HURRAH AND HALLELU JA1 iiiiifttniiiiininiiiiiiininwwttBBmiwBmiiiiiaiaHW u A DOCUMENTATION BY J. P. BANG ■WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RALPH CONNOR HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH Raison d'etre "The new-German spirit has found one of its most classical expressions in a collec- tion of poems published by a German pastor, Konsistorialrat Dietrich Vorwerk, under the significant title, 'Hurrah and Hallelujah.' I find in this combination something so absolutely characteristic of the German spirit, that I have adopted it as the title for this book. In the first edi- tion of Pastor Vorwerk's poems there oc- curred a paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, of which I will cite the last three petitions and the close: "Though the warrior's bread be scanty, do Thou work daily death and tenfold woe unto the enemy. Forgive in merciful long- suffering each bullet and each blow which misses its mark! Lead us not into the temptation of letting our wrath be too tame in carrying out Thy divine judgment! De- liver us and our Ally from the infernal Enemy and his servants on earth. Thine is the kingdom, the German land; may we, by aid of Thy steel-clad hand, achieve the power and the glory." See page 42. HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH THE TEACHING OF GERMANY'S POETS, PROPHETS, PROFESSORS AND PREACHERS A DOCUMENTATION BY J. P. BANG, D.D. PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN FROM THE DANISH BY JESSIE BROCHNER WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RALPH CONNOR NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 191 7, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA KAK I I INTRODUCTION BY RALPH CONNOR Author of "The Sky Pilot," "The Doctor;' "Corporal Cameron," etc. The revelation of the German mind, of the German soul — I had almost said of the German heart, but there is in these Sermons and Lectures no sign of "heart" as we understand the term — is such as to fill one with dismay if not despair. These sermons are the utterances of Christian ministers who may fairly be supposed to cherish the most sacred beliefs, the most Christian feel- ings, the holiest aspirations to be found among their people. These Lectures are the teachings of men distinguished for the clearest reasoning, the finest thinking, the most liberal culture in Ger- many during the last quarter-century. Remem- bering this, one asks in amazement too deep for words what is this strange madness which has fallen upon a once wise and kindly and great people. One is conscious of the same mingling of horror and pain as when a friend once trusted, esteemed and loved as a type of generous and noble manhood is suddenly revealed as a piti- able, unbalanced creature, the victim of unclean thoughts and revolting habits. The shock is not vi INTRODUCTION simply that of outraged and disappointed friend- ship, but the more vital shock of a weakened faith in humanity itself. As I perused these extracts I was pulled up again and again with the questions, "Can it be possible that these are genuine?" "Did sane Ger- man men ever solemnly give forth these amazing ideas and sentiments?" "Or is Dr. Bang play- ing a huge hoax upon an ignorant non-German world?" For I protest that it does seem as if, seeking to ridicule her, to humiliate her, to damn her forever before the world of sane and thinking men, one of Germany's most bitter haters had wickedly faked these extracts and attributed them to these reverend and learned leaders of her peo- ple. It is difficult to believe that these fantastic, these impassioned outpourings of mind and soul are anything but ironic. That silly, solemn self- glorification, that self-idolatry with its iteration so characteristic of a semi-barbarian fanaticism — how even a slight sense of humour had saved them ! — that sense of mission, light bearing and life giving, to inferior, frivolous and decadent non-German peoples (cf. "German nature heal- ing a sick world"), that pitiful, insolent contempt for all peoples, races, tribes other than them- selves, that crazy hatred of those they call their foes, rising to a frenzied hysteria when directed against England, and above all, and sadder than all, that blasphemous monopolising of the Al- mighty as the German God, nay the identification INTRODUCTION vii of the Deity with the German soul (cf. Pastor W. Lehman: "God is nothing but our moral activity, etc." Read the whole blasphemous ar- chaic definition of the German tribal deity) . How pitiful it all is, how ghastly, how terribly funny were it not so terribly sad! If Dr. Bang seeking to convict these German poets, prophets, profes- sors and preachers of mental turgidity, of emo- tional frenzy, of impious reversion to heathenism in religion and ethics, and using the matter of these Sermons and Lectures, had put it forth in an original essay, the whole German literary and religious world would have risen in wrathful de- nunciation of him, and not only the German but the rest of the civilised world as well. We Anglo- Saxons would certainly have regarded such an essay as a scandalous libel. But Dr. Bang is wise. He argues little, he mainly quotes. Not his argumentation but his documentation consti- tutes this most terrific arraignment of Germany through her intellectual and religious leaders which has yet been put forth. Out of her own mouth it is that she stands before the world con- demned. And the tragedy of it all is in this, that these men are sincere, deeply, passionately sin- cere. And herein consists the awful nemesis that has after fifty years' pursuit at length overtaken the German intellect and the German soul. For the crime of Germany to-day of which these Ser- mons and Lectures convict her is not hypocrisy; but the long practice of hypocrisy has induced in viii INTRODUCTION her a spiritual blindness which has become at once her calamity and her curse. In the presence of this so obvious and so strik- ing a phenomenon one is forced to enquire how it is that, with all our intimate fellowship with Ger- many during these last thirty or forty years we have failed to note how widely German thinking, German ethic, and German practice were depart- ing from the straight path of sincerity, righteous- ness and humanity. This is indeed one of those psychological phenomena that only the event makes clear. It was our admiration, our esteem, our friendship that made us blind to this sinister departure. We could not because we would not see. And now this nemesis that has fallen upon her! — what more terrible and more sad can be imagined? The reading of these Sermons should bring to our hearts a solemn warning. Let us take heed to ourselves, for it were a fatuous folly to believe that we or any strong and prosperous people are safe from such a course of self-deception, and from its so dreadful penalty. It is to the humble in heart alone that God who is Life and Light Eternal reveals Himself. "The proud He know- eth afar off." This intellectual self-deception, this spiritual blindness, this emotional degeneration have so thoroughly imbued the people of Germany that one asks how can sanity, sincerity and sweetness return. One answer alone can be given. De- INTRODUCTION ix liberately, without passion, but with profound con- viction we say it. Salvation for Germany can come only by the destruction of that which has fed her inordinate self-idolatry, with its train of pride, envy, hatred, contempt. That military ma- chine in which she has gloried and in which she has trusted must be utterly smashed. Success for Germany in this world-war would but confirm in her that paranoia which now obsesses her, would justify to her that reliance upon military power which is the source of her militarism, would ap- prove to her conscience that disregard of cove- nants which makes her at once the terror and the outlaw among the nations, and would deepen in her the conviction that Almighty God has chosen the German people as the one adequate medium whereby He can manifest His glory to the world. The essays at the end of this book awaken in us the belief that there are many thou- sands of Germans to whom the sentiments and ideas expressed in the former part of this volume are abhorrent, and the hope that after she has passed through the searching, cleansing fires of military disaster, purged from her pride, her folly, her hatred, her impiety, a new Germany will emerge whose glory will be manifested not in the power to destroy, but in the power to bless; not in the spirit of overmastering tyranny, but in Righteousness which with consequent Peace and Joy constitute on earth the Kingdom of God. February, 19 17. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction by Ralph Connor .... v CHAPTER I The Trend of German Thought . 15 II German Prophets 30 III German War Poetry 42 IV The War in Sermons 57- V H. Francke 63 VI W. Lehmann 72 VII K. Konig 91 VIII J. Rump 102 IX G. Tolzien and His Colleagues . . 121 X J. Lahusen 139 XI Speeches by German Professors . . 145 XII W. Herrmann . . . . ' . . . . 169 XIII The Story of Germany's Passion . 176 XIV F. W. Forster 192 XV Reflections in Conclusion .... 201 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH CHAPTER I THE TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT THE present " terrible war has justly been called the greatest tragedy but one in the history of mankind. There may be some amongst us who have been gradually rendered so callous by the apparent endlessness and monotony of the war that it has slipped into the background of their thoughts. There are others, whom the war has so completely thrown out of their usual bear- ings, that they cannot regain their balance of mind, but must grapple over and over again with its mighty problems, suffer under its terrors, and with hope and trembling await the possibilities of the future. The present writer belongs to the latter class. What will be the end of this terrible struggle? What will happen if the one or the other side should be victorious? Is it possible to remain indifferent with regard to these questions? I, for one, cannot understand such indifference. It is neither more nor less than the future of the whole 15 16 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH world that is at stake. Our own little country is one of those whose future will be the most af- fected by the outcome of the war. How, then, can any Dane help listening, with nerves strained to the utmost, for the footfall of the coming time? We Danes are a peace-loving nation. We do not wish to be precipitated into war. There is no "Chauvinism" amongst us. Those who assert the contrary are liars. All the same, we still feel that we are a nation. We still wish to live our own national life in freedom and independ- ence. Yes, we claim it as our natural right. But we have seen how this simple and natural right, as far as a portion of the Danish people is con- cerned, has for years been trodden under foot. We see also how, in other countries of Europe, this simple and natural right has been treated with contempt. We see how, during the war, the mightiest and strongest nation of all has put its iron heel on one small nation after the other, and crushed them. This, together with other things, has caused me, and many others with me, to think with despair of the day of settlement, should the final victory rest with that Power, and consequently with the spirit and the ideas which are dominant in its gigantic struggle. With increasing admiration, but also with in- creasing terror, the world has witnessed Ger- many's fight. With admiration for the fore- thought with which even the smallest details had TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT 17 been considered, for the order and punctuality with which the immense organisation was carried through, for the enormous strength and the daring initiative with which, during all these months, the fight has been constantly resumed on new fronts. But also with increasing terror — for from the first the mode of warfare gave evidence of a ruthlessness of the possibility of which no one had ever dreamt; and it became more and more clear that the war was carried on with such plans and ideas in view that their realisation would mean a mockery of all international justice. The Allies have denounced the Germans as barbarians. If this were meant to imply that Germany was not a civilised nation {Kultar na- tion) such an accusation would, of course, be ab- surd. Germany is unquestionably a civilised na- tion, and none of the spokesmen of the Allied Powers would think of denying that she has pro- duced rich treasures of "Kultur." Wherever the German mind has laboured, wonderful riches have been the outcome. In the most diverse domains, but especially in those of music, of literature, of science and religion, it would be easy to mention names that shine with the lustre of renown throughout the whole world. But the charge of barbarism points in an entirely different direction. It points to a development within Ger- many which has been going on with headlong rapidity, especially during the past fifty years; and in this connection the charge will not be easy 1 8 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH to disprove. Even the highest Kultur can turn to barbarism when it becomes subservient to ut- terly false and immoral ideas. Any reference to Germany's great Kultur in the past is of no use here. That we acknowledge, and from that we shall continue to learn: it can never perish. But the non-German nations, especially Germany's neighbours and those who feel their position threatened by Germany's increasing strength and world-power, must of necessity ask: to what ends is all this highly-developed Kultur to be applied? In Germany, such a craving for power, such a worship of mere strength, has taken root and grown, that the claim of right to be the deter- mining factor in international relations has been entirely pushed aside. A colossal and ever in- creasing self-admiration, a belief in the glory of all things German, the surpassing merits of the German nature {Wesen), which alone has the right to rule in the world, a cynical, brutal asser- tion that in relation to this claim all existing treaties, all appeals to international law, all con- sideration for the weaker peoples, are of no sig- nificance whatever — all this we have witnessed with shuddering astonishment. This German claim is to be enforced, of course for the true wel- fare of the world, but if necessary against the will of the whole world, by the aid of sheer vio- lence. This is barbarism unadorned. And in so far as these ideas govern German warfare and German aspirations as to the aims of the war, th^ TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT 19 charge of barbarism is, as I understand it, en- tirely justified. It is with this tendency in Germanism that I am now about to deal. There are in this con- nection facts to which sufficient attention has not hitherto been directed. And precisely just now (winter of 19 15) when Germany seems at the height of success, I propose to supply this de- ficiency. If she had been crushed and humiliated there would be no occasion to do so. But now, when she seems to see her great "peace-aims" drawing nearer, there is every reason to show to what extent this barbaric trend of thought has become a ruling factor within the German nation. I have for long been conscious of the existence and rapid growth of this trend of thought, and have again and again remarked upon it. The time is long past when it was the pride of Germany to be a "nation of poets and thinkers." A very dif- ferent characteristic has now manifested itself, and gained the upper hand in the German mind: to wit, the Prussian tradition. It is the Prussian spirit, visibly centred in the House of Hohenzol- lern, with its pronounced craving for power, for political greatness, which has now permeated the German people. Bismarck created the Empire, but his work was only a stage on the way towards the final goal. The goal is world-supremacy. Every one is now familiar with these ideas. Some of their spokesmen have come into general notice, especially Treitschke, Nietzsche, and Bernhardi, 20 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH in whose writings they are plainly expressed. But on the other hand, some have endeavoured to maintain that these names can by no means be ac- cepted as representative of the German people as a whole, but only of a small minority. This is, in my opinion, a great mistake. The German nation is thoroughly imbued with the thought of its own greatness. "Deutschland, Deutschland iiber alles, iiber alles in der Welt" — this sentiment, in the mouth of a German, no longer means merely that, for a German, Ger- many and all that it connotes must be dearer than all the world, but that it is absolutely and with- out comparison the greatest thing in existence, and that nothing higher can be imagined. In this, the fundamental German dogma, lies the whole trouble ; for hence follows the claim that Germanism is destined to rule over the world at large. By dint of force and violence, the Germans, under Prussian leadership, have made themselves the world's strongest military nation. They have accustomed themselves to look with a certain con- tempt upon their former "Dreamer and Poet" ex- istence. They have thrust themselves into the world of action, and endeavoured to provide themselves with theories suitable to the occasion. He who wills power must also will the means, and these means are, above everything, "blood and iron." He whose aim is world-power, must also develop within himself a certain hardness, TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT 21 even a certain cynical brutality; sentimental hu- manitarianism is of no use here. The will to use brutal means when expedient — that is, when na- tional interests seem to demand it — has been care- fully cultivated during past years, and has mani- fested itself in undisguised coercion of foreign nationalities annexed to the Empire. We Danes have ample experience of this. But now we come to the most characteristic trait of Germanism. The consciousness that vio- lence means wrong lurks, in spite of everything, in the German blood. Even if they have evolved theories which, proceeding on a so-called Dar- winian basis, openly maintain that the right of the strongest is the only right which should pre- vail among nations, so that acts of violence and encroachment on the part of Germany are suffi- ciently justified by the bare fact that she happens to be the strongest, yet, when all is said and done, most Germans cannot content themselves with this. The German people are, after all, a moral people, and want their actions to rest upon a moral basis. They must believe that they have a good conscience in everything they undertake; and it is here that the aforesaid fundamental dog- ma asserts itself, and takes control of the course of German thought. Germany is not only the strongest nation in the world, but is also the nation which, without comparison, stands highest in every respect. The Germans are the people, the crown of creation. 22 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH All moral virtues are, in the German, nothing but his natural, inborn qualities. All that is noble, good and beautiful can therefore be described as German. It follows that the German people as such cannot possibly do wrong; it will always be preserved from wrongdoing by its inmost nature. That is why, for example, German men of sci- ence can stand forth and unhesitatingly, without any argument, demand that it shall be acknowl- edged that the German army and the German military authorities cannot commit any crimes — it is simply inconceivable. Others may do so, but for Germans it is impossible. In this estimation of Germanism, which easily passes over into downright worship, there is of course a large foundation of sheer naivete. But side by side with this often thick-skinned naivete, so ludicrous, at times, to unprejudiced observers, there is in the German nature a highly-developed acuteness. It is precisely the combination of these two char- acteristics, naivete and acuteness, that is one of the most remarkable peculiarities in the soul of the German people. And by means of this acute- ness, which very often, of course, takes the form of sophistry, it becomes exceedingly easy for them to prove to themselves, that what at first sight might appear like injustice and violence, will, when more deeply considered, be found to be pre- cisely the highest justice. Therefore Germany, as Chesterton among oth- ers has very rightly observed, lacks what he calls TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT 23 the idea of reciprocity. The German cannot ap- ply to himself the standards which he applies to others. What in others he would denounce as violence and injustice becomes, in his own case, the highest morality, the most kindly considerate- ness. When another people oppresses a foreign nation — when, for instance, Russia oppresses the Fins, or England the Irish — then it is terrible; and if the oppressed happen to be of German race, it is worse than ungodly, and one rises up against it in holy wrath. But when the Germans oppress the Poles or the Danes, then there are a thousand reasons which not only justify it, but make it a positive duty. Is not German Kultur all-superior, so that others can only benefit by par- ticipating in it? Is not the German Empire of such immeasurable worth that one ought to grasp at any means that make for its pro- tection? Are not other races of trifling value in comparison with the German? Must not Ger- many, for strategic reasons, secure the supremacy over adjoining regions? (If other Powers argued in the same way it would awaken in Germany the deepest moral indignation.) Is not German blood ten times more valuable than non-German? Is it not a matter of course, that what the Ger- man eagle has once clutched should be kept for ever? Ought not the German flag to float over the graves of German soldiers? (That there may also be French, Danish, or Russian graves is of no importance in comparison.) When, 24 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH therefore, Germany is involved in war, there can be no doubt of her spotless innocence, or of the black infamy of her foes. When the French and the English allow Mahometan soldiers to take the field against the Germans, it is an insult to all morality and religion; but when the Ger- mans ally themselves with the Turks, it is only right and proper. Of course some may occasion- ally have qualms, but they are always got over, sometimes in the most amusing manner. Thus, when German Christians have some misgivings about the German nation entering into an alliance with the Turks, it is, as we shall see, mere child's- play for a German professor to prove that the Turks, when all is said and done, are in fact un- conscious Christians. Again, when the German Chancellor in his celebrated speech admitted that, to be sure, it was wrong to violate Belgium's neu- trality, the admission for the moment caused the Germans perceptible discomfort. The Chancel- lor himself, indeed, set up a defence for the wrong in question, by declaring that necessity knows no law; but this was not enough. Now, in due time, it has been established that it was Belgium which violated her own neutrality, so that it became Germany's moral duty to invade the country, etc., etc. That these reasonings are apt to be at vari- ance with the simplest logic does not seem to trou- ble German acuteness to any extent. This German valuation of all things German leads to another remarkable consequence, within TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT 25 the domain of religion. Here one encounters the most astounding commixture of Germanism and Christianity. Germanism is the natural soil for Christianity; all Christian virtues are also Ger- man; therefore Christianity has here reached its highest development. Hence it follows that Ger- many must hold a special place in the thoughts of God, and must be destined to fulfil a world- embracing mission. It is, therefore, a divine law that Germany, more and more victorious, must pursue her onward march through the world. Two thoughts are here at variance with each other. The one is that a special German national religion, in harmony with the German mind, should arise in Germany, elevated far above all other religions, and practically inaccessible to oth- ers than Germans. The other idea, which is probably the more general, is that, just as Ger- many, in all other domains, is to bless the world with the German nature {Wesen), so she is also called upon to be God's missionary amongst all the peoples of the earth, who can only profit by adopting Christianity in its perfected German form. This is why one finds, not occasionally but constantly, the expression "the German God." I have even found a German writer, in perfect seriousness, beginning a prayer with the words "O German God." This, I maintain, is possible only in Germany. Even there it is probably of- fensive to many people; nevertheless, it is but a natural outcome of that over-estimation of Ger- 26 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH manism of which, doubtless, most of those on whom the expression jars are themselves guilty. And to all non-Germans it must of necessity be manifest, that this mixing up of Germanism and Christianity means a very serious perversion of the Christian spirit. Germany's adversaries art wont to attack Ger- man militarism with much vigour. These attacks are to the Germans simply incomprehensible. They answer that what their adversaries call mil- itarism is to the Germans only a link in, nay, a fundamental condition of, their entire Kultur. For the unique punctuality and accuracy, the brilliant organisation, which is the main cause of Ger- many's colossal advance during the last few dec- ades, rest to a great extent upon that military dis- cipline in which the whole nation is trained through universal service. I shall not here enlarge upon the question of German militarism, and I willing- ly admit that the German nation may justly claim to possess the aforesaid virtues. This, however, does not alter the fact, that what for the Germans themselves is an essential and much treasured part of their Kultur, becomes a terrible danger for those nations whom the Germans would like to bless with the fruits of the German nature (Wesen). Other people take the view that the said virtues may be desirable enough in them- selves, but if, to attain them, nations must be pressed into such an uncompromising machinery of coercion as the German bureaucracy, they TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT 27 would strenuously object. For however much this system may suit the German nature, it does not appeal to others, for whom it would be the great- est misfortune to have such a system forced upon them. This is what the Germans do not under- stand. If a thing is good for the Germans, why should it not also be good for other peoples, and peoples of a lower grade to boot? I have recently seen a German statement to the effect that all Tur- key needed was two hundred county-judges and a thousand gendarmes. It sends cold shivers down one's back to read such a remark. Is it not aston- ishing that this people, which boasts of possessing an unequalled gift for grasping the spirit and trend of thought of other peoples, to such an ex- tent as even to maintain that they often know them better than they know themselves — is it not astonishing, I say, that this people cannot under- stand that for other nations it would be like a deadly plague to have a foreign and uncongenial Kultur, however excellent in itself, forced upon them? And is it not extraordinary that this na- tion, with its frankly astounding admiration of itself, can maintain that the only respect in which it is behind other nations, is that its national spirit is not sufficiently pronounced! It is quite impossible for the Germans to under- stand why they are not more beloved. They are offended and hurt at the aversion with which they are regarded; they can find no other reason for it than the lowest envy; they reproach the world for 28 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH its shameful ingratitude; all they desire is to en- rich mankind with their great gifts and their unique Kultur. Other people can only smile at this lack of understanding. It belongs to the naive side of their character. There is nothing that arouses more displeasure and disgust than people who thrust themselves upon you. They will al- ways be met with the cry: "Keep your distance! I will choose for myself what I want; be good enough to let me manage my own affairs!" But when the Germans constantly, perhaps with the best intentions, encroach upon you, and, in ad- dition, always declare that these encroachments are inspired by the highest sense of moral obli- gation, for which the poor victims ought to be glad and grateful, then there is an end to one's patience. Only notice the altogether amazing gift the Germans possess for putting the most moral label on their most sinister encroachments ! Germany, they say, will on no account annex any- thing! Does this mean that Germany will make no conquests? Not at all, for they add that of course they must undertake the necessary read- justments of frontier which are to protect them against attacks in the future. They actually do not seem to understand that the populations af- fected will be equally dissatisfied with their des- tined lot, whether it be called annexation or ad- justment of frontier. In the same way, one hears them declare with lofty moral indignation, that it is an infamous lie which charges them with striv- TREND OF GERMAN THOUGHT 29 ing for world-supremacy. Such an idea could never enter their heads. No — but what do they intend? They will only "organise the world"; they will only, from sheer goodness of heart, place their brilliant power of organisation at the dis- posal of mankind! And how is this to be done? By Prussian judges and gendarmes? By German officers and traders? And if one refuses to be "organised"? Is one then to be compelled to ac- cept the benefit, the value of which, to one's shame, one evidently does not know how to appreciate? It is this German intrusiveness, the Germans' offensive undervaluing of other nations, their un- bearable assertion of their right to thrust upon others, by force if necessary, their presumably higher Kultur, which has made the Germans so hated. And it is the trend of thought here out- lined, the effects of which I propose to set forth in the following pages, giving chapter and verse to prove the extent of its influence. In general literature, one sees almost exclusively references to Treitschke and Bernhardi; but it is my inten- tion to show, on the one hand, to what a pitch the contempt and hatred for things foreign has been carried, and, on the other hand, how widely the overestimation, not to say the worship, of things German has spread in Germany. I must there- fore state a multitude of facts, and support them by ample quotations. I have indeed an inexhaust- ible fund to draw from. CHAPTER II GERMAN PROPHETS TREITSCHKE and Bernhardi might justly be included among the German prophets. Many Germans no doubt regard Treitschke in particular in this light. They are like the petrels which herald the storm. But they have been so often subjected to scrutiny that I shall resist the temp- tation of enlarging upon them. There are, how- ever, others who may very fitly be dealt with in this connection. I will mention three men whom the Germans have, particularly during this war, exalted with enthusiasm as their prophets. The first place is due to Ernst Moritz Arndt, the great German patriot of the time of the War of Liberation. 1 As early as 1834 he de- clared in one of his writings that the neutrality of Belgium could not possibly be maintained in a future war. (Nevertheless it was maintained in 1870!) He wrote: "Belgium, the granary and armoury, is pre- destined to be the battlefield in the struggle for the Meuse and the Rhine. I ask any General or Statesman who has seriously considered the prob- 1 See G. Traub: A us der Waffenschmiede, 191 5. 30 GERMAN PROPHETS 31 lems of war and politics, whether Belgium can re- main neutral in a European war — that is to say, can be respected as neutral any longer than^may appear expedient to the Power which feels itself possessed of the best advantages for attack." The German writer G. Traub makes the fol- lowing inimitable comment on the above: "Thus an Arndt has, as far back as eighty years ago, given us absolution for this so-called breach of neutrality, having foreseen that it is here a ques- tion of higher necessities, and that Belgium her- self, tliat 'half-French country,' cannot possibly re- main neutral." This is certainly an easy mode of obtaining absolution, by simply quoting one's de- parted prophets. But there is more to come. Arndt, by grub- bing in some old documents, discovered that, in the year 18 14, an English diplomat conceived the idea that, in order thoroughly to weaken France, Prussia should be made the guardian of the fron- tier: all the old German lands beyond the Rhine, including the province of Burgundy, should be united and handed over to Prussia ! This aston- ishing idea met with Arndt's eager approval. Then, indeed, it was not realised; but what is not yet may one day be. In any case it is clear to him that Belgium belongs naturally to Germany, and he considers whether it could not be liberated from French influences by being again united with Hol- land. This may be impossible; but at any rate 32 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the country's union with Germany is demanded by old right, and by both old and new duty. Then follows a sentence which Herr Traub calls classic, and declares to contain more political wisdom than many later treatises: "On the fields of Belgium Germany and England will of necessity be everlastingly at war for the possession of the Rhine and the supremacy of the Channel." Enthusiastically Herr Traub exclaims : He had indeed an eagle eye ! And he lauds him because he is always thinking of the reunion of old Ger- man land with Prussia. "His heart clings to the Rhine and the Meuse: here he will stand on the bastions of the German Empire, as God ordains, sword in hand." Thus Arndt is the prophet of Germany's claim to expand over Belgium and northern France. But he may also serve as an illustration of the adoring worship of Germany which it is one of our objects to study. For he is the author of the verse so often quoted by Germans, which runs as follows: Deutsche Freiheit, deutscher Gott, 1 deutscher Glaube ohne Spott, deutsches Herz und deutscher Stahl sind vier Helden allzumal. 1 German freedom, the German God, German faith without profanity, German heart and German steel, are four heroes all at once. GERMAN PROPHETS 33 It is a little difficult to understand the arithme- tic, according to which the above German heroes are counted as four instead of five. But here we already find the poet talking of the German God. May I at this point make an observation which is perhaps not out of place? German papers have of late been overflowing with indignation at French frivolity, because a French paper is re- ported to have said, that the French would surely "have done with the Germans and their God." This is another surprising instance of German naivete. How could they possibly expect the French to believe in a God whom they declare to be German! It never occurs to them that in this French remark there is no blasphemy against God, but only a scornful, and, it must be admitted, fully justified repudiation of the dogma of the existence of a specially German God. The second German prophet is the well-known philologist and theologian, P. de Lagarde. Al- ready in 1874 he expressed the view that Bis- marck's creation of the German Empire was only an episode on the way to the formation of the great Middle-European State. He calls the Ger- man Empire, "Little Germany." Even at that time Lagarde, as a German has lately put it, for- mulated the national demands which the Germans "not with unblushing arrogance, but realising the inherent necessity of the case," must consider as the indispensable foundation for the German peo- ple's co-operation in the history of mankind. 3 4 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH These demands are extensions of frontier both towards the east and the west; for the neutrality of Belgium cannot be relied upon. It is not, how- ever, a question of simple annexation. No, a much higher goal is aimed at. It is a question of "colonising," not in distant parts of the world, but in our immediate vicinity; to wit, in the border- lands to the west, in the non-German portion of the Hapsburg Monarchy, and in the adjoining portions of Russia as far as the Black Sea. Then we shall see a great Middle-European Empire, with frontiers extending from Luxemburg and Belfort in the west, to the old land of the Goths, by the Black Sea, in the east, and to the southward embracing Trieste; while Asia Minor is reserved for future requirements. This cannot be accom- plished without war} The war will come, and we must accustom the nation to the thought that it will come. But Lagarde was also a prophet as regards the other point in question; he demanded the forma- tion of a special German religion. The German nation is an organism, this organism must have a soul, this soul is a national religion, which must be neither Protestant nor Catholic, neither liberal nor orthodox, neither Christianity nor the religion of humanity. Still, Jesus is to have a place within it. Lagarde proposed that there should be at the universities professors of religious philosophy, whose business it would be 1 All italics are mine when not otherwise stated. — J.P.B. GERMAN PROPHETS 35 to serve as "pathfinders" for this new German religion! It is sufficient simply to mention this; to enlarge further upon so grotesque an idea is quite unnecessary. 1 The greatest and most popular of all the new- German prophets is, however, the poet Emanuel Geibel, whose centenary has recently been cele- brated (born 1 8 15, died 1884). It is he who has given the classic expression to the new-German hope of Germany's victorious march through the world. He has succeeded in finding the classical formula for the German arrogance which of ne- cessity demands that Germanism shall be placed above everything else in the world, and at the same time in giving this arrogance such an ex- pression that it shall not conflict with the German demand for moral justification. This has been achieved in the lines to which I have already re- ferred, and which are quoted times without num- ber in the newest German war literature: "Und es mag am deutschen Wesen Einmal noch die Welt genesen!" "The world may yet again be healed by Ger- manism?" The hope here expressed has become a certainty for modern Germany, and the Germans see in this the moral basis for all their demands. Why must Germany be victorious, why must she 1 See Paul Fischer : Paul de Lagarde, ein Prophet des deutschen Volkes, "Christliche Welt," Nos. 48-50, 1915; J. P. Bang: Kristendom og Nationalitet, 1 900. 