to which one must act. “Let no more Jews
come in! And shut the doors, especially towards
the East (also towards Austria)!”—thus
commands the instinct of a people whose nature is
still feeble and uncertain, so that it could be easily
wiped out, easily extinguished, by a stronger race.
The Jews, however, are beyond all doubt the strongest,
toughest, and purest race at present living in Europe,
they know how to succeed even under the worst conditions
(in fact better than under favourable ones), by means
of virtues of some sort, which one would like nowadays
to label as vices—owing above all to a
resolute faith which does not need to be ashamed before
“modern ideas”, they alter only, when
they do alter, in the same way that the Russian Empire
makes its conquest—as an empire that has
plenty of time and is not of yesterday—namely,
according to the principle, “as slowly as possible”!
A thinker who has the future of Europe at heart, will,
in all his perspectives concerning the future, calculate
upon the Jews, as he will calculate upon the Russians,
as above all the surest and likeliest factors in the
great play and battle of forces. That which is
at present called a “nation” in Europe,
and is really rather a Res FACTA than NATA (indeed,
sometimes confusingly similar to a Res FICTA
et PICTA), is in every case something evolving,
young, easily displaced, and not yet a race, much less
such a race AERE PERENNUS, as the Jews are such “nations”
should most carefully avoid all hot-headed rivalry
and hostility! It is certain that the Jews, if
they desired—or if they were driven to
it, as the anti-Semites seem to wish—could
now have the ascendancy, nay, literally the supremacy,
over Europe, that they are not working and planning
for that end is equally certain. Meanwhile, they
rather wish and desire, even somewhat importunely,
to be insorbed and absorbed by Europe, they long to
be finally settled, authorized, and respected somewhere,
and wish to put an end to the nomadic life, to the
“wandering Jew",—and one should certainly
take account of this impulse and tendency, and make
advances to it (it possibly betokens a mitigation
of the Jewish instincts) for which purpose it would
perhaps be useful and fair to banish the anti-Semitic
bawlers out of the country. One should make advances
with all prudence, and with selection, pretty much
as the English nobility do It stands to reason that
the more powerful and strongly marked types of new
Germanism could enter into relation with the Jews
with the least hesitation, for instance, the nobleman
officer from the Prussian border it would be interesting
in many ways to see whether the genius for money and
patience (and especially some intellect and intellectuality—sadly
lacking in the place referred to) could not in addition
be annexed and trained to the hereditary art of commanding
and obeying—for both of which the country
in question has now a classic reputation But here
it is expedient to break off my festal discourse and
my sprightly Teutonomania for I have already reached
my serious topic, the “European problem,”
as I understand it, the rearing of a new ruling caste
for Europe.