contemporaries was a mere surface varnish, a passing fashion that left
the underlying structure intact. Furthermore, Berlin is profoundly
Protestant. The Reformation was accepted here with enthusiasm, and its
adoption was more of a folk-movement than elsewhere, Thuringia alone
excepted. By virtue of its Protestantism, then, Berlin is accessible
to liberal ideas and capable of placing itself in the van of progress
without breaking abruptly with the past. Its liberalism, unlike that
of Catholic Paris, does not lead to radicalism or communism. Finally,
it is to be borne in mind that Berlin, having become the official
capital, must of necessity attract more and more the ablest men
from all quarters of the empire--the members of the imperial Diet,
politicians, lobbyists, bankers, speculators and their satellites.
Along with the good, it is true, comes much of the bad. Berlin is
unquestionably the present goal for needy and unscrupulous adventurers
of the worst sort. Not a few pessimists, native and foreign, have
made the fact a text for dismal prognostications of the city's future
degeneracy. Yet this is taking a shortsighted and unjust view of
things. The great mass of the population is still sound to the core.
The unsettled state of monetary and social relations cannot but be
transitory, and compulsory education and military service cannot but
operate in the future as they have done in the past. So long as the
_garde-corps_ remains what it is, the flower of the army, it will be
idle to speak of the degeneracy of Berlin. We must not forget that
only five years ago, at Mars la Tour, Brandenburg and Berlin regiments
fought the most remarkable battle, in many respects, of modern times.

On almost all the points above indicated Vienna is the direct opposite
of Berlin. It is not homogeneous in itself, neither is it the
centre of a homogeneous empire; its population is not thrifty nor
enterprising; it is Catholic, and not Protestant. The Hohenzollerns