36 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH have her place in the sun, why must her frontiers be extended, why is all opposition to Germany shameful, not to say devilish, why must Germany become a world-empire, why ought Germany, and not England, to become the great Colonial Power? Why, because it is through the medium of Ger- manism that the world is to be healed; it is upon Germanism that the salvation of the world de- pends. That is why all attacks upon Germanism are an offence against God's plans, and opposition to His designs for the world, in short, a sin against God. The Germans do not seem able to under- stand that other nations cannot be particularly delighted at being described as sickly shoots which can only be healed by coming under the influence of German fountains of health. Yet one would think that, if they would only reflect a little upon what these two lines imply, they would be able in some measure to understand that dislike for them, which they declare to be so incomprehen- sible. But Emanuel Geibel has said a great deal more than this. He is, in truth, well worth studying. He was all his life a fervent German patriot. To begin with, we Danes were the object of his wrath. He was, of course, honestly convinced of the truth of the Slesvig-Holsteiners' accusations against Denmark, and enthusiastic over their fight for freedom. The Danes have the audacity to violate (!) a German race ! Oh, Germany 1 hast thou fal- len into so deep a slumber that thou sufferest these GERMAN PROPHETS 37 foreign dwarfs to slash thy body with their im- pudent axe (1846)? And in 1852, after the war, he has some bitter words for "the Frenchman, the Briton, and the Russian" on the occasion of the London Conference: When they take counsel to- gether, others have humbly to say Amen. And then, of a truth, there follow some prophetic words: he predicts for these chefs and cooks, that some day a host of angry spirits will invade their caldron, and then the gust of a mighty storm will go through all Germany, and, terror-stricken, they will see the world in flames. Of course he glories in the war of 1864; as a true Teuton, indeed, he glories in war for its own sake : at last comes that holy rain of fire whereby we shall be healed, and then shall the sword cut to pieces the shameful network of lies, etc. The reader will observe that the course of thought is the usual one : the poor Germans must always be fighting against infamous lies. It was, then, the Danes who were lying in 1864! When one knows how freely the Slesvig-Holsteiners lied during all those years, that shameful network of lies is a little difficult for a Dane to swallow. In conclusion, he glories in the battle of Dybbol and "liberated" Slesvig. He also prophesied about the great Master who would arise and create the unity of Germany. This prophecy was brilliantly fulfilled in Bismarck. After 1866 he loudly clamours for Alsace-Lor- raine. This he cannot reasonably have expected to obtain without war; but when the war comes 38 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH we hear exactly the same tale as now of the Ger- mans' love of peace and the despicable deceitful- ness of their enemies. His words on this occasion are extremely interesting by reason of the light they throw upon the present day. He says that: "Germany had set her mind upon building her house in peace, but then came her hereditary foe, puffed up with venom and envy. The blood so criminally shed shall be upon him and his brood. We do not dream of an easy victory; this war is a world judgment, and strong is the spirit of lies; but He who was once the stronghold of our fathers, will again see us safely through it, be as- sured of that!" In another song, against "Babel" (that is, against France), he says: "Ye have rejected the peace which a faithful mind offered you, therefore ye shall have strife, misery, and tribulation." Then he draws a picture of the ruin of war: shrieks, hunger, wolves, vultures feasting on carcases — until the beaten enemy "forswears the spirit of lies." And the peace shall be a Ger- man peace; now tremble before the sword of God and of Germany, ye who are strong in impiety and fruitful in blood-guiltiness/ 1 Is it not extraordinary and well worth noticing, that in every detail we hear exactly the same strain now; there is nothing of all this that has not been said a thousand times during the present war. 1 From Kriegeslied (July 1870), Ein Psalm wider Babel (July 1870), Deutsche Siege (August 1 8 70), and Am dritten September (1870). GERMAN PROPHETS 39 But by and by the world came to know the truth about the Ems telegram. Geibel's prophetic genius, however, has partic- ularly manifested itself in the two poems which, during the present war, have come into special prominence in Germany, where they are constant- ly quoted with wondering enthusiasm. The one bears the title The Call of Germany, and is writ- ten in the year 1861, consequently just before the era of victory. The poet sees in the spirit a time of greatness for Germany. It shall come when the sacred crown (he means, no doubt, the Im- perial crown) again adorns a lofty brow, and the head with a strong will controls every limb. Then shall the word of Germany again have weight in the councils of the nations. Then shall French levity and the hordes of Russia no longer have the final say. No; power and freedom, right and morals, a clear mind and a sharp blow will, from a strong centre (Germany), chastise the wild lusts of all self-seekers. And thereupon follow the famous lines about the healing of the world by Germanism. But so early as 1859 Geibel wrote a prophetic poem which is really still more remarkable. It runs thus : "Some day it will happen, that the Lord will remove the shame of his people; He who spoke on the field of Leipzig, will speak once more in 4 o HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH thunder. Then be of good cheer, O Germany. This is the first sign: when West and East join hands in league against thee. When East and West unite to draw the sword against thee, then know that God will not forsake thee, if thou dost not forsake thyself. Then the storm will con- sume thy old brother-feuds, and in that hour will necessity beget for thee great deeds and heroes, until, in renewed might, with the sign of mastery, as ever, on thy brow, thou shalt sit throned above the nations of Europe as a princess without equal. Then let the chastening glow of a world-conflagra- tion blaze forth, and do thou, the Imperial Eagle of the German land, arise like Phoenix from the flames!" 1 One can easily understand that the Germans should hail this poet as a prophet. His prophecy, as often happens with prophecies, was not ful- filled all at once. First came 1870, which gave Germany the Imperial crown and the Empire; but East and West did not yet join hands. Now, however, the prophecy that East and West should league themselves against Germany has been lit- erally fulfilled, and now it is world-empire that is at stake. Thus the hope of all Germans was already expressed in these words of Geibel's fifty- six years ago. And should peace one day be concluded as a "German peace," the Germans will assuredly sing as Geibel sang after the last war : 1 From Einst geschiet's (1859). GERMAN PROPHETS 41 "God, who went before us in the flame of fire, now grant our people strength for the last victory, strength to root out the dark seed of lies, the foreign alloy, from our hearts, in faith, word and deed. Enter at every portal, thou strong Ger- man spirit, which, born of light, dost show us the way to light, and establish in our midst, at once weapon-strong and pious, in freedom, discipline, and morality, Thy Millennium." No wonder that Geibel is accounted the prophet of the coming German millennium on earth ! CHAPTER III GERMAN WAR POETRY ["X is needless to say that the war has called forth -*■ an endless number of poets. Most of them, as far as my knowledge goes, are of small enough poetical merit; but the ideas I am here studying, the glorification of Germanism and its mission in world-history, the passionate hatred and boundless contempt for the opponents of Germany, are very conspicuous in the domain of song. The new-German spirit has found one of its most classical expressions in a collection of poems published by a German pastor, Konsistorialrat Dietrich Vorwerk, under the significant title, Hurrah and Hallelujah. I find in this combina- tion something so absolutely characteristic of the German spirit, that I have adopted it as the title for this book. In the first edition of Pastor Vor- werk's poems there occurred a paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, of which I will cite the last three petitions and the close: "Though the warrior's bread be scanty, do Thou work daily death and tenfold woe unto the enemy. Forgive in merciful long-suffering each bullet and each blow which misses its mark! Lead 42 GERMAN WAR POETRY 43 us not into the temptation of letting our wrath be too tame in carrying out Thy divine judgment! Deliver us and our Ally from the infernal Enemy and his servants on earth. Thine is the kingdom, the German land; may we, by aid of Thy steel- clad hand, achieve the power and the glory." Here, however, the Germans themselves thought the poet had gone too far; the poem was denounced as blasphemous in a religious paper, and it did not appear in later editions of the book. Even in war-time it seems that there are people who do not quite like to see a Protestant clergyman, in the interests of Germanism, pub- lishing a blasphemous adaptation of the Lord's Prayer. The book in question is not without some bet- ter notes : it contains exhortations to bend the knee before God in earnest self-examination, and the mere fact of its being full of jubilation and thanks- giving for German victories is no ground for re- proach. But these thoughts are not kept in proper balance, and the poems are saturated with the sentiment to which I have referred, namely that the German people are, above all other peoples, specially endowed by God, and under His peculiar guidance and care. I will illustrate this by one or two examples: The poet asks the question how it can be, that Germany is surrounded by nothing but enemies, and has not a single friend. (The poem was 44 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH probably written before the Turks joined in.) It it not Germany's own fault? No, replies the pious poet : Do you not know that Prince of Hell whose name is Envy, who unites scoundrels, and sunders heroes? Let us rejoice that Envy has thus risen up against us; it only shows that God has exalted and richly blessed us. Think of Him who was hanged on the Cross, and seemed forsaken of God, and had to tread in such loneliness His path to victory. My German people, even if thy road be strewn with thorns and beset by enemies, press onward, full of defiance and confidence. The heavenly ladder is still standing. Thou and thy God, ye are the majority. Another poem begins in the spirit of the Old Testament, with a curse on those who are not zealous enough in executing the judgments of God's wrath. The war is a holy war. Then fol- lows a long enumeration showing that everything on the German side is holy — their right, their covenant, their wrath, their hand, their graves; but thrice holy is the old God who leads the Ger- man banners to their holy goals, and cursed be he who despairs of the victory of his God and who advocates a rotten peace, etc. Another poem describes the character of the Briton, and reminds one strangely of the Pharisee and the Publican : "Covetousness, a huckstering spirit, a thirst for gain, calculating envy, hypocrisy — what despicable vices have they not become to us. We spit at them, we hate them, just because they are British, allied to British falsehood and craft. We cer- tainly must confess to our shame that we also had our share of them; but now we have thrust them GERMAN WAR POETRY 45 all from us, now we walk in gentle innocence through homely pastures, free from greed of money, stripped of all cunning, because — just because it is all British." In conclusion I will cite one or two ebullitions of the "holy hatred" which inspires our poet. He thus invokes God in a Battle Prayer: "Thou who dwellest high above Cherubim, Seraphim and Zeppelins in Thy Heaven, Thou who art en- throned as a God of thunder in the midst of light- ning from the clouds, and lightning from sword and cannon, send thunder, lightning, hail and tempest hurtling upon our enemy, bestow upon us his banners, hurl him down into the dark burial- pits." In conclusion take the following lyric of holy hatred: "We had quite forgotten it, this burning hatred, we Germans, who are wont to stand in admiration of alien customs and foreign races, as if it were they who gave us everything good. To the Japanese we gave German arms, we gave the British shopkeepers German science, and we rejoiced to enhance the power of our op- ponents with the fruits of our mind. This is at an end. Our eyes have now penetrated into a bottomless pit of baseness. Those whom we made happy leagued themselves in envy of the radiant course of our own happiness; those whom we armed ungratefully strive to pierce our hearts with poisonous weapons; those who have eaten of the bread of our spirit, it is they whom we see in their malice working for our destruction. O God, Thou who art the enemy of cowardly assassins, a relentless foe of greedy ingratitude, we thank Thee that the mask of fraud has been 46 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH torn from the face of the hypocrite. Help us to judge with Thy holy hatred all who insolently strive to seize Thy Crown, so that we may not cease to destroy, until death has fully ripened the fruit!" This last poem in particular is uncanny and almost unaccountable even to one who is familiar with the trend of new-German thought. Only on the hypothesis of the most thick-skinned naivete can we regard such a production as psychologically comprehensible. Is it really possible, one asks, that a cultured German, in downright earnest, can positively mean that it is only the Germans, the innocent credulous Germans, who have been the givers, that it is they who in their unselfish mag- nanimity have blessed the rest of the world with the products of their genius and their ingenuity, and who ought consequently to be so tenderly cherished by all the rest of us, that we should be eager to show our boundless gratitude by comply- ing with all the wishes of our German benefactors ! They have received nothing from others; they have been givers and givers only; one would really suppose that they had presented their products to the rest of the world free, gratis, for nothing! Even if they have received nothing else, they have surely received a trifle of money for their trouble. Or has Germany, in blue-eyed innocence, wandered along her quiet paths, spreading joy and happi- ness around her, and then suddenly been set upon in the most dastardly way by all those who ought GERMAN WAR POETRY 47 to have thanked her on their bended knees for her incomprehensible bounty and goodness towards them? Such a way of thinking is not only pos- sible, but, as will appear in the following pages, frequent. That Zeppelins should be exalted into the company of the Cherubim and Seraphim is certainly a proof of that astounding lack of taste which we so often encounter in German Kultur. Another poet, Fritz Philippi, has written the following poem, entitled W orld-Germany : "In the midst of the world-war, Germany lies like a peaceful garden of God behind the wall of her armies. Then the poet hears the giant strides of the new armour-clad Germany; the earth trembles, the nations shriek, the old era sinks into ruin. Formerly German thought was shut up in her corner, but now the world shall have its coat cut according to German measure ('Jetzt wird der Welt gemessen Der Rock nach deutschem Maass'), and as far as our swords flash and Ger- man blood flows, the circle of the earth shall come under the tutelage of German activity." It is the very thought of being forced into the mould of the German JVesen, and becoming sub- ject to German "tutelage" which fills us non-Ger- mans with such horror. 1 In the Schlesische Zeitung for November 9, 1 9 14, the following lines appear in a poem about Kiautschau : 1 Christliche Welt, 19 H» nr. 38. 48 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH "O God, do Thou accept us as strong and worthy to wield Thy fell sword of vengeance; as Thy faithful servants will we bleed and conquer for the right, and we will avenge the blood of our brethren with truly godlike courage. Oh, help us, Father, at the right time, Thou the Father of all justice." The foremost place, however, in German war- poetry, at least as far as publicity is concerned, is due to the notorious Hymn of Hate against Eng- land which, at the beginning of the war, was written by Ernst Lissauer, and was distributed by the Crown Prince of Bavaria to his army. It had an immense success, and actually became a kind of national song, being sung and played every- where. The following quotation will suffice to give an idea of its style: "We will gather together to judgment, and take an oath face to face, an oath for our children and children's children; hear the word and repeat it, let it roll through the whole of Germany: we will not desist from our hatred: we all have but one hatred, we love together, we hate together, we all have but one enemy, England." The effect of this poem has been incalculable. In the early stages of the war there arose in Ger- many a mighty wave of passionate hatred for England, foaming and surging to such a degree that its expression could not but fill one with hor- ror. "Gott strafe England!" became the daily GERMAN WAR POETRY 49 greeting, spoken and written. When, for instance, a company paraded in the morning, the captain cried in a loud voice: "Gott strafe England!'* and the response came from two hundred and fifty throats: "Er strafe es." And this greeting spread from the army to the whole nation: "When you, for instance, sit at your Stammtisch, do not say 'Prosit/' when you drink; no, do as we do, say 'Gott strafe England/' and reply 'Er strafe es.' " Let me for a moment dwell upon the subject of this terrible hatred, which has reached such a delirious height in Germany. "It is the literal truth, that in Russia, France, and England we are fighting against falsehood and cunning, cowardice and baseness, envy and treachery, every possible form of unrighteousness." These are the expres- sions, not of a gutter paper (the writer has paid no heed to this class of publication), but of a well-considered and outwardly calm article in a German religious paper of good standing, the Allgemeine evangelisch-lutherische Kirchenzei- tung, from which I have made many other quota- tions. But although the three principal enemies of Germany are here bracketed together, there can be no doubt that the hatred is specially di- rected against England. "We have all but one enemy, whom you all know, he who, in his deceit and cunning, screens himself behind the grey waves; from our hatred for him we will never So HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH desist," says the above-mentioned Hymn of Hate. "That England alone is behind it, and is the direct instigator of the world-war, that we all know." This is indeed an established dogma for all Ger- mans, and further it is declared: "The violations of law which England commits on all sides are legion; the most brutal acts of arbitrariness and inhumanity incessantly follow each other. Justice is continually set aside." Ought one, then, not to hate? Certainly one ought, says this Christian paper; one ought to hate, not the individual, but the nation. For: "England is now the scourge of God under which the whole world groans ( !), which hinders commerce and trade, takes no heed of neutrality, and has conjured up this terrible war with the one object of crushing Germany; it is because of England that the best sons of our people are bleeding out their lives upon the battlefield, that death in a hundred shapes is stalking over the earth, that peaceful countries are given over to ruin and conflagration ( !), that irreparable treas- ures of German Kultur are ravaged by Russian barbarians. It is England that has let loose the wild lust of conquest of heathen Asiatics against the people of the Reformation, and thereby placed European Christianity in danger of losing its most sacred possessions (!). Verily, German Christianity would not be worthy of the name, if it did not flame up at this spectacle, if it did not burn with one anger, and clench but one fist, and that against England." GERMAN WAR POETRY 51 These words are actually printed and published. When such expressions of the wildest, most ir- reflective hatred can find their way into an other- wise quite reputable religious paper, how, then, must it be with the German nation at large ! It hates England with a "long hatred," as the above- mentioned poem phrases it, and so much is cer- tain, that Germany will not rest until she has com- pletely crushed England, if not in this war, then by and by. In the article in question, the Old Testament is cited in support of this hatred. And the New Testament ? True, it speaks of love, but, we are told, it speaks also of such love as makes the shepherd slay the wolf in order to save the sheep. And the sheep are the German Fatherland, while the wolf is England. All England's crimes are then recited afresh, and the effusion concludes with the prophetic words : "Woe unto thee, thou destroyer, for thou shalt thyself be destroyed." It is true that of late certain voices have been raised in Germany against the hymn of hate, even the author himself has in a measure disowned it, and it has not been thought advisable to include it in school-books — but unfortunately this does not mean very much. The harm is done, and, moreover, the poison of hatred, as we shall see, is continually dripping into the German soul through the medium of new poems and speeches. The following verse about England, from a poem by Otto Riemasch, is praised as being "particularly affecting" : 52 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH "But a hundred times more glowing than our steel, shall the mark of our contempt be branded upon thee. Wander then as a lonely Ahasuerus, restless and unhappy, over land and sea. And if thou sayest: 'I have flung the firebrand of hell from earth to heaven, over sea and land, I have struck God and mankind in the face, and must now bear all their curses, an everlasting stigma seared with fire,' then shalt thou speak the truth for the first time. Laugh on behind thy mask, thine hour has come." At times, indeed, German writers also rage fiercely against their other enemies, as in the fol- lowing verse against the Russians: "You have now the enemy in your clutch, pass a just judgment. Let the leaden bullets of East Prussia buzz, and let each bullet account for the life of a foe. Huddled together in gangs, with uplifted arms, cut off on islands between bottom- less bogs, staggering under the hailstorm which our artillery showers upon them . . . the enemy no longer defends himself. . . . Do you hear his cowardly whining for mercy? Are you lowering your rifles? Are you making prisoners? Is it your duty now to show humanity?" Still it is always England to which they hark back. For instance Herr Eulenburg: "Oh, England, thou perfidious land, it shall never be forgotten that thou hast betrayed thy brethren for filthy lucre." GERMAN WAR POETRY 53 Or O. v. Gierke : "Storm on with thy Slavic and Gallic accom- plices, thou low-minded nation; thou shalt never falsify the judgment of God, perfidious Albion." Or G. Falck: "White snow, white snow, fall, fall for seven weeks; all may'st thou cover, far and wide, but never England's shame; white snow, white snow, never the sins of England." But the other keynote too — Germany, as the great nation specially favoured by God, entirely pure and innocent, the instrument in the avenging hand of Heaven — is of course in frequent request. For instance, E. Kiihnemann: "Why this war? we do not know! Perhaps, my people, a judgment on the world. And thou the sword in God's hand, flashing down upon the wicked." Or T. Suze : "The Germans are the first before the throne of God — Thou couldst not place the golden crown of victory in purer hands." Or J. Hort: "Never have ye seen a strong people and Em- pire in whiter garments of peace. We offered you 54 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH palm branches, we offered you justice, ye offered us envy and hate." Or F. Lienhardt: "When these storms have done their work, Germany's purest mission begins: to become a place of refuge, a holy grove for all the seekers of the earth, a central land, a land of wisdom, a land of morals. Then will it be the flower- wreathed hospitable gateway, facing towards the glittering East." OrK. Hildebrand: "Blessings stream and flow down upon those who have given themselves up to thee; there Ger- man virtues gush limpid forth, there German power wells up. What a draught from this spring! Strong and deep and of high courage, the German spirit flows along, the German nature (Wesen) flows far over the life of all nations." In this way German poets lose themselves in radiant visions of the blessings which victorious Germany is to shower upon the poor, thirsty, ailing world. But in the meantime the cry is, as F. Philippi puts it: "We have become a nation of wrath; we think only of the war. We execute God's Almighty will, and the edicts of His justice we will fulfil, im- bued with holy rage, in vengeance upon the GERMAN WAR POETRY 55 ungodly. God calls us to murderous battles, even if worlds should thereby fall to ruins. We are woven together like the chastening lash of war; we flame aloft like the lightning; like gardens of roses our wounds blossom at the gate of Heaven. We thank Thee, Lord God! Thy wrathful call obliterates our sinful nature; with Thine iron rod we smite all our enemies in the face." The decidedly unpoetical collection of poems : Neue Kriegs- und Friedens-Kirchenlieder, manu- factured by Pastor Emil Schultz, bears the same stamp. It is, perhaps, not quite so bad as Hurrah and Hallelujah, but it rests entirely upon the same idea: that God is the God of the German nation, and that the German people are God's people, whilst other nations come under the heading of gangs (Rotten) who cannot possibly have any- thing to do with God : "Let us move ever on the road to victory, German Christians ! Then God will at the end of this war drive out all the enemies who so inso- lently mock His people, who constantly reconcile themselves with God." This latter description of the German people strikes one as distinctly peculiar. The last verse of this song runs thus : "Help us also in the future, Thou God of Vic- tory, let us soon reach the goal, grant that all the hostile gangs may now be afraid in earnest. Lead 56 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH us also, Lord, to the final victory in the great war." The poetical taste of this writer may be gauged by the following lines, which I must really give in the original: "Bringt Gott den Psalterklang, er tone lebenslang deutschen Gauen, denn nimmermehr von Gottes Ehr' lasst Deutschlands Land-Luft- und Seewehr." ■ The last line is inimitable, and with it I will end this chapter. i »i 'Praise God to the sound of the psaltery, let it swell for evermore from German lands; for never will God's honour cease to be the theme of Germany's land- air- and sea-forces. CHAPTER IV THE WAR IN SERMONS HERR A. FENDRICH, in his book: Mi* dem Auto an die Front, which has been much read and commented upon, especially on account of its having been written by a Social Democrat, relates a conversation which he had with the Em- peror and the Chancellor on his visit to the Front. "The Chancellor, big and erect, gave me his soft, strong hand. My hands are not small, but my right hand seemed to disappear in his. I like his hand. It radiates warmth and faithfulness." Then the Emperor appears, and an interesting conversation ensues between him and the Social Democrat. The Emperor first emphasises his love of peace, and then Herr Fendrich records his further utterances as follows: "We had greatly overvalued all other nations, even the French. The French are a people on the down grade. Their mode of warfare teems with the grossest atrocities, with such terrible acts, that only a secret war-book can some day record them. For half an hour the Emperor, inwardly reluctant, and yet carried away by the monstrosity of the matters in question, detailed to me facts duly set down on oath, about French officers' and doctors' 57 5 8 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH mode of treating, not only the enemy, but also their own people, which left no hope of any re- covery. France is a doomed country. And the tears which more than once filled the Emperor's eyes were often tears of shame at the thought of such behaviour on the part of a people who were still looked upon as chivalrous and noble, but who had fallen victims to a fixed idea." On this point the Emperor and the Social Democrat were entirely agreed, and the latter next mentions another point with regard to which he also entirely approved of the Emperor's views, namely, the purpose of the war: "Its purpose and aim is the unification and purification of Germany, in order that it may be qualified for its historical task; to be the heart of Europe, and labour for the eleva- tion of European humanity. We are fighting the fight of light against darkness. We are not all good, but our will is bent towards the good. And to the upright of spirit, God will allot success. — This was his main idea as to the purpose of the war, and it was as if one could hear the clear voices of children singing: 'Oh, Germany, high in honour, thou holy land of faith' — " Although it is a little outside the scope of this book, considering the interest which attaches to this conversation between the Emperor and the Social Democrat, I will quote this concluding re- flection: "Social matters were not touched upon. But I am firmly convinced, that the Kaiser, with his THE WAR IN SERMONS 59 keenly searching mind, after the conclusion of peace, and in view of the nation's unanimity in the defence of the Fatherland, will once more seize the opportunity of becoming the Unification- Kaiser of a Social State with all the wealth of personality which Germany alone can boast, this land of soul-love, and empire of democratic-mo- narchical synthesis." This again shows that, from the highest places down to the ranks of the workmen, all are agreed about the two fundamental ideas : firstly, the low standing and often utter worthlessness of non- German nations in comparison with the German people, and, secondly, the special calling of Ger- manism, its world-mission to be the salt and the light of mankind. In my book, Christianity and Nationality, published fifteen years ago, I have given several examples of this tendency of thought, of which I shall here quote only one : In a commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, intended to serve as a help in evangelical religious teaching, we read in an exposition of the words "The meek shall inherit the earth," that one can rule over the earth in different senses ; in an earthly and in a heavenly sense. As examples of false world-conquerors are named Augustus, Charles V., and Napoleon, while opposed to them as "true world-conquerors" are Jesus, St. Paul, Luther, and William I. Thus young Germans are taught to look upon the Emperor William I. as the last link in a series which begins with Jesus. On page 5 60 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH of the same book, Bismarck is quoted in the same breath with Paul and other New Testament writers. Further, in a modern German school- book we read that "Christ shall be a German Christ for us Germans," and that God has a special mission for Germany, as distinct from the rest of the world, in virtue of which Germany "cannot succumb and die, but must live and con- quer." This may give some idea of the extravagances of nationalism which certainly prevail in German school-teaching, not only of history but also of religion. It is my present object to show to what a height these extravagances have been carried by German preachers in their sermons during the war. The two fundamental ideas above-men- tioned — the passionate hatred and contemptuous disparagement of other nations, and the equally excessive idolatry of Germanism as the world's sole and last remaining hope of salvation — have, through the war, reached a high pitch of develop- ment. If this assertion, however, is to be fully proven, a few isolated quotations will not suffice. The proof must be produced in such detail that no one can resist the demonstration aimed at, or fail to realise that these ideas have assumed an endless variety of shapes, that they have in a great degree overshadowed the German mind, and that their continued growth and victory would be the most terrible menace for all Germany's neigh- bours, ay, for the whole earth. THE WAR IN SERMONS 61 A theological professor, E. Cremer, has lately written in a religious paper, that in recent German sermons the "eschatological element," that is, the doctrine of the end of things, the hope of the final consummation of the world's course, has been markedly forced into the background; and the reason for this he finds in the idea that there must first be room in world-history for that great event, "theT healing of the sick world by Germanism." "The hope to which these words of the poet give expression, lies in the direction which our history has followed. And in this direction the will of the Ruler of the world is also fulfilled. And confidence in the faithfulness of God makes this a living hope in the breasts of those who have an open eye for the sins of the nations. Besides, the man from whom these words emanated has proved to be a seer. And Geibel's Christian standpoint helps to bring it about, that especially those who are the guardians of the Christian hope have now above all things become national. Geibel's verses are particularly treasured in Christian circles." Further, we are reminded of Schiller's words concerning "a German day in history," which should thus be "a day of harvest for the whole world." "Only one element of hope can the poet discern which might yet be able to arrest the other- wise irresistible development: namely, German- ism." Treitschke is then referred to, and the writer continues : 62 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH "There are also signs that the German people may be singled out by God to be the means of 'once again' defeating the destructive anti-Chris- tian tendencies of the age, and, in virtue of His having entrusted them above others with His pure Gospel, carrying on the course of the mission to its consummation. So much is certain, that God is planning to do something with us." — "Our people are inspired by the thought that they are called upon to play a special part in the decisive battle between light and darkness, and by the hope of then standing on the side of light." And from all this the writer draws the conclusion that the preaching of the advent of the Lord is not only a fundamental and essential part of Christianity, but is also genuinely German. In the report of an address by another German theological professor, in the Berliner Lokalan- zeiger for November 13, 19 14, we read as fol- lows: "But the deepest and most thought-inspiring result of the war is 'the German God.' Not the national God, such as the lower nations worship, but 'our God' who is not ashamed of belonging to us, the peculiar acquirement of our heart. Max Lenz has already testified to the revelation of the 'German God,' and Luther's hymn, 'Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott,' merely expresses the same idea in other words." I will now proceed to substantiate my state- ments in detail by quotations from German war sermons. CHAPTER V H. FRANCKE THE author of these "war sermons" is a pas- tor in Liegnitz. The book 1 is ornamented with the Iron Cross, and published at the request of numerous members of his flock. The keynote of the first sermon is that, now that the critical hour of the German people has come, it is meet to seek for strength in the light of the critical hour of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The preacher proceeds: "We could draw many instructive parallels; we could say that as Jesus was treated, so also have the German people been treated. Quietly and strenuously they have done their duty, complied with the will of God to the best of their knowledge, and as far as it was humanly possible. They have worked not only for themselves and their own welfare, but for the welfare of mankind, for its moral and religious progress — they have worked for the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. Ideal aims have always been more highly valued by the Germans — at any rate by the best among them — than earthly gains. And what thanks have they received from the people, to 1 H. Francke: Kriegs-Predigten, 19 14. 