to the council of 
 the Vatican ; dogmas, decrees, and encyclical letters ; the 
 theology of politics and the politics of theology. Examples 
 ranged between the extremes of an Emperor who knelt at 
 the feet of a triumphant Pope, and of a Pope who was im- 
 prisoned at the command of a military dictator. Invective 
 was turned now upon the tyranny and violence of princes 
 whom the Church would have purified, and now upon the 
 annals of a spiritual throne, which has been disgraced by 
 the vilest men and the gravest crimes. It was no uncommon 
 thing to see an afternoon spent on an obscure feature of a 
 Council of Trent or of Nice. The Ultramontanes in par- 
 ticular were fond of theological and canonical disputes, on
 
 DR. FALK. 33 
 
 \vhich they were, of course, better informed, and in which 
 they could parade ad populum panoramic stores of learning. 
 Yox any sudden manoeuvre of the foe over this vast field of 
 action, the Liberals were bound to be prepared. 
 
 To meet the necessities of such a campaign against such 
 valiant soldiers, the government had indeed a variety of 
 leaders. The chief of the National Liberals, Lasker, a 
 fluent and popular orator, spoke for the great middle class 
 represented by the Left, in the language of a philosophical 
 patriot. Dr. Gneist treated the legal issues in the style 
 and with the authority of a professional jurist. The 
 helmet of Bismarck, like the white plume of Harry 
 of Navarre, was always seen where the fray was thickest. 
 But the brunt of the struggle — the original vindication, 
 the patient defence, the conciliation of friends, and the re- 
 ply to particular foes — in short, the conduct of details as the 
 responsible minister, fell to the part of Dr. Falk. 
 
 The ' Cultus-Minister ' is a man of about medium 
 height and proportions, with a full black beard, and the 
 heavy eyebrows which often indicate energy and determi- 
 nation. \\\ fact, he has given satisfactory proofs of both 
 these qualities. As regards his energy, an idea of what 
 degree was necessary may be gathered from the foregoing 
 account of his duties, while his courage has stood the 
 ordeal required of every statesman who excites the" hatred 
 and exposes himself to the vengeance of the pupils of the 
 Jesuit Mariana. He has been threatened with assassina- 
 tion quite as often as the Emperor and Bismarck. In one 
 pigeon-hole of his desk, a visitor would doubtless find a 
 bundle of threatening communications, carefully registered, 
 filed, and tied up with red tape ; and they testify to his
 
 34 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 official fidelity not less clearly than the flattery of formal 
 praise. Dr. Falk's style of speaking, too, is that of a man 
 not easily frightened. His manner is more aggressive and 
 pronounced than that of Prince Bismarck, although his 
 printed speeches are not so full of rugged epigrams and 
 pointed retorts. Of the two men he is the better debater, 
 but not the better leader. His style a German would call 
 too " objective." He defends his cause too much like an 
 advocate, as if in the performance of a prescribed duty, or 
 even for the glory of a forensic triumph. It is not his 
 nature to reveal the personal feelings and experience that 
 connect him with the cause, nor to appeal to the broad 
 patriotic interests which awaken and sustain enthusiasm. 
 He is always associated with the details, Bismarck with 
 the spirit of the conflict. He is the minister in charge of 
 a portfolio to which the clerical question happens to be- 
 long, while Prince Bismarck is the statesman and the re- 
 sponsible champion of the political issues at stake. 
 
 It will be easily understood that the ^Minister of Public 
 Worship, in such a State as Prussia, should be often ques- 
 tioned about the particular form of worship which he him- 
 self affects or favors. There was not much doubt about 
 Dr. Von Miihler. He never rose above the literal lan- 
 guage of the Augsburg Confession, and he interpreted that 
 instrument in such 'a spirit of sacerdotal reverence, that 
 even the Catholics were satisfied. They were not solici- 
 tous about his succession. For them Dr. Falk was a per- 
 son anathematized from the start ; and they were amused but 
 not interestea, when the zealous Protestants tried to extort 
 from him a confession of faith. A satisfactory confession 
 was, I think, never obtained. Dr. Falk administers his
 
 DR. FALK. 35 
 
 office as a jurist and not as a theologian ; and demands 
 that his measures be criticised on their merits, without ref- 
 erence to their author. If, however, a creed be required, 
 it would perhaps be found not far from that of the great 
 Schleiermacher. It has been observed that the elder Falk 
 was a liberal theologian, and a dutiful son would certainly 
 not renounce the paternal faith, when it is shared by so 
 large a portion of his educated countrymen. The exam- 
 ple of Schleiermacher proves that a man may make puns, 
 and still be a successful preacher. His system of belief 
 seemed to rest on the axiom that the least degree of belief 
 is the best, that the Christian religion would be just as 
 good without the idea of Christ, and that the noblest end 
 of human effort is the cultivation of esprit. Dr. Falk and 
 Dr. Hermann and olher jurists holding semi-ecclesiastical 
 positions may not accept all the lengths of such a system. 
 They, doubtless, profess a vague acquiescence in the gen- 
 eral doctrines of the New Testament ; but, in a thorough 
 test, they would be found nearly as far removed from the 
 orthodoxy of Lutheranism as from that of Rome, and this 
 is a fact to which the old school Protestants will never be- 
 come reconciled. Since Dr. Falk became INIinister, in 
 Januar}', 1872, nearly a score of acts have helped to swell 
 the literature of the ecclesiastical contest. Two or three 
 of these were imperial measures, for which, indeed, a Prus- 
 sian minister is not responsible. The others, which stretch 
 over a course of about three years, were drawn up under 
 the direct supervision of Dr. Falk, were severally submit- 
 ted by him to the Prussian Latid/ag, and by him were 
 piloted successfully through both houses. The mere enu- 
 meration of these measures is like the history of a century.
 
 3^ BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 In the first place, as above stated, he rescued the com- 
 mon schools from the control of the religious sects. '1 wo 
 months later, in May, four great and almost revolutionary 
 measures were presented. One laid down an obligatory 
 course of training under the supervision of the State for 
 all candidates for holy orders ; another forbade the exer- 
 cise of other than purely spiritual discipline by Church 
 authorities ; a third instituted a special court for the trial 
 of clerical offenders ; a fourth made easier the path of a 
 seceder from one Church to another. 
 
 In 1874, the battle began with an act regulating the 
 administration of vacant Catholic dioceses. The way had 
 been previously made clear for these measures by an act 
 abolishing Articles Fifteen and Eighteen of the Prussian 
 Constitution, — guaranty articles for the benefit of the 
 Church. The act introducing obligatory civil marriage was 
 a blow at an ancient prerogative of the Church, which had 
 been abolished nearly everywhere else. The latest, and 
 in some respects the most sweeping, bills were that for 
 the suspension of all State endowments and contributions 
 for the Roman Catholic Church and that for the expulsion 
 of all Catholic religious orders. I have not mentioned a 
 number of minor acts, which were amendatory or explan- 
 atory of previous legislation. 
 
 In the months of June and July, 1875, Dr. Falk made 
 a long journey through the region of the Lower Rhine. 
 That is the seat and center of the most intense, active, 
 and aggressive Ultramontane spirit, the district which 
 sends the ablest Catholic deputies to Berlin, which nour- 
 ishes the most influential priests and prelates. It is a re- 
 gion "in which one might stone the prophets of the secular
 
 DR. FALK. 37 
 
 power. It could hardly be expected, at least, that a Cabi- 
 net minister making a j)rosaic tour of inspection through 
 a hostile country, should be prepared for a series of popular 
 ovations, such as might be accorded to a king or a victo- 
 rious general ; and the demonstrations in his honor are 
 therefore the more significant, as they seem to have been 
 purely spontaneous. 
 
 The series of festivities began at the old Episcopal City 
 of Treves, and followed the minister down the Rhine. At 
 Bonn there was a banquet, at which Professor Bona-Meyer 
 presided, and at which Dr. Falk made a long speech of 
 thanks. The Bonner Zcitimg said : " Truly this man has 
 won the hearts of this whole province, through his amiable 
 and striking individuality." The next evening the stu- 
 dents of the university organized a monster torch-light 
 procession, which, after parading through the city with 
 songs, halted in front of Dr. Falk's hotel. There was a 
 speech of welcome from a student, to which the guest re- 
 pHed. It may be known that the University of Bonn has 
 also a faculty of Catholic theology, to which the Minister 
 of Education, much to the indignation of the Ultramon- 
 tanes, had appointed two Old Catholic professors. The 
 students of this faculty naturally hekl aloof from any hon- 
 ors that were paid to that great foe. In allusion to this Dr. 
 Falk said during his speech : "I know that this illumina- 
 tion is in honor of that Cullus-]][inistcr on whom the 
 present time has imposed such arduous tasks, and I do 
 not wonder that a portion of your number hold back. 
 And in fact, if this had not been the case, I should have had 
 doubts. The satisfaction would perhaps have been great- 
 er. But, gentlemen, I hold it to be undesirable that, at 
 
 J 
 
 43
 
 38 BRIEF IJIOGRAnilES. 
 
 this time, the conviction should gain ground in the circles 
 which are not represented here, that I deserve the honor 
 of a torch-light demonstration, I do not know whether 
 those circles will ever come to recognize, in my time, that 
 what has been done by me in the name of his majesty the 
 Emperor, was their cause also. But of this I am thorough- 
 ly persuaded ; that many bitter, insulting words, which I 
 have been forced to hear during these days, will some time 
 change themselves into a chorus of accord and gratitude." 
 Similar ovations were accorded to the minister at 
 Cologne, at Diisseldorf, at Aix-la-Chapelle, at Essen, at 
 Duisburg, and other cities in the Rhine provinces. He 
 made two or three speeches in each place, always short 
 but always fresh, pregnant, and pointed. If he is not the 
 man to enchant an audience by poetical thoughts in me- 
 lodious periods, he gratifies all serious men by a sturdy 
 spirit of zeal and patriotism. The journey undoubtedly 
 led to a wide increase in his popularity.
 
 III. 
 
 Dr. Delbruck. 
 
 HE name of this gentleman doubtless appears in 
 print as often as that of any other German poli- 
 tician, after Bismarck himself. He who reads 
 the stereotyped reports of the sittings of the Bundcsralh, or 
 Federal Council, will learn that the President of the Impe- 
 rial Chancelry presided ; he who watches the reports or 
 proceedings of the Imperial Parliament, will meet Dr. Del- 
 briick as the representative spokesman of the Bundesrath. 
 The former body corresponds to a Senate in some respects, 
 to a Privy Council in others. I\Iade up of delegates 
 appointed and instructed by the several States, it is at once 
 a ministry to whom the preparation of bills belongs, and, 
 at the same time, a regular factor in imperial legislation. 
 As one of the delegates of Prussia, Dr. Delbriick has a 
 regular seat, and, as the alter-ego of the Chancellor, he oc- 
 cupies the chair of President. 
 
 When a bill has been accepted by the Biifidesra/h, and 
 laid before the Parliament, the former body becomes a sort
 
 40 BRIi'F BIOfiRArillES. 
 
 of responsible ministry charged with the contlucl of the 
 measure. It must be explained and ticlcnded ; objections 
 must be met and amendments considered ; and, when 
 necessary, the spirit of compromise must have an author- 
 ized representative. If the bill be on a technical subject, 
 military or financial, for instance, some special talent is 
 sent up to the House by the council. On military mat- 
 ters it would be the War Minister Kamccke ; on financial 
 matters, it would be Camjjhausen ; on judicial affairs, it 
 would be Lconhanit or I'.iustlc. In any c ; vcr, 
 
 even if Bismarck himself be present, the Pr* the 
 
 Chancelry sits out the debate from bcpinning to end. No 
 accumulation of papers at his table prevents him from fol- 
 lowing the proceedings on the floor, and from taking up 
 the subject at any point where his intcr^■ention may be 
 prudent or necessary. In the absence of Prince Bismarck, 
 his is the last and the weightiest wonl. After that comes the 
 call of the House. Nor is this all that parliamentary institu- 
 tions ask of this industrious man. It also falls to him to 
 respond to all the interrogatories that the curiosity or 
 malice of deputies may suggest, and this requires a sort ol 
 information almost encyclopedic. The inquiries range of 
 course over the whole domain of imperial aflairs. That one 
 man should be able to master so many subjects, is itself a 
 mystery, but that the same man should also find time to 
 spend several hours a day listening to debates and waiting 
 to answer questions, suggests almost a prodigy. 
 
 The personal and official record of Martin Friedrich 
 Rudolph Delbriick is not brilliant or striking. His father 
 was the private tutor of the late King Frederic William IV. 
 and of his present majesty — a worthy and devoted old
 
 DR. DEI.Hk UCK. 4I 
 
 court servant. ^Martin was horn in 18 17, at Berlin, just 
 when the city, as the royal residence, was recovering IVoin 
 tlie effects of the French occupation and the neglect of its 
 uwn sovereign. After tlie usual preliminary courses at the 
 common schools ant! the gymnasium, he took up tlie sub- 
 ject of law ; and studied not only at the University of Ber- 
 lin, which had been oi)ened in iSii, through the efforts of 
 Wilhclm von Humboldt, but also at the sister schools of 
 Halle and Guttingen, both then very renowned. It docs 
 not appear, however, that he ever became a practical 
 jurist. In 1842, he entered the public service as an assis- 
 tant in the ministry of Finance, and in 1848, became chief 
 of a bureau of division in the Ministry of Commerce. In 
 this capacity he gave special attention to the commercial 
 relations between the separate States of Germany, and to 
 the subject of the Zollverein. He was more successful in 
 promoting commercial unity, than some of his ambitious 
 colleagues were in promoting political unity. The Frank- 
 fort Diet produced at best a nondescript system with its 
 Rtiihsverwiser and poor Archduke John of Austria as the 
 incumbent, bui in the domain of commerce and customs 
 real and durable work was accomplished. In 1851, the 
 States of Hanover, Oldenburg, and Schaumburg-Lippe 
 joined the Zollverein by a treaty negotiated by Dclbriick. 
 In the ne.\t decade he negotiated treaties of commerce 
 with FrancCj Belgium, Austria, and Italy, and took an ac- 
 tive part in the extension of the Zollverein. Since 1866, the 
 frequent political changes in Germany have required as 
 frequent changes in commercial and fiscal relations, and in 
 all such Delbriick has played a leading role. His exper- 
 ience of the practice and principles of commercial adminis-
 
 42 nRIEF BIOGRAPIIirS. 
 
 tration ; liis patience, induslry, ami clearness, and his sur- 
 prising mastery of details, remler him une ol" the most effi- 
 cient of men in that honorable and difficult service. There 
 is not much chance for political coups dt theatre ox scnsA- 
 tional displays of any sort in this work. The man of facti 
 and figures is the modest hero, and D'-'hriK k ix \ m ui i.f 
 facts and figures. 
 
 It is not surprising that Delbriick was invited to aid in 
 the reconstruction of the I'.mpire. One of the most im- 
 portant conditions of a dural)le uni<)n was a goo<| adjust- 
 ment of the new fiscal and commercial relations that 
 would result from such an union; questions of revenue, 
 taxation, customs, appropriations, balances were lo be ex- 
 amined anil answered, and a special sort of talent was re- 
 quired. The jealousy of liavaria was to be conciliated, and 
 the selfishness of other States, defeated. Immediately after 
 the first impulse that leil to the new union at Vers;iillcs 
 had given way to an inlenal of reflection, obstacles and 
 difficulties began to arise, which could only be met 
 by prudence and forbearance. It is generally agreed 
 that Delbriick deserved great praise for his jart in this 
 delicate aflair. Prussia may have had more brilliant 
 and showy envoys, but she had none who combined in 
 a higher degree the original qualities of the safe negoti- 
 ator, and the acquired breadth of special and general in- 
 furmation. 
 
 Dr. Delbriick, like Dr. Falk, has no reputation as a parlia- 
 mentarian aside from his ministerial functions. He holds, 
 and has held, since 1873, ^ seat in the Prussian House of 
 Deputies, but official prudence or modesty has hitherto 
 kept him silent. It is no reflection on his modesty to give
 
 DR. DELBRUCK. 43 
 
 the greater weight to motives of ofTicial prudence. As Dr. 
 Talk never speaks in the Imperial Parliament, even when 
 ecclesiastical questions arc before the House, so Del- 
 briick, wliosc relations are wholly imperial, is careful be- 
 fore Prussian Deputies not to compromise a superior who 
 is at once Chancellor of the P^mpire and Minister-Presitlcnt 
 of Prussia. It is a (iiult of the German system that the 
 Legislators for Prussia are thus deprived of his counsels. 
 There is a large class of questions, fiscal and economical, 
 which in their details are national rather than imperial, 
 and on which, in their Legislative treatment, the experi- 
 ence and knowledge of Djlbriick would throw much valu- 
 able light ; but he is practically confined to the honorable 
 but modest support of his vote. 
 
 It will give a clearer impression of Ilerr Delbriick, as 
 well as of the system of which he is a part, if we sketch a 
 typical scene in the Imperial German Parliament. The 
 building dedicated to the use of that august assembly is a 
 triumph of the economy, or the poverty, of the nation. It 
 is far more imposing than the Foreign Oflke, far less so 
 than the War Office, which is its neighbor in the Leip- 
 zigerstrasse. The front part and the upper stor)' are occu- 
 j)ied by the library, the reading-rooms, and the clerks of- 
 fices ; the hall claims the chief part of the central building. 
 This hall is noted alike for the absence of ventilation and 
 the want of acoustic eflfect. As one looks down from the 
 galler)-, the first object that strikes the eyes is probably a 
 flag that was presented to the first Rdchstag by German 
 citizens of New Orleans. The second would be the ner- 
 vous but popular President, Forckcnbcck, flanked by the 
 secretaries. The third, in the absence always of Prince
 
 44 r.un:r i!iO(;R.\riin:s. 
 
 Bismarck, would be the President of ihc Chance] g'^^e 
 subject of this sketch, Dr. Dclbriick. 
 
 In tlic parliamciitar)' practice of Kuro|)c, tlic interpella- 
 tion, or question addressed from the floor to the ministers, 
 plays a very important part. It is often, of course, a seri- 
 ous expedient for loarninsf facts ; it is ofien used on a hint 
 from ministers themselves to give them occasion for a de- 
 sired statement or explanation, but it is, |)crhaps, o(lene»t 
 the instrument of which the op|>osition can annoy and 
 jjcrplcx the govornmenV And there arc as various fj)rms 
 of resj)onse as of the question itscIC In another volume 
 of this series, Mr. Gladstone's manner has Iwen comparcil 
 with Lord Palmcrston's. That of Prince Dismarck de- 
 pends on the subject, the questioner, the hour of the day, 
 and the condition of his own temper. In general, he sat- 
 isfies curiosity, if at all, in a courteous and practical man- 
 ner. If, liowever, as is most often the case in non-politic- 
 al matters, he turns the business over to DelbrOck, the 
 spectators are treated to an useful lesson in the [xirliamen- 
 tary arts. 
 
 Dr. Dclbriick is a man about as large and about as 
 stout as the late Governor ,\ndrew of Massacliusctis, ,\j 
 he dresses he appears a little more slender. Insteail of af- 
 fecting the classical mantle, which did not improve Gover- 
 nor Andrew's figure, either in life or in Mr, GouM' 
 lierr Dclbriick trims his elastic little body in tli 
 of coats and the closest of trousers. lie is ver}* bald, and 
 as one looks down upon him from the gallery, the top of 
 his head shines like a silver plate, or like the gold snuff- 
 box which he himself taps and opens at frequent internals. 
 He is deliberate and exact in all his movements. The
 
 DR. DELBRUCK. 45 
 
 most unexpected question never finds him unprepared ; 
 the mo->t persistent and impertinent curiusity never rullles 
 the serenity of his manner. The writer lias seen liim re- 
 spond to a long scries of questions on the most diverse 
 subjects, without a{)parently the least note of warning or 
 consequently the least special preparation. He ahvajs 
 gives information. He can state off hand the probable 
 receipts from the malt tax, the chapter which the DmiJcs- 
 rt/M has reached in the c<jdification of the civil code, the 
 course of negotiations for a treaty of commerce with Mon- 
 aco, the number of miles in the Bavarian railway system, 
 the height of the mountains in the Saxon .Switzerland, the 
 probable govcrnmenial policy toward the Rhine in the next 
 ccntur}', — so bni.id is the scoj)C of his acquirements. I 
 sometimes think that he coukl state what form the French 
 Government will have at the end of thq next twelve- 
 month. 
 
 He is, however, no prophet. It has been doubted 
 even whether he [uissesses iileas, and it certainly seems to 
 be no part of his duties to have them. He'is pre-emi- 
 nently a man of facts. His mind is so burdened with 
 exact knowledge, that ideas, even if there were time to gen- 
 erate them, could hardly find a resting-place. In answer- 
 ing a question in Parliament he might be taken for a 
 professor of mathematics reciting a familiar problem in 
 geometry. Rising slowly, and without a trace of the con- 
 fusion which the questioner, perhaps, hoped to create, he 
 clears his throat, assumes an easy posture, and then in a 
 dry, formal tone begins his reply, " Meine Herren ! " 
 This is the genuine bureaucrat. There is no embarrass- 
 ment, no enthusiasm, no emotiun of any sort. The house
 
 46 PRIKF BIOGRArillES. 
 
 listens respectfully, but with as little feeling as if it were 
 readinpf the statement in a journal, instead of hearing it 
 from the lips of a responsible minister. 
 
 On only one occasion, within my recollection, has the 
 Rcichsfag tried to shake Delbruck's position. It was last 
 winter, during the debate on the Banking Bill. In the 
 progress of unification the time, of course, arrived for an 
 imperial system of banking and finance ; and pursuant to 
 a resolution of the Rcuhsiag, the Federal Council, or a 
 committee of the same, presented the draft of a Bank Act. 
 Now, for all bills thus offered by the Government there is 
 a sort of divided responsibility. The Special Councilor, or 
 member of the Federal Council appointed to the charge 
 of the subject, is always re-enforced by Dclbriick as the gen- 
 eral representative of the Imperial Chancelr}\ In the case 
 of the Bank Bill, Camphausen, as Prussian Finance Minis- 
 ter, and Dclbriick played the two parts. It soon appeared, 
 however, in the course of the debate that, while those two 
 politicians were thoroughly in harmony about the bill, the 
 responsibility for its objectionable features could be fas- 
 tened upon neither. The defect in the measure was the 
 failure to provide for a national central bank. On this the 
 Liberals and a portion of the Conservatives insisted with 
 great vehemence, and they assailed the twin champions of 
 the bill with all the parliamentary weapons at their dis- 
 posal. Dclbriick w-as less obnoxious than Camphausen. 
 Even his enemies respect his zeal, and industr)-, and efii- 
 ciency ; and on this occasion, they rebuked not his own 
 theories so much as his alleged subserviency to Cam})hau- 
 sen. Still he was pretty roughly handled, and, in spite of 
 his imperturbability, doubtless felt the shock. A wav was
 
 DR. DELBRUCK. 47 
 
 ultimately found for introducing the desired amendment 
 without a direct legislative affront for the two gentlemen, 
 and concord was restored. During the general debate 
 Dclbrijck made two long speeches which were able and 
 exhaustive. 
 
 The oratorical exploits of such a man offer few mo- 
 ments of dramatic interest. His functions and his nature 
 alike forbid him those flights of fancy, those appeals to the 
 emotions and the passions, which alone would excuse the 
 translation and reproduction here of any of his speeches. 
 Dr, Delbriick is interesting as a part of a system or a ma- 
 chine, of which the world knows perhaps too little. He is, 
 in other words, the ty[)ical bureaucrat of Prussia. In the 
 notice of Dr. Falk, I have explained how that gentleman 
 became an independent minister because he was too origi- 
 nal to remain chained to a subordinatcdesk. Delbriick is 
 too much of a martinet wholly to renounce the slavery of 
 red-tape and sealing wax. Falk is a man of genius, who 
 has become a successful minister. Delbriick is a man of 
 talent, who has only become the first of clerks. 
 
 The friendship of Delbriick and Camphausen, like that 
 of Damon and Pythias, is too close and touching to escape 
 the chronicler of the times. Political, personal, and social 
 sympathy binds them together. The local wits, until a 
 late period, were fond of drawing the two veterans, seeking 
 relief, after the labors and vexations of the d>iy, in a com- 
 mon and comfortable dinner at the Berliner Club. They 
 were both wifeless, and sought in each others' society a 
 substitute for domestic joys. This pleasing state of things 
 was rudely interrupted in the Spring of 1875. At that 
 time, Dr. Delbriick became the husband of an excellent
 
 48 rSRIKF BIOGRAI'IIIKS. 
 
 lady, ami the Minister of Finance has never since seemed 
 ha}»f)y. 
 
 Delbriick is known as a pronounced free-trader. In the 
 treaties that were negotiated under his direction tlic most 
 Hberal principles of trade found assertion. He is neither 
 a Cobden nor a Chevalier ; and he by no means enjoys, 
 as the former came before his death to enjoy, the honor of 
 conquering a whole nation to his opinions. Although the 
 doctrines of free trade have for many years been lairly re- 
 spected in German policy, they have by no means such an 
 unquestioned supremacy as in Kngland. There are two 
 great parties, that of free-trade being in a large majority. 
 Delbriick is simply a member of a party, of which, by vir- 
 tue of official position and advantages, he ha.s become one 
 of the leaders. Of course, this gives the protectionists a 
 grievance against him. In the protectionist press, and in 
 protectionist circles, it is common to speak of the "Du- 
 umvirate " Delbriick-Camphausen, as the source of all in- 
 dustrial or monetary evils that afflict the State, and, there- 
 fore, as public enemies to be pursued with fire and sword. 
 In the case of Camphausen, who is stout and sluggish, 
 the application of fire at least would make him very un- 
 comfortable. But it may be doubted whether it would 
 have much effect on Delbriick. He would emerge from 
 the flames a little singed, perhaps, and with ruptures here 
 and there in his tegumentary garments ; but he would re- 
 sume at once the course of parliamentary business, and 
 his first words would be, "Mcine Hcrrcn. "
 
 rv 
 
 
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 ji^^S^^ 
 
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 ^(^^Sl 
 
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 IV. 
 
 Herr Camphausen. 
 
 n:RR CAMPPIAUSEN is a politician who nearly 
 'J became a banker, and looks like an English peer 
 with plenty of money and the gout. If in his 
 own character he disproves the theor}', which came to 
 light in the Tichborne case, that stout men are always dull, 
 he likewise shakes the popular belief in their amiability. 
 In him, good living and corpulency have produced the 
 unusual result of a dyspeptic cynic. It would be incor- 
 rect to call him a grumbler. To grumble is an act of im- 
 patience as well as of ill-temper ; it is the protest of a per- 
 son against a state of things which he is unwilling to 
 entlure but is powerless to correct. The Prussian Minis- 
 ter of Finance is not a helpless or a weak man. He is not 
 even critical, captious, or meddling. But he resents in- 
 terference with his own work, and even fair criticism of his 
 own plans, as jealously and as ruthlessly as Mr. Lowe. 
 Here, however, the parallel ends. Mr. Lowe, as a scholar 
 ind a wit, entertained the house even in his most blood-
 
 50 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 thirsty moods ; Herr Camphausen is simply brutal without 
 any milder quality to make the brutality palatable. True, 
 he is ranked as a practical financier, and is not ignorant 
 of the principles of his chosen department. But there are 
 other financiers in Prussia. Now and then some of them 
 are elected to Parliament, and ought they to be scolded 
 and cudgeled because they criticise Herr Camphausen's 
 budgets ? 
 
 The prudence with which the brothers Campliausen 
 conducted their own affairs first called attention, I believe, 
 to their probable capacity for the affairs of the State. The 
 older brother was president of the Handclsgericht, or Tri- 
 bunal of Commerce, at Cologne ; and, what is quite unu- 
 sual in Prussia, he never climbed the hierarchical ladder 
 on his way to the cabinet. He first won distinction as 
 an opposition deputy in the United Assembly. In a mo- 
 ment of weakness, or of sanity, the King, Frederick Wil- 
 liam IV., invited him into the ministry, of which he be- 
 came president. It was a cabinet of compromise or 
 conciliation, and has not left a verj' savory record on the 
 history of the country. His tenure of office enabled him, 
 however, to help his brother Otto along. 
 
 Otto was born in 1 812, at Hiinshovcn, near Aix-la- 
 Chapelle. He studied at the gymnasium of Cologne 
 and the universities of Bonn, Heidelberg, Munich, and 
 Berlin. In 1834 he entered the civil service; in 1837 
 he became an auditor; in 1844 a Rath; in 1S45 a 
 Geheimera/h, or privy councilor of finance. His first 
 important legislative work was the preparation of the 
 Income Tax Act, which was laid before the Prussian 
 Landtag in 1847. In 1848 he became a diplomat on a_
 
 IIERR CAMPIIAUSEN. 51 
 
 small scale. He was attached to the Prussian delegation 
 at Frankfort on-the-I\Iain, which watched over the acts of 
 Reichsverweser Archduke John of Austria. As a financier it 
 may be presumed that Camphauscn was more concerned 
 with the revenues tlian the politics of the Staaicn-Bund. 
 A better school for the political student can hardl)' be 
 imagined. How to change the Staaten-Biind into a Bun- 
 desslaat, the Confederated States into a Federal State, 
 was the problem of the day, and Camphausen and Bis- 
 marck witnessed together the frivolous efforts of the Aus- 
 trian politicians. 
 
 in the year 1858, by one of those hierarchical distinc- 
 tions which only German usage and language can render, 
 the " Privy Councilor of Finance " became " Superior 
 Privy Councilor of Finance." When an official reaches 
 this point he is but one step from a portfolio on the one 
 hand or a pension on the other. In the case of Camp- 
 hausen it was a portfolio. Fie served a few years as Presi- 
 dent of the " See-IIandlung," an institution which ad- 
 ministered funds furnished by the State for the support and 
 encouragement of commerce. In those days it was in its 
 infancy, and a modest ward of the State. Under judicious 
 management — and not the least judicious was that of Camp- 
 hausen — it grew rich, powerful, and arrogant ; it could 
 almost set the Bank of Prussia at defiance ; and within a 
 year or two there have been loud complaints against it as 
 a dangerous institution which has outlived its usefulness. 
 
 Baron von der Heydt relinquished the portfolio of Fi- 
 nance in 1869, and Camphausen became his successor. The 
 downfall of the retiring minister had long been imminent. 
 He was a very wealthy merchant, one of those princes of
 
 52 ERIEF niOCRAnilES. 
 
 finance or commerce, who arc less common in Germany 
 than elsewhere, and wlio, when they appear, are generally 
 found to have close aflinities with their Dutch neighbors 
 over the Rhine. He was one of those equivocal Liberals, 
 so common in the early days of Prussian constitutional- 
 ism, who are acceptable to no party. Camphauson was 
 his predestined successor. As chief adviser of Von der 
 Ileydt and President of the Set-IIandlung, he was well 
 known to the public as a man who possessed, and he was 
 believed to deser\e, the confidence of his Majesty. 
 
 lie was called a Liberal. The national liberal party, 
 which had been organized after the "reconciliation" of 
 1866, was in full power in 1869, It classed the new 
 Finance Minister somewhat vaguely as a member. In the 
 parliamentary almanacs he is called an "Old Liberal;" 
 and this designation doubtless pleased him as well as any 
 other. Nobody can say what an "Old Liberal "is. It 
 would seem to describe a politician who prefers to play 
 fast and loose with party ties, appealing with equal fervor 
 to the fraternal sympathies of all factions, and owing a 
 formal allegiance to none. At any rate, an "Old Lib- 
 eral " must stand in contact with the new or modern 
 liberals ; that is to say, with those of the National Liberal 
 Association. As we shall see further on, this state of 
 things has hurt the prestige of the minister in parliament. 
 
 From the first moment the new ^Minister of Finance re- 
 vealed a very insubordinate and refractory spirit. He is not 
 a foe of constitutional institutions. He accepts them most 
 unreservedly in theory and even in their application to other 
 men. until they begin to disturb his own repose. But 
 to arraign him under their operation, to press parliament-
 
 HERR CAMPHAUSEN. 53 
 
 aiy privileges into the sacred precincts of the Finance 
 Ministry, is an exceedingly hazardous proceeding. This 
 is trespassing on dangerous ground. If the minister in 
 his wrath would only attack the principle of the interpella- 
 tion, the victim would more easily escape. He would 
 accuse Camphausen of disloyalty to parliamentary law, 
 and thus put him in an attitude of antagonism to the en- 
 tire House. This is never possible. The replies of the 
 ]Minister are always full of formal homage to the House, 
 but he lashes the individual offender, who within his rights 
 of course represents the House, with the most cruel and 
 savage retorts. The House laughs while it is most angry. 
 There is about the manner of the minister such a pom- 
 pous arrogance, such a masterly impudence, that pity is 
 drowned in admiration ; and, before the members have 
 sufficiently overcome their amazement to feel their indig- 
 nation, the subject has been dropped, and the offender is 
 quietly polishing up his gold spectacles. I believe that 
 both the Prussian House of Deputies and the Rcuhs/ag 
 are afraid of this belligerent person. They now and then 
 criticise him timidly when he is absent, but in his presence 
 their attitude is one of mingled fear and respect which is 
 deeply interesting to the observer. 
 
 It has been said of Camphausen, and truly, that he has 
 had the disposition of more money than any Minister of 
 Finance since the Prussian Exchequer was founded. His 
 predecessors were either cramped by the poverty and econ- 
 omy which honorably distinguished the pre-constitutional 
 era, or they were forced, as during the first two decades of 
 the constitutional era, to wrest money from or collect it in 
 spite of hostile parliaments. Camphausen has had little
 
 54 BRIEF EIOGRAnilES. 
 
 opposition and plenty of money. He came into ofiTicc as 
 a quasi-liberal in 1869, just when the fruits of the "recon- 
 ciliation " of the majority with the Government were about 
 to be reaped in further measures of union. Then came the 
 war with France, which silenced the voice of unpatriotic 
 censure. It was an easy thing to satisfy a people wlio 
 were following events in France instead of studying the 
 measures of the treasury. After the war came the milliards. 
 
 This, the most prosperous, was at the same time the 
 most critical moment in Herr Camphausen's career. Of 
 the five milliards paid by France as indemnity, about two- 
 thirds went to Prussia, and into the hands of the Minister 
 of Finance, while the distribution of the remainder was 
 largely determined by his advice. It is no part of our 
 duty to criticise or even to explain the details of this great 
 financial operation. Nothing like it had ever been known 
 in the annals of civilized States, and this must perhaps be 
 suffered to soften the judgment of the measures to which 
 it gave rise. 
 
 It is perhaps not the fault of Camphausen if, in a land 
 where the Prince still reigns by divine right, not a franc 
 of this immense sum was used to lighten the burdens of 
 the people. It was disbursed in the forms of gifts to 
 princes and ministers, for the construction and repair of 
 fortifications, for building military railways and ironclads, 
 and in a measure for hospitals, pensions, and other benevo- 
 lent interests. It may be urged, of course, that these were 
 necessary works, and that, without the indemnity, an ap- 
 propriation, and therefore fresh taxes, would have been 
 necessary. This is only partially true. At the end of a 
 costly war the Government would hardly have asked the
 
 IIERR CAMPIIAUSEN. 55 
 
 people to make fresh offerings for the army and the forts. 
 ^Herr Camphausen was understood to promise a Hghtening 
 of taxes as a result of the indemnity, but it was never ap- 
 parent to the country. This diasppointment was a great 
 blow to Camphausen's prestige. Since that operation he 
 has been bitterly hated by the nation at large, and out of 
 favor with the great body of Liberal deputies. This may 
 not have affected in the slightest degree his own satisfac- 
 tion with himself and with his work. It certainly has not 
 dulled the acerbity of his temper. 
 
 The next important measure in which Herr Camphausen 
 was concerned, was the Banking Act of 1874. As this 
 has been mentioned also in the" notice of Camphausen's 
 colleague, the President Delbriick, I shall refer to it now 
 only so far as it may seem to bear on the subject of the 
 present sketch. As one of the Prussian delegates to the 
 Bundesrath, Camphausen naturally takes a leading part in 
 the preparation of financial measures ; and the Banking 
 Bill, as presented to parliament last year, was justly be- 
 lieved to embody, in a large degree, his favorite views. 
 That he was bold enough to discard many of the leading 
 features of Peel's Bank Act, was, at the time, the subject of 
 much comment, as was the chief principle that he himself 
 introduced. 
 
 This principle was in general that of taxing surplus cir- 
 culation. A normal limit to the issue of each bank was 
 fixed ; above this point all issues, to another fixed limit, 
 were taxed at the rate of one per cent. ; above this second 
 limit a tax of five per cent, was levied. The theory seems 
 to be that in ordinary times the total untaxed circulation 
 will be adequate to the public needs. When, however,
 
 $6 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 there is a demand for more currency it will become i/>so 
 /ado profitable to issue more, even under the one per 
 cent, tax ]:)rovision. At the same time the ability to pay 
 this tax will be confined to the strongest banks, which are 
 those most desirable in the public interest as banks of 
 issue. In the original bill no provision was made for an 
 Imperial Bank. The Bank of Prussia was to receive its 
 share of circulation like any other bank, but it was as the 
 Bank of Prussia. This the majority corrected in the man- 
 ner described in another article. The Bank of Prussia was 
 converted into an Imperial Bank, without, however, affect- 
 ing the right of issue conceded to other banks. 
 
 The working of this novel principle in banking is 
 watched with a good deal of curiosity throughout Europe. 
 It is, of course, too early yet to pronounce judgment on its 
 success, for the complete transfer from the old system to an 
 uniform currency is far from being complete, and has not 
 been unattended with difficulties. At the time we write 
 there is great stringency in the money market. The with- 
 drawal of the old Prussian notes has not been followed by 
 the issue of an adequate supply of imperial money, and 
 the circulating medium is not equal to the wants of trade. 
 This is, of course, all referred by popular logic to the 
 Finance Minister himself. On his broad shoulders all the 
 blame is thrown, but on the streets his carriage is as im- 
 posing and his mien as sublime as in the most prosperous 
 times. 
 
 To complete Herr Camphausen's official record, he 
 was a member of the Prussian Landtag from 1849 to 
 1852, and of the Erfurt Parliament. He was created a 
 member of the Herrenhaus, or Chamber of Peers, in i860.
 
 HERR CAMPHAUSEN. 57 
 
 and took his seat in 1861. He became a delegate to the 
 Federal Council in 1870. Two years ago an official 
 pamphlet was prepared with an account of Camphausen's 
 leading achievements as a minister. The Parliamentary 
 Handbook, from which I glean the above facts, observes at 
 the close, that Camphausen's policy has always aimed at 
 lightening the burdens of the poorer classes and adding to 
 those of the wealthier. This would seem to distinguish 
 him from those financiers who maintain that the weight of 
 taxation ought to fall on the poor. 
 
 Camphausen is one of the ministers whom, against his 
 will and without his knowledge, the gossips are always 
 sending into retirement. At the time I write, reports of 
 his resignation are again current. These spring, in a 
 measure, from the general dislike in which he is held, and, 
 in a measure, from the belief that the Chancellor does not 
 share all his financial and theoretical views. Prince Bis- 
 marck has never pretended to special knowledge of finan- 
 cial subjects. This has of course been a fortunate thing for 
 Camphausen, who has thereby come less seldom into con- 
 flict with his chief than the other ministers. In these days, 
 however, a rumor has been in circulation that the Prince 
 was veering round toward protectionist views, and that a 
 policy antagonistic to free trade might, in view of a wide- 
 spread industrial depression, be introduced in legislative 
 measures. This would necessitate the withdrawal of the 
 Finance Minister. One of the things which even his Lib- 
 eral critics are not reluctant to praise is his steadfast and 
 intelligent devotion to free trade, and he could not for an 
 instant form part of a government which should demand 
 the sacrifice of that principle.
 
 58 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 All this, however, rests on rumor, and Herr Camp- 
 hausen will probably remain. A man of two hundred and 
 fifty pounds weight, a stubborn will, and an ugly temper, 
 is not easily moved in so conservative a land as Prussia.
 
 PART III. 
 
 The Diplomatic Service.
 
 V. 
 
 Prince Hohenlohe. 
 
 HE natural and accepted supremacy of Prussia in 
 the German Empire makes it inevitable that her 
 public men should be at the same time the rep- 
 resentative public men of all Germany. Deeply as this 
 may be felt by the patriots as well as the separatists of Sax- 
 ony or Bavaria, it is a political consequence of 1866, con- 
 firmed by the events of 1870-71 ; and it has a moral 
 explanation even more pregnant and obvious than the po- 
 litical. IMere numbers alone would not be adequate. At- 
 tica was not the most populous State of Greece, but she 
 furnished the statesmen as well as the poets and philoso- 
 phers, Prussia has contributed the guiding politicians of 
 Germany, because she educates and trains them. The se- 
 cret is in that comprehensive bureaucracy, through the de- 
 grees of which a candidate for political honors passes as in 
 the army, till he comes forth an experienced political .serv- 
 ant. He is likely to be somewhat narrow in his views, and 
 wedded to formulas in his method. But he is at all events 
 trained in the theory and the practice of his profession.
 
 62 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Such a system could not be maintained in a republic. The 
 one permanent, recognized center, around which all re- 
 volve, is not found in the person or the office of an elect- 
 ive President. Democracy excites, as it ought to excite, 
 the spirit of initiative — too often, alas, of irresponsible ini- 
 tiative — and this is fatal to an established bureaucratic sys- 
 tem, like that of Prussia. 
 
 It is a curious fact, and one which confirms the forego- 
 ing reasoning, that the one typical non-Prussian states- 
 man, whom we have selected, owes his success in politics 
 in no small degree to the training which he received in the 
 Prussian civil service. Prince Hohenlohe did not begin 
 his career in his native State till he had qualified himself 
 by years of hard work in Prussia. He may, indeed, owe 
 his rapid rise in the councils of the Empire to his escape 
 from the shackles of Prussian routine, but this does not 
 exclude the counter-theory that the discipline of that rou- 
 tine helped him upv/ard in his own State. Herr Brachvo- 
 gel, one of Hohenlohe's biographers, thinks that the Prince 
 "did not regard the Prussia of that time as the model 
 State, that she was, indeed, far from that degree of political 
 maturity. But the real spiritual, moral, and eflfective ma- 
 terial, out of which alone a good, strong, and influential 
 State is built, was there. This material he had, as an offi- 
 cial, studied in its worst, most crippled, antiquated, and 
 helpless form, under Eichhorn, and had learned to respect 
 it." * It is this man, now German Ambassador at Paris, 
 and one of the most trusty advisers of Prince Bismarck, 
 who is the subject of the following pages. 
 
 * Brachvogel : Die Maimer der Neuen Deutschen Zeit. Vol. III.
 
 PRI^XE IIOHENLOIIE. 6;^ 
 
 The family Hohenlohe traces itself back as far as Gis- 
 bert, Duke of last Franconia, who was converted to 
 Christianity about the middle of the seventh century. It 
 is customary, however, to regard as the head of the family 
 Hermann the Illustrious. His son changed the name 
 PvOthenburg to Hohenlohe. His son again, Siegfried — 
 and this is a curious fact in view of recent events in the 
 life of our Hohenlohe — this Siegfried was one of the suite 
 of the Emperor Henry IV., when that monarch went to 
 Canossa to humble himself at the feet of the Pope,* but 
 returned to Germany before the performance of the humil- 
 iating act. The line continues down to the year 1553, 
 when it was divided into a Protestant and a Catholic 
 branch. The present statesman belongs to the latter. We 
 have traced his descent thus in some detail, not for any in- 
 terest that such genealogical questions for their own sake 
 may have for our readers, but because of two remarks that 
 in Hohenlohe's case they always suggest. The first is, 
 that a noble of his exalted family connections should vol- 
 untarily enter and pursue, like any plebeian, a long course 
 of training in the civil service of Prussia. The other re- 
 mark was made at the time of Hohenlohe's appointment to 
 Paris, and to the effect that the selection of one of the 
 most powerful and illustrious nobles of Germany was a 
 compliment to France, out of which the best auguries 
 might be extracted. 
 
