GERMAN PHILOSOPHY IN BRINGING ABOUT THE GREAT WAR. 131 



The Kev. Martin Anstey pointed out that ideas were the pre- 

 cursors of history. Thus the idea of the equality of men led up to 

 the French Revolution. So Nietzsche's doctrine of the will to power 

 had brought about the present cataclysm. There was a necessary 

 reciprocity between thought and action, and thought was determined 

 by the will. 



Mr. M. L. Rouse remarked that the meaning frequently 

 attached to " Deutschland ueber Alles " was unfair to the Germans. 

 That motto did not mean that Germany was to be over all other 

 nations, but that Germany was to be considered by Germans before 

 all their private interests : in itself a noble sentiment for a German 

 to entertain. 



Mr. Rouse then proceeded to give a number of instances from his 

 own experience of Germany to show how in the last fifty years there 

 nad been a great falling off from the Christian faith and a great 

 spread of rationalism and indifference to religion. 



The Chairman expressed his great regret that the Lecturer had 

 been obliged to leave before the Discussion. They were indebted to 

 him for a most thoughtful and instructive paper, and he would ask 

 the Meeting to return their warmest thanks. 



The vote was carried by acclamation, and the Meeting adjourned 

 at 6.10 p.m. 



Written Communication. 



Mr. Edward J. G. Titterington writes : The attempt has been 

 made in some quarters (though not in this lecture) to fix the respon- 

 sibility for the Great War upon the philosophers of modern Germany. 

 If it is meant by this that the German spirit is the creation of their 

 philosophers, the attempt seems to be in the highest degree un- 

 historical. We have only to read our daily press to be reminded of 

 the Prussian excesses in warfare and diplomacy in centuries past ; 

 and even the commercial policy and business methods of Germany 

 are no new thing. Have we quite forgotten — or are we ignorant of 

 — the Hanseatic League ? 



Even if the War could successfully be brought home tothe philo- 

 sophers, we have not yet found the origin of the War. For the 

 philosophers themselves require an explanation. We have the 

 phenomenon that Germany has produced, not one, but a number of 

 materialistic teachers, who, while differing in many important 



