Prince Bismarck is greatly amusing the Americans by getting savagely
cross with them. The House of Representatives recently voted a message of condolence to the German Parlia- ment on the death of Herr Lasker, the great Jewish orator on the Liberal side. The message was delivered by Mr. Sargent, American Minister in Berlin, to Prince Bismarck, with a request that it might be forwarded to the Reichstag ; but the Chancellor has returned it to Washington, in a despatch saying that he could not advise the Emperor to endorse a testimonial to Herr Lask-er. At the same time, the semi-official Press is instructed to say that Mr. Sargent, whom the Chancellor hates, knows nothing of official etiquette, lives among Liberals who know English, and was at some time or other "a swindler." The object, of course, is to compel Mr. Sargent to go, and it will probably be successful, at the cost of making the American Government bitterly hostile to Prince Bismarck. The Prince does not care about that, but he may find that diplomacy is an international profession, and that diplomatists all over the world regard his treatment of Mr. Sargent as a breach of privilege.
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