and the outer world was for a while utterly forgotten. It was far past midnight when Perkins, with his nerves still quivering and his stimulated intellect busy with the strange news of the night and with the train of thought awakened, mounted the steps of the elevated railway station, homeward bound. All that had happened in the early hours of the evening now seemed as far off as if it were a part of the history of the last century. But the clatter of the up-going train, as it drew up to the station, brought back with a rush all that he had carried with him when he left the line, hours before. And when he had taken his seat and was being hurried homewards, gloomy thoughts of the unseen world came and sat down, like a nightmare, beside him. The sharp tension of the night's work was removed, and he thought of the bright-faced train-guard snatched from his side as if by the actual grisly hand of death. He remembered Saville with his manly strength, now vanished into the world of shadows. Where were they now? Where was the lad, so full of vigor and life? Would he see the shade of the Czar in the pale realm into which he had so quickly gone? Speculations like these, and others more idle, flitted through the mind of the tired writer as he left the train and sauntered slowly towards his lodgings. The electric lamps on the avenue, like a bright vista of fireworks, stretched far into the darkness, as he turned the corner and walked straight for his own doorway. Letting himself in, he went wearily up-stairs, pausing on each of the many landing-places to rest and gain breath, for now he found that he was greatly fatigued. And when he had reached the long and narrow passage that connected his apartments with a neighbor's, he glanced into its darkness with a little shiver, as if expecting an unwelcome sight. Then, smiling at his own folly and weakness, he opened the inner door of his lodgings, closed it, slipped off his outer garments, dropped into an easy-chair, and began to think over all that had occupied his mind through the night. The radiance from the street-lamps far below painted irregular patches of whiteness on the ceiling of the room, and in the dim, crepuscular light Perkins sat, and, without looking, took in the ugly figures of the wallpaper, the uncertain outlines of the furniture, and the black and cavernous opening into his dressing-room, from whose doorway the hangings were drawn aside. Sitting there, and slowly taking off one by one portions of his attire, he regarded with vague musing the floor, the shadowy carpet, his naked feet, the flecked ceiling overhead, and the hearse-like bedstead beside him. From the open door of the dressing-room a wave of cool air seemed to strike the naked foot which he thoughtfully nursed upon his knee. Mechanically lifting his eyes in that direction, he saw, framed in the doorway, as if painted on the blackness beyond, the familiar form of Saville, advancing, yet pausing, then drifting out of the shadows. On his lips was the well-remembered and half-cynical smile, and the big white mustache was, as usual, carefully trimmed and curved upwards at the ends. Perkins felt a cold chill creeping up his spine. He was even conscious of a bristly rising in his hair, and he said to himself, as queer darts of pain shot over his skin: "This is a ghost. This is the way people feel when they see a ghost." Saville drifted noiselessly and without motion forward, and with a wintry smile extended his hand, and said, "Well, Perk, I got your message; and how are all the malefactors?" Then Perkins remembered, as if by an effort, that Saville had always sportively referred to his dining-companions as "the malefactors." Then he recalled the fact that one of Saville's favorite toasts on convivial occasions, was "Success to crime!" So now he thought to himself, "This must be Saville." But vainly did he attempt to speak to his unexpected visitor, although a multitude of questions rose in his mind. His tongue seemed fast to the roof of his mouth. He was conscious of making a gurgling sound in his throat as he essayed to speak, and a commonplace; and he curiously passed his cold perspiration broke out on his face. Then Saville, waving his hand, said, with a quizzical look passing over his countenance, "I wouldn't try it, my boy." Just then, a clatter at the door attracted his attention, and, while his heart was beating like a trip-hammer, Perkins turned his eyes and beheld the rugged figure of the janitress of the building, who, jingling a bunch of latch-keys, stood in the open doorway and regarded him with undisguised amazement. "Bless my stars, Mr. Perkins!" she cried, with honest solicitude, “you haven't been to bed!" Then Perkins, all a-shiver, glanced around the room. The street lights were gone out, and the room was filled with the yellow radiance of the sun now high in the heavens. It was past ten o'clock, and full time for him to be up and about. Assuring the wondering woman that he was not sick, but only tired, he saw her go out and close the door behind her. Then he rose and explored the dressing-room. Nothing was there to recall the vision of the night. The simple belongings of the room looked even more than usually hand over the folds of a big white towel hanging there, as if to reassure himself that it concealed nothing. Nowhere in the smooth wall was there so much as a crack for the entrance or exit of even a ghost. Rubbing his weary eyes, and wondering at his own self-delusion, he muttered, "It is very strange." He changed his dress, made a careful toilet, and then slowly descended to the street, through which flashing equipages, loaded wagons, rumbling omnibuses, and crowds of passengers now were hurrying. Here was life in earnest. Nobody thought of tragedy. From the entrance of the club house a coupé was just moving away. The driver half checked his horse as he beheld Perkins slowly sauntering down the sidewalk, and from within the vehicle the cheery voice of Wilder cried, "Good by, Perkins. I'm off on the eleven-thirty train." Then with a look at Perkins's face, he said, "Why, bless my soul, old man, you look as if you'd seen a ghost!" "Perhaps I have," said Perkins. And, with a faint smile, he turned and went into the