The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-14
"The God" Nemesis,

The curious inveteratc myth making
tendency Of the human mind and the
passion for apotheosls, hero" worship
and dlabolltication are anuSngly busy
just now. On the whole the German
Emperor. the Kaiser, Is the favorite
theme Of the mythoogists. He is the
Devil from the machine In the minds,
delightfully."- muddlci. IL we may say so
without offence, of some of the many
American pundits who think 1t neces-
wish Germany to lose. 1t is every
body's privilege TO cherish whatever
sympathies or antipathles he chooses.
Combining our own sympathes TO the
OF saying with as much Of the "beau-
tiful objective" as Is at our command.
that the picture OF WILHELM II. as a
universal Feefawfum. longing for blood
and conquest and hurrying to slaughter
a reluctant nation, Is too absurd to he
treated more seriously than with
guffaw. The German nation stands
behind him. more united. II anything.
than the North was. at least in the
earlier stages Of the civil war
Then there IL "the German view" and
purpose, distorted almost as much as
"BUoNAPARTE," the Corsican ogre. in
British caricatures of the early nine
teenth century. Even so learned and
venerable man as GEORGE TRuMBULL
LADD. sometime professor Of mental and
moral philosophy at Yale. is reported
to have given this modest conspectus OF
'the German view:
THE destruction OF the British Empire
the subjugatlon OF France. the dsmem-
berment of Russia. the annexation Of Bel
GUM and Holland: In a word. the con-
quest OF all Europe and perhaps America
or at any rate the southern half"
The maddest Pan-Gcrmanism after
hundred schoppen wouldn't go so far
as that Holland and Belgium? Yes. no
doubt Germany covets them.
We come now To the secure high
moral ground, on which Of course all
parties believe themselves to stand I'M
pregnably, From contemporary. Profess
sor LADD returns to ancient mythology.
where he makes surprising find:
1.-THE old time Greeks who knew a thing
or two about morals which we moderns
would do well 10 remember, had spe-
cially helnous and objectionable crime
a,I fnr 81, Of b,t ,rt,
We have no English word for that crime.
but its nearest equivalent Is the word In
science The god who pursued that crime
to the end and never relaxed It's pursuit
OF the criminal until he was either hui
inflated or punished was named Nemesis,
I believe in that god, and in time he will
take care OF the men who hold the Ger
man view"
In our school days NEMESIS was Of
the feminine gender. The "crime" she
was supposed 10 punish was good for
tune and prosperity as well as AFRO
gauce and insolent boastfulness. II has
not been our own observation that these
are specially subject to chastisemcnr
If they are. heaven help us Americans
and every other folk
NEMESIS, the goddess of proportion
and moderation. Is she honing her
sword and bralding her Scourgc NJ she
reads the proclamations Of SO many
eager professors, including not merely
the amiable New Haven psychologist
but our Harvard Germanic friends,
l'RANCKE and Mi'NsTERBERG. bursting
with Patriotisinusparoxy and be-
holding culture and LUTHER. GOETHE,
WAGNER and the rest Of the Pantheon
trampled upon by Cossacks?
Moderation. and let the fellows in
Europe do the fighting.