II, who in the very next
breath expresses his sentimental concern over the unfortunate lot of a
woman of loose life handed over to the tender mercies of a bully!

William's latest quarrel, it seems, is with liberty of conscience. The
_summus episcopus_ of the evangelical religion becomes the protector of
clericalism in Germany. He, the elect of God, has discovered the power
of the Catholic Church. This was the power that broke Bismarck, but it
will not break William II, for he intends to assimilate it. He dreams of
establishing his Protectorate over Catholicism in Europe, America, Africa
and in the East; his destiny lies in a world-wide mission, which only
Catholicism can support. He will, therefore, dominate the papacy, and
through it will govern the world.

February 26, 1892. [20]

The list of Emperor William's vagaries continues to grow. He, who was
once the father of socialists, now pursues them with all manner of
cruelty, in order to be revenged for their opposition to the scholastic
law. This law is his dearest achievement. He produced it under the same
conditions as his socialist rescripts, all by himself, without consulting
his Minister. It seems that Von Sedlitz was instructed to bring it
forward without discussing its terms. This is a reactionary _coup
d'etat_ in the same way that the rescripts on socialism were a democratic
stroke. Will this "new course" of Imperial policy, as they call it in
Germany, last any longer than its predecessor? I presume so, for it
corresponds more closely than the old one to the autocratic instincts of
William II.

The National, Liberal and Progressive parties, and even the Socialists,
who had turned full of hope towards their Liberal Emperor, now vie with
each other in turning their backs on the Sovereign, who fulfils the
policies of a Von Kardoff or a Baron von Stumm, the most determined
Conservatives of the extreme party.

The Universities of Berlin and Halle, together with all the other
educational institutions, have addressed petitions to the Landtag,
protesting against the re-organisation of the primary schools, which it
is proposed to hand over to the Church. Sixty-nine professors out of
eighty-three, six theologians out of eight, including amongst them
certain members of the Faculty, have signed this protest. The greatest
names of German science and literature have here joined forces. Liberals
like Herr Harnack have made common cause with such an