Supporting Bismarck’s idea of the mailed fist; Democracy stems from and is supported by aristocracy.
Why is it that, in the American Republic, there is aversion to acknowledging the services of men sprung from aristocracy, like BismarckAre the facts unrecognized, or is the silence only another form of political quackery3?
To bring the matter home, let us ask, “How is it in the[149] United States?” Washington was an aristocrat4 of fortune, one of the richest men of his time, dispassionate, cold, aloof5; Hamilton, an aristocrat of breeding, contributing his quota6 to democracy, as he saw it; Lafayette, an aristocrat of birth, helped us gain our liberty; and certainly Jefferson, an aristocrat of intellect as well as of fortune, the owner of 185 slaves, and the gifted author of the Declaration of Independence, offered inestimable services to the common people.
Off-hand, the average biographer records this: “Bismarck had no confidence in the common people. He fought a written Constitution. He did not wish to see his King yield an inch to the masses. It was the Crown against the Crowd. Violently reactionary7, he blocked progress—for there can be no progress without change. He was trying to force the stream of time backward, instead of going with the tide.”
An American who for the first time follows the history of the Unifier8 of Germany begins very early in the investigation9 to have a feeling of apprehension10. He is sure that Bismarck is a reactionary; his ideas are so out of “harmony” with the spirit of the times, the air full of the “liberty, equality and fraternity.”
Bismarck’s attempt to sustain the monarchial11 system, especially the idiotic12 conception of “Divine-right” of kings, as against the rising tide of “confidence in the people,” has about as much chance for success as that the slavery system could be re-introduced into the United States, after that question had been settled by five years’ war. Thus you conclude, from the American view!
As you read on and on, you feel that on the very next page, Bismarck will surely go to the scaffold, or will fall by the dagger13 of some “friend of the people,” a thug ever after regarded as the veritable Savior of his country for the assassination14 of the enemy of the common people.
The much ridiculed15 “Divine-right” of kings is cognizable as a right based on the survival of the fittest, backed by the[150] sword; filled with human weaknesses and shortcomings, but defensible as a system, withal; just as the real intent of the words “captain of industry” should mean one whose fatherly care over his laborers17, his judgment18, his risk of capital, his foresight19 in weathering bad times—redounds to the immediate20 prosperity of the workers with whom he can have no quarrel.
To those who make light of Bismarck’s theory of blood and iron, in government, it should be pointed21 out that all governments that endure, regardless of what theory you may work under, in the end fall to the strongest;—just as in a family fight the estate goes to the strongest, or in a partnership22 fight, or in religion, science, social affairs, love or war, the strong man has his way over the weak; and it is still to be proven that the American democracy, which at best is only another of manifold experiments in self-government, is to survive as long as have in the past royalist ideas—already that have persisted for thousands of years.
So, we have invented Democracy out of a thousand costly23 expenditures24 of blood and treasure. We protest that this latest experiment in government is to endure forever more, but not one man in a thousand has any real conception of the Democracy in which all men shall work for a common National end.
Thus, Democracy is fully25 as large an experiment as any other in the Halls of Time; and today we are still nursing childish ideals, attempting to level men by legislation, and incidentally taking satisfaction in stoning our public servants, decrying26 wealth, and robbing the individual of any broad conception of responsibility.
40
Parallel elements that make for power in America and Germany.
It is difficult for a certain type of American mind to get Bismarck’s point of view. This is because of the failure to recognize that in whatever respect Absolutism and Republicanism[151] may differ, as forms of government, the fact remains27 that it is society, and not human nature, that has been transformed. The old motives28, ambition, love, war, marriage, pride, prejudice, still sum up underlying29 conditions, however firmly any government may seem to be established, called by whatever name, and led by Crown or Crowd. In addition, all history forecasts the ultimate ruin of any régime founded on human nature.
As between the share which belongs to each man, and the share which does not belong to him but to the body politic2, expressed in a reciprocal concession30, upon each side, for the good of the state—that dream of governmental idealism has never yet been attained31, even in free America, to say nothing of Germany, France, England or Russia, and men will continue to annex32 the spoils to their private estates as long as men are what they are, at heart.
The elements that make for a desire to grasp power, in free America, are essentially33 the same, though in a different dress, as they were in Prussia, in Bismarck’s day.
We are wont34 to dismiss this matter with a shrug35 and charge all the turmoil36 up to a senseless desire on the part of the King of Prussia to force, for his own aggrandizement37, his rule on an unwilling38 people, and we therefore call Bismarck a tyrant39, as though in this conclusion we thus elevated our own virtues40 by a shuddering41 “May-God-forbid!” sort of recognition of Bismarck’s political vices1.
The old man had a grand idea just the same; he devoted42 his life to building up a free and united Germany. His intense belief in German virtues made his task sacred. He met the desire for a National cause and for greater freedom. He had to carry men by storm.
However offensive, politically speaking, may seem in democratic America Prussia’s “Divine-right” theory, it is a fact that we, also, appeal to the god of battles just as Bismarck did. We open our Congress with prayers often couched in conceited43 belief that God is on our side; while our historians have repeatedly dwelt on the fact that America has a “manifest[152] destiny,” a phrase reiterated44 by editors the land over till it has sunk deep into the public conscience. Therefore, in democratic America, we avow45 that we are in the hands of the Lord; an idea secretly nourished by millions of Americans who would publicly deny that any such Feudal46 conception as Divine-right of kings could possibly exist in related form, in the United States.