63 64 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH whom they had ungrudgingly given their best? They suddenly liken the German nation to Beel- zebub ! It is declared to have incited and pre- cipitated the war, it is charged with having shame- lessly assaulted peaceful neighbours. And yet they all know perfectly well how good-natured and peace-loving the German Michel has been. They thought they had lulled him to slumber with their hypocritical songs of peace; and when once he was soundly asleep, they would all fall upon him and murder him. And the saddest thing was that even in our own German house, there were many brethren who sided with our hypocritically peace- loving opponents. Well, we knew we were in good company when we were thus slandered. Our Master had been called Beelzebub, why should His imperfect disciples be better treated? " "But what is the will of God in this war? Much of it is clear beyond all question: To hire assassins and murder princes is not His will. Nor is it His will to help assassins and protect them from their well-deserved punishment. Nor can it be His will to deceive a trusting friend, and afterwards try to thrust a poisoned dagger in his heart, whilst one says to him, 'Give peace!' To murder men because their honesty and ability stand in one's way, because their work is better than one's own, and their reward consequently greater — that is not the will of God either. But that is the will of the — oh, so pious — Briton!" "One thing, I think, is clear! God must stand on our side. We fight for right and truth, for Kultur, and civilisation, and human progress, and true Christianity, against untruthfulness and hy H. FRANCKE 65 pocrisy and falseness, and un-Kultur and barba- rism and brutality. All human blessings, ay and humanity itself, stand under the protection of our bright weapons." The sermon ends with the prediction, that when the army returns decked with laurels, then will be fulfilled what the Psalmist sang centuries ago, "Mercy and truth are met together; right- eousness and peace have kissed each other." The next sermon is an indictment of the enemies of Germany: From the East the Russian threatens us, the representative of un-Kultur, uncivilisation, nom- inally a Christian, yet the lowest of idol-worship- pers, steeped in superstition. Light and mental culture are his abomination. Injustice and bloody deeds of violence are his life-element, agreements and constitutions, solemnly sworn to, have no sig- nificance for him; he is stained with blood from top to toe. One only fears him for his coarse and brutal numbers, filled as he is with a low hatred of all* Germanism, just as the half-savage strives to hate and annihilate whoever is morally de- veloped. With him sides in a natural union the French- man — his complete antithesis. Over-cultivated, degenerate, godless, frivolous. United with the Russian only in a common hatred. And what is the reason of this? Wounded vanity. Our fathers defended themselves against an insolent assault, and victoriously carried the war into his 66 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH own land. His hollow sense of honour cannot forget this, and that is why the so-called 'great nation' shrieks for revenge. In order to avenge himself he has stirred up the nations against us. And as the third in this alliance the Briton falls upon us, he who is proverbially perfidious, faith- less. He is certainly connected with us by blood, and ought to stand with us on the defensive against Gallic rottenness and Slavic brutality. He is also a Protestant like ourselves, and pretends to be so pious, so pious! And in spite of this he is our enemy — and why? Oh, it is quite simple. He hopes to do better business when the German cousin, with his inconvenient industry and ability, has been annihilated, etc., etc. The next sermon contains a passage which ap- parently forms a strange contrast to the usual insistence upon Germany's great moral purity and acceptability to God. When it is their cue to dilate upon the marvellous effects of the war upon the German people, these clergymen paint the state of affairs before the war in extremely dark colours, apparently without realising the contra- diction to which they commit themselves. This phenomenon we shall often encounter, and I shall by and by make some comments upon it. "We were not as the Almighty would wish His people to be; we were not pleasing to Him. Superficiality prevailed in wide circles; we had a weakness for tinsel, and were taken up with vain and empty things, so that any friend of the nation H. FRANCKE 67 could not but look forward with apprehension to whatever serious trials God might have in store for us. Eternal blessings were no longer thought of, or were thrust into the background in favour of temporal things. The service of Mammon seemed to have become all-important." [Com- pare this with the description of England!] ''To this was added the miserable division of our people into parties and grades, into castes and classes." But when the war came all this rotten hollowness disappeared! Then the preacher belauds the German Empire, envied by enemies in East and West. Even the Poles and the French in Alsace-Lorraine have now seen how glorious it is: "Germany is precisely — who would venture to deny it? — the representative of the highest moral- ity, of the purest humanity, of the most chastened Christianity. He, therefore, who fights for its maintenance, its victory, fights for the highest blessings of humanity itself, and for human prog- ress. Its defeat, its decline, would mean a fall- ing-back to the worst barbarism." After which he praises the Emperor for his love of peace. In another sermon, filled with the jubilation of victory, he enlarges on the confirmation which events have brought to the message of a psalm, constantly sung during the war, to the effect that God does not allow the good to be trodden under foot by the wicked. Then he explains how the 68 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH German nation has always fought for truth and freedom : "They envy us our freedom, our power to do our work in peace, to excel in virtue of ability, to fulfil our appointed task for the good of the world and humanity, to heal the world by the German nature, to become a blessing to the people of the earth. Wherever the German spirit ob- tains supremacy, there freedom also prevails. And have not our enemies to fall back upon lies and venomous calumnies in the endeavour to jus- tify their assault in the world's eyes and their own? Does this not prove that the truth, too, is with us? Truth and freedom, those two great bless- ings, are in our Gospel promised by the Lord Himself." "Here we come upon the old intimate kinship between the essence of Christianity and of Ger- manism. Because of their close spiritual rela- tionship, therefore, Christianity must find its fairest flower in the German mind. Therefore we have a right to say: 'Our German Christian- ity — the most perfect, the most pure.' The joy of seeking the truth and of being free has always been the highest joy to Germans." He goes ori to enlarge upon the theme that "Love of truth and craving for freedom are virtues as German as they are Christian." I cannot quote his reason- ing in its entirety, but I append a portion of it: "Truth, faithfulness, and reliability are our strong points in the race of the nations. That is why the German merchant goes ahead of the others, and why they envy us our success in this H. FRANCKE 69 peaceful contest. Thus these virtues are the cause of their forcing upon us a bloody war. But God be praised, it is also these virtues which give us our good conscience, and allow us to say with confidence : 'God with us and we with God. We shall hold the field.' " "And we do not fight for ourselves alone. When we fight for victory, we fight in the cause of hu- manity and Christianity. It has always been Ger- man nature, in its mysterious craving for truth, to penetrate through all the dust which centuries have gathered upon the image of our Saviour, and His pure and genuine human personality. Ger- man craving for truth and German strength of faith, working along Biblical paths, have attained to the true faith, the pure religiousness, whose first and greatest spokesman is Jesus Christ. Thus the Germans are the very nearest to the Lord, and may claim for themselves that they have 'continued in His word.' Thus German Chris- tianity represents the right relation between Christ and His disciples, and our nature the most perfect consummation of Christianity as a whole. We fight, then, not only for our land and our people; no, for humanity in its most mature form of de- velopment; in a word, for Christianity as against degeneration and barbarism. Therefore, as surely as the history of mankind moves onward and not backward, and truth is higher than lies and hypoc- risy, God must be with us, and victory ours. This is guaranteed us by the truth of our nature, which is as German as it is Christian." In his last sermon, delivered on September 6th, o HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the preacher reaches the zenith of victorious jubi- lation. Pictorial rings through it all. In the roar of the battle, in the thunder of the cannon, the Lord God has spoken, and His words were : "My German people shall live I" "But have not the other nations, our enemies, done the same? Have not their great men all, with solemn gestures, invoked the 'Lord of Hosts' and prayed for victory? Certainly, all except the yellow Japs — our noblest enemies, who are hea- thens and have acted accordingly — they are all Christians in name. But we know that the name matters nothing, and that gestures matter nothing; if these things are all, they are but froth and fraud. Jesus has said: 'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' But where our heart is, there is our God or our idol. 'Above all things to fear, love, and depend upon God,' that means^ according to Luther, to have a God. Is the living God, the God whom one can only have and understand in the spirit of Jesus Christ, is He the God of those others? No, they serve at best Satan, the father of lies!" With this stupendous "at best" I will conclude my extracts from these sermons. He goes on to describe once more the vices of the enemy and adds, "How utterly different it was with us ! Such shortcomings as we had vanished like dew before the sun, at the coming of the war." But it would be superfluous to repeat all this. In a poem by Gustav Schuler it is written of the German people: H. FRANCKE 71 "Dost thou fear, thou little flock? Thou wilt triumph, thine is the earth. Thou art in God and hast conquered, thou wilt overcome the world, and wilt kindle a streaming fire that shall flow over all mountains." CHAPTER VI W. LEHMANN WALTER LEHMANN is the Pastor of Hamberge in Holstein. He has preached a series of sermons which he has published under the title: About the German God. The book is ornamented with the Iron Cross. 1 Apparently taking it for granted that all Ger- mans, as such, are pious, he speaks in his first sermon as follows : "We know — do we not? — that it is a peculiar- ity of the German that he requires a moral found- ation, an intellectual justification, for his actions. He is not content to say: 'The Kaiser calls, I come.' No, he must stand spotless in his own eyes, in the sight of his conscience. Other- wise he would be a mere tool, and he cannot and will not be anybody's tool but God's. But when we are at one with God and with our conscience, then our action is endowed with superhuman strength. We therefore ask each other in this decisive hour: Does our conscience, the God of our soul, go forth with us in this fight?" He is not long in giving to this question the 1 W. Lehmann: Vom deutschen Gott. 1915. 72 W. LEHMANN 73 following conclusive answer: "Our motive is not a desire for power, nor for expansion of frontier, nor is it any selfish interest; our cause is that of morality against immorality, of righteousness against frivolity, arrogance, and envy, of truth against falsehood and cunning. — — This means that we go forth to war as Christians, pre- cisely as Christians, as we Germans understand Christianity; it means that we have God on our side. Thus we can say: With God will we go about our work! Can the Russians, the French, the Serbians, the English say this? No, not one of them; only we Germans can say it." The Germans are ready: "The pedantic and bureaucratic love of order, carried to its furthest extreme, the conscientiousness and accuracy which are the soul of our authorities from the very highest to the lowest (which we have often, no doubt, laughed at and grumbled at) will now brilliantly stand the test and reveal themselves as the creative principles of a wonderful organic work of art: the consummation and development of the German spiritual and bodily national strength." In a sermon of August 9th he speculates as to The Motives of our Enemies. Why have they banded themselves together? "Because Germany is too great and mighty, too strong and flourish- ing, too pure and moral, too sound and unassail- able, too industrious and aspiring, too deep and rich, too inwardly and spiritually fertile ." "Germany is now about to become, mentally and morally, the first nation in the world. The German nation leads in the domains of Kultur, 74 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH science, intelligence, morality, art, and religion, in the entire domain of the inner life. The world shall once again be healed by the German spirit: that shall be no empty phrase for us. All the deep things: courage, patriotism, faithfulness, moral purity, conscience, the sense of duty, activity on a moral basis, inward riches, intellect, industry, and so forth ( !) — no other nation possesses all these things in such high perfection as we do. And because it is so, because Germany is the leader in the entire domain of intellect, character, and soul — and in the end the world's judgment depends on these — because Germany is thus more and more becoming the centre of the world, there- fore our neighbours look upon us askance, and with envy. Thus this war is a war of envy and jealousy of Germany's leadership. It is a fight of hounds against a noble quarry." Referring to the German White Book and the Chancellor's speech, he depicts the conduct of the enemy in the blackest colours : "Friends, there are things so shameless, so vile, that one's heart quivers with anger. Such is Slavic cunning in all its shamelessness; and our -old enemy beyond the Rhine is no better. He replies evasively to our distinct questions, and, treading underfoot all in- ternational law, all moral duty, he crosses the frontier." England fishes in troubled waters, and is the real kindler of the world-conflagration. "Deceit and cunning on all hands, and in the midst of them my Germany, pure, honest, and innocent of falsity." In conclusion, Pastor Lehmann once more in- sists that God is on the side of Germany. "If W. LEHMANN 75 God is for us, who can be against us? It is enough for us to be a part of God." In a sermon of August 23rd the question is put: "Who is responsible: the crazy murderer in Serajevo, the weakling in character and will on the Russian Imperial throne, the criminal Grand Dukes, our neighbours on both sides, or the deceitful islanders ? In any case it is not we I" He then lauds the Fatherland, the mother-tongue — it is for these we are fighting, and "Germany is the future of humanity." "He who in these days sets forth to defend the German hearth, sets forth in a holy fight; he sets forth to a great, incomparable Divine Serv- ice, in which, indeed, one neither prays nor sings, but in which one stakes life itself, this single, sweet, beloved life, for the life of a whole nation, a nation which is God's seed-corn for the fu- ture." "But the thought suddenly strikes us: ought we, from a Christian and pious standpoint, to love our Fatherland above all else in the world?" The answer is yes, and it is based upon the prin- ciple that Germany is the centre of God's plans for the world. "Therefore we assuredly act in the very spirit of the Saviour when we, in right- eous war against deceit and immorality, help the people, in whom we believe, forward to the light and the sun." The sermon ends thus: "We can — it may sound strange, but it has its deep meaning — we can say: We love our earthly Fatherland so much that we gladly barter our heavenly for it." In a discourse, also delivered on August 23rd, 76 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the preacher begins with some bitter words about Japan: "We are for a moment seized with fury: Japan which, from a military point of view, has been entirely educated by Germany, whose stu- dents were kindly-received guests in the lecture- halls of our high schools and hospitals: Japan, which owes us everything it possesses of good and genuine and serviceable for the future — at a sign from England, or from its own impure Mongolian heart, forgets all this, and rises against its teacher." "Friends! is it not true? Germany has never made war from unclean, immoral motives ! I look upon it as absolutely the deepest feature of the German character, this passionate love of right, of justice, of morality. This is something which the other nations have not. Germany may be vanquished, it may be crushed to earth, but it can never side with wrong and infamy." There is here no question of material gain, but of the moral order of the world, that is, of God Himself. "It might come to pass that we suc- cumbed in this, the worst and perhaps the last fight of Germanism against the whole world, of righteousness and purity against falsehood and deceit. That could only happen, I am sure, over the dead body of the last German — but should it happen, I assert that we should all die happy in the consciousness of having defended God against the world. It is no longer a question of the life or death of the individual, but of the eternal ideas, of God's victory over all demons and idolaters, of all that will live even in death, ay, by means of death, as did Christ of old." W. LEHMANN 77 Then follows a lengthy exposition of the fact that no one took any heed of Germany, with her pronounced sense of truth, purity, and right, so long as she was only an insignificant little country; but when she began to grow powerful (always, be it noted, on the divine foundation of truth, right, purity, and conscientiousness) she had to be pulled up. England was the first to discover it. In- stead of carrying-through the great world-mission jointly with Germany, she chose to fight against Germany — she chose the fight against truth, pur- ity, and right which it is our lot to witness. "Yet whither do our thoughts wander? Friends, you will understand and approve that a sermon, in these times, should wear a strange political as- pect." It is not really unsuitable in an act of wor- ship "to become more and more clearly conscious of the fact that Germany's fight against the whole world is in reality the battle of the spirit against the whole world's infamy, falsehood, and devilish cunning." "And in the distance we see a Germany emerge from this world-war, compact and homogeneous, resting on her own foundations more firmly and strongly than ever — a Germany which will be left in peace, because she has shown that a whole world cannot prevail against her, which will de- velop richly and luxuriantly on all sides and in all domains, which will form the highest peak of hu- manity, and from whose fruitfulness and noble plenitude the whole world will draw its nourish- 78 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH ment. Blessings will go out from her to all lands." He then reassures himself with the thought that, in the fight between God and the world, God will be victorious in the end. In a sermon of August the 30th, on The Bless- ings of the War, he is first jubilant over Germany's mighty victories, but he next proceeds to describe the terrors of war. One loses one's faith in hu- manity. "With horror one sees that the human race stands undeveloped and low on the heavenly ladder of education for the Kingdom of God, that a nation which every day reads her Bible, and which keeps her Sunday holy beyond all others, that this nation, prompted by the lowest and mean- est motives, by envy, jealousy, and selfishness, drenches all mankind in blood and death, while she herself keeps in the background, scornfully smiling, and gleefully watching the nations, at her instigation, tearing each other to pieces." But when the good effects of the war have to be enlarged upon, one again sees how a dark back- ground has to be provided as a set-off. If the German nation were already so very angelic, the war could bring it no blessings. Therefore the preacher describes how everything in Germany turned upon the selfish profit of each individual. To be sure, he makes the reservation that "this does not imply that we tried to promote our in- terests by impure means. On the contrary, we were on the whole a straightforward and honest nation, but we were straightforward and honest because it was to our advantage to be so." But W. LEHMANN 79 then came the war and swept away this last shadow from German honesty. In a discourse on Sedan Day, September 2nd, our preacher naturally rises to lofty heights. Once again German soldiers are treading the soil of places rendered famous by the war of 1870-71. "Once again German soldiers lie at St. Quentin, preparing, quietly and confidently, for the march on Paris. God writes, indeed, a wonderful world- history." "Yes, but so it is, my friends: that glorious feat-of-arms forty-four years ago gives us courage to believe that the German soul is the world's soul, that God and Germany belong to one another." "We are beginning slowly, humbly, and yet with deep gladness, to divine God's inte~tions. It has a proud ring, my friends, but we are conscious that it is also in all humbleness that we say: the Ger- man soul is God's soul; it shall and will rule over mankind. In the same way as God is wont to rule : without outward force, without compulsion, with an inward, invisible strength, with purity, truth, righteousness, love." However, our preacher goes on to say that the victory in the last war had not yet given Germany everything — not the full, inward unity. And the long period of peace had not brought about the necessary inner deepening. We must now do pen- ance. "We are now living through a time from which we look for the greatest, and deepest, and most 80 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH sacred effects: not only a victory for the German arms over un-Kultur, blind passion and mammon- worship, but a new birth of the German nation, so that it may become the nation which fills the earth with God." "Germany is our existence, our faith, the mean- ing and depth of the world." In a sermon of September 6th, the momentary thought crops up that when the war is over and there is time for calmer contemplation, "we may, perhaps, see that we ourselves are not without fault, are not blameless." But this thought is promptly thrust aside : "So victorious, so full of confidence, so firmly reliant upon the superiority of Germanism, have we never been before. There is not one among our soldiers, not one among those who remain at home, who has any doubt of Germany's victory and superiority. Four weeks after the declaration of war, our regiments of cav- alry are swarming in front of the enemy's capital, and a hundred thousand Russian prisoners are in our hands. It is something so unheard of, so un- paralleled in the history of the world, that one could easily understand that such gigantic results might make us presumptuous." But they are not presumptuous, oh dear, no ! They are not such braggarts as their enemies, who said such big things about their entrance into Berlin. The Ger- man nation has risen as one man to fight the im- mense fight against intrigues and infamy. "And, friends, I say again to-day: if we should be van- quished in this war, if un-Kultur, falsehood, and a huckstering spirit were to obtain the mastery over us, if we were to be humbled by the perfidious W. LEHMANN 81 instigator of this war — by England — may we not say, my friends, that life would no longer be worth living, and that we would rather die and disappear from this earth?" In a discourse of September 13th, on National Religion, the preacher enlarges upon the fact that during the war the Bible has been endued with new life for the Germans. More especially the Old Testament, which does not deal with the indi- vidual, but with the people. We now understand "the enormous value of a national religion." Read Isaiah, and apply what he says to the German nation. "Our religion will," of course, "always seek out the individual, even in Russian, English, and French countries, and will never be led away to contest the truth of the individual man's rela- tion to his God, even in hostile countries. But it is different with the nations. When we read Isaiah, we see that it is no foolish overvaluation of ourselves, no aggressive arrogance, no want of humility, when we more and more let Bis- marck's faith prevail within us, that God has taken the German nation under His special care, or in any case has some special purpose in view for it. Not that we look upon ourselves as God's chosen people — God seeks out His invisible people from all nations — but the faith of Arndt and Fichte, of Schiller and Bismarck, is also ours: the eye of God rests upon the German people." Of course, it is not meant by this that Germany will ever outwardly rule the world — that it will, for instance, annex land in Europe. No; it is only by the heart, by the spirit, by humanity, con- science, thoughtfulness and love — in short, by the 82 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH German nature, by the German God, that it wants to gladden, and ennoble, and solace the world. "It is our great, radiant hope that Germany will become the heart of the world." Such a nation must be equipped with morality and piety, and Germany is so fortunate as to possess both these qualities. "Only a moral and pious people can be the heart of the world. Never will a nation in which the sense of duty is lacking, in which fraud and theft are the order of the day (as in Russia), or a nation in which frivolity and lack, of earnest- ness and depth of character prevail (as in France), or a nation in which the greed of money and the shopkeeper spirit suppress all nobler mo- tives of action (as in England), or a nation in which treachery and cowardice permeate politics (as in Japan), or a nation in which unbridled passion and want of reverence agitate the people (as in Serbia)- — never will such a nation be able to elevate mankind by inward strength and depth of soul." It is true, no doubt, that there are short- comings in individuals within the German nation; but, in the first place, the German nation is the only one that stands morally spotless in this war, and, secondly, there are certain great virtues which particularly characterise it, such as faithful- ness, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice. As the poet has said: Deutsch sein heisst gut sein, treu sein und edit, kampfen fur Freiheit, Wahrheit und Recht. 1 1 "To be German means to be good, to be true and genuine, to fight for freedom, truth, and right." W. LEHMANN 83 And then its piety. "It is characterised by a fine and strong humility. We all, at the present time, from the Kaiser to the common soldier, feel that He must be with us who is stronger than the world. We want only to be His arms, His hands." It is thus that the German nation has set forth: "Its loins are girded with righteousness, and its thighs with faith. God will be with it, and victoriously will it return." In conclusion, we are offered a very clear con- ception of the "German God" : "God is nothing but our moral activity, our honest and just deal- ings, the ultimate and deepest motive of our life- struggle. God lives in our hearts. And all our prayers are a deep and confident faith in the vic- tory of the eternal and divine order of things. Thus victory is achieved by a nation from whose soul the prayer incessantly arises, pure and pious, humble and trustful: 'God is our help!' Ay, verily, God as the last, the deepest, the inmost foundation of our soul, as the purity and truth in our feelings, as the righteousness and honesty in our actions, as the moral necessity of our strug- gle, that God, as in this war only we Germans can possess Him, that German God is our best and strongest help." He further enlarges upon this subject in the fol- lowing sermon, from which I must therefore give one or two extracts. It bears the title : World Religion, National Faith, Individual Piety. Here we are told that, if we are not to despair, we must see in this war the instrument of Providence for 84 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the creation of new and greater values in place of those that are destroyed. "We have, therefore, all seen with deep joy, that this war, particularly among us Germans — and on us Germans the eye of God, we take it, must especially rest: we must be His ultimate pur- pose — that particularly among us this war has called to life beautiful and wonderful things. Our unity, our self-reliance, our energy, our spirit of sacrifice, our devotion to duty, our faithfulness unto death, our springing into bloom like a flower in one night, our overwhelming strength, our new valuation of life, our clearness — I cannot name all these wonderful things, but they are things which, unless they are the fruits of a passing exaltation, possess an immense importance for the future of Germany and of the world." "Now that we realise how all our neighbours, for years, for decades, deceitfully and hypocriti- cally, have been working upon the net which they wished to throw over our head, whilst we in un- suspecting confidence distributed peace andhonest friendship on all sides, we must hail with joy the fact that at last the net of lies and the hypocritical veil have been torn asunder. Thus does the war create clearness and truth." He then explains how our religion manifests itself in three concentric circles: as world-religion, as national religion and as individual religion. The war has created clearness in all three re- spects. W. LEHMANN 85 Christianity, or, as he calls it, "the Jesuan belief in God" ( !) aspires to be the world-religion. We saw with joy mission-stations spring up. But this aspiration has for the time fallen utterly to pieces. Missionary work is destroyed, and that is the doing of pious, Christian England, which, without any necessity, has carried the war into other quar- ters of the globe. "Russia, the Greek-orthodox country, allies herself with Roman Catholic France and Protestant England. Protestant England calls in the aid of Mongolians, and Chris- tian France incites the black race against Chris- tians. Protestant England fights against Protes- tant Germany, so nearly related to her in religion as well as race." We do not abandon hope, but after the war we must make a fresh start. But if Christianity has fallen to pieces as a world-religion, it has, on the other hand, mani- fested itself so much the more powerfully as a national religion, to wit, in German piety. This may look like a limitation. 'Yet just on this, perhaps, we may found a daring hope; as sure as Geibel's conviction: 'By the German nature shall the world once more be healed' has now been marvellously strengthened within us all, and perhaps will never lose its hold of us again, so we may in the end also hope that Christianity, on its way to become a world-re- ligion, may pass through the German nature and blend with it, in order to conquer the world, vic- torious and pure, as it once before set forward, 86 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH four hundred years ago, from Germany instead of Palestine. In other words, our hope is this, that Germany may in a deeper and purer spirit take upon herself the task which England has in- solently appropriated, as she has so many other things, to make capital out of it: the task, that is to say, of filling humanity with God." At any rate, a new and strong and beautiful German piety has suddenly sprung into bloom. The na- tional movement, it should be observed, is in itself something religious. "Am I exaggerating when I say that we feel at the present time, when lying, passion, selfishness prevail around us, that we are actually the people God has chosen for His heirs, feel ourselves in this fight, if not His chosen peo- ple, yet — in all humility — the instrument of God. Thus the secret, strong well-spring of the national movement is a kind of German piety. The God of the Germans has become living. This God is not, perhaps, altogether orthodox from a Chris- tian point of view, He does not belong to any definite confession, and does not swear by any dis- tinct dogma." "Inasmuch as all that is dogmatical and confessional becomes of secondary im- portance, the most valuable parts of Christianity, gathering together and uniting, remain as German religion. To realise and depict it in all its depth and strength is no easy matter. The most val- uable features of Christianity have combined with the characteristics of Germanism, and become a strong and firm unity." "This German piety is not quite mature, it has not yet been thought out in all its depths or developed all its intensity. There are still many serious faults and weaknesses W. LEHMANN 87 to be overcome. But the kernel is pure and good, and contains forces which justify our hope, that it, this German piety, is destined to further the healing of humanity." At the close there is a quite short reference to the third point: the future of the individual soul. "Only when you feel yourself the child of God can you believe in the God of the Germans, who is and must ever be the Lord of the world." After a harvest sermon which affords him the opportunity of lauding the abundant strength of the German people, he winds up with a discourse on "the danger of hatred." He fully admits that Germans are filled with a raging hatred of the enemies of Germany, especially England. They have richly deserved it, for they have treated us shamefully. "Whilst we have done all we could to preserve peace, they have for years, for dec- ades, been burrowing and toiling with cunning and infamy, not disdaining the lowest of ma- noeuvres, to rob us of the fruits of our flourishing, peaceful development. Broken promises and lies, cunning and treachery, the meanest and lowest vices known to humanity, have been the means of inflaming our rage, our hatred." It is undoubtedly in this way that hatred ex- presses itself, and thus it has spoken throughout the book. But suddenly he pulls up in the face of Christ's commandment that we should love our enemies, and he becomes a little abashed. "We must not for the sake of our Germanism renounce our Christianity. For [mark the rea- 88 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH soning] then we should also renounce our Ger- manism! For the deepest and noblest charac- teristic of Germanism is precisely that it is one with the deepest and noblest characteristic of Christianity." But whom, then, do we hate? Do we hate the industrious French vine-grower, or the certainly superficial and frivolous Parisian, etc., etc. ? No. Do we hate the French President, or the English King? No. Not even Sir Grey? No, we hate no single individual. But our author knows where to draw the line! We hate the infamy and baseness which come to light in them! And verily, ay, in the name of Jesus Christ, there hatred is justified. We do not wish to conquer anything: with no outward force, without a trace of violence, by dint of inward strength and spirit- ual depth, we will work upon humanity, and within humanity. Far from our thoughts is the ambition of England, which by policy, coercion, and vio- lence wants to make the world English ( ? !) . We will let every people retain its own peculiarities [for instance, the Poles and the North-Slesvig- ers?]; is it not precisely our foible to imitate others? The book ends with the following words: "The nature (JVesen) of Germanism is one with the nature of Christianity. Thus we sum up our longing. "Oh, that the German God may permeate the world; oh, that eternal victory may blossom be- fore the God of the German soul." W. LEHMANN 89 So much for Herr Walter Lehmann. Here we have one of the most pronounced examples of the blending of Germanism and Christianity. He goes so far as to call his book: About the German God. He shrinks, indeed, from openly calling the Germans God's chosen people; but this is a verbal affectation. He calls Germany God's soul and God's heir, and speaks of it as in every respect God's favoured nation, which alone gives meaning to the world. But he does not actually call his countrymen God's chosen people — no, such pre- sumption he leaves to the English ! But how are such sermons viewed in Germany? I have seen two or three reviews of the book, and from one of them I quote the following: "Lehmann, with deliberate one-sidedness, places the German God in the centre: his view is that, since the present day has shattered all idea of a world-religion, even of Christianity as a world-religion, we must consciously fix our eyes upon a national religion, a German national re- ligion. All his hope and striving is towards trans- figured Germany, the great and glorious Father- land, destined to become a people of the soul, the heart of the world. German Christianity, Ger- man soul — that is the watchword which heralds the dawn of a new age. A lofty tone prevails in these sermons; it is the spirit of a second Isaiah that speaks in them. There is no suspicion of nationalistic malevolence in the book; one dis- course is especially directed against hatred" (Professor Niebergall). go HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH On the other hand, Professor A. Uckeley (in Theologie der Gegenwart) takes a different view. The title of the book displeases him: "There is a German faith, there is a German piety, German fidelity, German courage, in contrast to Russian or English, but there is no national God for the Germans." He declines to call these discourses sermons; they are political speeches, in many cases far from bad; but they are not God's word to our time, they are not sermons. It does one good to hear a single word of protest; bat — it is also char- acteristic that the criticism is directed mainly against the two expressions: the "German God," and "sermons" — not against their contents or ten- dencies. In my concluding remarks I shall deal further with the question of the "German God." Meanwhile I continue my documentation. CHAPTER VII K. KONIG W/"E will now take Karl Konig: Six War Ser- * * mons. 1 These, for a change, are embel- lished with a representation of St. George killing the Dragon. Herr Konig, in one of his sermons, says: "Now our forefathers rise from the grave, Bliicher returns, Gneisenau and Moltke. Beware, France ! Now the knights of the German Order are once more in the saddle. The Great Elector rises from his grave, and the great Frederick re- turns. Do ye not remember, ye Slavs and Rus- sians, that there was nothing to be got from Ger- many but German blows! And you over there, beyond the Channel, with you it will be bitterest and hardest for us to deal, for God's will, and the will of our common blood, ought to have bound our fates together. But ye have severed the bond, and now we shall nowhere fight so hotly and so furiously as against you, ye liars ! And thou, our youthful German fleet, our Kaiser's child and dearest son, show now thy mail-clad might and let thy lightnings strike." 'The Kaiser himself has summoned us to this 1 K. Konig: Seeks Kriegspredigten. 1915. 