 Chlodwig Carl Victor was born on the 31st of INIarch, 
 1819, on the family estate of Schillingsfiirst, in Bavaria. 
 He had four brothers, one older, the present Duke of 
 
 * Braclivo£rel.
 
 64 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Ratibor, and three younger, one of them being Cardinal 
 Hohenlohe, and another a Chamberlain of the Emperor 
 of Austria. Since the family property had become much 
 reduced, and Chlodwig as second son could not claim the 
 title and honors of the house, he resolved to seek his own 
 fortune in the most democratic way. After studying poli- 
 tics and law at the universities of Gottingen, Heidelberg, 
 and Bonn, he began at the bottom-round to climb the 
 official ladder of the Prussian service. " AuscuUator," 
 '' Refer endar," "Assessor," these titles represent to a 
 Prussian the steps in his progress. In 1840, or there- 
 abouts, his brother became heir to a large estate by a col- 
 lateral line, and was made Duke of Ratibor, Chlodwig 
 might have become head of the Schillingfiirst line and a 
 Filrsi (Prince). To the astonishment of his friends and 
 the vexation of the Bavarians he preferred to stick to his 
 briefs and deeds, and the next younger son, Philip Ernst 
 received the dignity. Five years later, however, Chlodwig 
 seems to have thought hie hour was come. Philip Ernst 
 died, and the elder brother finally took possession of the 
 family estates, and became Fiirstvon Hohenlohe-Schilling- 
 fiirst. He retired from the Prussian service, and assumed the 
 dignities and duties of his new position in his native land. 
 The period of training ends here, and that of action 
 begins. 
 
 As head of a noble family, Fiirst Hohenlohe enjoyed 
 thc'honors of a Reichsra/h, and a seat in the Upper Cham- 
 bei of the Landtag. Parliamentary life was not then ac- 
 tive in Bavaria. The Stale was in a transition state from 
 feudalism to constitutionalism ; and in fact Hohenlohe 
 himself was the reporter of a bill which aimed at making
 
 PRINCE IIOHENLOIIE. 65 
 
 lliis transition more rapid and sure. In 1848 the imperial 
 or '' Bundes" government at Frankfort-on-the-JNIain invited 
 him into the diplomatic service. Fie filled the position of 
 ambassador successively at Athens, Florence, and Rome. 
 In 1849 he was offered a portfolio in the Bavarian minis- 
 \xy and declined it. Having passed his " Lehrjahre, " * he 
 was now anxious to complete his " Wanderjahre ;" and 
 too early an entry upon cabinet work would not have been 
 reconcilable with his plans. He ended this stage in his 
 career at London. In 1850 he retired from politics and 
 lived with his family on his estate, making, however, from 
 time to time, visits to France, Italy, and England. In 
 i860 he again took his seat in the Reichsrath. Prince 
 William had become King of Prussia, and had already 
 iniiiated the new policy which was to be so vigorously and 
 successfully pursued by Bismarck. During these years, 
 and up to 1866, but one issue divided parties in Bavaria, 
 the rival claims of Austria and Prussia to the Bavarian 
 alliance. The extreme Catholic or Ultramontane faction, 
 the so-called patriots, and, it must be said, the majority 
 of the nation, inclined to the former. A smaller party, 
 mostly Protestants and Liberals, represented the Prussian 
 interest. Hohenlohe was the leader of this party. In his 
 speeches and all his public acts he persistently maintained 
 that the hope of German unity lay in Prussia, and up to 
 Sadowa itself, he warned his countrjanen against the fatal 
 consequences of a league with Austria. 
 
 * The German mechanics pass through a period of apprenticeship, 
 called the " Lehrjahre," and a period of traveling called the " \Yan- 
 derjahre." Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister" is founded on this practice
 
 66 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 When, after the close of the war, the Minister Von der 
 Pfardten came before the Chamber to ask the ratification 
 of the treaty of peace, Hohenlohe declared, under the 
 applause of the House, that "the ratification of the treaty 
 of peace must be the last political act of the ministry, and 
 only by the immediate retirement of this cabinet can the 
 country recover from its severe trial." After this no suc- 
 cessor but Hohenlohe was possible. On January ist, 1867, 
 he became Premier of Bavaria and IMinister of Foreign 
 Affairs. His policy in German politics he explained in 
 the Chamber by the following remark : "I hold it to be 
 more expedient now, while everything is in motion, while 
 things are adjusting themselves, to take a position towards 
 the North German Confederation whereby it is possible to 
 secure favorable conditions for the independence of Ba- 
 varia and her dynasty — I hold this to be more expedient 
 than to knock at a finished house, of which the doors are 
 already locked." He also drew up for the information of 
 the King a long memorandum of the policy which would 
 govern him as minister. 
 
 In August, 1867, he carried through the Landtag, by 
 clever parliamentary strategy, a treaty of alliance, offensive 
 and defensive, with Prussia, as well as a commercial treaty 
 amounting to a ZoUverein. When the Zoll or Customs 
 Parliament met at Berlin in 1868 it recognized Hohen- 
 lohe's services by electing him president. 
 
 The most important service rendered by Hohenlohe was, 
 nevertheless, against the Church of which he was a 
 member, to which the great majority of the Bavarian peo- 
 ple belonged, and in the Holy College of which his broth- 
 er sat as a cardinal. To him belongs the honor of first
 
 TRINXE IIOIIENLOHE. 6/ 
 
 grasping the significance of the Council of the Vatican. 
 While even Prince Bismarck was inactive, and his Minister 
 at the Vatican, Harry Von Arnim, was coquetting with 
 Jesuits and priests, and long before any other power had 
 taken any active measures against the pending revolu- 
 tion, Prince Hohenlohe, the minister of little Catholic 
 Bavaria, had mastered the situation and was trying to teach 
 it to Europe. In March, 1869, he issued a circular note 
 to the representatives of Bavaria abroad. In view of its 
 historical importance, and of the revelation of Hohen- 
 lohe's foresight which it affords, I give a complete transla- 
 tion : 
 
 Circular Dispatch in Regard to the Council. 
 
 " It may now with certainty be assumed that, unless unforeseen obstacles 
 arise, the (Ecumenical Council, called by his Holiness Pope Pius IX., will act- 
 ually meet in December. Without doubt it will be attended by a great number 
 of bishops from all parts of the world, and will be larger than any that has yet 
 taken place ; and it will claim for itself and its acts, in the public opinion of the 
 Catholic world, the high respect due to an CEcumenical Council. 
 
 " That the Council will occupy itself with purely dogmatic questions, with 
 purely theological subjects, is not to be supposed, since questions of that sortt 
 which demand such a solution, are not at hand. The only dogmatic question 
 which it is hoped may be settled in Rome by the Council, and for which the 
 Jesuits in Italy as in Germany and elsewhere are agitating, is, as I learn from 
 a trustworthy source, that of the infallibility of the Pope. This, however, 
 reaches far beyond the strictly theological domain, and is of the highest political 
 nature, since therewith the fame of the Popes would be elevated over all Princes 
 and people, in secular matters, to an article of faith. 
 
 "If, now, this highly important and momentous question is well adapted to 
 direct the attention of all governments, which have Catholic subjects, toward 
 the Council, their interest, or more properly their concern, must be intensified, 
 when they regard the preparation now making and the choice of the commit- 
 tees for this work in Rome. Among these is one to which is assigned exclu- 
 sively the politico-ecclesiastical matters. It is therefore beyond doubt the 
 intention of the Roman Court that at least some resolutions concerning such 
 matters or questions of a mixed nature, shall be formed by the Council. Hence 
 the Civilita Caiolica, the periodical of the Jesuits, which Pope Pius IX. in a 
 special treve endowed with the character of an official organ of the Curia, men
 
 68 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 tioned as a task incumbent on the Council to convert the anathemata pro- 
 nounced by the Pope on December 8, 1864, into positive resolves or conciliatory 
 decrees. Since these articles of the syllabus are directed at many axioms of po- 
 litical life as developed among all civilized peoples, the earnest question pre- 
 sents itself to the governments, how and in what form they shall convey to 
 their respective bishops, and later to the Council itself, a sense of the serious 
 consequences of such a disturbance of the present relations of Church and 
 State. The question also further arises, whether it be not expedient for the 
 governments in common, perhaps through their representatives in Rome, to en- 
 ter a caution or protest against such resolves as might be made by the Council 
 independently, without the concurrence of the representatives of the States, 
 without any previous communication over clerico-political questions or those of 
 a mixed nature. 
 
 " It appears to me to be imperatively necessary that the States interested try 
 to reach a mutual understanding upon this serious affair. I have hitherto waited 
 to see if a move would not be made from some direction ; since this has not 
 taken place, however, I feel it my duty to authorize you to bring the subject up 
 for discussion by the government to which you are accredited, in order to learn 
 its views and feelings. 
 
 "You will therefore suggest for the consideration of such government the 
 question, whether common if not united action of th^ European States, in a 
 form more or less identical, ought not to be taken, in order not to leave the 
 Curia in doubt about their attitude toward the Council ; and whether some sort 
 of aconference between the representatives of the interested governments would 
 be the best method of obtaining an exchange of view in regard to that attitude. 
 
 " You will leave a copy of this dispatch, if desired, and send report about the 
 spirit in which it is received." 
 
 As Hohenlohe foresaw the war with Rome, so he early 
 foresaw that wdth France. In February, 1870, half a 
 year before the actual declaration of war, he said, in the 
 presence of some political friends : " There can no longer 
 be any doubt that war will break out in the course of this 
 year between France and Germany."* The recent elec- 
 tions had returned a small clerical majority, and though 
 the King offered to retain Hohenlohe, he decided to re- 
 tire. " If I am at the head of aflairs," urged he, " the 
 opposition will refuse, out of hostility toward me, to carry 
 
 * Miinucr der neiicn detttschen Kelt. Vol. III.
 
 PRINCE HOHENLOIIE. 69 
 
 out the terms of the alHance with Prussia ; but if a particu- 
 "lafisl [i.e., "states-rights"] ministry be in power, it will be 
 carried away by the popular feeling and do its duty." This 
 statesmanlike theory was carried into effect. On the 13th 
 of February he resigned his office, and Count von Bray, 
 on his advice, became his successor. He did not, how- 
 ever, relinquish all participation in politics. When the war 
 actually broke out he hastened to Munich, and by his 
 counsel kept up the spirits of both King and people. 
 
 After the close of the war Hohenlohe took an active 
 part in the organization of the new imperial system. He 
 was chosen to the first Imperial Parliament from his home 
 district in Franconia, and has been regularly re-elected. As 
 a deputy he belonged to the national party, and has stead- 
 ily supported Bismarck's ecclesiastical and foreign policy. 
 As a faithful, but modest deputy, Fiirst Hohenlohe served 
 the cause of the Fatherland till 1874, when events, quite 
 as much as the favor of Bismarck, summoned him to a 
 new post of great honor and greater difficulty. 
 
 ' With the circumstances which led to the removal of 
 Count Harry von Arnim from the head of the German 
 embassy at Paris, the public has lately become pretty 
 familiar. Some more details on the subject will be given 
 in the next chapter, on Arnim. But the public was not 
 equally familiar with his successor, and his recommenda- 
 tion for the succession. The secondary role necessarily 
 played by the smaller States in imperial politics, and the 
 overshadowing greatness of Bismarck's own name, almost 
 invited the world not to know the obscure but faithful 
 leaders, who, in critical moments, had kept the South Ger- 
 man States up to their duty. Prince Hohenlohe was the
 
 70 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 first of these, but that was only to be first in the second 
 class. The Chancellor, however, knew his man. He 
 knew that if Hohenlohe wanted the versatility of Arnim, 
 he possessed, on the other hand, nearly every qualifica- 
 tion that Arnim wanted. He was, in the first place, a man 
 who resolutely put his own fortunes after the welfare of 
 the State, in importance. He had as much foresight as 
 Arnim ; but, unlike him, he never mistook his fancy for 
 facts and made it the basis of official action. Years of 
 thorough training had taught him that indispensable spirit 
 of discipline and obedience which is the secret of the 
 Prussian service. His powerful and ancient family con- 
 nections were not to be overlooked in the candidate for a 
 service which is still highly aristocratic. He being a repre- 
 sentative South German, his appointment was a prudent 
 if not a necessary compliment to the loyalty of the smaller 
 States. He was profoundly devoted to the policy of Bis- 
 marck. And finally, as the best professional qualification, 
 he had filled diplomatic posts in several important capitals, 
 had traveled much, and knew the manners and men of 
 many countries. 
 % In the summer of 1864, the Prince was appointed to the 
 
 Paris Embassy, and entered at once on the duties of the 
 position. He was received with pleasure by the French 
 Government, and enjoys in French society as much credit 
 as it is willing to accord to a German. His diplomatic 
 triumphs are yet, indeed, to be won. The peaceful course 
 of aff"airs between the two nations has given little occasion 
 for any display of ability on the part of the ambassador, 
 but when an emergency arises it cannot be questioned that 
 he will do his duty like a statesman and a patriot.
 
 PRINCE HOHENLOHE. 7I 
 
 Prince Hohenlohe was married on the i6th of February, 
 1847, to Maria, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein. Two chil- 
 dren are the fruit of this union, Stephan, born in 185 1, 
 and Philipp Ernst, in 1853. The Princess takes a keen in- 
 terest in politics ; and by her connections and her encour- 
 agement has been a valuable support to her husband's 
 plans. 
 
 Herr Brachvogel has a marked and sometimes ludicrous 
 tendency to deify his heroes, but the following account of 
 Hohenlohe's appearance is not very much overdrawn : 
 " There are human countenances, from which an idea of 
 character can be learned only with difficulty, and seldom 
 with certainty. Such a face Prince^ Hohenlohe has not, 
 for his reveals clearly and truly what the man is and what 
 he is not. The form of the head, the lines of the profile, 
 the position of the lower jaw, make of his portrait what is 
 called a 'fine head.' The superior humanity and repose 
 which speak out of his lineaments, out of his earnest, be- 
 nevolent, dark glance, give the impression of an ample 
 supply of heart and brain, together with the conviction 
 that they could serve only the purest cause. The muscles 
 of the forehead are very marked, and a result of the men- 
 tal labor which has been going on beneath in the labora- 
 tory of human ideas. The short crisp hair above the high 
 but narrow forehead ; the fine lips, which move in har- 
 mony with the movements of the eye, and are shaded by a 
 moustache, which hides their involuntary play ; and then 
 the delicately slender but not too tall figure, the easy and 
 elegant carriage, characterize the statesman as well as the 
 man of the world. * 
 
 Brachvogel, Vol. III., p. 168.
 
 72 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 The leading features of his character, as shown by actions, 
 the same writer describes as follows : " We do not believe 
 the Prince could be very violent, nor that he is capable of 
 too transparent humor. His physiognomy is like a thin 
 vail, which never forms too thick folds, which reveals, how- 
 ever, in firm contours, all that passes behind it, in the 
 spirit 01 the emotions of its owner. To the strong posi- 
 tive knowledge of the Prince is allied the gift of sharp and 
 rapid judgment, clearness of mind, and readiness with the 
 pen ; especially, too, a calm and dispassionate view of facts, 
 a determined grasp on what is held to be right, an incor- 
 ruptible unselfishness, and yet a tenderness of heart, and 
 the difficult art of conciliating an opponent's opinion."* 
 
 This describes pretty nearly a saint in politics, and, of 
 course, some degree of exaggeration must be pardoned to 
 t\ie patriotic enthusiasm of the author. But the tribute to 
 Hohenlohe's benevolence and integrity 's not overdrawn. 
 The respect of his enemies, and the admiration of his 
 friends agree in doing homage to a statesman whose pri- 
 vate character illustrates the virtues of domestic life as 
 transparently as his official career illustrates those of the 
 citizen and the patriot. 
 
 * Brachvogel, Vol. III., p. i63.
 
 VI. 
 
 Count Harry von Arnim. 
 
 F Prince Hohenlohe, the present Ambassador at 
 Paris, is but little known outside of Germany, 
 Count von Arnim is at least notorious. The 
 catise celebre in which he figured as defendant was a scan- 
 dal that the world will not soon forget ; and it was itself 
 enough to assure the Count that questionable sort of fame 
 which the dignity of the nineteenth century does not for- 
 bid it from granting to such sensational characters. Thanks 
 to the exactions of a curious public, but few of the details 
 of Count Arnim's life have escaped publication. In the 
 sketch which I shall give of him, however, the reader will 
 not expect, or expecting will not receive, a barren recital 
 of gossip, such as the arrest and trial and sen-tence of the 
 diplomatist called into being. What is not forbidden by 
 the dignity of history is at least forbidden by respect for a 
 family which has deserved well of its country, and whose 
 least fortunate member was long a trusted servant of his 
 sovereign.
 
 74 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 The history of Harry von Arnim is that of a man of 
 aristocratic birth and powerful connection, whose natural 
 advantages had been improved by the best education and 
 the best training that Prussia affords ; who entered on his 
 official career with glowing prospects, rising steadily to the 
 most important diplomatic post in his country's service ; 
 and who, through too much confidence, leading him from 
 one false step to another, finally arrived in the prisoner's 
 dock of a criminal court, and there stood up before the 
 eyes of the world to be sentenced like a common felon. 
 To-day he is a wanderer in foreign lands and an outcast 
 from the society of his own friends. Sad as is this career, 
 and a sadder one can hardly be found in the records of 
 Germany, it will be for the reader to inquire, after reading 
 the facts, whether posterity is likely to reverse a judgment 
 confirmed by the highest court in Prussia. 
 
 The Arnims cannot, like the Hohenlohes, trace their lin- 
 eage back to the middle ages, but, as a family, I believe 
 they are some two centuries old. The immediate ances- 
 tors of Harry were aristocratic but not titled. His grand- 
 father was poor and obscure ; but he served his countiy 
 in one of the most useful of all ways — by raising children. 
 He had no fewer than eleven sons, five of whom fell at the 
 Battle of Waterloo. Harry himself was adopted by his 
 uncle, Heinrich von Arnim. So little was known of the 
 family that Harry was generally supposed to be the son 
 instead of the ward of the so-called " March Minister" — a 
 relationship of which he might indeed have been proud. 
 History moved so swiftly in Prussia during the past dec- 
 ade that new readings are very often necessary. The names 
 of Harry von Arnim and Marshal Manteuffel were once
 
 COUNT HARRY VON ARNIM. 75 
 
 associated as the two leading members of a possible Con- 
 servative coalition against Prince Bismarck, but a good 
 many people have probably forgotten that the guardian 
 of the former was a bitter political foe of the latter's brother, 
 and was, like his protege, prosecuted in a police court for 
 a political delinquency. It was in the days of Friedrich 
 Wilhelm IV. , and Heinrich von Arnim was one of those 
 who would not go to Olmiitz. He was a man of showy 
 talents and a fine speaker. While Manteuffel was away on 
 his humiliating pilgrimage Arnim made a public speech, in 
 which the conduct of Manteuffel was arraigned with all 
 the vigor and eloquence of an indignant patriotism ; and 
 the returning minister responded by citing him before the 
 court for the speech. Arnim defended himself by another 
 speech. It was before a couple of judges and half-a-dozen 
 attorneys, and he himself was accustomed to sneer at his 
 audience, but the performance was an admirable one. 
 The ministry forbade its publication, and it was printed in 
 Switzerland. Heinrich von Arnim was in every respect 
 one of the finest characters in modern Prussian history. 
 He was a scholar and an orator, a diplomatist who scorned 
 intrigue, and a minister who was first a patriot. His aus- 
 tere life and grave demeanor won him the sobriquet of the 
 Bet-bruder (Prayer-brother). The irreverent thought this 
 was a term of ridicule, but Arnim accepted it as an honor. 
 With the precepts and example of this excellent man 
 constantly before him, young Arnim passed his youth and 
 early manhood. His studies were made chiefly in Berlin. 
 At the university he was a model man, full of wit and 
 spirits, a leader in literary circles, a good fencer and horse- 
 man, and fond of all sorts of manly exercise. He was in-
 
 y6 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 deed poor, but he was proud, chivalrous, and popular. 
 Already in those days he was marked for a political career, 
 and when he entered the diplomatic service his promotion 
 was as rapid as could be desired. 
 
 He first became known to the world, and therefore an 
 object of popular interest, at Rome. It had been the pol- 
 icy of the Prussian Government to treat the embassy at the 
 Holy See rather as a sinecure, to be confided to elderly 
 savans seeking for Latin particles or the origin of Roman 
 civilization, than to active professional politicians. Peace, 
 or at least a truce, prevailed between Berlin and the Vati- 
 can. Devout Protestants, with at least a public respect 
 for the Church of Rome, were always acceptable to the 
 Pope. Harry von Arnim was, however, a scholar as well 
 as a politician. His appointment to Rome was in no sense 
 disrespectful to the memory of his learned predecessors, 
 while it unmistakably lifted the mission to the rank of a 
 political post, calling for the service of a trained politi- 
 cian. 
 
 The opportunity for political work did not come at first. 
 No disturbing questions were pending for a time, and Ar- 
 nim enjoyed and improved a city where everything appealed 
 to his taste, his culture, and his scholarship. He made pro- 
 found studies of ancient Roman art, and mastered, in the 
 spirit of an antiquarian, the history of extinct societies in 
 that wonderful peninsula. He was one of the most popu- 
 lar members of the diplomatic corps. The graces of his 
 person and manner won the admiration of the ladies, his wit 
 and eloquence were prized even by the witty and eloquent 
 Italians, and his real or affected piety revealed to the Vati- 
 can the possibility of an illustrious convert. When the as-
 
 COUNT HARRY VON ARNIM. yj 
 
 semblingof the QEcumenical Council brought the hour for 
 action, the Prussian Ambassador had won a position en- 
 joyed by none of his colleagues. 
 
 In regard to the attitude which the State should take 
 toward the Council, it has since been revealed that there 
 was an original difference of view between Arnim and Bis- 
 marck. The former explained his theory in the celebrated 
 " Promemoria," addressed to Dr. Dollinger ; the latter 
 in the form of instruction to the ambassador himself In 
 referring to the views of Arnim, so far as is necessary for 
 my purpose, I shall guard against calling him a friend of 
 Ultramontanism. His own published memoranda refute 
 such a charge. But his opposition to Rome was different 
 in intensity, and still more in character, from that of Prince 
 Bismarck and the Liberals of Germany. Count von Ar- 
 nim abhors Roman Catholic doctrine in the spirit of a 
 Prussian Protestant ; Prince Bismarck abhors the Roman 
 Catholic Church in the spirit of a free-thinking, German 
 politician. Arnim would tolerate the Church in the inter- 
 ests of the throne and nobility, if she did not teach too 
 much false doctrine. Bismarck cares nothing about her 
 dogmas and decrees, but a great deal about her power as 
 a social and political factor in Germany. And the lack of 
 harmony between the two at Rome arose just out of this 
 initial difference in political methods. Count von Arnim 
 wished the State to interfere in the Council in order to 
 save the Church from a theological' calamity, while Bis- 
 marck wished the dogma to be rejected in the interest of 
 the State and society. Arnim saw clearly that the Coun- 
 cil, as an ecclesiastical legislature, was wholly in the power 
 of the Italian Jesuits, and he saw, too, what a great many
 
 78 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 statesmen did not see, that the noji placet of the Ge-- 
 man, French, and American bishops would not have tbe 
 sHghtest moral effect on the Council, and would not be 
 maintained even by those prelates themselves without the 
 active support of the civil power. His recommendation 
 to the German, or rather the Prussian Government, was, 
 therefore, first, to appoint an agent who should demand the 
 privilege of being present at all sessions of the Council, and 
 second, to make the resistance of the Prussian and German 
 bishops a State cause, to be supported as such. Here was 
 the draft of a distinct policy, which, if adopted, would have 
 wholly changed the relations of the European States to 
 the Council. It is but just to Count von Arnim to say 
 that many men, who are in no special sense his friends, 
 concede to him now a remarkably clear view of the matter 
 at the time, and even believe, in view of the action which 
 the State is now taking toward the Church, that his advice 
 was wise, and ought to have been followed. He was cer- 
 tainly correct in predicting that the German opposition to 
 infallibility would not stand without the aid of the State. 
 Whether the converse be true, as he thought in 1870, and 
 insists to-day, is a problem which will never be solved. 
 Bismarck declined to interfere with the course of legislation 
 at the Vatican, and in two dispatches, which he has since 
 published, he set forth his reasons for leaving things to 
 take their own course, and testifies furthermore to the 
 complete indifference on the subject which then prevailed 
 in Prussia. 
 
 That this difierence of view did not lead to any personal 
 coolness, seems to follow necessarily from Arnim's transfer 
 in 1871 to Paris, with the title of Count. This was a post
 
 COUNT HARRY VON ARNIM. 7g 
 
 of greater difificulty. It was just after the war, when the 
 resentment of the French extended to everything German, 
 and an ambassador needed a rare union of tact and de- 
 cision, of suavity and firmness. In the judgment of disin- 
 terested observers at Paris, who were neither German nor 
 French, Arnim was a zealous and sagacious ambassador. 
 No complaint about his conduct was made till his opinions 
 became irreconcilable with those of Bismarck. When his 
 opinion began to influence his conduct, and to give to 
 the Paris Embassy a tendency quite hostile to the policy 
 of the Chancellor of the Empire, a personal hostility 
 arose, with the results which are now widely known. As 
 soon, however, as the breach came, and the critics began 
 to study and compare the characters of the two men, it 
 appeared that there was an irreconcilable antagonism be- 
 tween them, which made continued harmony very difficult. 
 It was the duty of the present writer a year ago to describe 
 this antagonism, and he sees now very little reason to mod- 
 ify what he then wrote. 
 
 Both men belong to the parvcfiu aristocracy. The ex- 
 treme Conservatives complain very often that Prince Bis- 
 marck has never paid them for the suit of clothes they 
 gave him when he took office in the interest of reaction 
 ten years ago. Harry von Arnim was a penniless ad- 
 venturer till a fortunate marriage gave him wealth and 
 social position. He belongs, like Bismarck, to what may 
 be called the mediatized aristocracy — the aristocracy which 
 has become reconciled to political service under parlia- 
 mentary institutions, and even to a respectable rate of prog- 
 ress in that line. The similarity does not extend, how- 
 ever, beyond their origin and family circumstances, and in
 
 8o BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 character and manner Count von Arnim is almost the 
 reverse of Bismarck. The Chancellor is a cuirassier, with 
 an extravagant degree of the cuirassier's rude and over- 
 bearing affectation. The Ambassador is a civilian, and a 
 polished gentleman. Bismarck is impulsive and despotic ; 
 Arnim is composed, courteous, reasonable. The former 
 has the most intellectual force ; the latter the more culti- 
 vated mind. Arnim would not have fought the Prussian 
 Chambers so stubbornly ten years ago ; Bismarck could 
 not bandy Latin syllogisms with Roman cardinals and 
 talk Etruscan art with French savatis. In his political 
 principles Bismarck has broken entirely away from his 
 class ; Arnim was always wavering and irresolute. Bis- 
 marck knew the military value of the nobles ; but he also 
 knew that there was a great deal of rugged political work 
 for Germany, and that th.e strong arms of the middle 
 classes were indispensable. Arnim was fastidious and aris- 
 tocratic, and fond of the ancient splendor of his order ; 
 but he was ambitious, and he knew that the gratification 
 of his ambition required at least a formal compliance with 
 the new order of things. His personal tastes were at war 
 with his personal aspirations. He was always grasping 
 for the honors of a constitutional system, yet clinging with 
 one hand to the possibilities of z, Juiiker restoration. Be- 
 tween the two men the Emperor doubtless preferred 
 Bismarck. The Chancellor was a rough soldier, who 
 never troubled him with fanciful theories of government, 
 was willing to let him hobnob as much as he pleased with 
 brother princes, and flattered him with the forms while he 
 himself kept the substance of power. Besides, Bismarck 
 was frank and open, and his Majesty is a soldier. But
 
 COUNT HARRY VON ARNIM. 8l 
 
 Arnim was the darling of the real Court parly, of the 
 literary spinsters, of the official artists and musicians, of 
 the poets laureate, of the modern nobles who had rushed 
 into the vacuum left by the old aristocracy. He was the 
 Leicester rather than the Sidney or the Raleigh. His wit 
 made him a court favorite, and no one now denies that he 
 enjoyed the strong support of the Empress ; but this could 
 not save him from impending ruin. 
 
 The exact course of events which led to the final rup- 
 ture was not known at the time, and has just been. 
 revealed in detail by Arnim himself. It appears that the 
 public conjectures were not at fault. No better tribute to 
 the absorbing interest of French politics has lately been 
 afforded, than the fact that a change in the Chief of State at 
 Versailles carried with it the removal and ruin of one of 
 the most peaceful of German diplomatists. For such was 
 indeed the fact. Not only was the government of M. 
 Thiers acceptable to Prince Bismarck, but it was his wish 
 that everything possible within the limits of diplomatic 
 action should be done for the maintenance of that govern- 
 ment. Count von Arnim was of an opposite opinion. A 
 devoted royalist, he regarded the overthrow of M. Thiers 
 as a triumph of the monarchical principle, and as a de- 
 voted courtier, he felt bound to impress this view upon 
 the Emperor William. He himself has published several 
 communications sent to his Majesty by a more direct route 
 than the Foreign Office. Prince Bismarck was naturally 
 indignant at such a presumptuous attempt to shake his 
 authority, and he resented it with a vigor which recalls 
 his best days. As responsible Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
 he was asked to carry out at Paris a policy which he did
 
 82 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 not sanction. Of course such a state of things could not 
 continue. The Chancellor wrote that he was worn out by 
 the care of setting himself right with his Majesty against a 
 refractory subordinate, that as Arnim had more leisure, 
 all the advantage was on his side, and that the end must 
 soon be reached. When the occasion came the blow fell. 
 When the Turkish mission was raised to the rank of an 
 Embassy, Arnim was transferred to Constantinople. But 
 he never entered upon the new post. After leaving Paris, 
 and while awaiting instructions for Constantinople, a 
 discovery was made which not . only put an end to his 
 Oriental prospects, but led to his arrest, trial, conviction, 
 and disgrace. 
 
 This was the discovery that the retiring ambassador had 
 carried away with him from Paris a large number of 
 papers which were believed to belong properly to the ar- 
 chives of the Embassy. Being called on to surrender them, 
 the Count refused. He did indeed return a few, which he 
 said had been taken by mistake ; but the rest he claimed 
 as private property, or papers necessary for his defense 
 against further attacks from Bismarck. The correspond- 
 ence was short and the Count had the last word. But the 
 abstraction of State papers is a penal offense, and the 
 Foreign Office could not stop here. 
 
 One day in October, 1874, the city was astounded to 
 learn that a pair of gendarmes had arrested Count von 
 Arnim at Nasserhaide, his country seat, brought him 
 abruptly to Berlin, and locked him up in the common jail. 
 Then his house, desks, and private papers were searched 
 for the missing documents, or for evidence of their where- 
 abouts. After a few weeks of the closest confinement the
 
 COUNT HARRY VON ARNIM. 83 
 
 Count was transferred to the Charlie or hospital. Finally 
 he was allowed to remain in his own house under police 
 supervision. The intense interest which the case excited 
 was fed by the press of two hemispheres. In Berlin, men 
 spoke of it with bated breath. All sorts of opinions on 
 the summary manner and on the legality of the arrest were 
 expressed ; and while ihe Libends and the friends of Prince 
 Bismarck demanded that justice be allowed to take its 
 course, the extreme radicals and the ultra conservatives 
 joined in defense of a man who, as the foe of their com- 
 mon foe, was their common friend. As a matter of fact 
 the regularity of procedure in the case has been vindicated 
 at every point. The apparently arbitrary method was not 
 the less legal under a code in which personal liberty is 
 imperfectly defined, and at the hands of officials whose 
 first notion of law is a literal obedience to the orders of 
 a superior. 
 
 With the details of the trial the world is more familiar. 
 It was the writer's privilege and his duty to be a spectator 
 of that judicial exhibition, to breathe for several hours a 
 day the hot and corrupt air of the court room, and to wit- 
 ness the unedifying forensic displays of the counsel. Sel- 
 dom has a trial of such celebrity been conducted with less 
 dramatic impressiveness. It affords very little mat er for 
 the historian and none for the artist. It was an inquisi- 
 tion of scandal, a parliament of gossip, rich in petty bick- 
 ering, recrimination, and slander, but fruitless of endur- 
 ing facts or principles. Arnim conducted him'^elf with 
 defiance but not with dignity. At the end of a week, as 
 is known, the Court, in ihe person of Judge Reich and two 
 assistants, found the prisoner guilty, and sentenced him to
 
 84 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 one year's imprisonment. The case was carried on appeal 
 through two stages up to the " Obertribunal" or Supreme 
 Court of Prussia ; and the substance, though not in each 
 case the form, of the original sentence was confirmed. 
 
 In the meantime Arnim had retired to Switzerland, 
 where the final decision has just reached him. What he 
 will do is yet to be seen. But immediately after the judg- 
 ment of the Obertribunal there appeared at Zurich a book, 
 "Pro Nihilo," which purported to be a history of the pre- 
 liminaries to the arrest of Arnim, and contained all the 
 documents that had not already been published. It is, of 
 course, attributed to Arnim himself. The book confirms 
 throughout the current account of the quarrel between 
 him and Bismarck, and even the friends of the former 
 regard the publication as a very grave indiscretion. It was 
 the act of a desperate leader who deliberately burns the 
 only bridge by which he can escape. 
 
 Harry von Arnim is now a ruined man, and though he 
 may continue to wield a certain force in German politics, it 
 will only be through the rancor of his friends, in which he 
 will direct, and the influence of patrons still not without 
 strength at Court. But at one time after his arrest it was 
 otherwise. Before the trial, while the arrest was regarded 
 as an audacious political enterprise, which might fail and 
 sweep Bismarck out of office, his persecuted rival was natu- 
 rally treated as his predestined successor. That Arnim 
 himself believed in such a theory is beyond doubt. He 
 seems to have thought that he might form a great party of 
 congenial spirits and on quite new principles, of which he 
 would naturally be the leader. This party would be as far 
 rerqoved frqm the peevish bigotry of the Junkers as from
 
 COUNT HARRY VON ARNIM. 85 
 
 the hateful Liberalism of Hebrew barristers. It would 
 look to the Old Catholics and the moderate Protestants for 
 its religious tone, to the more pliant and adventurous por- 
 tion of the nobility for social position, to the great Con- 
 servative bankers for the sinews of war, to the uncor- 
 rupted literary and professional men for brains and work. 
 It would have been first and foremost a party of gentle- 
 men. And though it would not have disdained for parlia- 
 mentary purposes the unkempt socialist and the elastic 
 ultramontane, it would have restored the lost dignity of 
 the crown and fortified it by the allegiance of every Con- 
 servative place-hunter. That Arnim should have cherished 
 such an ambition is proof of his temerity. 
 
 If this were Count von Arnim's only fault, it would, in- 
 deed, be easy to excuse him, since temerity is a fault of 
 temperament, of the emotions. A brave man is easily par- 
 doned for rashness ; but anybody who reads the published 
 correspondence, and supplements that, as the present writer 
 has done, from other sources of information, must discover 
 in the character of Arnim a degree of frivolity unpardonable 
 in a serious statesman. His whole demeanor was that of 
 the artist, A little scenic eff'ect was justified by Burke, and 
 is not considered unworthy of Bismarck. But there is no 
 country in the world where drawing-room politics, and na- 
 turally drawing-room politicians, are held in more contempt 
 than in Germany ; and when to the grimaces of a fop are 
 added the flippancy of a punster, a very melancholy com- 
 bination is the result. Count von Arnim was, indeed, 
 something more than a fop and a punster. But he was nev- 
 ertheless the victim of his own wit to such an extent that he 
 often failed to draw the line clearly between the clown and
 
 86 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 the ambassador. Take, for instance, his annotations on 
 the dispatches. Some of his friends vexed their souls over 
 the pretended cruelty of many of Bismarck's dispatches. 
 The sentiment does their hearts more honor than their un- 
 derstandings. There may or may not be wit in Arnim's 
 marginal notes on some of the "cruelest" of those dis- 
 patches — that is a question for the critics ; but in my opin- 
 ion, the man who made them was not at the time likely to 
 die of a broken heart. His counsel maintained that the 
 notes proved that at that time Arnim meant to take the 
 dispatches away as his own property. The pretense is not 
 an unreasonable concession to his self-respect. But their 
 existence suggests an ugly doubt whether his grief was so 
 profound as is represented, and whether he did not look 
 on his general difficulty with his superior as a comedy out 
 of which fun was to be extracted. If that be his view of the 
 importance of harmony in the diplomatic service it is difficult 
 to see on what ground he can appeal to his own countrymen 
 or to the world for sympathy. Count von Arnim seems to 
 have had the most unbounded confidence in the power of 
 his own name, or of his connections at Court, to shield 
 him against the punishment of his crime at each and at 
 every stage. There was about this theory a sort of flip- 
 pancy and arrogance which invited the fate that has over- 
 taken him. It was, at any rate, a reckless theory to set 
 up against the known resolution of Prince Bismarck, and 
 if I have correctly described the prisoner's character, its 
 existence does not imply a consciousness of innocence. 
 At the same time it would be manifestly unjust to hold 
 Prince Bismarck responsible for all the petty indignities 
 which Count von Arnim suffered at the hands of over-zeal-
 
 COUNT HARRY VON ARNIM. 87 
 
 ous officials. It is the curse of Kings, and, under constitu- 
 tional government, of Ministers, " to be attended by slaves 
 that take their humors for a warrant ; " but the Foreign Of- 
 fice was too shrewd, if not too scrupulous, to trespass over 
 the bounds of the law. 
 
 Count Arnim is a tall, handsome man, with a heavy- 
 black beard and moustache, a mouth which curls with a 
 haughty expression, and eyes that reveal spirit and pene- 
 tration as well as insincerity. By his first wife he had one 
 son, now a young officer of dragoons, whose filial devotion 
 during the imprisonment and trial of his father won gen- 
 eral admiration. 'The second wife was his cousin, a 
 daughter of Count Arnim-Boytzenberg, Governor of the 
 Province of Silesia. She was owner of a large fortune in 
 her own name, and was able to improve the style of the 
 ambassador's establishment.
 
 PART IV. 
 
 The Parliamentarians.
 
 VII. 
 
 Herr von Bennigsen. 
 
 PERTINENT and fitting introduction to this ar- 
 ticle will be an account of a visit which the writer 
 has just made to the German Imperial Parliament. 
 It was a day of the practical and the useful, following a 
 day of dramatic and brilliant interest. On the previous day 
 the House had brought to a close the general budget de- 
 bate, in which the Chancellor himself, just returned from 
 Varzin, had made a long and important speech, which in 
 its turn provoked replies from the ablest of his foes. Next 
 day began the special debate, which is generally dull and 
 unentertaining. The hall wore a thoroughly ordinary as- 
 pect. The members were conscientiously inattentive to 
 the several speakers, and spent their time in reading or 
 writing or chatting. Even the suave and patient President 
 yawned now and then, and looked wearily from the clock 
 which ticked on the opposite wall to the tricolored flag 
 which hung above his head. The ministers and clerks sat 
 listlessly at their desks ; and of the reporters, only they
 
 92 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 who were obliged to transcribe everything transcribed any- 
 thing. Nevertheless, this unpicturesque scene was, per- 
 haps, in an artistic sense, a better back-ground to two fig- 
 ures which attracted the writer's attention. 
 
 They were standing on the elevated section around the 
 President's desk and, careless of the debate, were conduct- 
 ing an earnest discussion between themselves. One of 
 them was a tall, massive man, with a bald head, and a 
 rough hard face, scarcely lighted by a pair of gray eyes 
 disproportionately small. He was in the uniform of a 
 general of cavalry, and he had the carriage and manner of 
 a soldier. While he was speaking his fingers twitched nerv- 
 ously, but he gesticulated little. Now and then he crossed 
 his hands behind him, stretched his giant frame to its ex- 
 treme height, and one saw a man whose appearance sug- 
 gested power quite as clearly as his history reveals it. His 
 companion was a man nearly as tall and quite as stout, but 
 the resemblance ends here. For in place of the showy 
 military uniform, he wore clothes which were plain even 
 for a civilian ; his complexion was dark, with the tint of the 
 Semitic rather . than the Latin race ; and he looked out of 
 a pair of heavy, black, piercing eyes. Of all American 
 statesmen he most suggested Mr. Morton. A strong, ef- 
 fective man, deliberate, but not awkward in his move- 
 ments, earnest and emphatic in his manner. The two 
 seemed not only to be personal friends, but also to have 
 many points of political confidence and sympathy ; and 
 the fancy of the spectator could easily rise to the theory 
 that their conversation was ranging through the very gravest 
 questions of state. The first of these two men was Prince 
 Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of the German Empire,
 
 IIERR VON BENNIGSEN. 93 
 
 the other was Rudolph von Bennigsen, Speaker of the 
 Prussian Lower House, and member of the Imperial Par- 
 liament. 
 
 A writer in the Garknlaube, a weekly illustrated periodi- 
 cal, says : " If one is present at the many interesting de- 
 bates of the present session of the Prussian House of Depu- 
 ties, one sees in the president's chair, which Herr von 
 Forckenbeck has hitherto filled with so great honor, a man 
 whose aristocratic, stately figure and intelligent lineaments 
 involuntarily attract attention. The whole appearance 
 bears the type of the North German nature, and impresses 
 less through striking qualities, through glowing individu- 
 ality, through convincing eloquence, through brilliant wit, 
 than through practical readiness, a harmonious develop- 
 ment, and manly strength, which demand and deserve 
 confidence and respect. The firmness and calm less with 
 which the new president guides the often too stormy delib- 
 erations, the impartiality which on such occasions he 
 shows, the dignity which he always preserves for himself and 
 the House, suggest a long parliamentary career, a firm 
 character, and a marked political talent." * 
 
 Von Bennigsen stands in German history as the type of 
 an efficient patriot. His case shows what maybe accom- 
 plished for political ends by extra-political methods. Al- 
 though he has spent years in the public service, and sitting 
 in three different legislatures has wielded much influence 
 since 1855, his great work was accomplished by popular 
 agitation outside of the sphere of official action. The 
 Deutsche Nalional Verein, or German National Union, of 
 
 * Die Gartenlaubc, 1874, p. 93.
 
 94 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 which Bennigsen was the founder, held toward the struggle 
 for German unity the same relation as the Concord min- 
 ute men to the American Revolution — it was the zealous 
 and patriotic levy of hasty forces, which, with the introduc- 
 tion of order and method, gracefully accepted the duty of 
 discipline and subordination to authorized leaders. It 
 was an unofficial but not illegal association. While a 
 timid King of Prussia refused to place himself at the head 
 of the popular cause, and become the center of that unity 
 for which the Fatherland was striving, the National Verein, 
 a voluntary association of patriotic and liberal men, or- 
 ganized public spirit and kept alive the hopes of the coun- 
 try. So long as there was no governmental control of the 
 popular efforts, this Verem acted as leader ; when the 
 State assumed the lead the Verein retired. 
 
