Chancellerie he enjoys undisputed sway. | are far from giving the matter the importThere he has no colleagues, but only ance attached to it by the foreign press. officials intelligent, independent, active The situation apart from the aforesaid officials, but only officials. There he has incident, raised by some misused and to do with the Bundesrath and Reichstag misunderstood terms in Herr Lasker's alone, and has no fear that his plans will speech was in fact this: - Prince Bisbe crossed by a rebellious House of marck had promised his master to have Lords. And what he wishes is to dimin- discussed and voted during this session ish the importance of the Prussian Min- the law on the German army, which the. istry and Parliament; and he believes Field-Marshals von Moltke and von Roon that his personal aspirations coincide deem indispensable to assimilate the with those of the nation as well as with whole German force to the Prussian systhe historical development of the German tem. On the other hand, the House State; he feels himself supported by the insisted upon the presentation of a gencurrent of affairs and by public opinion eral Press Bill. Prince Bismarck, equally as often as public opinion understands indifferent to these questions, and underhim and his aims, which is not always the standing, as little about the one as the case in the Fatherland, where political other, had evidently but one desireintelligence is as rare in 1873 as it was in viz. to satisfy both the Emperor and the 1865. The first step Prince Bismarck Reichstag, through whose will he governs made towards his aim was in the begin- Germany. So he promised a law on the ning of this year, when he resigned the press, as he had promised a law on the Presidency of the Prussian Cabinet, army, and charged his Prussian officials handing it over to Field-Marshal Von with the drawing of a bill. He asserted Roon, with the remarkable observation afterwards — and there is no reason to that he might occasionally send in his doubt his word- that he had not suffivote through Herr Delbruck when he ciently studied the bill before introducing should not be able to attend the Council it; and he hinted that the whole affair himself. The next step he has just made might be a blow aimed at himself, and in obtaining for his alter ego, Herr Von intended to make him appear ultra-ConBalan, the right to fill his seat in the Coun-servative in the eyes of the Liberals. cil, and to take part in its deliberations, He might have added that even if he had if not with the same authority, certainly studied the bill he would not have underin the same spirit as his superior: for stood its bearing; for there is no public Herr von Balan is not the man to forget man in Europe, perhaps, more ignorant or neglect his patron's instructions. The of the conditions and the power of the question now is, whether the absence of press than the Chancellor: he is always the first man in the realm from the Prus- either overrating or underrating it. Áll sian Ministry will, as he seems to be- this, however, is no excuse for a stateslieve, throw that body into the shade, or man. whether the Prince's absence from the Council will impair his influence in the State. As yet, if we judge by facts, the Chancellor is completely master of the situation; as the religious policy of Prussia and the Empire- his personal work-distinctly proves.

He

As soon as he had endorsed the measure it became his; and he disowned and withdrew it too late. The Chancellor, indeed, has one great defect - "le défaut d'une qualité" - which often plays him dangerous tricks. He is wont to concentrate his intellect and influence on one point at a time, and to neglect all Nor is the influence of Prince Bismarck else. This, no doubt, gives him unusual on the wane in the Reichstag. A bitter strength, but it allows certain questions altercation which took place between the to grow into dangerous difficulties. Chancellor and the leader of the Liberal might have prevented the Catholic quesmajority in the House, Herr Lasker, on tion from assuming the proportions it has the 16th of June (in which the former was taken by supporting Prince Hohenlohe's certainly right, if not in form, at any rate and Count Daru's proposal in February, in substance), is already forgotten. A 1870. But he was then engrossed in week afterwards Herr Lasker publicly watching the movements of France; and made his peace with the Chancellor in when he turned his mind to the subject the Chancellor's own drawing-room. it was late, if not too late. And the same This incident was due to the new Press thing seems to have happened to him in Bill which Prince Bismarck had been regard to this question of internal policy, careless enough to introduce. However, wherein he needs the support of all GerParliament and the Liberal party know man Liberals to counterbalance certain him too well to bear him any ill-will, and | Court influences. Parliament, however,

knows the man too well, and has learned by too sharp an experience that he is to be taken as he is, to withdraw their confidence from him because of a single false step. Scarcely had he withdrawn the bill on the press, when the untoward event was forgotten and forgiven; and it is by no means impossible that a liberal press law may be introduced in the November session, together with the general Army Bill. Besides, many members seem to think that the Chancellor was not very wrong when he contested the right of the small class of German journalists to identify itself with the people and to oppose Government to people. The German nation cares less for new press laws than for those measures which, like the Coinage Bill and the Bill for the unification of the civil law, accelerate the unity of Germany and facilitate the intercourse of her citizens; and the nation is perfectly aware that Prince Bismarck is still, as ever, the most powerful champion those measures have.

From The Pall Mall Gazette. CHURCH AND STATE IN HUNGARY.

as the starting-point of a long course of cautious legislation, designed to bring about the same relations between the State and religious bodies in Hungary as exist in the United States. While avowing his preference for the American method of solving, or rather of avoiding, difficulties between Church and State, he said that in Europe, owing to the close union between the two in the past, such a method could only be adopted gradually and cautiously. At the same time, it was necessary to avoid even the faintest appearance of persecution or partiality, for no man is so dangerous as a martyr. Thus he would object to simply excluding the bishops of the Roman and Greek Churches from the Upper House, but, when the question of the reform of the Upper House came on for discussion, would favour a proposal that no official position should carry with it a seat in that House, as that would not invidiously single out bishops alone for exclusion. In the second place, he hoped soon to see civil marriage made compulsory, observing that optional and not compulsory civil marriage should be regarded with disfavour by the clergy as savouring of insult to their order. Thirdly, M. Deák, while admitting that many THE Bishop of Rovnyo, in the north of his hearers would not agree with him, of Hungary, lately published in a pastoral expressed his desire to see the property letter to the clergy of his diocese the de- of the State Church divided equitably crees of the Vatican Council relating to between the Church and the State, the the infallibility of the Pope without hav- share of the former to be devoted to reing obtained the Royal permission re-ligious purpose, that of the latter to eduquired by law for the publication of de- cation. On this point he could not hold crees coming from Rome. The Bishop up for imitation the conduct of other Euwas in consequence duly reprimanded by ropean States, some of whom had simply M. Trefort, the Minister for Public Wor- confiscated the property of the Church ship. Some members of the Opposition without giving any equivalent benefit, in the Hungarian Parliament brought for- while others on taking possession of ward a motion censuring the Minister Church property charged themselves for not having proceeded with greater with the expenses of public worship, severity against the offending prelate, thus introducing a new source of comand cited a law of the date of 1507 as justifying his deposition from office. The Minister replied by proposing the appointment of a Commission to report on the relations of Church and State in Hungary. The debate which followed has afforded M. Deák, “the sage of the country," an opportunity of expressing his views with regard to the subject. His speech, which of course appears in all the honour of large print in the Pesti Napló, is distinguished, like all his other greater efforts, by a tone of studied moderation. Having first justified the Minister in terms calculated to propitiate the amour propre of his censors, he proposed to take the incident before them

plications in the place of the old. Lastly, with regard to the self-government of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary, M Deák held that the State had only a negative right of interference; in other words, that it should not prescribe to Hungarian Catholics any scheme of selfgovernment, but merely veto those points in which the rights of the State may be infringed. For instance, he would not allow any religious body to arrogate to itself the right of punishing its members. M. Deák closed his speech by deprecating most earnestly any discussion of the question as to which party had been hitherto most in the right.

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