with Ahlwardt's turbulent agitation
in Germany, gave a great impulse to anti-Semitism and served to drive
into its ranks a large number of Clericals. The agitation was taken in
hand by the Roman Catholic clergy, and the pulpits resounded with
denunciations of the Jews. One clergyman, Father Deckert, was prosecuted
for preaching the Blood Accusation and convicted (1894). Cardinal
Schlauch, bishop of Grosswardein, declared in the Hungarian House of
Magnates that the Liberals were in league with "cosmopolitans" for the
ruin of the country. In October 1894 the magnates adopted two of the
ecclesiastical bills with amendments, but threw out the Jewish bill by a
majority of six. The crown sided with the magnates, and the ministry
resigned, although it had a majority in the Lower House. An effort was
made to form a Clerical cabinet, but it failed. Baron Banffy was then
entrusted with the construction of a fresh Liberal ministry. The
announcement that he would persist with the ecclesiastical bills lashed
the Clericals and anti-Semites into a fury, and the agitation broke out
afresh. The pope addressed a letter to Count Zichy encouraging the
magnates to resist, and once more two of the bills were amended, and the
third rejected. The papal nuncio, Mgr. Agliardi, now thought proper to
pay a visit to Budapest, where he allowed himself to be interviewed on
the crisis. This interference in the domestic concerns of Hungary was
deeply resented by the Liberals, and Baron Banffy requested Count
Kalnoky, the imperial minister of foreign affairs, to protest against it
at the Vatican. Count Kalnoky refused and tendered his resignation to
the emperor. Clerical sympathies were predominant in Vienna, and the
emperor was induced for a moment to decline the count's resignation. It
soon became clear, however, that the Hungarians were resolved to see the
crisis out, and that in the end Vienna would be compelled to give way.
The emperor accordingly retraced his steps, Count Kalnoky's resignation
was accepted, the papal nuncio was recalled, a batch of new magnates
were created, and the Hungarian ecclesiastical bills passed.

Simultaneously with this crisis another startling phase of the
anti-Semitic drama was being enacted in Vienna itself. Encouraged by the
support of the Clericals the anti-Semites resolved to make an effort to
carry the Vienna municipal elections. So far the alliance of the
Clericals with the anti-Semites had been unofficial, but o