114 PROF. D. S. MARGOLIOUTH, D.LITT., ON THE INFLUENCE OF 



opinions than the originator of a system.* Treitschke's opinions 

 liave reference to a state of affairs resulting from the Franco- 

 Prussian War rather than to the problems of our own time. He 

 was the apostle of German unity under Prussian hegemony and 

 of Hohenzollern autocracy. In a recently translated volume of 

 Treitschke's essays we have what may be presumed to be his 

 mature opinions, of which a specimen may be quoted : The new 

 /German Imperialism has renounced the theocratic claim to world 

 . dominion which was made by the Holy Roman Empire, bid in the 

 .actual world of every day it has established more firmly than ever 

 Jhe monarchical powers that attached to the old Imperial rule. In 

 ,a monarchy the will of the Stcde finds direct expression in the deter- 

 minations of an independent head of the executive, whereas in a 

 republic it finds compression as the outcome of the struggles of parties 

 and of the estates of the realm. An application of these considera- 

 tions to modern German conditions renders incontestable the mon- 

 archical character of the German Empire; every fresh political 

 task imposed upon our people by the progress of history inevitably 

 strengthens the monarchical authority of our Emperor. Now, a 

 man may at once be the spokesman of a Government, and be 

 expressing opinions in which he himself sincerely believes ; yet 

 in any case it is the Government rather than he who is 

 responsible for them. And the impression which these essays 

 leave on the mind is that their author is putting forward 

 matter which his Government desired him to put forward, and 

 its interest is mainly for the home politics of Germany. He 

 expressly distinguishes the German Empire from such federa- 

 tions as those of Switzerland and the United States on the 

 ground that the constitution of these two Federal States rests 

 upon the equality of all members of the Federal Union, but the 

 German Imperial constitution rests upon inequality, the pre- 

 ponderant power of Prussia. To the Crown of this leading 

 Stcde is attached an hereditary right to the Imperial throne, and 

 there is attached also a monarchical dominion ivhich, though still 

 incomplete in form, grows stronger daily under our very eyes. In 

 all matters of decisive importance Prussia has the determining 

 voice. This is because the Prussian eagle alone is able to keep his 

 grip of what he has once pounced on. But both in the passage 

 cited above and elsewhere Treitschke, doubtless in accordance 



* In Dr. Smith's more recent work, called What Germany Thinks, he 

 insists, with knowledge based on experience, upon the fact that the 

 German professor of history, such as Treitschke was, is merely a 

 mouthpiece for the Government. 



