82. This, then, is the actual relationship in which the German nation has hitherto stood with regard to the development of the human race in the modern age. We have still to throw more light upon an observation, which has already been made twice, as to the natural course of development which events have taken with our nation, viz., that in Germany all culture has proceeded from the people. That the reformation of the Church was first brought before the people, and that it succeeded only because it became their affair, we have already seen. But we have further to show that this single case was not an exception; it has, on the contrary, been the rule.
io4 ADDRESSES TO THE GERMAN NATION 83. The Germans who remained in the motherland had retained all the virtues of which their country had formerly been the home — loyalty, uprightness, honour, and simplicity; but of training to a higher and intellectual life they had received no more than could be brought by the Christianity of that period and its teachers to men whose dwellings were scattered. This was but little: hence, they were not so advanced as their racial kinsmen who had emigrated. They were in fact good and honest, it is true, but none the less semi-barbarians. There arose among them, however, cities erected by members of the people. In these cities every branch of culture quickly developed into the fairest bloom. In them arose civic constitutions and organizations which, though but on a small scale, were none the less of high excellence; and, proceeding from them, a picture of order and a love of it spread throughout the rest of the country. Their extensive commerce helped to discover the world. Their league was feared by kings. The monuments of their architecture are standing at the present day and have defied the ravages of centuries; before them posterity stands in admiration and confesses its own impotence.
84. It is not my intention to compare these burghers of the German imperial cities in the Middle Ages with the other estates of the same period, nor to ask what was being done at that time by the nobles and the princes. But, in comparison with the other Teutonic nations — leaving out of account some districts of Italy, and in the fine arts the Germans did not lag behind even these, whereas in the useful arts they surpassed them and became their teachers — leaving these out of account, I say that the German burghers were the civilized people, and the others the barbarians. The history of Germany, of German might, German enterprise and inventions, of GERMAN CHARACTERISTICS 105 German monuments and the German spirit — the history of all these things during that period is nothing but the history of those cities; and everything else, for example the mortgaging of petty territories and their subsequent redemption and so on, is unworthy of mention. More- over, this period is the only one in German history in which this nation is famous and brilliant, and holds the rank to which, as the parent stock, it is entitled. As soon as its bloom is destroyed by the avarice and tyranny of princes, and as soon as its freedom is trodden under- foot, the whole nation gradually sinks lower and lower, until the condition is reached in which we are at present. But, as Germany sinks, the rest of Europe is seen to sink with it, if we regard, not the mere external appearance, but the soul.
The decisive influence of this burgher class, which was in fact the ruling power, upon the development of the German imperial constitution, upon the reformation of the Church, and upon everything that ever character- ized the German nation and thence took its way abroad, is everywhere unmistakable; and it can be proved that everything which is "still worthy of honour among the Germans has arisen in its midst.
85. In what spirit did this German burgher class bring forth and enjoy this period of bloom? In the spirit of piety, of honour, of modesty, and of the sense of community. For themselves they needed little; for public enterprises they set no limits to their expen- diture. Seldom does the name of an individual stand out or distinguish itself, for they were all of like mind and alike in sacrifice for the common weal. Under precisely the same external conditions as in Germany, free cities had arisen in Italy also. Compare the his- tories of both; contrast the continual disorders, the 106 ADDRESSES TO THE GERMAN NATION internal conflicts, nay, even wars, the constant change of constitutions and rulers in the latter with the peaceful unity and concord in the former. How could it be more clearly demonstrated that there must have been an inward difference in the dispositions of the two nations? The German nation is the only one among the neo- European nations that has shown in practice, by the example of its burgher class for centuries, that it is capable of enduring a republican constitution.
