IMPERIAL MYSTICISM.

There is a curious article in one of the French Reviews, which seems to throw a good deal of light on the movement which is called Pan-germanism. The article is entitled "A Mystic School of Imperialism," and deals with the subject of the claim of the Germans to what is called the hegemony of the world, and not, as some have said, to that of Europe alone. The whole argument, as far as it can be said to be worthy of the name, is an extreme application of the principle of evolution, which in itself has added immensely to the accurate knowledge of mankind. The origin of this new cult or philosophy, for it may be regarded as one or the other, is a certain Count de Gobineau, a Frenchman, curiously enough, and he claims to have merely worked out the doctrine of evolution to its ultimate consequences. He assumes that there are two types of men in the world of Europe, the Homo Europeans, or the Aryan, and the Homo Alpinus, which is mainly composed of the celts or Alpines. There is a third race, called the Mediterranean, but it is too insignificant to take into account, and cannot be said to have any part in the struggle for existence which is assumed to be going on. The character of the two races dealt with is determined by the shape of their skulls. The conquering races are the brachycephalites (shortheaded), who are assumed to have destroyed the Eastern empires, and to be the conquering race of the world, at least so far as the European world is concerned. We are not told anything about the Eastern races, the dark skinned peoples, who seem not unlikely to show their power, but we are assured that the brachycephalites are destined to dominate Europe. The argument has been greatly amplified by a number of German writers, some of them learned professors, and the doctrine has become a sort of cult, which, we are told, is increasing in strength at a rapid rate. It does, indeed, explain some of the strange things which we read in German newspapers, and serves as a workable guide to the peculiar utterances that reach us occasionally as having been made by the Kaiser and sundry officials in Germany, The original author, de Gobineau, applied his doctrine to the past, for he regarded it as an explanation of the fall of the Eastern empires, on the principle that there was a race fittest to survive ; but other writers, especially German, have carried it further, and assume that it is a clue to the future of Europe, and we are hearing in various ways a great deal about this view at the present time. Strange to say, this doctrine has been adopted by a section of the socialistic party on the Continent, and it is being argued that the triumph of Collectivism can only be possible "with men made like us." Thus, this Aryan race is not only to dominate the world of Europeans and settlements of Europeans, but it is to be the race which is to create the new moral world, of which Robert Owen dreamed, and it is argued that such a world is only possible with such a race. One writer, a M. de Lafonge, has imagined a Slavo-celto-Germanic race as destined to civilise the world, but the German philosophers and writers have dropped out the slavo and the celto, and have decided that the destined race is the Germanic. So we are told that the Emperor William II. is a sort of Messiah of the new German religion.

We have no space to go into the many ramifications of this new doctrine or religion, nor would it be profitable to do so, for many curious things have been grafted upon it. Certain Socialists see in it a help to their desire to share wealth, and they declare that a community of race must be the first condition of a veritable democracy. They are quite willing that wealth shall fall into a few hands, especially into the hands of the Jews, because that will render its distribution easier when the time shall arrive for decisive action. But, it is to be noticed that the community of race means, in practically every instance, the unity of the Germanic race, which is assumed to be the fittest to survive. And, the case is put very clearly. It is pointed out that Germany, at the present day, is robbed of her youth every year by emigration, and must extend her territory at the expense of the peoples who are less prolific. The cry is "more land." This, we are told, is the, mot d'order of the pan-germanic campaign, and so it is understood that eventually Austria, Italy, and France will be made Germanic, while Holland and Scandinavia will be incorporated by persuasion—if possible. Extravagant as all this seems, there are not wanting those who propound this mystic imperialism very seriously, and base their argument on the assumption that the Germans are the people fittest to survive, and are destined to oust the others, even as the strong cuckoo pushes the young sparrow from the nest. No one can doubt, we think, that some such belief as this lies at the base of many of the strange things that we read, and has its effect on the general tone of the German press, and even, in some degree, on the German diplomacy. It may, however, be pointed out that the fittest to survive is not always the most desirable, for ill weeds grow apace. But, all the same, we must grant that the fittest will survive, whether we like it or not, so that we are left to consider whether it is really true that there is one race which is likely to oust all others, even as a weed may kill down all other vegetation. In regard to this there is one important fact which these new philosophers seem to have overlooked, and that is, that the races are not distinct, nor are they separate like the weeds in the field. Celt and Saxon have mingled largely, and perhaps for the welfare of mankind, for the Teutonic fancy is captured by Celtic animation and grace. The British race is essentially a compound one, and even many of those who call themselves Celts have German blood in them, or blood which the Germans claim to be so, that is, Scandinavian. Thus, the supposed distinction of races does not really exist. But, what is more, even the supposed inferior races have shown a very decided resolve to unite for their own safety, and so we have to-day an alliance which is said to include Russia, France, and Great Britain, and probably Italy. Such an alliance may be more fitted to survive than the boasted special race, while behind all is the United States, with their vast concourse of a people who have sprung from a number of intermingled races. So far, we see that the problem is much more complicated than is assumed, but the new Imperial mysticism serves to show by what mental forces the policy of a nation may be shaped.

 The Mercury 1 May 1909,