The Standard Bearer of Culture.
But it may be urged that war has its own exigencies and that these three
instances of uncivilized conduct partook of the nature of military
necessities. Turning from the outrages of war to the triumphs of peace,
let us make a disinterested attempt to find out just what foundation
there may be for the implicit assertion that Germany is the standard
bearer of civilization.
Perhaps it is too petty to point out that manners are the outward and
visible sign of civilization, and that in this respect the Germans have
not yet attained to the standard set by the French and the English. But
it is not insignificant to record that the Germans alone retain a
barbaric mediaeval alphabet, while the rest of Western Europe has
adopted the more legible and more graceful Roman letter; and it is not
unimportant to note that German press style is cumbrous and uncouth.
Taken collectively, these things seem to show German culture is a little
lacking in the social instinct, the desire to make things easy and
pleasant for others. It is this social instinct which is the dominating
influence in French civilization and which has given to French
civilization its incomparable urbanity and amenity.
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