86. Of the separate and special means of once more raising the German spirit a very powerful one would be in our hands if we had a soul-stirring history of the Germans in that period — one that would become a book for the nation and for the people, just as the Bible and the hymn-book are now, until the time came when we ourselves had again achieved something worthy of record. But such a history should not set forth deeds and events after the fashion of a chronicle; it should transport us by its fascinating power, without any effort or clear con- sciousness on our part, into the very midst of the life of that time, so that we ourselves should seem to be walking and standing and deciding and acting with them. This it should do, not by means of childish and trumpery fabrications, as so many historical novels have done, but by the truth; and it should make those deeds and events visible manifestations of the life of that time. Such a work, indeed, could only be the fruit of extensive know- ledge and of investigations that have, perhaps, never yet been made; but the author should spare us the exhibi- tion of this knowledge and these investigations, and simply lay the ripened fruit before us in the language of the present day and in a manner that every German without exception could understand. In addition to this historical knowledge, such a work would demand a high degree of GERMAN CHARACTERISTICS 107 philosophical spirit, which should display itself just as little, and above all things a faithful and loving disposition. 87. That age was the nation's youthful dream, within a narrow sphere, of its future deeds and conflicts and victories, and the prophecy of what it would be once it had perfected its strength. Evil associations and the seductive power of vanity have swept the growing nation into spheres which are not its own; and, because it there sought glory too, it stands to-day covered with shame and fighting for its very life. But has it indeed grown old and feeble? Has not the well of original life con- tinued to flow for it, as for no other nation, since then and until to-day? Can those prophecies of its youthful life, which are confirmed by the condition of other nations and by the plan of civilization for all humanity — can they remain unfulfilled? Impossible! O, that someone would bring back this nation from its false path, and in the mirror of its youthful dreams show it its true disposition and its true vocation! There let it stand and ponder, until it develops the power to take up its vocation with a mighty hand. May this challenge be of some avail in bringing out right soon a German man equipped to perform this preliminary task!
SEVENTH ADDRESS A CLOSER STUDY OF THE ORIGINALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A PEOPLE 88. In the preceding addresses we have indicated and proved from history the characteristics of the Germans as an original people, and as a people that has the right to call itself simply the people, in contrast to other branches that have been torn away from it; for, indeed, the word " deutsch " in its real signification denotes what we have just said. It will be in accordance with our purpose if we devote another hour to this subject and deal with a possible objection, viz., that if this is something peculiarly German one must confess that at the present time there is but little left that is German among the Germans themselves. As we are quite unable to deny that this appears to be so, but rather intend to acknowledge it and to take a complete view of it in its separate parts, we propose to give an explana- tion of it at the outset.
89. We have seen that the relationship in which the original people of the modern world stood to the progress of modern culture was as follows: the former received from the incomplete, and never more than superficial, efforts of foreign countries the first stimulus to more profound creative acts, which were to be developed from its own midst. As it undoubtedly takes time for the 108 CLOSER STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS 109 stimulus to result in a creative act, it is plain that such a relationship will bring about periods of time in which the original people must seem to be almost entirely amalgamated with foreign peoples and similar to them, because it is then being stimulated only, and the creative act which is to be the result has not yet forced its way through. It is in such a period of time that Germany finds itself at the present moment in regard to the great majority of its educated inhabitants; and that is the reason for those manifestations of a love of everything foreign which are a part of the very inner soul and life of this majority. In the preceding address we saw that the means by which foreign countries stimulate their- motherland at the present time is philosophy, which we defined as free-thinking released from all fetters of belief in external authority. Now, when this stimulus has not resulted in a new creative act — and' it will result thus in extremely few cases, for the great majority have no con- ception of what creation means — the following effects are observable. For one thing, that foreign philosophy which we have already described changes its own form again and again. Another thing is that its spirit usurps the mastery over the other sciences whose borders are contiguous with philosophy, and regards them from its own point of view. Finally, since the German after all can never entirely lay aside his seriousness and its direct influence on life, this philosophy influences the habits of public life and the principles and rules that govern it. We shall substantiate these assertions step by step.
90. First of all and before all things: man does not form his scientific view in a particular way voluntarily and arbitrarily, but it is formed for him by his life, and is in reality the inner, and to him unknown, root of his own life, which has become his way of looking at things.
no ADDRESSES TO THE GERMAN NATION It is what you really are in your inmost soul that stands forth to your outward eye, and you would never be able to see anything else. If you are to see differently, you must first of all become different. Now, the inner essence of non-German ways, or of non-originality, is the belief in something that is final, fixed, and settled beyond the possibility of change, the belief in a border-line, on the hither side of which free life may disport itself, but which it is never able to break through and dissolve by its own power, and which it can never make part of itself. This impenetrable border-line is, therefore, inevitably present to the eyes of foreigners at some place or other, and it is •impossible for them to think or believe except with such a border-line as a presupposition, unless their whole nature is to be transformed and their heart torn out of their body. They inevitably believe in death as Alpha and Omega, the ultimate source of all things and, therefore, of life itself.
