l, he was sentenced to five months' imprisonment. The
newspapers were forbidden to mention his name. The "Danziger Zeitung"
was suspended for having published an account of the trial. His troubles
began afresh immediately he came out of prison. The commandant of
Eilenburg wished to force Nicolai to accept combatant service. Nicolai
refused, and was given twenty-four hours to think the matter over. He
thought of Socrates, and of the Greek philosopher's obedience to his
country's laws, bad though they were. But he thought also of Luther, who
fled to the Wartburg to finish his work. And Nicolai left that night.
Not even yet, however, did he quit Germany, for he wished to make a last
appeal to the justice of his country. He wrote to the minister for war,
relating the infractions of law to which he had been exposed, and asking
for protection against the arbitrary proceedings of the military
authorities. While awaiting an answer, he took refuge with friends,
first in Munich, then in Grunewald near Berlin. But no answer was
received. He had, therefore, to expatriate himself. We know how he
crossed the frontier, "in an aeroplane, two miles above the earth amid
clouds formed by bursting shrapnel."[89] At dawn after Saint John's
night, he saw the distant gleam of the sea of freedom. He reached
Copenhagen. For the last time he addressed himself to the German
government, offering to return upon guarantees that his rights should be
respected, and that he should be reinstated. After eight weeks, he was
declared to be a deserter. A raid was made upon his house in Berlin, and
upon the houses of some of his friends. His goods were sequestrated. A
demand was made for his extradition, upon the charge of stealing an
aeroplane.--Then it was that, resuming freedom of speech, Nicolai wrote
his "Open Letter" to the "Unknown" despot.

* * * * *

What particularly strikes me in this narrative is, in the first place,
the man's invincible tenacity, the way in which he stands upon his right
as upon a fortress--"eine feste Burg." ...But I am also greatly
impressed by the secret aid which was furnished him by so many of his
compatriots.

People are astonished to-day at the sudden collapse of the German
colossus. A hundred different reasons are given. We are told that the
army is ravaged by epidemic disease; that the morale of the Germans has
been undermined by bolshevist propaganda; and so on. These influences
have p