91 92 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH day of penance, but we do our penance after the German fashion, erect and serious. We know that we have sinned greatly during the long, beau- tiful, glorious years of peace . . . but to-day we, nevertheless, raise our heads, serious and se- rene, for whatever there has been of guilt, and however great it has been } the register of our sins has already been wiped out, and those who have counted upon German discord and German slack- ness have made a wrong reckoning." The meet- ing of the Reichstag which voted the credits for the war "was the right day of penance and the right act of penance." Once again the shout goes forth: "Forward to Paris! We must vanquish at whatever cost! We must vanquish — not only for our own sakes, not only for the sake of our women and children and our unborn children's children — we must van- quish because the downfall of Germanism will mean the downfall of humanity. Who would take up the German heritage? [Then follows a string of insults to the enemy.] Ay, it would be the direst disaster that could befall our old Europe, if Muscovites and Latins, aided by perfidious Eng- land, should crush the German spirit." "It is not only our existence that is at stake, it is a question of the rise or decline of the spiritual life of Europe. We all know that, from the workman to the Kaiser. And the consciousness of serving the cause of humanity in serving our country gives us a good, pure conscience, and thereby irresistible strength and power." "Who can have faith in victory? Assuredly he alone who desires peace and the progress of humanity K. KONIG 93 in morality and Kultur, in strength, spirit and life. Now we can all declare before God: Just this and nothing else was the guiding will within us, as a nation and as a State." "He among you who falls, he too belongs to God and has given his life for the highest." From the next sermon, August 9th : "And now thousands fling themselves, heedless of death, into the cannon's mouth, against the crackling rifles, over barbed wire and mines. Liege ! thou must first be ours, thee must we have, because necessity demands it!" "Have not thousands upon thousands of wheels suddenly come to a standstill, because we, who, with the strength of our people, have, of a truth, not only worked for ourselves but for the whole world, all at once can now work only for ourselves and not for others!" He has beautiful things to say about the misery of being a nation in thraldom. We Germans will be free. "We can have no use either for Russian knout or for French fool's bauble. We are brought up in the spirit of Protestantism." "Therefore, as a matter of course, God could not hut permit the war; for otherwise something much worse would have happened, namely — that the noble German nation would have had to let itself be dishonoured, mewed up and enthralled." "We cannot place any other human power above the Kaiser and the Reichstag, no English guardian, no Russian knout, nor any French top hat." The following conclusion is particularly inter- esting: "God does not will the war, but He wills that we, as Germans, shall will freedom, because 94 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH otherwise we cannot fulfil our great task in the service of mankind, and be enabled to become a source of light and love, of truth, virtue and re- ligion. We Germans did not will the war, but we did will and were bound to will freedom. And because they would not let us have it, it was God's will that we should will the war. And thus we carry on the war in God's cause, in the cause of mankind, in the cause of liberty, in the cause of our dear great Fatherland. The Fatherland we thank for everything, for it we will sacrifice every- thing, with it we stand or fall." The sermon of August 16th is full of enthus- iasm for "the great faithfulness" . . . "In these days we for the first time realise to the full what it means to be Germans, and what we are called upon to do. We feel how the words of Jesus now apply to us: 'For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required.' " "We Germans are — I say this in all pride and fully conscious of the obligation it entails — we Germans are a nation most richly endowed by God." The fundamental characteristic of the people is a deep sincerity. "The Latin world, in all its sayings, doings, ar- tistic creations, parliamentary speeches, political agitations, asks : 'How does it sound, what effect has it?' But the Germanic world asks: 'How do I and my work stand before myself, before my inward judge, before my conscience?' Having discoursed with great indignation on Bonaparte's "spies" (spies, of course, are persons whom Ger- many would never think of employing) he says: "And now that the Russians and the French, and the 'noble' English to boot, wish to put their heel K. KONIG 95 on our neck because they begrudge us material prosperity and outward power, these three clever calculators will find themselves out in their reckon- ing, because they have omitted the most important item in the account — namely, that we Germans fight for more than they, we fight not only for outward prosperity and power, but also for our inward world and its freedom, which is not pos- sible without outward power, independence, and mastery." In his next sermon (August 23rd) the preacher pays a tribute to the Germans' love of truth. "We will leave lying to the French, to the vain poli- ticians on the Seine, and to the great spider, Eng- land, which at once cut the wires that connected us with the world, and is now able to spin the non- German world into its web of lies. Spin away: Germany's iron fist will know how to tear thy web of lies asunder, and thy moral mantle into the bargain. And should'st thou ever again dare to pose in the world's eyes as a moral preacher, every one will laugh in thy face." "My friends, when England, 'Christian' Eng- land, akin to us in blood, was so shameless in her naked egoism, that she by her declaration of war would rather hand us over to Muscovites and semi-Asiatics than contend with us, in honest peaceful rivalry, for the palm of Kultur, it struck a hard blow to our soul, and all our wrath and pride rose up against this degenerate cousin. But when, in the past week, the last and the worst thing happened which could happen, when Eng- land left Kiautschau, the masterwork of our Tir- pitz, and a model in the art of colonisation, to 96 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the mercy of the Japanese, then she overthrew all that remained of our tottering respect, our vanish- ing belief in her. Such, then, is the spirit of Eng- lish statecraft! No trace of any sense of respon- sibility towards Germanism, etc., etc." "And no one will ever again have confidence in England, any more than in that thief, Japan, her noble ac- complice in robbery." German victories must have completely crushed our opponents' confidence. "Ye poor French people who have only been driven into war by your ambitious Paris politicians! Ye poor Rus- sians, hounded on by the Czar's knout—what must ye be feeling now? And ye Paris politicians yourselves, and thou, poor weakling on the throne of the Czars, ye who are but the fluttering flies in the web of the English world-spider, what effect will the tidings of German victories have upon you? It will yet cost us heavy sacrifices before we are able to chastise thee also, England, as thou hast deserved, for all thy sins against us and against Europe." In one sermon he thanks God that the Germans are able to stand forth with clean hands and a good conscience. He further enlarges upon the well-known furor teutonicus which manifests itself in the thunder of world-shaking deeds, and upon faithfulness as the most luminous trait in the Ger- man character. "Though the world were full of devils, German faithfulness would master them, for it belongs to God." "All that punctuality, accuracy, precision at which foreign countries have so often jeered, and which they have never rightly understood, is nothing more than a further K. KONIG 97 development of the spirit of German faithful- ness." But the preacher surpasses himself in his ser- mon of August 30th. "Four victories at one time, and the English, too, have felt the first German blow. The last event especially came as a mighty- relief, for whenever closely-woven webs of false- hood are torn asunder, and when wrong-doing which insolently wears the mask of right is un- masked and handed over to condign punishment, then the heart draws a deep breath in gratitude to those eternal powers, etc., etc." The whole ser- mon turns upon England, and is one great cry of triumph and hatred. "Our gorge rises at this people which, in the midst of this tremendous battle of the nations, instigated by themselves, thinks of nothing but business, business, business !" But now judgment is sure to overtake them. The English have always lacked the power of self- renewal by strenuous labour, have always stuck fast in set forms, and thought that everything English was best, even their cavalry regiments! "Oh yes, as long as they had only to contend against Kaffirs and Indians! But now their fame has already been buried under the dust of France, buried by the swords of German cavalry!" Germany is likened to "a young giant" who cer- tainly kept a sharp look-out for every one who thought to deprive him of German soil or to hmder German self-development, but who, being by nature kindly and magnanimous, nevertheless applied all his immense strength to peaceful la- bour in the service of Kultur." The blame rests entirely with England. The war is not a proof of 98 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH England's strength, but of her "moral weakness and religious degeneracy." But now we have Bel- gium and will soon — we hope to God — have dis- posed of the Russians as well. Much still remains to be done. Yet something like a presentiment of a turning-point in the world's history passes through our souls, and we Germans must and will this time be the force that moves the world. It must and will be we, because there is no one else who can lead the European spirit to wider views and higher moral efforts. The book ends with a sermon of September 6th, full of jubilation over "the glorious victory over ten army corps between Rheims and Ver- dun." "Kaiser and Crown Prince, the wearer of the crown and his heir, in the evening sunshine on the field of victory in France!" He enlarges with enthusiasm upon the favour of Heaven in providing such fine weather for this spectacle, and upon the valour of the army, etc., etc. ; and then follows a highly interesting exposi- tion: "Not fear, but strength! Since the days of the Morocco affair, the most painful thing for us who hold Germany's strength and greatness to be a necessity for the history of mankind, was the fact that the inevitable weakening in our policy at th„t time — inevitable because our fleet was not yet ready, because the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal was not yet completed, because Heligoland was not yet fully fortified, and because the whole Morocco K. KONIG 99 business was not a matter for the sake of which the conscience of our people would have approved a war — the fact that this weakness of our policy, to which necessity compelled us, led foreign na- tions to suspect our Kaiser of timidity. William the Timid! Thus they mocked in France, thus they hissed in England, and the Muscovites rubbed their hands in glee. "No wonder that the Gallic cock strutted all the more proudly, that the Grand Dukes in St. Peters- burg, thirsting after power, the more openly clanked their sabres, and that England looked on with a coldly calculating eye. Those who have never understood the nature and character of our German people mistook conscientiousness for ti- midity, and sense of responsibility for cowardice. But it is one of the great divine dispensations that nations whose leading classes have cast off conscientiousness and sense of respon- sibility in the sacred sense of these words, become blinded by their lower passions, ambition, and thirst for power and fame, and thus call down upon themselves that judgment for which they are ripe, in the interests of the whole world. "Must we not, even now, be thankful that Rus- sian thirst for power, and French ambition, fos- tered and encouraged by English egoism, did not let the shots fired at Serajevo lead to a stern chastisement of Serbia, as moral earnestness de- manded, but allowed them to swell into the thun- der rolling through this, the greatest war which has ever shaken the world. Two years too early for our enemies, but an act of grace from God for ourselves and our allies! For now we have the ioo HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH lead in the iron game of war; and though England may lurk in the background, waiting for her turn in the game — so be it, England; — we know exactly what trumps you hold, but whether you know ours, coming days will show." This declaration that Germany was unable to go to war earlier, because she was not ready, and that it was providential that war broke out at absolutely the most favourable moment for Ger- many, is truly imposing in its grand naivete. This is even more apparent in the following lines: "Our German power shows its nature precisely in this, that it can wait until God, through its con- science, commands: 'Now is the time, strike and defend thyself!' The time had not come in the days of the Morocco episode. But it has come now, and German power, deliberate and calm, now faces a world of foes. Conscience commands, and then there is neither wavering nor political wrangling, no ambiguous Anglicising, no ambig- uous Muscovitising, but one thing only: Yes or no, and German blows, German power." As for fear, "the Germans are in this respect naturally akin to the spirit of Jesus, who always placed His 'Fear not' ! over the heads of His followers — " I think the reader must agree with me, that neither logic nor common sense is the strong point of these "sermons." I will, in conclusion, quote as a curiosity a sample of what may perhaps be called new-German logic. In reply to the charge K. KONIG 101 that Germany has bombarded unfortified cities, such as London, for instance, the following answer appeared in the Evangelische-lutherische Kirchen- zeitung, Number 29, 1915 : "London is no longer by any means an unfort- ified city. It is armed with such quantities of anti-aircraft guns and aeroplanes that the Zeppe- lins, as is well known, only venture to attack the city by night." Perhaps from a feeling of the insufficiency of this reasoning the following is added: "London is the hearth and the heart of this terrible world-war, there sit the ministers who have precipitated Europe into misery, there is the witch's caldron, in which fresh misery is ever brewing for the peoples of Europe, already bleed- ing from a thousand wounds. To attack London is to attack the den of the murderers." CHAPTER VIII J. RUMP THE fourth preacher I will introduce is Herr Pastor Jon. Rump, lie. Dr. of Berlin. He published a pamphlet entitled War Devotions and Memorial Services for the Fallen, which appeared in several editions, and was promptly followed by other publications. I will first quote a criticism of these addresses, by the same Professor Uckeley who did not altogether approve of Herr Leh- mann's sermons. He writes: "One perceives in all of them the author's pro- nounced poetic gift, which makes him always seek out and attain nobility of expression, in forms which appeal very strongly to one's aesthetic feel- ing. Naturally, all these sermons are in great measure occupied with the events of the day; the military events of the moment determine their contents. They help the hearer to deeper reflec- tions upon what the day or the week has brought to him as a unit in his nation; their primary object is to comfort where there is woe, and to exhort to self-examination where false security and undue superficiality threaten to gain the upper hand." Unqualified approval, you see ! That such ser- mons should be reviewed in such a manner has 102 J. RUMP 103 made a very strong impression upon me. But the reader shall judge for himself. In the first sermon Pastor Rump says: "Our enemies, in an unnatural alliance, have not embarked on this war against us for the sake of moral ideas; they tread all morality, as well as all ethics of war, under foot, just as they would like to tread us under foot. They not only want to rob us of our future, to snatch from us our present, built up by tireless labour, but they also stretch out their unclean grip towards our past, and want to expunge it from the history of man- kind ( !). We must fight, not only for our exist- ence as a nation, but also for all the treasures of Kultur which the German race, in all parts of the world, has acquired for the world's good. The German Thought in the World 1 has proved its beneficent might, has shown what it means to go to work with all your strength in the name and power of God. They want to sweep it from their path, in the interests of un-Kultur, by the aid of double-tongued cunning, with the poison of lying and calumny, with the superior force of brute masses." — "We will use our David's sling in such a way that all Goliath's kin shall learn not to trouble us any more, and their slanderous mouths shall be closed for ever." Then follows a long encomium on the Kaiser, which I will quote to show what can be said in a German sermon about the head of the empire — 1 The title of a comparatively moderate work by P. Rohrbach. io4 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH "We all of us thought we knew him, for out of his heart his mouth has always spoken, and he has unveiled to the world the very pulses of his soul. As a true Israelite without guile, in the midst of an untrustworthy generation, he con- fronted the respectful gaze of his people and of the world. We have but partly known him. This inner greatness, this sun-clear nobility of soul, this German straightforwardness which holds out to the last moment, which does not suspect a false friend of lying or fraud until he unmasks him- self — all this has simply vanquished us. To such grandeur has William the Second grown before our wondering eyes, that we felt the greatest of the Hohenzollerns to have risen again in him. In one point, my brethren, he exceeds them all — in the sense of his responsibility to the living God, etc., etc. He has buried a friendship of years, has had to witness in what an un-German manner he has been cajoled under the mask of a supplicating, confiding friend, so that Russia might gain time, like a beast of prey, to fall upon our long, unpro- tected frontiers ! Under the heaviest his- torical responsibility he has had to consider how the thousandfold death, with which our dehuman- ised (entmenschte) enemies threaten us, as far as human power can go, may be staved off from our borders. Thus we see, and thus the world sees, our Kaiser: a heroic figure, in truth a knight by the grace of God, both King and prophet, Prince and servant, not only the general bent upon victory, but also his people's prayerful house-priest." He ends by shouting in the face of Germany's foes the words of David to Goliath: J. RUMP 105 "Ye come to us with sword, spear, and shield: but we come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom ye have defied!" Having thus compared Germany with little David, the unarmed shepherd boy who had but a stone in his sling (with what, then, must Belgium be compared?), he exclaims in his next sermon: "World-history will write in letters of fire these words: The Germans conquered with their God." "What is at stake for us in this struggle is the preservation of the highest blessings which God has bestowed upon mankind." "My brethren! the spectacle we are witnessing is God striding through the nations. Him they have challenged, against His Majesty they have offended; there- fore He fights for us." "It is unthinkable that a people upon whom God, not fifty years ago, be- stowed a fervently longed-for unity, should now perish, should now be buried under un-Kultur and barbarism, should be wiped of the roll of nations (!) by an unscrupulous huckster-spirit and a per- jured lust of murder ( !)." Yet again he represents Germany as a new Is- rael "under the protection of the Highest." "Brethren and sisters! in a moment we, the children of modern humanity, have become the heirs of Israel, the people of the Old Testament covenant. We shall be the bearers of God's prom- io6 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH ises, the living proof that it is not man who cre- ates history, but God through man." All Germans became of one mind; they all went to church at the bidding of the Kaiser. It is the spirit of God that is at work. The preacher re- joices over the German victories in France, which are far greater even than those of 1870, and exclaims: "Where in the whole world can a people be found who have such cause for manly pride as we ! But we are equally far-removed from presumption and arrogance!" "Against us stands the world's greatest sham of a nation, whom, with German good nature, we have much too long called the 'English cousin,' the Carthaginians of the North Sea, in whom we trusted that blood would have proved thicker than water: the Judas among the nations, who this time, for a change, betrays Germanism for thirty pieces of silver. Against us stands sen- sual France, the harlot amongst the peoples (die Dime under den Volkern), to be bought for any prurient excitement, shameless, unblushing, im- pudent, and cowardly (!), with her worthless myrmidons. Against us stands Russia, inwardly, indeed, rotten, mouldering, masking its diseases under outbursts of brutality, but capable of em- ploying any means, devoid of all feeling — not dan- gerous of herself, but becoming a menace when leagued with others, like a beast raging from the fever of wounds, deceitful, never to be trusted." What a description of Germany's adversaries! And in a sermon to boot ! No wonder that he con- tinues in the following strain: J. RUMP 107 "Can God find pleasure in our opponents? France denies Him, England laughs at Him, Russia forgets Him. Never will the holy God, Who does not let Himself be mocked, never will He make their cause His own, unless we compel Him to — never!" He continues to urge his list- eners to give heed to God's ways. Then he de- picts for them Christ on Golgotha. A whole world against God's Anointed. And in Berlin, too, at one time, cries were uttered against Him at mass-meetings. Our inhuman foes now show whither mankind drifts when their connection with Him has been severed. And alas! (now comes an interesting confession) "even now, only three weeks after the outbreak of the world-con- flagration, the religious movement seems to be steadily slackening off." People are again for- getting God; and yet everything depends upon not turning the living God against us. "That nation will conquer and be blessed in its victory which ensures to itself the aid of God." We must from every pulpit cry out "Come to Jesus." "A Jesus- less horde (!), a crowd of the Godless (Gott- ferner) are in the field against us." The great thing is therefore for us to stand, so that "God may surround us with His protection, like a cov- ering wall, because our defeat would also mean the defeat of His Son in humanity." In a sermon upon The great I he explains how the "great I" of history has sided with the Ger- mans: "Germany shall be the Israel of the future. Henceforth we shall fulfil the call of the living 108 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH God in the world, and fight for Germany's his- torical position as the saviour of the world." "A corrupt world, fettered in monstrous sin, shall, by the will of God, be healed by the German, nature. That is why this war is being waged, the blessings of which will one day outweigh all its thousandfold wounds and sacrifices. Not, my friends, as though we were perfect . . . our nature too, however pure the height to which inwardly we have been exalted, still (!) shows grave shortcomings. But these can and shall vanish." Of course the preacher is not blind to the fact, that not only an outer equip- ment — there the German people are all right — but also an inner equipment is required. But he confidently believes that the time is net far distant when these words will be applicable to the Ger- man people : "Ye are the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light." A subsequent sermon gives an interesting view of the serious condition of the spiritual life in Germany before the war. "We had squandered our best forces and de- sires upon perishable things, the temporal had become our all-powerful idol, the eternal had van- ished from our thoughts." "We had entirely lost ourselves in mechanical realities, and forfeited all insight into the importance of spiritual values." J. RUMP 109 Then came the war, and all that was wrong at once came right. Let me also put on record the following example of clerical jubilation over victory: "Our troops, in faithful reliance on the assist- ance of their God, have cheerfully gone forth to the unequal fight, and have won battles the like of which history has never yet recorded. Not as incendiaries and highwaymen have they pressed onwards, or have they gone into the fight as beasts of prey. They have constantly treated the van- quished foe with high-minded humanity. They go jubilantly into the fire, sure of their God, relying upon His aid. In their hearts, on their lips, in their letters from the front, lives the belief in His grace that has hitherto shielded them, to- gether with the prayer that He will continue to do so in the future. What a difference is there be- tween armies, one of which carries its God in its heart, whilst the others think they can conquer by the weight of their numbers, by cunning tricks of devilish cruelty, by shameless contempt for the provisions of international law (!) — this, my brethren, I need not enlarge upon: the war we are waging writes it in letters of fire in German his- tory. Yea, verily, all things are possible for him who has faith. He is led by the blessing of God. God is with us; guided by His blessing our men do deeds without a parallel in the history of the world." ( Of the Russians we are told that, "while they believe themselves to be on a victorious on- ward march, starvation is already paralysing the no HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH people,'' etc., etc. "What we are now experi- encing of God's wonderful leadership. He would fain establish as an heirloom for the German na- ture :en), the blessing of which shall alv burst forth afresh from beneath ruins and tears, and become the salvation, not only of ourselves, but of the world around us." These sermons were so well received that the author made up his mind to publish a new series. They follow exactly the same line of thought, and marvellous things are also to be found in them. Take, for instance, a sermon of consolation for the fact that victories are not quite so plentiful as in the beginning: Already the mood that was so hopeful and confider.: seems about to change." A landed pro- prietor from East Prussia complains that the in- vasion of the Russians has thrown him fifty years Downtrodden are the waving cornfields and the flowering meadows, the subtle fragrance of which has hitherto tempered the keen East- Prussian air. He then goes on to speak about further devastations by the Rus^ But the need is not greater than the help: he calls upon his hearers to seek for God. li The future of our people our hearth and home, our land and on _rht and order. ;.nd truth, morality and faith. What happens when human nature ill conne: n — where such a co _ bound to end — thi- een made paralleled atroc . the east- J. RUMP in em part of our Fatherland, in Belgium and France. [Needless to say the preacher alluding to the Germans' treatment of the Bel- gians, but vice vers God cannot mean to hand over His humar. : : these horde?." etc., etc In one place he gives the following account oi the history of the war: "A little people among whom regicide has al- g of the meth .. s : polit- ical warfare, deprive? Austria ass -'nation of her -tic hope and future, by causing the heir- .irent and his consort to be shot down — not without secret aid ......... ment from other nat as !) Austria dc ... :iand i she does not mean to rec . . her position. She declares re- [t is not conquest I aim at. ex- _.--/.:.. i - my future.' I i's secret ... s . her t - : >- .. and England "betray G gainst the white race by stirring up the yellow J.r.v.nese :inst us. etc, et "We tho.:^::t at first : we had c. "om the narrc lter- national law. our troops through Belgium, in violat :r neu: - but here, : t has ved that wc been preserved : ng." he tes the it : ■ . French, tw . rman mobilisation, had thrown a into Namur in the I n. Therefon 112 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH to enter Belgium. For it is the duty of our mili- tary leaders to protect land and people against the wild-beast-like lusts of confederated hordes, and not to wait until our enemies, by dint of their hell- nurtured lies, have on German soil plundered Ger- man possessions, and made a wilderness of Ger- man territory. The Germans are guiltless, "and from all sides testimonies are flowing in as to the noble manner in which our troops conduct the war. Thus this war affords an opportunity of showing the world how Christians defend their greatest blessings — as the disciples of eternal love." Hav- ing exalted William the Second as standing alone in his faithfulness, he declares that if one wishes to get to the bottom of the causes of this war, one must go back into the past. It is not merely a question of Germany's or England's position as a world-power. When we go to the root of the matter, we find that quite other powers are in- volved. "The kingdom of God must now assert itself against the kingdom of all that is base, evil, and vile: the kingdom of light against the king- dom of darkness. Against a world of superhu- man evil, which, as in the beginning, employs falsehood and murder as its weapons, the power of superhuman justice, truth, and love goes out to battle. The fighting armies are but the instru- ments of these contending powers. Only blind- ness can ask who will be victorious." Having discoursed upon the latest German vic- tories over the Russians and the French, he en- larges upon the task which God, by means of these victories, imposes upon the German people. "The object is to prepare the way for carrying the J. RUMP 113 Gospel to the nations who already know it, with- out employing it for their salvation, and to those who have not yet heard the message of God's eternal love !" [Thus not only to the heathen and the Jews, but to the other Christian nations.] In another place the same thought is expressed somewhat differently: "The war now shows the elementary revolt against the moral idea in the world. We fight — thanks and praise be to God — for the cause of Jesus within mankind." On the text "If God is for us, who can be against us," he contrives to deliver a wholly po- litical oration, which contains some quite interest- ing remarks. First, an introduction full of big words about all the crushing defeats of the enemy. Then follow some reflections upon the happy circum- stance of the war breaking out exactly at the right time for Germany, and on the fine weather God has given to the Germans for their victories. Then he enlarges on the moral predominance of the Germans, and the evil conscience of the enemy. He asserts that the French soldiers thought they were only going to manoeuvres. "Not until they were face to face with the enemy, had come under the fire of our rifles, and seen our bayonets, did they find out that they had been deceived, that they had been lied into war." But we have a good ii4 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH conscience, even more so than in 1870! For then Bismarck had to resort to the "diplomatic device" with the Ems telegram; but this time everything is straight and above-board even for the most sen- sitive conscience. Then he gives a review of Ger- man history of the past fifty years, to show that now, too, God must stand on the side of the Germans. In a sermon upon Luther's hymn, "Ein' feste Burg ist timer Gott," he strikes at the beginning a somewhat peculiar note: We will not, like our opponents, boast of our virtues ! We know that God resisteth the proud. Therefore we will never invent for ourselves a stock of virtues which might make us appear more acceptable to God than our enemies. Amongst them, too, there are noble, pious, believing souls who curse this war, and honestly condemn the headstrong unscrupulousness of those who pre- pared and precipitated it. But — we in any case are innocent in this war. Our noble Kaiser, etc., etc. The enemy, indeed, in spite of all their moral shortcomings, are also brave [A new discovery: he had previously declared the French to be cowards], but they cannot, like our troops, say that God is their strength. We know that we are fighting for God, for His government in the Euro- pean, the Asiatic, the African world of nations. England's action in bringing all possible complex- ions and heathenisms into the field against us is a sin against the living God [Turkey had not then come in]. "What we have to secure is that J. RUMP 115 our people, in the future, may be able to fulfil the historic mission towards mankind which God has apportioned them." "It will be our task, German brethren and sisters, to see that the German mis- sion to the world shall become, more convincingly and more completely than before, the revelation of God in humanity. Then our task must succeed, even if the world were full of devils, which it is not yet, my beloved." "With us shall right and morality, truth and faithfulness, win the fight against wrong and baseness, malice and falsehood. Through our supremacy (Vorherrschaft), which we hope will be the outward result of this war, God will establish His dominion over the many- coloured throng of nations who stand against us. In all the victories He grants us, He is preparing the soil for us, for the fulfilment of our mission to mankind. As heralds of His will, messengers of His word, witnesses of His benefactions to the world, we shall take up our work after the war, and with German endurance and German industry, with German competence and German faithful- ness, with German faith and German piety, we shall permeate, in the name of God, a world which has become poor and desolate." Thus ends the sermon which began by saying that they would not, like their opponents, pre- sumptuously bestow upon themselves imaginary virtues, but would, on the contrary, cultivate humility. He finds no difficulty in placing the events of the war in a strong religious light. n6 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH "When our submarine, in spite of an almost overwhelming superiority of force, in the course of sixty minutes sends three English cruisers to the bottom, without suffering any hurt itself, this heroic deed, unparalleled in naval history, is for Christian people a testimony from the Lord on high, 'I am with you! Do ye see it?' " Whether he views the torpedoing of the Lusi- tania in the same light, I do not know. But he continues : "Formerly England was considered by the non- Christian world the most Christian nation. We thought there were numberless believing Christ- ians among its people, and yet these Christians are silent in the face of the terrible crime of this war. They allow their consciences, though touched by the spirit of God, to be overpowered by the intense feeling of nationality which is pe- culiar to the Britons." "What must the Lord on high feel when He looks upon these Christians! Does it not seem as if the figure of our 'suffering' Lord would never disappear from the life of man- kind? Can Jesus promise these English Christ- ians His sustaining nearness? Brethren, let Eng- land's guilt be the means of making us penitent." "We stand facing the decisive hour for Europe, nay, we must even say for Asia and Africa. On Germany which, contrary to all human calculation, has in this war been guided to victory, the Lord will confer the duty of heralding the progress of His Kingdom throughout humanity. On the paths of commerce and intercourse, we shall go forth J. RUMP 117 to all nations, and, after the fierce fight is over, carry Jesus to them, in the quiet, peaceful work of a true Kultur. England, in these paths, has lowered herself to become a nation of hucksters, who have long abandoned the service of God for that of Mammon. Let England's doings be a warning to us, Christians!" Seldom, I think, has the language of the Phar- isee to the Publican been uttered more openly from any pulpit! In a sermon to soldiers he avers that "God in heaven looks down upon you German men and youths. Ye shall be his warriors, called to a costly crusade against barbarism and cunning, bestiality and fraud." "Verily, my brethren, this, too, is a religious service. Ye are the armed priesthood of our German sanctuary. It is more than a mere figure of speech, it is literal truth, that ye are not only fighting 'with God,' but also 'for God.' " "What, then, is the fate of our ad- versaries? It is their breach with the Living God that unnerves and weakens them." "Take heed that ye be counted amongst the blessed, who show declining England, depraved Belgium, licentious France, uncouth Russia, the unconquerable youth- ful power and manhood of the German people in a manner never to be forgotten." "Brethren, make an end of this generation of vipers with German blows and German thrusts. So deal with foes who, like highwaymen, have set upon us, that they may never again be tempted to attack German men, and make German soil the tavern n8 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH for their wild drunkenness." But it will be diffi- cult to obey the commandment of Jesus, "Love your enemies." "To show mercy to those who have piled atrocities upon atrocities, put out the eyes of our wounded, poured boiling oil upon our advancing troops, violated our defenceless women, torn apart our helpless children, slain our doctors, mutilated our dead — not to return evil for evil when they have fallen into our hands, but to treat as human beings those who have behaved worse than wild beasts: brethren, this requires an inward greatness beyond the strength of human nature, which can only be vouchsafed from on high." It must be admitted that the preacher, by his description of the enemy, does not make it any easier for his listeners to show mercy. And here again we come upon "the daring saying which we so love to hear and to repeat, that by the German nature the world shall some day be healed." In conclusion, I shall only quote the following extract from a third publication : "For what should the sons of France be en- thusiastic in this war? They really do not know ( ! ) . But we know. We fight for Kultur and cult ( !), for right and morals, for life and wel- fare. Rejoice, my brethren! A holy mission has been entrusted you, so holy that he who is un- able to go forth with you and join in the precious work, seems to himself as an outcast from decent society ! Verily, it has long been an honour and J. RUMP 119 a joy, a source of renown and of happiness, to be a German — the year 19 14 has made it a title of nobility. What Geibel once prophesied, in the distich so often quoted, now can and shall and must at last become a reality in the life of the nations, that by the German nature, that nature blessed by the grace and hallowed by the spirit of God, shall the whole world be healed. Help in this, comrades! Rejoice in the call to make room, by means of German courage and German thoroughness, for this new world on earth." These words are to be found in a sermon for soldiers on the text 2 Corinthians xiii. II. But the culminating point of this man's preaching is perhaps reached in his last sermon, on the text from 1 Maccabees iii. 19-22, a text he has chosen at the repeated request of his congregation! In reference to this passage from one of the Apocry- phal books, which Protestants do not recognise as belonging to the Bible proper, he exclaims, in an outburst of enthusiasm over the wonderful manner in which the Bible adapts itself to the Germans: "Verily the Bible is our book. Even if, for a long time, we did not value it as such, we now acknowledge that it was given and assigned to us, and we read in it the original text of our destiny, which proclaims to mankind salvation or disaster — according as we will it ! God's people will come forth from this war strengthened and crowned with victory, because they stand on the side of 120 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH God; but all God's adversaries will find out that God will not be mocked, and that He rules the history of the nations according to His will." The German people, in this incredible utterance, are plainly characterised as God's people, and the Bible deliberately announced to be the prop- erty of the Germans! , It is these sermons with which the reviewer, Prof. Uckeley, has not a single fault to find — nay, which he belauds. And they have been widely read. The author himself says in the preface to the third publication, that "the good reception accorded to the first two issues is the reason for the publication of the third; the first, which was for long out of print, was constantly being asked for and has recently been reissued. Hearers and readers of the sermons have enabled me to send the books to the front, where, however, there are so many enquiries for them, that the means placed at my disposal will not suffice to satisfy all appli- cations. A colonel has asked for copies for twelve companies; and they are also in request in the military hospitals." I could give many additional extracts from such sermons, but to the four preachers already men- tioned, I shall at present only add another special group, which is well worthy of notice. CHAPTER IX G. TOLZIEN AND HIS COLLEAGUES DEAN TOLZIEN, of Schwerin, together with some other clergymen, has published several pamphlets under the title Patriotic Evangelical War Lectures} These are not exactly sermons, but in some places approach very nearly to an evangelical-national confession of faith. I will quote a few of Tolzien's utterances: In a speech upon My German Fatherland he surveys the history of the German people. He says of Luther: "Just because Luther was the German he was, he was the Christian he was." He admits, indeed, that "We know nothing of any 'God of the Germans'; God does not exist especially for the German people." But he adds: "As was Israel amongst the heathen, so is Ger- many amongst the modern nations — the pious heart of Europe." Therefore he is all the more pained that the half of Germany is Roman Catholic! When, however, he begins to discourse on the Germany of the present day, and to draw com- 1 Vaterlandische evangelische Kriegsvortrage, vols, i.-v., 1915. 