91. Our first task here is to show how this fundamental belief of foreigners expresses itself among Germans at the present time.
It expresses itself first of all in their own philosophy. German philosophy of the present day, in so far as it is worthy of mention here, strives for thoroughness and scientific form, regardless of the fact that those things are beyond its reach; it strives for unity, and that also not without the example of foreign countries in former times; it strives for reality and essence — not for mere appearance, but to find for this appearance a foundation appearing in appearance. In all these points it is right, and far surpasses the philosophies prevailing in foreign countries at the present day; for German philosophy in its love of everything foreign is far more thorough and more consistent than the foreign countries themselves.
CLOSER STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS in Now this foundation, which is to be the basis of mere appearance, is for those philosophies, however much more incorrectly they may further define it, always fixed Being, which is just what it is and nothing more, chained in itself and bound to its own essence. Death, therefore, and alienation from originality, which are within them, stand forth before their eyes as well. Because they them- selves are unable by any effort to rise out of themselves to life as such, but always need a prop and a support for their free upward flight, they do not get beyond this support in their thinking, which is the image of their life. That which is not Something is to them inevitably Nothing, for their eyes see nothing else between that Being in which growth has ceased and the Nothing, because their life has nothing else. Their feeling, which is their sole possible authority, seems to them infallible. If anyone does not acknowledge this support of theirs, they are far from assuming that to him life alone is enough; on the contrary, they believe that he merely lacks the cleverness to perceive the support, which they have no doubt supports him too, and the capacity to raise himself by his exertions to their high point of view. It is, therefore, futile and impossible to instruct them; one would have to construct them, and to construct them differently, if one could. Now, in this matter German philosophy of the present day is not German, but a product of the foreign spirit.
92. True philosophy, on the other hand, which has been perfected in itself and has penetrated beyond appearance to the very kernel of appearance, proceeds from the one, pure, divine life — life simply as such, which it remains for all eternity, and always one — but not from this or that kind of life. It sees how it is only in appear- ance that this life ceaselessly closes and opens again, ii2 ADDRESSES TO THE GERMAN NATION and how it is only in accordance with this law that life attains Being and becomes a Something. In the view of this philosophy, Being arises, whereas the other presup- poses it. So, then, this philosophy is in a very special sense German only — that is, original. Vice versa, if anyone were but a true German, he could not philoso- phize in any way but this.
93. That system of thought, although it dominates the majority of those who philosophize in German, is never- theless not really a German system. Yet, whether it is consciously set up as a true system of philosophical doctrine, or whether, unknown to us, it is merely the basis for the rest of our thinking, it influences the other scientific views of the age. Indeed, it is a main effort of our age, stimulated by foreign countries as we are, not merely to lay hold of the material of science with the memory, as our forefathers may be said to have done, but to turn it over in our own independent thought and to philosophize upon it. So far as the effort is concerned, our age is in the right; but when, in the execution of this philosophiz- ing, it proceeds, as is to be expected, from the death- creed of foreign philosophy, it will be in the wrong. In this place we propose to glance only at those sciences which are most closely connected with our whole plan, and to trace the foreign ideas and views which are so widespread in them.
94. In holding that the establishment and government of States should be looked upon as an independent art having its own fixed rules, non-German countries have undoubt- edly served us as forerunners, and they themselves found their pattern in antiquity. But what will be regarded as the art of the State by such a non-German country, which in its language, the very element of its thinking and willing, has a support that is fixed, closed, and dead?
