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    the means to aid the popular will to overcome all jealousy or opposition . Had we had a vote in the Assembly we would most certainly have given it for Lippe Detmold , for the revolution began with the People could only be comp leted by the People . The most unsubstantial and shadowy Prince , a mere puppet of an Emperor , could best have been set up as an emblem of the People ' s sovereignty .

    The bewigged professors at Frankfort thought otherwise . They thought choice must be made between Austria and Prussia . Even then they would not decide at once for one of the two reigning monarchs . The Germans rest all their faith in half measures and procrastination . The choice lay not between Prussia and Austria , but between a Prussian Prince or an Austrian Archduke . Upon that Prince they would not confer the imperial honours , but merely put him at the head of a Provisional Government , not an Emperor , but a Vicar of the Empire .

    Even these delays and hesitations might have been less fatal if the choice had been wise and cenerous . However temporal the rank , the Assembly should have felt the choice was permanent . Give either of the two great dynasties the power in hand , and it must indeed be its own fault if it does not wield it to its own advantage . Now the choice between Prussia and Austria was easy enough , if the Germans had only had their unity in view . Prussia was German : Austria could onlv become German by ceasing to be Austrian . Had the country , from the beginning , unconditionally thrown itself into the arms of Prussia

    nothing was easier than to conquer from Austria what belonged to Germany . Austria was already on the brink of dissolution . Every nation was coming by its own , and Austria would have returned to that nothing from which it sprung . But the German patriots were swayed by base material interests ; they were seduced by the prospect of a vast extent of territory ; they felt that by clinging to Austria Germany would still have the Adriatic , the Danube , the whole south-east of Europe open to its enterprize . The Republicans also , dissatisfied with the resolution of the Assembly in favour of monarchical forms , gave their vote for that among the German monarchies that seemed now more

    irreparably crumbling ; flattering themselves that they thus built the German empire on the sand , and that upon the removal of that ill-contrived imperial scaffolding nothing but their own democratic edifice would remain . Religious dissensions further complicated these difficulties . The Catholics , especially in the south , would not hear of a Lutheran Emperor .

    Thus did Austria carry the day . 1 he measure of improvidence , of arrant folly , was filled : the actual suicide of Germany , as a nation , was consummated by the election of an Austrian archduke . Not but this Prince ( the Archduke John ) might have been recommended by personal qualities . But the xVustrian predilections of that besotted Frankfort Assembly did not stop there . The archduke was suffered to build up an almost

    exclusively Austrian Cabinet , and as if more distinctly to bring before the world the identity between the Central Power of Germany and the Monarchy of the House of Iiapsburg , he had no sooner made his triumphant entry into the city of the ancient German Diet , on the 11 th of July , than he was called to open the National Assembly at Vienna on the 22 nd of the same month .

    Meanwhile parties could not be made to acquiesce in these unwise dispositions . The Republicans , who thought the moment favourable , too hastily dropped the mask , and both at Frankfort , and at Vienna and Berlin , obtained one day ' w victory , and were immediately crushed . The Imperialists , those , that is , who really cared for Germany , stood up for Prussia , and carried an election in favour of its King . But the weakness of this party , and the eternal doubts and misgivings of that soft-headed King frustrated the last hopes of the country , and the reaction which was at first merely directed against the Democrats , swept over the I'ederalistN , the moderate as well as the enraged patriots , before it .

