BOOKS.
GERMANS AND OTHERS ON GERMANS.*
LA FONTAINE has familiarized the world with the exceptions taken by. the lion to the portrait of himself drawn by man. Only a lion, he I thought, could faithfully depict other lions. The moral of the well fable holds generally good. It is rare that an individual consents to reveal his inmost thoughts to such an extent as was done by Rousseau in his Confessions. It is almost equally rare to find any one who can take a perfectly unprejudiced view of the conduct of the nation or com- munity to which he belongs. Yet there are exceptions to the general rule. Honest conviction ; a love of notoriety ; a forced straining after originality, which Goetho thought was one of the most common and most foolish errors of "clever young men " ; a stubborn adherence to theories the truth of which has been shattered by facts ; a reluctance, such as that displayed by many of the modern pacificists, to acknowledge the egregious errors of their forecasts and a persistence in clinging tenaciously to exploded fallacies—these and other motives may at times tend to foster a laudable impartiality, or they may produce a faulty and eccentric habit of thought, which, with all the appearance of impartiality, has in reality its roots in conceit or in prejudice and preconceived opinions.
It may be placed to the credit of the British race that, in spite of great provocation, and in spite of justification for their action so complete as to defy valid criticism, there should still be found amongst them a few,
• men who are prepared, in a greater or leas degree, to defend the morally' - hopeless cause of Germany. We are constantly being admonished by a small and eccentric body of politicians that we should examine, scrupulously our own national conscience, and inquire whether it IS sufficiently spotless to justify us in levelling a scathing indictment ngainst German amorality. Mr. Norman Angell, after dwelling on the aberrations of Prussianism, has held up a warning finger, and has said to us _Mutat° nOMine, de le fabula narrater. It would be an exaggeration to say that Mr. Lewes Dickinson's work, The European Anarchy,' is a laboured and by no means convincing apology for German policy. ne is of opinion that the main responsibility for the present war rests with the Powers of Central Europe. Nevertheless, his earnest -desire to do no injustice to Germany loads him to decry the con- duct of his own countrymen, and to present that of their enemies in, a light which most Englishmen will think unduly favourable. He holds
• that there is no substantial difference between German Imperialism aril that of other nations—a view which will certainly not be accepted by
• (1) l'he European Anarchy. By G. Lowes Dickinson. London : Mien and Unwin. [2s. 6d. net.)—(2) Because I am a German. By H. Peruse. London 1 Constable and Co. [2a. 6d. net.]—(3) German Barbarism. By Leon Meccas, Doctor of Law of the University of Athena. London : Hodder and Stoughton. 12s. (id. Intl those. who have carefully studied the growth and methods of the two movements. He thinks that the German people—a term which Priors Billow has very correctly stated is synonymous with the German Army —" when left alone," are eminently pacific ; to which it may be replied, in the first place, that the Germans, being at the mercy of their Treitschkes, Bernhardis, and Roventlows, never are "loft alone," and, in the second place, that the still small voice of Gorman pacificism was Instantly silenced at the first blast of the War Lord's trumpet. Moreover, "the huge and disciplined forces of the Social-Democrats" were, for all practical purposes, as bellicose as the whilom thinkers and idealists of the German 'Universities. With a credulity which can only be charac- terized as nett Mr. Lowes Dickinson, discarding the most damning evidence which points to an opposite conclusion, thinks that it is" highly improbable" that Germany wished to destroy the British Empire. He is of opinion that French Chauvinism, which, in spite of the highly pre- judiced and incorrect views expressed by Baron Guillaume and others, was practically moribund before the war, was largely responsible for its outbreak. He finds some excuse for Germany in the monstrous theory of a "preventive war," a proceeding which was strongly stigmatized by so realistio a politician as Prince Bismarck. Although Germany has been steadily preparing for this war for at least a quarter of a century, and although during all that period the utterances and actions of both French and English statesmen and of the French and English public, have been distinctly pacific, Mr. Lowos Dickinson does not believe that "Germany has been pursuing for years past a policy of war, while all other Powers have been pursuing a policy of peace." Finally, he entertains a hardy confidence in the pacific intentions of the Kaiser, that great culprit who, more than any one else, is responsible for the catastrophe which has overtaken tho civilized world.
We may disagree, and for my own part I do profoundly disagree, with many of the arguments and conclusions advanced by the special school of politicians to which Mr. Lewes Dickinson belongs ; but it is as well that they should be hoard. Moreover, their utterances furnish a con- vincing proof that, amidst all the excitement caused by tho war, that time-honoured characteristic of the British public designated by the words "fair play" still survives. They show that there aro in England a body of men who, at the cost of some unpopularity, and possibly of some misrepresentation, aro prepared to listen, not only impartially but also with some unconscious bias against their own countrymen, to pleas in defence of the conduct of Germany. The views expressed by Mr. Lewes Dickinson may be wrong, but it cannot be doubted that they are the outcome of honest and sincere conviction.
