23 APRIL 1887, Page 3

Prince Bismarck has not yet carried his Bill repealing the

May Laws through the Prussian Lower House, and so vehe- ment is the opposition, that he has been obliged to use extra- ordinary means. On Monday, in a speech in which he openly said that in the troublous times ahead he wanted the Pope's alliance, he formally threatened to resign all political life in Prussia, and to confine himself to the Chancellorship of the Empire. The threat created a lively sensation, and together with the surrender of the Centre Party, which has formally announced that on such a subject it holds the Pope to be supreme, will probably carry the Bill. The old Liberals are, however, furious, and even the National Liberals, ibis said, leek askance at the Bill.