club house. Noah Brooks. SEEING THE TRUTH. DOES a man ever give up hope, I wonder,- There was the end, right there, where the crag fell away? Some miracle would stop them? Nay, they tell That he turned round, face forward, calm and pale, 'Tis something, if at last, Tho' only for a pulse-beat, one may see E. R. Sill. THE PRUSSIAN CIVIL SERVICE. IN the United States, the Federal Government has exercised a decisive influence on the civil service system in State, city, town, and county. The same principles prevail, as a rule, throughout the entire administration of public affairs in this country. In Germany, a single state, Prussia, has been the guiding and controlling power. She has led in civil service as well as in other branches of government. The administration of public business is much the same in the German Empire, the separate states, and the local political bodies as it is in Prussia. In describing the civil service of Prussia, I am therefore explaining the principles according to which law and justice are administered, and the economic interests of the people cared for in one of the mightiest empires of modern times. condition of appointment to office a part of public law in the last century; and early in this the Stein-Hardenberg legislation added the democratic features of the Prussian civil service. The growth of the separate states within the German Empire, or as it was called the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, was of a character which seems strange to us. The states originated in large landed possessions. The proprietors succeeded in making free people dependent upon them to a greater or less extent. They exercised a sort of government over those who lived upon or near their estates. These powers were at first considered as derived from the emperor, but in the course of generations the proprietors came to look upon them as original, not delegated, rights. The rights of government uniting with the rights of landed property, and the respect due to ancient family, gave the proprietors the power of sovereignty over a greater or less extent of country, which was called a territory. The part of this growth which seems curious to one living in this age is this: all the rights of the proprietors were regarded as private property. The increase of their power was looked upon merely as an addition to a private fortune. The ruler of the territory could not only appoint such officers as he chose to assist him in governing, but could even sell, divide, or give away his own power. This is the true logic of the spoils There are several reasons why I have chosen to describe the administration of Prussia. It is an old country, which has long settled the general principles of a branch of government which gives us great trouble at the present time. Many who have given the matter careful attention, and are qualified to pronounce an opinion, consider the Prussian civil service the most admirable of which we have any knowledge. Administration is the one department of government in which Germany excels. The civil service of Great Britain is instructive. It is, however, a later product. Its best features were modeled after those of Prussia. It is an error to suppose that England was the first country to system. If offices are confided to a chief establish a sound civil service. The truth is, executive, not as public trusts, but as places Prussia was the first state to recognize the which he can dispose to further his interests civil service as a profession to which the or those of his party, why should he not rebest material should be drawn, to adopt ex- gard his own official position as a private aminations as a test of desired qualifications, possession? A German territorial ruler of and to open the offices impartially to all citi- the Middle Ages would have replied that She was at least half a century in ad- he could see no difference whatever. The vance of England. The Code of Frederick Electorate of Brandenburg, out of which the Great, called das Allgemeine Landrecht, Prussia grew, was founded and augmented made the requirement of examinations as a as a private possession of mighty nobles. In zens. the fourteenth century, Otho the Lazy, becoming heavily involved in debt, sold his rights as Margrave of Brandenburg to the Emperor Charles IV. for 200,000 florins. During this century and the following, Brandenburg was sold, divided, mortgaged, and transferred from proprietor to proprietor, like any private estate. It finally passed in 1415 to the House of Hohenzollern, to which the present king and emperor belongs. It has never left this house. But, in the meantime, the people of the Electorate began to perceive their political oneness, and to feel that their relation to their ruler was different from that of one private man to another. The rulers of the land also came to look with disfavor upon the theory that their authority was merely a matter of private law, inasmuch as it placed the rights of the subjects in the same category as their own, and regarded them as private property. So long as this view obtained, the ruler of the land could not force the subjects to render any service to which he could not establish a claim in private law by means of treaty or acquired right. The Landesherren, as the proprietors of these territories were called, exercised, however, in behalf of the emperor, a right of a different character. They maintained law and justice in their territories, using such force as was necessary without establishing a right to do so in private law. As the empire gradually became weaker, the territories increased in strength. The rights of the central government passed over to the Landesherren, who were inclined to forget that their judical power was derivative and not original. This was the entering wedge for a new view of the relation of Landesherr and subject. The judicial functions were exercised by the territorial proprietor, not for his own private aggrandizement, but for the territory as a whole. The influence of Christianity favored this development, since it taught that all power and wealth are granted by God, to whom they really belong, to be administered for him during a brief space of time. The Landesherr began