The Archbishop of Mayence, Herr von Ketteler, has addressed a-very
manly letter to the Emperor of Germany, challenging the latter to prove the assertion, made by him in his published reply to the Pope, that German Catholics have been guilty of disloyal intrigues. Either, be says, the agitation of the German Roman Catholics has been within the law, in which case no such charge can fairly be brought; or it has transgressed the law, in which case they are liable to be indicted for treason, and ought to be so indicted. And he demands the public evidence of the charges made, or else liberty to show tha Em- peror how grossly he has been misinformed. The Arch- bishop will not get either petition. It is of course im- possible to produce the evidence of treason, or such excellent political material would never have been left unused by Prince Bismarck. And it is inconvenient to admit that the Emperor has done his Roman Catholic subjects a wrong, at a moment when the campaign against Rome is Prince Bismarck's chief title to popularity with the hybrid Liberalism of Prussia. But the unanswered challenge will remain, and will produce its effect.
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