121 122 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH parisons between Germany and the rest of the world, we find in him the same colossal conviction of greatness, the same contemptuous hatred, as in the rest. "English Kultur is entirely devoid of the inner culture of the heart. It has, indeed, always been asserted that England is the land of home and foreign missions. It must remain an open ques- tion whether England's foreign missions are not exclusively devoted to the service of her utterly selfish colonisation. But it would be strange if there were no home mission activity in a country where one-third of the population lives in the gutter." "And as with Kultur so, too, with poli- tics. Just as our people show in Kultur their great competence and ability, so they show in politics their great honesty and conscientiousness. But the Englishman regards this as stupidity and smiles at it. He takes no offence at the dirtiest tricks in politics. This, however, is a confusion oi ideas, inasmuch as those who deal in politics cannot be exempted from the moral law. It is to the honour of the new German Empire, that its political life is always honest, peace-loving, al- together noble. The more so as its politics are very uncommon, one may even say something quite new to the world." The speaker seems ignorant of the fact, that it is precisely in Germany that the loudest voices have been raised in favour of the theory that ordinary moral laws cannot possibly apply to TOLZIEX AND COLLEAGUES 123 politics. Here interest must take precedence of right. Further, he maintains that Germany has always been the natural soil for Christianit and, intoxicated by the glory of German victories, he declares in conclusion that the world shall belong to Germany. In an address upon the world-politics of Eng- land, his Anglophobia indulges in the voidest orgies. "It was England that laid the plans for the world-war. It was King Edward VII. who did it all — a man whose past ought to have taught him to keep quiet. A political card-sharper, though with good abilities." He travels about and concludes his agreements. "The dogs are bought and trained to surround the den of the German lion." A systematic incitement against Germany is organised through the medium of the Press, in all parts of the world. It went on after the death of the King in 19 10, but it was all his work. "What we are now reaping are the poison- ous herbs springing up from King Edward's grave, 'devil's-claw' (henbane), 'water-pest' (water-thyme), or whatever they are called." Next he enumerates the infamies of England, her cruelty, her falseness, her misdeeds, her lies; I am sorry space will not allow me to reproduce in full this torrent of abuse. But "We hope in God. God will one day over- throw the arrogance of centuries. We depend 124 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH upon our army and our fleet. An old prophecy says that in the year 1066 occurred the first con- quest of England by William of Normandy; 622 years later, in 1688, occurred the second, by Wil- liam of Orange; 226 years later, in 1914* the third will take place, under a_ third William." "Do we not almost daily hear it stated on good authority from the front, that French officers, who have been taken prisoners, express their wrath against England, and even say: 'Only wait, we will soon join you in an attack on England.' Still, he does not wish to add fuel to the fire of hatred. It is not necessary (!). He would rather do the opposite ( !). But it is England's "world-consciousness" that is the real misery under which our planet groans. "England is a Moloch that will devour everything, a vampire that will suck tribute from all the veins of the earth, a monster snake encircling the whole Equator." "To tear the cruel world-sceptre out of England's hands is the great task for the people of the earth. It is the world-judgment which must be fulfilled by the world's history." But hate England — oh dear no, one would not dream of such a thing! In an extremely significant speech upon "the suffering in the Kaiser's life," through the whole of which he eulogises the Kaiser as a holy martyr, he first shows what suffering it must have been to him to find his noble intentions so often mis- judged. On this subject, I will quote his expres- sions verbatim: TOLZIEN AND COLLEAGUES 125 "Noble, generous souls suffer bitterly when confronted with reserve and ill-will, and the nobler they are the more bitterly. When that English gentleman, Minister Grey, who has a cancerous tumour in place of a heart, in the end has to reap the infamy he deserves, he will prompt- ly cast it from him as dirt {'Mist') with his horse- hoof; but when he who has staked everything that is noble, beautiful and strong within him on cre- ating the most blessed thing in the world — he who has begged, entreated, conjured, thrown his whole soul into the effort — when this man is slighted, then the injury plunges like a poisonous dagger, deep into his heart." And thus the Kaiser stood before the world. He not only wished to make this own people happy, he wished to make the world happy, as the peace-Kaiser. His policy towards other na- tions, even the small ones, was really too noble for this world. He wanted to breathe new life into the masses of the people, he wanted the kings on their thrones to form a league of brother- hood. But (cries the preacher in italics) : "How have they not disappointed him! How have they not evilly entreated him! How have they not betrayed him!" All of them, but especially Eng- land. "England! England! England! She deserves an essay all to herself. England is the Mephis- topheles of the whole tragedy. Richard the Third could never have been anything but an English- man, and all England is now a Richard the Third come to life again." He then reckons up Eng- 126 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH land's crimes: "Is there anywhere a single de- cent feature to be found in the English mode of warfare?" England has betrayed the holy cause of Germanism and of the Gospel. "It is certain that if Germany falls now, then the Protestant Church will fall with her" ( !). England enters into a league with dead Greek Christianity and with living Japanese heathendom. Ay, she calls the yellow race to her aid, herself yellow with envy! "Thus England has torn asunder all his- torical ties, forgotten all historical responsibilities; she has from love of usury, from greed of gold, become a betrayer of blood, a fratricide, a priest of Baal. And then, to crown all, she has had the insolence to declare war upon the Kaiser — as pro- tector of outraged national rights, as the noble guardian of downtrodden little Belgium ! If France, then, had marched through Belgium, England would have declared war upon France? Does any one believe that? A nice protector of outraged national rights ! ! ! Thus Richard, Duke of Gloucester, appears with prayer-book and rosary on the terrace of the castle, thus Mephis- topheles dons the mask of lawyer and philosopher, thus Iscariot kisses the Saviour. Is there any one who does not know why England declared war? Why? As Russia from greed of power, as France from a craving for revenge, so England from jealousy. From shopkeeper-spite. Because she wanted to earn the thirty pieces of silver. Eng- land the perfidious, the infamous. We have all determined to use foreign words no more, but these two we must keep for England, as the Ger- man language has had no occasion to coin adjec- TOLZIEN AND COLLEAGUES 127 tives which could adequately characterise the con- duct of England." He also delivers an address on The Humility of the German — undoubtedly a rather ticklish subject! He seems, indeed, to have had an ink- ling that he is treading on dangerous ground. It is true that God's judgment has gone forth : "Ger- man righteousness, German ability shall conquer," but it might possibly come to pass that our rap- ture of victory might degenerate, so that we did not continue to be noble-minded, but became ar- rogant like the English, or presumptuous like the French. That must not be. "Yet, when we compare ourselves with other nations, the comparison is always in our favour. We cultivate a noble policy of peace, the others a policy of greed, revenge- fulness and intrigue, right down to the naked shamelessness of Japan. Our faithfulness to our Ally in his need contrasts with England's denial of us — that England to which we had always felt as a brother — and with Russia's ingratitude — Rus- sia, to whom we have always shown friendship," etc., etc. Yet we will not be proud. We must not apply the same standards to ourselves as to other nations. Our responsibility is greater. "We are Germans ! We are of German blood, of the race of faithfulness and honour, the people of poets and thinkers. What does the song say? 'We are the world's noblemen!' We have given birth to the most exalted spirits. We have been edu- 128 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH cated by Martin Luther, we are re-created by our Bismarck. Luther's gold and Goethe's silver and Bismarck's iron, those are our ingredients." But, like all other people, we, too, have our sins. They are certainly not so bad as other people's, but they are there all the same, and in some few respects we may even be behind others. But we must make a sacred resolution of amend- ment — the times urge us to do so. He then con- cludes as follows: "He who exalts himself shall be abased! It almost seems as if this saying were directly applied to the English, the French, and the Russians. For they have all commenced the game in the same way, by exalting themselves in the thirst for world-dominion. He who abases himself shall be exalted. When our people bend to the stress of the time, treat affliction as penance, and derive amendment from chastening, then will God show grace to such a spirit, and give it victory. Then will be fulfilled the prophecy: " 'By the German nature shall (soil) the world be healed.' " I have no doubt that the preacher means well, but I confess I find it no easy matter to discover the humility in all this. Nor does he succeed in keeping his hatred very well in check. In an address on The True Unity he declares that : "the soldier who spat in the face of the thorn-crowned Saviour did not act more shamelessly than does England now." We find exactly the same thoughts in the ut- TOLZIEN AND COLLEAGUES 129 terances of Herr Tolzien's coadjutors. Pastor F. Erdmann says, in a discourse on The Christianity of the Belligerent Nations, that : "The war has shown to our horror that the English nation as a whole has only put on Chris- tianity as a mask, behind which hides the real face, making grimaces at us." "The veil has now fal- len and the perfect Pharisee stands before us in the form of England — British arrogance, British unscrupulousness, British lying and British huckstering." The famous English Sunday was only outward show. "The much lauded mis- sionary spirit was only a business enterprise, by means of which John Bull filled his purse," etc., etc. But what about Germany! Pastor Erdmann has first to make the unpleasant admission, that here, also, there are shortcomings. But he gets over the difficulty in a characteristic way. Ger- many cannot be said to be entirely free from foreign vices: Russian drunkenness, Russian superstition, the corruptibility of Russian officials; French chauvinism, French immorality, French frivolity; English mammon-worship, English un- truthfulness, English love of pleasure! But the war has brought about a moral-religious revival among the German people. And it remains true, after all, that with the entrance of the Teutons in- to the world of nations, the German people in the German empire have become the chief maintainors of Christianity. "We will not presume to call ourselves proph- ets, but we can and must take note of the will of 130 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the living God as shown in world-history. All signs indicate that God has some great intention to carry out through our predominantly Protestant people, that they still have a great work to ac- complish amongst the nations, as a special instru- ment for the fulfilment of His will, for the estab- lishment of His Kingdom upon earth. Since the re-foundation of the German empire, it has begun on an increasing scale to play a part in world- politics, and to influence the fate of the world. It is especially this that has begotten the pale envy and the glowing hate of our adversaries in the present war. For long the Protestant nations have held the highest sway in the world. What a glorious prospect will open out for Protestant thought, as soon as God gives the victory to the German arms in this world-war, and German people, having won the first place, even among the Protestant nations, shall recognise and carry through its mission to establish the Kingdom of God. "Our Kaiser seems long ago to have seen this vision with prophetic eye and worked for its realisation. We see the recognition of this world- historic task shine forth in the well-known picture with the legend: 'Nations of Europe, guard your holiest possessions!' German people, follow this vision, and it will, like the morning star, herald the dawn of a new world-day, when the world shall be healed by the German nature." "The German people, bearing forward in vic- tory the evangel of the cross of Christ, is the great Christophorus in the world of the na- tions." TOLZIEN AND COLLEAGUES 131 Herr F. F. Meltzer, preacher at the cathedral of Schwerin, ends a discourse on The Instigators of the War with the following words : "Woe unto thee, perfidious Albion, with thy politics of a carrion vulture ! Woe unto thee, who hast on thy conscience this sea of blood and tears. Gott strafe England and help the right to victory." A discourse by Herr Pastor Walter Kittel at Kieth, on The World's Hatred of Germany, is quite in the same strain. He admits the fact that Germany has become pretty nearly odium generis humani ) the object of the whole world's hatred. But he cannot possibly find the slightest real cause for this hatred. It is only distrust and envy. He falls back upon the saying that when a man knows that he has acted basely and meanly towards some one, then he hates him because he feels that he has a bad conscience towards him. It never seems to strike Herr Kittel that the very habit of depreciating other nations, often in very abusive terms, and inordinately belauding Germanism, might of itself be sufficient to arouse a feeling of dislike in others. That Germany should ever have done anything for which she could be justly blamed, he cannot even in his wildest dreams imagine. Herr Pastor Goesch, of Gustrow, delivers a discourse on War and Kultur in which he calls the enemies of Germany "beasts which, three to one, set upon Germany, because of their money-grub- 132 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH bing spirit, vengefulness and greed," and winds up with this solemn vow : "We Germans, reviled as Huns and barbarians, having through the war been taught the value and benignant power of our Christian-German Kultur, will become the missionaries of Kultur to the people of the earth. As a nation which knows and wills, which strives and achieves, we will conquer that place in the sun which is due to us, and will become bearers of light to the other na- tions, so that their eyes may be opened to the deed of infamy, the Kultur-murder, to which they have stooped, blinded by hatred and envy. This German war against the whole world shall break the way for German Kultur to the whole world!" To which he, of course, adds : "Und es mag am deutschen Wesen e'inmal noch die Welt genesertj' which famous quotation, in a discourse by Herr Pastor G. Mau, of Schwerin, at last evolves into: "am deutschen Wesen MUSS die Welt genesen." In other words, it has become a world-historic necessity. The reader may, perhaps, ask why I have dealt in such detail with these German sermons. Might not a little less have sufficed? I reply once more that, if I had only quoted some detached and TOLZIEN AND COLLEAGUES 133 isolated fragments, the objection would have been raised that I had singled out some solitary, ac- cidental examples of exaggerated abuse, and I was, above all, anxious to forestall this objection. It was, therefore, necessary to show that, not only isolated preachers, but whole series of sermons by numerous preachers were stamped throughout by this new-German tendency of thought. If I am further asked whether it be not, after all, a one-sided selection I have made in introducing precisely these writers, my reply is, that it might, perhaps, be called one-sided if my object had been to give a picture of German preaching as a whole. Of course, sermons of a different stamp may be preached. Nevertheless, I believe that my selection can be called one-sided only in the sense that the sermons here quoted represent in their most emphatic form thoughts which more or less dominate nearly the whole of the German mind, and therefore of German pulpit eloquence. I have, at any rate, irrefutably proved that the thoughts expressed in these sermons are wide- spread in the highest degree, that arrogance, self- righteousness, the blindest Pharisaism, and the bitterest hatred, characterise a great number of German sermons at the present time. How sig- nificant in this connection is a letter from the front, written by a Hessian peasant: "How little help is afforded to the heart's in- most and deepest need by many a preacher's ser- 134 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH mon. For one hears sermons which actually of- fend one. When a pastor represents our Father- land as God, and eternal life as a life continued in the memories of later generations, when the sting of death is explained away by the argument that death loses its sting when one dies for the Fatherland, and when one is bidden to see hell only in the foe against whom one has to fight — all this is ill-suited to strengthen the spark of faith which has been lighted in many a heart by the terrible things which one has to live through." The numerous sermons I have quoted here be- long to this class, as also does the following frag- ment of a sermon to soldiers (from the Protes- tantenblatt, Number 13, 19 1 5 ) : "If you ask me: 'How shall I build up the Kingdom of God?' my answer is: 'Be a good German ! Stand fast by the Fatherland. Do your duty and fulfil your misssion. Seek to sub- merge yourself in German spirit, in German mind. Be German in piety and will, which simply means : be true, faithful, and valiant. Help as best you can towards our victory; help to make our Father- land grow and wax mighty.' " That the results of my investigations are trust- worthy will also appear from the fact that I have made a counter-test. Professor Uckeley, whom I have mentioned more than once, in his review of war literature, has given the very first place to Geheimekonsistorialrath Dr. Paul Conrad, TOLZIEN AND COLLEAGUES 135 whose works of devotion are stated to have cir- culated in the army in millions of copies, and has lauded him as a model of all the virtues. The University of Berlin, too, has recently conferred upon him an honorary degree. After reviewing his work, Professor Uckeley says, "I would have preferred to close my account of this branch of practical-theological literature with Dr. Conrad, for anything better than his discourses cannot, in my opinion, be produced!" Seeing this, I procured one of his books. It bears the title: Strong in the Lord, and is, like the rest, embellished with the Iron Cross. It contains a number of short devotional utterances, in which there is naturally not room for such effusions as those I have previously quoted. Therefore Dr. Conrad's book is a little more re- fined. Nevertheless, we recognise the same thoughts. Here, too, Geibel is exalted to the skies. Under the heading "Hallowed be thy name," we read as follows: "Emanuel Geibel, the herald of the new German Empire, whose name had for long sunk into un- deserved neglect, has now again been raised to high honour, because he almost prophetically for- saw the events which we are now witnessing. He had a presentiment, decades ago, of the fight against east and west which we are now carrying on. From him emanated the words which we hear so frequently at the present time, 'And by the German nature the world shall once more be 136 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH healed.' This is an expression of the joy of cer- tain victory and of justified self-esteem. We feel ourselves to be the depositaries of a superior Kul- tur. We have no doubt that a defeat of our peo- ple would retard by centuries the development of mankind. On the other hand, we hope, by the victory of our arms, to bring about a new efflor- escence of humanity through the German nature, which will thus prove itself fruitful of blessings for other nations as well." We have here, then, the same view which we find everywhere else: to wit, that it is of vital importance to the world that Germany should be victorious in whatever wars she may wage! Would it be too bold to ask, what blessing the world has derived from Germany's victories in 1870-71? It is, I think, a little difficult to dis- cover it. And all the preachers I have quoted, who in this respect must be regarded as impartial witnesses, have, in their eagerness to throw all the limelight upon Germany's revival in 19 14, de- picted the previous condition of Germany in such a manner as to make one suspect that Germany herself, the great physician of mankind, did not reap any particular blessing from her former victory. Even Dr. Conrad confesses it: "Super- ficiality and externality, selfishness and self-in- dulgence, carried all before them. The war re- vealed all our pitifulness and inward poverty." Is it not strange that a Christian who, as such, must know that the greatest spiritual victories are TO LZIEN AND COLLEAGUES 137 often achieved through outward defeat, cannot conceive the possibility that a defeat for Germany could have a purifying, ennobling, renovating ef- fect upon the German people! I wonder what blessing Germany's victory would now confer upon the world! I fancy that the great physician of mankind, the German Empire, would first of all appear in the character of a surgeon. In that branch of the profession it has already dis- tinguished itself! Germany would no doubt undertake some extensive amputations, of course with assurances that they would be all for the patient's good, even if they should cause some pain for the moment. One of the patients, Bel- gium, would probably die from the operation, but Germany would no doubt say, like the doctor in the comedy: "Why, yes, the patient died, but the fever left him!" — Conrad, however, does admit that the German nature must itself be hallowed if it is to heal the world. But he, too, makes it his standing assumption that the cause of Germany and the cause of God are the same. "One with God is the majority." — And how about the description of the enemy? Listen to this: "Also the blessings of the Reformation are at stake (!). Shall French ungodliness, shall Rus- sian superstition, shall English hypocrisy rule the world, and force us also under their yoke of thraldom ? Never ! For the blessing of our faith, for the freedom of our conscience, for our Ger- 138 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH manism and for our Gospel, we will fight and struggle and make every sacrifice ! Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott. And if the world were full of devils, we shall maintain our Empire !" The same tune over and over again! May we not justly be astounded at the idea that the foes of Germany would think of depriving the Ger- mans of "the blessings of their faith," of "their Gospel," of their "freedom of conscience?" Do their faith and their Gospel sit so lightly upon the Germans that others can take them away? Or do they really believe that their foes will make it their business to persecute the Lutheran Church in Germany? Even if it were so, the only digni- fied answer for a Christian, I take it, would be, "Do your worst! No foe can ever rob us of our faith and of our conscience — and truth and right will be victorious in the end." In order, however, to be as just as possible, I will quote yet one more utterance which is gener- ally looked upon as a model of what a German sermon should be. We shall then see to how great a height a German preacher can rise during this war. CHAPTER X J. LAHUSEN HERR GENERALSUPERINTENDANT J. LAHUSEN, on March 7th, 19 15, delivered a sermon which has been printed in 50,000 copies and distributed far and wide. Its title is The Fifth Petition in the Lord's Prayer and England. This title excites one's curiosity and raises high expectations. It evidently must be the preacher's intention to combat the boundless hatred of his countrymen towards England, to insist that Ger- man Christians, in saying the Lord's Prayer, must, even during the war, fulfil the duty of a Christian and forgive their enemies, forgive those who tres- pass against them, not excluding England. And, indeed, the speaker is conscious of the fact that in this sermon it is not his business merely to please his hearers. He addresses many serious words to his German fellow Christians. They, as well as all others, are sinners before God. If they wish to have His forgiveness they must also be ready to forgive others. "We must forgive, but how hard it is! How hard in our time, which is full of flaming wrath and merciless hatred, filling not only individuals, 139 140 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH but whole nations with rage. The name of one people we all carry in our soul, and it is as if the soul of the nation shrieked aloud. All the un- fathomable misery of this war, all its blood-stained suffering — we cannot forgive England that. Towards England no voice of charity is any longer heard within us, but anger, hatred, contempt, curses — the craving for retribution. "This we understand; but there is no mora- torium in Christianity." He then expounds that hatred is not strength but weakness. Hatred is not the road to victory. In hatred we lose our better self. God is not in hatred. We must be on God's side, we must wield our German sword in the name of Jesus. This we can only do in the love of God; and God's love is forgiveness. We cannot possess God in Pharisaical self-right- eousness, which can see only guilt in the enemy, for God grants His grace only to the humble. We must first and foremost hate that in ourselves which is a bar to peace. We must pray the prayer of Jesus: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" We must long for the time when we, too, can build bridges from nation to nation, even across the Channel ! This sounds all very well. And yet ! Another strain of thought runs parallel with this, which, in my opinion, robs the words of the sermon of all their power. The preacher, in the beginning of his sermon, makes a reservation which must inevitably cause those who are to be so kindly forgiven to reject this forgiveness with indignation. J. LAHUSEN 141 He says: "Mutual accusations resound over land and sea, there is a vast chorus of nations which cries out to us Germans, 'Ye are the guilty ones!' But even if the whole world were against us, ay, even if in the end it trod us under foot by its superior force, yet would we with our last breath protest: No, a thousand times no! We are not the guilty ones. We will never bend the knee and pray: Father, forgive us our respon- sibility for this world-war." And later on he says: "But can we, then, for- give our enemies who stand against us? Sin is sin and must remain sin, must be called sin and pun- ished as sin. Yea, verily; so long as the sin has not been acknowledged and repented, we cannot in truth forgive. We cannot do this in our per- sonal life; nor can we do it in the war of the nations. We must be wroth and will be wroth with the whole power of our inner man. We will hate the will of the nation which has so basely set upon our peace-loving people in order to de- stroy us. We will hate the Satanic powers of ar- rogance and selfishness, of treachery and cruelty, of lying and hypocrisy. We will fight without scruple and employ all means of destruction, how- ever terrible they may be. We cannot do other- wise; but we do not hate the individual human beings. The low hatred, which leads to corruption and death is personal. The true, beneficent hatred applies to things, not persons. God dwells also in hatred, in the hatred of all evil. Thus we are sure that we are fighting in the serv- ice of God, in the service of His glorious eternal love." 142 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH Words, words, words ! And what is the gist of all these fair words? Only this: that the individ- ual German must not hate the individual English- man with a personal hatred ! It would be strange indeed if a Christian clergyman, who had taken for his text the fifth petition in the Lord's prayer, did not impress this upon his hearers ! But in the matter here at issue, in the relation between the peoples, Germany is as pure as the whitest dove, whilst England is the representative of the Satanic powers of arrogance and selfishness, treachery and cruelty, falsehood and hypocrisy ! And before England can hope for Germany's forgiveness, it is insisted that she shall be punished for her sin, and penitently acknowledge her aforesaid alliance with hell itself ! If I were an Englishman I know what my answer would be. I would reply: No, thank you, on those conditions I do not care for forgiveness! Is my nation to beg forgiveness of yours because Germany violated the neutrality of Belgium, because Germany bombarded open sea- ports and from her Zeppelins constantly showers death and destruction upon defenceless people, because Germany fights against us with poisonous gases, because Germany torpedoed the Lusitania? We have no use for forgiveness from a nation which acts like this, and yet maintains that it is guiltless and in no need of forgiveness for this war and its horrors! Is England, then, without guilt! That I dare not maintain. It is altogether incomprehensible J. LAHUSEN 143 to me that anv one can fail to see that this terrible world-war has sprung from a number of different causes, from all the evil in the life of the nations as well as in that of individuals. Who dares to lay the entire blame upon a single power? But it is and remains astounding, that, one after another, Germany's men of note can stand forth and declare that Germany is entirely blameless. Is Germany, then, entirely without blame for the desperate competition in armaments, which could not but bear in themselves the germs of war? Has Ger- many a spotless past with regard to Poland, with regard to Denmark, with regard to France? Has she never committed any encroachments and thereby sown the seed of hatred against herself? No, if I were a German and had to plead the cause of my country, I think I should have suffi- cient self-criticism to say that I certainly look upon our cause as a good one, and I must, in any case, fight for the Fatherland; but that I dared not assume the other nations alone to be guilty, and my own nation entirely without responsibility for this world-conflagration. And it is necessary that this feeling of a common guilt should arise in the hearts of all the belligerents, so that the result of the war may be, not the satisfaction of the lust of vengeance, but a will for justice. In any case, the forgiveness here offered is not worth calling forgiveness. It cannot be accepted by any Englishman who, no less than the German, fights for his Fatherland, and is equally convinced 144 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH that he fights for ideal aims. One must, indeed, acknowledge the Herr Generalsuperintendant's good intentions — that is something. But his strength has failed him. And why? Of course — one is almost tempted to say — the reason is the usual one : the ineradicable superstition of the unique excellence of Germanism, its purity, its innocence, its perfect blamelessness. A German can sin only as a human being, not as a German. In this paradox we have the whole thing in a nutshell. CHAPTER XI SPEECHES BY GERMAN PROFESSORS HAVING dealt at some length with the Ger- man war sermon as preached in the German Protestant church, I will now take up a somewhat different subject. Laymen have also had their say about the war; and here, too, the material is, of course, abundant. I have in view more espec- ially one volume, a collection of speeches with the title: Deutsche Reden in schwerer Zeit {German Speeches in Trying Times). This volume is evi- dently intended as a monumental effort: in it some of the most eminent professors at the University of Berlin have set themselves to comfort and en- courage their countrymen in the hard times through which they are passing. From a purely literary standpoint, these speeches rank somewhat higher than the average of the clerical discourses. But they are throughout pervaded by the same fundamental ideas. What Fichte did alone in the time of Germany's humiliation, when Napoleon was master in Berlin, a number of scholars from, the same university now endeavour to do in the time of Germany's greatness. The book dates from the first period of the 145 146 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH war, which was so brilliant for Germany. In a preface it is stated that: "As to the necessity or non-necessity of the war there was no doubt, and the justice of the German cause from the first mo- ment filled every German with the certainty of victory." Then "followed in rapid succession the tremendous events of the first weeks, the healing of Germany from party strife and class hatred, and the victorious advance of our troops against the enemy. German history has never had a greater time to record in her annals. All troubles seemed to have vanished in the one feeling that took possession of the whole people and of all classes: How fortunate we are in being Germans." These speeches were consequently delivered to form a lasting expression of this mood, and pre- serve it for future ages; for "in them lives the spirit and temper of this time. They are a testi- mony to the way in which the German people bears this war. In them flame all the wrath and all the passion of these days; but in them we also find an expression of the calm reflectiveness and mindful- ness of our highest blessings and duties, which this great time imposes on all." The book opens with a paper by the famous philologist, U. von Wilamowitz-Mollendorff. It is a speech of great refinement, delivered by a man who himself took part in the war of 1870, and who is therefore able to speak with authority. Its keynote is a firm conviction of Germany's right, and it works up to a fervent prayer for the GERMAN PROFESSORS 147 salvation of Germany, for her freedom and her victory. But here, also, we come upon two phe- nomena, extremely common indeed, but which al- ways arouse our astonishment anew. The one is the strange, unreasoning conviction that no one in Germany willed the war ! The other is the tone adopted towards Germany's foes. We find ex- actly the same strain of thought in this thoroughly refined mind that we found in the war-sermons. He does not hesitate to write about Belgium : "See what the war has laid bare in others ! What have we learnt of the soul of Belgium? Has it not revealed itself as the soul of cowardice and assassination? They have no moral forces within them; therefore they resort to the torch and dag- ger." He pities the Russians, who stolidly suffer themselves to be led to the slaughter-house. He speaks of the French with a certain respect, but declares that they have been forced into this war against their will by the ruling caste. — But Eng- land! "Here we have the prime mover, the evil spirit which has conjured up this war from hell. The spirit of envy and the spirit of hypocrisy." Always the same old tale ! Then follows a paper by G. Roethe: We Ger- mans and the W ar. It stands, perhaps, a little lower than its predecessor. Here, too, we find the usual jubilation over Germany's greatness and Germany's unity. The speaker declares quite openly that it is now the mission of Germany to vindicate her place as a world-empire among 148 hurrah and hallelujah world-empires. But with him the contempt for Germany's adversaries is still more pronounced. He speaks of the worthless Serbia, the operetta- king Nikita with his tin soldiers ! Russia is treated with condescending scorn. He reproaches France, that his colleagues of the University of Paris were too cowardly (!) to resist the people's foolish craving for revenge, and their still more foolish fear of a German attack ! But then it is England's turn, and in this connection he lets himself go with- out restraint. Lie speaks of this nation whose best sons remain at home and hire others to fight for them, and attacks its "abysmal hypocrisy," "the national vice which has been incarnated for us in Sir Edward Grey." England violates inter- national law, England knows neither humanity nor right. "It is an almost sinister self-contradic- tion: the individual Englishman in private life is by no means devoid of a certain outward decency, perhaps because he thinks it pays : but the public morals of England do not shrink from any base- ness!" This remark about the individual Eng- lishman is itself, perhaps, the basest thing which has been said about the English by any German. — Further, England shall be struck to earth. "Against a vile, cowardly foe, who does not hes- itate to assault us when he thinks we are faced by superior forces, against such a contemptible crew, popular wit has long ago found the right formula: 'At every hit, Down with a Brit' [i. e. Briton]." He hopes the Flemish race will be in- GERMAN PROFESSORS 149 corporated with the German empire — and this does not only apply to Flemish Belgium, but also to Dunkirk. His covetous eye even reaches as far as Calais, in order that the German howitzers may thence speak their honest, forcible language, in opposition to English cant! — Here again we come upon the inevitable Geibel, here again the speaker enlarges upon "the holy faith in the Ger- nan people's world-historic mission against barbar- ism and un-Kultur. Whilst other nations are born, ripen and grow old, the Germans alone possess the gift of rejuvenescence. We hope that a young, strong, purified Germany will become a source of rejuvenescence for the ageing Kultur of all Eu- rope!" Then follows Herr Otto von Gierke, who has chosen as his theme: War and Kultur. He be- gins by emphasising the notorious fact of the great German love for peace, which the foes of Germany have so shamelessly abused. But now that we Germans are plunged in war, we will have it in all its grandeur and violence! And he uses the words which events have hitherto so tragically confirmed. "Neither fear nor pity shall stay our arm before it has completely brought our enemies to the ground." War is not only the great destroyer, but also the great builder. What have not German wars given to Germany? On this subject he enlarges at some length. The last victorious war procured for Germany forty-three years of peace, and they have been well employed, 150 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH amongst other things in the formation of a sys- tem of law surpassing those of all other ages, and all other nations! But the tremendous progress of Germany in commerce, industry, etc., called forth the envy of their neighbours, and they leagued themselves in the infamous attempt to strangle Germany by their superior force, an attempt emanating from the degenerate English shopkeeper soul, which craftily pulled the strings, until at last it summoned up courage for its un- heard-of treachery! But had we, he asks, during the long period of peace, faithfully preserved the inward blessings we had won? No, we were in a fair way of losing them. We were on the point of splitting up into parties and hostile classes, and Social Democracy had actually declared war against the Monarchy, our most precious heritage, the strong bulwark of true liberty ! We subordinated our own nationality to all that was foreign, and German idealism had almost become an empty phrase. Frivolity and sensuality grew apace. Then with the war came the great miracle : the German nation found itself again, when the Kaiser, with shining eyes and lofty mind, took the lead, and all partitions fell. And, as in all the great epochs of German history, this conversion to the Fatherland was also a con- version to God. Therefore we will and must win such a victory as shall place the fate of Europe in our hands. Then follow the usual invectives against the enemy; the morally debased and de- cadent France, Russia with her knout, England with her treacherous robber-politics — they shall all, once for all, be reduced to such a condition GERMAN PROFESSORS 151 that they shall never again dare even to snarl at Germany. Then the dawn of a new time will burst forth, when German Kultur will be able to unfold itself, purer, and fuller and lovelier than ever before. It will then be German Kultur which will spread its rays from the centre of our continent. And now follows a superb sentence which I will quote verbatim, and commend to the close consideration of those who hope that Germany, after a victor- ious war, will alter her treatment of annexed nationalities: "The more German Kultur re- mains faithful to itself, the better will it be able to enlighten the understanding of the foreign races absorbed, incorporated into the Empire, and to make them see that only from German Kultur can they derive those treasures which they need for the fertilising of their own particular life," etc., etc. And what glorious results will not vic- tory bring to Germany herself. Then the tie be- tween the dynasties and the people will never break, then no one will ever again dare to find fault with the military spirit of our