170 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XVI 



intertwined American and British flags ; and, secondly, that 

 there was not a German flag in the room. I immediately 

 sent for the proprietor and told him that I would not 

 sit down to dinner until a German flag was brought in. 

 He at first thought it impossible to supply the want, but, 

 on my insisting, a large flag was at last found. This 

 was speedily given a place of honor among the interior 

 decorations of our hall, and all then went on satisfactorily. 



As the war with Spain progressed, various causes of 

 difficulty arose between Germany and the United States; 

 but I feel bound to say that the German Government con 

 tinued to act toward us with justice. The sensational 

 press, indeed, continued its work on both sides of the At 

 lantic. On our side it took pains to secure and publish 

 stories of insults by the German Admiral Diederichs to the 

 American Admiral Dewey, and to develop various legends 

 regarding these two commanders. As a matter of fact, 

 each of the two admirals, when their relations first began 

 in Manila, was doubtless rather stiff and on his guard 

 against the other; but these feelings soon yielded to dif 

 ferent sentiments. 



The foolish utterances of various individuals, spread 

 by sundry American papers, were heartily echoed in the 

 German press, the most noted among these being an al 

 leged after-dinner speech by an American officer at a 

 New York club, and a Congressional speech in which the 

 person who made it declared that &quot;the United States, 

 having whipped Spain, ought now to whip Germany.&quot; 

 Still, the thinking men intrusted with the relations between 

 the two countries labored on, though at times there must 

 have recurred to us a sense of the divine inspiration of 

 Schiller s words, &quot;Against stupidity even the gods fight 

 in vain. 



Of course the task of the embassy in protecting Ameri 

 can citizens abroad was especially increased in those times 

 of commotion. At such periods the number of ways in 

 which American citizens, native or naturalized, can get 

 into trouble seems infinite; and here, too, even from the 



