LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
TEUTONIC ANGLOPHOBLL
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.") Sin,—I am glad to see again a reference to Germany in the Spectator of July 19th. Talking of the Information, you say : "That is perhaps hardly fair fighting, as the Court of Berlin did not encourage the caricatures." Yes, but did it discourage them in a country where the police have a good deal more arbitrary power than ours have ? No; it did not: therefore, cry aloud and spare not. Trust Germany as far as you can swing a bull by the tail. Your German University visitor must have gone abroad expecting not to be able to walk the streets nninsulted. But throughout the war the Germans have shown their hatred, not by insults to individual Englishmen, but by the tone of their
Press, their caricatures, and the universal abuse they have poured upon our nation in all their meetings, whenever they spoke, from Cabinet Ministers to cabmen, professors, doctors, pastors, merchants, one and all. I state this on the authority of a relative, who has lived since 1873 in one of the German capitals. An extract from one of this relative's letters I enclose herewith, as I think it may be worth the
attention of your readers.—I am, Sir, &c., C. M.
"One thing I never told you is that it was commonly stated in the newspapers, and I believe in current conversation, that the British soldiers, being timid, had to be scourged out of the ships to induce them to land at the seats of war. In Africa the scourging was done by their officers; in China the German soldiers or sailors—I forget which—kindly undertook that difficult task. Your recollection of the Jena University students' pro- cession is most exact. Mr. Chamberlain hung on a gallows on a triumphal car, which was driven by a man in the uniform of a German soldier, beside whom sat on the driving-seat a supposed Boer. Prom time to time the procession stopped to admit of Mr. C. being taken from his gallows, flogged, and hung up again. The procession walked in pairs, like Noah's Ark, one pair being an English soldier in full uniform and an English gentleman in evening dress, their rifle being to walk quietly along, propelled by kicks from those behind them. The remarkable part of this Proceeding is its having been allowed to take place in a neutral Country, and that, having taken place, not one voice was raised to disown it. The school and University professors everywhere Patronised and encouraged meetings held by the students, in Which England was abused in the most unmeasured terms. A
point to be dwelt on is that the scurrilous abuse lavished on us came from every class in the country. It cannot be said to have been a reptile Press' affair. It came, as with one voice, from Parliament, Universities, men of letters, artists, women, and from cluba and associations of every denomination, these latter meaning a great deal more here than they would in our country ; and it all went on without one voice raised in dissent. I think I told you how a Miss Mary Malden appeared at a variety enter- tainment at Munich, and how the audience, supposing her to be English, hooted her off the stage ; the manager appearing and asserting her to be American, she was allowed to come back and finish her performance. What I wish I could put into forcible words and dig into the British ear is this : All this execrable behaviour has nothing to do with the African war. Germany was free to have her own opinion ; her scholars, soldiers, authors, artists, senators, and women might all have disapproved of our policy and said so without either losing their own dignity or attacking ours. It is the outcome of a long-existing hatred and incompatibility of temper, as it were. They have never liked us. There is no sympathy between the nations. And yet while I write how inconsistent do I seem to myself, for I love the country and the people We may laugh at their favourite song Deutschland, Deutschland, ilber alles,' but would it not be well. if England were equally proud and jealous of herself, and had not so many foes in her own household? In a letter you wrote to me just after I came home you said something which interested ins very much, about England making an alliance with Russia
rather than with Germany I ought to have mentioned that just about the time Miss Holden was hissed off the stage by an enlightened and generous public at Munich a troupe of German actors and actresses were being fondly caressed in London and invited to banquets. Another thing ; the outcry about incivility to the English in Germany ought to be squashed. To begin with, it is not true. Little rudenesses occur to every one everywhere occasionally, and to put down to Pro- Boerdom every little rub received by a British subject is silly in itself, and also draws attention from the real evil, which is far more serious and deep-seated."
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