State, and at the same time popular freedom will emerge from the war strengthened and purified! How much freedom do not both individuals and societies al- ready possess! As a reward for the fidelity of our fellow-subjects speaking foreign tongues, we will also show them greater confidence than be- fore, and acknowledge their full rights as citizens." [That is, if they will be good, seek their nourish- ment in German Kultur, and admire all Prussian institutions!] "And when the victory is won, the world will stand open to us, our war expenses will 152 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH be paid by the vanquished, the black-white-and-red flag shall wave over all seas, our countrymen will hold highly-respected posts in all parts of the world, and we will maintain and extend our col- onies. The whole world will stand open to us, so that, in untrammelled rivalry, we shall unfold the energy of the German nature. But to ac- complish this it is certain that we must completely overthrow the most cunning and infamous of all our enemies, England to wit. The Englishman thinks he is safe on his island. Really? We shall seel" After an enthusiastic encomium on German Kul- tur, without whose influence the world-Kultur would be flat and pitiful, he continues as follows : "When has Germany tried to extinguish the peculiar life of other nations? Is there on the face of the earth any other people which has al- ways accorded to foreign Kultur such loving and disinterested appreciation as has the German? Justice belongs to the essence of German Kultur. We understand the special value of each individual Kultur, and consider the multiplicity of Kulturs as an expression of the riches of mankind. Nor will we for the future grudge any nation the free de- velopment of its mental individuality; on the con- trary, we will sympathetically rejoice in every Kul- tur-efflorescence. The idea of the exclusive justi- fication of one's own Kultur which is innate in the English and French, is foreign to us ( ?) . But we are conscious of the incomparable value of Ger- man Kultur, and will for the future guard it GERMAN PROFESSORS 153 against being adulterated by less valuable imports. We do not force it upon any one ( ?) , but we be- lieve that its own inner greatness will everywhere procure for it the recognition which is its due. For we are proud of it and know what it means for mankind." Then he quotes the saying of Fichte, that the German people are called to be the upholders of the world-Kultur, and that it is therefore their duty to mankind to assert them- selves. At last, of course, comes the prophet Geibel, and, for the hundredth time, uplifts his voice to declare that by the German nature an ail- ing world shall be healed. In this collection of war-lectures which was meant to stand as a monument to the elevation of German thought, it has not been thought unfit- ting to include a contribution from the old fanatic Professor Adolf Lasson, whose epistle to and about the Dutch sufficiently proves his incredible German arrogance. His contribution covers no less than forty pages, and simply overflows with idolatry of Germanism. He of course begins in the usual strain, that Germany wished for peace, and that the war is due to the malice of her neighbours. Next he describes the barbarities which the enemy prac- tise in their mode of warfare. "Everything is permissible against the Germans. — Our foes have relapsed into barbarism, ay, to a degree of bar- barism even lower than that which prevailed thou- sands of years ago." Our army is calumniated, 154 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH although the world has never seen its match in manly strength, in moral restraint, in the high level of its culture! The world was surprised at the energy of this army. They thought we were in as deplorable a condition as our adversaries. "But we must decline the honour of being placed on a level with them." "The losses we suffer are — even if the losses of the enemy were ten times as numerous — infinitely greater in value, and infinitely more painful (!). But this blood shall not be shed in vain. German nature, Ger- man morals, German civilisation shall be upheld and strengthened for the benefit of all mankind; it is to that end that these noble men have died, these brave men suffered." "The feeling which goads on our enemies against us is this: We can- not measure ourselves against these Germans, they are better men than we. That is why our foes fight against us ; it is from base envy, and infamous cupidity; but it is our mission not only to demon- strate our superiority, but also to prepare the em- pire of the future, where the deepest foundation of German superiority, where German nature and culture, unassailed and unassailable, can make room for itself in the world, and serve as an ex- ample." Yet it is not in the nature of German thought to humiliate others, to look down upon them. [What else does he do in the whole of his discourse?] There is a teaching instinct, ay, even something schoolmaster-like, in the German nature. The German, in doing right, wants to serve as an example for others and stimulate them to imitation. Victory, therefore, is not for us the highest aim, but to conquer in the consciousness GERMAN PROFESSORS 155 that our cause is the cause of justice, our goal the absolute ideal. But when one goes about to appraise the value of Germanism, one must not look at its everyday aspect. Besides, all German shortcomings have now disappeared. German patriotism is different from all other patriotism. Other nations think only of their own interests. But we have allowed our industry, our capital, our culture and our science to benefit all who desired it, and also those who did not desire it ( !). We have never been any one's enemy, we have never hated any one! Germany is the centre-land, here is the centre of Kultur. The war has inaugurated a new age for Europe and the whole Kultur-world: the old is past and gone, it is our mission to build up some- thing new, to be a blessing to ourselves and to all mankind. For we Germans represent universality in thought and interests. If the special features of the German spirit are to be enumerated, mention must first be made of inward sincerity and depth. The German, as such, is a born idealist. All deep and vital feeling for nature is of German origin. And with that the German yearning for truth goes hand in hand. Others value a thing according to its price as mer- chandise, or according to its usefulness, etc. But the German insists upon the truth. He is not bril- liant, not nimble-minded, rather obscure and diffi- cult to understand; he broods, but he gives him- self up entirely to his subject. And then he has such a sober temperament. The German is not easily carried away by feeling, imagination does not get the upper hand with him, political rhetoric 156 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH does not affect him. It would be quite impossible to weave the Germans into such a net of falsehoods as has enveloped the others during this war. Imagination and intellect in the German are evenly balanced. Therefore the German spirit is a spirit of stringent methods, in which each de- tail is carefully considered and given its appointed place. Regularity, diligence, perseverance, cir- cumspection, calculation — all these belong to the true German nature. Then comes the turn of German faithfulness. In the relation between individuals, this German characteristic manifests itself both from its most amiable and from its most venerable side. The universal-human is here felt more deeply than elsewhere. To be sure, arrogance and hard-heart- edness, the spirit of caste and of class, are also to be found in Germany, but not nearly to such a degree as, for example, in England. In Germany we meet with faithfulness in leaders, the cheerful service of the free man, who willingly gives up everything for the fame and power of the Sov- ereign. It is our pride that with us the idea of the State means more than in other countries. There one sees shameless party-leaders who act from calculation and egoism, especially in England, where they have now led the country to ruin. The German is free, because he obeys the law, and the imperative law is the expression of reason. Wo- man, to the German, is the embodiment of all that is holy and ideal. It is not good for the German to be alone. He must have joviality. He must also be allowed to have a long drink; it is an old German privilege. His fundamental mood is GERMAN PROFESSORS 157 religious, even should he be a critical doubter. Here, too, his inward sincerity shows itself, and the tendency of German thought has always been against the employment of religious institutions and religious power for the advancement of secular supremacy and the power of the State ( ?). The German fear of God takes the form of a serene optimism. He who thinks otherwise knows nothing of German nature. And in this we find the root of German will-power, perseverance, dil- igence, and the solidity and trustworthiness that give Germans the upper hand in competition with their rivals. In this connection military training is of much importance. The German is personally independent. He wants to judge for himself. It is not so easy for him as for others blindly to fol- low this or that catchword (?). He is terribly self-willed. Therefore he is systematic in every- thing. Elsewhere people are content with an apercu, a superficial survey; the thorough-going German works out the theory of things. He is not elegant in form, but that is because he dives to greater depths than others, whose clearness is but a testimony to their shallowness. And then he is so anxious to learn. He is so given to admiring everything foreign, and under- estimating his own. Others know only their own affairs. The English know nothing at all. They do not even understand what militarism is; for them it is a term of reproach. Hitherto they have managed to take the world in, but now the mask has been torn from those hypocrites. It is their intention to betray their own allies ( ! !) ; but now they are on the road to ruin through their 158 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH ignorance, their stupid arrogance. This time they are caught in their own snare, it is to be hoped so firmly that they will never get out again. For English politics are incompatible with the peace of Europe. The German takes what is good wherever he finds it. Germany is the land of translations. Everything interests the German. That is why he loves peace. He is so fond of working to- gether with all the world for all the world's benefit. He is not in the least bellicose; on the contrary, if anything, he is too peaceful. But if war is forced upon him, he is unconquerable. Germans are luckily no longer a nation of poets and thinkers; then, people were quite content with us, but now that we have developed our tech- nical skill and our industries, people hate and fear us. And then follows a very remarkable statement which throws a peculiar light on several things : "The enemy does not even yet know all we have accomplished. It is true they have had sam- ples in the air, under the water, and on land; but we have still several things up our sleeve, with which there will no doubt be an opportunity of making them acquainted, in a manner anything but pleasant to them." — When that was written the Germans had not yet begun to use petroleum squirts and poison bombs. He next speaks about German science and Ger- man schools. In these matters our enemies are far behind us, our superiority is unquestionable. Our opponents are fighting against us for the pur- pose of restoring to the world the liberty, the GERMAN PROFESSORS 159 Kultur, which we are said to threaten. What stupendous mendacity! Be good enough first to produce anything like the German national school- master, the German high-school teacher, the Ger- man university professor! You have been left far behind, you are hopelessly inferior. That is the cause of your exasperation, your envy, your fear. In your impotence you foam with rage and hatred, employ as a weapon the most shameless calumny, and would like to sweep us off the face of the earth, in order that you need no longer have cause to be ashamed. But it is of no avail. If you try to vanquish us in war, we will first thrash you to the point of annihilation, and then despise you as a gang of robbers. We stand in the centre of scientific labour — whole domains of science bear the German stamp. Philology is German, history is German, natural science is German, philosophy is German. You want to annihilate us and yet cannot do without us. Drugs, dyes, chemicals, instruments of precision, the ma- chines which we make, are indispensable to your welfare. You prefer to sail in our ships, you pre- fer to travel on our railways, our banks are the most solid, our cities the pleasantest, our hotels the cleanest in the world. Our army and our fleet, too, are spiritual powers. Then he lauds German discipline; everything of ours is well thought out, clear and honest; discipline and obedience are mat- ters of course, corruption and bribery unthinkable. Germany's princes are her pride and ornament — is there in the whole world a more elevated spec- tacle, a nobler picture? We are hated — but there can be no question of i6o HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH holding Germany responsible for this hatred. The German nation, the German empire have never threatened any one, have never coveted any mastery over others, have never aimed at suprem- acy, but only defended their rights and their hon- our against the outside world, and at home done their duty. But by degrees those who fell behind in the race conspired together, and in their envy of those who were in every respect better men than themselves, set themselves, with positively insane malignity, to annihilate those who had outstripped them. But they shall not succeed. We know that our cause is the good, the righteous one, and that hu- manity will go down if we go down. The flame of patriotism fires us all. It sweeps away our ad- versaries from before our face, the old intrigue- spinners, the foes of everything good, those who in their mad egoism are bent upon destroying us! The great and noble Chancellor, our Kaiser's councillor, has said in beautiful words that his politics are governed by a due respect for the law of ethics. That is our German way. Our op- ponents depend upon a systematic structure of lies; we believe in the power of truth. They encounter us with all the frenzy of insane lawlessness and cruelty; we conduct the war with forbearance and humanity. But victorious we will be. Our op- ponents, who with a kind of suicidal madness, have delivered themselves into our hands, shall be so weakened that they will never again be able to disturb us in our peaceful labour. And then, when the divine judgment of the war has been consummated, Germany will pursue, un- GERMAN PROFESSORS 161 disturbed, her mission in Europe, threatening no one, injuring no one, enriching all, instruct- ing all, school-master-like, in her own me- thodical way. No striving for predominance, for masterdom, certainly not; equal rights for all. This will be the beginning of the new era. When the peace of Europe has been made secure against the incredible ambition of France, the thick-skinned egoism of England, the destructive brutality of Russia, then we may dare hope for the empire of peace in the whole of Eu- rope. Then it will be seen what German militar- ism in reality means : only this, to be protected against hostile attacks. Germany has never thought of acquiring privileges for herself, of attacking others, of extending her power at the cost of others ( !). A new spirit will then make its entry into mankind, and German nature and culture, by the power of its example, will incite others to imitate them. — For humanity and the victory of free Kultur we Germans are ready to bear every burden and to make every sacrifice. Our hope of victory is founded upon the conscious- ness of our worth and of our good cause. God will not forsake His Germans, so long as they carry on His cause. And this mental product has actually been ad- mitted into a work designed to be a lasting monu- ment of the attitude of the German spirit during the world-war. The most lenient view to take of these incredible utterances would be to surmise that the author was entering upon his second child- 162 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH hood. It is a wonderful picture that rises before the mind's eye : Germany as the world's school- master: all the other nations gathering round Ger- many and looking up to her with admiration and reverence as she sits at her desk. They imbibe wisdom from her lips. They try, as best they can, to imitate her achievements. I suppose, however, that the instruction will be carried on in German fashion, and we know this entails discipline and obedience. If it should happen, that one or other of Germany's scholars should grumble a little and show disinclination to learn his German lessons, I wonder if the rod would not come into play? Of course the Germans would resort to it only in a serious emergency and with a bleeding heart; but, should it be necessary, the culprit must remember that it is all for his good, and for the advancement of world-Kultur. The world-famed ecclesiastical historian, Pro- fessor A. Harnack, has also contributed to this book. This eminent scholar has, by his attitude during the war, sadly disappointed his many for- eign admirers. One hears on all hands the judg- ment — and it can scarcely be called groundless — that German science has not stood the test of the war. The famous manifesto of the ninety-four intellectuals, with the refrain, "It is not true," had a tragic effect, entirely contrary to what was intended. Harnack, in an address to the Amer- icans in Berlin, is said to have spoken as follows: GERMAN PROFESSORS 163 "Our Kultur was entrusted to three nations, ourselves, the Americans and — the English. I veil my head in shame only two are now left. — For us, everything is now at stake, our whole spiritual existence. We give you Americans the solemn promise, that we will shed our last drop of blood for this Kultur." With all due deference to Harnack, one must take the liberty of saying that there is not a grain of common sense in this hysterical utterance. Be- cause the English, in this war, have taken sides against the Germans, he holds himself entitled to wipe them out altogether from the number of Kultur-furthering nations! And France, in his eyes, does not appear to count at all as a Kultur- nation ! That the spiritual existence of the Ger- mans is threatened is also an opinion one would scarcely have expected to hear from that quarter. It is really amusing to compare Harnack's ut- terances with those of another German of note, P. Rohrbach, the editor of Das grossere Deutsch- land {Greater Germany) . Herr Rohrbach has arrived at the conclusion, that it might be in the interest of Germany to establish friendly relations with France; it would then be easier to master England, the great object of hatred. In this con- nection he expresses the following view : "There are now but two Kulturs, in the strict spiritual sense of the word: to wit, the German and the French!" Both these German gentlemen, then, are quite convinced that of an English Kultur there 164 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH can be no question; but as Herr Rohrbach has discovered that Germany may be able to profit by the help of France, he has also discovered that French Kultur is not to be despised. The two learned gentlemen, in any case, cannot both be right: and German science ought to have made such childish utterances impossible. Harnack's address in the book in question shows that in him the scholar has been swallowed up in the fanatical nationalist. He begins with Geibel and his prophecy that enemies to the East and the West should rise against Germany, and immediately proceeds to add that "also our so-called kinsfolk the English have unblushingly joined our enemies; ay, Eng- land is leading the tremendous world-war against us, and doing so from base competitive envy, and by piratical methods!" Then comes the turn or "the lying Press which circulates the stupidest, the most insane calumnies and lies against us." But the prophecy has already been fulfilled, that "He who spoke on the battlefield of Leipzig, He shall again speak in the thunder." "We now stand, two months after the commencement of the war, after great victories, in the land of the enemy, thrusting their lies back into their throats." He is so con- fident of victory, that he proposes, on the con- clusion of peace, to add a special milliard to the bill, as a compensation for their lies. He then enlarges on what Germany has already gained. It is amusing, after these many months, to read the following account of the campaign in France: GERMAN PROFESSORS 165 "We have in August in many battles — it was one single marching battle — won victory upon victory, until we reached the outskirts of the hostile capital. In September we have, without defeat, partly with- drawn our troops [Thus this champion of the truth describes the Battle of the Marne !], in order to weld all our forces together, for a decisive battle, in an iron fighting-line from Arras and Noyon to Verdun. We have now had breathing time before the annihilating battle." Well, they have now had a good year and a half of breathing time, and have got no further. The address is, on the whole, singularly unintelligent. He has found no better formula for the spirit of progress than the threadbare "Liberty, Equality, Fratern- ity," a motto which he is bound to admit was not made in Germany. — What must be won, is a good peace, and the conquest of the spirit of caste, which he is sorry to have to confess is rather bad in Germany, especially in North Germany. [He shrinks from uttering the word Prussia!] He will also briefly touch upon the fact that all sorts of frivolities will have to be renounced, etc., etc. In conclusion : "This war has shown and will show — this we dare say without arrogance — that the nation which develops the greatest moral strength and has perfected the severest discipline will gain the victory." From first to last the address is a glorification of "our magnificent army," and is, as a whole, absolutely unworthy of Professor Harnack. I will draw attention to but one more of this band of Professors, the theologian, Deissmann, i66 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH who makes some interesting remarks in his ad- dress on War and Religion. "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake." I quite under- stand F. Naumann's confession that these words have meant so much to him at the present time. They certainly do not refer literally to our actual position; between "for my sake" and for "Ger- many's sake" there is some difference. Yet we commit no sacrilege when we apply this divine paradox to the position of our Fatherland, and see something blessed in being given over to the hatred of the world. These gospel utterances are never literal precepts, but spiritual messages, and the spirit has something to say to every age. In the same way there is another ancient gospel say- ing which bursts the bonds of its original histor- ical meaning and takes new wings in the storm of the world-war, a saying which we may well take as the consecration of our German mission: "Ye are the salt of the earth ! ye are the light of the world!" "The French Ambassador in London is under- stood to have said at a banquet that so-called scholars and professors have preached the re- ligion of barbarism. His words — I venture that paradox — pretty nearly express my thought. What people beyond the Channel call barbarism, history will some day call primitive strength. In this age which has witnessed the most gigantic mobilisation of physical and mental forces which the world has ever seen, we certainly proclaim — GERMAN PROFESSORS 167 no, it is not we who proclaim it, but it reveals itself — the religion of power!" I shall only add the interesting information which Deissmann gives, that in answer to an en- quiry at his bookseller's as to what books were mostly bought by soldiers called to the front, he was told: The New Testament, Goethe's Faust, and Nietzsche's Zarathustra! This shows how the Nietzschean gospel of might as the highest right, his "revaluation of all values," competes, in modern "Christian" Germany, not only with Goethe's Faust, but even with the New Testa- ment. This is a very strong testimony against those Germans who would fain make us believe that only an insignificant minority have been in- fected by the ideas of Bernhardi and Neitzsche. The fact throws a very surprising and significant flashlight upon the mental condition of Germany. The book from which I have taken the above quotations was, I repeat, designed by its authors to form a special monument of the German spirit during the war. For the sake of the German people themselves, it is to be hoped that they will not endorse the authors' conception of their own work. I must, however, confess that this hope appears to be a somewhat vain one, when the book is viewed in connection with all the other utterances I have collected, so widely prevalent does its spirit appear to be. Nevertheless I 168 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH cannot believe that the book will have the imper- ishable vital power which has distinguished Fichte's Addresses to the German Nation, written a hundred years ago, in the days of Germany's disaster. CHAPTER XII W. HERRMANN IN this series of German professors, the name of W. Herrmann of Marburg, professor of theology, must not be omitted. He is no less famous than the rest, and has exercised consider- able influence in Scandinavia, especially in Sweden. He has written a pamphlet on The Turks, the English, and we German Christians. As a classic example of what a German scholar can write at the present time, it cannot possibly be omitted from this documentation. The publication is inspired by a definite set of circumstances. In the beginning of the war, the Germans were loud in their complaints that their opponents had placed heathens in the field against them. [Pastor Tolzien was even so incautious as to make it a grievance that they employed Mo- hammedans !] Then it came to pass that the Ger- mans themselves entered into an alliance with the Turks, the worst foes of Christianity, an alliance for which they had evidently been working for a long time. This of course might look a little strange, and at first did stagger a good many Germans. It thus became necessary, as in the 169 iyo HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH case of Belgium, to procure a good conscience for the German nation. This is what Professor Herr- mann has undertaken to do. We Germans, he says, can cast in our lot with the Turks with the best possible conscience. To prove this he en- larges upon two points: "We can, as Christians, understand and respect their faith, and the path that lies before us is the same as theirs." As regards the first point, it seems to be con- tradicted by the ancient hatred between Chris- tians and Turks. But this rests upon a great misunderstanding. It is true that the Mohamme- dans do not know the Old or the New Testament, and Mohammed did not understand Jesus. Yet they are in some respect superior to us. It is a stupendous feat that this religion should in so short a time have spread from India to Granada. [We can easily understand that the colossal nature of this feat should appeal to the German mind.] Another point is that the Turks have been unified by their religion, the Germans have not. The main thing, however, is this, that the faith of the Turks assures them that God ordains every- thing, and is the reality in everything. The word Islam means exactly the same as the Biblical word faith: that is, complete self-surrender. As Goethe said, when this became clear to him: "Then we are all of us, in reality, believers in Islam!" But Mohammed also maintains, that we are free and responsible for what we do, wherefore God will judge us all; and in this, too, we agree with him. On no account must one suppose that the Moham- W. HERRMANN 171 medan belief in God is only a belief in an inflexible fate. No, it is also a belief in God's wisdom and goodness. There is certainly this difference, that only by looking to Jesus can we Christians find courage to hold such a faith. Nevertheless we must maintain that we stand near to the Turks in our faith — only they have not recognised the right foundation of the faith they hold. But we Germans can help them to that. The other point in which Germans and Turks can meet is this, that their future moves along the same lines. We Germans can obey, so can the Turks. In this respect we both differ from the English. When the English attack German mili- tarism, because it makes the community a soulless mechanism, the reason is simply this, that the English do not know what moral obedience means. In their opinion, a man can only subject himself to what can help him in the attainment of his wishes. It is therefore precisely they themselves who are liable to become machines, because they allow themselves to be driven by their desires. They have no idea that freedom consists in free obedience to what is good. But just because we believe in unconditional obedience, we Germans feel ourselves at one with the Turks, and divided from the English. The Englishman thinks that he possesses righteousness, inasmuch as he always follows his desires and lets himself be enticed by whatever is pleasant. But we, Germans and Turks, do not think that we possess a righteous life, but constantly endeavour to achieve it, by sacrifice, by self-abnegation, by the exercise of strenuous will. We see how barren the spiritual 172 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH life of England has become. Amongst its states- men there are, indeed, artful, cool men of busi- ness, and reckless men of violence, down to the criminal type [No doubt Sir Edward Grey], but not a single deeply pious man, capable of appeal- ing to the hidden springs within his people. This is the reason why the mastery of England was felt as a nightmare by the world. But now that Germans and Turks are to have their say, things will be different. England held the mastery of the seas and thereby of the world. But for the first time in the history of the world, a new aim has been pro- posed, and that by the German nation. The free- dom of the seas shall now be won, and with it freedom for the intercourse of the nations and for the nations themselves. Then for the first time will the idea of good prevail in politics, in the comity of the nations. Thus this war becomes a Christian war; for we Germans are fighting in order that all others as well as ourselves may be allowed freely to develop their strength and abil- ities within mankind. If we win, it is to be hoped that the world will at last be freed from the fan- tastic folly of the thought that one nation should rule over all others. Therefore it is wrong to scoff at "our forty-two centimetres Christianity." Our good iron here fulfils an end ordained by God. But when once the English prejudice is rooted out, the idea that a nation can only be happy by sucking the blood of others, as England does in India and Egypt, it must not be said that this is a victory for the German spirit. The German W. HERRMANN 173 nation is certainly at the present time the instru- ment of the spirit; but it is on the spirit itself that all depends, the right fear of God, the will to serve, faithfulness to one's mission. And this spirit we also find in the Turks. It is this which, in the last analysis, unites us. It must also be ad- mitted that we have common interests : in the first place, the fight against English oppression, and secondly, the mutual advantages to be attained on Turkish ground. The Turks need leaders in the work of Kultur, and as the country has room for another sixty millions of inhabitants, there are splendid prospects for the youth of Germany. But the essential thing is that we should unite with the Turks in that quiet spirit which manifests itself in the fear of God and the will to serve. To this world-power every one will be attracted who does not exclusively pursue his own profit, but wishes to serve the development of humanity. But this can first be achieved when the cancer has been cut out, when England's dominion of violence over mankind has been brought to an end. So much for Professor Herrmann. His dis- course assuredly abounds in deep wisdom, and I cannot doubt that it has awakened profound won- der in the reader. It is certainly a glorious vista which is here opened out for us : Germany and Turkey in harmonious union, inspired, in all essen- tials, by the same human and religious ideals, both working for the welfare of mankind with an unselfishness hitherto unknown in the world's his- 174 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH tory, and moved by only one desire : to serve others. This is exactly what we want. The pre- vious history of both Germany and Turkey testify so clearly that in them dwells the spirit of true humility, and the will to serve. I have always thought, that there was a marked spiritual kinship between the Germans and the Turks; it has inter- ested me to find this view confirmed by a German. One or two comments, however, may not be out of place. Professor Herrmann is absolutely silent as to the cruelty with which the Turks — at any rate according to the historical conception hitherto prevalent — have treated other nations : the Bulgarians, whom Russia helped, the Greeks whom England, France, and Russia helped, the Armenians whom no one has helped. Neither does he mention the sensuality which pervades the whole life-ideal of the Turks, as well as their expectation of Paradise. This silence cannot for a moment be supposed to proceed from the fact that in this respect there is no material differ- ence between Germans and Turks. A few words of explanation would have been welcome. There is another thing to be considered. When the Turkish Empire in due time becomes the home of sixty millions of hopeful young German Kultur- bearers, I wonder whether the Turks will really be so overjoyed? And yet, when I bethink my- self, it is a foolish question. When it is duly explained to them that the Germans have only come, as they always do, filled with the kindest W. HERRMANN 175 intentions, and eager to be of service and make the most unselfish sacrifices — to say nothing of freeing the Turks from English oppression — then they cannot but recognise that this was the one thing lacking to their happiness. I shall now conclude my documentation with the most remarkable production I have so far met with — an effort which indubitably puts the finish- ing touch to the whole. CHAPTER XIII THE STORY OF GERMANY'S PASSION TNthe Allgemeine Evangelische-lutherische Kir- ■*■ chenzeitung of September 17, 19 15, an article appears, from the pen of Dr. Preuss of Erlangen, licentiate of theology, under the title of Germany's Passion — "Passion" being used in the sense in which we apply the word to the sufferings of Christ. He begins by relating the substance of a pamphlet of the time of the Reformation, in which the appearance of Luther at Worms is compared with the story of Christ's sufferings, in a manner which proves that German taste and German Kultur as we know them have their roots far back in history. But Dr. Preuss takes it seri- ously and maintains that, in view of Germany's imitation of Christ, we have a Biblical right to draw such parallels. Then he continues: "The repetition which we note, in general traits, in the life of an individual Christian, the repetition of the Passion of Christ discernible in the story of the greatest of Germans, may be seen again at the present time, in the lot of the German people as a collective personality. We assert the view that the similarity in outward conditions 176 GERMANY'S PASSION 177 shows that what once happened to Luther, is now happening to our people : it is experiencing a rep- etition of the Passion of Christ. This assertion we shall first support by a reference to details, and then we shall see what deductions can be drawn from it. "Little by little it dawns upon us, with a deep and moving conviction, how in the story of our people's present suffering, all the types reappear, which, in the story of Christ's sufferings, grouped themselves around him. Of course the repetition is only to be found in the types, not in the histor- ical details. But these types are so distinct in their reappearance, that there is no mistaking the similarity. "The Russian Tsar plays the deplorable part of Pilate, who, contrary to his better knowledge and his conscience, simply for fear of losing his power, delivers up the innocent one, and declares in favour of the guilty Barabbas — Serbia, which shows a surprising likeness to its Biblical proto- type, for he too 'had in a certain sedition made in the city committed murder' (Luke xxiii. 19) . "In the same way as the cowardly Pilate and the light-minded and frivolous Herod had become friends in their confederacy against Jesus, 'for before they were at enmity between themselves' (Luke xxiii. 12), thus the greatest antitheses, the orthodox, absolutist Russia, and the republican, atheistic France joined hands against Germany. 'The Sanhedrim, the representative body of the Jewish nation, was the motive force in the suffer- ings of Christ. The Gospel tradition repeatedly states that it was from envy the Sanhedrim sought 178 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH to take the life of Christ. What but envy of Germany has made England the evil motive force in the whole war? It acts precisely the part of the Sanhedrim — and it also resembles in its re- ligious character the leaders of the Jews, at least the Pharisaical section of them. We have only to recall its zeal for the law (the Sabbath!), its strict ecclesiasticism, which does not exactly avoid the corners of the streets (Matt. vi. 5), its mis- sionary fanaticism, to which the lamentation of Jesus is applicable (Matt, xxiii. 15) : 'Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.' I maintain that the brutal destruction and the attempted vilifica- tion of German missions and missionaries plainly show that it is not missionary work, as such, which has been dear to English piety. The sin of hypoc- risy is also their sin. This is not a Pharisaical charge against Pharisees, but a verdict that can be proved historically! English piety is the piety of figures — exactly as the Pharisees made piety a question of arithmetic: 'I fast twice a week' — that makes 104 fast days a year. The law ordains but one, consequently I have a surplus of 103 days. 