The ratiocinative processes of Gorman thought have proceeded on totally different lines. The case against Germany was so strong, and the verdict of guilt pronounced by tho Areopagus of the civilized world was so decisive, that although the delusions and prejudices of a nation led by a venal and inspired Press, and held fast in the grip of absolutism, could be understood, it was nevertheless thought that, amidst a people which prides itself on all the intellectual qualities comprised in the high- sounding and misleading term Kultur, there would still be found some few faithful Abdiels, who would have the intelligence to perceive the truth, and the courage to expound it to their erring fellow-countrymen. For a long time, the world waited in vain. When the voice of German thought at first found expression, it was in the form of one of the most amazing manifestoes which have ever discredited the world of learning —the frivolous and valueless document signed by ninety-three world- famous German Professors, tho fallacies of which have been ruthlessly exposed by the American Professor Church, and ,for which a half- hearted apology has been offered by Professor Planck on tho ground that it merely represented the "patriotic excitement of the first weeks of the war."* There can, however, be no doubt that the chosen representatives of German learning obeyed the crack of the absolutist whip with a docility equal to that of the most servile journalist or the most Clmu- vinistio drinker. This, Mr. Rolleston very truly says in his brilliant introduction to Herr Femmes book,2 "is the saddest and most hopeless
feature of the whole wretched story." The thinkers of Germany " made common cause with their own worst enemy, the enemy of that bettor and truer Germany whose interests there were none to understand and to protect except themselves. They betrayed the Germany of their Ideal for the Germany of the Prussian War Lord. They showed that the poison of Prussianism had entered into the very soul of the nation—for
they are its soul." Kurt Martens, the distinguished author of Literatur in Deutschland, who but six years ago had said that "Germany was an
arsenal, a Stock Exchange, a madhouse, a monster hotel," rallied to the support of a cause which embodied all that he had previously con- demned. So did Hauptmann, Germany's leading contemporary poet, who, after being vituperated by the Crown Prince and reproached as "a degenerate son of his Fatherland," received the Order of the Red Eagle as a reward for his intellectual apostasy. An apotheosis took place of those Germans of the past, such as the tuneful Arndt and Hoffmann von Fallersleben, the author of "Deutschland Ober Altos," who had, when still alive, boon grievously persecuted for the liberality of their opinions, but who, being dead, were posthumously enlisted into the service of a policy approval of which was negatived by the whole tenor of their lives.
Eventually, a vindicator of the ancient tradition of German truthful- ness, a faint belief in which still lingered in the minds of those who clung • Boo Ma Times of Juno 5113, 1910.
to the hope that that older Germany, which they had known and respected, was not dead but only sleeping, arose in the person of the anonymous author of J'Accuse I His work was, of course, prohibited in Germany. His person was execrated. Moreover, no serious attempt was made to answer him. This was natural enough, for his statements were, in fact, unanswerable. One learned Professor, Herr Pernerstorfer, in an access of Teutomaniac wrath, declared that "the simplest and most natural thing to do would be to dispose of the author of the book J'Arruse with a well-merited kick." Another (Professor Schiemann) published, under the title of Bin Verleurnder (A Slanderer), what pur- ported to be a reply to J' Accuse ! He summarized that work in nine lines, and then added : "Has there ever been heard a more shameless dis- tortion of the truth from the mouth of a German to the detriment of his country?" A third (Dr. Holfferich) wrote a pamphlet purporting to examine the whole subject." in the light of the publications of the Powers of the Triple Entente." He made, however, no examination whatever of four-fifths of those publications. Herr von. Jagow, the tool of the Kaiser, who was designedly kept in ignorance of the Austrian Note to Serbia in order that, with a clear conscience, he might deny to the repre- sentatives of the Powers any knowledge of its contents, when challenged to institute a Parliamentary inquiry into the events which led to the war, said that the Government had no intention whatever of provoking any such inquiry. With an admirably conceived Horatian air of f.ctitious innocence, he wrapped himself up in his own and his country's virtue, and added : "The responsibility and the expiation concern only our opponents."
All these explanations do not satisfy the inquiring mind or the national conscience of Herr Fernau. He is a pacificist and a democrat, but apparently his political views are rather less advanced than those of the author of J'Accture I Ho is also a patriotic German, jealous of the good reputation of his own country. He takes the contents of J' Accuse as his text. He does not endorse all that the author of that work says ; but he clamours for a reply to his accusations if they can in any way be proved to be false. He thinks that " it is a matter of the deepest concern to all Germans that the accusations brought by J'Acense against the German Government should be adequately refuted," and, after a careful examination of the correspondence which preceded the war, he asks a series of specific questions to which he demands explicit and definite replies. The reason why he asks for the " trial and punishment " of those who are guilty of the greatest political crime recorded in the history of the world is, he explains, "Because I am a German."
That Herr Fornau will ever receive any answers to his questions is highly improbable. That he should receive any satisfactory answers is wholly impossible. Neither will the Athenian Professor, Dr. Leon Meccas, receive any replies to the charges contained in his well-reasoned and carefully prepared indictment against the methods adopted by the German Army, which is set forth in a work entitled German Barbarient.3 The Kaiser's agents have persistently acted up to the savage programme sketched out by their master, who said to his troops on the eve of the battle on the Vistula : "Woe to the conquered ! The conqueror knows no mercy." But whilst Dr. Ma,cca,s's work bears additional testimony to the views held by intelligent neutrals, Herr Fornau's may perhaps afford some slight encouragement to those, like Sir Charles Waldstoin, who look forward to the time when the dormant intelligence and morality of Germany will awake, and the German people will have the courage to face the truth. It is, however, impossible to indulge in optimism in this connexion. It may be, as Herr Fenaau thinks, that "J'.Accuse! has. sv,on approval in many families and private conclaves in Germany," but it is certainly a fact that the number of those who for the present would be prepared openly to express approval is infini- tesimally small. It is almost needless to add that Herr Fernau's book has shared the fate of J'Accuse I No German minds are to be poisoned by its damnatory veracity. Its entry into Germany has been strictly
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