Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-04-28
international News bureau


az would have disSraccG mo savage
man: and our children. on their par,
VIII aot forget that. i. fear OF muir
/ derou5 and coward!% attacks from the
Y SKY they have been lined UP nigh,
after bitter night at the entrances to
our tuoes. hudd!cd inside o; them for
narrowing hours ia :etid atmosphere,
ana then sent home in the early morn
ing siceplcss, SICK and shivc.!ug IL
IL is necessary TO real success in our
\ studies that We should love the sub
)cct OF them. what hope can there be
now for the study OF the German lam
Euasc by British children? They viii
hate the very sound OF it for the next
hfty years at least beasts that
SPRING upon US We can only treat as
beasts. There is no reason TO initiate
their growlinss
MODERN GERMAN IITERirTRE
HAS NOTHING 10 OFFER
CD Although Kuitur Gina, mario; Of
the German dictionary has been made
the excuse for the storm ana horror
OF the present conflict modern German
literature has nothing TO offer ;hat Will
DC acceptable in the future to British
teachers or good for British scholars
In nearly every department. OF letters
II Is d!scredited by the revelations or
the present war It's theology as
represented BY the writings Of
thcoloeians like iIaruack is dlscredited
ny the fragrant opposition OF its prIn-
cip!cS to its practice. so that when il
asks again. What Is Christiauity" ''
wc shall hc compelled to answer ZEN.
act!y the reverse OF wha, you mean
religion without peace for the world.
without charity towards other nations
founded on The doctrine OF violence and
inc rule OF rendering unto Caesar the
things that are Gods" Its history is
discrrdited IN the Tre!tschkean fan
-. tho -, l.
exposed. leaving thc Impression OF a
nation deaf TO the loudest voices Of
time. and cher!sh!nG IN It's deafness a
world OF Illusions and seli-dccept!ons
ABOUT the superiority of It's own age
10 the great ages. Its philosophy IL
discredited in the Nietzschean theories
which are now plainly chargeable with
the lust of brute force that has lurcd
the German people into their new form
OF slavery and the mad reign or their
unashamed passions. wees. and
maligntttes. Its scholarship Is dis
credited in the writings OF Melnscke
and Lansc whose zeal ior educational
poisoned al their source 10y the belief
that all learning was meant by Provi-
dence 10 minister 10 the German de-
] sire for domination. expansion. and
conquest It's bellcs-letttres are dis
| credited In the works OF Hartmann
generated world could reacn. as we
now see, 10 no broader realm OF human
brotherhood than was bounded on the
west by the waters or the Rhine Its
economic literature Is dlscrcdited In
the writings OF Sombart and Naumann.
VINO have asserted the sacredness OF
4 war and Gin tho same BREATH have
argued, in tho naked language OF tho
| convicted criminal. the right OF A
growing and powerful nation 20 annex
! other peoples territory. TO snatch other
peoples colonies, and TO appropriate
other peoples coal and iron mines. by
ANY poss'bl. n,cnna."
TEc CfIsMtN GOD
NOT ONE or LOVE
Hence tt. rank and file OF our Erit-
i!h pcnpiu can have nothing good 10
learn from tho German literature Of
the recent past. which on "a broad
view. leaves OH The foreign observer
the impr .;ion OF a nation-~without a
soul, bitten by a kind OF moral hydro
phoh;" into faith in a sort OF fren-
zind alliance between Prussia and Prov
.dencc (with the former as the DOM
inaHt partmer). or at least special
German destiny. presided over by "a spc-
clad German god, who is at war with
tho welfare OF ,he nations OF the rest
of the world Hence, too. the British
people can have nothing but evil to
receive I m the German literature Il
the immediate future. which seems
likcl: particularly in the event OF
the dcfc?: of Germany to reflect the
unbridlcd passions created by the war
in the hearts Of the distraught and
otherwise divided writer's in nearly
| every branch OF letters who arc now
huGging each other in the fever OF
their mutual insanity. And for the
old German literature. the great. sane.
human. immortal literature OF Goethe,
Schiller and Jean raul. which modern
Germany seems TO an outsider to have
| discarded as a living force and guide
TO life. we have the best OF il already
in the translations OF our best scholars
l-translations which are said, by critics
more competent to judge than myself.
to be In some instances superior to the
n orig inalS, as in the case Of Colerdgc's
| "Wall.nstcn" and Carlylc's "Wilhclm
| Mcister.
3. The German language will he less
necessary to British commerce in the
future than it has been in the past
The appalling and even pcrilous de-
pcndencc Of some of our vital indus
tries i'm German manufacture is q con-
dition unlikely to recur. Three and
half years OF war have shown us at
once the necessity and the possibility
of providing for our wants within our
own country, or. where that Is difficult.
of finding provisions in countries that
are more interested in our welfare and
less likely to bctray II. This change
in our commercial order has already
begun. Germany knows IL, and hence
her anxiety for a peace that shall In
cludc "thc reconciliation OF the peo-
Pies" But 1t remains for tho British
peoplo themselves. quito aDart from,