 Rudolph von Bennigsen was born on the loth of July, 
 1824, at Liineburg. He belongs to an old noble Saxon 
 family, which had afterward settled in Hanover, where it 
 seems to have held a good position. He studied jurispru- 
 dence at Gottingen and Heidelberg, qualified as an advo- 
 cate but entered the judiciary, and rose to the functions of 
 a judge at Gottingen. In 1855 the city of Aurich elected 
 him to the second Chamber of the Hanover Legisla- 
 ture. To accept a legislative or elective office, accord- 
 ing to the laws of Hanover, a person in the employ of 
 the government required the permission of the crown. 
 The "crown" of Hanover at that time sat upon the fore- 
 head of poor old, blind, stupid King George ; and King 
 George refused Bennigsen the indispensable consent. 
 There was but one alternative, and Bennigsen adopted it. 
 He could not be a judge and a deputy, but he could be a
 
 HERR VON BENNIGSEN. ' 95 
 
 deputy by ceasing to be a judge. He promptly resigned 
 his judgeship and with it all hopes of preferment under the 
 government, and, as a free man, took his seat in the par- 
 liament. 
 
 AtGottingen the young jurist had formed acquaintances 
 which were eventful for him, and which have been not un- 
 eventful for the history of Germany, Two of these, Zach- 
 arioe and Miguel, were his fellow-students and fellow-legis- 
 lators ; and one of them, Miguel, has been his inseparable 
 companion and faithful ally in all his labors for unity. On 
 entering the parliament in 1866, Bennigsen at once took 
 a position as leader of the opposition. The government 
 was in the hands of the notorious Count Harries. He was 
 a reactionist of the most extreme character, and the King 
 was completely in his power. The Court was full of his 
 creatures ; and was almost equally notorious for the profli- 
 gate adventurers who shut out every sign of Liberalism, and 
 the covetous priests who took care of the King's conscience 
 to the scandal of true religion. Against the sway of this 
 corrupt and demoralizing clique, Bennigsen waged a gallant 
 but hopeless fight down to the year 1866. It needed the 
 soldiers of Prussia to drive them away, and to accomplish 
 with the iron hand what political methods had failed to 
 effect. 
 
 In 1859 Bennigsen and IVIiguel, with a few others, drew 
 up and issued a programme or scheme of German unity. 
 It was a document which made a profound effect through- 
 out the country. The liberalism and patriotism of the 
 Fatherland were either wasting their forces in hopeless 
 contests with reaction, as in Prussia and Hanover itself; 
 or were patching up at Frankfort the wrecks of frail con-
 
 96 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 federations ; or were hiding, crushed and cowed, before 
 the police. Bennigsen's appeal was addressed to an ear- 
 nest but bewildered public ; it was answered with enthu- 
 siasm and joy. 
 
 The programme embraced a scheme of construction and 
 a scheme of action. In the former the author, Hanove- 
 rian as he was, distinctly threw Austria overboard, and de- 
 clared that only Prussia could be at the head of an united 
 Germany. He proposed to intrust the executive power 
 t) the crown of Prussia, while the legislative power should 
 be in the hands of a National German Parliament elected 
 by universal suffrage. What Bismarck has actually accom- 
 plished, this leader advocated twenty years ago. If this 
 were his only merit, perhaps too much stress ought not to 
 be laid upon it. A great many other men saw and de- 
 fended the necessity of a national legislature in those days ; 
 and a parliament of Frankfort, thinking it had recon- 
 structed the German Empire, once oflfered the imperial 
 dignity to King Frederic Wilhelm of Prussia. It was 
 not so much the prescience of Bennigsen in finding the 
 basis of a solid union, as the practical skill in organizing 
 public sentiment in favor of this basis, that is his great 
 merit. 
 
 I have already spoken of the object of the Naimial- 
 Verein, and its relation to German politics. It held its 
 first meeting in accordance with an invitation of Bennig- 
 sen, on September 16, 1S59, and he himself was properly 
 chosen President. Among other prominent members 
 were Feodor Streit, Fries of Weimar, Schulze-Delitsch, 
 Unruh, Loewe, Miguel. The Franl '"ort Assembly formed 
 the permxnent organization of the Nationol-Vereiyi. and
 
 HERR VON BENNIGSEN. 97 
 
 fixed its seat at the city of Coburg. It was prosperous be- 
 yond expectation. At the time of its dissolution in 1S66 
 it numbered thirty thousand members, of whom ten thou- 
 sand were from Prussia. In 1866, after the organization 
 of the North German Confederation, making inevitable 
 the speedy realization of the Empire, the union had no 
 further raisoti d'etre, and was dissolved. Bennigsen him- 
 self, who, by the annexation of Hanover, was made a 
 Prussian, became a member both of the Prussian Lower 
 Chamber and of the North German Reichstag. 
 
 When the war of 1866 became imminent, Herr von 
 Bennigsen tried, as Prince Hohenlohe tried in Bavaria, to 
 save his country from the folly and certain failure of the 
 Austrian alliance. If the Bavarians were drawn to Aus- 
 tria by the claim of geographical proximity and family 
 ties, the Hanoverians were drawn away from the Prus- 
 sians by difference of religion and traditional rivalry. The 
 task of the one statesman was therefore as hard as that of 
 the other. But the consequences of failure were not 
 equally disastrous. For while Bavaria suffered only the 
 shame of espousing a losing cause, and a few years of anx- 
 iety from 1866 to 1870, Hanover expiated her crime by 
 entering at once into the Prussian commonwealth, and giv- 
 ing up her character as an independent State. It is now the 
 province of Hanover. It is governed from Berlin, like the 
 most ancient part of the Prussian domains, and for the loss 
 of a blind king it enjoys the presence of Prince Albert of 
 Prussia, a nephew of King William. All this occurred 
 doubtless quite as much according to the wishes as the 
 predictions of Bennigsen. 
 
 It has been explained in previous articles how the recon-
 
 98 BRIEF BIOCRArillES. 
 
 ciliation was effecled in 1866, The government, which 
 had organized its army, and fought the war in spite of the 
 adverse votes of the Chamber, came forward after the bat- 
 tle of Sadowa and asked for a vote of indemnity, which 
 the majority, carried away by enthusiasm over the victory, 
 promptly conceded. This involved, necessarily, a read- 
 justment of party relations. Out of the progressive party 
 and the more moderate conservatives was founded the 
 National Liberal party, and of this one of the leading 
 spirits was Herr von Bennigsen. It is now the most pow- 
 erful of all the parliamentary and political factions in 
 Germany, and is practically, though not avowedly, the 
 Government party. Although not stronger than all the 
 other factions together, it can generally elect the parlia- 
 mentary officers, and by judicious leagues organize a par- 
 liamentary majority. 
 
 During the war of 1870 Bennigsen was in confidential 
 relations with the Prussian authorities, and undertook, in 
 the interest of the common cause, two important missions. 
 The one was to the South German States, where he dis- 
 cussed the conditions of a possible unity. The other was 
 to the camp at Versailles in the winter of 1871, where the 
 same negotiations were afterwards carried out to a practi- 
 cal result. He is much esteemed by the Government of 
 Prussia, not less for his sterling qualities as a patriot than 
 for his practical and unpretending business capacity. 
 
 The reputation which Bennigsen had won as President 
 of the National- Verein caused his selection in 1873 as 
 President of the Prussian House of Deputies. Herr von 
 Forckenbeck had, for several years, presided over that 
 body, but in 1873 he was appointed to the "ffcrrenhaiis"
 
 HERR VON BENNIGSEN. 99 
 
 on the nomination of his native city, Breslau, and Bennig- 
 sen almost by acclamation was made his successor. He is 
 a capable and popular presiding officer. Less elastic and 
 nervous in manner than Forckenbeck, less venerable and 
 impressive in appearance than Simson, he strikes the spec- 
 tator as a practical, well-informed parliamentarian, with 
 strong opinions judicially subordinated to the duties of his 
 position. In the Reic/isfag he may be found sharing with 
 Dr. Simson the two seats which' the majority reserves for 
 its most honored members. As a private legislator he can, 
 of course, in the Imperial Parliament throw off the reserve 
 imposed on him in the Prussian House. He is not a fre- 
 quent speaker. He does not enter much into the ordi- 
 nary play of debate, the interrogatory, the interruption, 
 the retort, and what may be called the skirmishing that 
 precedes great parliamentary battles. But when the col- 
 umns of infantry close he is an effective leader. He is a 
 close and cogent reasoner, but is not without the fire and 
 emphasis of an orator. As he is less radical and adventu- 
 rous than Lasker, and generally defends views not far re- 
 moved from those of the Wilhelmstrasse, he is heard with 
 a marked but somewhat patronizing respect by Prince Bis- 
 marck. 
 
 The particular significance of Bennigsen for political 
 observers lies, however, not more in the past or the pres- 
 ent than in the possibilities of the future. He is what is 
 called an available man. He has many friends and no 
 enemies, he enjoys the support of his party and the confi- 
 dence of the government, and the hopes of his friends do 
 not end at the presidency of the House of Deputies. 
 The hopes of a man's friends are not always an accurate
 
 lOO BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 measure of his prospects. But Bennigsen is a thoroughly 
 self-reliant man ; and it is as clear on the one hand that he 
 has never been pushed forward beyond his merits, as on 
 the other that he has proved equal to every position in 
 which he has been placed. Hence they who claim for 
 him the succession to Prince Bismarck, do not trespass on 
 the domain of the impossible. Their calculation may be 
 premature, and they do not, perhaps, take account of all 
 the influences and considerations that will govern the 
 choice of the next Reichskanzler, but there are no infalli- 
 ble reasons for excluding Bennigsen. The circumstances 
 of the time would count for quite as much as the claims 
 of the rival candidates. If the Chancellorship becomes 
 vacant during the reign of the present Emperor, he may 
 declare that he has coquetted long enough with Liberal" 
 ism, and prefer to close his regime under the ministry of 
 a politician of the old school, full of respect for the tradi- 
 tions of the past. If, however, a new Emperor, be at the 
 head of affairs, disposed by a moderate policy to conciliate 
 the esteem of the great Liberal majority, he will probably 
 select some parliamentary leader who enjoys influence and 
 respect among his colleagues and authority in the country 
 at large. No man answers this description better than 
 Rudolph von Bennigsen.
 
 VIII. 
 
 Dr. Simson. 
 
 ERR BRACHVOGEL takes Dr. Simson as the 
 typical representative of parliamentary life in 
 Germany. "The year 1848," he says, "was 
 the mother of German parliamentarism, as well as the cra- 
 dle of the capacity which Dr. Martin Eduard Simson has 
 developed in political life." Only a remarkable year, even 
 in Germany, the reader will observe, could be at once a 
 mother and a cradle. " Simson," pursues his biographer, 
 "and parliamentarism " — I continue to use the indispen- 
 sable word, for which there is logical and analogical, if not 
 etymological, authority — "Simson and parliamentarism, 
 or the legal participation of the German States in their 
 own and in the general German political life, are quite 
 inseparable. Our jurist, distinguished as he is in his pro- 
 fession, would hardly have excited and retained in so high 
 a degree the public attention, would hardly have become 
 so important a factor in our political life, if he had not 
 entered so early and so successfully the parliamentary
 
 102 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 domain. Therefore, both must be painted together, espe- 
 cially because the stages of development through which he 
 has passed, are those of the most of his colleagues, in fact 
 of parliamentarism in Germany."* 
 
 Dr. Simson was born on the loth of November, 1810, 
 in Konigsberg, a city which has produced perhaps more 
 than its share of the modern liberal spirits of Germany. 
 His early education was conducted there, and his early 
 studies in jurisprudence, at the university of the same city. 
 Afterwards he was at Berlin and Bonn, and heard the lec- 
 tures of Niebuhr, the great historian, and Savigny, the 
 great jurist. In 1 829, he received his degree of Z^ffr/fryi/m. 
 Soon after the July Revolution, he undertook, on the ad- 
 vice of Niebuhr, a journey to Paris. Ilerr Brachvogel in- 
 dulges in some fanciful reflections upon the possible 
 influence exercised on the young jurist by the government 
 of the "citizen king." It may have tended to confirm in 
 him the sentiments of moderate liberalism by which he 
 has always been distinguished. On returning, he chose 
 an academical career, and settled in his native city, as tutor 
 {^Docent) of Roman law. This was in 1831. In 1833, he 
 became extraordinary, in 1835, regular professor. In 1834, 
 he had become a member of the so-called "Tribunal for 
 the Kingdom of Prussia." In 1845, ^^ '^^'^s secretary of 
 the commission on the revision of East-Prussian prjovincial 
 law, and, a year later, he was made Tribunal rath. In 
 1847, he traveled in England, and studied the institutions 
 of the jury and the justice of the peace, as well as the 
 
 * Brachvogel, Die Manner der netien dentschen Zeit. Vol. III., 
 P- 393-
 
 DR. SIM SON. 103 
 
 English constitution in general. The year 1848 came. 
 One of the first whom it brought into prominence was this 
 jurist, who was at once a scholar and a man of the world ; 
 whose mind had been not only enriched by study, but 
 also enlarged by travel and observation, who was in the 
 prime of life, and in the possession of all the avenues to 
 popular esteem. 
 
 At this epoch, Herr Brachvogel distinguishes four prom- 
 inent factions in political life. ist. That which demanded 
 freedom, and nothing further. This was made up of the 
 republicans, the radicals, and the socialists. 2d. That 
 which demanded first freedom and then unity. This was 
 the constitutional party, the liberals, the great majority of 
 the nation. 3d. That which demanded first unity and 
 then freedom. This was the grea.t I^eic/ispar/ez. 4th. That 
 which demanded unity and nothing further. This was 
 composed of the friends of an hereditary German Empire, 
 the royalists, the absolutists, the reactionists. 
 
 This classification, without being infallible, is sufficiently 
 accurate to serve as a convenient key to subsequent com- 
 plications. Dr. Simson belonged vaguely to the third of 
 these factions. He believed, indeed, in freedom, but he 
 also believed that it was conditional on unity, and that 
 patriotism and statesmanship alike dictated that the first 
 be the original object. In Prussia, at this time, the lib- 
 erals were trying through their constituent assembly to 
 secure unity through freedom. At Frankfort, in the Ger- 
 man National Assembly, they were trying to effect freedom 
 through unity. Simson naturally sympathized with the 
 latter, and Konigsberg made him a member. Here he be- 
 longed to the moderate Right, the so-called "Casino"
 
 104 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 party, which carried him to the secretaryship, and in Sep- 
 tember, the same year, made him vice-president. In the 
 middle of December the president of the Assembly was 
 called into the ministry, and Simson became his successor. 
 At each following monthly election he was re-elected, till 
 May, when ill-health compelled him to resign. On April 3, 
 1849, ^^6 '^^'^s at the head of the deputation which, in be- 
 half of the Frankfort Parliament, went to Berlin to offer 
 the German Imperial crown to Frederic William IV., and 
 received from him the answer: " The German Imperial 
 crown will only be won on the field of battle." 
 
 On recovering his health. Dr. Simson did not resume 
 his mission at Frankfort, but with Heinrich von Gogern 
 and a few other liberals of the same school, founded an 
 association at Gotha. They were called in derision, "The 
 Gothaer," and their well-meant scheme proved a general 
 failure. It defended the so-called " triple league of 
 kings " — a temporary alliance formed between Prusssia, 
 Saxony, and Hanover. In 1850, Dr. Simson entered the 
 second chamber of the Prussian Parliament, and became 
 leader of the opposition. The ministry of Manteuffel was 
 in power, and had first signalized itself by the famous 
 humiliation of Olmiitz. 
 
 The chamber at that time contained three leading fac- 
 tions. On the left sat the extreme radicals of all classes, 
 who with a good deal of rough unmanageable talent, num- 
 bered also a few men of high culture and fearless political 
 steadfastness, such as Jacoby, Struve, Loewe, Brentano, and 
 Waldeck. On the opposite side, the right, were seated 
 the conservatives, divided into two groups, the Catholics, 
 and the old Protestants. In the center sat the consti-
 
 DR. SIMSON. 105 
 
 tutional, or liberal party, whose leaders were Schwerin, 
 Forckenbeck, Unruh, Grabow, and Simson. 
 
 Dr. Simson retained his seat only one year. The state 
 of parliamentary life at that time does not seem to have 
 pleased him. There prevailed an uninterrupted warfare 
 between the chamber and the ministry, or between the suc- 
 cessive chambers and the different ministries ; and the 
 futile efforts from year to year to effect compromises only 
 made matters worse. ^If the ministers were stubborn and 
 despotic, and persisted in ignoring the principles, while 
 they admitted the fact of constitutional government, it 
 must be said, on the other hand, that the opposition was 
 often unreasonable and intemperate, and prevented har- 
 mony by the extravagance of its demands. Extravagant, 
 I mean, not in a theoretical sense, but in a practical 
 sense. 
 
 It is impossible to question the perfect soundness of the 
 general principles maintained by Jacoby and Waldeck, 
 but they made the practical mistake of trying to lift an 
 absolute monarch and a monarchical people, at once, to the 
 height of English or American liberty. Dr. Simson could 
 be the champion neither of ministers who persistently de- 
 nied the House the respect guaranteed by the Constitution, 
 nor of radicals who maintained the exclusive authority 
 of Parliament. He sat neither with the servile right, nor 
 with the irreconcilable left. He was of the moderate or 
 constitutional party, but in those times there was but 
 little for him or it to do. The battle was between the ex- 
 tremes. The moderates held really the balance of power, 
 but they were unpracticed in parliamentary life, and seldom 
 knew how to use their position to advantage. Dr. Simson 
 5*
 
 I06 ERIEF BIOGRArillES. 
 
 rctiuned, lliercfore, to Konigsber^ and resumed his peda- 
 gogic and judicial funttions. 
 
 This lasted till i860. In that year he was again sent to 
 the second Chamber of the Prussian Landlag, and acted 
 one year as its president. Although the majority of the 
 House belonged to the radical wing of the Liberals, while 
 Dr. Simson was classed with the moderate or All- Liber alen, 
 the general respect for his integrity as a man, and his capa- 
 city as a parliamentarian, secured his election over a stricter 
 partisan. The year of his presidency was remarkable for 
 the uninterrupted conflict of the majority with the War 
 Minister von Roon. He represented at once the soldier's 
 contempt for the civil powers, and the aristocrat's contempt 
 for parliamentary forms. The records of those days are 
 full of his despotic and insolent utterances to the represen- 
 tatives of the people of Prussia, but it must be said that the 
 majority did not always show itself conciliatory and reason- 
 able. Dr. Simson, as a strict parliamentarian, tried to main- 
 tain justice between the enraged parties. No complaint 
 of injustice has been specifically formulated, and he re- 
 tained throughout the respect of all. But after the new 
 House met, in 1S62, the majority preferred a more pro- 
 nounced radical for president, and the choice fell upon 
 Grabow. 
 
 I agree fully with Herr Brachvogel that Dr. Simson is 
 the best typical representative of parliamentary life in Ger- 
 many. His claim to that distinction does not rest alone 
 on the number of assemblies over which he has presided ; 
 nor does the respect paid by public opinion to his eminent 
 fitness for such labors, constitute alone his claim to that 
 distinction. The very character of the man, so far as that
 
 DR. SIMSON. 107 
 
 can be compared to the character or elements of an institu- 
 tion, corresponds to parliamentary life in his own country. 
 I do not speak of the stormy transition period in Prussia, up 
 to 1 86 5, with which Dr. Simson could have had but little 
 sympj^thy. A calm, conciliatory, moderate man, his con- 
 ception of a model legislature is that of one in which seri- 
 ous, thoughtful patriots meet for deliberation, one from 
 which violent passions and extreme opinions are alike ex- 
 cluded, and which strives to march in harmony with all the 
 other elements of public life. And this I believe to be the 
 prevailing view throughout the country. It must be re- 
 membered that the earliest Prussian Parliaments issued from 
 exceptional circumstances. Coming into being as the ful- 
 fillment of a promise long broken by the crown, and 
 through a constitution not deliberately adopted by the peo- 
 ple, but granted by the king on the eve of an unsuccessful 
 insurrection, and confronted by ministers who openly 
 acknowledged no authority but that of their sovereign, 
 those assemblies naturally reflected all the anger and dis- 
 content of a people deceived. They seem more radical in 
 feeling by contrast with the aggressive reaction in the gov- 
 ernment, and they were driven to extreme acts by the 
 arrogance and folly of their foe. But that these were 
 momentary phenomena and not abiding characteristics, is 
 shown by the subsequent course of events. The composi- 
 tion of the present House of Deputies is not essentially 
 different from that of those days. The same elements, in- 
 deed the same men, are to-day in control. But the exas- 
 perating Jacobinism of the past decade has given way to a 
 moderation which approaches timidity ; and the leaders, 
 whose noisy dissent used to drive ministers out of the
 
 I08 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 House, are now the bulwarks of a mild conservatism. 
 The course of events has changed the forms but not the 
 principles of their parliamentary action. In other words, 
 it has brought them nearer to the system of belief and line 
 of policy of Dr. Simson. 
 
 If ever English political life and methods were to be 
 introduced into Germany, Dr. Simson would be their 
 chosen representative. He looks the English gentleman 
 as exactly as he acts him. He is a man of medium height, 
 with a smooth, refined face, the soft gray whiskers and the 
 clear, mild, benevolent eyes of a gentleman of the old 
 school. Of English statesmen he most resembles Sir 
 Roundell Palmer, or, as he is now, Lord Sclborne ; and 
 of Americans, the late Senator Buckingham, of Connecti- 
 cut. He looks like a man in whom respect for order, for 
 authority, for the amenities of political life were predomi- 
 nant. The sharp irony, the bitter retort, would seem out 
 of place on his life. In a system where the courtesies of 
 life counted for more than the conquests, where personal 
 honor was as sacred as written laws, where a sober conser- 
 vatism and respectable mediocrity gave the prevailing tone, 
 Dr. Simson would hold and deserve a high rank. 
 
 In 1862 came Bismarck, and the conflict resumed the 
 intensity which could only precede its end. During the 
 interval from that time to 1866, when the "reconciliation" 
 completely changed the relations of existing parties. Dr. 
 Simson sat as a private member of the House and accepted 
 no more prominent position than that of President of the 
 Committee on Justice, or, as we would say, "'Chairman of 
 the Judiciary Committee." The reconciliation was almost 
 a vindication of his political method. Royer Collard said,
 
 DR. SIMSON. 109 
 
 La France est Cetifre Gauche, meaning that the real opinions 
 of the country were moderately Hberal ; and Guizot, the 
 great exponent of bourgeois government, said that the true 
 seat of parUamentary power was in the two centers. Dr. 
 Simson is the model bourgeois\t^\%\2Xox. Equally removed 
 from the reactionary obstinacy of the ministers and the 
 intolerant radicalism of the majority, he had always believed 
 that a safe compromise, inspired by a common prudence 
 and effected by mutual concession, was sure to be finally 
 effected. The country did not share his opinions. It had 
 been firmly believed that the combat between Bismarck 
 and the Landtag was one a entrance. It could only end 
 in the complete triumph of the parliamentary principle, or 
 a victory of the ministry and a return to mediaeval systems. 
 
 Events proved that Dr. Simson was right. The com- 
 promise effected after the Austrian war, or rather the recon- 
 ciliation, modified the temper and the pretensions of both 
 parties to the long strife, and out of the fiery furnace issued 
 the relations which are now at the bottom of parliamentary 
 institutions, both national and imperial. 
 
 Dr. Simson became again indispensable. The North 
 German Confederation followed the battle of Sadowa, and 
 the first German Parliament introduced a new legislative 
 factor. It met for the first time in February, 1867, and 
 Dr. Simson was elected president almost by acclamation. 
 In October of the same year, he was at the head of a com- 
 mission which presented to the king an address voted by 
 the Reichstag. In 1870, as President of the Reichstag, he 
 was at the head of a deputation which went to Versailles 
 to greet the King of Prussia, or German Emperor. On 
 the constitution of the Imperial Parliament, Dr. Simson
 
 no BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 was again made president and remained such until 1874. 
 Ill health forced him to relinquish a post of so much labor, 
 and to abandon a sort of work which had occupied him 
 for nearly twenty-five years. He did not, however, surren- 
 der his seat as a deputy. 
 
 Here we leave the subject of the sketch, sitting in the 
 Reichstag, in which he has almost a paternal interest, and 
 enjoying the esteem and confidence of the whole country. 
 At his age, no new field of political activity is likely to open 
 for him. But, if ever an emergency arises for which the 
 country requires a man who unites firmness of conviction 
 with moderation of temper, who enjoys an authority won 
 by long years of faithful service, and whose personal char- 
 acter has never been stained even by slander, many eyes 
 will be at once directed to Martin Eduard Simson.
 
 PART V. 
 
 The Party Leaders.
 
 IX. 
 
 Eduard Lasker. 
 
 HIS gentleman introduces us to a new e'ement in 
 German political life. Hitherto we have treated 
 only of the statesman in office, in charge of a 
 portfolio, or at the head of an embassy, or scolding reluc- 
 tant deputies from the president's chair ; now we come to 
 the delegates of the people, who owe nothing to the favor of 
 princes, and who are the less admired at court the more 
 they are admired throughout the country. Numbers of 
 these men have arisen even within the short life of Prussian 
 and German constitutionalism. Some of them have passed 
 forever from the scene of political warfare ; others, still liv- 
 ing, have been swept to the rear by the changing current of 
 affairs ; a few still retain and wield the authority won in 
 past decades. I have taken five men who represent, if 
 not five distinct parties, at least five distinct currents or 
 forms of political action. One stands for the National 
 Liberal party, the majority in the Imperial Parliament,
 
 114 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 and the party of the great middle class of Germany. A sec- 
 ond stands for the Fortschritts-parki, the party of progress, 
 composed of the uncompromising radicals who respect ab- 
 stract principles. A third is the champion of the Uitrinion- 
 tane faction, the only regular ojiposition. A fourth repre- 
 sents that sort of political radicalism in which the theories of 
 social and industrial reform predominate. Finally, the fifth 
 is political radicalism, pure, fearless, and irreconcilable. 
 The first of these characters, and to-day the one best 
 known, is Eduard Lasker. He is the natural and the ac- 
 cepted leader of the National Liberals ; and to this honor, 
 which he has won by his own talents, the favor of the 
 crown has never added that of an administrative office. A 
 tribune of the people he has always been, and will doubt- 
 less remain. If Bismarck is the powerful minister, strong 
 in the force of his own charactei", in the support of the 
 King, and in the affections of a reunited people, Lasker is 
 the private deputy whose consummate ability the govern- 
 ment is obliged to respect, and whose unselfish devotion 
 to liberal principles the people are glad to acknowledge. 
 If Prince Hohenlohe, the scion of a house which had done 
 homage to Frederick Barbarossa, has w'on a high rank in 
 a profession which has always shared with the army the 
 favor of the aristocracy, Lasker has won an influence on 
 domestic legislation quite unparalleled in Germany. If 
 Simson and Bennigseu are satisfied to preside over deli- 
 berations that they cannot direct, Lasker, refusing any dis- 
 tinction which he had not earned, would likewise refuse 
 any distinction not accompanied by power. He is the 
 leading Commoner of Prussia, just as Waldeck was twenty 
 years ago. The difference is that Waldeck was a radical
 
 EDUARD LASKER. II5 
 
 leader in the days when Prussia was slowly fighting her 
 way to a settled constitutional system, while Lasker is the 
 leader of an established majority not only in Prussia, but 
 in the more spacious arena of German politics. 
 
 The official record of his career, as given in the parlia- 
 mentary almanacs, is, up to a certain point, not unlike that 
 of the great body of German barristers. He was born in 
 Berlin on the 14th of October, 1829, a Jew. After a pre- 
 liminary course at the Elizabeth Gymnasium in Breslau, 
 he entered the university of the same city, in 1847, and 
 graduated a doctor of laws in 1851. He then became 
 pro forma an Ausculialor at the Municipal Court of Berlin. 
 Soon afterwards he removed to England, where he lived 
 two or three years. The compiler of the almanac does 
 not state the object of this voluntary exile ; but I believe 
 that it was the young advocate's intention to make England 
 his permanent home, and to pursue there, under more fav- 
 orable advantages, his chosen profession. Be that as it 
 may, his plans were subsequently changed. In 1856, he 
 reappeared in Berlin and passed the next stage of his judi- 
 cial career, that of Assessor. In 1870, he abandoned the 
 bench and resumed the practice of the law as an advocate. 
 He was first elected to the House of Deputies from the 4th 
 Berlin district, in 1865, and was re-elected in 1866. Up 
 to the batde of Sadowa, he had been classed with the 
 advanced Liberals ; but after that event and the modified 
 situation which followed, he abandoned his old associates 
 and aided to found the National Liberal party. In the 
 North German Confederation he was a member of the Con- 
 stituent Reichstag, and of the subsequent legislative Reichs- 
 tags. When the Empire was organized and an Imperial
 
 Il6 BRIEF BIOGRAPIIIES. 
 
 Reichstag — no tautology will be detected here by people 
 who know that the German word Reich does not designate 
 a form of government — was elected, Lasker was the suc- 
 cessful candidate in half-a-dozen districts, and accepted the 
 election for the second district in the Duchy of Saxe-Meinin- 
 gen. In the Prussian Landtag, he now sits for Frankfort on 
 the Main. Aside from parliamentary work, he is solicitor 
 of the " Deutsche Baden-Credit Bank," or. Credit Fon^ier. 
 These outlines of Lasker's life afford abundant subject 
 for reflection. It would be interesting to trace the proba- 
 ble reasoning which led the young advocate to abandon 
 his native land and all hopes of preferment among his own 
 people ; and it could doubtless be found that, like so many 
 of his countrymen, he saw at that time very little promise 
 of a real constitutionalism, under which merit alone should 
 prevail. It would be curious to speculate on the result for 
 him and England, if he had not returned to Germany. The 
 position which he has acquired in Germany would hardly 
 have been opened to him in England. Political prejudice 
 may not be so strong there as in Germany, but social pre- 
 judices are far stronger ; and the race which in the latter 
 country has fought its way upward in art, literature, in 
 legislation, in every field where genius prevails, has in 
 English politics but one striking representative, and he 
 has not retained the faith. But for that, the tremen- 
 dous social opposition which he met, would perhaps have 
 mastered him. Lasker is far honester than Disraeli. He 
 has clung to his original Hebrew faith in spite of all the 
 advantages which apostasy offered to an ambitious man, and 
 his political integrity is out of the reach of slander. His 
 virtues would perhaps have been respected, but in private
 
 EDUARD LASKER. II7 
 
 life, by the English. If he had remained in London, he 
 would have learned to pronounce English with a strong 
 accent of which he himself would have been delightfully un- 
 conscious ; he would have become a clever little attorney 
 with a good run of petty cases, especially among his fellow 
 emigrants ; and in his leisure, he would have written ele- 
 gant correspondence for German journals and reviews. 
 But the German Parliament would have lost in him a legis- 
 lator of splendid and sustained abilities, and the German 
 youth the example of a patriot who is a statesman from a 
 sense of duty, of a citizen above reproach. 
 
 Again, one may draw with tolerable accuracy the outlines 
 of such a judicial career as Lasker, with the indispensable 
 encouragement, might have pursued. The indispensable 
 encouragement was that of the crown or of the authorities 
 who represented the crown. But the authorities of those 
 days were devoted conservatives, and they won the favor of 
 a king who professed just motives of conduct, by dis- 
 tributing his bounty with a jealous care for the interests of 
 altar and throne. Lasker could claim no special sympathy 
 with those interests. He had indeed sworn a formal alle- 
 giance to his sovereign, but he was a strong liberal and, in 
 the jargon of the " Wilhelmstrasse," liberalism then meant 
 disloyalty. He was the subject of a Christian king, but 
 the constitution permitted him formally to adhere to his 
 native faith. A radical and a Jew, he united in himself 
 the two most formidable barriers to professional preferment. 
 For twelve years, from 1858 to 1870, he filled the humble, 
 unsalaried post of assessor at the Berlin Municipal Court, 
 and retired after the experience that there was no opening 
 in the judiciary for him. During that time, he had seen
 
 Il8 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 promoted over his head armies of young candidates in the 
 same service. They wanted his ability, it is true, and his 
 courage, and his independence, and nearly all the qualities 
 which dignify manhood, but they were brilliant defenders 
 of the conservative interests of society, and, above all, of 
 that form of conservative interests which had been intrusted 
 to the royal ministry of Justice. Nor did they hide their 
 light under a bushel. They fearfully extolled from the 
 bench the beneficence of the existing reign, they boldly 
 vindicated their official superiors in the evening club at the 
 beer-house. Lasker was more timid, or perhaps less servile. 
 Regarding his position as one which he had a right, as a 
 Prussian subject, to claim, and demanding a promotion 
 which was justified by his great talents, he would not pur- 
 chase favor by the prostitution either of his office or his 
 opinions. He did not indeed shrink from expressing such 
 opinions as he conscientiously held and might legally pub- 
 lish. In the political clubs he was known as a brilliant 
 and captivating radical orator, in periodicals his graceful 
 pen discussed the pressing questions of the day. But this 
 temerity was, of course, fatal to him. The more he spoke 
 and wrote, the less favorable became his hopes of profes- 
 sional success. 
 
 At the same time, this invidious partiality may have been 
 a real, though disguised, blessing. Lasker the judge would 
 have excluded Lasker the parliamentary leader, and the 
 history of Prussia and Germany might have been other 
 than what it is. If he had been a sound reactionist and 
 had had aristocratic connections, when he began his legal 
 career twenty years ago-, he would have enjoyed every pro- 
 motion through the several stages of an advocate's career ;
 
 EDUARD LASKER, II9 
 
 would have found an early entrance into the judiciary, and 
 would now have a high position on the bench and a good 
 salary. But, in that case, he would have been only a wheel 
 in the mechanism of the State, whereas Providence had 
 reserved him for a higher destiny. 
 
 Coming into public life, or, at least into prominence, at 
 the close of the Conflikis-Zcit, Lasker enjo}-s the advan- 
 tage of freedom from the still glowing animosities of that 
 period. His first election, as stated above, was in the year 
 1865. He then belonged to the "Party of Progress," 
 which had united in opposition to the reactionary policy of 
 the ministry all the undaunted liberal spirits ; but, obeying 
 scruples of modesty, if no others, he did not at once take 
 a prominent part in the debate. While Sadowa was fought, 
 Lasker watched the battle as a silent member. After 
 Sadowa had been fought and won, party relations were 
 changed ; and it may be said that Lasker's parliamentary 
 career began first with the reconciliation made in 1866, 
 and the new era ushered in by that famous transaction. 
 
 Not an inaccurate theory of Lasker's parliamentary posi- 
 tion even at that time, that is to say after he became leader 
 of the National Liberal party, is hinted at in the last 
 number of the Greitzbofen : ' ' The greater part of the Nation- 
 al Liberal party," says the writer, " is liberal conservative ; 
 yet the party is generally led by some men of great talents, 
 of whom the majority ought, according to their political 
 principles, to lead the party of progress." The liberal 
 party certainly counts many other able men, some of whom 
 bear, perhaps, with impatience the sway of a young Hebrew 
 lawyer. Some of these have already been or will be treated 
 in this volume. Such, fbr instance, are Heinrich von
 
 I20 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Treitschke, who had a reputation as a historical student 
 and a graceful writer, long before he became a politician, 
 and who is one of the staunchest and healthiest of 
 Liberals ; Bennigsen, who has at least paternal claim on the 
 leadership ; and Dr. Simson, who enjoys the respect of all 
 parties. There is furthermore Max von Forckenbeck, the 
 successor of Simson and present Speaker of the Reichslag, 
 a Liberal, although a nominal Roman Catholic, Burgomas- 
 ter of the City of Breslau. in Silesia, and one of the younger 
 politicians of Prussia. He has made himself familiar with 
 the duties of his place, and enjoys the support of the 
 whole House ; but he lacks a good voice and a dignified 
 manner, which our prejudices exact of the speaker of such 
 an assembly. Louis Bamberger, one of the exiles of 1848, 
 is a practical banker, and speaks frequently on financial 
 questions ; Carl Braun, a journalist and advocate, is a 
 clever and popular speaker on general subjects ; Schulte 
 is active in the ecclesiastical conflict ; Heinrich Oppenheim 
 is another authority on economical topics ; and there are 
 many others whose absence from these pages implies no 
 indifference to their merits. But none of these can dispute 
 with Lasker the leadership of the majority. He is not only 
 the leader by virtue of superior talents which always assert 
 themselves, but in consequence of a formal choice by the 
 party itself. He is its forensic organ ; he announces in Par- 
 liament its resolutions ; and, when necessary, he sustains 
 them by all the force of his eloquence. 
 
 I have spoken ofLasker's oratorical abilities, but it would 
 be more just to call him the first of German debaters. His 
 parliamentary eff"orts have more of the English practical, 
 realistic character, and less of the art and method of France
 
 EDUARD LASKER. 121 
 
 or America. One searches in vain through Lasker's 
 speeches, and, indeed, through the entire literature of 
 Germany, for such symmetrical and finished specimens of 
 oratorical art as tho^e of the great French divines, of Ber- 
 ryerand the masters of French form, or of the famous orators 
 of the United States. It does not lie in the genius of the 
 German people, much less in that of Lasker himself He 
 wants many qualities which are almost essential to a great 
 orator. He has neither an imposing figure, nor a dignified 
 presence, nor a sonorous voice. He is about as small as 
 Earl Russell ; and, although a man of more natural talent, 
 he has never held, like the former, positions which bring 
 responsibility and authority. He is the delight of the Ber- 
 lin gamitis, the pet of the comic press. He is the parlia- 
 mentary Puck, and one expects him to burst forth : 
 
 " Up and down, up and down, 
 I will lead them up and down : 
 I am feared in field and town ; 
 Goblin, lead them up and down." 
 
 He would be an admirable prime minister in the king- 
 dom of Lilliput. In spite of the solemnity of his manner, 
 he seems always to be an escaped member of some fairy 
 band, — an elf or sprite, — and it would be thought the 
 most natural thing in the world, if he should be seen scam- 
 pering over the top of the desks, kicking over the inkstands 
 of grave deputies, and pulling their shaggy beards. The 
 other short men of the Reichstag do not cause such an im- 
 pression. Delbriick is also very short, but he never im- 
 presses as being unusually, much less ludicrously, so. 
 Windthorst, the ultramontane leader, is very small, but his 
 manner is so aggressive, and his wit so ferocious, that in 
 6
 
 122 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 hearing him speak one adds several feet to his stature. 
 Lasker, on the other hand, is the most earnest man in the 
 House, but the contrast with his size always ends in a 
 sense of the ludicrous. The solemnity is more absurd be- 
 cause unexpected. If Lasker were more sprightly, he 
 would not so often suggest the si)rite. If he had more wit, 
 he would excite less laughter. 
 
 His voice is high and, notwithstanding a slight lisp, 
 very clear. Few speakers make themselves heard more 
 easily, not only in the Prussian House of Deputies, but 
 also against the wretched acoustics of the Reichslag ; and 
 few could throw so much emphasis into so modest an 
 organ. These merits he owes in great part to his singular 
 articulation. Higginson has said that an essay of Emer- 
 son is like a string of pearls, because the sentences may be 
 told off, one by one, each complete in itself The same 
 description may be applied to the articulation of Las- 
 ker. The words drop from his tongue, clear and sharp, 
 like the ticking of a rapid pendulum ; and he has a habit 
 of accumulating speed as he moves through a sentence till 
 the end, when he lets his voice drop plumply on the last 
 word, and begins again. It is somewhat mechanical, and 
 even monotonous, but very eifective in debate. His fluency 
 is of that perfect kind, which is not simply command of 
 words, but which never wants for sentences or thoughts. 
 His speeches sound like perpetual perorations. One ex- 
 pects that each sentence is the culmination. While this 
 feature, by deceiving the patience of hearers, secures their 
 unbroken attention, it mars the effect of a discourse as a 
 work of art, and, with increased familiarity, becomes a 
 tedious mannerism. Unfortunately, Lasker, like many
 
 EDUARD LASKER. I23 
 
 Other fluent and ready speakers, is not sufficiently sparing 
 of his gifts. His position as spokesman of the National 
 Liberal party gives him, of course, great authority, and his 
 ability and earnestness give him still more ; but his ora- 
 tory has not improved during the past year or two, and 
 many people believe that his power over an audience is on 
 the wane. 
 
 Several of Lasker's public or parliamentary efforts have 
 attained the rank of historical events. One of these was 
 a eulogy delivered at the grave of his friend and Liberal 
 colleague, Twesten. Lasker, as has been explained, is a 
 zealous and uncompromising Jew, and Twesten, though a 
 Liberal and a member of the party which the former led, 
 was- an equally steadfast Protestant ; but this did not pre- 
 vent Lasker from saying, at the tomb of his friend, words 
 which were acceptable to both Hebrew and Christian. 
 The discourse was printed and obtained a wide circulation. 
 It was more artistically constructed than his parliamentary 
 speeches ; and while it revealed a good command of the 
 resources of rhetoric, and a finely trained critical faculty, 
 it was not without those more feeling passages which dis- 
 close the emotion of a bereaved friend. 
 
 Lasker's most memorable parliamentary triumph was pro- 
 bably the exposure of what is known as the Northern Rail- 
 way scandal ; and the overthrow of the Minister of Com- 
 merce, Count Itzenplitz. A few words will explain this 
 achievement, which had a social as well as a political 
 significance. Its social significance lay in the fact that it 
 was the triumph of an honest, radical Jew over speculating, 
 Christian aristocrats ; its political significance, in the fact 
 that parliamentary pressure, supported by public indigna-
 
 124 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 tion, v/as able to expel a favorite minister of the king. If 
 there was one thing more than another which confirmed the 
 aversion of the Prussian aristocracy to commercial occupa- 
 tions, it was the theory, which was by no means unsup- 
 ported by facts, that they were the chosen domain of the 
 Israelites. This was especially true of that large class of 
 financial enterprises which involve elements of risk, and in 
 which a striking audacity, — hovering along the borders of 
 that region where the daring becomes the dishonest — the 
 speculator, the swindler, — is even more important, as a source 
 of power, than capital and patience. Even when individual 
 nobles, driven by necessity or some higher cause, entered 
 upon a career of trade and sent their ships abroad over the 
 seas, like Antonio, it was a tradition that they always fell a 
 prey to the Shylock of their time and country. It is not 
 worth while to dispute about what was cause and what 
 effect, whether the aristocracy shrank from business because 
 it was in the hands of Jews, or the Jews usurped the field 
 because it was neglected by the aristocracy. That is per- 
 haps a question, but the fact itself is clear enough. The 
 Spaniard Quevedo, whenever he heard of a quarrel 
 between two men, always asked : "Who is the woman ?" 
 In Germany, when a startling commercial scheme became 
 known, or an imposing swindle was revealed, the country 
 gentlemen asked, " Is his name Isaac, or Jacob, or Moses.?" 
 One may easily believe that it was not less a pleasure than 
 a duty for Lasker to show the other side of this picture. 
 During the session of 1873, he made a speech on the bud- 
 get, in which he declared that a regular system of fraud 
 was in operation in the ministry of commerce, by winch 
 cer'.ain persons were using their official position to rriak?
 
