New-York tribune., 1914-11-22

London. October so.

There arc Jew '''A"b
whose authority counts FOR sc
.,A with the English as Mr.. Choate's
~. 4. remembered as great Ambas-
-, an orator whose chief sd-
80, IN England opened 70 the Eng
- mind new views Of America and
=. ,,nl read with delight; a lawyer
.hom English lawyers welcomed as m
,,-or 70 the profession; a talker who
lid his own with their best and some
little more than his own; and
.,..ge.her a commanding personality
:, sos asked an Enghshmsn who is, on
80 whole. the fret citizen Of America
=, chances are you would hear MIR
r...s's name in answer. The Eng
~ have an abiding affection for him
- sn admiration which years have
~ 10 wonder. then. that "The Times
.,.,l5 repubNsh on its leader page a
-sst nsrt Of Mr.. Choate's lntroduc.
- % the American edition of Pro-
s..,or Crambs invaluable little book
~Germsuy and England No won
Sa- hat Mr. Murray should announce
~, he rroposes 70 incorporate this
p-.s.sc I'm The new English edition.
-tors is. after all allowances have
t.Sr made on both sides, certain
.s,,5sritv between English and Amer
-, literature Of which this Is an eN-
n-sssion. No recent book has done so
lI.r.b 70 open English eyes TO the true
.stnre Of Germany's ambitions and
cer7,anv's hatred Of England as Pro
80 Cramb's With Mr.. Choate's
;s5o-serer.. something will be added
a., is authority. Mr.. Choate has
t,own how 20 turn a Preface into q
Manifesto.
The German Touch.
VI. Professor Cramb had a German
,;S. 20 him. and there is in Mr.. Choete's
v,iehty little essay now and then q
csyrsn note. Neither OF them has
<,mpletely emsncipated himself from
- superstition Of Germany's intel
lsc,ysI leadership. Cramb's mind had
S.sr Cermanized, like Lord Haldane's,
Nv long study under German influences.
n,ber English Professors had suffered
!, Ire same way. The manifesto of
r,gIsh Professors which preceded the
war wss melancholy proof Of the men
81 servitude into which men otherwise
t-inent had fallen. IL needed the shock
~ arms 20 disturb their mood, though
h has never been universal IN England.
Germany in Science.
Huxley long ago protested against il.
Es rejected the claim of Germany to
tscendancy He recognized the useful
ness Of her services in the accumula-
lion OF facts; but he limited 1t 10 the
accumulation OF facts. He said:
"She did not know what to do with
her facts when she had got them. The
coordination Of them, the scientific
use OF them. the constructive work Of
which they were but the raw material.
the imaginative use Of them which
alone made them OF value for true
eulture-that belonged 20 France and
England
Germany in Art.
There could be no higher testimony.
II you ask the opinion of really great
artists. whether French or English,
about German art. you will get the
same answer. IL is not true art. Il is
the art Of pedants; machine made;
without beauty; without inspiration;
fll Of learning. but soulless, express
gnless, lfeless. Said an Englishman
vho really understands art:
II the Russians destroy Berlin as
he Germans destroyed Louvain, / hope
they win leave the Sieges Alice with
al It's sculptured horrors, TO show pos
iarity how coarse and clumsy the thing
called German art really is
Germany in Literature.
Not less severe is the verdict on
their literature, as literature. An Eng
lshman who is among the first Of llv-
Ing writer's, said:
% leave out Of account their meta
physical and scientific productiveness.
Ihst has q sphere of its own, but II is
not literature. There Is but one Ger
nan name which in pure literature
stands at the summit by the side OF
the great Frenchmen or the great Eng
Eshmen Not Goethe, who was ditfuse,
tycursive and always experimenting IN
subjects where he was no master, but
hene and Heine was no real German.
Ht was above all things jew, and
what there was best in him which was
not Jewish was French OF literature
10 the pure sense of the word there
is 10 Germany no other example than
Hene."
So that the claim Of Germany to a
great place in Science, in Art, in Lit
s'ature fails IN all three.
Mr.. Choate's Diplomacy.
In Mr.. Choate's Preface there Is a
passage or two which reflect the fal-
lacy that has got possession Of SO
many minds. Germany has bOasted OF
ner culture tin an eaSygoing pubic
80 England and i'm America has been
disposed 20 take her at her own Valu-
s.iOn. What she really means by
culture this war has taught US. The
defeat Of her armies. which IS certain,
viii bring with il also the defeat Of
Ter pretensions 20 that other kind OF
Empire she has sought 10 set up. Mr.
Caoate's tribute 20 England rs so warm
hat his tribute TO Germany need not
disturb as. Il may pass as a diplo-
matte effort toward neutrality, ike
President Wilson'S: Once an Ambassa-
Cor always an Ambassador. Il does
20. impair, IL strengthens, his test-
nony on the one all-lmportant point
he says.
There is no Disgusting the fact that
the sympathies and hopes of the great
mass Of English-speaking people every
where are with England and her Al
lies"
That is the genuine voice Of the
tue American. There may be a sense
IN which America is still warm and
faithful friend of both these great ma
ions and pledged TO absolute neutral
iiy." But il is I'm a purely platonic
sense. Our neutrality, spite OF Pres
dent Wilson's attempt to twist It INTO
neutrality benevolent 10 Germany,
y technical. II is not a neutrality OF
he heart or Of the intelligence. Mr..
wilson may be content to wait till the
end Of the war before he can make mp
ms mind whether Belgium ought 10
have been devastated or her women