LETTER XLVIII
IN THE CRUCIBLE
I AM still profoundly interested in the land that gave me birth. There are dark days ahead for her, and the great soul of Abraham Lincoln is very near to the helm of State at this moment, when peace and war hang in the balance and the action of a day may decide the question.
No irreparable injury must overtake this land. It is the great pioneer of race freedom. As I told you months ago, one of America’s hands threatens the other, and both threaten the whole body.
May she keep peace so long as she can have peace with honor! But if the dark day comes, may she face it with squared shoulders; and if her foes be also those of her own household, it will not be the first time. A man once prayed to be saved from his friends, declaring that he could deal with his enemies himself.
The stillness of the Germans in America at this moment is potent with danger. If the hour comes when drastic action is necessary, they should be invited to return into the fold of their naturalization, and those who refuse should be dealt with severely, even to deportation. There yet remains one country which might receive them for transportation to that Fatherland they left—in quest of the freedom which they have now abused and betrayed.
The world is in the crucible, and Satan is in the laboratory with all his cohorts. Our labor is to stand. It is not always easy to stand steady.
Be calm, and trust in the Motherland that shall yet give birth to the new race, the synthesis of races.