LETTER XLVIII
IN THE CRUCIBLE
I am still
profoundly interested in the land that gave me birth. There are dark days ahead
for her, and the great soul of Abraham Lincoln is very near to the helm of State
at this moment, when peace and war hang in the balance and the action of a day
may decide the question.
No irreparable injury must overtake this land. It is the great
pioneer of race freedom. As I told you months ago, one of America’s hands
threatens the other, and both threaten the whole body.
May she keep peace so long as she can have peace with honor! But if
the dark day comes, may she face it with squared shoulders; and if her foes be
also those of her own household, it will not be the first time. A man once
prayed to be saved from his friends, declaring that he could deal with his
enemies himself.
The stillness of the Germans in America at this
moment is potent with danger. If the hour comes when drastic action is
necessary, they should be invited to return into the fold of their
naturalization, and those who refuse should be dealt with severely, even to
deportation. There yet remains one country which might receive them for
transportation to that Fatherland they left—in quest of the freedom which they
have now abused and betrayed.
The world is in the crucible, and Satan is in the laboratory with
all his cohorts. Our labor is to stand. It is not always easy to stand steady.
Be calm, and trust in the Motherland that shall yet give birth to
the new race, the synthesis of races.
Letter XLIX
LETTER
XLVII |
