the base betrayal of Germany by envious, hypocritical
England, the immeasurable superiority of German Kultur and Technik,
the saintly virtues of the German soldier, and so on, through the
appointed litany. There is even a set of obligatory quotations which
very few have the strength of mind to resist. By far the most popular
is Geibel's couplet:

Und es mag am deutschen Wesen
Einmal noch die Welt genesen.

(And the world may once more be healed by the German nature, or
character.) It came into vogue before the war. The Kaiser struck the
keynote of the whole chorus of self-exaltation when he said (August
31, 1907): "The German people will be the granite block on which the
good God may build and complete His work of Kultur in the world. Then
will be fulfilled the word of the poet who said that the world will
one day be healed by the German character." In the extracts collected
in Nippold's "Der deutsche Chauvinismus" (a pre-war publication) the
Geibel couplet appears at least four times--probably oftener. After
the outbreak of the war, it is easier to reckon the utterances in
which it does _not_ occur than those in which it does. Next in
popularity to the "Wesen--genesen" catchword comes the Kaiser's
brilliant saying, "I no longer know of any parties--I know only German
brothers." He is no good German who does not quote this with reverent
admiration. Then come four or five others which are about equally in
request: Bismarck's "We Germans fear God, and nothing else in the
world"; "the old _furor Teutonicus_"; "_oderint dum metuant_";
Arndt's

Der Gott der Eisen wachsen liess,
Der wollte keine Knechte--

(The God who made the iron grow meant none to be a bondman); and,
finally,

Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel waer',
Es soll uns doch gelingen--

(And though the world were full of devils, we should succeed in spite
of them.) Even a scholar of the distinction of Ulrich v.
Wilamowitz-Moellendorf, though he avoids the Geibel tag, ends one of
his orations by quoting "Deutschland ueber Alles." Imagine Sir Walter
Raleigh or Prof. Gilbert Murray winding up an address with a selection
from "Rule, Britannia"!

One English quotation occurs as often as any, except the ubiquitous
"Wesen-genesen." It is "My country, right or wrong," invariably quoted
in the form, "Right or wrong, my country." This is supposed to be the
shockingly immoral watchword of British patriotism. It matters nothing
to the German