Leading A.rticles in the Reviews. 



485 



THE IRRITABLE MAN OF IRON. 



Prince Bismarck and his Subordinaiks. 

 Thk Deutsche Rundschau for October continues 

 the publication of the posthumous papers of Dr. 

 Buscli, under the editorship of Herr L. Raschdau. 



DR. BUSCH'S posthumous PAPERS. 



In addition to the regular journals relating to his 

 work abroad and at Berlin kept by Dr. Busch, there 

 are amongst his papers a number of detached essays, 

 apparently intended to take a place in a more ex- 

 tended and connected account of his life. One of 

 these, relating to his work connected with foreign 

 affairs, has a special interest, as it gives us a picture, 

 by an intimate collaborator, of the method of work 

 organised by Prince Bismarck as the head of what 

 was then an important political department. The 

 essay is evidently a fragment, for it ends rather 

 abruptly. 



BISMARCK WITH AN ATTACK OF VIGOUR. 



l.veryone who worked in the department and 

 attempted in any way to maintain his independence 

 was bound to come into collision with the Chancellor, 

 and even Dr. Busch did not escape the experience. 

 In the summer of 1874, Dr. Busch was recalled from 

 St. Peter.sburg to fill a post in the political depart- 

 ment as special adviser, particularly in Oriental 

 questions. .\t the time the Chancellor was resting at 

 Varzin, and he was not to be troubled too much with 

 State business. Reports briefly summarised were 

 submitted to him, and he would write his observa- 

 tions in the margin for the guidance of the staff. In 

 the late autumn he returned to Berlin and resumed 

 his tremendous activity. He had never been a man 

 to pass over details, and now everything assumed 

 an exaggerated importance. 



HOW A MINOR OFFICIAI, MIGHT OFFEND. 



An agent in his report had only to use an expres- 

 sion which the Chancellor considered not Cjuite 

 suitable, and such a mistake in form, or such trivial 

 matters as the (juality of the ink or the paper used, or 

 perha[)S the use of Latin characters, which was 

 strictly prohibited, was sufficient to arouse the wrath 

 of the man of iron, and in his excitement the Chan- 

 cellor would lay down new laws and regulations to 

 prevent the recurrence of these faults, but having sue h 

 far-reaching consequences that they could not be [)ut 

 into force. It was no use to endeavour to com- 

 promise, for Bismarck rould not bear to have his 

 contradictory orders jiointed out, but in his calmer 

 moments he would admit that the condition of his 

 health was such that it was impossible to dispute 

 about the matter. It might be that he was often in 

 the wrong, and that the measures he took toUl against 

 himself, but he was too tired to enter into the ques- 

 tion. Nevertheless this tendency to yield to the 

 impulse of the moment caused the staff no end of 

 trouble. No one was more sensitive to the attacks of 

 the press than Prince Bismarck, and they wen; a 



continual source of irritation to him. The view of 

 other statesmen that it was best to ignore them he 

 attributed to sentimental weakne.ss, the disease of the 

 age. Every attack, he said, should be slain, and 

 every insult met. 



THE NEW SCHOLARSHIP. 



In his article on the Heart of Things in Chambers's 

 fournal for November, Mr. Henry Leach takes for 

 his subject the New Scholarshij). 



STUDY OF THE PRESENT OR THE PAST. 



The present system of examinations, especially in 

 secondary schools, has long been under suspicion, he 

 says. Candidates are crammed with books of facts 

 which are not understood, and the examinations are 

 mere memory-tests. Mediocrity is encouraged and 

 individuality suppressed. History books often end at 

 the accession of Queen Victoria, exactly where they 

 ought more properly to begin. It is the events of 

 thr modern time that have an immediate bearing on 

 all that we have to do to-day. Students know all 

 about the Reformation, but nothing about the Reform 

 and the Education measures of the most tremendous 

 consequence. While they know, or at least once did 

 know, all about the old-time trouble with the barons, 

 they know nothing of the causes which led up to the 

 Parliament Act of 191 1. How serviceable it would 

 be to be equipped with a knowledge of the rise of 

 labour and the history of the Trade Union movement '. 

 The knowledge of many of our early wars with 

 France could well be spared to make room for some 

 concerning the progress of Oermany in recent years, 

 and knowledge of the Continental alliances of long- 

 gone times, very soon forgotten again, is infinitely 

 less important than knowledge about the Triple 

 .Mliance of to-day. What do students learn about 

 the British Empire ? Can they read with any under- 

 standing the money-columns of the daily papers ? 

 What do they know of the Morocco of to-day ? 



KXAMINATIONS BASED UPON THE NEWSPAPER. 



If only there was such a thing as a school at which 

 those destined for commercial careers could be taught 

 only the things of to-day, beginning English history 

 with the nineteenth century, considering geo- 

 graphy only from the [)oint of view of the political 

 and commercial problems of the recent past and the 

 future, being made to speak and read both French 

 and Cermun, and being taught something of the 

 simpler laws of the country as they affect the ordinary 

 doings of the individual in private and commercial 

 life — in short, being made so efficient in knowledge 

 of subjects and matters of current interest and imjiort- 

 ance, that they could pass an examination based upon 

 the morning's news[)aper, surely such a school would 

 succeed amazingly. How a little of such practical 

 knowledge would add to the interest and pleasure 

 and profit of reading the daily paper ! 