    March , \ H 4 * J , came , and the People , it wan very clear , had lost all control over its destinies . Germany should never be , or only on such terms as its Princes dictated . The day of assemblies was gone by : the destinies of the country were now in the hand of Princely Congresses or Conferences . Now a union of Germany wun not merely a de-Hideratuin for the People : it was , to a certain extent , and under certain conditionw , a mailer ol

    necessity for the Princes also . The German Princes had enemies , both at home and abroad . The weakest among them required help against their own subjects : the strongest kept together for the sake of resisting foreign aggression . In proportion as the People lay more helplessly prostrate at their feet , in proportion as the peace of Europe seemed to rest on sounder bases , some of the most

    sanguine and ambitious showed some symptoms of self-reliance : they traced out their own course , regardless of their neighbours , regardless of Germany . Austria , victorious over Italy and Hungary , constituted itself altogether as if no Germany existed : the time had passed for Austria to bow to Germany : the time was soon to come when Germany was to receive the law from Austria . Austria had declared itself one and

    indivisible , and she was altogether too great to be swallowed by Germany . The absorption of Germany by her had , consequently , become matter of necessity . The People , as we have seen , had no longer any voice in the question : matters were to be settled between Austria and her only rival , Prussia ; and , as if this latter power had not already too greatly laboured under the evil of numerical inferiority , it had to contend against the imbecility or bad faith of its King , the senseless Conservatism of its aristocracy , the mean spirit of intrigue of its statesmen and soldiers , and , further still , with the threats of Russia , and the unfriendly influence of French and English diplomacy .

    Prussia gave in , of course ; at least she has shown the utmost readiness to give in . Materially , Austria has accomplished the subjugation of Germany ; not the People alone , but the Princes themselves , especially the Kings , are seized with dismay , and would fain bethink themselves of resistance . Prussia still affects freedom of action , talks big , insists upon votes in the Council now she has , without even a show of fighting , been ignominiously beaten off the field . Bavaria puts forth her claims to the gratitude of Austria for the dirty work done by her in behalf of that power , when it had to withstand the attack of all the nationalities of

    Europe . Wurtemberg throws itself upon the sympathies of the People ; tries once more the old dodge of a National Parliament , hoping to raise an obstacle on the path of that headlong Schwarzenberg , who tramples on Old no less than on Young Germany , and who begins at last to frighten the cooler set of Austrian statesmen themselves . The other petty Kings , Hanover , Saxony , and Bavaria , have taken up the cry of him of Wurtemberg : nothing is talked about in Berlin itself but the Federal Parliament , and Prussia herself , now strong by the support of France and England , once more makes some semblance of standing her ground against her overhearing imperial rival .

    There is , if we may believe a pretty general report—there is dismay and disunion in the Austrian councils : and there also , as here amongst us , the desperate measure of " sending for the Old Doctor " has been contemplated . Strange , indeed , if none but the men and measures of 1815 were to save Europe in 1851 ; Metternich and Wellington Metternich is said to have preached moderation . Prussia should not he driven to extremities : Austria should not insist on too close a centralization :

    Germany should be brought back to the Old Diet . The Old Doctor can think of nothing but the old nostrum . And we have no doubt that , and that alone will he the finale of the present German agitation . Frankfort will welcome back its old Bund in all its magnificent impotence . Germany will have no Union , but the sorriest possible apology for a Union . Prussia has already declared that the present diflioultien admit of no other solution . The Kinglets will be as safe as they were . No one a loser by the restoration , the People excepted .

    And the People ? The People of Germany can afford to wait . It smokes and meditates . It was roused into action in 1848 , not by its own effort , but by the impulse of France and Italy . As th < - movement was not spontaneous so was it wayward and aimless . The Germans contrived to muddle and mystify what was sufficiently simple and obvious . It was will * them a question of existence , and why should they have mixed it up with political ami social subjects ? The solution of such problems should he left to England , to France , to countries already in full control over their own destinies .

    " Fir « t catch your hare "—is a golden rule in all sublunar matters . The Germans argued , subtilized , in obedience to that instinct they have of going to the bottom of all things . Now it is not always necessary to search fio deep . You may sail across the Atlantic without troubling vourself about

    its soundings . It mattered not on what terms Germany should be , if they could only have brought it into being on any terms . And , after all , the people did not expect this of its leaders . It had not started on republican principles . They wished to conquer and subdue , but not to destroy their Princes . After the compromise of March , 1838 , the mention of a republic was treason ; not against the Princes merely , but against the People also . The People were made to break their word : how could the Princes be kept to theirs ?