CLOSER STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS 113 What, too, will all who follow its example regard as the art of the State? Undoubtedly it will be the art of finding a similarly fixed and dead order of things, from which condition of death the living movement of society is to proceed, and to proceed as this art intends. This inten- tion is to make the whole of life in society into a large and ingeniously constructed clockwork pressure-machine, in which every single part will be continually compelled by the whole to serve the whole. The intention is to do a sum in arithmetic with finite and given quantities, and produce from them an ascertainable result; and thus, on the assumption that everyone seeks his own well-being, to compel everyone against his wish and will to promote the general well-being. Non-German countries have re- peatedly enunciated this principle and produced ingenious specimens of this art of social machinery. The mother- land has adopted the theory, and developed its application in the construction of social machines; and here, too, as always, in a manner that is deeper, truer, more thorough- going, and much superior to its models. If at any time there is a stoppage in the accustomed process of society, such artists of the State can give no other explanation than that perhaps one of the wheels has become worn out, and they know no other remedy than to remove the defective wheels and insert new ones. The more deeply rooted anyone is in this mechanical view of society, and the better he understands how to simplify the mechanism by making all the parts of the machine as alike as possible and by treating them all as if they were of the same material, the higher is his reputation as an artist of the State in this age of ours: and rightly so, for things are even worse when those in control hesitate and come to no decision and are incapable of any definite opinion.
ii4 ADDRESSES TO THE GERMAN NATION 95. This view of the art of the State enforces respect by its iron consistency and by an appearance of sublimity which falls upon it; and up to a certain point, especially when the whole tendency is towards a monarchical con- stitution, and one that is always becoming more purely monarchical, it renders good service. But, when it reaches that point, its impotence is apparent to everyone. I will suppose that you have made your machine as perfect as you intended, and that each and every lower part of it is unceasingly and irresistibly compelled by a higher part, which is itself compelled to compel, and so on up to the top. But how will your final part, from which proceeds the whole compelling power present in the machine, be itself compelled to compel? Suppose you have overcome absolutely all the resistance to the main- spring that might arise from the friction of the various parts, and suppose you have given that mainspring a power against which all other power vanishes to nothing, which is all you could do even by mechanism, and suppose you have thus created a supremely powerful monarchical constitution; how are you going to set this mainspring itself in motion and compel it without exception to see the right and to will it? Tell me how you are going to bring perpetual motion into your clockwork, which, though properly designed and constructed, does not go. Is, perhaps, as you sometimes say in your embarrassment, the whole machine itself to react and to set its own main- spring in motion? Either this happens by a power that itself proceeds from the stimulus of the mainspring; or else it happens by a power that does not proceed thence, but is to be found in the whole thing independent of the mainspring. No third way is possible. If you suppose the first, you find yourselves reasoning in a circle, and your principles of mechanics are in a circle too; the CLOSER STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS 115 whole machine can compel the mainspring only in so far as the machine itself is compelled by the mainspring to compel it — that is to say, in so far as the mainspring only indirectly compels itself. But if it does not compel itself, and this is the defect we set out to remedy, no motion whatever results. If you suppose the second case, you confess that the source of all motion in your machine is a power that has not entered at all into your calcula- tions and regulations, and is not in any way controlled by your mechanism. This power undoubtedly works as it can without your aid and according to its own laws, which are unknown to you. In each of the two cases, you must confess yourselves botchers and impotent boasters.
96. Now, people have felt this, and so they have wished, under this system which, in its reliance upon compulsion, need not concern itself about the other citizens, to educate at any rate the prince by every kind of good doctrine and instruction; for from the prince the whole movement of society proceeds. But how can one be sure of finding someone who by nature" is capable of receiving the educa- tion that is to make a prince? Even if by a stroke of luck he were to be found, how can one be sure that he, whom no man can compel, will be ready and willing to submit to discipline? Such a view of the art of the State, whether it is found on foreign or German soil, is always a product of the foreign spirit. Here we may remark, to the honour of the German race and the German spirit, that, however good artists we might be in the mere theory of these calculations which are based on compul- sion, none the less, when it came to putting them into practice, we were very much hampered by the dim feeling that things should not be done in this way; and so in this matter we remained behind foreign countries.
n6 ADDRESSES TO THE GERMAN NATION Therefore, even should we be compelled to accept the boon of foreign forms and laws intended for us, at least let us not be unduly ashamed, as if our intelligence had been incapable of attaining these heights of legislation. As we are not inferior to any nation even in legislating, when we only have the pen in our hands, it may well be that we felt with regard to life that even the making of such laws was not the right thing; and so we preferred to let the old system stand until the perfect system should come to us, instead of merely exchanging the old fashion for a new one just as transitory.