The Crown Prince of Germany has visited the Pope in
state. A pleasingly absurd little fiction was kept up that he was living at the Prussian Legation to the Vatican, and not at the Quiri- nal, and Cardinal Jacobini gravely called on him at Dr. Schlflzer's house, where he was not, and received the ex- planation that the Prince was absent without a smile. The party, moreover, drove to the Vatican in private carriages ; but once there, all the formalities used in receiving crowned heads were carefully observed. The Crown Prince had a private audience of fifty minutes, and notes of the conversation were afterwards carefully taken down. As no one yet knows the topic of discussion, all rumours on the subject are untrust- worthy; but neither Pope nor Prince was likely to lose such an opportunity. The Pope desires a reconciliation with Germany, and modern Princes always dislike religions divisions among their subjects. They cannot themselves feel enthusiastic about dogmas, being trained from childhood to tolerance; and they never quite forget the future, as Premiers sometimes do. They have descendants to think of, and know that every form of discontent will die out, except a religious grievauce. Parties change rapidly, but sects can hate one another for centuries on end.
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