The Soul of Germany - A Twelve Years Study of the People From Within, 1902-14 #251168

Large numbers of Englishmen have wandered about Germany from hotel to hotel, and obtained information from waiters, hotel secretaries, and German — British Consuls. The conclusions of such students are worthless, but um fortunately many members of the House of Commons belong to this category, and when they have expressed Opinions, their words have had weight. There are very few m.p.'s indeed who possess thorough first-hand know ledge oi the German Empire. Yet Germany has occupied the entire stage of English foreign policy for half a generation. The writer lays the greatest emphasis on the language qualification. An Observer who is not able to feel the slightest vibrations of the language — no matter what country he is studying — is labouring under a very real disability. Natives must not be conscious that a foreign element is in their midst, for that consciousness makes them nolonger truly natural and themselves.