 EDUARD LASKER. 1 25 
 
 themselves rich. He specified two men, both of aristo- 
 cratic blood and connections, and one a great favorite of 
 Prince Bismarck himself. The latter was a sub-official in 
 the ministry of commerce ; and Lasker charged that he 
 had granted or promised the granting of railway ' conces- 
 sions with an over prudent regard for the interests of him- 
 self and his friends. He demanded a parliamentary inves- 
 tigation. It happened that honest and reactionary old 
 General von Roon was, at that time, playing the comedy of 
 minister-president, and he resented this assault upon the 
 flower of Prussian Junkerdom. In answer to Lasker's 
 speech, he promised, indeed, to have the matter examined, 
 but with rare temerity he pronounced the charges false. 
 Lasker accepted this challenge. In two long and masterly 
 speeches which were exhaustive accounts of the railwa} s at 
 issue, and which were full of the most astounding revela- 
 tions, he not only persuaded the House to grant the 
 desired investigation, but he even convinced von Roon 
 himself that the charges were true. The latter was frank 
 enough to rise and say that if he had known the facts before, 
 he would never have made the statement that he made. 
 The investigation by a mixed commission, appointed by 
 the government and the House, was acccordingly held. 
 The result was that the inculpated official was dismissed ; 
 and the minister of commerce, whose negligence and inef- 
 ficiency had proved so costly, was forced by public opinion 
 to retire. 
 
 A year later the liberal leader arraigned another illustri- 
 ous personage, Prince Putbus. He also had built railways, 
 and, according to Lasker, had been guilty of practices which 
 revealed genius indeed, but a species of genius which by
 
 126 BRIEF BIOGRArHIES. 
 
 rigid moralists is looked on with disfavor. Putbus was 
 very angry. His aristocratic blood boiled at this interfer- 
 ence of an heterodox plebeian with his financial operations, 
 and he demanded a military court of inquiry. He is an 
 officer of the Landwehr, and he asked a court of his com- 
 rades to say whether he had done anything unworthy of 
 his honor, as a soldier and a gentleman. This court ac- 
 quitted him, and the subject dropped. 
 
 It is one of the infirmities of human nature that the dis- 
 covery of sin is a secret pleasure, when the sinners are our 
 enemies ; and Eduard Lasker is not above humanity. But 
 if his relations to the alleged swindles did sharpen his re- 
 forming zeal, it has not been disputed that the effect of his 
 exposures was wholesome in the highest sense. They tore 
 aside forever the heavy veil of social prejudice, which had 
 so long shielded the deeds of the noblesse from the eye of 
 public criticism ; and placed the golden rule of integrity on 
 a thoroughly democratic basis. They made Lasker the 
 most popular man in Prussia. He was admired as the 
 great tribune of the people, and loved as warmly as he was 
 admired. Of course, the ministers were annoyed at these 
 uncanonical feats on the part of the leader of the govern- 
 ment majority, in Parliament. They could not exactly 
 defend established guilt, nor could they ask His Majesty to 
 countenance these awkward assaults upon the court favor- 
 ites. They were placed in an embarrassing dilemma, from 
 which they have not yet escaped. But the bold little 
 deputy, who created the dilemma, won fresh parliamentary 
 laurels and the respect of all good citizens. 
 
 Of other important events in Lasker's public career, I 
 recall his vindication of parliamentary privilege in the case
 
 EDUARD LASKER. 12/ 
 
 of a Catholic deputy, who had been arrested by order of 
 the government during the session ; iiis skillful plea for an 
 imperial bank, which, at first unsuccessful on a question 
 of form, finally won the substance of the cause ; his elab- 
 orate and masterly speeches on law reform, the last, and 
 not the least striking, being that of December, 1875, in 
 which he spoke for the majority of the Liberals against the 
 reactionary proposals of the government ; and finally a 
 variety of speeches on the ecclesiastical issue, the only one, 
 perhaps, on which he accepts without reserve the position 
 and views of the ministry. These speeches reveal the most 
 singular relations that have, perhaps, ever bound the leader 
 of a parliamentary majority to a government. If there be 
 any government party in German or Prussian politics it is 
 the National Liberal party. The majority in the Reichstag, 
 as in the Landtag, are associated with the measures of Prince 
 Bismarck, for unity and against Ultramontanism, and are al- 
 ways referred to as the ministerial party. In the elections 
 the semi-official press always supports the candidates of 
 this party. I remember, a year ago, after the elections 
 for the Reichstag, the Provinzial Correspondcjiz, the most 
 authoritative organ of the government, congratulated the 
 country that the center of parliamentary gravity would con- 
 tinue to lie in the National Liberal party. But neither 
 Bismarck himself, nor a single one of his ministerial subor- 
 dinates, is a member of that party. The minister of war 
 is a strict Conservative. Dr. Falk and the ministers of 
 commerce and of agriculture belong to the Free Conser- 
 vatives. Camphausen and Delbriick are so-called Old 
 Liberals, and now build a glorious party of their own. 
 And if the ministers have few actual connections with the
 
 128 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 National Liberals, these latter, on the other hand, have 
 very little sympathy with the ministers. Under a strict 
 parliamentary government every one of them, except Bis- 
 marck himself, would disappear. 
 
 As the leader of the Liberals, Lasker is, more than any 
 other, responsible for the attitude of the party. His influ- 
 ence in shaping its extra-parliamentary resolutions is no 
 less marked than his ability in defending those resolutions 
 before Parliament. But since the defense of the party in 
 the majority of cases implies opposition to the measures 
 proposed by the government, and as Lasker is a legislator 
 who never shrinks from the most extreme statement of his 
 views, it follows that, as a nominal friend of the ministry, he 
 must be one of those uncomfortable friends whose benevo- 
 lent candor is little less dangerous than open hostility. He 
 is the kindly critic who exacts more than the opposition. 
 His support for bills is won only when they have been 
 shorn of all the features that the government most prizes. 
 Hence Prince Bismarck is much better satisfied when the 
 most bitter Ultramontane takes the floor than when this 
 valiant but captious ally tears his schemes into pieces, 
 under pretense of making friendly suggestions. 
 
 If Lasker had not become a practical politician, he would 
 have been one of the first of political critics. His published 
 writings are equally ma'rked by elegance of style, keenness 
 of thought, and breadth of scholarship ; and long before 
 he won a parliamentary reputation, they were eagerly ac- 
 cepted by the first periodicals of Germany. He wrote 
 mainly on political and social topics, and one or two 
 volumes of his essays have been collected and published.
 
 X. 
 
 Herr Windthorst. 
 
 |E come now to the defenders of the sacred order 
 in politics, to the champions of the Church 
 against the legislation of the State. They repre- 
 sent the universal spirit of opposition. They have as ener- 
 getic a hatred of the Old Protestants who hold a mistaken 
 faith, as of the extreme radicals who hold no faith what- 
 ever. With them all the results of pure political action, 
 not inspired by the precepts or sanctioned by the consent 
 of the Church, are but unsubstantial dreams ; yet this fact, 
 or this conviction, lessens in no degree the vigor and zeal 
 of their resistance. If their kingdom were truly of this 
 world, and its prizes piously to be sought, they could not 
 act their parliamentary parts with a more studied skill. 
 
 The Ultramontanes, as a party, share with the National 
 Liberals the debating talent of the country. Three of 
 their members, Mallinckrodt, Reichensperger, and Windt- 
 horst, have carried on their side of the ecclesiastical con- 
 test with a skill, an audacity, and a persistence which are 
 6*
 
 130 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 not the less admirable, because they are exerted in a hope- 
 less cause. The first of these hardy champions has been 
 removed by death from the field of politics. But Her- 
 mann von Mallinckrodt is so conspicuous a figure in the 
 modern Parliamentary life of Germany, and his part is so 
 closely connected with the greatest political issue of these 
 days, that even the traditions of his incisive eloquence have 
 a present value. A member of the Catholic aristocracy of 
 Westphalia, he could, perhaps, trace his family connec- 
 tions and his religious heritage back to Saint Boniface 
 himself. In more prosperous times, he was employed in 
 the local administration of the province, just as he was an 
 active supporter of the Government ten years ago, when 
 Bismarck was trying to strangle Liberalism instead of Ultra- 
 montanism. After the outbreak of the ecclesiastical con- 
 flict, Mallinckrodt was one of the most determined leaders 
 of the Opposition. He was not only a man of broad gen- 
 eral culture, but, in certain subjects, such, for instance, as 
 Church history and dogma, he was a profound and accu- 
 rate scholar, and almost the only Catholic member who 
 could carry the debates up to that elevation. In him Dr. 
 Falk and Professor Gneist found no unworthy foe. In an 
 intellectual sense his speaking was of the very highest sort. 
 He was not a great orator to sway a popular audience, for 
 his manner w'as cold and unsympathetic ; but he knew 
 how to rivet the general attention by the closeness of his 
 logic and terrify his enemies by the power of his sarcasm. 
 His delivery was quite unlike the German type. He was 
 calm, moderate, and full of self-possession ; he was familiar 
 with all the little arts of gesticulation and elocution, and 
 his speeches were specimens of polished and masterly in-
 
 IIERR WINDTIIORST. Ijl 
 
 vective. In spite of the exasperating effect of his oratory, 
 Mallinckrodt was perhaps more generally respected than 
 any of his Ultramontane colleagues. When he died, not 
 the Catholic press alone paid his memory tribute, but the 
 Liberal journals mourned the loss of a stalwart foe and an 
 accomplished Parliamentary debator. Peter Reichensper- 
 ger, the second member of this triumvirate, is cast in a dif- 
 ferent mould. He was a leading jurist and a judge before 
 he became a leader of the "Centre; " and, if that party had 
 not been created by the exigencies of the times, he would 
 have lived and died a consistent servant of the State, In- 
 deed, he has never quite forgotten the jurist in the legis- 
 lator. In his political views and in his political methods, 
 he is more considerate that his two colleagues. His 
 speeches are carefully prepared, and are concise, lucid, and 
 cogent. As he discusses the Church question in ihe tone 
 and with the air of a man who conscientiously feels a 
 grievance, instead of making it a text on which to say dis- 
 agreeable things of adversaries, he is more fairly treated 
 by his associates, and serves his own cause not the less 
 efiiciently. 
 
 Both these two men must, however, in the order of 
 talents and influence, give way to Louis Windthorst. The 
 biographical sketch of him, which I find in the parliamen- 
 tary handbook, reads as if written by himself It is short 
 and unpretentious, and seems to reveal the same contempt 
 for autobiographical arts and opportunities that he shows 
 for shams and pretenders in parliamentary life. It is worth 
 reproducing entire : 
 
 "Windthorst, Ludwig, ex-Minister of State in Hanover. 
 Born 17 January, 18 12. Roman Catholic. Attended the
 
 132 BRIEF BIOGRArHIES. 
 
 'Carolinum' in Osnabriick, and studied in Gottingen 
 and Heidelberg. Was, first, advocate, then syndic and 
 presiding member of the Consistory at Osnabrilck ; after- 
 wards Ober-Ap[>ellationsrath in Kalbe ; 1 851-1853 and 
 1 862-1 865, Minister of Justice in Hanover ; finally Chief 
 Syndic of the Crown in Kalbe. 1849-66, member of the 
 Assembly of the Estates of the Realm, and in 1851 presi- 
 dent of the second Chamber of the same ; member of the 
 Constituent and \\\q^ xo.gwX'^x Reichstag, and since 1867, of 
 the Prussian House of Deputies ; re-elected for the third 
 district of the Province of Hanover." 
 
 This is the list of the public positions filled by Windt- 
 horst ; unfortunately it includes no account of the way in 
 which he has filled them. If it had been written by his 
 great enemy, Bismarck, or his rival, Lasker, the world 
 would have tested their candor and magnanimity by the 
 degree of recognition expressed by them for the extraor- 
 dinary talents, the unrivalled sagacity of this leader of the 
 Ultramontane faction. But those critical observations 
 which are forbidden to Windthorst's own pen, or by the 
 dignity of a parliamentary annual, may be found and ap- 
 propriated in other places. Not the least of the merits of 
 this deputy is that of picturesqueness. He imparts variety 
 to the debates, and illuminates them by those, sudden ele- 
 ments of the incongruous, the sense of which is said to be 
 the basis of laughter. The cause of picturesqueness him- 
 self, he is at the same time a capital subject for picturesque 
 description. Wax Ring has, perhaps, not made the most 
 of his subject, and his closing estimate of Windthorst is 
 patronizingly inadequate, but for an evidently hostile critic 
 he is not altogether and wholly unjust.
 
 IIERR WINDTIIORST. I33 
 
 "If we turn now toward the Centre," he says, "our 
 attention is immediately drawn to one of the most inter- 
 esting and best known characters of the Reichslag. Directly 
 opposite the president's chair, in the first row, buried in 
 thought, sits a plump little man with a bald head, short- 
 sighted, eyes half hid under the arched brows and a pecu- 
 liar protuberant upper lip, so that, as the phrase goes, his 
 beauty cannot oppress him. But even here the French 
 proverb prevails : C'esl sa laideiir qui fait sa beanie ; for a 
 certain spiritual expression lends a singular charm to a 
 physiognomy, so little marked by beauty, especially when in 
 the course of debate the apparently composed, but really 
 active face becomes animated. Then the little brown- eyes 
 sparkle, the lifeless lines expand, and an ironical mocking 
 smile plays along the overhanging lip. Suddenly he inter- 
 rupts the speaker and shouts a sarcastic remark into the 
 assembly, which commoidy causes merriment, but some- 
 times angry murmurs. The curious little man is no other 
 than the 'Pearl of Meppen,' the Deputy Windthorst, formerly 
 a Hanoverian minister of State under King George, at pre- 
 sent the leader and head of the ' Centre ' party. For a great 
 statesman and orator, which he would gladly be, he 
 wants the force of truth, and warmth of conviction, which 
 carry hearers irresistibly with them. In the place of these 
 he possesses a sharp understanding, piercing wit, and the 
 coolest ruthlessness in battle with his opponents. He sug- 
 gests the manner of the French fencing-masters, with their 
 sharp elastic blades. Like them, he spies with his quick 
 glances every exposed point of his foe, and strikes light- 
 ning-quick, sure as a serpent. Most interesting is the duel, 
 when he is opposed to his special foe Prince Bismarck.
 
 134 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Then his keenness and daring are doubled ; his little eyes 
 are fired with malice, and his wit becomes more biting and 
 cutting. In spite of this, however, little Windthorst gen- 
 erally succumbs to the giant blows of the great Bismarck, 
 whom he cannot reach with his French rapier. Still the 
 'Pearl of Meppen,' is a dangerous antagonist ; he has the 
 most extensive connections on all sides and in the highest 
 circles^ and in the choice of means obeys the principles of 
 the Jesuits. Now he reaches out his hand to the Alsatians ; 
 next is seen arm in arm with the social-aristocrat Sonne- 
 mann ; again he smiles on the Conservatives and Particular- 
 ists, then coquets even with the National Liberals and the 
 Progressivists, whenever, in short, there is a chance to create 
 embarrassments for the government and especially the 
 hated chancellor, — a cunning scout, an unwearied partisan, 
 extraordinary in small warfare, but no commander who 
 fights historic battles."* 
 
 A writer in the Grenzboten Magazine is less complimen- 
 tar}'. He says that what has fortified Windthorst in the 
 parliamentary rank that he has won " is the specific nature 
 of his gifts and his capacity. It is known that he prefers 
 short impromptus to long speeches. He hits best thereby 
 the temper of a House which is almost always in a state of 
 mental weariness, and which sighs with a natural longing 
 for the little jokes and the personal incidents that entertain. 
 Hence in a large measure the flood of 'personal remarks,' 
 encouraged by the House itself, after every sharp debate, 
 and hence the eternal 'merriment,' the stereotyped ap- 
 pearance of which in the reports has given rise to so much 
 
 ♦Max Ring in tlie Gartenlaube, 1874, page 292.
 
 IIERR WINDTIIORST. 1 35 
 
 unfavorable comment in the provinces This chronic 
 
 exhaustion Windthorst beyond all others knows how to 
 humor. His wit is in no wise brilliant, his humor has a 
 sour smack, his shrewdness wants depth of thought and 
 study. Since he only skims off the foam of the day's ex- 
 citement, without troublesome soundings into its depths, 
 since he neglects the relations of things, and, with the taste 
 of a cultivated natural talent, pries into the relations of 
 persons, he has always material for bad jokes, or piquant 
 allusions. For this a bored audience is always grateful, 
 and by its applause, if often only ironical, places him 
 higher than he deserves. " 
 
 Neither of these sketches is complete or accurate. It 
 the former, written in an easier style, presents only the 
 outward characteristics of the man, the latter aims at a 
 more careful theory of his intellectual nature, and neglects 
 all other elements. But they agree in denying him the 
 attributes of a statesman, and in degrading him to the rank 
 of a low comedian on the parliamentary stage. 
 
 Nothing could be more unjust and more inexact. If 
 the writers had questioned the sincerity of Windthorst's 
 religious fervor ; if they had described the recklessness 
 and unscrupulousness of his political methods ; if they had 
 represented him as a powerful critic without constructive or 
 organizing talent, they would not have violated truth or 
 propriety. The Hanoverian leader is not a man to whom 
 nature supplied the conditions of a positive faith ; he is 
 der Geisi der stets verneint. He would be the most daring 
 and consistent of skeptics, if his interests had not made 
 him the most faithful of believers. Even his religious pro- 
 fessions spring from one form of unbelief To be a free-
 
 136 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 thinker requires the exercise of faith in human reason and 
 in most of the results of human inquiry, while, by espous- 
 ing the Catholic religion, he proclaimed his disbelief in all 
 positive and uninspired knowledge. He is skeptical on all 
 subjects where skepticism requires the greatest contempt 
 for his fellow beings, and is credulous where he is sure of 
 having the fewest imitators. He doubts everything that is 
 true, and believes only what is doubtful. According to the 
 philosophy of Hegel, the Ego and the Non ego are identi- 
 cal. Windthorst shows by his own example the identity of 
 absolute skepticism and absolute belief. An original spirit 
 of universal dissent has driven him into a Church which 
 exacts as a first condition vows of unqualified assent. 
 
 Windthorst is, perhaps, the model Philistine of German 
 politics, but it must be said that, while refusing to concede 
 to his rivals the influence of moral convictions, he never 
 claims them for his own party. Reichensperger and Schor- 
 lemer assume the air of indignant martyrs,-but Windthorst 
 never. He is too clever to invite the ironical laughter of the 
 Left. He battles with the Centre, not because he believes in 
 Ultramontanism, but because he hates Prince Bismarck and 
 Prussia ; and this freedom from the servitude of a virtuous 
 consistency is of vast advantage to him. He is not com- 
 pelled to assume an attitude of defence when his Church is 
 assailed, and of silence for the rest of the time. Like a 
 soldier of fortune, he roams over the whole world of politics, 
 and grapples with the foe wherever and whenever he meets 
 him. Less successful in the use of studied irony than 
 Mallinckrodt, and far below him in the breadth and ele- 
 gance of his acquirements, he is superior in running debate, 
 in rapid repartee, and as a parliamentary manager. He car-
 
 IIERR WINDTIIORST. 1 3/ 
 
 ries on for his faction all the details of the battles, argues 
 the technical questions, and in general watches ail the side 
 issues that spring up along the way. To this congenial 
 work he brings a fertility of expedient, a ruthlessness of 
 purpose, and a sharpness of wit, which have no rivals in 
 the House. Under the fire of the fiercest attack he lolls 
 sleepily in his seat, but with one eye always open to the 
 chances of a trenchant interruption. 
 
 It would be incorrect, moreover, to say with the writers 
 quoted above, thatWindthorst has none of the qualities of 
 a statesman. One may be without moral and intellectual 
 convictions, and yet be able to detect the fallacy in any 
 political theory, or the weaknesses of any proposed meas- 
 ures, and to suggest a better theory or measure. This is 
 the case with Windthorst. His mind is acute, but not 
 shallow ; his spirit is cynical, but not frivolous. The rapid- 
 ity of his intellectual processes does not imply that they 
 are careles's or incorrect, and it has always seemed to me 
 that his understanding was sure as well as clear. The 
 leader of a feeble minority has, of course, very little chance 
 of impressing his views upon legislation, but Windthorst 
 is a useful legislator. He is a master of parliamentary law 
 and strategy. In fact, he seems to me to possess many 
 qualities of a statesman, with few of his opportunities ; and 
 not many of his colleagues, in any part of the Reichslag, 
 are by nature or by training his superior. 
 
 They who know Windthorst well, say that none of the 
 ferocity which he shows in parliamentary warfare goes over 
 with him into private life. He is a kindly, agreeable, old 
 gentleman, who is much respected for the Spartan simpli- 
 city of his tastes, and much admired for the wit and spright- 
 8*
 
 138 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 liness of his conversation. The morose air that he has in 
 public, never, indeed, quite forsakes him, but it does not 
 reveal a morose temper or an unfriendly disposition. The 
 sarcasm which is so terrible, like that of Thaddeus Stevens, 
 is part of his professional equipment. He will make a 
 point against some measure by a crushing personal retort 
 upon one of its defenders, and then apologize to the vic- 
 tim that the force of circumstances made necessary a step 
 which had no element of personal unkindness. But he 
 has never, to my knowledge, shown this sort of remorse 
 toward Prince Bismarck, 
 
 The Chancellor once did Windthorst the honor publicly 
 to recognize him as his most formidable antagonist, and 
 since that time, the position of the leader of the Ultramon- 
 tane faction has not been disputed. A few maintain that 
 the unintentional kindness of the prince prejudiced the 
 chances of other foes equally deserving. This charge is 
 unjust to him. The mind of the prince is singularly "ob- 
 jective," and in choosing to single out Windthorst for 
 personal attack, he was only recognizing a concrete fact, 
 a parliamentary phenomenon. Neither the original po- 
 sition of Windthorst, nor his subsequent growth in authority, 
 owes anything to the partial hostility of the Imperial Chan- 
 cellor.
 
 XI. 
 
 Dr. Loewe. 
 
 N a sense which is much more literal than the 
 metaphor would suggest, Dr. Loewe may be called 
 a landmark in German politics. The distance be- 
 tween him and the government to-day is, in a general way, 
 a key to the progress made by the latter during the past 
 thirty years, but is not evidence of a relapse of the former 
 from the principles of his early life. Prince Bismarck has 
 drawn near to him, but he is unchanged. Added years 
 and calmer times may, indeed, have modified the ardor of 
 youth, and brought with them more respect for the practi- 
 cal conditions of reform ; but in principle he is the same 
 uncompromising foe of prerogative, of Junkerism, of 
 military pretensions ; and the same stanch champion of 
 popular rights. He is a radical, but his radicalism does 
 not exclude statesmanship. He is a radical who endured 
 a long persecution at the hands of the government, with the 
 same dignity that he maintains in the enjoymicnt of its 
 respect ; who received his pardon for the offence of a fervid
 
 140 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 patriotism with the same manly independence that he pre- 
 serves in the prosperity of a universal affection. 
 
 He is a radical in .the German sense, which is not at all 
 the American, nor even the English sense. His mind is, 
 perhaps, rather English than either German or American. 
 He might be compared to Mr. Bright in firmness of con- 
 viction and purity of purpose, but he is a better scholar 
 and a more practical legislator. He might be compared 
 to Mr. Forster in the solidity of his understanding and the 
 breadth of his sympathies, but he never barters with current 
 opinions. He showed his independence by remaining with 
 the party of Progress, when nearly all of his friends were 
 organizing a governmental National Liberal party. He 
 showed it again two years since, when, against his radical 
 friends, he voted for a military measure that he deemed 
 necessaiy to the Empire. Thus he is no idle theorist, 
 neglecting practical even if partial reforms, for abstract and 
 useless impossibilities. 
 
 Dr. William Loewe was born at Olvenstedt, near Magde- 
 burg, on the 14th of November, 18 14. He studied at the 
 Gymnasium of Magdeburg, and further at the University of 
 Halle, where he graduated as doctor of medicine. His 
 first appearance in political life was in that year which 
 called out for the first time so much political talent, the year 
 1848, and it saw him as delegate to the Frankfort Parlia- 
 ment. He was President of the "German Parliament" 
 after its secession to Stuttgart. Pursued on account of this 
 circumstance, he went into exile, and remained abroad 
 until 1861, when a general amnesty opened the way for him 
 to return. Since then, he has resided at Berlin, and divided 
 his time between the practice of his profession and legisla-
 
 DR. LOEWE. 141 
 
 tive work. He is a member both of the Prussian House 
 of Deputies and of the Reichstag, and was, until this year, 
 when he refused a re-election, first vice-president of the 
 former. 
 
 When the mihtary courtiers and the Conservatives of the 
 old reactionary class assert, as they do, that Dr. Loewe is 
 a revolutionary statesman, they have in their own minds and 
 convey to others a clear notion of what they mean. The 
 term " Revolution " in Germany has been adopted into the 
 jargon of the schools. Every philosopher who lectures at 
 a university gives at least one hour each season to the fun- 
 damental difference between revolution and reformation, 
 with personal examples drawn, perhaps, from Napoleon and 
 Luther. The former revolutionized without reforming ; 
 the latter reformed without revolutionizing. The one was 
 a pernicious disturber of social order ; the other was a 
 beneficent, corrective force. The Frenchman pursued the 
 French method ; the German, the German method. This 
 is the accepted formula, but its application to the course of 
 events in history is not so simple. Of which of these two 
 processes, for instance, is the existing parliamentary system 
 the result .? The discontented Radical, who chafes under 
 military dominion and the fetters imposed by law on all 
 healthy political agitation, answers that it is the result of a 
 timid unfinished reform. The rural Junker growls that it 
 is nothing less than a revolution in the original principles 
 of Prussian society. Both in a certain sense are right. 
 The Radical could justly say the changes are neither sweep- 
 ing nor secure enough to be called revolutionary ; while 
 the Conservative could reply that the uprising of 1848 
 frightened the king into constitutionalism, and that many
 
 142 BRIEF BIOGRAPIIIES. 
 
 leaders in that uprising now enjoy the honors and the rights 
 of deputies. This last fact is certainly one of the most 
 striking triumphs of an irresistible progress. That the in- 
 surrection of 1848 was a failure, in a practical sense, is le- 
 yond dispute ; that it was not even politically justifiable 
 may be pretended ; but that the leaders, who afterwards 
 became exiles, were conspirators or dangerous citizens, or 
 anything but spirited and generous patriots, the most ser- 
 vile courtier will no longer assert. The vengeance of 
 frightened princes drove them into banishment, but could 
 not break the ties of their patriotism. When the amnesty 
 was proclaimed after the establishment of the North Ger- 
 man Confederation, many of the exiles returned, and, in 
 1870, still more came and re-entered, at once, into the 
 political life of the fatherland. They are mostly men of 
 education and talent ; and their experience in England 
 and America, under the operation of free institutions, does 
 not impair their value as citizens at this stage in German 
 history. 
 
 Dr. Loewe is a typical man of this class. The record 
 of his life reads like a chapter out of the revolutionary 
 history of Germany, or rather like that history itself He 
 was a revolutionist, but of the tribune, not of the barri- 
 cades. He struggled for constitutional government in 
 Prussia, but he preferred a peaceful, orderly struggle to 
 foolish street conflicts which were sure to fail, and strength- 
 ened the logic as much as they hardened the heart of reac- 
 tion ; he was an ardent worker for German unity, and he 
 thought it might be conquered without the aid of the can- 
 non and the musket. But the practical moderation, the or- 
 derly and peaceful character of his method gave no security
 
 DR. LOEWE. 143 
 
 against the vengeance of governments that were resolved 
 to repress every manifestation of liberalism. His offense 
 was only this : after the several German governments had 
 dissolved the Frankfort Parliament and called home the 
 representatives, a large portion of that assembly — the Radi- 
 cal and advanced Liberals — adjourned in a body to Stutt- 
 gart, in Wiirtemberg, and organized as the " German 
 Parliament. " But here again the patriots were interrupted. 
 The militar}^ entered the hall, and turned them out. Re- 
 taining their unity of action even in this extremity, and as 
 if to protest by their order and moderation against the per- 
 secution of which they were the object, the little band 
 formed upon the street, and led by Dr. Loewe, the presi- 
 dent, and the poet Uhland, bareheaded, marched solemnly 
 through the old Schwabian city. 
 
 For his share in this drama, Dr. Loewe was prosecuted 
 by the Prussian government. There was some difficulty 
 in finding a cou;t that would make out a case. After the 
 local court at Kalbe, the town that he represented and 
 after which he is still called Loewe-Kalbe, had refused to 
 entertain the case, and the criminal court at Magdeburg, 
 entertaining it, had acquitted him, the superior court came 
 to the rescue of reaction and found him guilty. He was 
 sentenced to imprisonment for life, but as he had already 
 escaped to Switzerland, the sentence amounted only to a 
 degree of exile. 
 
 Dr. Loewe lived two years in Switzerland, two in Lon- 
 don, and eight in New York, The latter became his second 
 home, and, if wiser counsels had not prevailed in Germany 
 he would doubtless have ended his days in America, in 
 the quiet practice of his profession. Although he enjoyed
 
 144 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 high respect among his fellow exiles and emigrants in 
 America, I believe that he never figured there in political 
 life. This was doubtless his preference ; for no one who 
 knows the man can doubt that his talents, if displayed, 
 would have won as prompt and hearty recognition in the 
 land of his adoption, as in the land of his birth. 
 
 As It is, he brought back with him, unlike some of his 
 comrades, a just and generous affection for the country 
 and the people that gave him an asylum. His sympathy 
 with America, too, is not of that sentimental and fanciful 
 sort so common in young radicals. It is the appreciation 
 of an observer who has studied all sides of American life, 
 and has reached a temperate, intelligent, and reasonable 
 view. On every public and private occasion he has warm- 
 ly defended the transatlantic republic. I remember one 
 case in particular — the assassination of Lincoln. When 
 the news of that terrible crime reached Germany, Dr. 
 Loewe, who had known the martyr President, was the first 
 to call the attention of the Prussian Parliament to the 
 affair. His speech, on that occasion, was such a feeling 
 and graceful effort, that I reproduce it in full from the 
 translation of the American Legation. Dr. Loewe said : — 
 
 " Gentlemen : I have ventured to request the President to permit 
 me to make a communication for which I claim your sympathy. 
 That which I wish to request of you does not, indeed, belong to the 
 immediate field of our labors, but it goes so far beyond the narrow 
 circle of private life that, in union with a number of our colleagues, 
 I have ventured to call your attention to it. A considerable number 
 of our colleagues feel the need, under the dismay produced by the 
 news of the unhappy death of President Lincoln, to give expression 
 to their views in rcjjard 'o his fate, and their sympathy with the nation
 
 DR. LOEWE. 145 
 
 from which he has been snatched away. Abraham Lincoln has 
 fallen by the hand of an assassin, in the moment of triumpli of the 
 cause which he had conducted, and while he was in hopes of giving 
 to his people the peace so long desired. 
 
 " Our colleagues wish, in an address, to express the sympathy not 
 of this House, — that I say in order to remove all apprehension of a 
 violation of the rules, — but the sympathy of the individual members 
 of the House, in this great and unhappy event. This address we 
 desire to present to the Minister of the United States. 
 
 " Gentlemen, I will lay the paper on the table, and I beg those 
 of my colleagues, who share with me the feeling of warm and heart- 
 felt sympathy in the lot of a nation which is united by so many bonds 
 with our own people, to give expression to those feelings by append 
 ing their signatures to the address. These sympathies I regard as 
 all the more justified, since the United States have won a new and 
 splendid triumph for mankind, through the great struggle which 
 they have been carrying on for the cause of true humanity, and which, 
 as I confidently hope, in spite of this murder of their chief, they will 
 conduct to a successful termination. In expressing our feelings of 
 pain, we desire, at the same time, to prove our hearty sympathy with 
 the American Nation, and those of our brothers who have taken part 
 in the struggle for their cause. The man, gentlemen, who has fallen 
 by the murderer's hand, and whom I seem to see with his simple, 
 honest countenance ; the man who accomplished such great deeds 
 from the simple desire conscientiously to perform his duty; the man 
 who never wished to be more or less than the sincere and faithful serv- 
 ant of his people ; this man will find his own glorious place in the 
 pages of history. . In the deepest reverence, I bow my*head before 
 this modest greatness, and I think it is especially agreeable to the 
 spirit of my own nation, with its deep inner life and admiration of 
 self-sacrificing devotion and effort after the ideal, to pay the tribute 
 of veneration to such greatness, exalted as it is by its simplicity and 
 modesty. I beg of you, gentlemen, accordingly, to join in this ex- 
 pression of veneration for the great dead, which, without distinction 
 of party, we offer to him as a true servant of his State, and of the 
 cause of humanity." 
 
 9
 
 146 BRIEF BIOGRArHIES. 
 
 The American Minister, Mr. Judd, reporting these pro- 
 ceedings to the State Department, adds that "nearly the 
 whole House rose in token of concurrence ; and the ad- 
 dress, as drawn up by the speaker, is receiving numerous 
 signatures." It was presented on the first day of May by 
 a committee, which was headed by Dr. Loewe, and con- 
 tained furthermore Professor Virchow and Dr. Johann 
 Jacoby, of whom the political careers are sketched in this 
 volume, as well as Waldeck, Duncker, and some twenty 
 others. After the proceedings, some time was spent in 
 conversation, and Mr. Judd adds that he "parted with 
 them (the committee) deeply gratified and consoled by 
 this mark of generous and noble sympathy with our people 
 and our cause." This touching demonstration, which was 
 suggested and directed by Dr. Loewe, is only one of the 
 many ways in which he has shown his affection for the 
 American people. 
 
 As a speaker. Dr. Loewe is clear, positive, and forcible. A 
 man universally respected himself, he always shows respect 
 for his opponents ; he avoids personal attacks upon others 
 and escapes them for himself He does not speak often 
 now, but, perhaps, exercises the more influence. 
 
 As has Jpeen explained, he is, or long was, leader of 
 the so-called " Fortschri/ls" party, or "Progressists," 
 and he still holds firmly to abstract principles of advanced 
 Liberalism. But he is a statesman and a patriot, as 
 well as a Radical, and revolts as often from the tyranny 
 of impracticable theories, as from that of reaction. Thus, 
 when the late bill on military reorganization was be- 
 fore the Reichstag, he cut loose from his political friends
 
 DR. LOEWE. 147 
 
 and voted with the government. Since then, he has not 
 formally belonged to the "Progressive" group above 
 narried, but has held an independent and somewhat isolat- 
 ed position.
 
 XII. 
 
 Herr Schulze-Delitzsch. 
 
 jHIS gentleman is a radical reformer who looks 
 like a dull rural Conservative, a fearless and 
 original writer, who, on the street or in his seat 
 in Parliament, would be taken for a German Monsieur 
 Prudhomme, the genius of sublime platitudes. Only one 
 leading feature in his character is suggested in his face — his 
 benevolence. His large, luminous eyes, his full, gray 
 beard, and the slight smile about his lips seem, indeed, to 
 exclude the restless agitator, but they reveal the generous 
 philanthropist, the lover of the poor and the weak, the 
 man whose heart, at least, is in the right place. 
 
 In a more rigid classification of German characters, 
 Schulze-Delitzsch would not be ranked among the purely 
 political leaders. He is, indeed, a politician of eminence 
 and ability. His practical legislative triumphs outnumber, 
 perhaps, those of some other men whose right to a place 
 in this volume is beyond question. But Schulze's achieve- 
 ments as an extra-political agitator and reformer are so
 
 IIERR SCIIULZE-DELITSZCII. I49 
 
 much more widely known, are so much more characteristic 
 of the man, and, in fact, are the source of so much greater 
 social benefits, that at first his introduction as a political 
 leader seems like a displacement. This fact makes it neces- 
 sary, at least, to combine with the description of the dep- 
 uty some account of the social reformer. The one char- 
 acter almost presupposes or conditions the other ; and no 
 violence will be done to the plan of this volume, if this 
 relation be briefly explained. 
 
 First, in a few words, the general outline of his public 
 career; He was born on the 29th of August, 1808, in 
 Delitzsch, in the Prussian province of Saxony, and pursued 
 his academic and legal studies at Leipsic and Halle. On 
 quitting the university he entered the judicial service, like 
 so many of his colleagues, and began the ascent of the 
 weary ladder of promotion. He was first Referenda)-, and 
 then Oberlandgerichts- Assessor, in Naumburg, and finally 
 Kammcrgerichts-Assessor in Berlin. This position he re- 
 linquished in 1 84 1, to accept in his native city, Delitzsch, 
 a patrimonial judgeship or judicial "living," conferred 
 upon him by the lord of the province. This city elected 
 him, in 1848, to the National Assembly at Berlin. In 
 1849, he was a member of the second Chamber, and was 
 one of the forty-two members who, having refused, on 
 constitutional grounds, the payment of taxes, were arraigned 
 before the criminal court and acquitted by the jury. The 
 speech made in self-defense by Schulze was published 
 throughout the whole country, and made a great sensa- 
 tion. 
 
 On the abolition of the patrimonial courts he re-entered 
 the service of the State, and became county judge in
 
 150 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Wreschen, a province of Posen ; but, after a short term of 
 service, retired definitively from the judiciary and resumed 
 his residence at Dehtzsch. From this time he devoted 
 himself almost exclusively to the cause of the working 
 class, for the elevation of which he had already done so 
 much. The success which he had in organizing working- 
 men's associations, as well as union stores, banks, etc., is 
 known ; it provoked attention abroad, in France, Italy, 
 Belgium, and especially England, where, by authority of 
 the government, a series of researches into the condition of 
 workingmen and trades-unions in Germany was made, by 
 the well-known diplomat Monier, and his reports were 
 published in the Blue Book. In 1859, at Weimar, was 
 organized, under Schulze's lead, the League of German 
 Associations, of which he was elected solicitor, and the 
 organ of which, Die Innung der Zukunft, he still publishes. 
 His ideas were further elucidated chiefly in three works, — • 
 " The Association Book," "The Loan of Credit Unions 
 as People's Banks," and "The Laboring Classes and the 
 Question of Association." Besides these, there appeared 
 from his pen "Basis of a Catechism for German Working- 
 men," a collection of lectures that he delivered in the 
 winter of 1862-63, before the Berlin Workingmen's Union. 
 A little later he published a history and review of German 
 legislation upon " Trade Unionisms." In February, 1859, 
 under his lead, was founded, at Frankfort on the Main, 
 the National Union, and since that time, he has devoted 
 himself, as one of the leaders of the party of Progress, 
 more to the political side of public life. In 1861, he was 
 re-elected deputy, and regularly thereafter till 1873. In 
 the Reichstag, from 1867 to 1874, Schulze represented the
 
 HERR SCHULZE-DELITZSCH. 151 
 
 6th district of Berlin, and now sits for the 2d district of 
 Wiesbaden. 
 
 The above is the outline of Schulze's career, as given in 
 the copious and discursive style of the parliamentary 
 almanac. It wants, obviously, many details, for which the 
 student will inquire. For instance, the explanation of 
 Schulze's retirement from his petty judgeship in Posen is 
 ludicrously inadequate. The almanac says he resigned 
 because the government refused him leave of absence to 
 visit his old home, Delitzsch, There is no hint of political 
 difiiculties. On the contrary, the offended judge is treated 
 like an angry school-boy who leaves school, because the 
 master will not give him a holiday. The fact is, however, 
 that Schulze retired, like so many other liberal officials 
 at that epoch, because his politics were offensive to the 
 powers above him. These could not indeed openly 
 dismiss him. Having in an unwary moment admitted 
 him to the service because he was a promising jurist and 
 without asking about his politics, they found him pro- 
 tected in his position by certain rules of the service which even 
 they did not dare openly to violate. He could not in- 
 deed be dismissed, but he could be harassed by a petty 
 persecution, and thus made to surrender an intolerable 
 office. And this is what actually occurred. In the first 
 place he early learned that promotion was not to be ex- 
 pected. And then such obstacles were thrown in the path 
 of his political career, though the constitution did not ex- 
 clude a judge from elective honors, that the abandonment 
 of his judgeship became a practical condition of his success 
 in parliamentary life. Accordingly he resigned. He re- 
 turned to Delitzsch ; and since that time, he has pursued
 
 152 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 without interruption the labors of a legislator, a reformer, 
 and a philanthropist. 
 
 In the early period of his reform labors, Schulze was 
 greatly embarrassed for means. He himself was without 
 fortune, and though his mother supplied from her purse 
 the cost of lecturing tours which he undertook, she was 
 not able to give him permanent assistance. Still he perse- 
 vered nobly till 1863, when he saw the necessity of sus- 
 pending his beneficent work. The Burgomastership of 
 Delitzsch had been offered to him by the citizens, and as 
 it assured him a fair annuity he was prepared to accept it. 
 Then the working men came to the relief of their benefac- 
 tor. A subscription for his benefit was started throughout 
 the country. Some few men of means contributed to it, 
 but the greatest part came from the small but numerous 
 offerings of the poorest laboring classes. At length, the 
 purse reached the sum of fifty thousand thalers, and it was 
 placed at Schulze's disposition. Of course the burgomas- 
 tership of Delitzsch passed into other hands. Schulze 
 was saved for higher work. He refused to accept the fifty 
 thousand thalers as a final gift to him. He simply accept- 
 ed it in trust, bought a house at Potsdam with a portion, 
 and invested the rest, so that only the interest accrues to 
 his benefit. The principal belongs to the generous 
 subscribers. The leisure and the means there acquir- 
 ed he devoted to his chosen mission, which he was 
 thereby enabled to pursue on a larger scale and with 
 greater success. 
 
 Schulze is a liberal, even a radical, and he is a reformer, 
 but he is no revolutionist. The practical character of his 
 method, and his qbjects, distinguishes Ijim frpm La§alle.
 
 HERR SCHULZE-DELITZSCH. I 53 
 
 The latter was a fiery volcanic nature, and his nature gave 
 tone to his schemes. His schemes required the aid of the 
 state ; Schulze's, only that of the working classes them- 
 selves. His method was political and revolutionary ; 
 Schulze's was economical and reformatory. Lassalle tried 
 to array the proletariat as a fourth estate against society, 
 against the right of property, and the obligations of religion. 
 Schulze only organized the poor for resistance to their own 
 worst faults. Lassalle was a brilliant orator, and a fearless 
 agitator, and it was quite in the fitness of things that his 
 restless life should end in a quarrel and a duel. Schulze 
 lives to witness the success of his intelligent labors, and to 
 enjoy the respect of all his countrymen. 
 
 The first practical realization of Schulze's plans was in 
 the so-called Credit imd Vorschtiss J^ereme, which were at 
 once a species of savings bank, and institutions for mutual 
 aid. The members contributed of their savings to this 
 fund, and in their turn were aided in case of old age, sick- 
 ness, or any misfortune which interrupted their daily work. 
 The " Unions " were entirely under the management of the 
 members. They undertook the investment of the capital, 
 the surplus being divided annually, and they conducted 
 the so-called "sick funds," and "funeral funds." The first 
 one of these institutions was founded in 1850 ; in 1S69, 
 the number reached 1,750, of which 1,735 were in com- 
 plete working order and furnished reports. These consisted 
 of 304,000 members, and counted in their total contribu- 
 tions at 181,000,000 thalers. The permanent capital was 
 12,000,000. These concerns enjoy an admirable credit, 
 and bankers were always ready for negotiations with them. 
 In 1874, however, under Schulze's inspiration, a bank was
 
 154 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 founded at Berlin, like the Unions, under the control of the 
 workingmen, and was authorized to conduct their financial 
 transactions. 
 
 But this is not all. The indefatigable philanthropist not 
 only organized these admirable relief societies, where the 
 working people could have the benefit of a common fund, 
 in case of disaster, but he also instituted co-operative or 
 union stores, where they could purchase their household 
 goods, and in many cases the raw material of their trades, 
 at cost prices. These, too, were thoroughly successful, and 
 multiplied at an unexpected rate. Whereas, in 1869, there 
 were but 6,728 of them, to-day hardly a town or village 
 exists without one. Their transactions per annum are 
 reckoned by hundreds of millions, and their profits are 
 v^ery large. Finally, in some of the larger towns, he organ- 
 ized markets, where the members of the associations meet 
 and publicly sell their wares. 
 
