New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-15

like an earthquake lifting a Who'll,
landscape. II might be that tremend
Gus Madonna, whose charity is more
strong than death. Anyhow, your
thoughts would be something worth,
of the mans terrible paganism and his
more terrible Christianity. Who bu
God could have craven Michael Ange 10
who came so near to craving the
Mother of God?
German culture deals with the mat
ter as follows: "Michelangelo Buona
rotti Cl475-1564).-(=Bernhard) anees
tor of the family, lived in Florence
about 1910. He had two sons, Berlin
ghieri and Buonarrota. By this name
Recurring frequently in later genera
tons, the family came to be called. II
is German name. compounded oi
Bona (=Bohn) and Hrodo, Rotc
(=Rohde, Rothe) Bona and Rotto are
cited as Lombard names. Buonarott
is perhaps the old Lombard Beonrad
corresponding to the word Bonroth
Corresponding names are Mackrodt
Osterroth. Leonard" And so on, anC
so on, and so on. "In his face he has
always been well coloured the
eyes might be called small rather thar
large, Of the colour Of horn, but vsri'
able with 'fecks' Of yellow and blue
Hair and beard are black. These par
ticulars are confirmed by the portraits
First and foremost, take the portrait
by Bugiardini, in Museo Buonarotti
Here comes TO view the 'fecked' ap-
pearance of the iris. especially in the
right eye. The left may be described
as almost wholly blue" And so on
and so on, and so on. an the Museo
Civico, at Pavia, is a fresco likeness
by an unknown hand, in which this
fresh red is distinctly recognizable or
the face. Taking all these bodily char
acteristics into consideration, il must
be said from an anthropological point
of view that though originally of Ger
man family he was a hybrid between
the North and West brunette race"
Collecting Germans His Hobby.
Would you take the trouble to prove
that Michael Angelo was an Italian that
this man takes to prove that ne was a
German? OF course not. The only
impression this man (who is a recog-
nized Prussian historian) produces or
your mind or mine is shat ne does not
care about Michael Angelo. For you
being an Italian, are therefore some
thing more than an Italian; and ], be.
ing an Englishman, something more
than an Englishman. But this poor
fellow really cannot be anything more
than a Prussian. He digs and digs "a
find dead Prussians in the catacombs
of Rome or under the ruins OF Troy
If he can find one blue eye lying abou;
somewhere he is satisfied. He has nc
philosophy. He has hobby, which is
collecting Germans. Ii would probably
h. 70 nd M n N M
that we could prove anything by the
sort of ingenuity which finds the Ger
man "rothe" in Buonarotti. We could
all her geniuses in that style. We
could say that Moltke must have been
an Italian. from the old Latin root mol
indicating the sweetness Of that gen
erals disposition. We might say BIS
marck was Frenchman. since mis- name
begins with the popular theatrical cry
Of "Bisl" We might say Goethe was
an Englishman, because his name be-
gins with the popular sporting cry
"Go," But the ultimate diff erence De-
tween US and the Prussian professor is
simply that We are not mad.
The father of Frederick the Great
the founder Of the more modern 10
henzollerns, was mad. His madness
consisted Of stealing giants, like an
INSCRIPTIONS travelling Snowman. ANY
man much over six feet high, whether
he were called the Russian Giant OF
the Irish Giant or the Hottentot Giant
was in danger OF being kidnapped and
Imprisoned in Prussan uniform
II is the same mean sort OF
madness that is working IN Prus-
sian professors such as the one
have quoted. They can get no further
than the notion of stealing giants.
will not bore you now with all the
other giants they have G-ied to
steal; il is enough TO say that
St. Paul, Leonardo da Vinci and
Shakespeare himself are among the
monstrosities exhibited at Frederick
William fair-on grounds as good as
those quoted above. But | have put
this particular case before you. as an
artist rather than an Italian. TO show
what | mean when | object to Ger
man future for Europe" ! object to
something which believes very much
in itself. and in which ! do not in the
least believe. ! object to something
which is conceited and smsll-mind-
ed, but which also has that
kind of pertinacity which always be-
longs to lunatics. 1t wants 70 be able
to congratulate itself on Michael An
cello; never 10 congratulate the world.
II is the spirit that can be seen in
those who go bald trying to trace a
genealogy, or 90 bankrupt trying TO
make out claim TO some remote es-
tate. The Prussian has the inconsist-
ency of the parvenu; he will labor TO
prove that be is related TO some gen
tleman of the Renaissance. even while
he boasts Of being able TO buy
him up" II the Italians were really
great, why-they were really Ger
mans. and if they weren't really Ger
mans, well, then, they weren't really
great. IL is an occupation for an old
maid.
Three or four hundred years ago, in
the sad sleNce that had followed the
comparative failure of the noble eff
fort of the Middle Ages, there came
upon all Europe a storm out of the
south It's tumult is of many tongtes I;
one can hear in it the laughter OF
Rabelais. or, for that matter, the
lyrics Of Shakespeare, but the dark
heart of the storm was indeed more
austral and volcanic, noise Of thun-
derous wings and the name OF Michael
the Archangel. And when II had
shocked and purified the world and
passed, a Prussian professor found g
feather fallen TO earth, and proved Gin
several volumes) that 1t could only
have come from a Prussian Eagle. He
had seen one-in a cage. Yours ---,
G. X. CHESTERT0N.