ade admirable
provision for us when they give us all that they alone recognize as
desirable. On the other hand, that for which alone the nobler soul
among us can live is then eradicated from public life, and the people,
who have always shown themselves receptive toward the impulses of
higher things, and the majority of whom, it might be hoped, could even
be raised to that nobility, are--in so far as it is treated as they
wish it to be treated--abased beneath its rank, dishonored, and
blotted out, since it coalesces with the populace of the baser sort.

If, now, those higher claims upon life, together with the sense of
their divine right, still remain living and potent in any one, he,
with deep indignation, feels himself crushed back into those first
ages of Christianity in which it was said: "Resist not evil: but
whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
also. And if any man will take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak
also." And rightly so, for as long as he still sees a cloak upon thee,
he seeks an opportunity to quarrel with thee in order to take this
also from thee; not until thou art utterly naked dost thou escape his
attention and art unmolested by him. Even his higher feelings, which
do him honor, make earth a hell and an abomination to him; he wishes
that he had not been born; he wishes that his eyes may close to the
light of day, the sooner the better; unceasing sorrow lays hold upon
his days until the grave claims him; he can wish for those dear to him
no better gift than a quiet and contented spirit, that with less pain
they may live on in expectation of an eternal life beyond the grave.

These addresses lay upon you the task of preventing, by the sole means
which still remains after the others have been tried in vain, the
destruction of every nobler impulse that may in the future possibly
arise among us and this debasement of our entire nation. They present
to you a true and omnipotent patriotism, which, in the conception
of our nation as of one that is eternal, and as citizens of our own
eternity, is to be deeply and ineradicably founded in the minds of
all, by means of education. What this education may be, and in what
way it may be achieved, we shall see in the following addresses.

[Illustration: VOLUNTEERS OF 1813 BEFORE KING FRIEDRICH WILHELM III IN
BRESLAU _From the Painting by F.W. Scholtz_]

* * * * *

ADDRESS FOURTEEN

Conclu