'Is it enough to forgive seven times?' That is the calculating spirit of the Pharisee. The British Bible Society distributes annually — how often have we not had to hear it — x millions of Bibles and parts of the Bible, and during the last hundred years y millions. England gives z millions of marks every year for missionary purposes; that makes n marks per head, etc. English piety is GERMANY'S PASSION 179 quantitative like the Jewish-Pharisaical. It is helpless and entirely without judgment, when it is a question of qualitative values, as the senseless patchwork of their church ritual shows. "The power of the Sanhedrim extended far beyond the Judaism of Palestine. Its authority also applied to the oversea Jews who voluntarily submitted to it. The hand and the spirit of the new Sanhedrim also extend beyond the seas. " 'In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood, and thou hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God' (Ezekiel xxii. 12). "Next comes the new Judas. 'Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him' (Matt. xxvi. 14-16). For thirty pieces of silver! The new Judas is understood to have done it for thirty milliards; the Judas who 'eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me' (John xiii. 18). The only difference between the old Judas and the new is, that the former went out 'immediately,' while the latter waited three-quarters of a year; but perhaps it may tally better by and by, in what the Scripture relates as to the end of Judas ! "Nor do we lack the false witnesses mentioned in the story of Christ's Passion. We read: 'The chief priests and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, . . . but found none' (Matt. xxvi. 59, 60). How eagerly have not our opponents sought for a pretext to make i8o HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH war upon us ! How have they not calumniated us ! But the false witnesses — we do not know in either case how much they received — did not agree with one another. In the same way our adver- saries' campaign of lies, that devil's claw which has encircled the whole world, is branded by this characteristic curse of mendacity. "But also the weak and pitiful part of Peter is reproduced: it is represented by the scholars and artists who, in order that they may continue to warm themselves at the fire of our foes, deny all the hospitality and spiritual benefactions which have placed them under an obligation of gratitude to Germany! Even the Waldenses, who have eaten our bread, have made deplorable haste to take upon themselves the part of Peter. "But to complete the picture we must also deal with its reverse : friends are not lacking either. The thief who expiated a sinful past by his re- pentance in the last hour, and was outwardly sub- jected to the same suffering as our Lord, is the type of the Turkish nation which now puts Chris- tianity (outside Germany) to shame. 1 And the centurion who, full of admiration, witnessed the Saviour's suffering on the Cross, is the prototype of the few neutrals who have remained sufficiently independent to pronounce a moral verdict. Who can help thinking, in this connection, of the knightly figure of the Northern explorer, 2 who 1 This was written before Bulgaria came in. Is it, perhaps, the other thief? Or does Japan, or Belgium, play that part? The silence as to the two latter nation- is remarkable. 2 Sven Hedin. GERMANY'S PASSION 181 made more wonderful discoveries at our front than amongst the half-forgotten tribes of Asia ! "It is very tempting to extend the parallel from the individual types to a number of details : to refer, for instance, to the fearful Gethsemane- hour of our people, just before the war broke out — who can ever forget that 1st of August? — 'O my Father, if it be possible, let thus cup pass from me!' — or to mention the earthquakes which, from below, have followed menacingly in the wake of the war, from the crime of Serajevo onward. Have we not also felt the : 'I thirst' during the long period of drought which jeopardised our harvest and thereby our victory? The graves, too, have opened and the holy ones of our nation have come forth — Luther, Bismarck, Arndt, and Blikher — and 'have appeared to many.' "We must not, however, be lured into the flowery paths of fantasy, though they, too, may open out many an edifying vista." After all this the writer asks, "What deductions are we now to draw?" — and he replies that "the German people have lived again through the out- ward circumstances of the Passion of our Lord — in a unique manner." But "in this lies first and foremost an incomparably deep religious mean- ing." He then extends his parallel to "the servant of the Lord" (Isaiah xl.) who suffers in the place of many. In the same way as Israel, the servant of the Lord, foreshadowed the suffering Messiah, thus are the German people a subsequent image of Him. The German nation is now the suffering servant of God that has to bear the sins of many 182 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH — it is suffering for the benefit of Christianity, nay, of mankind. "It is surely clear that we are fighting for the continued existence of true Christianity. Where else is it to be found? In orthodox Russia, whose petrified and petrifying Christianity has shown itself utterly unable to educate a nation, as is proved by its barbarities, both from above and from below? Or in Roman Catholic Italy, whose Jesuitical education allows one-half of the nation to be buried in heathen superstition, and drives the other half into the arms of the most frivolous atheism? Or in church-persecuting and religion- persecuting France? Or in Calvinistic England and America? Thus Germany stands en- tirely isolated in a religious sense as well, as did Israel in the world of the nations, and as did our Lord in His Passion. But in each case the suffer- ing of the one is the salvation of the many." Are we saying too much? Is this view, per- haps, "too English"? No, the English hold that they are literally descended from the ten tribes ( !). But we Germans do not base our relation to Israel on any such fleshly foundation. The German people are the spiritual, the religious parallel of the people of Israel, they are "the true Israel begotten by the Spirit." "It was the hidden meaning of God that He made Israel the fore- runner (Vordenter) of the Messiah, and in the same way He has by His hidden intent designated the German people to be His successor (Nach- deuter). If what we see is surprising, our sur- prise must not betray us into attempting to explain it away." GERMANY'S PASSION 183 Dr. Preuss brings his discourse to a conclusion in the following undeniably surprising and effec- tive manner: "But if the story of Germany's suffering is really parallel with the story of Christ's suffering, then we may venture confidently to carry the parallel still further, and look forward serenely to our Easter victory. For 'if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection' (Rom. vi. 5) . And according to the inner logic of the facts, our enemies must also play their parts to the end, and share the fate which befell the enemies of Jesus. They will, respectively, share the fate of Pilate, who lost the office which he tried to save by sacrificing Jesus — of Herod Antipas, who was dethroned, and, on Gallic soil, had to suffer an inglorious if not an unnatural death — of Israel's tempters who, together with the tempted, perished in the flames of the 'burnt up city' ( Matt. xxii. 7 ) . Their people ceased to exist as a nation, and now, like Ahasuerus, wander, never resting, over the earth they wanted to possess. Judas, to conclude, laid hands upon himself in despairing remorse. — ■ — Our foes will doubtless, as they have done hitherto, continue to play the part of the Sanhe- drim in the future, and try to detract from the miracle of our victory, by explaining it away, or, in other words, by lying (Matt, xxviii. 11-13). "But the Easter-victory will burn up the feet of the lies. And death is swallowed up in vic- tory." 184 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH With this, I think, we have reached the cul- minating point. Oh, sancta simplicitas ! Oh, exquisite naivete ! It must be noticed that the author of this pro- duction is not satisfied to have it regarded as a mere fantastic parallel; we are to accept it as a legitimate result of theological science ! Dr. Preuss really believes that he has traced the most recondite threads of the historical development. It gives one something to reflect upon. It is cer- tainly a caricature, an unintentional one; but, as in all successful caricatures, there is something typical about it. It throws a curious light upon the modern German scientific spirit, indicating, as it does, a tendency to the naive employment of a highly-developed acuteness, combined with a pe- culiar lack of the sense of reality, which leads people to think they have "proved" the most in- credible assertions. The world is enormously indebted to German science, but that does not mean that we should accord it uncritical admira- tion, especially when historical science is in ques- tion, and most especially when German interests are involved. Then, more often than not, an impartial sense of truth is wanting. This article was published without any critical remark on the editor's part; but it was an impossi- bility that all Germans could swallow it whole. Nevertheless it was allowed to remain uncontested for a couple of months. At last a courageous man took heart and gave vent to his misgivings; GERMANY'S PASSION 185 the man was a South German, Pastor Romer of Stuttgart. It is a great satisfaction to me to be able to quote this evidence of critical sense among the Germans. He says straight out that he does not approve of the comparison between Luther at Worms and Jesus, and continues as follows : "The sore tribulation of our people must as- suredly draw our eyes to the Crucified, but we must not — even at a distance and in all humble- ness — place ourselves, by way of comparison, at His side, but in penitent prayer and intercession lie at His feet, because God's judgment is passing over us. And the narrower the circle is, and perhaps will be more and more, which in this war acknowledges the rod of God's 'chastisement and wrath,' the more necessary it becomes that this small flock of discerning spirits should gather to- gether at the foot of the Cross, in penitence, faith and prayer for themselves and for the Fatherland. "What causes us concern is the self-confident attitude which is spreading among our people, even amongst Protestant Churchmen, who say: 'We thank Thee, O God, that we Germans are not like other nations, thieves, unjust, or even as these English are.' Something of this is to be found in the article in question. Of 'English piety' he speaks as slightingly, as English voices speak of 'Germany's piety!' He goes too far, however, when he judges what English mission- ary work has compassed during a century, and what the world has to thank the British Bible Society for, simply by the shortcomings which 186 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH attach to this work, as to all human "effort. It is an expression not only of the English national spirit, but also of a profound spirit of Christian discipleship. Nor does the curt manner in which 'Calvinism' is set down as the accomplice of heathen superstition, capitalism, petrified Chris- tianity and English arrogance, befit the reverence we owe to God's witnesses and confessors, even if we are more apt to look at the dark side of them, than to see what they have given to the world of divine strength work'ng through frail human instruments. "What seems to me most dangerous is this, that the writer does, indeed, duly recognise the fatal conceit of a large number of pious English in regarding their nation as the chosen people of God and the true heirs of the blessings of Israel, but immediately adds that the German people are in fact 'the true Israel begotten by the Spirit.' The author looks upon the German nation as 'an indi- vidual' which, in spite of all inequalities and short- comings in detail, yet, from a spiritual and re- ligious point of view, represents a uniform mag- nitude. I have often before asked myself, and now do so again: 'Why do people in Protestant circles, as if by a conspiracy, overlook the fact that we are from a religious point of view a di- vided people, and why are they silent about the active part played by Roman Catholicism and Judaism, especially at the present moment, in the German national spirit?' We are not a Protestant people, nor are we strictly speaking a Christian people. Christianity has a home amongst us, and a little flock which God knows and which is be- GERMANY'S PASSION 187 gotten of His Spirit is present among the people and works as a leaven in the people. To what extent the people have been leavened thereby God alone knows; that this leaven may exist, may in- crease, and may be purified and strengthened, is what we fight for; but whether and to what extent it will be accepted or rejected by the national spirit in the future, that is the unanswered ques- tion as to the fate of our people. But the German people, as such, and as a whole, neither is, nor desires to be, a people of disciples, nor the salt of the earth, nor the light of the world, on whom it should depend whether true Christianity should continue to exist on earth. That is a matter for 'the Church in the strict sense of the word, which will abide for ever,' and this holy community is not limited to any one nation, but consists of the people of God, to be found in every nation (even among the wicked English and faithless Ital- ians!), who by the Word and the Sacraments are begotten of the Holy Ghost, and live by Him, and will continue to live until the coming of the Lord. "But no people on earth have such a promise, except Israel. According to Holy Scripture we are 'Gentiles,' and only the now prevalent mis- conception of the unique position which God ex- clusively bestowed upon the people of the Old Testament in and for the world of nations, and for which God has vouched to the end of time, can make it possible to blend nationalistic wishes and dreams with questions of Christianity.' "It cannot possibly be fitting to draw a parallel between Christ and a people of our own time, even though it be our dear German people. There i88 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH is but one likeness between Jesus and the com- munity whom He has sanctified; this is proved precisely by the passages of Scripture quoted by the author (Matt. xx. 23; Rom. vi. 5; Phil. iii. 10). "Germany, therefore, is neither living through a 'Good Friday' nor can it look forward to an 'Easter.' One must first strip these words of their clear and sacred meaning, in order to be able to use them as rhetorical ornaments, which is done now and then, for instance in sermons. Christ suffered and died, innocent, in our place, and for our sake. We always suffer as sinners, and in this sense the two thieves on the Cross are the true parallel for us. The words 'we receive the due reward of our deeds' apply to the German people in this war, just as Israel, when wrongfully overpowered by Babylon, was therein suffering the judgment of God. One must never veil, even in poetic rhetoric, this decisive contrast between the Passion of Christ and the suffering and death of sinners. "And the comparison becomes confused, inas- much as it is not thought out to its conclusion. None of those who have made use of this simile have dared to carry it forward to the decisive point: Christ not only suffered, He died and was buried. That Germany should be buried, that is, wiped off the face of the earth, God forbid! But if one does not wish to look into these depths, the great words about 'Easter' have no clear mean- ing and no inward force. "Perhaps I have too sharply emphasised what seemed to me dangerous and misleading in the article, which in spite of my protest, beginning GERMANY'S PASSION 189 with the title and continuing to the last sentence, has interested me greatly, because it awakens a multitude of thoughts in the reader (!). But should the respected author consider my criticism too one-sided, I think we must both submit to the same verdict of one-sidedness, in spite, or on account, of the divergence of our views." The coating of sugar on this bitter pill might have been dispensed with. Dr. Preuss of course does not keep silent under the rebuke : He seems somewhat surprised at these objec- tions, as he has received several expressions of approval from men eminent in the ecclesiastical world (!). He cannot deny that the German nation does not consist exclusively of Christians or of Lutherans, but he looks upon the Lutheran Christians as the sacred kernel in the German people. God has in Luther practically chosen the German people, and that can never be altered, for is it not written in Romans xi. 29, "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Of course the German people in themselves have not deserved this calling: it proceeds from the sheer grace of God, so we can maintain it without any Pharisaism whatever. The story of the suf- ferings of Germany is, of course, not of the same worth as the story of the sufferings of Christ; but in the same way as a parallel can be drawn be- tween Christ and the individual believing soul, so can a parallel also be drawn between Christ and a people highly blessed by Him. It is not at all a question of the German Empire, but of the igo HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH German people in a religious-ideal sense. That there is a difference in worth between the different nations he will most emphatically maintain. This is a nice way out of it ! He actually tries to make out that he did not mean "the German Empire," the German people as a political unity! The whole of the wonderful exposition distinctly turned upon the German Empire which is set upon by its neighbours — for it was certainly not the be- lieving Lutherans they wanted to attack — and the main point was distinctly to show that, as Jesus rose from the dead, so must the German Empire vanquish its enemies, whom the writer triumph- antly doomed to destruction. Had he really had the little believing flock of German Lutherans in his mind, he must have seen that their "Easter" would be entirely independent of outward political happenings; whether it be victory or defeat, they would surely hold their own and be able to do their allotted work. In that case there would be some sense in the parallel, which, as he stated it, became one great blasphemy. Herr Romer does not use this last expression, but he means it, and his protest does him honour. It is interesting in more ways than one. It fully confirms what I have maintained, that within the German people there reigns a widespread Phari- saical spirit, a spirit like that which inspires all the sermons and discourses which I have quoted. It establishes the fact that Germany is looked GERMANY'S PASSION 191 upon by many Germans as the land of God's chosen people. Herr Romer says that "many" hold the same view as Dr. Preuss, who, on his part, does not forget to mention the approval which he has met with. Herr Romer himself must be responsible for the opinion that the Eng- lish are guilty of the same Pharisaical self-valu- ation. For myself, I have read much English liter- ature, and much English war-literature, but I have never found a single example of the blas- phemous and malignant utterances which are to be found by the hundred in German literature. None the less must we be grateful to Herr Romer, because he has shown us that there are actually some people in Germany who are not only unable to share in such thoughts, but who, when they are carried too far, protest against them. Such voices may be heard, but they are very few. I have indeed come upon only one more who is worthy of mention. We will let him have the last word. CHAPTER XIV F. W. FORSTER Tjp W. FORSTER is the name of a famous peda- ■*■ • gogue who for many years has lived in Swit- zerland, though he was not born there, and is now a professor in Munich. He has written a capital little book entitled: The Youth of Germany and the World War. His utterances are of interest in three respects : first, for his strong arraignment of the arrogance of his countrymen, next for his protest against the terrible incitement to hatred, and lastly for his criticism of the new-German view of the war. With regard to the first point, Herr Forster writes : "A melancholy chapter in the history of the German spirit behind the front, may be headed: German self-praise. The spokesmen of this Ger- man self-praise are not only the well-known types whose aggressive self-assurance has done so much to deprive the German nature of that sympathy and respect on the part of cultured foreigners which it really deserves, but also many men of a superior order, who, in the glorification of their own people, put away from them that sense of 192 F. W. FORSTER 193 shame which they would otherwise feel as to every sort of self-praise." He thinks that the Germans at the front unlearn this bad habit. A non-com- missioned officer writes that he detests the boast- ful self-esteem of the German who talks as if he alone were capable of bringing any nobility or righteousness to the world, and was indebted to no one for anything. Forster lays great stress on the fact that German Kultur itself had fallen low in materialism and thirst for sensual enjoyment. "We Germans also bear our part of the respon- sibility for the present tragedy of mankind. We have certainly not in any way wished £ or or caused the war, but we have not done our duty in the service of the moral-religious ideal. We have with complacency quoted the words of the poet: 'By the German nature shall the world once more be healed,' but we have forgotten the stern obli- gation which speaks to us in these words. The world cannot be healed by German industry and German technical skill. We have sadly failed to take the lead in high-mindedness and in ever- present consciousness of sacred things, and our reward is the world-conflagration. The youth of Germany have certainly of late years made progress in many respects, but they have been far too much given to self-admiration in the guise of admiration for the greatness and glory of their race. Pray to God, that we may not become pre- sumptuous!" Herr Forster foresees that with victory and after the victory classes of people will arise in Germany, who have themselves suffered nothing and sacrificed nothing, nor witnessed the nobility and suffering of the enemy, but who will 194 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH then exploit Germany's triumph without restraint and without Kultur: weaklings, whose self-esteem has been mightily swelled by our new mortars, so that they think they, too, are now bound to open their mouths to the width of forty-two centimetres, and he who fails to do so is no patriot ! The next point is the hatred of other nations which in Germany has been inflated to an insane degree, especially with regard to England. On this point, too, I will quote some of Forster's most notable remarks : He says that one great danger of the war for those who remain at home is this, that they allow themselves to be carried away by their hatred of the enemy, whereas such hatred of a whole nation, and the hardness and one-sidedness of judgment which it entails, is, he says, incompatible with Germany dignity and German Kultur! — [They ought to be, but facts make it deplorably clear that they are not.] But Forster calls upon his countrymen to study in the high school of justice, and learn to master their unbridled emotions. One must show justice to one's enemy: "England not only gave us people like Sir Edward Grey, scoundrels and hypocrites, who have this war on their conscience; England has also given us the Salvation Army, has led us to invaluably lofty points of view in regard to the labour question and social work, and has tempered manners in party politics — things which we must never forget, and in memory of which we shall once again take the hand that is offered to us." "Try, on some F. W. FORSTER 195 sleepless night, to light the light of Christ in thy soul, and for once to love thine enemy. Think of glorious William Booth and of all the English greatness and goodness embodied in him; think of Florence Nightingale, the holy heroine, whose example as a pioneer of mercy to this day binds up countless wounds; think of Carlyle, Ruskin, Toynbee, and of the mighty powers of conscience which spoke through them, and gave, and will continue to give, great gifts to us Germans; think with sorrow of the great nation which has become so sadly alienated from these noble ones, and do not forget that one must honour a people with such gifts even in its degradation. Do not let us be Pharisees! England has fallen low by reason of her colonial world-power with all its tempta- tions. I wonder if we should have resisted such temptations? From this let us take very serious warning with regard to our future colonial posi- tion." The third point which should be noticed in Forster's book is his estimate of the war. This is perhaps the most important, for he practically attacks what we understand as the new-German militarism. The attacks from without upon Ger- man militarism have — so far as I have seen — led Germany's intellectual leaders, even those who purported to represent liberalism, to take up a strongly defensive attitude, on the plea that mili- tarism is the corner-stone of Germany's inner and outer greatness. It has, they allege, the power of creating a spirit of discipline, through which 196 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the individual learns to feel himself an integral part of the nation, and to subordinate himself to its interests. But militarism is, in fact, far more than this. It is at the same time a glorification of war, as the great heaven-appointed instrument of progress, which cleanses the nation of all that is low and evil, and brings in its train the richest blessings. It is against this idea that Forster directs his most vigorous blow. It is true he maintains that war will always have some good effects. It will infallibly show what conceptions of life are of real value, inasmuch as hollow phrases cannot survive its ordeal by fire. He hopes that the war, with its evocation of heroism, will bring the heroic element in Chris- tianity once more into the front line, and thus open out for the younger generation a new under- standing of Christianity. Not that Christianity should be absorbed by the war spirit: he admits that, during the past months, strangely unchristian words have been uttered, and that heavenly truth has been perverted with a view to earthly interests. Verily Christ is against the war and above the war! He expresses the greatest surprise at the manner in which many German leaders of Kultur, in newspapers and periodicals, wallow in unlimited war-enthusiasm. The effects of war upon moral- religious Kultur are being vaunted in a perfectly insane manner, which must completely confuse our soldiers. They have gone out to fight for a lasting peace for their Fatherland and the world, a peace in which German Kultur-work can develop F. W. FORSTER 197 undisturbed in every direction. And now they hear from a thousand tongues how unfruitful and miserable peace really is, and what inexhaustible springs of blessings flow, on the contrary, from war! What is it, then, they are fighting for? He further protests against the view that it is war itself which creates the values which unques- tionably come to the surface in war-time. War does not create them, but is the occasion of their appearing. The war has shown with how much self-discipline and idealism the German people are endowed — qualities which must be considered as the fruit of their honest labour in times of peace. It must here be remarked that many be- lieving Christians have taken up a position which is altogether incomprehensible and inconsistent with the spirit of the faith which they profess — not so much in their valuation of the German war, its justification and its heroism, as in their gen- eral estimate of war and its relation to Christian doctrine. These "war-intoxicated Modernists" have discoursed upon the effect of war on religion and character in such a manner that one feels tempted to say: Well, if this is really so, the war, to be sure, may be a material evil, but it is never- theless the one true source of ideal life, ay, it can do what the God-man could not do, and is therefore a more powerful messenger from God than the Founder of the Christian religion. Log- ically, then, instead of the love preached in the Gospel, the great pedagogue War should con- stantly be let loose upon humanity. People speak as though it were the war and not Christ that had begotten the true spirit of sacrifice. No, war is 198 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH and will remain, on the whole, the great destroyer, both materially and spiritually. It blunts the feelings, it brutalises, and paves the way for all low and unclean passions. The fact that God is able to bring good out of evil does not justify us in calling evil good, or employing evil as a means acceptable to God. The Corsican vendetta is undoubtedly a finer school of bravery than our present legal system, but that is no reason for preserving or adopting the institution of the ven- detta. People talk deplorable nonsense about all that the war is supposed to have done : in three days, they say, it accomplished what years of peaceful endeavour had failed to effect. People really seem to think of the war as a sort of deus ex machinal No, we shall assuredly find out that it is patient labour in time of peace that bears lasting fruit; wait until the war is over, and then let us see how it will fare with the concord and piety and all the rest of it, which the war is sup- posed to have created in a moment. In the matter of clearness, this utterance leaves nothing to be desired. Herr Forster's charges are substantiated by the documents I have quoted, and they in their turn confirm everything I have said and written about this question. If there is ever to be any hope of a peaceful communion be- tween the nations, each individual nation must com- pletely abandon its arrogant self-valuation in com- parison with others, and, though a people may not be bound to close its eyes to the possible merits of the race to which it belongs, it must F. W. FORSTER 199 abandon all idea of founding upon such merits any claim of right as against other nations, as though the alleged superiority of a nation en- titled it in any way to rule over others, and force upon them its so-called higher Kultur. Forster's exclamation, "Let us not be Phari- sees," is essentially the right word in the right place. One cannot but rejoice to hear, at last, a voice of some authority, which, from the stand- point of the highest German culture, has ventured to oppose itself, in the most dignified manner, to the entire new-German trend of thought. His utterances, as every attentive reader must have observed, have of course very important limita- tions. They are founded on the ineradicable con- viction, common to all Germans, that the war is the outcome of a shameful conspiracy against Ger- many, that Germany is entirely without blame, that the German mode of warfare is, both tech- nically and morally, far above that of their oppo- nents, and that there can be no doubt as to the German victory. But within the limits imposed by these prepossessions, he certainly goes against the stream. And we should particularly appre- ciate the fact that, while the great majority of German writers, as we have seen, rival each other in inciting to hatred, either directly by the most unbridled invectives, or indirectly by speaking of their opponents in the most contemptuous and malignant manner, we here find, no mere empty and feeble protest against hatred in general, but 2oo HURRAH AND HALLELU JAH an open acknowledgment of what Germany owes to her most hated opponent, England, in the sphere of social progress and spiritual life. It remains to be seen whether Herr Forster's rebuke will be of much avail. One cannot but feel some- what sceptical, for this hatred has attained im- mense strength, and its roots lie deep. But it is a pleasure to be able to place on record that a strong opposition to it is still possible. From these remarks the transition is easy to my final summing up. CHAPTER XV REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION ON the title-page of this book, and in many of its chapters, I have used the term, new-Ger- man spirit. This must not be overlooked. The spirit with which I have dealt is not the whole spirit of Germany. This, I am sure, cannot have escaped the attentive reader. There is another spirit in Germany, and when I have found it ris- ing up in protest against the aforesaid tendency of thought, I have loyally quoted the utterances in question. It would be an entire misunderstand- ing to suppose that my intention was to condemn and brand the German spirit and German Kultur generally. I entertain, on the contrary, in many respects a profound admiration for the German people. They have in truth given to the world great men, and many gifts of the first value. They possess excellent qualities : no one can deny their diligence, their frugality, their ability, their power of organ- isation. And it is an equally undisputable fact that old-German thought is marked by deep sin- cerity and idealism. We have learnt much from the Germans, and will gladly learn more from 20 1 202 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH them in the future. But — the spokesmen of new- Germanism entirely overlook the fact that German thought and Kultur, in their German form, are suitable only for the German nation — that no nation can profitably accept the Kultur-values of a foreign people, except in perfect freedom, so that it can assimilate what it has need for, and what harmonises with its nature. They seem unable to understand that it can never be a Kultur- mission to thrust or force Kultur upon another nation. Their faulty conception of the nature of freedom forms a serious limitation in their Kultur. Furthermore, they overlook the fact that Kultur is also to be found in other countries, that there are other nations possessed of independent thought and of a Kultur as characteristic and as legitimate as their own. They speak as if the whole earth, on its knees, should thank the German nation for the gifts its Kultur has bestowed upon the world; but one hears never a word about any reciprocal gratitude offered by the Germans to other na- tions for gifts bestowed by their genius and abil- ity. I, for my part, have not the slightest doubt that English and French thought and Kultur stand fully as high as the German. They lack some of the merits of Germanism, but in return they poss- ess merits of their own. French clearness, the English sense of natural balance ("common sense"), for example, are points in which the superiority of these two nations manifests itself. The Germans insist that we shall admire their REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 203 great philosopher Kant : well, we all do ; but what would Kant have been without Rousseau and Hume? One never hears the Germans express any gratitude for that. All things considered, I am inclined to place English Kultur above the German; others, no doubt, think differently; but on that point every one has surely a right to his opinion. One thing alone is perfectly clear, name- ly, that the claim of the Germans to be the leaders and models in every department of life must be summarily dismissed. French and English science can fully rival German science; French art and taste, as all the world knows, are far superior to German; where does one find in the recent imag- inative literature of Germany names surpassing those of latter-day England and France? It would be altogether vain to deny that the contribu- tion to literature of the despised and insulted Rus- sian spirit has of late years fully rivalled, in its depth and wealth of colour, any similar produc- tions of the German mind. The German lamenta- tions over spiritual decadence in Germany since 1870 are surely well founded; the self-idolatry, worship of power and prosperity and increasing riches, have in many ways trampled out the life of the spirit; materialism in the realm of thought has made great headway, and one has noted with astonishment to what an extent the emptiest and shallowest ideas have been advertised into ac- ceptance among a nation which is supposed to be famous for its thoroughness. I am thinking es- 204 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH pecially of Haeckel's so-called "monism," which has obtained the widest circulation, but to which Germans of more penetrating mind have denied all philosophical and scientific worth. The value of the old-German thought I fully admit; but I contest the value of the new-German thought, at all events when viewed from the stand- point of other nations. It may suit the German nation in its present phase, but for all others it looms as a danger and a threat. This is suffi- ciently proved by the evidence adduced in the fore- going pages; but I should like in conclusion to look a little more closely into the two main points dealt with in this volume, which are certainly the most dangerous and most unpleasing features of the new-German spirit — to wit, the hatred of and contempt for other nations, and the boundless glorification of "the German nature." As regards the first point, I shall principally concern myself with the hatred for England. What real grounds have the Germans for this feeling? They themselves think they have many; I will mention some of the most important. In the first place they maintain that England's method of warfare violates international law — a point which really calls for no discussion. The nation, which on its own confession, began the war with the violation of an international treaty, which torpedoed the Lusitania and introduced the use of gas in war, to mention only a few items, REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 205 lives in such a glass house that it cannot with de- cency throw stones at others. There is another matter which plays an ex- tremely important part, and is largely used for inflaming the hatred against England — the so- called English campaign of lies. We have seen that Professor Harnack wanted an extra milliard of war indemnity under this head alone. This "campaign of lies" has in the very highest degree aroused the moral indignation of the Germans. They simply tremble with rage when they speak of it. There is, however, something very mys- terious about this war of lies. The English, at the beginning of the war, cut the German Atlantic cable. No one can wonder at that; it is surely part of what may be called the natural course of the war. The belligerent pow- ers, of course, do everything possible to isolate each other; but the Germans say the English did this in order to fill the world with lies, and pre- vent the Germans from disseminating the truth. In the first place, it must be remarked that Eu- ropean countries conterminous with Germany could not in any case be debarred from German truth, by the cutting of the American cable. Nor have we in Denmark observed any sign of this English campaign of lies. The Germans, on the other hand, at once took the lead with a propa- ganda so aggressive and so full of hatred for Ger- many's opponents, that it entirely overshot its mark, arousing antipathy instead of the coveted 2o6 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH sympathy — a fact which the Germans themselves have subsequently admitted and deplored. But I altogether contest the existence of this "campaign of lies." I doubt whether there has been any other foundation for it than the wild ru- mours which sprang up in the early days of the war, and which, no doubt, found their way to some portions of the Press. Further, one must, of course, remember that the events of the war are, in each country, represented as favourably as pos- sible for the country in question. Is Wolff's Bu- reau any better than the others, I wonder? Has the defeat on the Marne ever been openly ad- mitted in the German Press? Neither side, prob- ably, has absolutely clean hands. Yet I should not venture to express any opinion on this point if I could not fall back upon a testimony the au- thenticity of which is to me unquestionable. It is that of Professor W. Sanday, of Oxford, whose excellent book, The Meaning of the War, is equally remarkable for knowledge and for sobriety of statement. He writes as follows: "The Germans are never weary of denouncing everything that appears in the British Press as 'lies.' It is true that, just at the beginning of things, when all the nations engaged in the war were embarking upon a comparatively new ex- perience, for which they were ill prepared, the Press of all the belligerents was thrown out of gear, and many wild rumours were admitted with insufficient criticism. But that state of things did REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 207 not last long. I believe that our own Press has done its best to tell the truth ; and in this respect, allowing for the responsibilities of the state of war, I am not prepared to bring a railing accusa- tion against our enemies. So far as our own Press is concerned, I believe that there has been, not only an honest endeavour to tell the truth, but an honest endeavour to do justice to those who are ranged against