Prince Bismarck, on the 13th inst., condescended to inform the
Reichstag of his reasons for sending back the Resolution of the American House of Representatives expressing regret for the death of Dr. Lasker. He should not, he said, have sent it back, but he would not be attacked, "even through the mouth of the dead," and the resolution contained a phrase which im- plied that in his contest with Emperor and Chancellor, Dr. Lasker had been in the right. If so, the Emperor and he himself had throughout been in the wrong, and he would never allow that. He yielded to no one in amity for the American nation, and in the great war had resisted certain " enticements " to interfere on the Southern side. The speech was able and, from a cer- tain point of view, reasonable; but it betrays an absence of moral fortitude, which in a man so resolute is striking. Prince Bismarck is as sensitive to censure as a Bishop. What can it matter to him, when Dr. Lasker is dead, whether the American Representatives think Dr. Lasker right or not? He is at the top, and the Emperor will support him, and the legions will obey him all the same. If he could convert the American
Representatives, it might be worth while to struggle ; but merely to snub them is childish. They only smile, and quote Irving.
Previous page
