diplomatic relations between the new Empire and the Holy
See. It is by no means matter for surprise that a man of Prince Bismarck's
views and character should have so acted, or even that he should have
become the promoter of the greatest and most unwarrantable persecution by
which any nation has been disgraced, or to which any portion of the Church
has been subjected in modern times. This minister, who may be truly
described as the political scourge of Germany, is as fanatical in religion
as he is coarse and sceptical in politics. He abandoned his party, and
became, or feigned to become, a liberal in order to gratify his hatred of
the Catholic Church. He belongs to that branch of Protestantism which is
called "orthodox" (_lucus a non lucendo_). On occasion of the debate, 14th
April, 1874, on the law which withdrew the salaries of the Catholic
clergy, a Protestant conservative member of the representative body, Count
de Malrahn, declared that he would vote for this law, because it would
affect only the Catholics, without interfering with the rights of the
Evangelical denomination. Bismarck, by his reply, not only showed an utter
absence of all political faith, but at the same time a degree of political
hypocrisy with which all true history will never cease to stigmatize him.
"I must express the great joy which I experience on hearing the
declaration of the preceding speaker. If, at the commencement of the
religious conflict, the conservatives had taken this ground, and sustained
the government in the name of the Evangelical religion, I never would have
been under the necessity of separating from the Conservative party."

From Chancellor Bismarck's own words, therefore, it may be concluded that
it was excessive sectarian fanaticism which made him an infidel and
hypocrite in politics, a traitor to his party, and a savage persecutor of
the Church. When there was question in December, 1874, of obtaining an act
for the suppression of the Prussian legation to the Holy See, the
deep-rooted hatred of Prince Bismarck and his absolute want of conscience
became still more apparent. He audaciously accused the Court of Rome of
having been the ally of France, and even of the revolution in the war
against Prussia in 1870. He pretended that if the OEcumenical Council was
closed abruptly, it was in order to leave complete liberty of action to
Napoleon III.; and, as facts were necessary in order to support this
extraordinary and false asse