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Let it be said once and for all: He who wants to understand us must
accept our conception that constitutionally we enjoy so great a
political freedom that we would not change with any country in the
world. Everybody in America knows that our manners and customs have been
democratic for centuries, while in France and England they have been
ever aristocratic. Americans, we know, always feel at home on German
soil.

But the Kaiser, you will say, speaks of "his monarchy," therefore must
the Germans be Fuerstenknechte, (servants of Princes.)

First of all, as to the phrase "Fuerstenknechte." Does not the King of
England speak of his "subjects"? That word irritates a German, because
he is conscious that he is not a subject, but a citizen of the empire.
Yet he will not infer from the English King's use of the term in formal
utterances that an Englishman is a churl, a "servant of his King." That
would be a superficial political conception.

As to our Princes, most of us, including the Social Democrats, are glad
in our heart of hearts that we have them. As far back as our history
runs, and that is more than 2,000 years, we have had Princes. They have
never been more than their name, "Fuerst," implies, the first and
foremost of German freemen, "primi inter pares." Therefore they have
never acted independently, never without taking the people into counsel.
That would have been contrary to the most important fundamental
principles of German law; hence our people have never been "de jure"
without their representatives. Even in the times of absolute monarchy
the old "estates of the realm" had their being as a representative body,
and wherever and whenever these privileges were suppressed it was
regarded as a violation of our fundamental rights and is so still
regarded.

Our princely houses are as old as our monasteries, our cities, and our
cathedrals. A thousand years ago the Guelphs were a celebrated family,
and the Wettins have ruled over their lands for eight centuries. In the
twelfth century the Wittelsbachs and Thuringians were Princes under the
great Kaisers of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Among these great families
the Hapsburgs (thirteenth century) and the Hohenzollerns (fifteenth
century) are quite young. All have their roots in Germany and belong to
the country.

We glory in our Princes. They link our existence with the earliest
centuries of our history. They preserve for us the priceless
independence of our small h