related to Mr. Y. the
incident of the conversation and asked to be allowed to read a copy of
the letter in question. Having perused it, he urged Mr. Y. to have it
printed. In accordance with the suggestion, the letter, together with
the correspondence which preceded it, is reprinted in the following
pages.

This letter was written in June, 1915, to a prominent business man in
Germany. A few of the passages contained in the letter as here given
are taken from an earlier letter (March, 1915) written to the same
person.

The original letters were in German. The following translation was
made by the author.

It is needless to inform the reader as to the identity of Mr. Y.

August, 1918.

LETTER TO A GERMAN

_New York_, _June_ 28, 1915.

DEAR X.:

Many thanks for your very interesting letter of April 27th. The spirit
which animates Germany is indeed a great and mighty one. It is a
spirit of unity and brotherhood among her people, of willing sacrifice
and heroic striving, coupled with the passionate conviction and faith
that her cause is just and righteous, that it must and will win, and
that not only is victory a necessity for national existence, but that
in its train it will bring blessings to the whole of the universe.

Wherever and whenever in the world's history such a spirit--born of
the stirring of the profoundest depths of national or religious
feeling--has manifested itself, it has invariably been attended by a
more or less marked fanaticism among the people concerned; by a
condition of mind easily comprehensible as a psychological phenomenon,
yet acutely prejudicial to the ability to preserve an objective point
of view, and to arrive at an impartial judgment.

It is but natural that in the atmosphere which surrounds you and under
existing circumstances, a man even of such sober, clear and
independent mentality as yourself should think and feel in the way
manifested by your letter. Even if it were in my power, I would not
try _at this time_ to shake your faith and patriotic determination.
Since, however, you ask me to continue this exchange of opinions, I
will endeavour further to make plain to you my ideas as to this most
deplorable and accursed war.

The views I am expressing are, I believe, the views as well of the
great majority of thinking people in America. And I would remind you
that America as a whole, by reason of the racial composition of her
population, is essentially free from n