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this aroused the Germans yet more。 One journal; very influential



among the aristocratic and religious public of Northern Germany;



regularly published letters of considerable literary merit from



its American correspondent; in which every scandal which could be



raked out of the gutters of the cities; every crime in the



remotest villages; and all follies of individuals everywhere;



were kneaded together into statements showing that our country



was the lowest in the scale of human civilization。 The tu…quoque



argument might have been used by an American with much effect;



for just about this period there were dragging along; in the



Berlin and other city journals; accounts of German trials for



fraud and worse; surpassing; in some respects; anything within my



memory of American tribunals。 The quantity of fig…leaves required



in some of these trials was enormous; and; despite all



precautions; some details which escaped into the press might well



bring a blush to the most hardened American offender。 It was both



vexatious and comical to see the smug; Pharisaical way in which



many journals ignored all these things; and held up their hands



in horror at American shortcomings。 Some trials; too; which at



various times revealed the brutality of sundry military officers



toward soldiers; were heartrending; and especially one or two



duels; which occurred during my stay; presented features



calculated to shock the toughest American rough…rider。 But all



this seemed not for a moment to withdraw the attention of our



Teutonic censors from American folly and wickedness。 One of the



main charges constantly made was that in America there was a



〃Deutschen Hetze。〃 Very many German papers had really persuaded



themselves; and apparently had convinced a large part of the



German people; that throughout our country there existed a hate;



deep and acrid; of everything German and especially of



German…Americans。 The ingenuity of some German papers in



supporting this thesis was wonderful。 On one occasion a petty



squabble in a Roman Catholic theological school in the United



States between the more liberal element and a reactionary German



priest; in which the latter came to grief; was displayed as an



evidence that the American people were determined to drive out



all German professors and to abjure German science。 The doings of



every scapegrace in an American university; of every silly woman



in Chicago; of every blackguard in New York; of every snob at



Newport; of every desperado in the Rocky Mountains; of every club



loafer anywhere; were served up as typical examples of American



life。 The municipal governments of our country; and especially



that of New York; were an exhaustless quarry from which specimens



of every kind of scoundrelism were drawn and used in building up



an ideal structure of American life; corruption; lawlessness; and



barbarism being its most salient features。







Nor was this confined to the more ignorant。 Men who stood high in



the universities; men of the greatest amiability; who in former



days had been the warmest friends of America; had now become our



bitter opponents; and some of their expressions seemed to point



to eventual war。







Yet I doubt whether we have any right to complain of such attacks



and misrepresentations。 As a matter of fact; no nation washes so



much of its dirty linen in the face of the whole world as does



our own; and; what is worse; there is washed in our country; with



much noise and perversity; a great deal of linen which is not



dirty。 Many demagogues and some 〃reformers〃 are always doing



this。 There is in America a certain class of excellent people who



see nothing but the scum on the surface of the pot; nothing but



the worst things thrown to the surface in the ebullition of



American life。 Or they may be compared to people who; with a



Persian carpet before them; persist in looking at its seamy side;



and finding nothing but odds and ends; imperfect joints;



unsatisfactory combinations of color; the real pattern entirely



escaping them。 The shrill utterances of such men rise above the



low hum of steady good work; and are taken in Germany as exact



statements of the main facts in our national life。







Let me repeat here one example which I have given more than once



elsewhere。 Several years since; an effort was made to impeach the



President of the United States。 The current was strong; and most



party leaders thought it best to go with it。 Three senators of



the United States sturdily refused; their leader being William



Pitt Fessenden of Maine; who; believing the impeachment an



attempt to introduce Spanish…American politics into our country;



resolutely opposed it。 The State convention of his party called



upon him to vote for it; the national convention of the party



took the same ground; his relatives and friends besought him to



yield; but he stood firmly against the measure; and finally; by



his example and his vote; defeated it。 It was an example of



Spartan fortitude; of Roman heroism; worthy to be chronicled by



Plutarch。 How was it chronicled? I happened to be traveling in



Germany at the time; and naturally watched closely for the result



of the impeachment proceedings。 One morning I took up a German



paper containing the news and read; 〃The impeachment has been



defeated; three senators were bribed;〃 and at the head of the



list of bribed senators was the name of Fessenden! The time will



come when his statue will commemorate his great example; let us



hope that the time will also come when party spirit will not be



allowed to disgrace our country by sending out to the world such



monstrous calumnies。







As to attacks upon the United States; it is only fair to say that



German publicists and newspaper writers were under much



provocation。 Some of the American correspondents then in Germany



showed wonderful skill in malignant invention。 My predecessors in



the embassy had suffered much from this cause。 One of them; whom



I had known from his young manhood as a gentleman of refined



tastes and quiet habits; utterly incapable of rudeness of any



sort; was accused; in a sensational letter published in various



American journals; of having become so noisy and boisterous at



court that the Emperor was obliged to rebuke him。 Various hints



of a foul and scandalous character were sent over and published。



I escaped more easily; but there were two or three examples which



were both vexatious and amusing。







Shortly after my arrival at my post; letters and newspaper



articles began coming deploring the conduct of the Germans toward



me; expressing deep sympathy with me; exhorting me to 〃stand



firm;〃 declaring that the American people were behind me; etc。;



etc。; all of which puzzled me greatly until I found that some



correspondent had sent over a telegram to the effect that the



feeling against America had become so bitter that the Emperor



himself had been obliged to intervene and command the officials



of his empire to present themselves at my official reception; and



with this statement was coupled a declaration that I had made the



most earnest remonstrance to the Imperial Government against such



treatment。 The simple fact was that the notice was in the



stereotyped form always used when an ambassador arrives。 On every



such occasion the proper authorities notify all the persons



concerned; giving the time of his receptions; and this was simply



what was done in my case。 On another occasion; telegrams were



sent over to American papers stating that the first secretary of



the embassy and myself; on visiting Parliament to hear an



important debate; had been grossly insulted by various members。



The fact was that we had been received by everybody with the



utmost kindness; that various members had saluted us in the most



friendly manner from the floor or had come into the diplomatic



gallery to welcome us; and that there was not the slightest



shadow of reason for the statement。 As an example of the genius



shown in some of these telegrams; another may be mentioned。 A



very charming American lady; niece of a member of Mr。 McKinley's



cabinet; having arrived on the Norwegian coast; her children were



taken on board the yacht of the Emperor; who was then cruising in



those regions; and later; on their arrival at Berlin; they with



their father and mother were asked by him to the palace to meet



his own wife and children。 A few days afterward a telegram was



published in America to the effect that the Emperor; in speaking



to Mrs。 White and myself regarding the children; had said that he



was especially surprised; because he had always understood that



American children were badly brought up and had very bad manners。



The simple fact was that; while he spoke of the children with



praise; the rest of the story was merely a sensational invention。



One of the marvels of American life is the toleration by decent



fathers and mothers of sensational newspapers in their



households。 Of all the demoralizing influences upon our people;



and especially upon our young people; they are the most steadily



and pervasively degrading。 Horace Greeley once published a



tractate entitled; 〃New Themes for the Clergy;〃 and I would



suggest the evil influence of sensation newsmongering as a most



fruitful theme for the exhortations of all American clergymen to



their flocks; whether Catholic; Jewish; o

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