na even, in Germany.
Berlin is the capital, but it is not a capital by political or social
evolution, but by force of circumstances. Germany has many centres
which are not only not interested in Berlin, but even antagonistic.
Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Leipsic, Frankfort, Dresden, Breslau, and
besides these, twenty-six separate states with their capitals, their
rulers, courts, and parliaments, go to make up Germany, and perhaps
you are least of all in Germany when you are in Berlin. It is true
that we have many States, many capitals, and many governors in
America, but they have all grown from one, and not, as in Germany,
been beaten into one, and held together more from a sense of danger
from the outside than from any interest, sympathy, and liking for one
another.

With us each State, too, has a powerful representation both in the
Senate and in the House of Representatives, which keeps the interest
alive, while in Germany Prussia is overwhelmingly preponderant. In the
upper house, or Bundesrat, Prussia has 17 representatives; next comes
Bavaria with 6; and the other states with 4 or less, out of a total of
58 members. In the Reichstag, out of a total of 397 representatives,
Prussia has 236.

Political society is not all centred in Berlin, as it is in London,
Paris, or Washington, nor is social life there representative of all
Germany. Berlin's stamp of approval is not necessary to play, or
opera, or book, or picture, or statue, or personality. Indeed, Berlin
often takes a lead in such matters from other cities in Germany where
the artistic life and history are more fully developed, as, for
instance, in other days, Weimar, and now Munich, Dresden, and, in
literary matters, Leipsic. A recent example of this, though of small
consequence in itself, is the case of the opera, the "Rosen Kavalier,"
which was given repeatedly in Dresden and Leipsic, whither many Berlin
people went to hear it, before the authorities in Berlin could be
persuaded to produce it.

The nobility, the society heavy artillery, come to Berlin only for
three or four weeks, from the middle of January to the middle of
February, to pay their respects to their sovereign at the various
court functions given during that time. They live in the country and
only visit in Berlin. It is complained, that the double taxation
incident to the up-keep of an establishment both in town and in the
country, makes it impossible for them to be much in Berlin. They stay
in