the French nor the Scotch had the courage and spirit to be burglars.

"It is not pouerte that kepith Ffrenchmen ffro rysinge, but it is
cowardisse and lakke off hartes and corage, wich no Ffrenchman hath
like vnto a Englysh man. It hath been offten tymes sene in Englande,
that iij or iiij, theves ffor pouerte haue sett apon vj or vij trewe
men, and robbed hem all. But it hath not bene sene in Ffraunce, that
vj. or vij. theves haue be hardy to robbe iij. or iiij. trewe men.
Wherfore it is right selde that Ffrenchmen be hanged ffor robbery and
manslaughter, then there be hanged in Ffraunce ffor such maner of
crime in vij yeres. There is no man hanged in Scotlande in vij yere to
gedur ffor robbery. And yet thai ben often tymes hanged ffor larceny,
and stelynge off good in the absence off the owner thereoff. But ther
hartes serue hem not to take a manys gode, while he is present, and
woll defende it; wich maner off takynge is callid robbery. But the
Englysh man is off another corage. Ffor yff he be pouere, and see
another man havynge rychesse, wich may be taken ffrom hym be myght, he
will not spare to do so, but yff that pouere man be right trewe.
Wherfore it is not pouerte, but it is lakke off harte and cowardisse,
that kepith the Ffrenchmen ffro rysynge."

That "lack of spirit" which Lord Chancellor Fortescue so quaintly and
so unjustly denounces in the French and Scottish temperaments, may it
not be more justly attributed to the German temperament? Are not the
Germans constitutionally incapable of accomplishing a revolution? They
lack the red corpuscles in their veins. They have no phosphorus or
mercury in their composition. They have no elan, no resilience or
vitality. They are strong, but only when they act gregariously, not
when they act as free and irresponsible individuals. They can fight,
but only when they are driven, and only in a quarrel which is not
their own. They fight to-day against the English as the slaves of the
Kaiser even as they fought for the English as the mercenaries of the
Landgrave of Hesse.

I submit that all those generalizations are essentially shallow. It is
not true that the creed of Social Democracy is an essentially German
creed. As a matter of fact, the founders of German Socialism, and some
of their chief leaders, are Jews. Lasalle and Marx were Jews.
Bernstein and Adler are Jews. It is not true that the Germans are
constitutionally incapable of heroism. As a matter of fact, no people