188 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE -XVII 



in place of it will come the man who by force of untoward 

 circumstances is to be his successor, and this is anything 

 but a pleasing prospect to an Austro-Hungarian, or, in 

 deed, to any thoughtful observer of human affairs. 



Interesting to me at this period was a visit from repre 

 sentatives of the &quot; Kriegerverein &quot; German- Americans 

 who had formerly fought in the war between Germany 

 and France, who had since become American citizens, and 

 who were now revisiting their native land. They were a 

 very manly body, evidently taking pride in the American 

 flag which they carried, and also in the part they had 

 played in Germany. Replying to a friendly address by 

 their commanding officer, I took up some current Ameri 

 can fallacies regarding Germany and Germans, encour 

 aged my hearers to stand firm against sensational efforts 

 to make trouble between the two countries, urged them 

 to keep their children in knowledge of the German lan 

 guage and in touch with German civilization, while bring 

 ing them up as thoroughly loyal Americans, reminding 

 them that every American who is interested in German 

 history or literature or science or art is an additional link 

 in the chain which binds together the two nations. The 

 speech was of a very offhand sort ; but it seemed to strike 

 deep and speed far, for it evoked most kindly letters of 

 congratulation and thanks from various parts of Germany 

 and the United States. 



The most striking episode in the history of the world 

 during these years was the revolution in China. The first 

 event which startled mankind was the murder of Baron 

 von Ketteler, the German minister at Peking, a man 

 of remarkable abilities and accomplishments, who was 

 thought sure to rise high among diplomatists, and who had 

 especially attracted American friendships by his mar 

 riage with an American lady. The impression created 

 by this calamity was made all the greater by the fact that, 

 in the absence of further news from the Chinese capital, 

 there was reason to fear that the whole diplomatic corps, 

 with their families, might be murdered. American. 