 Thus Schulze's efforts for the working people were of the 
 most practical nature. He had indeed an ideal, but it was 
 a general one ; and he tried to realize it, not by making 
 war on all the institutions, traditions and prejudices of 
 society, but by a patient course of education and dis- 
 cipline. The way to emancipate the fourth estate, in his 
 view, was to put into its hands the elements of social 
 strength — means, organization, unity of plan, and method. 
 He did not ignore politics, but he reversed the method of 
 Lassalle. The latter taught the workingmen to employ 
 politics as a means to social position and influence. The 
 former taught them, first, the elements of social, as the 
 condition of political strength. Without pronouncing 
 upon the abstract justice of their two theories, one must
 
 IIERR SCIIULZE-DELITZSCH. I 55 
 
 see and admit that the latter alone, in a military, aristocratic 
 state, like Prussia, was likely to succeed. 
 
 Schulze is personally, however, a man of very pronounc- 
 ed political views. He is a member of the "Progressive" 
 party and sits near Dr. Loewe ; and represents, perhaps, the 
 most advanced form of Liberalism recognized and tolerated 
 by law. The next faction to the Left, the Social-democrats, 
 are condemned by the spirit, and often by the letter, of Ger- 
 man penal codes. He is not very prominent in debate. 
 A new generation of men who were in their cradles when 
 he was teaching millions of workingmen the secret of suc- 
 cess in life, have grasped the reins of legislative power and 
 changed the aspect of current politics. 
 
 On certain questions, however, Schulze speaks with 
 authority and is heard with respect. One of these is the 
 so-called " Diet question," or, paid against unpaid legis- 
 lators. The delegates to the Prussian Landtag are regu- 
 larly paid ; those, to the Imperial Parliament are not. This 
 latter provision was made at the express suggestion of 
 Prince Bismarck, and against the judgment of the great 
 body of the Liberals. The Prince argues that the remu- 
 neration of members would fill the chamber with penniless 
 adventurers ; the Liberals claim that the opposite system 
 gives too great advantage to rich country Conservatives. 
 Schulze is the leading champion of this latter view. Ac- 
 cording to him the laborer is worthy of his hire. As he 
 taught the duty of the workingman to save that which he 
 receives, so he teaches the right of the legislator to receive 
 that which he earns. Schulze's demonstration on this sub- 
 ject is one of the annual parliamentary events. Each ses- 
 sion he brings in his familiar resolution instructing the
 
 156 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 government to submit a bill for paying the members of the 
 Reichstag; it is regularly passed by a large majority ; and 
 it is regularly laid aside without action by the government. 
 It is, of course, hardly necessary lo mention that Schulze 
 is watchful of legislation affecting the interest of his chosen 
 clients ; and as much by the respect felt for his unselfish 
 advocacy, as by the soundness and moderation of his views, 
 he carries great weight with his colleagues. 
 
 In the early part of this sketch it is said that the appear- 
 ance of Schulze, as he sits quietly in his place in Parlia- 
 ment, suggests the worthy Jacques Prudhomme, the genius 
 of common-place. But appearances deceive. Instead of 
 being a mere empiric, a shoemaker or a blacksmith out of 
 place, he is really a scholar and a thinker. Because he 
 does not give the workingmen incendiary ideas, it would be 
 false to conclude that he gives them no ideas. On the 
 contrary, Schulze tries to improve not only the bodies, but 
 also the minds of his clients ; not only their actual posi- 
 tion in society, but also the reasoning which they apply 
 to the solution of social problems. The pamphlets that 
 he has published, the lectures that he gives to the working- 
 men, the speeches that he makes in Parliament, are the 
 work of a philosopher rather than of a demagogue. 
 
 I have included Schulze-Delitzsch among the political 
 leaders of Germany, not so much because of any great 
 prominence that he has, as a parliamentarian, as because 
 of the influence that he exerts among the working classes. 
 Having called them into being as a political force, he has 
 a right to direct them. Having this force at his disposal, he 
 has won the respect of society by the moderate and just use 
 that he has made of it.
 
 IIERR SCIIULZE-DELITZSCH. I 57 
 
 Since the above was written, the annual reports, of the 
 various Associations for the fiscal year, 1874, have been 
 published. They make a substantial volume, which con- 
 tains not only the reports and statistics of the separate 
 societies, of course in a condensed form, but also a general 
 report from the solicitor himself. As it may be of interest 
 to compare the figures above given with those for the year 
 1874, I transcribe, from an analysis in the Deutsche Rund- 
 schau, the leading points in the last report. From this the 
 reader will gain a renewed appreciation of Schulze's benefi- 
 cent labors. These reports certainly do not appear so 
 promptly as most of the commercial reports, but for a suffi- 
 cient reason, because the editor must collate the annual 
 balances of many hundred associations. If one only con- 
 siders this, one will be astonished at the rapidity of this 
 important mathematical work. It requires the entire at- 
 tention of a man like Schulze-Delitzsch, and the strong 
 support which he finds in his first secretary. Dr. F. Schneider. 
 The generally encouraging growth of the Association has 
 been uninterruptedly maintained in 1874. In what con- 
 cerns the most important matter, that of the Relief Unions 
 and People's Banks, it appears that 2409 have grown to 
 2639. The 815 which sent reports for 1874 to the General 
 Agency at Potsdam, counted on an average 504 members, 
 an increase of 25 since 1873 >' ^"^d they have 1335 3-4 mil- 
 lions of marks on deposit. Since, however, the loans on 
 valuables and the current credits show a decrease as com- 
 pared with 1873, while only the credits on exchange and 
 mortgages have increased, it would seem that the injurious 
 eff"ects of the financial crisis made themselves felt less keen- 
 ly among the poorer artisans, than among the rich. There
 
 158 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 is, in the judgment of the solicitor, renewed cause for warn- 
 ing the Association against the misuse of the funds by 
 regular patrons ; against the investment of funds in mort- 
 gages, and against imprudent meddling with securities. 
 In membership, the mechanics, as before, outnumber any 
 other class, but they have fallen to something more than a 
 third of the whole. The farmers make something more than 
 a fifth, the tradesmen a tenth, the hired laborers a little less 
 than a tenth ; these latter are on the increase. If we ex- 
 amine the Associations according to the separate occupa- 
 tions, they seem to grow, above all, among farmers. Instead 
 of 150, there are this time 189 among this class. Their aim 
 is in part, the procuring in common, seed, implements, etc., 
 in part, the sale in common, of milk, butter, cheese, hops, 
 wine, and other products. The increase of the specially 
 interesting " Productive Associations " — shops and manu- 
 factories in possession of the laborers, i. e. where the 
 laborer is also partner — was not affected by the disorders 
 in trade in 1874. From 162 in the year 1873, the number 
 has increased to 202, which is 20 per cent. As to the 
 affairs of these enterprises, it must be admitted, as was 
 foreseen in 1874, that they have not been altogether favor- 
 able. Instead of 30, only 20 have sent their yearly state- 
 ments. That the number is relatively small, is explained 
 by the nature of the Association. The "Consumption 
 Unions," in number 42 more than in 1873, still sell too 
 much on credit. With the " Building Unions," the efforts 
 of the leading members ought to be toward the choice of 
 houses for single families, since the tendency in great cities 
 is toward an excess of vast barracks, that are so bad for the 
 moral and physical conditions of the occupants. In view
 
 HERR SCHULZE-DELITZSCH. 159 
 
 of the general derangement and partial prostration of bus- 
 iness in the year 1874, the progress and condition of 
 these excellent institutions must be regarded as favorable 
 and satisfactory.
 
 XIII. 
 
 JOHANN JaCOBY. 
 
 R. JACOBY is no longer, strictly, a representative 
 leader of the present race of politicians. With the 
 war of 1870, his public life practically closed, and 
 his seat, which he still retains in the Lowe* Prussian 
 House, is rather a tribute to his past achievements than to 
 his actual influence. But he is an indispensable link be- 
 tween the new era and the old. He is a representative of 
 that grave and stormy period militant, without a knowledge 
 of which the present era cannot be understood and ought 
 not to be studied. He has endured persecution and has 
 suffered injustice ; he has held his head erect in the pres- 
 ence of kings ; and he has never failed to be the fearless 
 and eloquent champion of popular rights. A practical 
 physician, like Dr. Loewe, he is also an example of what 
 may be called the purely political, in distinction from the 
 semi-social or semi-judicial reformer. I have already 
 described Lasker as a politician who never quite forgets 
 the lawyer, and Schulze as one who uses political means 
 chiefly to further extra-political reforms. Dr. Loewe, on
 
 JOIIANN JACOBY. l6l 
 
 the contrary, is a politician onlj' for the sake of politics, 
 and the same is true of Jacoby. 
 
 Johann Jacoby was born in the city of Konigsberg, on 
 the ist of May, 1805, of Jewish parents. He studied from 
 1823 to 1827, at the University of Konigsberg ; took his 
 diploma as doctor of medicine at Berlin, and, in 1830, 
 after extensive travel, settled in his native city and began 
 the practice of his profession. About the same time, he 
 began the practice of politics. 
 
 Up to the year 1840, he was active in local affairs, wrote 
 frequently for Radical papers, and often came into conflict 
 with the censorship. The people had abandoned all hope 
 of a constitution from Frederic William III. The memory 
 of his broken pledges, of course, remained, and it was 
 known that he had never failed to impress upon his son 
 and heir apparent, the folly of believing in "abstract 
 theories ; " but his old age and his personal amiability sof- 
 tened the opposition to the later years of his reign. In 
 Konigsberg, which, as the king's residence while an exile 
 during the French occupation, was associated with some 
 of his bitterest trials, he enjoyed more than ordinary esteem. 
 The "Estates" of the oldest province in the Prussian mon- 
 archy, had not yet received the royal rebuke which called 
 forth so indignant a protest from Jacoby. 
 
 Frederic William III. died in 1840, and his son Frederic 
 William IV. ascended the throne. Instantly, the whole 
 face of politics was changed. That wide spread feeling of 
 discontent, that resolute spirit of reform, which had been 
 so patientand forbearing under the old regime, now awoke 
 armed against the new king from the start. Among the 
 first and the boldest to act was Ur. Jacoby.
 
 l62 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 The king, following the practice of his family, went to 
 Konigsberg to receive the homage of his faithful East 
 Prussian subjects. He was gracious and benevolent. 
 From many sides, and it is even said from the king him- 
 self, the wish was expressed that the Provincial Estates 
 should lay before him the questions that concerned them. 
 The Estates of East Prussia did this frankly and fearlessly. 
 In answer to an inquiry of the king, which of their privil- 
 eges they would like to see specially confirmed, they replied 
 that "it was not their 'privileges' about which ihey had 
 to address their king, but a right of the nation, which had 
 its roots in the Law of May 22d, 1815, and the fulfilment of 
 which they demanded." His Majesty politely, but firmly, 
 declined to accept such a theory. The example of East 
 Prussia was followed by other provinces, and the answer 
 in each case was the same, though the tone became less 
 and less gracious. In 1841, the demands of the province 
 of Silesia were rejected almost ungraciously. 
 
 At this crisis, a pamphlet appeared in Strasburg and was 
 circulated over Germany. It was called "Four Questions 
 answered by an East Prussian."* " Like a thunder-clap," 
 says Dr. Guido Weiss, "it fell upon Prussia, upon all 
 Germany. I, who first learned from this work to think 
 politically, received in South Germany immediately the 
 impression, which, perhaps, beyond the author's expecta- 
 tion, it there made. How the Frenchified rhetorical Lib- 
 eralism of a Rotteck or a Welcker disappeared before the 
 granite strength, before the iron logic, in the works of the 
 Northerner ! At that time, the opinion was firmly rooted 
 
 * " Vier Fragen beantwortet von einem Osifreussen."
 
 JCIIANN JACOBY. 1 63 
 
 that the history of constitutionalism in Prussia would be 
 the history of the constitution for Germany. Johann 
 Jacoby was the author. Who was the man ? It was learned 
 that he was a Konigsberg physician, highly esteemed at 
 home for his pure, solid character, and for the professional 
 fidelity which he had always shown, and, especially, during 
 a season of cholera ; that he was a friend of the Minister 
 von Schon. " * 
 
 This "epoch-making" work proposed the four ques- 
 tions: — "What do the Estates wish.?" — "What justifies 
 them ?" — "What decision was given them ?" — "What re- 
 mains for them to do ?" To the last of these it answers : 
 "That which they have hitherto as a favor requested^ 
 now, as a proved right, to demand." 
 
 Modesty, not fear, led Jacoby to publish his pamph- 
 let anonymously, for he mailed a copy directly to the king, 
 and wrote on the title page, with an audacity to which his 
 majesty was not accustomed: "I am the author, Johann 
 Jacoby, Doctor of Medicine, Konigsberg." The king 
 promptly gave an order for his arrest and examination. 
 He was accused of nothing less than high treason. Being 
 called upon to name his accomplices, he replied that only 
 the history of his country and the ministers. Stein and 
 Hardenberg, in their writings and reform measures, shared 
 his guilt. By the Superior Court of Berlin, before which 
 he was tried, he was found guilty, and sentenced to two 
 years imprisonment, and loss of honor. Jacoby appealed 
 to the Obertribunal, and was unconditionally acquitted, but 
 
 * Dr. Guido Weiss — Speech in the Second Election District of 
 Berlin.
 
 164 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 the protocol of the deHberations, the grounds of the verdict, 
 were refused him. It is considered significant that the 
 veteran president of this court, Grollmann, was soon after- 
 wards retired by the government. 
 
 Of Jacoby's character, as developed at this time, Dr. A. 
 Jung writes as follows : " Jacoby is a man of iron logic, a 
 man of Catonian tirelessness. He has two practical in- 
 struments, with which he demonstrates and refutes, with 
 which he accuses and defends : these are the existing law, 
 and an intense brevity of style. The graceful form, the 
 bold forehead, the intelligent, mild, blue eye, the beard- 
 le-?s, open countenance of Jacoby, invite confidence. He 
 does not ask frivolous questions ; he does not make frivol- 
 ous remarks ; he is too deeply engrossed in himself and a 
 definite object ; he is a man of the strictest reserve and 
 precision ; a foe of speaking for the sake of speaking ; 
 scarcely a friend of reflection, rather only of events, of 
 facts, of the historical moment, of the concrete present. 
 Thus, he is an enemy of extravagance and of inadequacy 
 of expression, an admirer of the simple, unpretending, 
 even to the matter of dress, yet this latter must be proper 
 for his appearance, at any time, to defend the rights of the 
 people. We recognize, thankfully, in him great services, 
 a brilliant understanding ; we must give full credit to his 
 comprehensive scientific culture. Jacoby is, in a high 
 sense, a respected character in our city, a man of unusual 
 studies. By profession a physician, he is one of those 
 firmly and clearly marked individualities, whose unbend- 
 ing consistency and tendency to refer everything to an ex- 
 isting law, seem to have predestined them, at once, to medi- 
 cine, jurisprudence, and politics; in short, an individuality
 
 JOIIANN JACOBY. 1 65 
 
 whose whole career expresses that ethical coldness, that 
 predominance of indifference, that unshaken calmness, 
 which Spinoza laid down as inherent in the Jewish nature, 
 ?n<l in his own life so strikingly exemplified." * 
 
 Scarcely was Jacoby out of the dangers provoked by his 
 '' Four Questions,'' than he took up his pen again, and sent 
 out, one after another, a series of bold, trenchant, and 
 effective pamphlets. In 1844, he published, " On the 
 Right of an Acquitted Person to demand a Statement of the 
 Reasons of the Judgment." Next, in the same year, appear- 
 ed "The Ro.al Word of Frederic William III. "Finally, 
 " Prussia in the Year 1845." ** These publications drew 
 down another accusation, and he was again acquitted. 
 
 With the year 1848, Jacoby 's parliamentary career began. 
 Almost at the same time, he was elected to the Lower House 
 of the Prussian "National Assembly" and to the German 
 Parliament at Frankfort on the Main. In the latter he was 
 the successor of Frederic von Raumer, the great historian, 
 and friend of America. When Prussia re-called her dele- 
 gates, Jacoby was naturally one of those who disputed the 
 right of the government thus to command the representa- 
 tives of the people, and he was one of the faithful little band 
 who followed Dr. Loewe to Stuttgart. After the dissolu- 
 tion of this assembly, Jacoby, like the other leaders, fled to 
 Switzerland, and, like them, was prosecuted for treason. He 
 did not, however, like them, accept a trial and conviction 
 
 * Dr. A. Jung — Konigsberg utid die Konigsberger. 
 
 * * The German titles are respectively : 
 
 " Uebcr das Rccht des Frcigesprochenen die Aitsfcrtigiing des wider 
 ihn ergangcnen Erkettfttnisses zji verlarigen," " Das Kdnigiiche Wort 
 Friedrich Wilhelms III." and "Preussen im "Yahre 1845."
 
 'l66 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 171 contumaciam. He was not willing, from a safe asylum, 
 to laugh at the impotence of his persecutors. With a bold- 
 ness which has few examples, and which the prudent 
 patriot who might not approve, was forced to admire, he 
 obeyed the summons of the court, returned to Konigsberg, 
 and took his place in the prisoner's box. The penalties of 
 treason in those days were not light. According to the 
 ancient law, then in force, the crime of high treason could 
 be punished by dragging the victim to the place of execu- 
 tion, breaking his body upon a wheel, and exposing the 
 fragments in public. 
 
 Jacoby himself made a speech for the defence, in the 
 course of which he gave an eloquent statement of his 
 political theories and aims. "I belong to the extreme 
 opposition," he said, "but against injustice and untruth. 
 I only did what I held to be my duty ; I remained at the 
 post which my constituents entrusted to me. Three times 
 have I been arraigned for political offences, three times 
 liave the courts of the country acquitted me. In those 
 cases I had maintained, as a publicist, the right of the 
 people of Prussia to a representative constitution, and the 
 very next years justified my demand ; in the present case I 
 have maintained, as a member of Parliament, the right of 
 the German people to a free and united country. Hope- 
 less as the present appears, the day will yet come, when the 
 justice of this demand will be admitted. The judgment 
 here belongs to no earthly court ; here history alone has 
 the decision. Here lies before you, gentlemen of the jury, 
 an unspotted and blameless record." The trial lasted nine 
 hours, the deliberations of the jury one hour, and the ver- 
 dict was an acquittal. The result was a great surprise to
 
 JOHANN JACOBY. 167 
 
 the party of reaction. So sure were the authorities of con- 
 viction that the wagon which was to convey the accused to 
 prison, was drawn up before the door of the court house ; 
 and to quell the expected popular' tumult the streets were 
 lined with grenadiers. The verdict was received with great 
 enthusiasm, in which even the soldiers, who had been in- 
 troduced into the room for a different purpose, could not 
 be kept from sharing. 
 
 In the order of time, however, this remarkable incident 
 in Jacoby's life is preceded by one quite as remarkable and 
 even more dramatic. I have said above that he was a 
 member of the First Prussian Assembly. It was a stormy 
 and critical season. On the ist of November, a semi-lib- 
 eral ministry, at the head of which stood Herr von Pfuel, 
 had been replaced by a reactionary ministry, under Count 
 von Brandenburg. On the 2d, this new cabinet ap- 
 peared before the assembly. With the first words that were 
 exchanged, the hopes of reconciliation and harmony fell, 
 and the excitement which reigned throughout the whole 
 country, found expression in the chamber. It was resolved 
 to send on the same day a deputation to the king at Pots- 
 dam to declare to him that co-operation with such a min- 
 istry was impossible, and to represent to him the danger 
 of continuing in the course just adopted. The deputies 
 were received by the king in the old castle of Sans Souci. 
 It is full of the relics, and sacred to the memory of Fred- 
 eric the Great ; and it is possible that Frederic William IV. 
 hoped to acquire in this historical place some of the spirit 
 of his great ancestor for the coming trial. The deputation 
 was ushered in by an adjutant ; Jacoby was of the number. 
 An address was handed to the king, who accepted it in
 
 l6S BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 silence, and turned to leave. Jacoby stepped forward : 
 "We are not come," said he, " simply to present this 
 address, but also to render Your Majesty a report on the 
 state of the country. Will you listen to us?" "No !" 
 said the king, and turned his back upon the deputies. Then 
 Jacoby drew back, and said to his comrades, but with reso- 
 lute and emphatic tones, which rang through the palace : 
 "That is the misfortune of kings, that they are not willing 
 to hear the truth ! " 
 
 It appears that this was considered an astounding breach 
 of etiquette, but nothing more serious. The courts did 
 not take it up. A school of timid Liberals pretended that 
 Jacoby 's bold words had really done harm to the cause of 
 reform by incensing the king, and making future conces- 
 sions more difficult; and the immediate events did seem to 
 confirm the view. 
 
 The king honored the address with a written answer, 
 which was read the next day in the Assembly. It was what 
 courtiers call a " Royal answer." His majesty said that 
 Count Brandenburg possessed his confidence ; that he rep- 
 resented principles which were his own and should never 
 be sacrificed ; and that he saw no reason for dismissing the 
 new ministry. Two or three days later, the minister-pres- 
 ident appeared to the House and read a " royal message," 
 adjourning the Landtag to the city of Brandenburg, in 
 order "to secure it from seditious outbreaks in the capi- 
 tal." The House murmured, and the minister, declared 
 that a royal order was not debatable. Nevertheless the 
 House did debate it, and boldly resolved that, as it saw no 
 ground for transferring its sittings to Brandenburg, it 
 would remain in Berlin. Some of the deputies proved
 
 JOIIANN JACOBY. 1 69 
 
 timid and hesitating ; Jacoby was one of those who did not 
 flinch. The sessions were held in the royal theatre, and 
 were guarded by the "Citizens' Guard," a species of muni- 
 cipal militia. On the morning of the loth of November, 
 It was known that the government was resolved to introduce 
 the troops of the line, to disperse the assembly, and to 
 c'ose the doors of the theatre. About noon, the soldiers 
 appeared, Field-marshal Wrangel at their head ; a parley 
 followed with the Citizens' Guard ; a conflict, violence, and 
 bloodshed seemed inevitable, when the deputies, yielding 
 to overpowering force, left the hall in a body, and aban- 
 doned the field to the soldiery. Adolph Stahr gives a 
 graphic account of this closing scene : "The President of 
 the National Assembly arose, and said : ' The force must 
 be recognized. In the name of the National Assembly, 
 which yields before it, I protest most solemnly against this 
 act of military violence. The session is adjourned until 
 to-morrow morning.' The target clubs formed espaliers. 
 As the president, at the head of the Assembly, issued from 
 the House, the Citizens' Guard presented arms. The pres- 
 ident took the arm of the commander of the guard, and 
 the deputies left the House in pairs, arm-in-arm, and silent, 
 followed by the people, whose sympathetic cheers and 
 hurras rang out far into the night. The battalions of Citi- 
 zens' Guard closed up the column, marching with their hats 
 on their bayonets. The ' Commanding General in the 
 Mark,' was alone with his troops, on the broad square."* 
 Jacoby's initiation into parliamentary life was therefore 
 a stormy one, and he did not reach calmer times for many 
 
 * A. Stahr — Die Preussische Kc"-jolulion, Vol. II, p. 36S.
 
 I/O BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 years. Turneil out of doors with the Prussian Assembly, 
 by force of bayonets, he shared six months later in the un- 
 happy fate of the Rump Parliament, at Stuttgart. This has 
 already been described. In Prussia, after the events above 
 related, the constitutional question was long in suspense, 
 until the king, finally, declining the aid or counsels of the 
 people's representatives, ordered his jurists to draft a char- 
 ter, and proclaimed it as an act of royal grace. From that 
 time, the reaction had full power. The Democratic party, 
 and with it Jacoby, retired practically from public affairs. 
 From 1850 to 1863, Jacoby quietly practised his profession 
 at Konigsberg. 
 
 On the change of dynasty, in 1861, the Radicals emerged 
 again from their retirement. At the first election after the 
 convention, a popular rebuke was administered to the reac- 
 tionary and arrogant language of the new king by the 
 return of an unusually large opposition majority, which 
 included nearly all the leading Radicals. Waldeck, the 
 worthy leader of the Prussian democracy. Dr. Loewe, and 
 many others who had long been in retirement or exile, were 
 in the new House. Only Jacoby was absent. ' ' Acting shrewd- 
 ly," says Wolfgang Menzel,* " he had refused an election, 
 because his time was not yet come." Two years later, it 
 seems, he recognized the propitious hour. Herr von Bis- 
 marck had just accepted the premiership ; and as he was 
 known to be a resolute man as well as a strict Conservative, 
 the conditions of a serious conflict were easily perceived. 
 To remain silent and inactive in such a crisis was cowardice. 
 Jacoby accepted a candidature in a district of Konigsberg-, 
 was elected, and took his seat in the Lower House. 
 
 Wolfgang Menzel — Der Deutsche Krieg, Vol. I, p. 100.
 
 JOHANN JACOBY. 171 
 
 The eulogists whom I have above quoted, agree in call- 
 ing Jacoby a man of " iron consistency." He was to have 
 occasion to vindicate his consistency in a striking way, 
 against temptations to which the lofty Christian virtue of 
 his colleagues ignominiously surrendered. It was, of course, 
 natural that he should oppose, with all the Liberals and 
 Radicals, the unconstitutional means by which the Danish 
 war was organized, as well as the unholy alliance by which 
 it was fought and won. But, while they denounced as ille- 
 gal the taxes levied in contempt of Parliament, the Liberal 
 deputies were not ashamed to accept their fees out of the 
 proceeds of such levies. Not so Jacoby. He, and he 
 alone of all the deputies, declared that he would not, by 
 accepting his deputy's pay at the hands of the government, 
 give even a constructive recognition of the spoliated treas- 
 ure of the State ; and poor as he was, and depending 
 almost on his pay for his support, he steadfastly refused to 
 compromise with his principles. As the war with Austria 
 drew near, he labored hard to organize public opinion 
 against it. At his suggestion, the different election districts 
 of Berlin adopted a protest, which declared that the war 
 was " unjustifiable and immoral." Prussia "had no right 
 to the Duchies, and they alone and Parliament had the 
 authority to decide on their fate." 
 
 Finally, after Sadowa, Jacoby did not stultify himself, in 
 an excess of unreflecting patriotism. He stubbornly refus- 
 ed to condone an unjust war, or a war which he held to be 
 unjust, because the aggressor had been crowned by victory. 
 The so-called "vote of indemnity" did not receive his 
 support. His appearance in the debate is thus described 
 by his enemy Menzel : "In the debate upon the address
 
 172 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 to the throne, the old Konigsberg Jew Jacoby could not 
 refrain from obtruding his intolerable harangues. In his 
 speech, the Jew recognized magnanimously the bravery of 
 the Prussian army, but said the war was undertaken with- 
 out, even against, the will of the people, and the victory 
 would profit not the popular party, but only the supreme 
 commander of the armies. In spite of this victory, the 
 war had brought neither honor to the Prussian people, nor 
 healing to the German fatherland. The present never 
 judged itself impartially. The future would show whether 
 the day of Biarritz was more fortunate than that of Olmiitz. 
 The people wished a united, the war had only brought a 
 divided Germany. To strengthen Prussia was not to 
 strengthen Germany. Should the existing governmental 
 system continue in Prussia, the new organization of Ger- 
 many would be to the old, like death to sickness. The 
 government demands indemnity ; but for a prolonged, un- 
 constitutional, irresponsible regime no assembly of the peo- 
 ple could grant indemnity, if the old ministers kept their 
 places." * 
 
 It is well known that these views did not prevail. Still, 
 Jacoby had vindicated his consistency and his courage, he 
 had shown that most elevated sort of control which, in a 
 spirit of justice, can withstand the intoxication of a great 
 national triumph. 
 
 Once more — and it was Jacoby's last prominent act — he 
 tried to breast a popular current which he thought treach- 
 erous and threatening. It was during the war with France 
 and shortly after the battle of Sedan ; when that great 
 
 * W. Menzel — Der Deutsche Kricg, Vol. II. p. 118.
 
 JOIIANN JACOBY. 1 73 
 
 victory, followed as it was by the capitulation of Mctz, 
 seemed to decide the fate of France, and to render the end 
 of the struggle only a question of time, the exultant patriots 
 at home began to discuss the conditions of peace. De- 
 tails were, of course, avoided, but upon one thing there 
 was an emphatic harmony of opinion : Alsace and Lor- 
 raine must be annexed. Military interests and geographi- 
 cal interests, the rights of original possession and the ties 
 of language, were all invoked to justify the popular claim. 
 It seemed temerity and folly to oppose it. But the " old 
 Konigsberg Jew," who had so often braved in behalf of the 
 people the terrors of a military despotism, was not afraid, 
 obeying his own conscience, to brave the rash impulses of 
 the people themselves. In a public speech made at Konigs- 
 berg, Jacoby said that the forcible annexation of Alsace and 
 Lorraine would be an act of intolerable injustice. Unless 
 those provinces were asked, and freely sanctioned a change, 
 it ought not to be effected. The military commander at 
 Konigsberg, having no more formidable foe before him, at 
 once opened war upon a single man, and through him, 
 upon the principle of freedom of speech. This time the 
 authorities did not commit the fault of bringing the 
 accused before a court, where he would be sure of acquit- 
 tal. By order of the commander, he was arrested and shut 
 up in a fortress. 
 
 The counsel of Jacoby, having exhausted all other 
 means, made a direct application to Bismarck, then in 
 camp before Paris, for the release or immediate trial of his 
 client. The application was denied. By this time, the 
 affair had become generally known, and made a great 
 sensation, not only in Germany, where the press still
 
 174 BRIEF BIOGRArHIES. 
 
 retained some self-respect, but also in England, where it 
 provoked comments little flattering and very embarrassing 
 for the victorious Prussian statesman. It was in danger of 
 neutralizing the satisfaction with which even the friends of 
 Germany hailed her triumph in the field. Finally the 
 reaction came. After Jacoby had been three weeks in 
 prison, another application was made by his counsel, and 
 Bismarck replied that his majesty had ordered his release. 
 Arrested without any legal warrant, he was in the same 
 way discharged, without any legal satisfaction. Although 
 he lodged with the State prosecutor a charge of false im- 
 prisonment against the general — that was his only relief. 
 To this day, the officer has never been punished. 
 
 The features in Jacoby's character and the incidents in 
 his life, as they have been described in this short sketch, 
 fully justify his choice as one of the subjects of this volume. 
 His active career is indeed ended. But as the type of a 
 fearless Radical, and a just patriot, — a Radical who never 
 wavered in the cruel days of adversity, a patriot who could 
 reason even with a delirium of national exultation, — a man 
 whose virtue, defending the gravest political principles, 
 would not tamper with the most transient question of 
 ethics, — a man thus endowed by nature and formed by 
 discipline — Jacoby deserves the study and admiration of the 
 present, as he enjoyed the respect of the last generation. 
 At the same time, these very traits made it impossible that 
 Jacoby should ever become a statesman, in the ordinary sense 
 of the term. His work wasthe assertion of abstract politic- 
 al principles, without bargains, compromises, or conces- 
 sions ; but this is not, in a strict sense, statesmanship. In 
 a good, and not a bad sense, he was a revolutionist. His
 
 JOHANN JACOBY. 175 
 
 methods were destructive ; of the bad, it is true, but still 
 destructive, and not constructive. He stubbornly resisted 
 evil measures, but a policy of exclusive resistance seldom 
 reaches positive ends. As he is not a statesman with a 
 carefully developed programme, so he is not an orator 
 with a thoroughly trained art. His strength as a speaker 
 lies rather in the point and pregnancy of his epigram- 
 matic remarks, in the intense sincerity of his convic- 
 tions, in the imposing boldness of his manner. No great 
 speeches of his survive. He is a fine scholar and a clear 
 writer ; but he is too earnest a man to waste time in bal- 
 ancing phrases and composing antitheses.
 
 XIV. 
 
 Herr Hasselmann. 
 
 HE right of the Social-democrats to a representa- 
 tive in these pages is happily, or unhappily, 
 beyond dispute. Their numbers in the R. ichstag, 
 and the powerful constituency that stands behind them, as 
 well as their noisy and obtrusive boldness, compel even the 
 most unwilling chronicler to give them notice. And this 
 compliment is after all a feeble one, when compared with 
 the splendid homage paid to them by the imperial govern- 
 ment. If all other means of notoriety failed the socialist 
 faction ; if there were no other reason for devoting an article 
 to their restless agitation, both the means and the reason 
 could be found in the exceptional honor paid them by the 
 ministers, the legislators, the police, and the courts of the 
 German Empire. So important was this element, even in 
 1 871, that the new constitution expressly put it under 
 imperial supervision, by authorizing the Reichstag to legis- 
 late on the subjects of the press and public meetings. The 
 article has been loyally and abundantly enforced. Scarcely
 
 IIERR IIASSELMANN. 1 77 
 
 a session has passed without some bill, directly or in- 
 directly aimed at the agitation of the Socialistic and Demo- 
 cratic party. Next to the army, the Workingmen's Union 
 has been the object of greatest solicitude to the impe- 
 rial chancelry. It deserves, therefore, to be described as 
 one among the political factions and forces of Germany, 
 and its representative has a right to rank among the politi- 
 cal leaders. 
 
 It is true that the claim of Hasselmann to act or appear 
 as this representative, does not command the same uncon- 
 ditional acquiescence. He is only one among many 
 equals, if not among some superiors. The so-called 
 ' ' Social-democratic party " in the Reichstag numbers but 
 nine members ; but of these, three may fairly compete with 
 Hasselmann for the leadership, and two of these even repre- 
 sent a rival and in some respects opposite policy. Hasen- 
 clever, the colleague and friend of Hasselmann, is the presi- 
 dent of the " General Workingmen's Union of Germany,"* 
 and from the position derives great authority. Bebel and 
 Liebknecht are Saxons ; their headquarters are at Leipsic, 
 whence they issue the Volksstaat, and they are deeply inter- 
 ested in the "International," instead of the "Working- 
 men's Union." But these schisms and feuds will be 
 explained in another place. Hasselmann's position and his 
 career are both striking enough to be representative of the 
 Socialistic agitation in Germany, and no further explana- 
 tion of the choice is necessary. 
 
 It is, however, necessary to give some account of the 
 organization of the workingmen as a political party, for, 
 
 * Allgemeitur Deutschcr Arbeiter- Verein.
 
 178 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 without it, the leaders of that party cannot be understood. 
 In the sketch of Schulze-Delitzsch, the antagonism between 
 that Teutonic "Poor Richard," and the more radical and 
 sweeping schemes of Lassalle, were briefly hinted at, but 
 were not explained at length. This antagonism, which at 
 last became a personal quarrel, is the indispensable key to 
 the earlier stages of the Socialistic agitation. And since 
 Schulze, as a living leader, has already been sketched, it 
 will only be necessary to give some account of a rival far 
 more audacious, far more brilliant, and far less fortunate. 
 
 Ferdinand Lassalle was in all respects one of the most 
 remarkable men whom modern Germany has produced. A 
 Jew by descent and a friend of Heine, he had the restless 
 energy of his race and the pitiless radicalism of his master. 
 He was no Sans-culoiie, no vulgar conspirator, no unlettered 
 demagogue. He passed the gymnasium and the university, 
 and studied law and philosophy as far as the best teachers 
 of Germany could carry him. With working men he had 
 no sort of class sympathy. He took up their cause merely 
 out of the impulse of a generous heart, a burning hatred 
 of oppression and injustice, a philosophic discontent with 
 the real or fancied evils of existing society. If he had been 
 an American, with the same nature, he would have been a 
 determined Abolitionist. In Germany, he thought the 
 working classes were the victims of a false adjustment of 
 social relations ; and, when this conviction had once taken 
 possession of his soul, he served it with all the loyalty of his 
 fiery nature. 
 
 His chivalrous espousal, when only twenty years old, of 
 the cause of the unfortunate Countess Hatzfeld, is one of 
 the most romantic incidents of real life; and it was made
 
 HERR HASSELMANN. 1 79 
 
 more remarkable by the fidelity and enthusiasm with which 
 that aristocratic lady long supported the socialistic schemes 
 of her champion. His oratory was powerful and brilliant, 
 and a reference to it stirs the blood of all who ever sat 
 beneath its charms. It was not musical and persuasive, 
 but trenchant, imposing, and commanding ; fearless and 
 ready in retort, terrible in the force of invective. He once 
 spoke three days in self-defence before a court at Cologne, 
 and his speech is studied as a model, even by aspiring con- 
 servatives. Lassalle was a born agitator, if not revolu- 
 tionist, and he made war upon society till his death. His 
 ideal was the Volkstaat, the people's state, which he set 
 up in contrast to the state of the aristocracy and the 
 bourgeoisie, and his scheme included in its details the most 
 comprehensive and immediate interference of the State in 
 the interest of the proletariat. 
 
 Lassalle's violent career met a violent end, and after 
 that, a schism broke out in the ranks of his followers. At 
 first it was rather a geographical difference. The head- 
 quarters of Lassalle had been at Leipsic, and the Saxon 
 Socialists, as the most active and numerous, demanded that 
 Leipsic should continue to be the centre of agitation. 
 Their champion, who is alone worthy to be the successor 
 of Lassalle, is Carl Marx, who, if he were not an exile, 
 would be the real leader of the working-men in Germany. 
 Marx is the founder of the "International," which made a 
 great deal of unnecessary noise. This was a step in 
 advance of Lassalle, though it may easily be sustained on 
 his theories. The organ of this party is the Volksstaat, 
 which is published at Leipsic. The Berlin party centred 
 around the "General Workingmen's Union of Germany,"
 
 loO BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 of which the president was Herr von Schweitzer. Its 
 organ is the Neucr Social- Democrat. 
 
 Between the principles, if the word may be used, of 
 those two organizations, there is no perceptible difference. 
 Both worship the name and memory of Lassalle, and both 
 claim to have no other aim than faithfully to further the 
 dissemination of his ideas, and to procure the triumph of 
 his theories. But they differ about the means to be 
 employed. The Leipsic party believes in an international 
 league and a simultaneous agitation of workingmen in all 
 countries. The Berlin party, on the contrary, prefers to 
 organize the Germans by themselves, and by concentrat- 
 ing their energies, to render success more speedy and 
 certain. 
 
 Marx was an exile in England, and the control of the 
 Leipsic party, and the representation of the International 
 in Germany, passed into the hands of three men, Bebel, 
 Liebknecht, and Becker. The latter is the pamphleteer of 
 the concern, and innumerable brochures from his pen may 
 be bought by those who have the curiosity or the time to 
 read them. The other two are members of the Reichstag, 
 It has, however, been their misfortune to spend in prison 
 a good portion of the time which might, otherwise, have 
 been devoted to the legislation of their country ; and their 
 reputation, as parliamentarians, is yet to be made. The 
 only occasion on which I had the honor of hearing Herr 
 Bebel, was in January last. The Chancellor of the 
 Empire, Prince Bismarck, had made a long speech against 
 the press and socialism, and had mentioned, incidentally, • 
 the sympathy of the social democrats with the commune 
 of Paris. Bebel did not deny the fact, but he opposed the
 
 IIERR IIASSELMANN. l8l 
 
 inference drawn from it. He mounted the speaker's plat- 
 form, and, under cover of a personal explanation, was ges- 
 ticulating wildly and declaiming like an injured patriot, 
 when a parliamentary rule, enforced by the chairman, cut 
 him ignominiously off. He is an impassioned, vigorous 
 speaker, not without a certain force. Liebknecht is a more 
 politic man, a pamphleteer like Becker, and he and Bebel 
 are always mentioned together, like Beaumont and 
 Fletcher. 
 
 In the meantime, the Berlin party has also passed into 
 other hands. Schweitzer had become too conservative 
 for the younger men, A coalition was formed against 
 him, and he was expelled as a traitor. The two ungrateful 
 disciples, whom he had trained and brought forward, 
 divided the succession between them. Hasenclever became 
 president of the Union, Hasselmann editor of the Neuer 
 Social-Democrat. The former is the practical man of 
 business, the organizer, the executive-manager. The 
 latter is the literary apostle, the fiery advocate of the cause. 
 They work together as harmoniously and efficiently as 
 Bebel and Liebknecht at Leipsic, and among such turbu- 
 lent and disorderly spirits, present a strange spectacle of 
 peaceful co-operation, 
 
 Wilhelm Hasselmann was born on the 25th of Septem- 
 ber, 1844, in Bremen. He studied at the polytechnic 
 school at Hanover, and, with a view to becoming a chem- 
 ist, at the Universities of Gottingen and Berlin. This 
 academic career, which would perhaps have made an 
 excellent conservative physicist, he- interrupted suddenly, 
 and embraced the cause and the fortunes of the Socialist 
 party. He seems to have preferred the elements of
 
 l82 BRIEF BIOGRArniES. 
 
 society to those of nature, for his experiments. His merits as 
 a club orator attracted the notice of Schweitzer, who made 
 him a Secretary of the Union, and afterwards an assistant 
 editor of the Social- Democrat. When Schweitzer was 
 expelled, as above stated, Hasselmann naturally succeeded 
 him in the chief-editorship. In a business sense, the sheet 
 is a great success, and its daily circulation is said to number 
 over 20,000 copies. No small share of this is due to the 
 literary contributions of Hasselmann. Day by day, for 
 several years, he has covered the first page of that sheet 
 with his revolutionary proclamations, in which indefinite 
 cures for undefined evils are set forth with all the delightful 
 candor of his class. 
 
 Judged by the standard of his readers, Hasselmann's 
 literary capacity is, no doubt, considerable. Dr. Rudolph 
 Meyer speaks of it in terms^f praise : " The present man 
 of science, of the Union," he says, "is Hasselmann, 
 whom von Schweitzer engaged as sub-editor. He speaks 
 fluently, and writes a la Marat." * And again Meyer says : 
 * ' Since the Union owns only three sheets, it has but few 
 writers. After the talented Dr. von Schweitzer, who was 
 familiar with many sciences, had been expelled, the party 
 had no representative of much learning. The editor Has- 
 selmann has pursued no regular course of study, but was 
 brought into the right course by Schweitzer, and has made 
 himself well informed on Socialistic systems, and in the 
 revolutionary history of France. What he lacks in deep 
 knowledge, he makes up by a great literary talent. Of all 
 
 * Der Emancipationskampf des vierten Standes in Dcutschland. 
 Beilin. 1S74, p. 98.
 
 HERR HASSELMANN. 1 83 
 
 Social-democrats lie has the most effective style for the 
 workingmen. " * 
 
 After this, the reader will, perhaps, be anxious to have a 
 specimen of the German Marat's workmanship. The 
 Socialists of Germany borrow many of their favorite words 
 from the jargon of their brethren in France, Bourgeoisie, 
 proletariat, canaille, etc., being common to both. Hassel- 
 mann, in particular, who makes a speciality of French 
 history, and above all French revolutionary histor)--, 
 abounds in terms fimiliar to students of radical Paris liter- 
 ature. He loves to picture to himself a German reign of 
 terror, like that of Paris ; he imitates the style of the club 
 orator of that age, and, in many respects, perhaps uncon- 
 sciously, the same language comes to serve him and them. 
 The following extract is from one of Hasselmann's favorite 
 compositions, entitled Die Canaille, which may be called 
 in English, "The Rabble." 
 
 "Who are the men with muscles firm as iron, but with 
 pale and haggard faces, who hold watch by the glow of fur- 
 naces, and earn their bread in the light of molten iron? 
 Who are the men that guide the noisy machines in the 
 dust and racket of factories, and under whose hands the 
 most wonderful products of skilful industry come into 
 being } Who are the men that build the palaces in heat 
 and cold, in sunshine and rain, under the open heavens .? 
 Who are the men that laboriously guide the plough over 
 the fields and wrest from the soil its products .? 
 
