Evening star., 1915-02-28

MS ii1e was little removed from Bis
marck.
The attitude, clearly imperialist and
national. of the German socialist party
from the commencement Of the war OF
1919, was announced solemnly since
1891 by Nollmar. who wrote:
III labor party has always carried
out Its duty of international fraternity
IT Is the German labor party. But
that does not mean that there may not
De Tor us national duties For however
cosfnopoiitie may be the mind OF man he
must recognize if he is not dreamer
that the economical conditions do not
act in an absolute and mechanical
manner. hut that the differences of
people and communities have profound
roots. We will have to await a long
time for the United States of Europe"
. Under diverse forms Auer Behel, Lieh-
knecht and other orators Of the social
democracy have said the same thing in
the reichstag since 1891. Between the
wariike conception of the historian
Ireitschke. author of the History of
Germany In the Nineteenth Century,"
and the social democrat Vollmar small
dlHerence may be seen. Why party In
France should have been SO utterly and
completely misled as to the intentions OF
the German social democrat IL is not
possible to comprehend. The war of 1915
was rude shock to the sentimental So
cialists of France. Russia and England
Under the head of superior instruction
NJ Leon Daudet concludes that willing or
unwilling it will be nee
Difficult essary to solve-and he
Problem. agrees I that the task is
the superior instruction in France Of the
heresies Of Kant. The difficulty is that
kantism has long and profound roots that
reach even the primary schools But NJ
Daudet adds. 'It is not at the extremities
but at the center We must attack. or.
more exactly. replace 1t. A return to the
classic philosophy Of Plato. Aristotle. st.
Thomas. Pascal and Bossuet Is necessary
NJ Daudet would not rule out Leibnitx.
Kant. Fichte. Schelling. Hegel. These
may be studied but need not he presented
as models. Leibnitz Is u German re-
former. not a deformer. who wrote: 'To
attain truth 1t Is necessary once at least
in life to give up all the preconceived
opinions and reconstruct anew. and from
the bottom, all the systems Of ones
knowledge"
The vogues that attack society are
not entirely located in France, but
have a much wider radiation. NJ Dau-
det traces the vogue of Wagnerism in
France to reaction against materialism
and evolution. The vogue of Metz
cheism was a reaction against the
vogue of Tolstoi and the adopts OF
non-resistance to evil.
The vogue of Wagner in France had
its origin in scientific circles, notably
in the hospitals and among the young
men in Paris schools who imagined il
to be a necessity to complete their
studies in German laboratories. Many
will find this disposition to have been
simple curiosity to learn something
however, 1t was not snobism nor idle
ness It was something deeper-a spir-
itualist reaction against the material
ism and evolutionism which weighed
heavily upon those OF his generation.
Germany benefited by that reaction
under two forms-Kantism and Wag-
nerism.
Some of my friends" writes N. Dau-
det. "the most intelligent, the most Ia
borious. were completely
Germanic germanized and pro-
r.a, claimed openly the su-
AAA"e' periority of German cui-
ture in science and art. Their example
was contagious. At the epoch of which
I speak every adversary of German
metaphysics or of Richard Wagner
was considered an imbecile with whom
1t was useless to discuss.
An intellectual aristocracy was COM
posed of those who had made the Pill
grimage from Bayreuth. followed
of virchow. or frequented the labora-
tory of Kolliker. large number Of us
spoke German and read Goethe in the
text: and, reciting the little hook OF
Tristan and Iseult' and of 'Valkyrie.'
in ecstasy exclaimed: 1t Is like Dante
In this NJ. Daudet is convinced that
wagner-that is, Germany-was al
ready engaged in well defined plan.
and he cites Edouard SEIZURE on Wag-
ner, who wrote: '"The ancient theater
feelings of Greek polythefsm. The mod
ern opera, save rare exceptions. is
work of Lutte and amusement. The the
ater Wagner is the first created for an
effort. political and military, Of 1870
II would never have had the same
and the same radiation
Frederick NietZsche, severe critic OF
Wagner. can scarcely be said to be in
vogue. On the contrary. in England.
Russia and France he is charged with
exciting the Germans in war to bar
barrie methods NJ. Daudet thinks Metz
sche less responsible than either Kant.
Fichte or Wagner. 1t is not the most
cynical who is the most harmful. And
Nietzsche was cynic. All German SOL
diers. it is said. are furnished with
copies of Nietzsche. This is difficult to
believe, because Nietzsche. although
Iull OI HuHOT, is dlso luil vi SoiAf autN
tion and INSTRUMENTATION; hence a very
bad text book for the soldier.
Nietzsche is descended from Polish
family (the NietskD. son of a pastor OF
Prussian Saxony. He is a
NietZsche's curious and unstable
o mental amalgamation of
odAeei. two clinical elements.
which alternately speak in him. Thus
his contradictory disposition; he pos
sesses the suppleness of the Slav and
the rigidity of the German. He CEN
sures his own countrymen according to
his humor. He is accredited with the
pretentious ambition to become with
the years a cataclysm, a scourge OF
God. a convulsion for the people. an
other Attila.
NJ. Daudet recounts scene which is
of the man, who is vain
Of his thick mustache, at which he
casts smiles in a pocket mirror: "IIe
was before all else, even before his
mania Of grandeur. an immense dandy
Nietzsches work was abundant. His
collections the most noteworthy are
Aurora, the Voyageur and His
Shadow" and THE VIII Power" Ia
on which he dotted. was.
indeed, a poor imitation of Dante.
Nietzsche was geometrician for
whom surfaces were intersections of
of lines. psychologist for
l. H. s,@.,