sumptions or
denials, they believe that they are here to get what they can out of
God and men, and they take far more than they give.

Perhaps no feature of German life is so little known, so little
understood, as this simple-living, proud, and exclusive caste, who
have made, and still protect and guard, Prussia and Germany. They say:
"We made Prussia and Germany, and we intend to guard them, both from
enemies at home and from enemies abroad!" My admiration for these men
and women is so unbounded, that I would no more carry criticism with
me into their homes, than I would carry mud into a sanctuary.

They have done much for Germany, but the best, perhaps, of all is that
they have made economy and simple living feasible and even
fashionable; they have made talent aristocratic; they have insisted
that social life shall be founded on service and breeding and ability.
They will have no dealings with Herr Muller, the rich shopkeeper, but
whatever name the distinguished artist, or public servant, or man of
science, or young giant in any field of intellectual prowess may bear,
he is welcomed. In general this welcome given by German society to
talent holds good. There is, however, a society composed of the great
landed proprietors, who live in the country, who come to Berlin
rarely, and whose horizon is limited severely to their own small
interests, their restricted circle, and by their provincial pride.
They recognize nobody but themselves, for the reason that they know
nobody and nothing else. There is an exclusiveness born of stupidity,
just as there is an exclusiveness born of a sense of duty to one's
position and traditions in the world. One must recognize that this
side of social life exists in Germany just as it exists in England,
and France, and Austria, but it is fast losing its importance and its
power.

One hears it lamented that society is changing, that the rich Jew and
the rich gentile are received where twenty-five years ago the social
portals were shut against them, and that many go to their houses who
would not have gone not many years ago. My experience is too slender
to weigh these matters in years; my contention is only that, from an
American or English stand-point, their social life is notably simple,
and still largely founded on merit and service, rather than upon the
means to provide luxury.

Though there are thousands of people received at court each year, this
does not mean that they are invited to