mere medium for the practice of the German language. In those places where the local authorities, acting on the discretion permitted to them by the regulation, banished the Polish language as the medium of religious teaching, parents, anxious for the salvation of their children, conjointly with the Archbishop, implored the Government to discontinue these dangerous experiments. Meetings were held, parents submitted to the substitution of German for Polish in all secular subjects, and begged only for three or four hours a week, during which the Catechism might be taught in the mother tongue. The Government either gave no answer, or answered only by forcing the children to say their prayers in German, with the natural result that that language, taught with the aid of the rod, became more and more hateful to both parents and children. During the whole period of the Kulturkampf, Polish deputies and members of the Clerical Centre endeavored to obtain the Polish language for the Polish population. Concessions or aggravations

succeeded each other in turns, according to the changes of Ministry, thus making it evident that the settlement of a question of such supreme importance was left principally to the personal judgment of each man in power. When the Kulturkampf was ended, though Church and State had come to an understanding, the banishment of the Polish language became general, not only where the population was a mixed one, but also where it was purely Polish, again causing the Archbishop of Posen, Mgr. Dinder, a German, to intercede for the Poles under his charge, and inducing him to call upon both clergy and laity to protest against measures so ill-advised. When the present monarch, the II., Emperor William came to the throne, his deep religious feeling and love of humanity led him, at the

It

representation of the present Archbishop of Posen, Mgr. Stablewski, who was appointed in 1892, and that of the Chancellor Caprivi, one of the most noble-minded statesmen who ever lived, to introduce some more conciliatory measures, and for a while the state of affairs was somewhat bettered. But the policy inaugurated by Prince Bismarck had taken root too deeply to be easily eradicated. was impossible that the trial of strength which resulted from the establishment of the hundred-millionmark fund and the Settlement Commission, the object of which was to increase the numbers of the German element by the State-aided purchase of land, should be confined to this one particular field of activity. The Chauvinistic and Pan-German ambitions of the Hakatists' aimed at nothing short of the total extinction of everything distinctively Polish, and of

the assimilation of the Polish element by dispossession, by exclusion from office, and by the abolition of their language. This party gradually succeeded in imparting to the internal policy of Prussia the direction they desired, and thus destroyed that seed of good-will which had been sown by the monarch's benevolent hand. From the moment when this party definitely obtained the ascendency, ever new measures have been taken to oppress a people whose whole crime consists in being unable to forget that they are Poles, or to learn to lick the heel of the oppressor.

It will thus be seen that the present open strife is no mere transient outburst of discontent, but the natural and inevitable consequence of a long conflict which has never wholly ceased though it has sometimes slumbered.

1 The name is derived from the initial letters of the names of the three principal advocates of the policy of Germanization. Herren Hansemann, Kühnemann, and Tiedemann.

The population of the Duchy of Posen was first aroused by the Kulturkampf. As a deeply religious and highly sensitive people they were wounded to the quick by the closing of their churches, and the arrest and imprisonment of their beloved Archbishop, Ledéchowski, and a large number of priests; and the generation which had witnessed these acts of oppression continued, even after the Kulturkampf had ended in the victory of the Church, to cherish a feeling of resentment and indignation towards the State which had proved the enemy of their religion. When at a later date the struggle again became acute the remembrance of past conflicts, together with the consciousness of fresh wrongs, threw them into open opposition to the Government. As to the children, worn out by unintelligible teaching, victims of the irascibility of their masters, from their very infancy they viewed with one feeling of hatred language, masters, system and State. The battle which raged around the question of the language of religious instruction reached a climax in the year 1901. Although the regulation which prescribes that this language shall be German whenever, in the opinion of the teachers, the children are able to understand it has remained in force it has not always been applied with equal rigor. In the spring of 1901 an attempt was made to enforce it at the town of Wreschen, which met with open resistance on the part of the children. In order to compel their obedience both boys and girls were severely caned, and the indignation of the parents at this proceeding was SO fierce that some of them invaded the schoolhouse, and endeavored to prevent the execution of the punishment. For this offence twenty-six persons were brought to trial in November and sentenced to periods of imprisonment

of varying lengths. The excitement caused by these sentences was so intense in all parts of Poland, that at Warsaw and Lemberg there were demonstrations before the German Consulates, and the question was debated in the Austrian and German Parliaments and in the Prussian Diet. Prince (then Count) Bülow made a long speech in the Prussian Diet in January 1902, in which he stated that the present policy would be pursued, that larger sums would be voted for the acquisition of lands, and that, in a word, no concession would be made to the demands of the Poles for the right to preserve their language.