Surely we cannot mean that Divinity has anything to do with the majorities in an American election?
Then this “manifest destiny” must refer to the ultimate fact that, however we may blunder along, in times of crisis the Lord comes forth47, to lead us out of the wilderness48.
It is a familiar line of thought to find Grant, Sherman, and Lincoln and others, deified in the American press, as men “miraculously risen” in storm and stress to preserve the “manifest destiny” of our Nation.
If there be any logical distinction between this hope on the part of millions of loyal Americans, expressing their patriotism49 in terms of Heaven’s protective policy, and the attitude of Bismarck in regard to his King, as ordained50 of God, to rule over the Prussian people, then it would require a high-power microscope to detect any essential variation.
Meantime, we go on building dreadnaughts and inscribe51 on our coins, “In God We Trust.”
King William in Bismarck’s day refused the people’s paper crown of the Frankfort assembly, but plotted to have one offered to him by the princes of Germany. Was he, logically, any more inconsistent than is our own “manifest destiny” conception of America?
For it is ever the way with strong men to believe themselves the Lord’s anointed, likewise with strong nations—and democratic America is no exception.
“Chinese” Gordon carried with him wood of the real Cross, as he believed, and read his Bible day by day, up to the last, confident that he was in the charge of some unseen power for good, as against the destroying African tribes around Khartum.
Henry M. Stanley’s books are honeycombed with appeals to God as his guide and protector; he believed that God was with him in “Darkest Africa,” would see him through at the price of how many negro murders it mattered not, warding52 off fever, discouragement, starvation, and standing53 ever on the white man’s side.
In America, where the “Divine-right” of kings is a subject of political ridicule16, it is a fact that in the courts we raise our right hand and swear to tell the whole truth; our marriage ceremonies are consecrated54; and the last word at the grave is that God is our refuge; we have our chaplains who speak of God on our battleships, and in our armies; in the Autumn the President of the United States invokes55 a blessing56 for bountiful crops, and returns the Nation’s thanks to God for these favors.
All this is no more illogical than that Bismarck should insist that the Hohenzollerns, his masters, obtained their right to rule as a direct dispensation from high heaven, as against the Hapsburgs, who were Prussia’s rivals. Bismarck preached his theological-political dogma with intense earnestness during his long life; and at last the people must have been impressed with his arguments—or was it that he forced them to his way of thinking?
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vices
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缺陷( vice的名词复数 ); 恶习; 不道德行为; 台钳 | |
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politic
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adj.有智虑的;精明的;v.从政 | |
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quackery
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n.庸医的医术,骗子的行为 | |
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aristocrat
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n.贵族,有贵族气派的人,上层人物 | |
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aloof
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adj.远离的;冷淡的,漠不关心的 | |
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quota
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n.(生产、进出口等的)配额,(移民的)限额 | |
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reactionary
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n.反动者,反动主义者;adj.反动的,反动主义的,反对改革的 | |
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unifier
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联合者,统一者,使一致的人(或物); 通代 | |
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investigation
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n.调查,调查研究 | |
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apprehension
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n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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monarchial
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国王的,帝王风度的 | |
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idiotic
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adj.白痴的 | |
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dagger
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n.匕首,短剑,剑号 | |
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assassination
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n.暗杀;暗杀事件 | |
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ridiculed
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v.嘲笑,嘲弄,奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ridicule
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v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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laborers
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n.体力劳动者,工人( laborer的名词复数 );(熟练工人的)辅助工 | |
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judgment
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n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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foresight
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n.先见之明,深谋远虑 | |
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immediate
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adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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pointed
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adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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partnership
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n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
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costly
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adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的 | |
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expenditures
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n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 );使用;(尤指金钱的)支出额;(精力、时间、材料等的)耗费 | |
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fully
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adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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decrying
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v.公开反对,谴责( decry的现在分词 ) | |
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remains
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n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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motives
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n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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underlying
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adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的 | |
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concession
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n.让步,妥协;特许(权) | |
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31
attained
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(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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annex
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vt.兼并,吞并;n.附属建筑物 | |
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essentially
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adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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wont
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adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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shrug
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v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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turmoil
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n.骚乱,混乱,动乱 | |
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aggrandizement
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n.增大,强化,扩大 | |
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unwilling
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adj.不情愿的 | |
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tyrant
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n.暴君,专制的君主,残暴的人 | |
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virtues
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美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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shuddering
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v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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devoted
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adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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conceited
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adj.自负的,骄傲自满的 | |
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reiterated
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反复地说,重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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avow
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v.承认,公开宣称 | |
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feudal
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adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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forth
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adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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wilderness
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n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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patriotism
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n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义 | |
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50
ordained
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v.任命(某人)为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 );授予(某人)圣职;(上帝、法律等)命令;判定 | |
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51
inscribe
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v.刻;雕;题写;牢记 | |
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52
warding
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监护,守护(ward的现在分词形式) | |
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standing
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n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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54
consecrated
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adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
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55
invokes
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v.援引( invoke的第三人称单数 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
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56
blessing
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n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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