 "Ask the frivolous dandy, ask the insolent country 
 
 * Der Emancipationskampf des vierten Standes in Deulschland. 
 Berlin, 1874, p. 150.
 
 1 84 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 squire, ask the covetous usurer, ask all those who live and 
 riot in palaces, and squander the labor of others ; they 
 will tell you. 
 
 " They will say : ' These are the rabble ! ' Who is yon- 
 der woman, who crouches in her wretched hovel over the 
 corpse of her husband, whom they brought in to her, dead 
 and mangled in the service of capital ? Who are the chil- 
 dren that, starving and freezing, must roam about in the 
 early morning among smokfng chimneys ? Who are the 
 rhaidens who wander homeless and in despair, a child on 
 the breast, cast out by human society, or who have already 
 thrown away shame, and in velvet and silk, but with empty 
 hearts and sore bodies, hunted by the police, hurry 
 through the streets .-' 
 
 "Ask the speculators in women and children, ask the 
 seducers ; they will not fail to give you an answer. 
 
 "They will say : ' This is the rabble ! ' 
 ***** **** 
 
 "Yes, ' the people is a rabble,' as long as the bourgeois 
 society subsists. Lassalle declared once, with bitter irony, 
 that if the liberal press received the order to print this sen- 
 tence at the head of every journal, it would not dare, in its 
 cowardice, to disobey. It is a bitter misfortune that the 
 order is not given ; for, day by day, the people must read 
 that, so long as it does not itself put its hand to the work 
 in order Jo ^Dreak road for the new Social institutions, it is 
 not, and under the pressure of the hard law of wages 
 cannot be anything else than the sufferijig, despised 
 rabble. 
 
 " People, learn to understand your misery ; people, 
 feflect that your inconstancy and sluggishness alpr^e bear
 
 HERR IIASSELMANN. 1 85 
 
 the blame, if we do not arise and force the recognition of 
 the rights of man in the State." 
 
 This is the sort of Hterature on which German SociaHsm 
 thrives. It is easy to recognize in it the violence of Marat, 
 though the German Canaille are perhaps not expected 
 to know, that Marat was more than a mere phrase-maker ; 
 that he did not hide an intellectual or a moral timidity 
 under the cover of rattling words, but went straight to his 
 meaning with a ferocious but effective frankness. Still, the 
 leading articles of Hasselmann, as the best that are to be 
 obtained, have upon the workingmen an influence, of which 
 the historian is unfortunately obliged to take account. 
 
 At the last general election Hasselmann was a candidate 
 in many districts, but suceeded in barely carrying one of 
 them. In the district of Elberfeld- Barmen, where there 
 are large manufactories, and a large industrious population, 
 he succeeded in gaining the poll over his national liberal 
 competitor by a majority of just 381, in a total vote of 
 25,000. But this slender margin was enough to fill the 
 hearts of his constituents with present joy, and their souls 
 with visions of future glory. One old woman, in her 
 enthusiasm, burned her spinning-wheel, her only means 
 of support ; but in a neighboring district, where the 
 Socialist candidate was defeated, a young laborer was heard 
 to sigh, "Alas! now we must continue to eat bread and 
 potatoes." 
 
 It is probable, nevertheless, that the legislative achieve- 
 ments of the deputy Hasselmann do not quite come up 
 to the hopes of his ardent electors. The reader will re- 
 call the famous figure, which Edmund Burke in his 
 "Reflections on the Revolution in France," used to
 
 1 86 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 describe certain English sympathizers with that revolution. 
 "The vanity, restlessness, petulance, and spirit of intrigue, 
 of several petty cabals, who attempt to hide their total want 
 of consequence in bustle and noise, and puffing and 
 mutual quotation of each other, make you imagine that 
 our contemptuous neglect of their abilities is a mark of 
 general acquiescence in their opinions. No such thing, I 
 ajiGure you. Because half a dozen grasshoppers, under a 
 fern, make a field ring with their importunate chink, while 
 thousands of great cattle repose beneath the shadow of 
 the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not 
 imagine that these who make the noise are the only inhabi- 
 tants of the field ; that, of course, they are many in num- 
 ber, or, that after all, they are other than the little shriv- 
 velled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome 
 insects of the hour." The application to the Social- 
 democrats, in the Reichstag, is incomplete in one respect. 
 The legislative grasshoppers are not allowed to chink and 
 hop at will, under the contempt of the silent cattle ; 
 but they are honored and made notorious by the notice 
 which they do not deserve. It was while he was defend- 
 ing himself and fellows against an impending law, that I 
 first heard Herr Hasselmann in the tribune. 
 
 The Socialist leader is a young, almost boyish-looking 
 man, with long hair falling over his shoulders in a 
 romantic, poetical style. He dresses with the modesty 
 becoming a representative of what he calls the Cd7iaille. 
 His oratory is dreary enough. Although he reads his 
 harangue from manuscript or copious notes, and hurls 
 at the house plenty of his blood-thirsty epigrams, his 
 delivery is so tame and pointless that he rarely makes
 
 HERR IIASSELMANN. 1 87 
 
 any impression. When he reaches his long finger out 
 at the placid country members, the effect is far from 
 striking. As a speaker, he is less vigorous than Bebel, 
 and less authoritative than Hasenclever. But these two 
 make short and abrupt appeals, while the man of sus- 
 tained speech, of fatal prolixity, is Herr Hasselmann. 
 
 As we have given a specimen of this gentleman's news- 
 paper writing, it is necessary to give also a specimen of 
 his parliamentary efforts. The very speech above men- 
 tioned will serve our purpose as well as any other. The 
 speaker had mentioned certain social evils which the 
 Socialists oppose, and he continued : 
 
 "That we brand these things is awkward for certain 
 persons, who cannot throw stones, because they themselves 
 live in glass houses ; and who represent us as traveling 
 agitators, with a club in one hand, and a bottle of 
 petroleum in the other. To describe the red republic, 
 communism, and atheism as our secret programme, this 
 is possible only to a police agent, or to a writer on the 
 subsidized press. If, on the one hand, you prosecute 
 atheism, and, on the other hand, make Falk laws, you 
 will find yourselves not on the golden middle way, but 
 at the parting of the ways. Let every man save him- 
 self, in his own way, as Frederic the Great, himself an 
 atheist, did. We do not sow evil in the present society, 
 as the minister alleged, but we bring the evil to the 
 knowledge of the people, and no penal code will prevent 
 us from continuing to do that in the future. When 
 the minister speaks of officials and teachers, on whom the 
 vSocialistic theories exercise a pernicious influence, his 
 remark reflects not only his fears, but, also, an indirect
 
 l88 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 acknowledgment of the truth of those theories. This fear, 
 and this recognition, are verj' flattering for us, and we 
 accept the compliment. The words which the Minister 
 repeated, that the English laborers, seek to make their ill 
 condition better, while the Germans must first be con- 
 vinced that their condition is ill, were uttered thirteen years 
 ago by Lassalle. At that time they were justified ; to-day 
 they are not. As the Minister to-day spoke of bringing 
 out cannon, it was openly a far greater and more serious 
 appeal to the laboring classes, than any Socialist agitator, 
 in a people's club, ever attempted. You may adopt the 
 pending measure, or not : we shall continue to work 
 and fight for Socialistic ideas with the same energy as in 
 the past." 
 
 This speech, which was very long, and of which this 
 extract is only the closing paragraph, was calmly received 
 by- the house, and only one or two of the more violent 
 passages caused slight murmurs. But the Minister, Count 
 Eulenburg, who is referred to so often by Hasselmann, 
 thought it deserved a special reply. His second speech 
 contained such a tribute to Hasselmann himself, and to 
 the paper which Hasselmann edits, that an extract from 
 that will contribute to the characterization of our hero. 
 Hasselmann had been followed by Lasker, who took the 
 Liberal ground, that the Socialistic principles were false 
 and dangerous, but they ought to be combatted by educa- 
 tion and enlightenment, rather than by repressive statutes. 
 Against this "ideal standpoint," the Minister of the 
 Interior felt bound to protest. " How can you compare 
 the effect of such a remedy with the effect created when 
 Herr Hasselmann, from this tribune, or in a popular
 
 HEKR HASSELMANN. 1 89 
 
 assembly, holds a two hours' speech ? Thither goes a 
 crowd, which hardly know how to follow a line of thought, 
 and comes away with excited feelings, and the conviction : 
 We have heard our evangelist, and we are ready to suffer 
 death for the ideas that the speaker has set forth. And the 
 press of these gentlemen, the Socialistic journals, and 
 pamphlets, and poems, they all find their way into the 
 houses, into the families, into the work-shops of the 
 laborers, and no other writings are read. The cabman 
 must read his Social-Democrat, by day, and the working- 
 man, when he comes home at night, cries out : ' Where 
 is my Social-Democrat ? I must learn how I am to con- 
 duct myself at my work.' In all these circles, only this 
 Socialistic sheet is read, and by it the readers swear." 
 
 The Prussian minister is by no means a skilful artist, 
 but this picture is tolerably faithful. At least it errs more 
 from incompleteness of detail, than from an excess of 
 color. In his argument for repressive legislation, against 
 two evils that he deplores, the Minister, of course, only 
 repeated with moderate force the venerable arguments of 
 the Conservative guardians of society. In fact, any Liberal 
 could retort that the Minister is less concerned about how 
 the " crowd" acquire political principles, than what they 
 acquire. If they read only orthodox sheets, and carried 
 home from their meetings only sound Conservative views, 
 the government might not stop to inquire whether they 
 thought out those views themselves, or whether they 
 accepted them on the authority of their single orthodox 
 paper, and their favorite conservative orator. The friends 
 of an impartial and independent press, of a Liberal polit- 
 ical enlightenment, the Prussian Government and Count
 
 IQO BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 von Eulenburg have notoriously never been. The argu- 
 ment that the workingmen read with impKcit faith only 
 their one Socialistic sheet, instead of studying all sides, and 
 by reflection reaching an enlightened opinion, was, there- 
 fore, a piece of special pleading. 
 
 But it is open to Liberals to advance such an argument, 
 not only against the venerable reactionaries, who read 
 only their Kreuz-Zeitung, but also against the children of 
 toil, who must satisfy iheir intellectual hunger with such 
 food as Herr Hasselmann daily sets before them. In the 
 obligation to read such literature lies one of the hardest 
 of the burdens of the workingman. It is not enough that 
 the writer perverts the political reason of his readers ; he 
 also depraves their literary taste. They acquire a dislike 
 for serious thinking, for positive political principles, by 
 being taught that politics consist in the negation of all 
 existing institutions, and the frantic repetition of formulas 
 which have no sense. In this sort of teaching, as has been 
 said above, and shown by example, Herr Hasselmann is a 
 master, 
 
 I do not affirm that he is a willful impostor. It is possi- 
 ble, and indeed probable, that he is morally sincere, that 
 he himself, not less than his unfortunate readers, is 
 deceived by his own sounding phrases. A very young 
 man, leaving his studies just at the time when they were 
 beginning to mellow and discipline his mind, he sailed out 
 upon a sea of treacherous verbiage, without the slightest 
 logical experience to guide his course. To-day, he, doubt- 
 less, influences more readers than any other journalist in 
 Germany. He appears to be, and probably is in person, 
 a very harmless character, and cannot realize what a fatal
 
 HERR IIASSELMANN. I9I 
 
 service he does his eager clients. What he has been in the 
 past he will continue to be in the future. In case of any 
 violent disorders in the State, Hasselmann may be heard 
 of in more serious work ; but in the immediate future he 
 will continue to proclaim his fiery generalities in his news- 
 paper, and occasionally from the floor of the Rekhslag.
 
 XV. 
 
 Herr Sonnemann. 
 
 P to this point, our list of biographies includes 
 leaders or representatives of every important party 
 in German politics. The reader will observe that 
 we have spoken interchangeably of the Prussian Landtag, 
 or Diet, and the Rekhstag, or Imperial Parliament, and, if 
 this had been a treatise on politics, instead of on political 
 leaders, a certain degree of confusion might have en- 
 sued. In fact, of course, the divisions, if not the propor- 
 tions of parties, are the same in the one legislature as 
 in the other. The fraction called ''Alsatians," made up 
 of the delegation from the two annexed provinces, is, of 
 course, found only in a German Parliament ; and the 
 "Social-democrats," who now and then are carried into 
 the Reichstag, on the shoulders of universal suffrage, are 
 less successful for the Prussian House, which is chosen 
 by indirect election. And, as the ministers in Ger- 
 many are not required, as in England, to sit as mem- 
 bers of Parliament, some of the characters are not even
 
 HERR SONNEMANN. I93 
 
 deputies. Our aim has been to sketch, in a measure, 
 the nature of party relations in the new Empire, and 
 the men who, whether they be deputies or mini.-ters, or 
 neither, are, in any sense, characteristic of those relations. 
 At this point, therefore, it may be expedient to make a 
 brief recapitulation. 
 
 The leading party in Germany is the National Liberal, 
 which, in the Reichstag, has 148 members. Its import- 
 ance has been honored in the names of Bennigsen, Sim- 
 son, and Lasker. Some further characters will also be 
 depicted from its ranks. The next party in strength, as 
 represented in the Reichstag by 94 members, is that of ihe 
 Ultramontanes. Its representative in these pages, Wind- 
 thorst, is also its recognized leader. The party of progress, 
 the Fortschritis Partet, to which belong Loewe, Schulze, 
 and Jacoby, numbers in the same house no less than 49 
 seats. The party called sometimes the "German Party," 
 and sometimes "Free Conservatives," has 31 members. 
 With it may be reckoned Prince Hohenlohe, and the IMinis- 
 ters Dr. Falk and Camphausen, and, perhaps, Prince 
 Bismarck himself. Count Harry von Arnim, though not 
 now a deputy, aspired to become the leader of the Old 
 Conserv-atives. The foregoing character, Hasselmann, we 
 have taken for the Socialistic fractiori. Two groups, or as 
 the Germans say, fractions, the Poles and the Alsa- 
 tians, stand for special, not to say, hopeless causes, but have 
 no general political significance. The former vote, on 
 most questions, with the Ultramontanes, and in parliamen- 
 tary calculations are generally reckoned with them ; and 
 the same is true of the Alsatians, who, however, seldom 
 appear in their places. Finally there is half a score of
 
 194 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 deputies who, declining to join any group, almost 
 make a group by themselves. There is a sort of Irish 
 logic, perhaps,, which will be readily pardoned, in ranging 
 under the party leaders Herr Sonnemann, who belongs to 
 no party, and represents no opinion but his own. 
 
 Those opinions are indeed shared, or may be supposed 
 to be shared, and it is to be hoped intelligently, by his 
 constituents ; but they have not yet formed a visible party. 
 They may, doubtless, be gath'ered from the files of the 
 Frankfurter Zti/ioig, which Sonnemann owns and edits. 
 Or, if more formal expositions are desired, the student 
 would be forced to read the innumerable pamphlets which 
 Sonnemann has written and published, as well as the copi- 
 ous speeches that he has made in the Reichstag, in popular 
 meetings, and elsewhere. Neither reticence nor indolence 
 is one of this deputy's faults. It is a lucky, or an un- 
 lucky, session of the Reichstag which passes without a 
 speech from him. As a member of the municipal councils 
 of his city, Frankfort on the Main, as well as of many 
 unions, and leagues, and associations, he has ample 
 opportunities for his eloquence, even when the Reichs- 
 tag is not sitting. But his great organ of commu- 
 nication with the public, is his newspaper, the Frank/iirler 
 Zeitung. 
 
 Leopold Sonnemann was born on the 29th of October, 
 1 83 1, at Hochberg, in Lower Franconia, Bavaria. His 
 parents were Hebrews. He studied at a commercial 
 school, and then pursued a course of private instruction, 
 after which he became a merchant. In 1856, he purchased 
 the Neue Frankfurter Zeitung^ which he converted into the 
 Frankfurter Zeitung, and has since personally conducted.
 
 IIERR SOXXEMANN. I95 
 
 It is now, in respect to circulation and influence, one of 
 the most important journals in South Germany. It is well 
 written, its correspondence is full and authentic, and al- 
 though it is so peculiarly the personal organ of Herr 
 Sonnemann, it is thoroughly independent, and enjoys the 
 respect even of those who do not agree with its opinions. 
 Although it is a great success, in a journalistic sense, it 
 would appear that to Herr Sonnemann it was chiefly 
 valuable as a vehicle for his peculiar theories. He, him- 
 self, pays more particular attention to social and economical 
 questions. But, during the sessions (j^\h.Q Retchsfag, when 
 he is at Berlin, he sends regular political correspondence 
 and leading articles. 
 
 Herr Sonnemann is classed by the government journals as 
 a Social-democrat, but the Frankfurter Zeiiung is wholly 
 different from the Volkssiaat, for instance, or the organ of 
 Herr Hasselmann's revolutionary agitation. The Volkssiaat 
 or the Ncuer Social Democrat is what a German with a 
 slight sense of humor might call a Fachblatt, It has a 
 specialty. Its object is the reform and regeneration of 
 society, and it pays general politics only a general attention. 
 Not so, the Radical journal at Frankfort on the INIain, With 
 it, the case is almost reversed. It is Radical in a general 
 way, but political in the most detailed and especial sense 
 of the word. The 'original Socialists like Hasselmann, 
 look on political machinery as a clumsy evil, which circum- 
 stances force them to use for the propagation, if not for the 
 realization of their more imposing theories. Sonnemann, 
 on the contrar}', respects the principle of civil government, 
 and makes social reform, and political reform mutually 
 serviceable the one to the other.
 
 196 BRIEF BIOGRAPPIIES. 
 
 The latter, for instance, was no enemy of the principle 
 of German unity, and. hardly of the imperial form, which 
 that unity took. But he had strong views on the details of 
 imperial organization. A member of the constituent 
 Reichstag, he took an active part in the debates on the con- 
 stitution ; and, after nearly all his amendments had been 
 rejected, he voted against the new charter, as finally 
 adopted by the House. On many collateral questions, 
 too, he opposed the government. He was one of the little 
 band which resisted the forcible annexation of Alsace-Lor- 
 raine, and which, by its energetic but fruitless defense of 
 the right of these provinces themselves to be consulted, 
 showed the recreant Liberalism of the majority. A free 
 thinker and a hater of the Catholic priesthood, he neverthe- 
 less opposed on abstract grounds most of the imperial leg- 
 islation in the CuUiirkampf. Thus he voted against the 
 act for the expulsion of the Jesuits and affiliated societies ; 
 and also against the act to j)unish certain pulpit offenses. 
 Such measures he regarded as intrusions on personal rights, 
 and as committing the new empire to the old reactionary 
 doctrines on the press and the platform. In company with 
 his friends he proposed, as is said above, a number of radical 
 motions. They were, for instance, for the re-introduction 
 of the German fundamental laws of 1849; for the total 
 abolition of the salt tax ; for the separation of the Church 
 from the State, and the schools from the Church. These 
 were all promptly and unceremoniously rejected by the 
 House. That he is not an irreconcilable, however, is 
 shown by his course on the mint and currency bill, which 
 he actively supported, in the main, according to the views or 
 the government.
 
 IIERR SONNEMANN., I97 
 
 In appearance Herr Sonnemann looks anything but the 
 Radical agitator. A large, portly man, with whiskers like 
 Lord Dundreary, he dresses with a neatness and elegance 
 quite un-Teutonic ; and, on promenade, might pass for a 
 gentleman of the world, and of leisure. His whiskers and 
 his toilet are fine subjects for those brilliant Conservative 
 caricaturists, who do not conceive that a man may be a 
 gentleman in society, and yet a Radical in politics. But he 
 is not a fop in Parliament, nor a dikltanie in debate. He 
 is not popular among his colleagues, for every man's hand 
 is commonly against one who is thoroughly isolated in his 
 views ; and when he is speaking, smiles and sneers, and 
 even stronger signs of dislike, are abundant. But these do 
 not intimidate him. Although he sits in a remote corner 
 of the hall, whither the majority has banished Socialists and 
 other outcasts, he easily asserts his rights and defends his 
 opinions. His strong masculine voice fills the large hall, 
 and in spite of grave acoustical defects, reaches the most 
 remote galleries. His sentences are terse and incisive, his 
 en'mciation clear,, and his general delivery forcible and 
 impressive. It must be said, however, that his manner is 
 noc conciliatory ; it often encourages, not to say justifies, 
 the aversion of the House. He has a habit of hissing his 
 words contemptuously out between his teeth. It may be 
 imagined that the impression of superciliousness, thereby 
 created, does not conciliate the favor of a House, never 
 patient with the Social democracy, or with any form of ad- 
 vanced Radicalism. 
 
 Outside of Parliament Sonnemann has long been an 
 aciive and effective agitator. Within the Umits of German 
 law and police regulations, perhaps no living reformer has
 
 198 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 attended more congresses and other meetings, made a 
 greater number of popular harangues, and in general con- 
 ducted a more persistent campaign in favor of his own 
 ideas. He was one of the founders of the "People's 
 Fxonomic Congress," which met every year to discuss in a 
 popular way the leading questions of production, trade, 
 commerce, etc., and he held for many years the position 
 of President of the Section on Banking. In 1862, he was 
 also one of the organizers of the " League of German 
 Workingmen's Unions," which lasted till 1869. He took 
 an active part in the agitation for a treaty of commerce with 
 France, and for tariff reform in general. In the inter- 
 est of this movement, he made a tour of Germany and ap- 
 peared in numerous congresses, conventions, and meetings. 
 Since he has been a member of the municipal council he 
 has occupied himself more particularly with questions of 
 taxation and finance, and his authority is willingly con- 
 ceded, even by his political enemies. His efforts have 
 been intelligently directed to lessening the burdens of the 
 poorer. ]\Iany of the charitable and benevolent institu- 
 tions of Frankfort owe themselves to his initiative. I may 
 mention, for instance, the "Mechanics' Fund," "The 
 Sustenance and Relief Union," "The Building and Sav- 
 ings' Union," and others. He has been active in promot- 
 ing all public improvements, especially such as are of a 
 popular character. Such are the Palm Garden at Frank- 
 fort, and the new Opera House. Above all must be men- 
 tioned the " Frankfort Union for Relief and Succor upon 
 the Battle Field," which was so efficient during the French 
 war. It raised two hundred thousand florins, which were 
 personally disbursed on the field by Sonnemann and the 
 other directors.
 
 IIERR SONNEMANN. I99 
 
 Any one who knows the immerfse importance granted 
 to, and the immense influence exercised by trades unions 
 and workingmen's clubs in Germany, will be able to 
 gather, from the above account of Herr Sonnemann's con- 
 nections some idea of his authority with the poor indus- 
 trial classes of the community. It will be seen that he 
 occupies a position, in many respects, midway between 
 Schulze-Delitzsch and the Socialists, Hasselmann, Lieb- 
 knecht, and others. He does not, like the former, confine 
 himself to the useful but prosaic maxims of Dr. Franklin. 
 He does not, like the latter, poison the workingmen with 
 subversive theories, at the cost of their more substantial 
 interests. The reforms which he has carried through seem 
 to comprise both a system of political instruction and a 
 system of popular economy. Prodigality was, indeed, 
 never a vice of German workingmen. Only their economy 
 lacked method, and they had never learned the secret of 
 lawful combination for the lawful and peaceful exercise of 
 all their resources in their own cause. Schulze first taught 
 them a salutary system on a national scale, but their bene- 
 factor and champion, in Frankfort, is Herr Sonnemann. 
 
 It must be said, however, that Herr Sonnemann's influ- 
 ence is chiefly local. He is a Jew, and the City of Frank- 
 fort on the Main has a larger ratio of Jews than any other 
 in Germany. The traveler who spends a day there, and 
 reads his Baedeker or Murray, will learn that, in the middle 
 ages, the Hebrews were assigned to certain limits outside of 
 the walls, beyond which they were forbidden to trespass ; 
 and the guide, if one be taken, will point out the forced 
 retreat of the heretics. That state of things has, however, 
 long passed away. The Jews have not only fought their
 
 200 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 own way to all the privileges of the city, but they have 
 practically become masters of their former oppressors. 
 Not only do they control the commerce, the banking, the 
 finance of Frankfort, but the conduct of municipal affairs, 
 and the expression of the city's voice in national politics, 
 is also, in a great measure, in their hands. These facts 
 alone, however, do not explain Sonnejnann's position. 
 The Jews who control the trade and banking and the 
 municipal affairs, are capitalists, and capital in Frankfort, 
 as elsewhere, is conservative. But the fi/st virtue of the 
 Jews is prudence. The city contains, also, a large and 
 turbulent Radical and Democratic element, and the only 
 way to hold this in check is to aid it in electing the least 
 objectionable of its favorites. Herr Sonnemann holds 
 sound views on financial questions ; a man of means, he 
 also has material interests at stake, and the control of a 
 powerful journal makes him a grand local dignitary. The 
 policy may not proceed from very lofty political convictions, 
 but it saves the old free city from a Hasselmann or a Bebel.
 
 PART VI. 
 
 The Scholar in Politics.
 
 XIV. 
 
 Professor Gneist. 
 
 IROFESSOR GNEIST is a person of whom it is 
 the fashion to speak with respect, if not with affec- 
 tion. One of the most concrete individuals in 
 German pubHc life, he nevertheless exists for the mass of 
 the people as some shadowy but mighty abstraction, a 
 power which is known to be, but is seldom felt. What the 
 Hindoo said of his idol, may be said of Dr. Gneist : "We 
 feel that he is ugly, but we know that he is great." He has 
 one of those peculiar faces which do not frighten children 
 or attract adults ; for it is perfectly neutral in expression, 
 and suggests all mental qualities, chiefly because it reveals 
 none. It has been cleverly said of some American lawyer, 
 that he is much esteemed in England on account of his 
 supposed reputation in America, and much esteemed in 
 America on account of his supposed reputation in England. 
 Dr. Gneist's fame is of this indirect and intangible nature. 
 Schultze respects him, because Miiller has read his book on 
 "Juries;" and IMiiller admires him, on the strength of
 
 204 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Schultze's opinion of "English Public Law." He is an 
 aggregate power which cannot be analyzed. He is an in- 
 tellectual potentate ; but, while the fact of his sway is always 
 present and undisputed, it is impossible to discover the 
 details on which it rests. 
 
 It cannot, indeed, be said that his opportunities of in- 
 fluence and power are few or unsubstantial. He has 
 sounded almost all the depths and shoals of honor in these 
 great branches of the public service. He has ascended the 
 judicial ladder, as far as the Ober-Tribunal ; the academic 
 ladder, as far as a university rectorship ; and the parliamen- 
 taiy ladder, to the Reichstag. More recently, he has become 
 president of the highest disciplinary court in the very- 
 bureaucracy which he once so bitterly attacked. 
 
 Rudolph Gneist, doctor of laws, regular professor in the 
 faculty of jurisprudence at the University of Berlin, was 
 born on the 13th of August, 1816. After the usual course 
 of study at the g}'mnasium and university, he adopted the 
 profession of law, and, in 1833, became Auscidtaior. In 
 1 84 1, he was Assessor before the Superior Court or 
 "Chamber," and 1846, assistant judge in the Supreme 
 Tribunal. This post, and with it the judicial career, he 
 abandoned in 1850, in part from a preference for academi- 
 cal work, in part for political reasons. ' Already, in 
 1839, he was a privat-docent \n law ; in 1844, professor ; in 
 1872-74, rector an(j pro-rector. His parliamentary career 
 may be said to have begun in 1848, with a seat in the 
 Municipal Council, which he still retains. From 1858 to 
 the present time, he has been a member of the Prussian 
 Lower House ; in the Imperial Parliament he has sat from 
 the first. Of unofficial positions which he holds or has
 
 PROFESSOR GNEIST. 205 
 
 held, may be mentioned the Chairmanship of the German 
 Jurists' Association (1869) ; he has been President of the 
 Union for Social Science at Eisenach (1872) ; President 
 of the Central Union for the Working Classes; Chairman 
 of the Scientific Union, of the Singing Academy, etc., etc. 
 In the House of Deputies (Prussian) he sits for a district 
 in the province of Saxony ; in the Reichstag he is elected 
 from the district of Landeshut. In his earlier days he 
 belonged to the so-called " Fraction Vincke ;" later he was 
 leader of the Left Centre, and, at present, is classed with the 
 National Liberals. 
 
 The participation of Gneist in the Liberal movements of 
 1848, was active and resolute. So prominent was he, that 
 he won the disfavor of the government ; and many petty 
 and some serious obstacles were put in the way of his pro- 
 fessional progress. In the sketch of Jacoby, there is some 
 account of the royal plan to adjourn the National Assembly 
 to Brandenburg, Dr. Gneist was not then in Parliament, 
 but he took part in a vigorous and novel extra-parliamen- 
 tary protest against the plan. The Prince of Prussia, at 
 that time heir apparent, now the reigning king, was sup- 
 posed to have great influence with his brother. He was a 
 stringent defender of prerogative ; a bold, stern, and fear- 
 less soldier, and an object of intense popular aversion. 
 When the extraordinary purpose of the king was made 
 known, people at once recognized the hand of Prince 
 William. A deputation was accordingly appointed to wait 
 upon him. Dr. Gneist was its leader and spokesman. 
 He made, or began, a long address upon the subject of his 
 mission, when the prince interrupted him, and declared 
 that the speech had not convinced him that the king was
 
 2o6 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 wrong in his treatment of the National Assembly. It is 
 said that he threw his sword upon the table, like Gallus in 
 the Roman legend, and said, that if he were king, he 
 would write his throne-speeches with that. 
 
 In obedience to the same principles. Dr. Gneist under- 
 took the defence of those accused of participation in the 
 outbreak of March, 1848. One remark that he made at 
 the time has become famous. The attorney for the gov- 
 ernment had mentioned that many of those who fell in the 
 movement were released or escaped criminals, and that the 
 death of such was no loss to society. Gneist replied : 
 " Such a death restored them their honor." A year later, 
 in 1849, to defend the jury system against the attacks which 
 its great services for freedom of speech and press were 
 bringing upon it, he published his treatise, to which refer- 
 ence has been made above. The so-called Juristenlag, 
 or annual convention of jurists, was not liked by the gov- 
 ernment. It was generally attended by great numbers of 
 Liberal lawyers and professors, and by judges, and upon 
 these latter an inhibition was placed. They were forbid- 
 den to take part in the proceedings. Soon after the pro- 
 mulgation of this order. Dr. Gneist retired from the bench. 
 
 Professor Gneist is a popular holiday speaker, and the 
 frequent demands upon him have, perhaps, contributed to 
 give him an oracular, not to say bombastic, style of speech. 
 Funeral orations, dedicatory orations, toast responses, 
 these are not supposed to exact too much thought from 
 the performer, and, in a man of Dr. Gneist's reputation, 
 they encourage even more vicious tendencies. An example 
 of this will be found in a speech made by him on taking 
 the chair at a public meeting in Berlin. An English
 
 TROFESSOR GNEIST. 207 
 
 meeting had voted sympathy with the ecclesiastical policy 
 of Prince Bismarck, and the citizens of the Prussian capital 
 met to return thanks. Dr. Gneist began by saying that a 
 "most respectable assembly, such as the beautiful festival 
 halls of the capital have seldom seen, holds it to be a duty 
 to make a grateful answer to the recent warm expression of 
 English sympathy for the German Emperor and the Ger- 
 man People. A sim.ilar pulsation went through both 
 nations long before the days of Waterloo ; it is a deep feel- 
 ing for freedom of conscience and freedom of thought, a 
 feeling which is not able to separate science and conscience. 
 We may accept the expression of this sympathy in the con- 
 sciousness that the German Emperor and the German Peo- 
 ple, in the present conflict, have deserved it. No nation 
 of the earth has endured so much, in hard, prolonged 
 struggles for freedom of conscience as the German, until 
 she reached the conclusion that, for the two great Churches 
 there must be room enough on God's earth." 
 
 This was what is called a gala occasion, and Professor 
 Gneist would naturally try, in his effort, to justify his choice 
 for the honor of president. Yet there are in this very 
 opening two grave errors, one of inference or suggestion, 
 and one of fact. It is an error to assume that the pend- 
 ing struggle of the State in Germany against the Catholic 
 Church is a struggle for " freedom of conscience." It is a 
 second and far graver error to say that Germany has suf- 
 fered more for freedom of conscience than any other, or, to 
 use his own language, than " any " nation. It is not so 
 easy to erase from the pages of history the Huguenots of 
 France, the Hussites of Bohemia, the Puritans of England, 
 and, above all, the immortal patriots and martyrs of Neth-
 
 2o8 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 erlands. One does not of course expect in a poi)uIcir ha- 
 rangue the severe logic of a written treatise ; but Dr. 
 Gneist is a professor of politicaii science, and is, moreover, ' 
 famous for pruning the periods of young orators. 
 
 It is but just, however, to say that Dr. Gneist has or had 
 a certain force of epigrammatic expression, and that many 
 of his terse remarks were taken up by the people and have 
 passed into history. One, and perhaps the most familiar, 
 concerned the bureaucracy of Prussia. When somebody 
 remarked in his presence that the March Revolution of 
 1848, was a failure because it stopped short of the throne, 
 Professor Gneist replied : " No ! It was a failure because 
 it left the old Prussian bureaucracy untouched." In fact 
 it did not leave the bureaucracy quite intact. The system 
 has undergone no insignificant modifications within thirty 
 years, and of all these, the events of 1848 were the historic 
 condition, if not the cause. But the remark of Dr. Gneist 
 nevertheless hinted at the real tyrant in the original Prus- 
 sian system ; and gave pointed expression to the hatred 
 with which the people then regarded the oligarchy of clerks 
 and copyists. No man knew that system better than he. 
 Not only had he studied it profoundly, and from all sides — 
 practical, political, social ; but he had also studied with 
 equal care a system quite the reverse, — that of England. 
 His book on the administrative system of England, which 
 was both analytical and historical, has many faults which 
 critics have not spared. It has been said that the execu- 
 tion of the work does not quite correspond to the con- 
 fidence and authority of the author. It was not only 
 easy, but for a German almost necessary, that in collecting 
 great masses of useless erudition he should often miss the
 
 PROFESSOR GNEIST. 209 
 
 essential point, the interpreting idea, the logical secret, 
 without which there is no progress ; and thus, while this 
 great work is of value as a formal sketch of the English 
 administrative system, it adds but little to that knowledge, 
 so imperfect in foreigners, of the philosophy of Anglo- 
 Saxon institutions. 
 
 A year since there was a report that Dr. Gneist would 
 visit America, and subject the American system to similar 
 treatment. Whether the report was false — whether it was 
 true at the time, and the plan has since been abandoned 
 — or whether the journey will eventually be made and the 
 book written, is not yet clear. But if the eminent jurist 
 should honor us with his visit, and our government with 
 his researches, the result would be an exhaustive collection 
 of facts, and the enunciation of many principles, which, 
 as the fruit of a few months' residence, would be very edify- 
 ing to American schools. 
 
 There are other phrases by Dr. Gneist, but little less 
 famous. One of these was his glowing "appeal from the 
 government to the conscience of the State," from the 
 organized and contemptuous ministerial persecution of lib- 
 eral men and measures, to the higher reason of an edu- 
 cated and conscientious commonwealth. On another oc- 
 casion, he publicly branded the policy of Bismarck with the 
 stigma of Cain. It was during the struggle of the Land- 
 tags or the Lower House of the Landlag, against the uncon- 
 stitutional course of king and ministers. Dr. Menzel de- 
 scribes the incident. A proposition was made by the deputy 
 von Bonin to smooth the way to a compromise; but, since 
 it recognized the organization of the army, demanded only a 
 slight reduction in its strength, and above all settled the 
 12*
 
 2IO BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Landwehr question in a sense contrary to that of the 
 majority, while the war minister himself spoke of it only with 
 reserve, the House rejected it. The member who reported 
 the measure from the committee back to the House, Dr. 
 Gneist, closed his speech on the 5th of INIay, in the 
 following words : " The minister of war is not only a 
 political, he is also a religious man ; and for that reason, he 
 will believe me, that the re-organization, with Cain's mark of 
 perjury on its forehead, will be no permanent institution of 
 the country, as long as there be such a thing as divine 
 justice." The minister, Count von Roon, answered : 
 "When the reporter permitted himself to attack me 
 personally, in a way unheard of in Parliament, I was aston- 
 ished that he was not called to order. But I must remark that 
 the words of the speaker carry on their forehead the mark of 
 exaggeration and shamelessness." The President of the 
 Chamber interposed, Gneist disclaimed the intention to 
 insult the minister personally, and von Roon withdrew his 
 observations. The mot of Gneist nevertheless went through 
 the land. So cleverly and forcibly did it press the popular 
 feeling toward the army bill, that no one stopped to analyze 
 it, and inquire whether the " brand of Cain " was that of 
 perjury, and whether a military re-organization could have a 
 "forehead." Indeed the two infuriated speakers seem to 
 have carried on a battle of bad rhetoric as well as of ugly in- 
 sinuations ; and though the war minister won the case by 
 boldly giving a ' ' forehead " to Gneist's words, the credit of in- 
 troducing that striking figure must be given to his opponent. 
 The last occasion on which I had the honor of hearing 
 Dr. Gneist in public, was at the dedication of the monu- 
 ment to the memory of Stein, at Berlin, The orator stands
 
 PROFESSOR GNEIST. 211 
 
 only in an intellectual relation to the great reformer. 
 Stein's biography, a monument of literary labor, was com- 
 posed by other hands. But of all modern Prussian states- 
 men, Dr. Gneist is perhaps the leading representative, as 
 well in practical politics as in political speculation, of that 
 great man's ideas, and achievements. No two persons could 
 differ more than Stein and his eulogist. The former was 
 a man of genius, the latter is only a man of robust under- 
 standing. The former deduced schemes of reform from a 
 profound study of the evils of existing society ; the latter 
 is only a man of expedients, learned from the observation 
 of other societies. The one was bold, original, showy, 
 brilliant. The other is prosaic, heavy, and commonplace. 
 Stein had a quickness of perception and a fertility of re- 
 source, which swept away the dull courtiers who came in 
 his path. Dr. Gneist is a doctrinaire, who ennobles obvious 
 truths by an artificial gravity of manner. In spite of all 
 these differences between the two. Dr. Gneist was still the 
 best fitted to do justice to the character of Stein's work, if 
 not of Stein himself; and some passages from his eulogy 
 will give an idea of this gentleman at his best. 
 
 The translation is that of the correspondent of the 
 London Times : 
 
 " The likeness of our great statesman gravely looks clown upon 
 the spot once trodden by him. What a contrast between these 
 modern days and that stormy October, 1807, in which Baron von 
 Stein was recalled to office to direct the affairs of this monarchy ! 
 Prematurely aged, enfeebled, and torn, the kingdom of Frederick 
 the Great lay at the feet of a haughty conqueror, when Stein con- 
 ceived the idea of regenerating it by emancipating the people. 
 There was little courage and less energy left, when Stein uttered 
 these weighty words — 'To lift up a people it is necessary to give liberty.
 
 212 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 independence, and property to its oppressed classes, and cctend 
 the protection of the law to all alike. Let us emancipate the peas- 
 ant, for free labor alone sustains a nation eflectually. Restore to 
 the peasant the possession of the land he tills, for the independent 
 proprietor alone is brave in defending hearth and home. Free the 
 citizen from monopoly and the tutelage of the bureaucracy, for 
 freedom in workshop and town-hall has given to the ancient burgh- 
 er of Germany the proud position he held. Teach the land-owning 
 nobles that the legitimate rank of the aristocracy can be maintained 
 only by disinterested service in county and state, but is undermined 
 by exemption from taxes and other unwarrantable privileges. If 
 the political functions formerly held by the Estates of the Realm are 
 now vested in the bureaucracy, and the latter order has thus become 
 one of the most important in the kingdom, it is all the more neces- 
 saiy to free it from its inherent defects. Instead of confining itself 
 to pedantic book knowledge, and esteeming red tape and salary 
 above everything else, the bureaucracy should study the people, live 
 with the people, and adapt its measures to the living realities of the 
 times.' Thus thought the Baron of the Holy Roman Empire, 
 thus acted the Prussian Minister of State. No German statesman 
 has ever so thoroughly relied upon the action of a free and united 
 people as Stein ; no one was more keenly alive to the beneficial 
 effect of freedom in the innermost recesses of home, in the work of 
 the State, and in the creed of the Church. He regarded monarchy 
 as a means of educating and elevating a nation, of increasing and 
 developing every noble and manly feature of their character. He 
 vindicated religion as the only true basis of moral life, and he looked 
 upon an army raised by universal subscription as a school in which 
 honor, discipline, and love of country were to be inculcated 
 and practically applied. 'Elevate, unite, and combine,' he said, 
 ' the various classes of this regeneiated people. Accustom the na- 
 tion to devote themselves with all their heart to public affairs, and 
 believe that sensual pleasures, idleness, and the love of gain and 
 riches can never be effectually counteracted, except by patriotism 
 and the love of one's neighbor. Constitutional forms are a matter 
 of comparative indifference as long as liberty exists. To elect
 
 PROFESSOR GNEIST. 21 3 
 
 public oITicers is one method of dealing with public affairs. Not 
 the election, however, but daily participation in the affairs of the 
 State is the principal thing. Upon this daily participation the new 
 constitution of Germany must be based.' The man to whom we are 
 indebted for these teachings was not a man of words, but of deeds — 
 deeds founded upon a character full of patriotism, energy, truth, and 
 faith. Deeply imbued with the fear of God, and therefore free from 
 all fear of man, aiming at great objects, and never hesitating to pur- 
 sue them in the teeth of all difficulties, he frequently contented 
 himself with laying down principles, leaving their execution and the 
 cautious choice of ways and means to others. Full of noble indig- 
 nation against fear and ditiidence, selfishness and false appearances ; 
 haughty, abrupt and imperious, where these qualities were required ; 
 he boldly warred against prejudice and obsolete customs. It was a 
 merciful provision of Providence that this noble Stein, this precious 
 stone and gem of our unity, was a rough diamond, preserving in his 
 character the rigor and vigor indispensable in the reformer. If 
 the political institutions created by him have been successful, this is 
 chiefly owing to the indomitable force of his convictions, which, re- 
 flected in the laws enacted by him, within a couple of years infused 
 a fresh vitality into the national mind. When the hour of liberty 
 struck. Stein banished the foreigner, became the herald of war, the 
 admonisher of the council, and by his fiery enthusiasm incited his 
 wrathful countrj'men to pursue the conqueror from the borders of 
 Siberia to the River Seine. He experienced a triumph worth living 
 for. He, too, stayed long enough in our midst to witness that 
 doubtful period in which the various classes of the reconstituted 
 nation, amid sundry changes and agitations, tried to shake down in- 
 to their new places. He departed when the struggle was waxing 
 warm, and when the ideas sown by him for the identification of peo- 
 ple and State began to penetrate the crust of prejudice and error 
 which had so long hidden and choked their growth. Pnissia, to 
 whom he devoted a life's labors, has at last fulfilled the wishes of 
 Stein and the hopes of the nation by restoring unity and solidity to 
 Germany. It having been our happy lot to realize what he died 
 too early to witness, this solemn day intimately connects us with
 
 214 BRIEF BIOGRAriTIES. 
 
 him. In this inaugural hour, we need not recount the tale of his 
 life ; it is part and parcel of German history. Nor need we rejoice 
 at having a monument to remind us of the departed statesman ; all 
 the institutions of modern Germany bear the impress of his mind. 
 Neither do we wish to boast of this monument as a symbol of glory. 
 The very idea of glory was utterly abhorrent to his pure soul, to all 
 he wrote and did. Like our own glorious emperor and king, the 
 leading minister of Frederick William III. had a right to say : — 
 'We have not sought, though we have found glory and power in de- 
 fending our dearest possessions and upholding the legitimate claims 
 of the nation. Glory and honor be to God alone ! ' No, as the in- 
 scription tells us in the most unpretending language, this is no 
 monument of glory, but of gratitude ; no monumentof victory, but of 
 thankfulness. This debt of gratitude has been long delayed. It is 
 now many years since the talented sculptor of this statue departed 
 this life. For years we have been looking for a site in this city, 
 which, like the people to whom it appertains, has long been busy in 
 fulfilling everyday duties before putting on holiday costume in 
 honor of the accumulated result. The great deceased will forgive 
 our tardy tribute. He never thought of his own Lionument, but on- 
 ly of the Monumenta GermanicE* 
 
 " We thank God that after many a hard struggle, the successor of 
 Stein's sovereign, the German Emperor and King, through the 
 illustrious heir of the German Empire, does honor to the memory 
 of Baron von Stein. We are elated by the thought that the statue 
 we unveiled amid festive hymns records the vow that our sons will 
 preserve by labor, faithfulness and obedience what their fathers 
 have created ' with God for King and Country.' I trust that the 
 Stein Monument will remind this city and coming generations of the 
 foundation on which our history is built." 
 
