PEUSSIA. 



655 



men to the new laws should be kept strictly- 

 secret. 



The Catholic bishops held in March another 

 conference at Fulda. They resolved to address 

 a petition to the Emperor William in person, 

 remonstrating against the withdrawal of the 

 state grants, to the maintenance of which they 

 declared the honor of Prussia was pledged. 

 They also protested against being required to 

 obey unconditionally the state laws. The min- 

 isters authorized by the Emperor replied, ex- 

 pressing regret that the bishops should ob- 

 ject to obey laws which were always obeyed 

 in other countries, and adding that the bishops 

 would have preserved the Fatherland from 

 peace-disturbing confusion if they had remained 

 faithful to their own convictions and to the 

 warnings which they proclaimed before the 

 Vatican Council. 



The Prussian Government, in the progress of 

 the conflict, remained as unyielding as the Pope. 

 Several bishops were imprisoned, and the Bish- 

 ops of Paderborn and Breslau were deposed 

 for disobeying the laws of the state, and in 

 the course of the year proceedings were also 

 instituted against the Bishop of Treves and 

 the Archbishop of Cologne. The Bishops of 

 Paderborn and Breslau and the Archbishop of 

 Cologne left the Prussian territory and attempt- 

 ed to administer their dioceses from abroad 

 through unknown delegates. Only to one of 

 the new laws respecting the administration of 

 Church and diocesan property did the bishops 

 resolve to submit, and accordingly Church 

 councils, consisting exclusively of laymen, were 

 chosen in all the Catholic congregations of the 

 kingdom for the administration of the paro- 

 chial property. The result of their election 

 showed that the overwhelming majority of the 

 Catholic population of Prussia sided with the 

 bishops. The excitement among the Catholic 

 population led to several riots. In the prov- 

 ince of Prussia a priest who had made his sub- 

 mission to the ecclesiastical laws was mobbed ; 

 and in Konigshutte, Silesia, the public school 

 was invaded by a crowd of furious women who 

 had heard that their children were to be made 

 Old Catholics. In the large cities, the policy of 

 the Government had, however, many steadfast 

 supporters among the wealthy and educated 

 classes. Dr. Falk, the Minister of Public Wor- 

 ship* and author of all the ecclesiastical laws, 

 on a tour which he made in July through the 

 Rhine Province, met with an enthusiastic re- 

 ception in all the Catholic cities, and the Coun- 

 cil of Cologne conferred upon Prince Bismarck 

 the right of honorary citizenship. 



The Prussian Government has for some time 

 been intent upon carrying through the synodal 

 constitution in the United Evangelical Church. 

 To this end synods, consisting of clerical and 

 lay members, are to meet regularly in the cir- 

 cles (Kreissynoden) in the provinces (Promn- 

 cialsynoderi), and for the entire kingdom (Ge- 

 neralsynode). In the Rhine Province and in 

 Westphalia the Protestant state Church has 



long been in possession of a synodal constitu- 

 tion, but in the eastern provinces the circle 

 synods were not introduced until 1874. The 

 first provincial synods of these provinces met 

 in the spring, 1875. An extraordinary synod, 

 consisting partly of delegates chosen by the 

 provincial synods, and partly of members ap- 

 pointed by the King, met in Berlin, on Novem- 

 ber 24th, and was closed on December 18th. 

 This synod was to draft a synodal constitution 

 for the Protestant State Church (United Evan- 

 gelical Church of Prussia). Three large parties 

 were represented in it: the Lutheran, which 

 contends for the strictest adhesion to the Lu- 

 theran symbols of that portion of the Church 

 which was originally Lutheran; the Liberal 

 party, which professes the rationalistic view of 

 the "Protestant Union" (Protestantenvereiri) 

 and a middle party, which is anxious to avoid 

 all extremes, and to make it possible for all par- 

 ties to remain in the Church. This party, which 

 is supported by the entire influence the state 

 Government can bring to bear, was in a ma- 

 jority, and elected, as president of the synod, 

 Count Stolberg Wernigerode, one of the fore- 

 most statesmen of Prussia. The draft of the 

 constitution prepared by the majority, when 

 put to the final vote, was adopted by 134 

 against 62 votes. 



The President of the General Synod, Count 

 OTTO zu STOLBEKG-WERNIGEEODE, was born Oc- 

 tober 30, 1837. He studied at the Universities 

 of Gottingen and Heidelberg, and, having grad- 

 uated, he entered the Gardes du Corps as lieu- 

 tenant, but remained in this position a short 

 time only. Having arrived at majority, he 

 took charge of the large family estates, which 

 had come into his possession in 1854, upon the 

 death of his grandfather. In 1867 he was ap- 

 pointed Oberpriisident of Hanover, which po- 

 sition he filled with great ability up to 1873, 

 when he resigned. A few months before his 

 resignation, he was elected President of the 

 Prussian Herrenhaus in the place of his father, 

 the late Count Eberhard. Early in 1876 he was 

 appointed German embassador at the court of 

 Vienna. 



ETJDOLPH VON BENNINGSEN, First President 

 of the House of Deputies, was born in 1824. In 

 1855 he was elected a member of the Second 

 Chamber of Hanover, where he was, up to 

 1866, the leader of the Democratic party. In 

 1859 he issued, with others, a declaration, that 

 the Federal Constitution of Germany no longer 

 sufficed, and that a Parliament and a strong 

 central power were needed. This was fol- 

 lowed in the same year by the foundation of 

 the " National verein," of which he was presi- 

 dent up to 1867. Since 1867 he was a mem- 

 ber of the Provincial Diet of Hanover, the 

 Prussian House of Deputies, and of the North- 

 German Eeichstag, of which body he was 

 elected second vice-president. In 1873 he was 

 elected First President of the Prussian House 

 of Deputies. He was also elected a member 

 of the first and the second German Reichstag. 



