al political conflicts of German
agitators and dreamers, and was composed of the representatives of
this tangle of powerless, but vain and self-conscious little states.
This Holy Roman Empire, with an Austrian at its head, and aided by
France, strove to prevent the development of a strong German state
under the leadership of Prussia. After Napoleon's day it became a
struggle between Prussia and Austria. Austria had only eight out of
thirty-six million German population, while Prussia was practically
entirely German, and Prussia used her army, politics, and commerce to
gain control in Germany. Even to-day Austria-Hungary contains the most
varied conglomeration of races of any nation in the world. Austria has
26,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 9,000,000 are Germans, 1,000,000
Italians and Rumanians, 6,000,000 Bohemians and Slovacs, 8,000,000
Poles and Ruthenians, 2,000,000 Slovenes and Croatians. Of the
19,000,000 of Hungary there are 9,000,000 Magyars, 2,000,000 Germans,
2,500,000 Slovacs and Ruthenians, 3,000,000 Rumanians, and nearly
3,000,000 Southern Slays.

Weimar was one of the three hundred capitals of this limp empire, with
tariffs, stamps, coins, uniforms, customs, gossip, interests, and a
sovereign of its own. When Bismarck undertook the unifying of the
customs tariffs of Germany, there were even then fifteen hundred
different tariffs in existence!

Weimar had its salon, its notables: Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Frau
von Stein, Dr. Zimmermann as a valued correspondent; its Grand Duke
Karl August and his consort; Herder, who jealous of the renown of
Goethe, and piqued at the insufficient consideration he received, soon
departed, to return only when the Grand Duchess took him under her
wing and thus satisfied his morbid pride; its love affair, for did not
the beautiful Frau von Werthern leave her husband, carry out a mock
funeral, and, heralded as dead, elope to Africa with Herr von
Einsiedel? But Weimar was as far away from what we now agree to look
upon as the great events of the day, as were Lords Glengall and
Yarmouth at White's, in Saint James's.

It requires imagination to put Goethe and Schiller and Wieland in the
bow window at White's, and to place Lords Glengall and Yarmouth in
Frau von Stein's drawing-room in Weimar; but the discerning eye which
can see this picture, knows at a glance why England misunderstands
Germany and Germany misunderstands England. For White's is White's and
Weimar is Weimar, and