pirit, of one whom the oppressors have wished to
enslave, but who has broken his chains.

Nicolai opens by explaining what has led him to an act which has cost
him dear, the abandonment of his country in the hour of danger. In
touching terms he expresses his love for the motherland (which he
contrasts with Europe, his fatherland), his love for Germany and for all
that he owes it. He tore himself away only because there was no other
means of working for the liberation of his country. While he remained in
Germany, he could do nothing; for years of tribulation had been the
proof. Right was shackled. Germany was no longer a Rechtsstaat.
Oppression was universal; and, still worse, it was anonymous. The power
of the sword, irresponsible, was supreme. Parliament no longer existed.
The press no longer existed. The chancellor, the emperor himself, were
subject to the mysterious "Unknown who rules Germany." Nicolai tells us
that he had long waited for others better qualified than himself to
speak. He had waited in vain. Fear, corruption, lack of determination,
stifled all attempts at revolt. The soul of Germany was dumb.--Even he,
Nicolai, would perhaps have held his peace to the end, constrained to
silence by the sentiment of chivalrous loyalty which influences everyone
in time of war, had he not been driven to extremities, had he not been
brought to bay, by the unknown power. After everything had been taken
from him, after he had been despoiled of his honours, of his official
position, of the comforts and even the necessaries of life, those in
authority wished to wrest from him the one thing that still remained,
his right to obey, his convictions. This was too much, and he fled. "I
was compelled to leave the German empire; I left, because I believe
myself to be a good German."

To enable us to understand his decision, he describes for us the four
years of daily struggle which had been his lot in Germany before he made
up his mind to leave.--Notwithstanding his views on the war, when it
actually broke out he put himself at the disposal of the military
authorities, but only as a civilian medical man (vertraglich
verpflichteter Zivilarzt). He was appointed principal medical officer in
the new Tempelhof hospital, a post which permitted him to continue his
public lectures at the university of Berlin. But in October, 1914, in
conjunction with Professor W. Foerster, Professor A. Einstein, and Dr.
Buek, he issued a protest, couched in