I mentioned the Emperor and the jubilee of his reign, observing that a good text for a sermon on that occasion would be found in Ecclesiasticus, where it is said “The work praiseth the master, and his hands do honour to a wise prince”; and in particular the further passage “the prosperity of a ruler resteth with God; he giveth him a worthy Chancellor;” and again, “A wise servant shall be ministered unto by his master, and a master that hath understanding murmureth not thereat.” (I had already directed attention to these passages[13] in the _Grenzboten_ of the 31st of December of the previous year.) He smiled; after remarking that the Emperor had acted conscientiously in State affairs and knew how to subordinate his _amour propre_ to the interests of the country, he said: “He always gave me to a great extent a free hand, although he had been accustomed previously to command, while his brother, on the other hand, could never have got on with any independent Minister.” I then referred to the Irish crisis and the English parties, observing that there one saw plainly what Parliamentarism resulted in, and whither it led a State. Our Liberals would have had a similar experience in Posen and in Polish affairs generally, but, happily, they had not the same influence here as they have in England. He said: “Parliamentarism only works where there are merely two rival parties that come to power alternately, and where the members of the Legislature are well off and unselfish, and do not find it necessary to struggle for their personal advancement. I am no advocate of absolutism. Parliamentarism is good even here, as a veto upon the resolutions of unwise Governments and bad monarchs--for purposes of criticism. In England, up to the present, there have been two great parties, whose principles have latterly not differed very widely, and both desired the welfare of the country and nothing for themselves. They were the representatives of a few hundred families who were well enough off not to want more, and who could therefore study exclusively the welfare of the whole community--a remark which at bottom also applies to Kings, who should be under no necessity to think of their own interests. The Irish are now coming in as a third party, together with the Radicals, who are still more dangerous. It is worse here in Germany. We have eight or ten parties and the leaders are place hunters, who want to improve their own positions and become Ministers, and who also put themselves at the service of the capitalists--not without a consideration.”