No hardships or persecutions have since then been spared the Polish people in this or in other respects. The Colonization Board continue to buy up Polish land with a capital formed partly of involuntary Polish contributions, dividing it subsequently amongst homeless, landless, uncultured people gathered from all parts of the world, from Transylvania and Ruthenia, from Russia and the Caucasus, and expelling the original owners. The Poles love their land, more perhaps than their own mothers. and the sight of those rich colonies scattered all over it, established out of their money, while they, the rightful owners of the soil, have no access to them, keeps constantly alive within them the bitter consciousness of injustice and wrong. This Draconian law has now been supplemented by the prohibition to build even on land that has long been in the hands of Polish owners, who can scarcely be expected to feel respect for the laws when they themselves are being made outlaws. Further, the Germanizing of Polish names and surnames, the use of which is now punished by fines, the relentless Germanizing, in spite of all protests, of the ancient Polish names of hundreds

of localities, the punishments inflicted on children for the chance use of a Polish word in school, the vexatious interference even with the private life of the few remaining office-bearers of Polish origin, the boycotting of Polish tradesmen and craftsmen-all these petty persecutions are a constant source of irritation, a lash from which the shoulders of the Poles are continually smarting.

But, as though all this were not enough, the official and non-official Hakatist Press constantly proposes new measures of oppression. This Press is supported either by ambitious men anxious to rise by its help, or by paid agents who will do anything for gain, or by other unscrupulous individuals who, for one cause or another, are desirous to fish in the troubled waters of German patriotism. These different elements unite to form solid camarilla, strong through the influence of powerful supporters and the possession of large funds. It is they who are the leaders of opinion in the Prussian State in regard to the question of the "Eastern borders" (Ostmark), and who are the true inspirers of the decisions of the Government. Some fifteen years ago, Baron Willamowitz, then Chief President of the province of Posen, a man of great ability, matured judgment, and wide and liberal views, endeavored to bring about an understanding between the two races. His laudable intentions were frustrated by the above-described individuals, although he found that the Poles, for their part, were even then ready to forget the injuries that had been inflicted upon them. There are, it is true, some indications that the danger of persisting in the present course is beginning to be realized. Here and there a warning voice is raised, and appeals are made to the central authorities; but God alone can tell how long it may be before the error is finally recognized.

In the meantime, these mistakes are being constantly repeated. Hardly has one unjust measure been framed than another is proposed for consideration; and on the present political horizon a law for the expropriation of the Poles in favor of those colonists of whose nationality, faith, and character nothing is known, even to the Settlement Commissioners themselves, is written in letters of fire a law such as is unknown to any Christian nation save during war and violent social disturbances. Yet, however incredible it may seem, this new scheme will probably find supporters who will be bold enough to exhibit it for the judgment of civilized Europe.

It will readily be conceived how, in the face of such systematic oppression and humiliation, the Polish element, troubled to the very depths of its soul, was ready to flame out into rebellion, especially when the Prussian mania of persecution laid violent hands on the deepest and holiest feelings of the Polish Catholics. Was not their faith the only remaining heirloom of their former splendor and freedom? Was it not to be treasured and loved? Was it not their solace in suffering, their sweetness in joy? Was life worth anything without their churches, without their holy pictures at home? And now the merciless Prussian Government stretches forth its ruthless hands to take from them even this. What, then, will cheer them in the hard battle for the bare necessaries of life, oppressed and anguished as they are? May not their children any longer learn in their own language the Catechism that was taught to their fathers? No great knowledge of psychology is needed to understand the feelings of an uncultured, hard-working people, who have no other thought but to support their families, and to earn their daily bread honestly and willingly, comforted in their trials by

spiritual consolations.

These feelings are outraged by the arbitrary action of the Prussian Government. How, then, can we wonder at the determination with which they fight to be allowed to keep that one consolation in their very own language-not in that of a Government which has made itself loathsome to them from their very childhood?

