ristocratic
constitution of the State arises from the insidious advance of the
French revolutionary dogma of equality. The spirit of envy is
undermining the social hierarchy in every country. That mean spirit of
democratic envy is as old as the democratic institution itself.
Ostracism in the nobler elements of the community is as characteristic
of the Greek democracy as of the French. All democracies have resented
that Aristides should be called the "Just." So far it is only the
Prussian State which has escaped from the poisonous doctrine of
Rousseau. But even in Prussia the progress of the Gospel according to
Saint Marx is a disquieting symptom. To defend the prerogatives of the
Junkers against the assaults of the Social Democracy must therefore be
one of the main political concerns of a patriotic Prussian.

XXI.--THE PLEA FOR PROTESTANTISM.

It may be said that Protestantism is so closely identified with modern
German history that it may almost be considered as the Germanic form
of Christianity. Certainly Prussia is an essentially Protestant State.
From the beginning it has grown from the secularization of Church
property, when a Hohenzollern Grand Master, following the advice of
Luther, took the bold step of confiscating the demesnes of the
Teutonic Order. But it is not only Prussia that has grown and
prospered through Protestantism. The Protestant form of Christianity
in whatever form is essential to the very existence of the modern
State. For no State can exist unless the spiritual power be
subordinated to the temporal power. The Protestant Church must needs
accept that subordination because Protestantism must necessarily
result in a diversity of rival and powerless sects, and therefore, if
it be true that Protestantism is necessary for the State, the State is
even more necessary to Protestantism. The old dictum, _Cujus regio,
illius religio_, holds good of Prussia. The spiritual allegiance
follows the temporal allegiance. The State alone can secure for those
different Churches that peace and toleration without which religious
war becomes a chronic evil. Toleration and the peaceful coexistence
of many Churches under the protection of the State have been for
centuries the boast and glory of the Prussian State.

Catholicism does not accept that necessary subordination. The German
State of the Middle Ages, the Holy Roman Empire of the Hohenstaufen,
perished because of the conflict with the Papacy. The modern Teut