us. I have constantly seen un- stinted tributes to the wonderful courage and self- devotion of the soldiers and sailors, and to the resolute facing of sacrifices by the civilians. Those who have come back from the front speak with all respect of the German as a fighting man — and every daring feat of the German navy has been as warmly praised in this country as in Germany itself." This is why I am very doubtful as to all this German talk about the English campaign of lies. What, on the other hand, is an incontestable fact is the furious campaign of hatred, contempt, and what one cannot but call calumny, which has been set on foot in Germany against England. It has been sufficiently substantiated in the foregoing pages. One can find nothing of this kind on the English side — in any case, not during the first six months of the war. Further, it is maintained on the part of Ger- many, that the Germans are a peace-loving nation, and that Germany and her Kaiser only wished for peace. Germany threatened no one, only wanted to develop in peace; but England, in her 2o8 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH rancour and spite, would not suffer that, and there- fore treacherously planned, during many years, the onslaught which she has now carried out. The whole blame, therefore, rests with England. England wades in blood. England leads the one nation after the other to the slaughter house, etc., etc. Here I must remark, in the first place, that it is quite futile to discuss this question of motives. It is the easiest thing in the world to attribute the worst possible motives to one's opponents, and the reader will no doubt have observed that Ger- man war literature has carried this art to a high pitch of perfection. Neither from the English nor the French side have I seen anything approaching it. These nations might just as well declare that it was the Germans who were filled with envy of the rich colonies of England and France, and had therefore planned and thoroughly prepared for the war. But this, so far as I can see, they have not done. Of course, they lay on Germany the responsibility for the war; but they endeavour to be fair and objective in their polemics, and, above all, they conscientiously try to draw the line be- tween the leading circles, whom they hold responsi- ble, and the German nation as a whole, of which they speak with all respect. Contrast with this the examples I have given of the manner in which the English nation, as a whole, has been abused and re- viled by the Germans. I repeat that I am only re- ferring to the war literature published under the REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 209 author's name, by cultured and intelligent writers in the different nations. Of other publications I take no account. In respect to gutter papers and caricaturists, I do not think there is much to choose between the nations, and the manner in which the German Emperor has been portrayed may often, no doubt, have been somewhat unseemly. People in general, even intelligent people, seem to find it difficult properly to grasp the personality of the German Emperor; but many of them make the sensible admission: we do not understand him. I do not believe, in any case, that the inferior Ger- man Press has treated the heads of the hostile powers any better; and there can be no doubt that the manner in which cultured German writers have spoken of the statesmen of their opponents, more especially of Sir Edward Grey, is so stupid and so offensive that it would be difficult to find a parallel anywhere. The reader will require no further proofs of this. Next, I would ask whether England could be expected to be absolutely convinced of Germany's love of peace? I shall not attempt to pass judg- ment as to whether Germany in fact willed war or not — I only ask whether the Germans could expect that England should believe in their honest desire for peace? Must one not admit, when trying to view the question from an English standpoint, that the colossal and feverish expansion of the German fleet could not but be regarded by Eng- land as a menace? For her the question of the 210 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH command of the sea is undeniably a question of life and death. All England's endeavours to ar- rive at an agreement on this question were brought to naught by Germany's opposition. But, apart from this, were there not in Ger- many manifest signs of an increasingly warlike temper? On the German side it has been main- tained that not a single person in Germany thought of war. That is in any case an absurd untruth. The name of Bernhardi alone disproves it. But attention may further be drawn to numerous facts, of which I will cite one or two. In the year 19 13, the year before the war, a remarkable book * was published by a German- American Professor, O. Nippold, in which he says : "Chauvinism has grown enormously in Ger- many during the last decade. This fact makes the strongest impression on those who have re- turned to Germany after living a long time abroad. — I, myself, can say from experience, how astonished I was, on returning to Germany after a long absence, to see this psychological trans- formation." And further: "Hand in hand with this outspoken hostility to foreign countries there goes a one-sided war-en- thusiasm and war-mania such as would have been thought impossible a few years ago. One can only deplore the fact that to-day there is so much irresponsible agitation against other States and 1 Der deutsche Chauvinismus. REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 211 so much frivolous incitement to war. It cannot be doubted that this agitation is part of a delib- erate scheme, the object of which is gradually to win over the population, and if possible the Gov- ernment, no matter by what means — even by the distortion of fact and malicious slander — to the programme of the Chauvinists. These people not only incite the nation to war, but systematically stimulate the desire for war. War is pictured not as a possibility that may oc- cur, but as a necessity that must come, and the sooner the better. The sum and substance of the teaching of the Chauvinistic organisations, such as the Pan-German League and the German De- fence Association, is always the same : a European war is not merely an eventuality for which we must be prepared, but a necessity at which, in the in- terest of the German nation, we should rejoice." Mr. W. H. Dawson, an English writer, who is thoroughly acquainted with German affairs, and who has written several books about Germany, tells us in his last book, 1 that he has lying before him a pile of thirty-two German war-pamphlets, dating from the years 1911-1913, of which six refer to a probable war with England, seven to a war with France, and nine to a European con- flagration. He quotes several of the titles : The Coming World War, The End of France in the Year 19 — , You Want Alsace and Lorraine? We Will Take all Lorraine and More! etc. 1 What is Wrong with Germany? 19 15. 212 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH One of the leaders of the association known as Young Germany wrote in their official organ for October 1913 : "War is the noblest and holiest expression of human activity. For us too the glad, great hour of battle will strike. Still and deep in the Ger- man heart must live the joy of battle and the longing for it. Let us ridicule to the utmost the old women in breeches who fear war and deplore it as cruel or revolting. No, war is beautiful. Its august sublimity elevates the human heart beyond the earthly and the common. In the cloud palace above sit the heroes Frederick the Great and Bliicher, and all the men of action — the Great Emperor, Moltke, Roon, Bismarck, are there as well, but not the old women who would take away our joy in war. When here on earth a battle is won by German arms and the faithful dead ascend to heaven, a Potsdam lance-corporal will call the guard to the door, and 'old Fritz,' springing from his golden throne, will give the command to pre- sent arms. That is the heaven of Young Ger- many." Highly interesting is also the following quota- tion from the Frankfurter Zeitung of January 5th, 1912 : "Professions that the German nation is peace- ably minded make no impression in Great Britain, since the English answer us: 'We are willing enough to believe it, but the German nation does REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 213 not make German policy. Its policy is made in a quarter which is absolute, irresponsible, and in- calculable, and for that reason we attach merely a platonic and never a practical value to the nation- al professions of peace.' What answer are we to make to that? Unfortunately, it is the fact, that on the main question, whether there is to be war or peace, neither the Reichstag nor the Ger- man nation has a word to say." Socialist leaders, too, such as Scheidemann, have expressed the same views in the Reichstag. Many other utterances might be quoted: amongst them Maximilian Harden's unqualified assertion that Germany willed the war; but the quotations just given are sufficient to show the unreasonableness of the demand that England should rely upon German declarations of the Ger- man people's desire for peace. Finally, the Germans have been loud in their complaints of England's shameless treachery: England has betrayed the common German cause, the common Protestant cause, etc., etc. This is a strange word to use in this connection. England, in the years preceding the war, was quite ready to enter upon an understanding with Germany, but the two States could not agree about the terms. But where no promises have been given there can be no talk of treachery. England, con- sequently, was free; and when great conflicts arise it is only natural that each country should be at liberty to take whatever side she thinks her 214 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH honour and her vital interests demand. Thus the charge of treachery is nothing but hysteria. The Germans maintain that the Entente was formed with the malignantly deceitful aim of crushing Germany, but they produce no proofs; the Eng- lish maintain that it was formed only for peace- able purposes. The German conceptions of King Edward VII and Sir Edward Grey are, according to English views, purely fantastic. The careful investigations made by Professor Gilbert Murray 1 show that the whole of the available diplomatic material, beginning with the year 1905, when Sir Edward Grey went into office, prove that he en- deavoured to solve the diplomatic problems by peaceful agreements. When the Germans are un- able to produce any proof of their statements, they cannot expect that neutrals shall pay any heed to them. Truth compels us to declare that there is no parallel to this terrible German campaign of ha- tred and contempt in the war-literature of Eng- land, or even France — at any rate, not in the class of literature corresponding to that from which my German quotations are taken. The Germans, as a matter of fact, have only been able to find one single serviceable quotation, which is therefore constantly paraded: namely, an extract from the Saturday Review dating from 1897 ( !) — an ut- terance which certainly forms no part of English war-literature. 1 In his book about Sir Edward Grey, 19 15. REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 215 As the war has dragged on, and after events like the torpedoing of the Lusitania, some change may have taken place ; but before that time the English confined themselves to noting the fact of German hatred with unaffected surprise, and draw- ing from it the conclusion that every sacrifice should be made to bring the war to a successful end. After the samples we have seen of German hatred, one can quite well understand this utter- ance of Churchill's: We are facing a foe who without the slightest scruple would root us out, man, woman and child, by every method at his disposal. We are fighting against a foe who would not hesitate for a mo- ment to annihilate every soul in this great country, in this hour, if it could be done by pressing a but- ton. We fight against a foe who would think as lightly of doing this as would a gardener of de- molishing a nest of wasps. Let us admit that this is a new fact in the world's history, or rather it is an old fact sprung from the terrible abysses of the past. We fight against a foe of this kind, and are engaged in a life-and-death struggle. To lose would mean to become slaves, or at best to be destroyed; not to win a decisive victory would mean to have this misery over again after an in- secure armistice, and having to fight again, prob- ably under less favourable circumstances, and perhaps alone. The final verdict must consequently be this: that this terrible outburst of hatred and contempt 2i6 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH for other nations, especially England, is a very sorry product of the new-German spirit, which doubtless in the long run — as in all such cases — will hurt no one so much as the German people themselves. The eternally reiterated allegations that the English people are sunk in hypocrisy and falsehood need not, I think, be taken at all serious- ly. It is to be hoped that the Germans themselves will one day have the grace to be ashamed of them. As to the other leading characteristic of the new-German spirit: namely, self-admiration, not to say self-idolatry, on this point also I should like to sum up the case. That this tendency of thought is very widespread has, I think, been in- controvertibly proved; and that it is a very dan- gerous one I have not the slightest doubt. This is admitted, to some extent, by sober-minded Ger- mans themselves. One of the most judicious German utterances I have seen on this point, oc- curs in a book by Professor M. Schian, entitled Das deutsche Christentum im Kriege. He studies, step by step, the whole phenomenon. Let me condense as follows the main lines of his study: The cause of Germany is a just one. There- fore God is with us. Therefore Germany must be victorious. The judgment of God shall smite the foes of Germany, and Germany shall be the instrument of God for carrying out this judgment. And not only this: The German people hold an indispensable place in God's scheme for the gov- REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 217 ernment of the world: nay, they are in reality the pivot of it. Therefore the German nation can- not be crushed. This is proved to be so, partly by a reference to their two thousand years of history, and partly by emphasising the great bless- ings God has bestowed upon the German people. Germany is particularly indispensable for the fu- ture of Protestantism. Other nations, the whole world, are therefore in need of the German people. They have a world-mission to fulfil. Therefore they fight for God. They are his chosen people. This is the first group of ideas with which we have to deal. Professor Schian has great mis- givings. He realises that there are not sufficient grounds for simply setting up the demand that God shall and must let Germany triumph. He fears that all this talk of Germany as God's chosen people will lead to a relapse to Old Tes- tament ideas. He fears there is a danger of national self-aggrandisement, of an arrogant self- estimation. One writer has plainly declared that God has now subjected the nations of the earth to an examen rigorosum; the other nations have all been ploughed, and Germany alone has passed. Schian does not venture to say right out that this view is false. He thinks that a sober investiga- tion will lead to the result that the palm of victory must be awarded the German people, and that they must take the top place. He warns the Ger- mans — in my opinion very unnecessarily — against their "fanatical self-criticism." He agrees with 218 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH Deismann's assertion, that the Germans are the salt of the earth. He is quite clear that "every one ought to be able to see to what an extent hypocrisy and the spirit of trade have dominated the English people, and to what an extent pas- sionate infatuation has perverted the French peo- ple in the direction of brutal cruelty and cowardly self-deception." Here, this otherwise sober- minded German allows himself to be carried away by the common hatred. I confess I have not yet been able to understand why that which is stig- matised as Mammon-worship in an Englishman should be eulogised in a German under the name of business ability; or why, when the English make money, it is a case of shameless blood-sucking and a very wicked proceeding, but when the Germans, as they boast, make a great deal more money, it is called a blessing for the world and a most praise- worthy act. This is the more surprising when we consider that the possibility of Germany's en- richment has depended partly upon that principle of free trade which England, and not Germany, has so far maintained. Be this as it may. There are, of course, limits to Professor Schian's fairness and balance of mind. Germany's perfect innocence and abso- lute purity of conscience are for him, too, a mat- ter of course. He now and then lets himself be so carried away as to use passionate words of abuse, and cannot deny that he, too, believes in Germany's superiority and world-mission; yet he REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 219 holds that one cannot simply prescribe for God how He must act, and he maintains, at all events theoretically, that the Germans have no right to feel arrogant contempt for other nations. This is already something! The second group of ideas is concerned with the demand for a special German religion, or the assertion that Germany possesses a particularly excellent form of Christianity. This method of thinking culminates in the description of God as the German God. There is an inner connection between the German nature and Christianity, there is a distinct spiritual relationship between God and the German people. Professor Schian takes distinct exception to this way of speaking. He says we must not talk as if we had a monopoly of God. What would we Germans say if the English spoke about an "Eng- lish God" — which he is just enough to admit that the English do not do. This admission should be specially noted. The German who praises himself for his humility is in the habit of charging the English with the most intolerable arrogance. It is not the English, however, but the Germans who, by their own admission, monopolise God as the God of their people, and make Him "the Ger- man God." In this respect the Germans stand quite alone. Of that honour — or shame — no one will seek to deprive them. I have said that I consider the new-German tendency of thought as dangerous. It may be well 220 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH to give my reasons for this view. It is frequently said that this naive German self-exaltation may best be treated with an indulgent smile. 1 This, in my opinion, is an altogether inadequate way of looking at the matter. It is forgotten that the once so simple-minded and idealistic German has, since the time of Bismarck, become unpleasantly practical and active. The thoughts of German grandeur are no mere childish dreams, but they are entirely indispensable to the German as a groundwork for his conviction of the absolute moral justification of German politics. By means of this way of reasoning, the Germans have cer- tainly, to use an expression of Nietzsche, "helped themselves" in advance "to a good conscience." It is therefore not to be wondered at that the German people in this war, as a simple- minded Norwegian has put it, "are radiant with the sense of righteousness." If the German peo- ple are the centre of world-history, the meaning of the world and the inmost thought of God, then any opposition to German demands must be op- position to the will of God, and everything Ger- many demands or does must be just and good. To doubt this would be presumptuous, would be blasphemous unbelief, and to fight against the German will would be an offence against all laws, human and divine. When this habit of thought is taken seriously, when it is applied in practice, 1 For instance, by Professor J. L. Heiberg in Tilskueren, January 191 6. REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 221 it becomes a terrible danger — precisely because Germany is so great, so efficient, so powerful, and because it is imbued with such gigantic ambitions, such dreams of greatness. There is no encroach- ment, nor any kind of coercion and violence against non-German nations, which, from this point of view, cannot be represented to a German in such a way that he sees it to be an absolute necessity and feels perfectly convinced that the right is on his side. There will not be the slightest uneasi- ness in his mind, he will be quite sincerely con- vinced of the complete human and divine justi- fication of his cause, and his face will shine with absolute purity of conscience. If these new-German ideas prevail — and should Germany be victorious I take it as a certainty that they would prevail, for a decisive victory in this war would give them the best possible his- torical confirmation in all their main points — the dangers I apprehend will instantly become im- minent. The Germans would then at once begin to fulfil their mission of "filling the world with God" and with Germanism. The danger would of course be greatest for the nations nearest Ger- many. And it would be so much the more men- acing as these thoughts are necessarily bound up with another new-German idea, upon which I have not yet touched in this book, but which must here be mentioned, namely the new-German idea of the State. It is quite astonishing to observe the importance 222 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH the idea of the State has attained in modern Ger- many. The State is the great factor of power by aid of which political demands are to be realised. From the State there is no appeal to any higher authority, so that it is useless to fall back upon moral principles applicable to the mutual relations between individuals. Here everything begins and ends in Power. The nation which has a Kultur- mission can execute it only through the medium of a powerful State-organisation, which in its turn implies a strong army and fleet. It is especially in this connection that Treitschke's influence has made itself felt. And with the new-German idea of the State, two other entirely new notions go hand in hand, which are of far-reaching effect, and are for us Danes, for instance, of the most de- cisive importance. One of these notions is that an entirely new relation must be established be- tween the idea of the State and the idea of nation- ality. Formerly the national demand for the freedom and independence of a people was held to be the highest possible. Now we hear one German voice after the other maintaining that this relation must be entirely reversed. The idea of nationality is now played out; it must make way for the idea of the State. The Austro-Hungarian State-idea is much more important than the dif- ferent national claims within this empire of many nationalities; and as for the national demands of the population of North Slesvig, they must, it is now maintained, entirely make way for the Ger- REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 223 man State-idea. The German State-structure, within which both the bureaucratic and the mil- itary organisation have been developed to the highest degree of perfection, and which has the sole and stupendous mission of providing the basis of Power on which German Kultur must rest — this German State-structure is the most important thing in the world, and anything so insignificant in com- parison as the national demands of a small an- nexed people cannot for a moment be taken into account. The second notion which, in connection with the emphasis laid upon the State-idea, is ever gaining more ground, is that, from this new point of view, there is simply no meaning in the existence of the small States. The State must be a factor of Power, and that the small States can never be. The great Kultur-thoughts cannot by any means thrive in small communities, where large horizons and a world-wide outlook are impossible, and where life must of necessity be narrow and stagnant. If a small State stands in the way of a great State's desire for extension, if it becomes an obstacle to the accomplishment of its world-embracing Kul- tur-mission, then this obstacle must be removed and the small State devoured by the great. This is the law of life, against which it is useless to appeal to any supposed right. The weak must make room for the strong: this is the inevitable course of things as ordained by the laws of life, and it is best for the small nations themselves to 224 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH be delivered from their stagnating and decaying existence by being absorbed into a great State- structure. There is no difficulty in giving chapter and verse for these thoughts in German literature. Thus Bernhardi speaks of "the miserable life of all small States" : "To allow to the weak the same right of ex- istence as to the strong vigorous nation, means presumptuous encroachment upon the natural laws of development." And Treitschke : "The small nations have no right of existence, and ought to be swallowed up." Not to speak of Lasson: "It is moral, inasmuch as it is reasonable, that the small States, in spite of treaties, should be- come the prey of the strongest." In this connection I will quote yet another docu- ment which in my opinion is exceedingly instruc- tive. It is an utterance by one of the most re- spected of German politicians, the ex-pastor F. Naumann. His reasoning is exceedingly discom- forting for the small nations, but is at the same time a brilliant example of the way in which a REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 225 perfectly honest and honourable German is able to place German aggression in such a light that it appears to him as an expression of a deeper right, nay of a positive duty, so that no spot can rest on the German conscience. He says : "But supposing the neutrality of Belgium really was honestly meant, the question remains whether a small individual State has in every possible case the right to evade a world-historic new-formation. That is the vital point at issue. War, it should be remembered, is no longer a feud one undertakes because one has nothing else to do; it is a shifting of organisation in the development of humanity. By it are determined the respective parts in the future government of mankind for a generation or perhaps even longer. That this should be effected by war is hard and barbarous, but the his- tory of mankind offers no other method. As there are rising and falling States and nations, so there must also be settling-days in which the degrees of participation in the coming central management of mankind {Menschheitzentralverwaltang) are re- arranged. One of these settling days has now arrived. However friendly-disposed one may be, from a purely human standpoint, to the wishes of the neutrals, one cannot as a matter of prin- ciple concede to them any right to exempt them- selves from this general process, by which a new centralisation in the leadership of mankind is effected. In the social struggle we constantly see that small concerns prefer to remain outside the trade-union movement. They often succeed, but often they do not. The principle of concentration 226 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH is victorious. The same applies to the domain of international politics." It must be admitted, that the State of Denmark is one of the "small concerns" whose fate thus seems to be sealed. I have not the slightest in- tention of embarking upon an idle discussion as to whether or not this development rests upon a law of nature and is in consequence inevitable. I only maintain, what is a matter of course, that if a small State ceases to exist and is swallowed up by a great, then its characteristic Kultur is at an end. Without the liberty implied in national in- dependence (or if the nation is suppressed, with- out the demand and struggle for this liberty) its individual life will vanish, and its special contri- bution to the Kultur of the world become impos- sible. If the small absorbed nation is to be "or- ganised" according to the will of the great State, and is to serve its interests, then the necessary foundation for all independent Kultur, a con- sciousness of freedom to order one's life accord- ing to the demands of one's own nature, will have disappeared. If the small nation does not resist this to the utmost, its doom is sealed, and the world has become a national Kultur the poorer. I do not know if this will meet the eye of any German. It is said that the German State-brain is so very subtly organised that it collects and co-ordinates everything. If that be so, I should rather like to ask: Can any German expect that a REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 227 Dane who knows the trend of these new-German thoughts, and these views as to the position of the small nations, should have any sympathy for Ger- many? Must not a German, if he wishes to be what the English call "fair," admit that if these thoughts should become a ruling principle in the future development of Germany, it would be rather too much to look for an enthusiastic response from the small neighbouring States? Two replies are possible : Either he shares these new-German ideas, in which case he must say: "Well, I am sorry for the small, weak nations, but there is no help for it; they must join in the game, and their little interests must give way to our great ones. But, that being so, I will at least not lower myself by begging for their sympathy in the present struggle, and I will not be so foolish and so in- consistent as to be angry if I cannot obtain it." Or he does not share the new-German ideas, and in that case he must admit that, so long as this new- German spirit speaks with so loud a voice, it is at least comprehensible that the small nations should find some difficulty in believing that a Ger- man victory would be a blessing for them. It will be clear to him that one may justly shrink from the idea of being "healed" by this "German nature." He will then, if he is consistent, turn with all his strength against this new-German spirit, and fight against it as the most dangerous source of corruption for Germany herself. But 228 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH of the latter class of Germans it seems that there are, for the present, extremely few. It is often said that neutrality demands that one should express neither sympathy nor antip- athy. This is an entirely unreasonable demand, which would always be to the advantage of the one who is in the wrong. I contend, moreover, that in reality I show greater respect for the Ger- man character by making a clean breast of my criticisms, and in some instances my indignation, than do those who consider that the Germans cannot stand hearing an exposition of facts, even if it tends to their disadvantage. Moreover, as the Germans have, by their violent propaganda, courted our sympathy, it is only reasonable that they should receive an answer to their questions. It is hardly necessary, but in order not to be misunderstood I must in conclusion say this — my heart bleeds quite as much at the thought of the sufferings of the German soldiers and of the German homes, as it does at the thought of what the other nations have to suffer. This is all the more true as in many a German trench men are to be found who, from a national point of view, are of the same blood and race as I, and who speak Rheims meant for France ! Why does not Ger- mans are fighting for their country is as much a matter of course as that the others are fighting for theirs. All the talk about it being the enemy's intention to "annihilate Germany," to "destroy German Kultur," and to "rob her of the Gospel," REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 229 etc., is to my thinking negligible. I am fully con- vinced that it is a mere figment of overwrought imaginations, nor is there the slightest prospect of such a thing happening. The Kultur and re- ligion of Germany cannot be destroyed, and Ger- many herself will remain. All I wish and pray for is a peace with justice. But an unjust peace — and as such I consider a peace which would promote the ideas of the new-German spirit — would be a curse for the world. Nothing is more certain than that! The Germans are very angry because the French call them "Huns and Barbarians." But they ought to look at this from a larger point of view. By way of experiment, let the Germans imagine that the French had invaded Germany and laid Cologne Cathedral in ruins; would not the whole of Germany have raised one giant shriek against the French barbarians? Yet the signif- icance of Cologne Cathedral to Germany can in no way be compared with what the Cathedral of Rheims meant for France ! Why does not Ger- many take this in a spirit of calm superiority, as England has taken Germany's hatred and abuse? In support of my statement I will in conclusion quote a passage from one of the excellent English war pamphlets: Papers for the War: x "Whilst rejoicing that at the darkest hour Britain followed the path of honour and realised 1 E. McDougall : Germany and the Germans. 230 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH that there are things more precious than peace, we can all prepare for a happier future by trying even now to look with sympathy on Germany. . . . And in our case sympathy with Germany's ideals and aims would be less difficult if we would take pains to realise how many noble and good qualities combine to make a German feel that it is 'a sweet and honourable thing to die for his country.' . . . And if we look away from the war, and remember Germany as we knew it before last summer, how much room there is for the sympathy, admiration and gratitude which are the springs of international goodwill. "On our debt to Germany it is superfluous to ex- patiate. In music, philosophy and scholarship the modern world owes more to Germany than to all the rest of Europe put together, not to speak of the pleasure of visiting that beautiful land, or unnumbered personal kindnesses from those with whom we are now at war. So that if sympathy, pity, gratitude, and kinship are the sources of love, it should not be too hard for us even in the dust and heat of conflict to refrain from bitterness or vindictiveness, and to answer fury with patience. The wild outbursts of passionate hatred of which we read in German poems and speeches need find no echo in Britain. They are the cry of men bitterly disappointed and cruelly disillusioned rather than an expression of permanent feeling, but we should have no excuse if we replied in similar language. . . . "The moral necessity which dragged Britain into the war must keep her there till the end is gained. To make a premature peace on an un- REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 231 stable foundation would only transfer the suffering of our time from our own to the coming genera- tion, a responsibility from which we may well shrink. But in kindness to the alien enemies within our gates, in sincere intercession for our estranged kindred, in avoidance of harsh judg- ments, in gentle thoughts and words, a channel may be found for the love which, to those who call themselves Christians, is the 'fufilling of the law.' " If the Germans had spoken of their enemies with similar magnanimity they would unquestion- ably have gained by doing so. Then we others would also have been able to show them more of that sympathy which they so fervently desire and evidently miss so bitterly. Next year, 191 7, is the 400th anniversary of the Reformation. It began in Germany with Martin Luther. In time it reached Denmark, and we Danes have lived our life under the in- fluence of this great event. Let us hope that peace will be restored before the anniversary comes round. Should Germany have gained the victory, it is not difficult to imag- ine how the festival of the Reformation will be celebrated in its mother country. There will be jubilant thanksgiving to the God who has again acknowledged Germany as His special holy-land, and has given His approval to the German na- tion, which, after its Gethsemane and Golgotha agonies, has reached its glorious Easter Day, and 232 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH now stands ready to bless the whole world with the German nature. In this intoxication of tri- umph all sober voices will be drowned. How the festival is to be celebrated, should things not go as the Germans hope, I am unable to picture to myself. In Denmark, too, this festival will be cele- brated. We Danes will gladly express our thanks for the good which has come to us from Germany, even if many amongst us may think that this im- port of Germanism has been a little too profuse and too one-sided, and in many respects has proved a costly gift for us — may hold that we have come too long and too thoroughly under the influence of Germanism. We must make it clear to ourselves that we neither can nor will keep this festival in such a way as to make it an act of homage to this "German nature." The German Lutheran Church has too long affected the position of being the "Mother Church," which looks upon all other Lutheran communities as her "daugh- ters," whose well-being and progress must always depend upon their willingly and obediently trip- ping at the heels of their German mother. That time, however, has passed long ago. During the bygone hundred years, since the last Reformation festival, the Christian Church in Denmark (no less than that of Norway and of Sweden) has developed its independent life, and will no longer accept a position of dependency upon the Church of any other nation. The manner in which we REFLECTIONS IN CONCLUSION 233 solemnise this festival must signify a decided as- sertion of our Christian independence, a marked protest against that caricature of Christianity which would make it a special German concern, so that our religion must be Germanised before it can bestow upon other races the full blessing and healing of which an ailing world stands in need. The German Lutheran Church must realise that in many ways it is behind-hand, and that it, too, has much to learn from others; it must realise that Lutheranism is not a German speci- ality — all the less so as half the German people, who are Roman Catholics, denounce Lutheranism as a pestilence. Especially mus't German Luther- anism do penance for the dreadful contamination and distortion of Christianity which I have de- scribed in these pages, if there is not to be a deep gulf fixed between it and all other Churches. We in Denmark will no longer live our Christian life in the shadow of Germanism — nor is this a new determination. We will, to use a German phrase, have our own place in the sun, in the sun of God's grace which shines with the same power and glory over all the peoples of the earth and is equally near to them all. We will gratefully rejoice in and accept, so far as it is adapted to our needs, all the rich and manifold life which this sun calls forth amongst all nations; but we will reject as unchrist- ian arrogance the assertion by any individual peo- ple of the right or duty of forcing their nature and their Christianity upon others, as being the 234 HURRAH AND HALLELUJAH best for them. If, after this terrible war, in which the different Christian nations have fallen upon and slaughtered each other, the festival of the Reformation is to be solemnised in the right spirit, it must be by first asserting and safeguarding in the conditions of peace the equal right of all peo- ples to live in full and unmolested freedom, both in regard to nationality and to all forms of spirit- ual life. Only by acknowledging and aiming at this goal can the terrible hatred between the na- tions be subdued, and may perhaps one day vanish. THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Goleta, California THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. fggi 20m-3,'59(A552s4)476 A A 000 280 689 1