Page:Addresses to the German nation.djvu/243

 will listen to us; they will help us, if we show the inclination to allow ourselves to be helped. At any rate, if they did not, we would then, and not before, have the right to complain about them; at the present time, when our governments are pretty much as we want them to be, it ill becomes us to complain.

189. Whether there is a sure and thorough means of preserving the German nation, and what this means may be, is the most important of the questions which I have submitted to this nation for decision. My object in answering the question, and in stating the reasons for my way of answering it, was not to say what the final judgment will be—that could not be of any use, because everyone who is to have a hand in this matter must have convinced himself in his own mind by his own activity—on the contrary, my object was only to stimulate men to reflect for themselves and form their own judgment. From this point onwards I must leave each man to settle it for himself. One warning I can give and nothing more; do not let yourselves be deceived by the shallow and superficial thoughts which are in circulation even on this subject; do not let yourselves be restrained from deep reflection, and do not accept the empty consolations that are offered.

190. For example, long before the most recent events, we had to hear, in advance as it were, a saying which since then has frequently been repeated in our ears: that even if our political independence were lost we should still keep our language and our literature, and thereby always remain a nation; so we could easily console ourselves for the loss of everything else.

But, first of all, what basis is there for hoping that we shall keep our language even if we lose our political independence? Surely those who say this do not ascribe this miraculous power to their own persuasions