The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-26

greet must skip all notice of the political parties
Of the Imperial Parliament, which is ''particu-
larly distinguished for its utter want of patriot
ism" But l cannot omit the great figure of the
Chancellor, perhaps the only man in Prussia
capable of approaching tho greatness of his
work, and who is so identified with it that when
he disappears it will descend with him into the
gravel" 1t is by contrast with the pigmies Of
the Reichstag and the Federal Council that Bis
marck appears greatest but Count Paul
Vasili does not pretend to give portrait of
this sphinx; he confesses frankly that he has
tried and has failed to discover his secret,
and he consoles himself by saying that ''the
Chancellor himself does not know himself" The
contributorto the Nouvele Revue merely indi-
Gates the Importance of the place which the
Prince occupies in Germany by measuring the
void WHICH must be caused by his death 80
entirely has he fashioned Germany to bend to
his will that we may boldly affirm her inability
to walk alone when he shall be no longer there
to guide her steps. He reigns as well as gov
| erns; the Parliament is the most incapable
which has ever existed; all the vital forces Of
the nation are concentrated in one individual.
Doubtless he has made his country great ma
tion the arbitress of the world, but he has
prepared her downfall and her destruction
by crushing all those who might have continued
his work" The Chancellor has never tolerated
in office any one whom his talents might posi-
bly, make his rival, and among the mediocrities
in high places there is really no one, except,
perhaps, Manteufel, to whom the empire Bis
successor The events of 1854 1866, and 1871
transformed radically the conditions of Ger
many's existence The hegemony of a military
power succeeded the reign Of the peaceable,
prudish Federal Diet, the enemy of all Violence;
but, in absorbing Germany, Prussia herself
entered a new period of her history What built
up her greatness may be insufficient to maintain
it. Prussia is not synonymous with Germany,
and it remains an open question whether the
system which profted in the one case may
succeed in the other. The heart of the Prussian
monarchy scarcely be called German; the
Marches of Brandenburg, Silesia, Pomerania
and ducal Prussia were Slavic and Pagan lands
when the German nation had already its place in
history; even now the Prussan-the Borusse, as
he loves to call himself-is proud to assert that
his origin is not TeutOnic Very little German
blood runs in the veins of Bismarck of whom
one of the most striking qualities is the appro-
priation of the ideas of another race. He APP
preciated the power of the German sentiment
and turned it to the profit Of his own am
try. 1t is not long since Berlin boosted
that she was Prussian, not German the
diplomatic campaign which ended with the spoil
alton of Denmark, was the work of Prussia and
not at all of Germany, while perusal of his
correspondence which the Chancellor has just
published will convince the most incredulous of
the contempt felt by the Prussian plenipotentiary
at Frankfort for the Diet the German govern
ments, and the enthusiastic dreams of German
patriotism. Even on the morrow of Sadowa
King William himself was more anxious to com
plete the work of the great Frederick than to
claim the inheritance of the Hohenstauffen,
and only an historical and moral revolution
of the traditions of the Hohenzollern
could accomplish the substitution of the
quas-revolutionary hymn of the ''Wacht
am Rhein" for the ''March of Dessau."
Bismarcks genius has triumphed, but it has
changed the course of Prussan policy. This
policy, the work of It patient, tenacious, un
scrupulous dynasty, served by petty people
among whom discipline is hereditary with all the
defects and qualities of conquering races, this
policy undertakes the difficult task of salts
flying the aspirations of great nation, which is
all the more exactirg that its elevation has been
rapid. So long the Emperor William lives
his authority and prestige will prevail, but M.
Won Bismarck will not be always on hand to aid
his successor, and Germany and her future SOW
ereign will deplore than that the
great Chancellor has forgotten disdained to
prepare fit heirs for his redoubtable inheritance