 Dr. Gneist seems now to have reached the age when a 
 Struggle against the government for abstract principles has 
 no more pleasure for him. During the late debate on the 
 
 •The famous collection of the mediaeval and ancient records of Germanj- ; .i 
 work suggested by Stein and carried out by his biographer, Dr. Pertz.
 
 PROFESSOR GNEIST. 21 5 
 
 amendment to the Penal Code he was a silent listener. 
 By accepting the presidency of the "Administrative Court " 
 he seems to have made his peace with that bureaucracy which 
 he once so bitterly denounced, and to have settled back 
 into a dignified conservative repose.
 
 XV. 
 
 Professor Virchow. 
 
 ilHIS gentleman is doubtless better known abroad 
 than his friend, Dr. Gneist, but not as a politi- 
 cian. The author or discoverer of the cellular 
 system of physiology is now known wherever medicine is a 
 science, and professional zeal a virtue. It is equally neces- 
 sary to make him known to men who care nothing about 
 the cellular physiology, but like to pay tribute to the brave 
 citizen, the unimpeachable politician. For Dr. Virchow 
 is another one of those bold ' ' tribunes of the people " who, 
 in their youthful days, enjoyed the ill will of princes and 
 suffered persecution for their honest opinions. Nay, he is 
 a scholar whose researches were interrupted by a reaction- 
 ary minister, a teacher whose labors were suspended be- 
 cause he had political principles. He had to meet, and he 
 met successfully, one of the hardest of all trials. He had 
 to purchase an academic position, and the opportunity to 
 pursue the study of a profession to which he was passion- 
 ately devoted, by renouncing opinions which no law for-
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCIIOW. 21/ 
 
 bade a Prussian subject to hold, or else retire from Berlin 
 and become an exile, with a stigma of disgrace affixed by 
 the King of Prussia. He chose the latter course, and en- 
 riched the annals of his country by one more example of 
 conspicuous civic courage. 
 
 Rudolph Virchow was born on the 13th of October, 
 1 82 1, at Schievelbein, in the province of Pomerania, 
 After the usual course at the nearest gymnasium, that of 
 Coslin, he began his university studies at Berlin, and 
 graduated with honors. In 1843, he was appointed assist- 
 ant physician, and later Prosector in the Berlin hospital 
 Charlie. His principal was the great surgeon and physi- 
 cian, Schonlein, This brilliant practitioner, and equally 
 brilliant lecturer, was a complete despot in his professional 
 authority, and many stories have been told of his sum- 
 mary treatment even of royal patients ; but to young Vir- 
 chow he early took a great liking. The patronage of 
 Schonlein was of immense advantage to him, and his 
 progress was sufficiently rapid until his political opinions 
 began to attract the attention of the government. About 
 this time he became acquainted and formed also a profes- 
 sional connection with Reinhardt. Not only did the two 
 friends pursue together their pathological investigations, 
 but they also published together the results of those inves- 
 tigations in the so-called Archives for Pathological 
 Anatomy and Physiology — a medical periodical of wide 
 circulation. After Reinhardt's death, in 1852, Virchow 
 continued the publication alone. In 1848, he aided 
 Leubuscher to found a new medical periodical. Die 
 Medizinische Reform — a periodical in which the most 
 radical professional theories found expression. In 1846.
 
 2l8 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Virchow gave lectures at the University of Berlin, which 
 were so numerously attended, that he was made professor 
 in 1847. The next year he was sent, by the government, 
 to Silesia, where a famine, the so-called Hunger Typhus, 
 was causing widespread devastation. He was instructed 
 at once to render medical aid and to make scientific obser- 
 vations. These latter he gave to the world immediately in 
 a pamphlet, "Report over the Upper Silesian Hunger 
 Typhus." In 1868, he published a farther work, "On 
 Hunger Typhus." 
 
 The year 1848 came, and with it came decisive events 
 in Virchow's history. The weakness, the timidity, the 
 vacillation of Frederic William IV., had so often deceived 
 the people that little confidence was placed in his loyalty, 
 even on the momentous i8th of March, when he came out 
 bareheaded upon the balcony of his palace, to announce to 
 the angry and threatening assemblage that their legitimate 
 demands would be granted. He had hardly made his 
 appearance when two musket shots, fired by treachery or 
 carelessness, changed, in an instant, the face of affairs. 
 The people cried that they were betrayed ; the king fled 
 into his palace from the storm ; the cry to arm and defend 
 resounded through the city, and in two hours forty barri- 
 cades were erected in the streets. These hasty barriers 
 were manned not alone, as the reactionaries pretended, by 
 workmen, vagabonds, and escaped criminals. Behind 
 them, fought men of culture, talent, and promise ; men who 
 added to all other civic virtues that of profound political 
 convictions ; men who enjoyed the possession or the hope 
 of honor and fame in the learned professions, and it is said 
 that one of these was Dr. Rudolph Virchow. The report
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCIIOW. 219 
 
 may be false. But it is certain that if he did not actually 
 take part in the outbreak, his sympathies were with the 
 people who tried, however unadvisedly, by that means to 
 redress their grievances. 
 
 After this the young professor seems, at least, to have 
 been a doomed man. At first, the government did not 
 feel strong enough openly to dismiss so brilliant a teacher, 
 and not till a year later, did the Minister of Education, 
 Raumer, whose Liberal connections ought to have taught 
 him more charity — not till Easter, 1849, did this minister 
 venture to carry out the threatened measure. Even after 
 this dismissal Virchow was temporarily re-instated, doubt- 
 less to invite a political recantation. But the trick failed. 
 Thereupon, he was again dismissed ; this time it was sup- 
 posed definitively, and he accepted an invitation to Wiirtz- 
 burg in the faculty of medicine, Prussia had banished a 
 radical politician, but she had also banished one of the 
 rising scholars of the age. 
 
 To Wiirtzburg Virchow transferred not only his political 
 opinions, but also his scientific and professional spirit. He 
 now became one of the leading members of a faculty which, 
 at that time, made the medical department of the university 
 famous. The organs of this faculty, the medical society, 
 and the published " Proceedings" of the same, were well 
 known throughout Germany, and, indeed, to medical schol- 
 ars, everywhere. The famous cellular pathology of Virchow 
 was suggested by him at this time, though it was not care- 
 fully developed and explained till 1859. According to his 
 theory, the essential cause of the modifications of the or- 
 gans, and their disease, is the sensitiveness or irritableness 
 of the cells. The great work in which he defended this
 
 220 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 theory has been translated into nearly every civilized lan- 
 guage. In the United States, it is said that the Federal 
 Government distributed a large number of copies among 
 the surgeons and physicians of the army. Even without 
 his political heresies, it is probable that Virchow would have 
 been objectionable to a king who was such by divine right, 
 and would not tolerate in his state the study of a godless 
 Hegelianism. For the great pathologist was as radical in 
 religion as in medicine and politics. "I do not deny the 
 fact of spirit," he once said or wrote, " but for me there is 
 only value in what I see." When there was no other com- 
 plaint against him, it was always possible to adduce his 
 "materialism," and unfortunately the King of Prussia 
 and his minister of education had equally strong convic- 
 tions on the subject. 
 
 As an exile and a stranger, it is probable that Virchow 
 gave less attention to politics, while he was at Wiirtzburg. 
 Not only was he withdrawn from the scene of party strife, 
 but even at home, in Prussia, the democrats had taken no 
 active part in public affairs after the triumph of reaction in 
 1850. By their abstention rather than by their opposition, 
 they made their protest against the counter-revolution, and 
 it mattered little to Virchow, whether he was in retirement 
 at Wiirtzburg or in Berlin. 
 
 But it made a vast difference to the University of Berlin, 
 The medical faculty, which at that time was not of the 
 strongest, was much criticised by the professional journals, 
 and the friends of the institution were impatient that the 
 caprice of a fantastic prince and the bigotry of an unen- 
 ■ lightened minister should deprive it of its most illustrious 
 name. The reputation of Virchow had been steadily
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCHOW. 221 
 
 growing at Wiirtzburg. Already he was known and cited 
 by scientific men all over the world ; and wherever he was 
 known as a physicist, he was also known as an exile for 
 conscience' sake. At last the pressure became too strong 
 to be withstood. The same Raumer who had dismissed 
 him ignominiously in 1849, was obliged to call him back in 
 1856, to give him his old position, but with added power 
 and honors. Since that time he has been undisturbed. He 
 is professor of pathology at the university, and director of 
 microscopic experiments in the clinics at the Charith. 
 
 In 1862, Virchow became a member of the House of 
 Deputies in the Prussian Landtag. His career as a deputy 
 . began, therefore, with that of Bismarck as a minister ; but 
 in other respects there is not only no identity or concord 
 between them, but rather fierce and bitter warfare. Vir- 
 chow, if not one of the most formidable, is, at least, one of 
 the most persistent and determined critics whom Bismarck 
 has had to meet. I say, "if not formidable," because he 
 is not a professional critic who may become a rival, who 
 heads a party, conducts intrigues, and, in general, fights 
 with the stubbornness and energy of a candidate for the 
 succession ; but he is simply an active and zealous citizen 
 who uses his parliamentary power as a means of serving 
 his fellow-citizens. He is an independent critic, not a 
 politician in control of a faction ; he is feared as a per- 
 sonal antagonist, but not as an ambitious politician. 
 
 At the same time, there are other circumstances which 
 give Virchow unusual influence in the House. His brother 
 deputies, for instance, must be impressed by the spectacle 
 of the first pathologist in the world laying down microscope 
 and dissecting knife at the command of an exalted public
 
 222 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 spirit, and taking part patiently in the dullest and heaviest 
 debates. Learning thus to appreciate his unselfish patriot- 
 ism, they argue from that to the soundness of his political 
 judgment. This is a pardonable error, but still an error, 
 for Virchow is not a leader whom it is safe blindly to fol- 
 low. He is a dociriftaire and a Radical, and the records of 
 the past twelve years will hardly show a single great meas- 
 ure conceived and carried through by him. 
 
 The Deputy Virchow has two grave faults. One of these 
 is peculiar to men who have thought out their political 
 convictions by abstract methods and as a recreation — to 
 scholars and recluses who leave the closet for the forum — 
 an offensive dogmatism, which takes too little account of 
 the feelings and opinions of others. It does not follow, 
 because one has discovered the cellular pathology, that 
 one's political theories are above examination. The 
 professor, most certainly, does not feel any such supe- 
 riority, but his manner suggests it ; hence his warmth 
 too often leads him into intemperate language, or in- 
 tolerant conduct, which is equally exasperating, and 
 equally likely to provoke sharp replies and angry disputes. 
 One of the most famous of these was with Bismarck him- 
 self 
 
 It was on the 30th of May, 1865, during that protracted 
 struggle between Bismarck and the House. The estimates 
 for the navy had just been rejected. The Minister Presi- 
 dent remarked that the denial of any and every allowance 
 for th'e fleet was in singular contrast to the zeal with which 
 the Liberals had formerly pressed for a strengthening that 
 arm of the service. Professor Virchow replied : "The 
 project was not seriously meant ; it was only a feint. But
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCHOW. 223 
 
 it is a perversion of the truth to say that the committee had 
 no interest in the marine. If the IMinister President has 
 read the report, then I do not know what I shall say of his 
 honesty. The truth is that the reserves in the State Treas- 
 ury are decreasing ; that the means of carrying- on the gov- 
 ernment without a budget are growing less, and that it is 
 sought to restore the deficiency by a loan, in order to be 
 able still to sit by warm stoves." The majority laughed, 
 when Bismarck inquired where matters would end, if insults 
 were uttered which demanded personal satisfaction ; and he 
 added to the House : "There is an opportunity for that, 
 if it be agreeable to you. " Virchow would not retract his 
 words ; the President would not call him to order. The 
 next day Bismarck sent Virchow a challenge, which, of 
 course, was not accepted. The political friends of the 
 professor counseled him to decline, and he received many 
 addresses of approval from the country. This incident 
 caused a great sensation at the time, but it was nearly for- 
 gotten by the present generation, when it was cited, not 
 long ago, in a singular way, in court. A gentleman was 
 on trial for sending a challenge — a species of pleasure that 
 the German laws have long denied, except to the military — 
 and, in mitigation of sentence, the defendant referred to 
 the case of Bismarck versus Virchow, and observed that 
 Bismarck had never been prosecuted for his challenge. 
 The judge replied that he was not prosecuted because he 
 was protected by the military uniform which, as an officer 
 in the Landwehr, he is accustomed and entitled to wear. 
 
 The second complaint against Virchow is that he speaks 
 too often. He is never unreasonably long, and he is 
 seldom dull or tiresome, but he has a fatal facility of speech,
 
 224 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 which he, loo commonly, fails to control. Windthorst, who 
 is by no mcnns reticent, would call Virchow garrulous. 
 He nj'Lii A.dc uj on his baltle-shicld the motto. "Ever 
 ready," but it could only be taken in the sense of ever 
 willing. Ever prepared, in the sense of special equipment, 
 by study and reflection, for the various special questions, 
 as they come up in the House, he, unfortunately, is not ; 
 and, still more unfortunately, he does not always regard 
 lack of preparation as a reason for silence. It is true that 
 the special student who crams fop particular subjects is 
 often less useful, as a legislator, than the man of broad, 
 general, available information. But the latter must know 
 when his general information is adequate for the occasion, 
 and when the more profound and exact knowledge of the 
 specialist is to be invoked. This is a distinction which 
 Virchow does not make. He is a frequent and copious 
 speaker on questions which, involving general principles, 
 may be familiar to all minds that have reflected on political 
 subjects ; he is a brilliant debater on problems to which 
 his trained intellect has been fairly applied ; but he also 
 takes up with equal readiness, and settles with equal au- 
 thority, issues on which more modest men, not specially 
 prepared, would gladly be silent. 
 
 Even as I write this paragraph, an evening paper calls 
 attention, though in a less friendly spirit, to this unfortu- 
 nate tendency. The measure before the House was the 
 new constitution for the Evangelical Church in Prussia, an 
 ecclesiastical or politico-ecclesiastical subject, on which 
 neither a professor of pathology, nor a Radical agitator, could 
 be supposed to have any indispensable general views. It 
 appears, too, that Dr. Virchow did not think it necessary
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCHOW. 225 
 
 to supply the want of previous information by special 
 study. He plunged fearlessly and recklessly into the dis- 
 cussion, grapfjled with men who had given years of thought 
 to such questions, and the result maybe learned from the 
 critic o[ the Fos/. He says, that "among the speakers 
 who took part in the important general discussion of the 
 bill upon the constitution of the Evangelical Church, Dr. 
 Virchow was, without doubt, one of the least fortunate in 
 his arguments. Aside from the fact that he made the mis- 
 take of treating a section of the bill that had been adopt- 
 ed by the Synod, as having been abandoned in the scheme 
 accepted by the king, whereas it was only given a differ- 
 ent place and form — aside from this, his reasoning was so 
 weak that the Evangelical Church can only be pitied that 
 she must see her affairs discussed and pronounced upon by 
 one who has such an imperfect understanding of ecclesias- 
 tical questions. If Dr. Virchow pretends that ' the eccle- 
 siastics who drew up the synodal scheme in question issued 
 from the school which Stahl in politics, and Hengstenberg 
 in theology, founded and represented,' it is a phrase which 
 would perhaps make an impression on a ward meeting, 
 but which, neither in the attitude of the General Synod nor 
 of the Provincial Synods, has any justification in facts. " * 
 
 So writes the critic of the Conservative and ministerial 
 sheet, which is indeed politically hostile to Dr. Virchow. 
 But the Berlin correspondent of a more pretentious peri- 
 odical, the Grenzboten, which is more liberal than the Post, 
 is scarcely less severe in its strictures : 
 
 " And now," it says, ' ' followed Hero Virchow. He had 
 
 * Die Post, March 2, 1875.
 
 226 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 armed himself in all his force, and whoever was present 
 during the session of the 26th of February must say that 
 this personage, as often as he has spoken, never before ap- 
 peared so distinctly in his own character. At the outset, he 
 declared to the House that no other entered upon the dis- 
 cussion so well prepared as he. As thereupon a laugh 
 arose from the benches of the Conservatives, he held up the 
 volume of debates of the General Synod, and demanded : 
 ' Have you read that through ? I have studied it from be- 
 ginning to end.' It was imposing. But when he had fin- 
 ished his discourse, the Cullus-Miniskr proved that he 
 could, at most, only have glanced at ihe reports ; that all 
 his deductions were false or unreasonable ; that he had not 
 only not read the reports, but not even the synodal consti- 
 tution." * 
 
 In spite of, or rather perhaps on account of, these ad- 
 verse criticisms, the reader may demand from this now his- 
 torical speech a specimen of Virchow's powers of declama- 
 tion. I select the closing paragraph, in which he recapit- 
 ulates his objections to the measure : 
 
 "And now in what concerns the Summus Episcopiis : 
 that is an institution which has remained by the side 
 of the constitution, as it were, a forgotten magnate. Ever 
 appears, when nothing else helps, the old king of 1849 
 and 1850. He plays the same part here as the war dele- 
 gate of Herr von Bismarck, who regularly enters when there 
 is no other salvation. That happens because old institu- 
 tions, which ought to have been abolished, have been 
 retained with the constitution. The monarchical power 
 
 * Die Gi'enzboten, 1876, No. 10, page 398.
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCHOW, 22/ 
 
 always appears in spite of the constitution. The attempt 
 to sustain a personal ecclesiastical authority has often 
 been made by Prussian kings. But I have reached 
 through my historical studies other results than those of 
 the Cidlus-Minister (minister of worship). After abso- 
 lutism has been everywhere abolished, shall we restore it 
 in the domain of ecclesiastical affairs ? I am not an 
 enthusiast for the constitutional principle in this domain. 
 The constitutional principle was not introduced into the 
 world to make churches ; that, according to my concep- 
 tion, would soon put an end to our inner Protestant life. 
 We should thereby introduce a Catholic tendency, and that 
 we will not have. He who wishes that, may create the 
 necessary organs, but he must not compel others to adopt 
 them. The Protestant Union deceives itself, if it believes 
 in the possibility of building a wall here. The organization 
 of the General Synod cannot exist indifferently by the 
 side of the civil institutions ; irremediable confusion would 
 be the result. A spiritual king by the side of a temporal 
 one is inconceivable to us." 
 
 On special occasions, however, Professor Virchow is a 
 felicitous and popular orator. I have mentioned the 
 funeral orations of Dr. Gneist. He has a broader practical 
 understanding and abetter trained historical judgment ; but 
 Virchow has a deeper warmth of conviction, and a more 
 active fancy. The former can make an admirable analysis 
 of a character like Stein, for instance, which belongs to the 
 past and is little affected by the passions and prejudices of 
 the present. The latter is more successful when he throws 
 the warmth of his feelings into the eulogy of a personal or 
 a political friend. His discourse in honor of Schonlein,
 
 228 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 his friend and teacher, delivered in 1865, was widely 
 admired, and among more recent performances may be 
 mentioned the tribute to Hoverbeck. 
 
 This gentleman was a politician, and an extract from his 
 eulogy will suit most nearly the character of this sketch, 
 while giving an equally good idea of Virchow'^ style. 
 After tracing Hoverbeck's career as a Prussian deputy, 
 through the stormy Conjliktszeit, he ushers him into the 
 Reichstag as an imperial legislator, charged with still graver 
 duties. "And yet," he concludes, " it was little that he ac- 
 accomplished. In the main, he saw with anxiety into the 
 future. The faulty organization of the empire, the conflict 
 always growing and threatening between budget and army, 
 occupied his spirit more than the progress that had been 
 made in certain fields of legislation. Even the Cidlur- 
 kampf appeared to him in many of its phases to be a 
 treacherous side-path, which led the people away from 
 the broad thoroughfare ; and, although we must recognize 
 the conviction finally taking possession of him, that this 
 conflict was an important step in the liberation of the 
 people ; although, with a heavy heart, he resolved to sup- 
 port exceptional measures in the Reichstag, it troubled him, 
 nevertheless, that it was a political strife, undertaken and 
 conducted on artificial grounds, and in no sense from a 
 free and conscious insight into the moral necessity of free- 
 ing the citizen, with full enlightenment on the end to be 
 obtained, and the purpose to obtain it. When he looked 
 into politico, he saw everywhere new and greater work for 
 himself. Everywhere uncleanness, incompleteness, irreso- 
 lution — and yet he did not despair. Like every good man, 
 he was inspired by the confidence of the people. He never
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCIIOW. 229 
 
 wavered in the assurance that his German people would 
 keep tlie resolution and the will to conquer all their rights, 
 lienever lost the confidence that, in spite of everything, tine 
 German Empire would be an empire of justice and progress. 
 In this assurance, in this hope, he passed away. He had 
 wandered out to the mountains, where freedom dwells. He 
 would seek strength for new labors. But this was never 
 more to be granted to him. He had done an abundant 
 measure of work. * * * His place in Parliament 
 will be filled by another ; but his party, yes, his people, 
 will always see it empty. The massive figure is broken. 
 When it arose, towering upward, when there was seen in 
 it the appearance of a man equal to himself, then every one 
 who had a true heart and loved honest speech won confi- 
 dence. Like the Polish peasant, who heard a speech by him 
 and applauded without having understood a word — like 
 him, everybody who looked into those calm eyes, ami 
 that manly face, so full of determination and spirit, knew 
 that his conscience was as pure as gold, and his con- 
 clusions clear as the sun. The words which fell from 
 his uKniih were few, but they were sharp as a knife. 
 Berore him stood no screen of lies, 'no curtain of the truth. 
 And yet there lay in that countenance the lines of moder- 
 ation, of mildness, of benevolence, which opened hearts 
 and announced his sympathy with all the good and true." 
 But when we have named his professor's chair and his 
 deputy's seat, we have by no means exhausted the instru- 
 ments with which Virchow works for the public good. If 
 the best citizen be he who most actively concerns himself 
 with the cares of the community ; if Terence's descriptit.n 
 of the good man, as one to whom no human interest is
 
 230 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 foreign, be correct — then Dr. Virchow is the model 
 citizen, and the model philanthropist. For instance, he 
 is, and has been since 1859, a member of the municipal 
 chamber, and has faithfully performed the humble duties 
 of alderman. He is one of the lecturers before the "Berlin 
 Mechanics' Union." He belongs to the directors of the 
 " Union for Domestic and Popular Instruction." For a long 
 time he was one of the managers of the " Turners " Associ- 
 ation, and wrote two or three pamphlets on subjects connect- 
 ed with popular gymnastics. To enumerate all the scien- 
 tific, benevolent, and other societies of which he is a mem- 
 ber, would fill two pages. He even received the offer of a 
 seat in the Imperial Parliament, but declined it for reasons 
 of principle, which are worthy of explanation. 
 
 The German Empire, or its predecessor, the North 
 German Confederation, issued from the battle of Sadowa. 
 About this, all men in Prussia were agreed ; but all men 
 were not agreed as to the expediency or the honest possi- 
 bility of a recognition of this new system by men who 
 abhorred the policy that brought it forth. The majority 
 of the House were in great distress. For four years they had 
 shouted that Bismarck was leading Prussia to destruction, 
 and he had answered \vith a united Fatherland. For 
 more than four years they had struggled for German unity, 
 and it came in a form which affronted all the instincts 
 of their conscience. Should they condone the offenses of 
 the past, or destroy the fair promises of the future ? The 
 answer to this question rent the Party of Progress asunder. 
 It was an affair of personal conviction, with which no 
 caucus would presume to meddle ; and while half the 
 Liberals accepted the compromise, the other half resolutely
 
 PROFESSOR VIRCHOW. 23 1 
 
 refused it. Professor Gneist, who had once branded the 
 Bismarck policy with the mark of Cain, was one of the 
 most eager, by a vote of indemnity, to wash it out again. 
 Professor Virchow was less merciful and less confiding. 
 He not only would not stultify himself, by voting pardon 
 fur a long and deliberate violation of the public charter, 
 but he was also one of the little band which preserved, 
 amid the seductions of an idle patriotism, the name and 
 principles of the Progress party. He would not grant im- 
 munity for the policy which created the empire; he would 
 not accept the machinery of government proposed for that 
 empire ; he would not even accept a seat in its highest legis- 
 lative assembly. In this fidelity to principle, he and Jacoby 
 stood alone. Their position may have been false in logic, 
 and an error of statesmanship, but it was maintained at some 
 cost to them of honor and convenience, and it is not easy 
 to refuse them a certain measure of admiration. 
 
 Dr. Virchow is a voluminous author. In addition to 
 the works already mentioned, he has published a small 
 library of works, books and pamphlets, special and 
 professional, besides hundreds of magazine articles and 
 speeches. A list of his more important works will give a 
 notion far from adequate of his restless activity. In 1849, 
 he printed "The Unification Struggle in Scientific 
 Medicine," which contained a partial exposition of his 
 pathological theories. The so-called cellular theory was 
 first stated at length in the volume published in 1859, 
 under the title, "Lectures upon Cellular Pathology, 
 as grounded upon the Physiological and Pathological 
 Theory of Tissue." This was afterwards incorporated as 
 the first volume of the larger work completed in 1862,
 
 232 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 which was called simply "Lectures on Pathology." In 
 1856, he published a collection of fugitive articles, under 
 the title, " Contributions to Scientific Medicine ; " in 
 1854, in connection with other eminent gentlemen, the 
 ' ' Hand-book of Special Pathology and Therapeutics ; " 
 in 1857, "Investigations into the Development of the 
 Skull;" in 1862, "Four Discourses upon Life and Sick- 
 ness ; " in 1865, " The Theory of Trichina ; " in 1861, 
 " Goethe as a Naturalist, " etc. , etc. In company with 
 Professor von Holtzendorff, of Munich, he edits a series of 
 popular scientific treatises, to which he himself has contri- 
 buted two numbers. The articles written by him for the 
 "Turners" and other special societies, have already been 
 mentioned. 
 
 Dr. Virchow is a man slightly under the medium height, 
 but of good proportions. He has a clear, strong voice, 
 his gestures and elocution are good, and his style is 
 throughout forcible and impressive. Although he is nom- 
 inally a member of the Party of Progress, he is really an 
 independent member, who speaks and votes from convic- 
 tion, and not for or with any party.
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Professor von Treitschke. 
 
 HIS robust and popular politician was born on the 
 15th of October, 1834, at Dresden, and belonged 
 to a respectable Protestant family. He pursued 
 his studies at the universities of Bonn, Leipsic, Tubingen, 
 and Heidelberg. A popular gar^on among his fellows at 
 school, he was also a showy and brilliant student, and a 
 favorite debater at college clubs, and elsewhere. Although 
 a man of firm Liberal convictions, he had also an unusual 
 moderation and maturity of view. He was then, and is 
 now, a Conservative, with the fiery speech and ardent 
 eloquence of a Radical — a graceful writer and a convincing 
 speaker, but utterly free from every form of fanaticism. 
 
 On his "promotion" or graduation, he won honors in 
 history, especially political history, and was appointed 
 Privat-Docent at Leipsic, where he remained till 1863. 
 From thence he passed to the University of Freiburg, where 
 he became Professor. In 1866, he accepted an invitation to 
 Kiel, and soon afterward to Heidelberg, where he suc- 
 ceeded the famous historian, Pliiusser.
 
 234 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 The course of events which led to this order of succession 
 was political, as well as scholastic, and in explaining that, 
 we explain the circumstances of Treitschke's debut in pub- 
 lic life. It will be recollected that after the Danish war of 
 1864, and the occupation of the Duchies by the united 
 armies of Austria and Prussia, the problem arose, to find a 
 permanent adjustment of the new relations. The Liberals 
 perhaps regarded the embarrassment with a secret satisfac- 
 tion. They had asserted that war to be as unjust and un- 
 necessary, as it was unlawfully undertaken and cruelly 
 conducted ; and they could take a pardonable delight in 
 the fact that the conquest left the political complications 
 more perplexing than before. The central object of 
 aversion, not to say hatred, was, of course, Herr von Bis- 
 marck, Prussian minister-president. These feelings were 
 even stronger among non-Prussians, than among Prussians ; 
 for, while the latter criticised his course only as a matter of 
 domestic politics, the former viewed it as part of a scheme 
 for effecting German unity, by means which they abhorred. 
 The invasion of the Duchies was regarded by the smaller 
 States as an unwarrantable aggression on German rights. 
 
 In this state of things, the literature of the question 
 received a sudden and remarkable addition. Heinrichvon 
 Treitschke was a Liberal, and a non-Prussian, a Saxon by 
 birth, who had been almost driven from Leipsic because 
 he was too liberal ; and he now came forward to defend 
 Bismarck's policy in the Duchies. His pamphlet was 
 called " The Parties and the Duchies."* Its immediate 
 object was to vindicate the treatment which Prince 
 
 * " Die Partcien unci die Ilerzos'thiimer."
 
 PROFESSOR VON TREITSCIIKE. 235 
 
 Frederic, one of the candidates for the succession in the 
 Duchies, had received from the two allied powers, and 
 more particularly from Prussia, under Bismarck's directions. 
 But this was not all. It had been said above that the Danish 
 war was a German event, and that Bismarck's policy was so 
 far a German question, that the position of Prussians in Ger- 
 many would be determined largely by the consequences of 
 that event. Treitschke had, therefore, a double duty. He 
 had to justify Herr von Bismarck, not only to Prussia, but 
 also to Germany. He had to show, not only that the oc- 
 cupation of the Duchies, and the expulsion of Prince 
 Frederic, were sagacious measures in the interest of Prussia, 
 but that, in a larger sense, the hopes of German unity lay 
 in a strong and compact State fused around Prussia, rather 
 than a loose Confederation, with "Particularism" every- 
 where triumphant. In other words, the young professor 
 came forward as the South German champion of Prussian 
 leadership in the distracted fatherland. 
 
 The pamphlet made a great sensation. The author was 
 but little known, either in literary or academic circles. It 
 was discovered that he had published, in 1856, a volume of 
 sonnets, which were more distinguished for their patriotic 
 than their poetical spirit. In 1859, he had written a work 
 on Social Science,* which had but moderate success, and 
 is now forgotten. It was also learned that some scholarly 
 and ingenious essays, on historical and biographical sub- 
 jects in two or three leading periodicals, were from his pen. 
 After the appearance of his pamphlet in defense of Bis- 
 marck, however, the country recognized in him a literary 
 
 * "Die Gesellschaftswissenschaft."
 
 236 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 and a political talent of the first order ; and the files of the 
 periodical literature were eagerly searched, with the result 
 above described. A demand for their republication 
 became felt, and was satisfied. The historical and critical 
 essays, a biographical sketch of Wagenheim, and the 
 famous pamphlet, were collected in a single volume,* and 
 given out to the world. From that time, his literary 
 position, at least, was assured. 
 
 In the Grenzbolen, the eff"ect produced by Treitschke's 
 pamphlet is graphically described. 
 
 "The effect, " says a writer, in the periodical to which 
 Treitschke himself contributed, "was powerful. The 
 pedants and hucksters of history raged over this boldness 
 of view and frankness of speech ; many a professional 
 teacher of history shook continually his shaggy head. 
 The Liberal Philistines in the North, and still more in the 
 South, growled or howled anger and wrath against the 
 renegade, who had so little respect for the phrases of Liber- 
 alism. And, although in many circles, Treitschke's histori- 
 cal assertations supplied a defect in political reflection and 
 political education, his tone was still held to be too 
 passionate, too vivacious, too positive and dogmatic. 
 Unreserved applause Treitschke received, at first, only from 
 a few. But the more he was read, the more clearly there 
 was recognized, in his spirited language, concise historical 
 truth ; so much the more general became the convic- 
 tion that he united a warm patriotic feeling with a remark- 
 ably clear and deep insight into the more recent German 
 history. At first, the fresh aphorisms of the young publicist 
 
 * " Ilistorische und Politische Atifsdtze."
 
 PROFESSOR VON TREITSCHKE. 237 
 
 may easily have passed for political fancies, for one-sided 
 theories. With closer and deeper study, one recognized 
 a basis of historical study, from which political judgments 
 had securely built themselves up. In scientific circles, 
 also, the recognition and appreciation of Treitschke began 
 to rise." * 
 
 His pamphlet, indeed, did not rest unanswered. It 
 called forth a multitude of replies, which, as is commonly 
 the case, wanted the freshness, and failed to win the 
 celebrity of the original work. But the Prussian govern- 
 ment did not forget its bold champion. After the war of 
 1866 and the expulsion of Austria from the Duchies, the 
 University of Kiel became a Prussian institution, and 
 Treitschke joined its faculty as professor of history. 
 
 The significance of Treitschke's appointment to Heidel- 
 berg, on the death of Plausser, lay in the opposite political 
 tendencies of the two men. Hausser was a veteran in 
 German academic circles, and in German historical litera- 
 ture, and enjoyed a great and deserved authority in the 
 North and in the South. But l>e was one of the most 
 strenuous opponents of Prussia. One of the last occasions 
 on which his pen was employed, was devoted to a severe 
 and vigorous arraignment of Bismarck, for the Danish 
 war ; and his last injunction to his countrymen was to 
 resist the aggressions of Prussian statesmanship. Pie died, 
 and the most conspicuous defender of Bismarck and 
 PiTissia became his successor at Heidelberg. 
 
 Treitschke's religious views have been the subject of 
 much dispute. He was accused of being, and doubtless is, 
 
 '^' Die Gnitzbotcn, 1872, No. 15, page 44.
 
 238 BRIEF BIOGRAnilES. 
 
 a Rationalist, bi.it he once gave so eloquent a statement of his 
 respect for piety and the pious, that it deserves to be repro- 
 duced. He blamed, he said, the presumption of learning, 
 which looked down superciliously upon the modest faith 
 of the unlearned. "Never," continued he, "can the 
 most intense scientific conviction replace in any man the 
 blessings of belief! Before the eternal problems of life, 
 before the questions which most deeply torture and agitate 
 the soul, the scholar is as helpless as the peasant. From 
 such questions only a mine of unfruitful resignation leads 
 away — or the force of faith, the conviction conquered in 
 severe trials of the soul, that the inconceivable is the 
 all-certain, that God is just, and his dispositions wise. I 
 am still the free-thinker that I was fourteen years ago, when 
 I wrote the article on freedom. I hold to-day that noiwhat, 
 but how we believe, determines the moral dignity of man- 
 hood. But during this fruitful period, the religious feel- 
 ing in me is becoming stronger. I have gratefully seen 
 the work of Providence in the fortunes of my country, as 
 well as my own house, ajid I feel more keenly than hereto- 
 fore the need of bowing humbly before God. Through 
 the intellectual conflicts of the present, an incurable 
 breach has been made in our people. This condition is 
 far too unnatural to be perpetuated in a conscientious 
 nation. Every one, without exception, is poorer in heart 
 when he stifles the religious feeling within him."* 
 The reader will be able to say whether religion is in much 
 danger from a man who can write such a passage as 
 
 this! 
 
 ^^" Scndschreiben an Gitstav Schmoller."
 
 PROFESSOR VON TREITSCHKE. 239 
 
 In 1 87 1, Professor von Treitschke became a member of 
 the Imperial Parliament. Although his entrance upon a 
 legislative career was greeted by many with enthusiasm, and 
 by all with interest, his success was impaired by an unfor- 
 tunate physical infirmity — deafness. He cannot follow the 
 course of debate, he cannot even understand the whispers 
 of his immediate neighbors. One of these, however, Dr. 
 Wehrenpfennig, renders him a touching and graceful ser- 
 vice. Sitting patiently by his friend's side, he writes rapidly, 
 with a pencil, while Treitschke eagerly reads, the points 
 made or ra'sed during the discussion, the causes of laughter 
 or tumult, and from time to time the progress and conditions 
 of pending measures. These hints are, indeed, the condi- 
 tions of Treitschke's intelligent interest in parliamentary 
 work, but not alone the texts for his speeches. These are 
 rather the philosophic harangues of a patriot, than the dispu- 
 tatious pleas of a politician. It would be unjust to call them 
 essays, spoken from the tribune, instead of published in the 
 Preussische Jahrb'ixcher. They are always practical and per- 
 tinent, real contributions to the question at issue, incisive 
 in form and impassioned in tone, thoughtful without being 
 dull, and clear without being shallow ; and if they read 
 better than they sound, the orator, and not the debater, is 
 at fault. Deaf men are notoriously, and for obvious reas- 
 ons, poor speakers. With all admiration for his great lit- 
 erary talents, for the elevated purity of his character, and 
 f^r the romantic devotion with which he pursues his diffi- 
 cult task, I am compelled to say that Treitschke is one of 
 the most outrageous speakers who ever addressed an audi- 
 ence. He has no control over his voice, his intonation, 
 or his utterance. He mumbles, and roars, and stirieks ;
 
 240 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 he brand islies his arms and shakes his fists ; he pounds 
 with hands and feet ; and during all these physical contor- 
 tions, never interrupts the foaming torrent of his words. 
 His manner is more that of a fanatic, or a madman, than 
 of a moderate and somewhat Conservative professor. Ed- 
 mund Burke said of a certain pamphleteer of the French 
 Revolution, that he railed against monks in the spirit of a 
 monk. In the same way, it may be said of Treitschke's 
 manner, though not of his matter, that he declaims against 
 Socialism with the violence of a /e/ri^/t'/^r. In one respect 
 his deafness is a blessing. He does not hear the angry in- 
 terruptions — now from the benches of the Ultramontanes, 
 now from the corner where sit the Socialists — but tears 
 along with his philippic, undisturbed, to the end. Some- 
 times his faithful friend, Wehrenpfennig reaches up to him 
 a slip of paper with an important hint, but the furious 
 orator notices it no more than a fly on his desk. 
 
 In spite of all this, the reader may be not unprepared to 
 believe that Professor Treitschke is one of the most success- 
 ful speakers in the House. No other member is heard 
 with more respect, or more interest. When he mounts 
 the tribune, his brother deputies, from all parts of the House, 
 and of every political party, gather hurriedly around him 
 in order that they may catch every word of his remarkable 
 speeches. The chairman leans eagerly over his table to 
 listen ; Bismarck lays down his long pencil and draws near 
 the scene of interest. Even the cynical Windthorst some- 
 times forgets to sneer. The nervous invective and impetu- 
 ous rhetoric have a strange fascination for the hearers ; and 
 when Treitschke retires to his. seat the House visibly 
 arouses, as if it had been under the spell of some violent
 
 TROFESSOR VON TREITSCHKE. 24I 
 
 but refreshing storm. The worthy citizen who reads such 
 a discourse the next day in his newspaper, will admire itt) 
 literary and philosophical beauties. But the severe critic 
 in the gallery, who may be familiar with the best orator}' of 
 France, and England, and America ; who may have heard 
 a Jules Favre, or a Wendell Phillips, will be at a loss to 
 explain the enthusiasm shown toward such a speaker ; a 
 speaker who has neither grace of manner, nor of elocution, 
 nor any of the prescribed virtues of an orator, except an 
 intense earnestness, which is revealed in a turgid, furious 
 and unintelligible declamation. 
 
 On the other hand, the literary style of Treitschke, as 
 shown in his published writings, is of the very highest 
 order. The critic, who has already been quoted, says 
 justly that he " is a master of the essay form. Previously 
 little known by us Germans, little used, and highly valued, 
 the historical essay has begun within the last two decades 
 to play a great role. It offers to him who knows how to 
 manage it, many advantages. An author, who has under- 
 taken to treat a given historical subject, can allow his own 
 views greater license in an essay, than in an elaborate book. 
 It is permitted to him to take up only the sides which 
 more particularly attract him, or on which he can throw 
 special light. * * * He who considers together the va- 
 rious works of Treitschke, will be able to make the dis- 
 tinction clear. He will see how the studies of this writer 
 include and encompass the entire national life of our 
 century, with all its interests of the most different kinds. 
 And he will observe even while his eye is upon the work 
 as a whole, how carefully Treitschke has concentrated his 
 labor upon certain leading subjects, how he has assigned to 
 II
 
 242 ERIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 himself, in single essays, the special and thorough treat- 
 ment of selected topics. We may almost say that the 
 bases of a history of the civilized peoples of the nineteenth 
 century are to be found in these dissertations. The 
 author nowhere betrays an intention to undertake such a 
 history. In each essay he treats the subject in a way that 
 easily reveals the philosophical completeness of his 
 studies, but leaves to each the unimpaired freedom of its 
 own nature. * * * And the works of the professor, however 
 much they may seem to be the product of party spirit, 
 however elegant their outward form, are the results of 
 deep, exhaustive, real scientific studies."* 
 
 Treitschke is joint editor, with Dr. Wehrenpfennig, of 
 the Preiissische Jahrhxicher, one of the most considerable 
 periodicals of Germany. It is in this that all of his later 
 essays have first appeared, and it is his name which, more 
 than any other element, contributes to its success. The 
 Germans are not great readers of periodical literature. A 
 newspaper of the better class, which reaches a circulation 
 of ten thousand copies, daily, is already a great triumph. 
 The leading literary weekly, which corresponds to the 
 weekly reviews of England and America, is exceptionally 
 prosperous with a regular issue of seven thousand, and a 
 monthly review, which, within a year, has won about ten 
 thousand subscribers, is justly regarded as a phenomenal 
 success. It is unnecessary here to inquire into the causes 
 of this fact. But one circumstance, which long impaired 
 the circulation of the more serious periodicals, was the 
 fatuous timidity with which they confined themselves to 
 
 * Grenzboten, 1872, No. 15, pp. 48, 49.
 
 PROFESSOR VON TREITSCHKE. 243 
 
 abstract or neutral subjects, and evaded the fresh Hving 
 issues of the hour. Writers who had a political question 
 to discuss, or a concrete political proposition of any sort to 
 maintain, were obliged to print a pamphlet at their own 
 risk, and their own cost. The magazines had, and in a 
 measure still have, no hospitality for them. And on the 
 other hand, men who wished to bring their political reading 
 down to topics and controversies less remote than the 
 Roman Republic, were forced to buy a library of brochures, 
 or satisfy themselves with the more hasty and superficial 
 articles of the daily press. 
 