    Now matters are changed . If the Germans make a fresh start , it will be on clearer ground . There is war d outrance between the parties . The Princes have abused their victory : let them beware of the People when it again gets the upper hand . Even German loyalty is not proof against Prussian shuffling , Austrian blustering , or Hessian trampling . A man must be sanguine , indeed , that would give five shillings for the most glittering of those German crowns ten years hence .

    Ten years did we say ? Truly , Germany is not amenable to time . Princes and People , Diets and Assemblies , everything in Germany takes ages to deliberate . Let the nation smoke its pipe out . It will cost her no greater effort to sweep away her paltry tyrants , than the mere knocking off the ashes from her pipe , when she has done with it .

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    WHAT'S THE USE OF A BISHOP ? Without any serious intention of injuring the episcopal bench , Lord Robert Grosvenor has succeeded in demonstrating that Bishops are useless . Most people fancy that the Bishop of London receives his £ 17 , 000 a-year for the great service he renders in keeping the Church in order . There never was a greater mistake . Charles James cannot keep his diocese in order though he were ever so much disposed . Lord Robert Grosvenor asks him what are the obstacles in the way of compelling an abandonment of practices in public worship unauthorized by the Rubric ? The Bishop of London replies that the law is not powerful enough . Where ceremonies have been introduced " which

    have not the sanction either of written law or of long-established usage , " he merely says , " / think that a clergyman is bound by his oath of canonical obedience to abstain from when required to do so by his ordinary . ' * But what is the use of a Bishop who only " thinks" that the clergyman ought to obey his superior ? If the ruler of a diocese cannot enforce obedience he ought to resign his situation . Poor man ! He finds it " by no means easy to determine in what cases coercive measures can be

    safely resorted to , where moral suasion has been ineffectual . " We heartily sympathize with him . The task is certainly a hard one , but he must boldly grapple with it or else give up his £ 17 , 000 a-year . He that desireth the income of a bishop desireth a good thing , but in these days the work should be almost equal to the pay , Only look at the way in wliich Charles James is treated by his recusant subalterns : — " The history of one of these cases is before the public , and shows the singular notions of canonical obedience with which I huve had to dent . In another instance , to which public allusion has been mude , a promise of compliance wilh my advice had ncarcely been made when it was formally withdrawn ; and in another , my earnest and affectionate entreaties have been met with an unqualified refusal to discontinue the uhc of foiim which had given very general offence to the parishioners . " How long is this anarchy to last ? The Bishop of London in * ' not without hope" that the most objectionable of the innovations will be laid aside . That hope is vain . The longer the di . seaHe is left untouched the more deeply rooted will it become . But dare the Bishops ask Parliament for a new law to enable them to cast Puneyismi out of the Church ? They are among the first to shrink from mich a proposition ; and their head is the very first ; for the Archbishop of Canterbury , as will he seen from his reply to Lord Anhley , is quite as helpless ;\ h Charles James . The 1 'ivan ^ eliciil |> aity in the Church very naturally ask their chief overseer to aHsist in putting down the l ' useyites ; and what does he promise ? He plainly admits that tlu ? Tractarian clergy are leading »>*" " over to Rome , hut ho cannot help it ! Henry of Kxeter mid Inn followers are too strong for him . Novcrtliolenw he promises that he will Btrontfly " discountenance " the Tractarian heresy . Anything moro thuti that tlie law will not permit . It appears that the name of Bishop ( episaopus ) ban been misinterpreted : h « amy he appointed , au tlie name iinplifx , to ovrr see everything in the demy ; hut wlien he espies a fault , his special

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    March 22 , 1851 . ] & fj t H t a & t X . 271

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 22, 1851, page 271, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1875/page/11/