In conclusion, we beg to express the deep consideration which we feel for your science, hitherto so unerring.

To Americans In Germany

By Prof.  Adolf von Harnack.

Citizens of the United States, ladies and gentlemen:  It is my pleasure and my privilege to address to you today a few words.

Let me begin with a personal recollection.  Ten years ago I was in the United States and I came away with some unforgettable memories.  What impression was the strongest?  Not the thundering fall of Niagara, not the wonderful entrance into New York Harbor with its skyscrapers, not the tremendous World’s Fair of St. Louis in all its proud grandeur, not the splendid universities of Harvard and Columbia or the Congressional Library in Washington—­these are all works of technique or of nature and cannot arouse our deepest admiration and make the deepest impression.  What was the deepest impression?  It was two-fold:  first, the great work of the American Nation, and next, American hospitality.

The great work of the American Nation, that is, the nation itself!  From the smallest beginning the American Nation has in 200 years developed itself to a world power of more than 100,000,000 souls, and has not only settled but civilized the whole section of the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the great lakes to the West Indies.  And not only civilized:  everything which has drifted to it has been welded together by this nation with an indescribable power, welded together to the unity of a great, noble nation of educated men—­such a thing as has never before happened in all history.  After two or at the most, three generations, all are welded together in the American body and the American spirit, and this without petty rules, without political pressure.  In the definite frame of this people every individual character fits in without coercion, becomes American and yet retains its own quality.  The world has never witnessed such a spectacle but it is witnessing it continually now.  On the one side it hears and sees the fact that every alien after a short time announces, “America is now my Fatherland!” and on the other hand the old country still continues undisturbed the bond between them.  Yes, here is at once a national strength and freedom which another could not copy from you very easily.

The Spirit of America.

But, further:  Among those who have wandered to your shores are millions of Germans—­several millions!  For more than two years—­where shall I begin to relate—­since the days of Steuben and of Carl Schurz—­but how can I name names?—­they have been all received as brothers, bringing their best; and their best was not lost.  More I cannot say.