 Of this state of things Professor Treitschke has been cme 
 of the most successful reformers. It would be inexact to 
 say that he is the founder of the critical essay in Germany ; 
 but he has given it greater power and popularity, and he has 
 opened to it one entirely new class of subjects. He has 
 dignified and exalted the issues of practical politics, by 
 applying to them, in elaborate essays, all the literary 
 graces of a finished writer, the ample resources of a Liberal 
 and accomplished scholar, and the critical analysis of a 
 philosophic mind. He has taught his countrymen that 
 the problems of the present are of eternal importance, 
 and that the thinker, not the empiric, must find the solu- 
 tion. His success is shown in the improved character of 
 German serials. Although they still want the boldness 
 and independence that our prejudices exact, they never- 
 theless exhibit a growing freshness and spirit, which the 
 real friend of Germany must observe with pleasure. The 
 essays of Treitschke would seem to be taken as models, 
 even by writers who could not attain, and do not aspire, to 
 their excellence.
 
 244 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 Professor Treitschke does not always proclaim in the 
 titles of his essays their relations to actual issues. He has, 
 on the contrary, the valuable art of insinuiting his theories 
 upon the reader, of enforcing them in the form of infer- 
 ence and deduction, and thereby retaining to the end the 
 charmed attention of pedants, who abhor a concrete 
 discussion. Sometimes, indeed, the subject is fear- 
 lessly announced, as in the article on "Union or Confed- 
 eration,"* or in the one upon the question of two Cham- 
 bers in the Prussian Parliament, f More commonly, how- 
 ever, he gave greater breadth and dignity to his political 
 lessons by founding them upon some general discussions 
 in history, or illustrating them from certain characters, 
 which are to be imitated or abhorred. Thus his sketch of 
 Wagenheim was merely a text on which he hung a masterly 
 exposure of German "Particularism," that perverse and 
 demoralizing element in the politics of the fatherland. 
 The same is true of his different articles on Italian, French 
 and English political history. From each of these subjects 
 there is extracted some moral or lesson, for particular 
 application to the current necessities of Prussian or 
 German society. 
 
 It required no small amount of courage for Professor 
 Treitschke to take a chair in history, at the University of 
 Berlin. That institution already counted in that branch 
 some of the most illustrious scholars of the present day ; 
 such men as Curtius in Greek, and Mommsen in 
 Roman history, Droysen, in modern German history, and 
 
 * " Einheitsstaat oder Bundesstaat." 
 
 \ " Der Preiissische Landtag und das Zweikammersystem."
 
 TROFESSOR VON TREITSCHKE. 245 
 
 the name, if no longer the active participation, of the 
 veteran Ranke. Droysen, in particular, is a scholar who, 
 devoting himself to the same general class of subjects as 
 Treitschke, has many of the same literary and intellectual 
 characteristics. He has a vivacious style and a clear de- 
 livery ; his Life of York, and other works, have given him 
 deserved authority ; and he is a favorite lecturer with the 
 younger students. Treitschke's subjects are selected from 
 the same general period, but his method of treatment is less 
 historical, less concrete ; in a word, less " objective" and 
 more abstract or speculative. He has struck out for him- 
 self a new path and followed it with brilliant success. He 
 really teaches the political art in the light of political 
 history. He holds a position midway between jurists 
 who expound the positive ordinances of civil government, 
 and historians who relate events in lifeless chronological 
 order. Already, hisjecture room is one of the most popu- 
 lar in the institution. His style and manner here are 
 less objectionable than on the floor of Parliament. The 
 general faults of his delivery, especially such as are insep- 
 arable from his deafness, are never wholly conquered ; but 
 in the clear air of scholastic work, they are less prominent, 
 less extravagantly obtrusive, than amid the passions and 
 excitements of the legislative hall. He has the faculty, so 
 dear to teachers, of inspiring his pupils with enthusiasm, 
 as well as confidence. 
 
 It is stated, or rumored, that Treitschke will not always 
 confine his historical productions to the modest form of 
 essays, but that a great work may, some day, be expected 
 from his pen. This is described as a history of the nine- 
 teenth century in Germany. The Gretizbofen affirms posi-
 
 246 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 tively that he has long been engaged in collecting and ar- 
 ranging the materials for such a work, but vouchsafes no 
 opinion as to the date of its appearance. The period is 
 one which Treitschke is specially qualified to treat, and 
 this gives the report a certain probability. There is, 
 indeed, every reason to expect frequent and even more 
 important works from this capable writer ; and, in his aca- 
 demic career, steady progress and repeated triumphs un- 
 doubtedly await him. That the same may be predicated of 
 his political career, is less certain. An ingenious critic, 
 much esteemed for the freshness and elegance of his style, — 
 a debater admired, with all his defects, for the chivalric 
 impetuosity of his manner, — he wants many of the qualities 
 and most of the conditions of a statesman. This is the 
 misfortune of Prussia, but it is a misfortune which has its 
 sources in two centuries of the national history. 
 
 It remains to add that, Professor Treitschke, if a genius, 
 is in appearance an unkempt genius. He is a large, mas- 
 sive man, with a heavy black beard, and a very marked 
 oriental complexion. His gait, though rapid, is clumsy 
 and erratic; and in all his movements he impresses as one 
 who has an excess of nervous force. If his large head sug- 
 gests the man of brain and thought, the broad shoulders 
 and ample chest supply the physical conditions of hard 
 study and intense endurance. But for his unfortunate 
 deafness, he might be taken as a model of that even devel- 
 opment of the corporeal and the spiritual, that mutual 
 adaptation of mind and body, of which a Latin phrase 
 gives the happy and favorite expression.
 
 XIX. 
 
 Professor von Sybel. 
 
 [HE list of German politicians, who have also a 
 reputation as scholars and teachers, may fitly be 
 closed with Profsssor von Sybel. But it is far 
 from being exhausted. We might add a score or two of 
 names but little less important. In the Reichstag, for 
 instance, there now sit, or have recently sat, such men as 
 Dr. Baumgarten, the famous Liberal theologian, now pro- 
 fessor at Rostock ; Dr. Ewald, the great Hebraist, recently 
 deceased ; Professor Beseler, a jurist in the Berlin Univer- 
 sity; Dr. Buss, professor at Freiburg; Professor Hanel, 
 of Kiel ; Hinsphius, the great authority at canon law ; 
 Marquardsen, of Erlangen ; JMerkle, professor at the 
 Lyceum at Dillingen ; Robert von Mold, the publicist, 
 recently dead ; Oncken, of Geissen ; Schmidt, of Jena ; 
 von Schulte, of Bonn ; Dr. Tellkampf, of Breslau ; 
 besides a number of lesser personages. To these might be 
 added several other scholars, who are members only of the 
 Prussian, or other separate Legislatures. The deputies are
 
 248 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 paid in the J^eic/is/ag nothing, in the local parliaments very 
 little ; and the conditions of legislative work here are such 
 that very few of these learned men can hope, thereby, to 
 add much to their scholastic reputations. That they are 
 willing to leave their books and papers for the service of 
 the State, and that the electors are willing to elect them 
 over the professional politicians, is equally creditable to 
 both parties. It may be true, as has been pretended, that 
 German scholarship will suffer from this circumstance. 
 That German politics, however, are elevated, and dignified, 
 and purified, seems to me beyond dispute. 
 
 It must be admitted, however, that not even the strictest 
 line of distinction would exclude from active political 
 work a student and professor of political history, and such a 
 man is Heinrich von Sybel. He was born on the 2d of 
 December, 1817, at Diisseldorf. After his preparatory 
 and university studies, he came to Berlin, and entered the 
 so-called "Historical Seminar}^," which was under the direc- 
 tion of Leopold von Ranke, and enjoyed the benefits of 
 his great authority. Here he remained four years, from 
 1834 to 1838. His first work was published in 1841, on 
 his return to Diisseldorf, and was a "History of the First 
 Crusade." Its object was to prove that Peter the Hermit 
 was not the originator, and Godfrey of Bouillon not the 
 leader of that expedition. A controversial rather than a 
 historical work, it had interest chiefly for scholars. The 
 product of a young man, it was, also, in tone and 
 treatment, a product of the school from which he came. 
 Dr. von Ranke was very successful in impressing not only his 
 method, but also his general views and principles upon his 
 young admirers, and the "school" called after him, is ar^
 
 PROFESSOR VO^r SYBEL. 249 
 
 important literary phenomenon in Germany. Von Sybel was 
 less nnder the influence of the master than some of his 
 colleagues, and, in succeeding works, has almost wholly 
 emancipated himself. 
 
 This book on the Crusades, and the reputation that he 
 won under Ranke, led to von Sybel's appointment at Bonn, 
 where he became adjunct professor in 1844. One year 
 later, he was invited to Marburg, as regular professor. His 
 entry into political life occurred soon afterwards. The 
 university chose him, as its representative, in 1847, to the 
 Assembly of the Hessian Estates. He was also one of 
 the Hessian delegates to the German Parliament at 
 Erfurt. In both these assemblies von Sybel was classed as 
 a Constitutional Conservative, a strong friend of German 
 unity, but an enemy of all violent measures. 
 
 It was also at this epoch, that von Sybel's literary reputa- 
 tion may be said to have begun. His "History of the 
 French Revolution "* appeared in three volumes, during 
 the years 1853-57, and was at once successful. It discard- 
 ed the graphic and picturesque style of which Johann von 
 Miiller and Frederic von Raumer were the best representa- 
 tives, and aiTected rather the grave, reflective, analytic 
 manner of Ranke, It was critical, concise, judicial, never 
 discursive for the sake of his art, and it seldom wandered 
 from the subject to paint a character or a scene. But it is 
 not heavy, and does not repel the ordinary reader. It has 
 already passed through three German editions, the last in 
 1866, and has been translated into English, French, and 
 most European tongues. 
 
 *Gesckich(e der Revolutionszeit in Frattkreich. 
 II*
 
 250 BRIEF EIOGRAPIIIES. 
 
 One of the immediate results of the book was the 
 author's invitation to the University of Munich, a sum- 
 mons which he accepted. In this dehghtful resort of the 
 Muses, he seems to have enjoyed, at once, the honors of a 
 scholar, the facilities of a student, and the opportunities of 
 a teacher. The King, Maximilian II., himself a scholar, 
 was a judicious patron of art, and literature, and science ; 
 besides making von Sybel president of the so-called Royal 
 Historical Commission, encouraged the organization of the 
 Historical Seminary, which von Sybel had so much at 
 heart, and entrusted him with many confidential State 
 charges. If the professor had cared only for academic 
 honors and a life of elegant literary retirement, he 
 might have remained at Munich till this day. It is more 
 probable, however, that the old feelings of a Prussian 
 never forsook him, and that in the midst of the comforts 
 and facilities, which he enjoyed at that place, the charms 
 of the broader political life in his native State proved too 
 strong for him. Accordingly, when, in 1861, an oppor- 
 tunity to return to Bonn was opened, he hastened to 
 improve it. 
 
 His return to political life, or rather, for Prussia, his 
 entry upon political life followed in 1862, at the earliest 
 legal moment. It happened to coincide pretty nearly 
 with the appointment of Bismarck- as Minister President. 
 In view of the strenuous opposition which he made to the 
 earlier policy of that ministry, Wolfgang Menzel accuses him 
 of ingratitude, which is inexact, for, as above stated, he was 
 called to Bonn nearly a year before Bismarck took office, 
 and therefore, owed his government no thanks. It was, 
 perhaps, magnanimous in the government not to dismiss
 
 PROFESSOR VON SYBEL. 251 
 
 him as soon as his dangerous revolutionary sentiments 
 were discovered. In those days, a Liberal could not be 
 too grateful for a little. But the fact of his opposition to 
 the unconstitutional measures of the ministry, is, to-day, 
 one of the things of which Professor von Sybel is not 
 least proud. 
 
 At the very outset of his parliamentary career. Professor 
 von Sybel was a leading actor in a well-known scene. 
 Although, in form, it was only a personal altercation be- 
 tween him and the IMinister of War, Count von Roon, it 
 involved, in fact, a question of principle, of parliamentary 
 law, which, to this day, has not been finally settled. One 
 of the most characteristic incidents of the long struggle 
 between Bismarck's Ministry and the House of Deputies, 
 it well deserves to be explained in this place. It has already 
 been briefly mentioned. 
 
 It was on the nth of May, 1863. The House had just 
 been convened after a long recess, and the usual angry and 
 boisterous scenes had been renewed. General von Roon 
 had made an appeal to the patriotism of the House, in 
 behalf of the army reform, when von Sybel replied scorn- 
 fully, that the War Minister had no right to speak of 
 patriotism. He had done more than any other to alter 
 the conditions of public law in Prusssia. If, for the first 
 time in his career, he wished to do a patriotic thing, let 
 him retire from the ministry. The War IMinister answered: 
 "When such personal remarks are made against a member 
 of the ministr3\ it is an unjustifiable aggression." The 
 President of the House interrupted the minister, and by 
 means of his bell, supported by the clamors of the major- 
 ity, forced him to silence. Then he explained : "The
 
 252 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 War Minister had no right to call the remark of Professor 
 von Sybel an unjustifiable aggression. It belonged only to 
 him, the president, to censure those remarks, if he found 
 them censurable. He had not done that, however, for 
 Herr von Sybel was fully within his rights." The War 
 Minister protested against the violence of the House, 
 v/hereupon new tumult followed. Finally, the president 
 was forced to suspend the sitting, and, as is usual in such 
 cases, he reached out for a hat to cover himself, but, as 
 the hat happened not to be his own, but another much 
 too large for him, it fell down over his ears, to the great 
 amusement of the deputies. The tragedy was nearly con- 
 verted into a comedy. 
 
 But this was not the end of the matter. The govern- 
 ment denied absolutely the disciplinary power of the 
 President of the House over the ministers, and declared 
 that they would attend no more sessions until their exemp- 
 tion from the restraints of parliamentary law was expressly 
 acknowledged. This was, of course, impossible. The 
 House replied with an address to the King, which not only 
 justified the conduct of its president, but called for the 
 immediate dismissal of the ministers. The King replied, 
 on the 26th of the month, with an autograph letter, not 
 countersigned by a single minister. An extract or two 
 from this docujnent will give an interesting illustration of 
 the royal prerogative, as it was understood by his majesty, 
 and will show the almost impossible gulf which separated 
 him from the deputies. "Prussia's Kings," he wrote, 
 " live in and with their people, and have a clear eye and a 
 warm heart for the real needs of the country. About the 
 proceedings in the session of INIay nth, I was accurately
 
 PROFESSOR VON SYBEL. 253 
 
 and faithfully informed. The fact is clear, that the chairman 
 not only interrupted one of my ministers, and forced him 
 to silence, but also prevented him, by a sudden adjourn- 
 ment, from subsequently speaking. This act can only be 
 interpreted on the theory that it was an application of the 
 disciplinary power of the president." Such a claim his 
 majesty repelled, and after some further observations, con- 
 cluded : "My ministers possess my confidence, their 
 official acts had my approval, and I am grateful to them 
 that they feel the importance of opposing the unconstitu- 
 tional usurpation of the House of Deputies." 
 
 This was the royal view of constitutional government in 
 Prussia, in the year 1863. It is not a little to the credit of 
 a man like von Sybel, whose position at Bonn depended 
 on the favor of the government, that he was willing, pub- 
 licly and persistently, to oppose that view. 
 
 After this incident, the House was dissolved by the gov- 
 ernment, and new elections were ordered for the Autumn 
 of the same year. They resulted, as usual, in strong Lib- 
 eral majorities. Professor von Sybel was also re-elected for 
 the district of Crefeld. In the Spring of the next year, 1864, 
 a disease of his eyes, which had long troubled him, became 
 too serious for longer participation in active legislative 
 work, and he was obliged to resign. 
 
 Since the appearance of his French History, in part at 
 Bonn, in part at INIarburg, and in part at Munich, he has 
 published a number of less pretentious historical treatises, 
 which deserve to be mentioned. I shall simply give their 
 titles in English : "The Origin of German IMonarchy, " 
 1845 ; "The Spuriousness of the so-called Sacred Robe 
 at Treves," 1845; "The Uprising of Europe against
 
 254 BRIEF BIOGRArHIES. 
 
 Napoleon I," i860; "Prince Eugene of Savo}'," 1861 ; 
 "The German Nation and- the Empire," 1863 ; and a col- 
 lection called "Minor Historical Writings," 1863. 
 
 In the year 1867, immediately after the war with Austria, 
 von Sybel returned to political life. The district Lennep- 
 Mettmann sent him to the so-called Constituent Reichstag, 
 which was summoned by Prussia to lay the foundations of the 
 North German Confederation, and to confirm on an impos- 
 ing scale the truce concluded between the majority and the 
 government. Von Sybel was, as we have seen in 1863, 
 one of the most resolute opponents of Bismarck's policy. 
 In 1867, he was not one of the irreconcilables. He joined 
 the National Liberals and voted steadily, though not slav- 
 ishly with them ; and his profound historical knowledge 
 gave him peculiar authority in the reconstruction of Ger- 
 many. He did not accept an election to the Legislative 
 Parliament. His third term of political service ended 
 here. 
 
 His fourth and present term began with the existing Za«6^- 
 tag of Prussia, which was elected in 1874. Professor von 
 Sybel is the delegate of a district near Magdeburg. When 
 he took his seat, the ecclesiastical conflict had been in pro- 
 gress three years, and though the spirit of the Catholics 
 was not broken, and a number of measures were still threat- 
 ened, the freshness of the subject had departed, and the 
 people were becoming weary of it. Even Professor von Sybel 
 had been active with his pen. From his retreat, at Bonn, 
 which is a semi-Catholic university, he had already sent out 
 a number of pamphlets in which the pretensions of the 
 Church were exposed, and the rights of the State vindicat- 
 ed with the resources of an historical scholar, and the vigor
 
 PROFESSOR VON SYBEL. 255 
 
 of an earnest patriot. These had been accompanied, also, 
 by public discourses, articles in the leading periodicals, and, 
 above all, by his contributions to the Hisiorische Zcilschrift, 
 of which he was and remains the editor. An account of 
 these and other papers will be given in another place. 
 
 Two leading anti-clerical measures have, however, been 
 introduced since von Sybel's return to the House ; and, in 
 the debates which preceded their adoption, he was one of 
 the most frequent and successful speakers. The measures 
 were: first/ to dissolve and abolish all Catholic religious 
 orders and congregations, except purely benevolent ones ; 
 and, secondjto suspend all State contributions for the sup- 
 port of the Roman Catholic worship. These were, by far, 
 the most sweeping bills in the long course of ecclesiastical 
 legislation. In Professor von Sybel the Ultramontanes found 
 an antagonist of a new order. Most of the Liberal speak- 
 ers were either learned doctors without the experience and 
 method ofpoli-tics, or' practical politicians without the ne- 
 cessary special training for the subject ; but the new mem- 
 ber was at once a scholar and a man of the world, a 
 debater who could meet the foe on the field of ecclesiasti- 
 cal law, or the field of secular politics. 
 
 In the present month, March, 1876, an additional or 
 supplementary bill was presented. It regulates, or rather 
 provides for the control by the State, of the estates and 
 funds of such Catholic dioceses, as may be without their 
 episcopal head. There are several such in Prussia, made 
 vacant by the removal of the bishops, under the operation 
 of the State laws, and kept vacant by the refusal of the 
 Pope to appoint successors. The pending bill is, there- 
 fore, only a logical consequence of previous legislation.
 
 256 BRIEF BIOGRArniES. 
 
 It is, however, a singular feature of these clerical debates, 
 that they are never special, but general. They do not 
 turn upon the merits or defects of the particular measure 
 before the House, but upon the general issues involved in 
 the quarrel between Church and State. This will be illus- 
 trated in the following extract from the speech of Professor 
 von Sybel, on the 7th of March. I give it with all the 
 interruptions and altercations, as a picture of the ecclesi- 
 astical contest. 
 
 " I am glad to be able to state," said Professor Sybel, " that I en- 
 tirely agree with some sentiments of the honorable gentleman who 
 preceded me. The first point of agreement is, that this bill will be ac- 
 cepted by the House. Next, that this bill, as well as that of last year 
 about the Parish Funds, has nothing to do with the inner affairs of 
 the Church. From this standpoint all the Falk laws were issued, 
 and they have the one aim, to draw the line between Church and 
 State, in a healthy and normal manner, and to re-establish in 
 Prussia the inalienable rights of the State, which, through a narrow 
 and false policy, had fallen into neglect. The honorable deputy 
 sighs : ' Since the beginning of this contest, we Roman Catholics 
 have not been treated as citizens of the State, but as aliens.' This 
 pluralis majesiatis, ' we Roman Catholics,' is with you a fluent figure 
 of speech. You always act as if there were no Roman Catholics in 
 the countiy, except you and your friends. Yet, Dr. Falk, during 
 his travels through the Rhenish towns, was able to see very clearly 
 how many Roman Catholics there are, who are not at all of your 
 opinion (' Oh ! ' in the center) ; who do not consider themselves 
 aliens, and are not treated as such. The question might be perti- 
 nent with a great many of your party: Are they, in any sense, still 
 children of the State? Do they still consider themselves subjects of 
 the Prussian Crown? Are they not simply subjects of his Papal 
 Holiness, and no one else? ('Oh! 'and laughter in the center.) 
 This fact runs parallel with a set of principles which we have often 
 heard expressed by you. So much is certain, that if you answer my
 
 PROFESSOR VON SYBEL. 257 
 
 question with a dry, ' No' ; if you declare ' No, we are only subjects 
 of the Pope in ecclesiastical matters, in other matters we are not' 
 {Herr Reichensperger : ' Undoubtedly !'), then you would certainly 
 receive from Rome a very prompt rectification. (Merriment.) 
 Then read the semi-official organ of the Roman Curia, the Voce della 
 Veiith. You have praised, in all your organs, the latest literary 
 production of the Reichensperger Muse, this so-called ' Word for 
 Peace.' Whoever has read that interesting little book, feels con- 
 vinced that all these peaceful proposals amount solely to the 
 subjection of the State under the Church. Yet, it is announced in 
 form and title as a ' Word for Peace ! ' Now notice how the Voce della 
 Veiita expresses itself upon this work for peace, and the Reichen- 
 sperger pamphlet. Just notice how, here from high places, the 
 author is being lectured. (Laughter from the left.) Read how he is 
 enjoined, for the future, to correct his conceptions of Prussian rela- 
 tions, and not to cherish the illusion that there could ever exist a 
 Hohenzollern who was not a bom enemy of the Romish Church. 
 (' Hear ! ' from the left. ) Or read the Civilta Cattolica, this organ 
 established by his Holiness himself, and always controlled by him. 
 (Cry : ' That is not true.') That is certainly true, the official docu- 
 ments have been published. In the October number of last year 
 you can read the simple sentences : ' Whoever hears the Pope, hears 
 God. We must not only obey him unconditionally in act, but also 
 in thought and will.' There is no reference to any kind of differ- 
 ence between religious and civil actions. This arch-sovereign up- 
 holds his claims to his mediseval sovereignty to-day, as at all times. 
 If the honorable gentleman who has just spoken is right, that 
 through the law valid until now. Archbishop Forster was absolutely 
 authorized to carry oiT 900,000 marks across the frontier, then, 
 indeed, I do not know of a more forcible argument for the necessity 
 of changing this legalized condition of things. (' Very true ! ') I 
 perfectly agree with Herr Reichensperger, that the Ministers 
 Raumer and Midler were not only passive lookers-on at the growth 
 of this system, which at last, in our time, forced the State into defense, 
 but they also carried eagerly, with their own hands, bricks for the 
 edifice of ecclesiastical sovereignty. We regret this from the depth
 
 258 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 
 
 of our heart, for, without such conduct on the part of the govern- 
 ment of that time, there would, at present, have been no occasion 
 for any Kulturkampf (ecclesiastical contest). But the more mis- 
 takes that were made on all sides, at those times, the more pressing is 
 the duty to-day, after the consequences have so plainly come to light, 
 at last, to put a stop to it, and, in the interest of the nation and 
 of the State, to return to the former condition and earlier system." 
 
 Professor von Sybel is an industrious pamphleteer. I 
 have a number of his brochures before me, and a long list 
 of others which have appeared within the past few years. 
 Some of them are on literary or abstract questions ; one or 
 two are historical dissertations, of more or less permanent 
 value ; and some are on the political issues of the day. 
 Under the first class, for instance, must be named the 
 following: "On the Laws of Historical Knowledge," 
 "The German and Foreign Universities," "On the 
 Emancipation of Women," "The Founding of the Univer- 
 sity of Bonn," and "At the Monumgnt to Stein." The 
 second will include : "On the Development of Absolute 
 Monarchy in Prussia," "Prussia and Rhineland," and 
 "Napoleon III." This latter pamphlet was made up of 
 two lectures delivered at Cologne, in the year 1873, and it 
 was widely read and criticised at the time of its appearance. 
 Finally the third class, or controversial writings, comprise, 
 among others, the following : "The New Germany, and 
 France, Letter to M. Forcade, in Paris," "What we 
 can learn from France," and "The Doctrines of Socialism 
 and Communism." None of these productions are 
 popular in style and treatment, but they have obtained, 
 most of them, a wide circulation. 
 
 About a year since, Professor von Sybel was appointed
 
 PROFESSOR VON SYBEL. 259 
 
 keeper of the Archives of Prussia. TJjis is one of the 
 most confidential and responsible positions which a man 
 of letters can hold, under the Prussian or any other gov- 
 ernment of Europe, and the distinction is, of course, 
 highly prized. It necessitated the resignation of the pro- 
 fessorship at Bonn, and the professor's removal to Berlin. 
 Since he has held the position, he has not only made 
 many useful practical reforms, but he has also agitated one 
 literary, or rather historical scheme of the greatest import- 
 ance. This is nothing less than the publication of the 
 political correspondence of Frederic the Great. This has 
 lain buried for years among the State papers, and it is now 
 proposed to publish it to the world. The arrangement of 
 the work would probably be under the general supervision 
 of Professor von Sybel. The cost of the undertaking — no 
 slight sum, in view of the thirty or more volum'es which 
 the correspondence would fill — has been accepted by the 
 Berlin Academy of Sciences, a body whose enlightened 
 labors have already placed the learned world under great 
 obligations. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 h
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Albert, Prince (of Prussia), 97. 
 
 Alsace-Lorraine, 173, 196. 
 
 Alsatian Party, the. 192, 193. 
 
 Altenstein, Baron, 28. 
 
 Andrew, J. A., 44. 
 
 Arnim, Count Henry vok, Memoir, 
 
 73; also, 67, 69, 70, 193. 
 Arnim, Heiurich von, 74, 75. 
 Arnim-Boytzenberg, Coujit, 87. 
 Army, German, 9, 14, 29, 126, 209, 210. 
 Assembly, French, 15. 
 Assembly of the Estates (German), 5. 
 Atheism, 31. 
 
 Austria, Archduke John of, 41, 51, 
 Austria, Emperor of, 64. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bamhereer, Louis, 120, 
 
 Bank Act, Peel's, 5.5. 
 
 Banks, 46, 50. 153, 157. 
 
 Barba^ossa, Frederick, 114. 
 
 Baumgarten, Dr.. 247. 
 
 Bebftl, Herr, 17?, 180. 181, 187, 200. 
 
 Becker, Herr, 180, 181. 
 
 Bknniosen, Herr vok, Memoir, 91 • 
 also, 114, 120, 193. 
 
 Beseler, Professor, 247. 
 
 Bismarck, Bemhard, 2. 
 
 Bismarck, Clans von, 1. 
 
 Bismarck, C. W. F. von, 1. 
 
 Bismarck, Herbert von, 5. 
 
 Bismarck, Maldewine von, 3. 
 
 Bismarck, Marie von. 5. 
 
 Bismarck, Prince, Memoir, 1 : also 
 2. 25, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, 40, 41, 57, 
 62, 65, 67, 69, 70, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80 
 81. 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 92, 99, 100 
 108, 109, 114, 124, 127, 128, 1.30. 1.32 
 13.3, 134, 136, 137, 1.38, 1.39, 1.55, 170 
 173, 180, 193, 212, 222, 226, 2-35. 237 
 240, 251, 254. 
 
 Bismarck, Rnle von, 1. 
 
 Bismarck, Wilhelm von, 5, 
 
 Blind, Carl, 19. 
 
 Hon.i-Me3'er, Professor, 37 
 
 Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon (Napoleon 
 in.), 8, 11, 141,254. 
 
 Boniface, St., 130. 
 
 Bonin, Deputy von, 209. 
 
 Brachvojel, Herr, 62, 71, 72, 101. 
 
 102, 103, 106. 
 Brandenl)iirg, Count von, 167, 168. 
 Brann. Carl, 120. 
 Bray, Count von, 68. 
 Brpntano, Herr. 104. 
 Bright, John, 140. 
 Buckingham, Senator, 108. 
 Bundes-Staat, 51, 244. 
 Buudesrath (Federal Council), 39, 45, 
 
 40. 
 Burke, Edmund, 8.5, 185, 
 Buss, Professor, 247. 
 
 c. 
 
 CAirPHAUSEN, Herr, Memoir, 49 : also. 
 
 40, 46, 47, 48. 127. 193. 
 Camphausen. Otto, 50. 
 Canosi^a, 13, 63. 
 Chancellor, the, 91. 
 Charite, the, 217, 221. 
 Chevalier, Michel, 48. 
 Church, Evangelical, 225. 
 Church, Roman Catholic, 16, 28 .30 
 
 32, .36, 66, 67, 196, 207, 254, '255, 
 
 256. 
 Cobden, Richard, 48. 
 Coffin, Amory, 3. 
 Confederation, North German, 11. 12, 
 
 27, 66, 97, 109, 115, 142, 2.30, 2.54. 
 Confederation, South German, 11. 
 Conflikts-Zeit, 119, 228. 
 Conservatives. 46. 189, 193. 
 Constitution, Prussian, 36. 
 Coriolaniis, 18. 
 Credit-Foncier, 116. 
 Crusade, History of First. 248, 249. 
 Culturkampf, the, 196. 228; 258. 
 Cultus-Minister, 33. 37, 226. 
 Curtius, Professor Ernst, 244. 
 
 D. 
 
 Delbbdck. Dr., Memoir, 39 ; also. 55 
 
 121, 127. 
 Deputies, House of, 31 42, 5.3, 93,. 99, 
 
 107, 115, 122, 252.
 
 262 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dent?che National Verein, 93, 94, 96, 
 
 98. 
 Diet. Frankfort, 7, 12, 41. 
 I»israeli, B., llti. 
 DOllintrer. Dr.. 77. 
 Dro}-sen, Professor, 244. 245 
 Duchies, the, 10. -ZH, 237. 
 Daucker, Herr, 14b. 
 
 E. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Party, 30. 
 
 Education, 28. 190. 
 
 Education, Minister of, 37, 219. 
 
 Eichhorn, C. F., 2S. 62. 
 
 Emerson, R. W., 122. 
 
 Empire, German, 14, 15, 16, •^, 01, 62, 
 
 176. 
 Empire (French), Second, 20. 
 Essays. German Literary, 24.3. 
 En<^ene, Prince of Savov, 254. 
 Eulenburu', Count, 188, 190. 
 Ewald, Dr., -^47. 
 Exchequer, Prussian, 53. 
 
 F. 
 
 Talk, Dr., Memoir, 25: also, 42, 43. 
 
 47. 127, 130, l>-7, 193, 256. 
 Talk, the elder. ;i5. 
 Father-', Church, 32. 
 Fau-t, 19. 
 Faustle, Herr, 40. 
 Favre, Jules, 241. 
 Fertewi Council, 57. 
 Forbade, M., 2.>S. 
 Forckenbeck, Herr, 25, 43, 98, 99, 105, 
 
 120. 
 FfSrster, Arch-Bishop, 257. 
 Forsler, -John, 140. 
 Fortschritts partei (party of progress), 
 
 114, 193. 
 Fracrlons (German parties), 192, 193, 
 
 205. 
 Franklin, Dr., 199. 
 Free Consen'atives, 193. 
 Free Trade, 48 
 Friedrich Wilhelin (III.), Emperor, 
 
 6, 161, 16.5, 214. 
 Friedrich Wilhelm (TV.), Emperor, 
 
 6. 8, 27. 40, 50, 75, 96, 104, 161, 162, 
 
 167. 218. 
 Fries. Herr (of Weimar), 96. 
 French Kevolution, History of, 249. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gartenlanbe, the, 9-3. 
 
 Geheimerath, 27. 
 
 Georjre. King (of Hanover), 94. 
 
 Gerlach, Herr, 19. 
 
 '• German Nation and Empire," 264. 
 
 German Pany, the, 193. 
 
 Gisbert, Dnke, 63. 
 
 Gladstone, W. E., 44. 
 
 Gneist, Professor, Memoir, 203; 
 
 also, as. 1.30. 227. 231. 
 Goethe, J. W. von, 19, 65, 232. 
 Gagern, Heinrich von, 104. 
 GOrlach, Herr, 2. 
 Grabow, Herr, 105. 
 Gravelotie, Battle of, 15. 
 Grollmann. Herr, 164. 
 Guizot, Frederic, 109. 
 
 H. 
 
 Handelsgericht (Tribunal of Com 
 
 nierce). 50. 
 nanel. Professor, 247. 
 Harries. Count. 95. 
 Hasenclever, Herr, 177, 181. 187. 
 Hassklmasn, Herr, Memoir, 176; 
 
 also. 193, 199, 200. 
 Hatzfeld, Couutcs.*, 178. 
 Hausser, Herr. -ZVi, 'iAt. 
 Havelberg, Bishop <>f, 1. 
 He-el, G. W. F., 136. 
 Heine. Heinrich, 178. 
 Heinrich IV. (Emperor), 6-3. 
 llengstenberg. E. W., 225. 
 Hermann Dr., 35. 
 Hermann the Illustrious, 6-3. 
 UeiTenhaua (Chamber of Peers), 56, 
 
 9S. 
 Hevdt. Baron von der, 51, 52. 
 Hi^gin.son, T. W.. 122. 
 Hiuschius, Professor, 247. 
 Hohenlohe, Cardinal, 64. 
 HoHENLOHE. Pbince. Mcmoir, 61* 
 
 also. 73. 97. 114. 193. 
 Hohenldha, C. C. V., 63, 64. 
 Hohenlohe. P. E.. 64. 71. 
 Hohenlohe, Siegfried, 6-3. 
 Hohenlohe, Stephan, 71. 
 Holhveg, Herr, 29. 
 Holtzendortr, Professor von, 232. 
 Hoverbeck. Herr, 228. 
 Humboldt, Wilhelm von, 41. 
 
 I. 
 
 Indemnity paid by France, 54. 
 International, the, 177, 179. 
 Itzenplitz, Count, 123. 
 
 Jacobt, Johann, Dr.. Memoir, 160 
 also, 104, 105, 146, 193.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 263 
 
 Jews, 199, 200. 
 Judd, Dr., 146. 
 Jung. Dr. A., 164 
 
 Junkers (Conservatives), 6, 17, 19, 80, 
 84, 125, 139, 141. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kaiser, 17. 
 Kamecke, Herr, 40. 
 Kainmergericht, the, 27. 
 King, M. G., 3. 
 King, the, 15, 66, 68, 69, 114 
 Krementz, Dr., 29. 
 Kreuz Zeitung, IS. 
 Kullman, 19. 
 
 Labor organizations. 150. See Unions. 
 
 Landtag, the (Prussian Diet). 7, 35, 
 56, 04, 66. 106, 109, 116, 127, 155, 
 168, 192, 209, 221, 244, 254. 
 
 Landwehr, 126. 209. 210. 223. 
 
 Lassalle. Ferdinand, 153, 154, 178, 179, 
 184, 188. 
 
 Lasker. Eduard, Memoir, 113: also, 
 33. 99, 132, 160, 188, 193. 
 
 Leubuscher, Dr., ■■i\t. 
 
 Leonhardt, Dr., 27. 40. 
 
 Liberal Party, 9, 10, 12, 17, 18, 19, 30, 
 32, 33, 46, 52, 77, 83, 95, 98, 103, 
 106, 11.3, 114, 115, 119, 120, 122, 127, 
 128. 129, 130, 155, 18H, 193, 236. 
 
 Liebnicht, Herr. 177. 180, 181, 199. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham. 144. 
 
 LoEWE, Dr., Memoir, 1.39; also, 96, 
 104, 155, 160, 165, 170, 193. 
 
 Lorrainp, 173. 
 
 Lowe, Robert, 49. 
 
 Luther, Martin, 141. 
 
 Lutheranism, .35. 
 
 M. 
 
 Mallinckrodt, Herr, 32, 129, 130, 136. 
 
 Manteuffel, Herr, 8, 74, 75, 104. 
 
 Marat, J. P., 182. 183, 185. 
 
 Mariana, J. de, 33. 
 
 Marquardsen. Professor, 247. 
 
 Marx, Carl, 179, 180. 
 
 Maximilian, 11., 250. 
 
 Mechanics' Fund, 198. 
 
 Mechanics' Union, 230. 
 
 Menken, Franlein, 2. 
 
 Menzel, Wolfgang, 170, 171, 209, 250. 
 
 Merkle, Professor, 247. 
 
 Metz, 173. 
 
 Meyer, Dr. Rudolph, 182 
 
 Miguel, Herr, 95, 96. 
 
 Ministry, Austrian, 10. 
 
 Mini.«try of Public Worship and Eda 
 
 cation, 28. 
 Mint and Currency Bill, 196. 
 Mohl, Robert von, 227. 
 Moltke, General von, 9, 15, 20. 
 Mommsen, Prof. Theodor, 244. 
 Monarchy, German, Origin of, 253, 
 Monier, James, 150. 
 Motley, J. L., 3. 
 Morton, Senator, 92. 
 Muhler, Dr. von, 28, 29, 34. 
 Miiller, Johann von, 249. 
 Muller, Max, 203. 
 
 N 
 
 Navarre, Henry of, .33. 
 Nicholas (of Russia), 19. 
 Niebiihr, B. G., 102. 
 
 o. 
 
 Oncken, Professor, 247. 
 Oppenheim, Heinrich, 120. 
 
 Palmer, Sir Roundell, 108. 
 Palraerston, Lord, 44. 
 Parliament, Erfurt, 56. 
 Parliament, German. <%« Reichstag. 
 Particularism (States-rights), 69, 235, 
 
 244. 
 Parties, German, analyzed, 193. 
 People's Economic Congress, 198. 
 Pertz, Dr., 214. 
 Peter the Hermit, 248. 
 Pfardten, Minister von der, 66. 
 Pfnel, Herr von, 167. 
 Phillips, Wendell, 341. 
 Pius IX., 29, 67. 
 Polish party, 193. 
 Pope, the, 17. 
 
 Progress Party, 146, 155, 193, 231. 
 Prussia, Bank of, 56. 
 Prussia, Kings of, 252. 
 " Public Ledger," the (Philadelphia's. 
 Public Worship, Minister of, 34. 
 Putbus, Prince, 125, 126. 
 Puikammer, Johanna von, 5. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Quevedo, F. G. de, 124. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rabble, the, 183. 
 Radicals, 222.
 
 264 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Itanke, Leopold von, 248. 349. 
 
 Ralibor, Duke of, 64. 
 
 Hmiincr, Herr von, a9. 
 
 Kuiimur, Frederic von, 165, 219, 257. 
 
 Itiich, Judge, 8.3. 
 
 Eeiclu'usperger, Herr, 32, 129, 131, 
 136, S57. 
 
 Reicht^kanzler (Chancellor), 100. 
 
 R<--".hspartei, 103. 
 
 Kei.-.iiMath, 64, 65. 
 
 Iteichstag, the (Imperial Parliament), 
 16, 25, 43. 46. 53, 99. 109, 110, 115, 
 120, 1-a, 122, 127, 1-32, 133, 137, 141, 
 146, 1.50, 1.56, 1.59, 176, 177. 186,191, 
 1-92, 193, 194, 1!)5, 196, 2U7, 209,228, 
 247, 248. 250. 2.52. 
 
 Reich!?t,ag (North German), 31, 97, 234. 
 
 Reinhardt, Dr., 217. 
 
 Revolution of 1848 (Prussian), 208. 
 
 Ring, iMas, 132. 
 
 Roon, General von. 9, 15, 16, 106, 125, 
 210. 
 
 Rotteck, Herr, 162. 
 
 Royer-Colliird, P. P., 108, 
 
 Russell, Earl, 13, 121. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sadowa, Battle of, 11, 18, 65, 98, 109, 
 
 119, 171, 230. 
 Santa Clara, 32. 
 Savigny, F. C. von, 102. 
 Staaten-Bund, 51. 
 
 Sayn-Wittgimstein, Princess of, 71. 
 Schiller, Friedrich von. 32. 
 Schleiermacher, P. D. E., 2, 35. 
 Schmidt, Professor, 247. 
 Schmoller, Gustave, 238. 
 Scliiit'lder. Dr. P., 157. 
 Scholars in Politics, 201, 247. 
 SchOn, Minister von, 163, 251, 252. 
 SchOnlein, Dr., 217, 227. 
 Schorlemtr, Herr, 136. 
 Schulte, Professor von, 120, 247. 
 Schulze-Delitzscii, Ueuk. Jlomoir, 
 * 148 ; also, 96, 160, 178, 193, 199, 203, 
 
 204. 
 Schvi'eitzcr, Herr von, 180, 181, 182 
 
 183. 
 Schwerin. Herr, 105. 
 Science and Religion, 238. 
 Science, Social, 235. 
 Sedan, Battle of, 15, 172. 
 Se«-IIaudlung. 51, 52. 
 SiMSON, Dr., Memoir, 101; also, 25, 
 
 99, 114, 120, 193. 
 Social-democrat ic Party, 177, 182, 183 
 
 186, 189, 197. - . 
 
 Socialism, 183, 185, 187, 188, 193, 195, 
 
 210. 
 SoNNKJiANN, Dn., Memoir, 192. 
 Spinoza. ]{., 165. 
 Stalil, J. F., 28, 225. 
 Stahr, Adolph, 169. 
 Stein. Baron von, 210, 211, 213, 214, 
 
 227. 
 Stevens, Thaddeus, 138. 
 Streit, Feodor, 96. 
 Striive, Herr, 104. 
 Suffrage, Universal, 192. 
 Si'BKL, PaoFESsoR VON, Memoir, 247. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tellkampf. Professor, 247. 
 Thiers, Adolphe, 81. 
 Tichborne Case, the, 49. 
 Tkeitschke, PnoFEssoR voK, Memoir, 
 
 233 ; also, 120. 
 Turners, 230. 
 Twesten, Herr, 122. 
 Typhus, Hunger, 218. 
 
 u. 
 
 Uhland, J. L., 143. 
 
 Ultramoiitanism, 31, 32, 77, 127, 129, 
 
 130, 132, 136, 193, 240, 255. 
 Unions, Relief, 198. 
 Uuioiis, Workiiigmen's, 153, 157, 158, 
 
 177, 179, 198. 
 Unity, German, 65. 
 Uuruh, Herr, 96, 105. 
 
 Vatican, Council of, .32. 
 
 ViKcnow, PitoFEssoK, Memoir, 216; 
 
 also, 146. 
 " Volkstaat," the, 179, 195. 
 
 W. 
 
 Waldeck, Herr, 104, 105, 114, 146, 170. 
 
 Wehrenpfeniiig, Dr., 239, 240, 242. 
 
 Weiss, Giiido, Dr., 162. 
 
 Welcker, llerr, 163. 
 
 Wilhelm I., Emperor, 8, 17, 33, 38, 65, 
 
 80, 81, 97, 100, 109, 205. 
 Wilhelmstrasse, 99, 117. 
 WiNDTUORsT, Hehr, Memoir, 129; 
 
 also, .32, 121, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 
 
 138, 193, 2^4, 240. 
 Workingmeu-g Union, 177, 179. 
 
 Zoll (Cnstoms Parliament), G6. 
 Zollvereiu, 12, 416. 
 
 108 
 
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