arly characterizes the Latin races. The
sentiment of justice and humanity is weakness and Germany is and ought
to be force. _Wo Preussens Macht in Frage kommt, kenne ich kein Gesetz,_
said Bismarck--"When the power of Prussia is in question I know no law."

*Enemies Most Welcome.*

The German does not ask to be loved. He prefers to be hated provided he
is feared. _Oderint, dum metuant_. He does not mind being surrounded by
enemies. He knows with satisfaction that in the very heart of the empire
certain annexed provinces constantly protest against the violence which
has been done to them. The ego cannot work without opposition. The
German needs enemies to keep himself in that state of tension and of
struggle which is the condition of vigor. He willingly applies to
himself what the Lord God said of man in general in the prologue of
Goethe's "Faust":

Man's activity has only too great a propensity to relax. Left by
himself man seeks repose. That is why I give him a devil for a
companion. He will excite him and keep him from getting sleepy.

Germany has a certain satisfaction in recognizing in the neighbors whom
she menaces, in the subjects whom she oppresses, these providential
devils whose mischief will stimulate her activity and her virtue.

Not that Germany rejects, as regards other nations, every regime except
that of hostility. Her aim is domination, the only role which suits the
people of God. Now, to attain that, two means are offered to her. The
first plainly is intimidation which must never flag. The feeble quickly
become insolent if their feebleness is not recalled to them. Other
nations must feel themselves constantly threatened with the worst
catastrophes if they resist Germany. But it being well understood that
Germany is the strongest, that she will never give up what she
possesses, however unjustly, then bargains advantageous not only for
herself but occasionally for the other party, may be the more direct and
less onerous means than violence to attain her end. So Germany will be,
by turns, or both at once, threatening and amiable. Amiability itself
can be effective when it rests on hatred, contempt, and omnipotence.

Now power counts before all. Germany must possess armaments superior to
those of all other nations. The reason is plain. The German Empire is a
rock of peace, _der Hort des Friedens_. The force which it accumulates
is directed toward imposing upon mankind the German peace,