The Government has turned a deaf ear to the tearful petitions which have been addressed to it again and again. It has recently decided to take fresh and energetic measures for the enforcement of the detested regulation regarding the language of religious instruction. And finding all their remonstrances of no avail, the Poles decided to accept the challenge that has been forced upon them, and to oppose the violence to which they are subjected by such means as are at their disposal. It was resolved that on October 17 a strike of school-children should begin, and continue until its object had been attained. The children were told to return to their masters the German Catechism and Scripture-book that were given to them when the Government, justly suspecting that the parents would refuse to buy them, presented them free of charge. They were ordered not to answer when questioned during the German Scripture or Catechism lessons. At first the Educational Board treated the matter lightly, thinking that the resistance would easily be put down. The result, however, has already proved that they miscalculated. Notwithstanding the severe measures taken against the children, opposition continues to grow stronger and stronger. Thrashings, threats, detention have proved quite unavailing to check the movement. At the present time about 70,000 children are taking part in the strike, and it is still spreading. This unforeseen event has filled the Educational Board with

consternation; and the Central Authorities in Berlin, badly informed as to the circumstances, are quite at a loss what to do. It is, of course, undeniable that the participation of children in this conflict is from many points of view most deplorable. It is only with extreme reluctance that the leaders of Polish opinion have felt themselves constrained to sanction a form of protest of which the disadvantages are so obvious; and they have done so only after having exhausted all the milder methods of remonstrance at their disposal. It was not until long experience and repeated disappointments had convinced them that their innumerable petitions were merely so much waste paper that they at length consented to take so extreme a step.

It is impossible to leave this subject without some reference to the part played by the Archbishop, Mgr. Stablewski. As head of the Church in Posen it has been inevitable that he should be looked to for guidance in this crisis of the religious life of the people committed to his charge; and his pastoral letters issued in October 1905 and 1906, have been carefully framed with a view to diminish friction and, if possible, to find some peaceful solution for the problem, as, for instance, by the suggestion that the religious instruction of the children should be supplemented by the parents themselves in their own homes. The Archbishop's long experience of the struggle between Church and State has eminently qualified him for the difficult task. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies at the time of the Kulturkampf, a friend of Windhorst, the famous leader of the Clerical Centre, who prized his quick wit and sound judgment accompanied as they were by a sincere and undisguised desire for friendly relations with the Prussian State. Mgr. Stablewski, however, could not but foresee the inevitable consequences of the systematic

His

oppression of the Polish population, and he warned the Government in the Chamber of the dangers involved in the course they were pursuing. appointment as Archbishop of Posen was looked upon as a victory of justice and good sense over passion and prejudice; but, owing to the intrigues of the "Hakatist" party the hopes that were then formed have not been realized, nay, the conflict has even become more embittered. In the question of schoolteaching, and especially of religious teaching, the Archbishop has constantly memorialized the Prussian authorities in defence of the rights of the Church; and has warned them that no State, however powerful, can lightly afford to incur the permanent hostility of a border population consisting of no less than three millions of people. Unhappily these repeated attempts to represent the situation in its true light have at the end of fourteen years remained without effect, with the result that the Poles have even begun to lose confidence in their Church and their clergy, and have accused them of selling their children to their persecutors. When at last it became evident that the indignation of the people could no longer be contained, Archbishop Stablewski endeavored to calm the excited feelings of his flock by addressing to them an appeal in which he assured them of his entire sympathy with their claims, telling them of his own endeavors to defend the Polish language as the medium of religious teaching, and exhorting them to repair the damage done by recourse to prayer, and by completing the children's instruction in their churches and in their own homes2 This conciliatory appeal was received with visible marks of approbation by all the faithful, and even by the liberal German circles. The Gov

Since this article was written, the sudden death of the Archbishop has complicated the situation.-Editor of The Living Age.

The National Review.

ernment alone, together with the Hakatists, received this pronouncement with an indignation which showed that they were far from expecting this public expression of disapprobation of their policies, after having systematically and for so long striven to enfeeble the authority of the Church.

The present situation can thus be defined. The Government will not go back upon its former attitude, notwithstanding the expostulations of its more far-sighted advisers. Indeed, Prince Bülow has publicly declared that his motto in this matter is that of Bismarck-vestigia nulla retrorsum-or, on the other hand, neither the ecclesiastical authorities nor the people will relinquish what both alike regard as the most sacred of rights. The struggle must therefore continue, if it were only on religious grounds; for their religion is the real stronghold of the people. It is difficult for an unprejudiced onlooker to understand the workings of the minds of Prussian statesmen. The defeat of the Government in the Kulturkampf ought to have been to them a proof that no material strength can get the better of religious feeling. They ought also to understand that it is no wise policy which incessantly goads to hatred and despair a boundary population, especially at a time when the dawn of liberty and justice is breaking beyond a frontier so near at hand. In Austria the Polish party in Parliament is the firmest pillar of government. In Russia the Polish deputies alone have resisted all incitement to conspiracy after the dissolution of the Duma. In Prussian Poland the co-operation of the Poles in the great work for the common welfare of the State might have been, and can even now be, secured; but for this it is necessary that the Government should keep to the practice of justice to all its subjects, for only "justitia est fundamentum regnorum."

Posen.