to look upon his power as an office. This view of their power was taken by the electors of Brandenburg in the sixteenth century. Joachim II., in 1540, declared that the possessors of spiritual or worldly power held their offices as stewards and servants of God, and that they would be cast into the outermost darkness if they did not discharge their duties with fidelity and diligence. Sovereignty by the grace of God was thus at one time a step forward. It recognized the highest office in the territory or state as a sacred trust, and no longer as private property. A further step in the recognition of the public character of the office of ruler was the establishment of a fixed order of succession and the indivisibility of the territory. It took place in Brandenburg in the fifteenth century. The order of the succession, the descent of the eldest son, became recognized as part of the public law. The highest office in the state was the first one removed from the sphere of private law, which considered it as individual property or lawful spoil. The other offices were not for a long time to come considered as public trusts, but as the possession of the prince or of the feudal lords. The officers appointed by the prince were not called Staatsdiener- servants of the state- but fürstliche Diener-servants of the prince. They were engaged in much the same manner as the servants of a private gentleman. No sharp line was drawn between those who performed public duties and those whose services to the prince were entirely of a private nature. After it was recognized, however, that the state existed for the people as a whole, it was impossible to avoid finally coming to the conclusion that officers of the Government were servants of the state-that is to say, of the public. Consequently we find that they are now described as Staatsdiener state servants-and their service as Staatsdienst-state service. The Allgemeine Landrecht adopts this terminology. One section speaks of the rights and duties of the servants of the state, and describes their function to be the preservation and promotion of the safety, the good order, and the wel- versation, and understand each other better fare of the state. therefor. This class feeling among government employés and politicians is as evident in the United States as it is in Prussia. All that can be done is to give shape to it and determine the manner in which it shall display itself. Our wire-pullers, ward politicians, and holders of the offices they distribute are as closely allied in interests, sentiments, and personal characteristics as the permanent court-service officers of Prussia; but it is in this country, not in Prussia, that I have been offended by an unpleasant manifestation of the class spirit. Sometimes Prussian civil service officers resent the lordly overbearing ways of English and American parvenu millionaires; but those who treat them like gentlemen will rarely find occasion to complain. The administrative civil service officers are divided into classes according to their specific functions. The business principle of the division of labor is adopted. Each one learns a specialty thoroughly, and devotes himself to it. The necessity of this kind of an organization was taught by that man who gave the old antiquated institutions of Europe such a shaking up at the beginning of this century-I mean, of course, Napoleon I. An ordinance of 1808 promulgated the principle of the division of labor for the civil service, and at the same time made the officers more independent, while it imposed additional responsibility upon them. It reads as follows: "As small a number as possible of chief officers preside over simply organized departments, each one having charge of some leading branch of the administration. These chiefs, the ministers, administer public affairs in the closest co-operation with the ruler. They are independent, act on their own responsibility, and exercise a guiding influence on the subordinate official organizations, each of which is formed in the same manner." Each officer, from the lowest to the highest, until the king is reached, has his superior. The specializing in administration, together with the careful preparation required for each office, has resulted in the making the civil service in Prussia a profession by itself: in its higher branches a learned profession, ranking with the law, medicine, and theology. The common pursuit and close personal contact have, it is undeniable, developed a certain class feeling among government officials in Prussia. That this should be so to greater or less extent is unavoidable. Is it, however, certain that it is so objectionable as is often assumed? Among all men who have similar interests and the same calling, there must be a certain fellowship and sympathy. This is the case with doctors, lawyers, merchants, farmers, etc. They naturally associate together, as they have common pursuits, common topics of con There is an esprit de corps among civil service officers in Prussia. They feel that they belong to an educated, honorable body of gentlemen. They have a high sense of honor, and strive to do nothing which shall bring reproach on their class. They look upon fraud, defalcation, neglect of duty, as disgraceful. Faithful service is recognized, and gains the respect of one's fellows in office. The professional feeling of permanent office-holders has other advantages. They come together, consult, talk over their employments, obtain useful hints from one another, and receive incitement to better work. They become identified with their offices, and filled with the spirit of their calling. It must be acknowledged that one is not so likely to succeed in a business which is taken up as a mere make-shift. Is the public business, indeed, so easy that it requires no special training to do it well? Has our experience, for example, with the administration of finance in Federal Government in state and city been so successful as to warrant such an assumption? Is it less difficult to manage a state than a school? Scarcely any one will be disposed to answer these questions in the affirmative. One desideratum of our Government is very evidently a certain firmness and steadiness of policy. |