“I am here, the one that you did not evoke but who is willing to be useful to the Society whose objective is as serious as yours. I will speak about politics. Do not be afraid; I know the boundaries that must constrain me. The current situation in Europe offers a remarkable opportunity for study.
There has never been a time, and let us not forget the end of the last century, when the prejudices and abuses that have oppressed the human spirit; at no other time; has intellectual movement been bolder, more outspoken. I say this frankly because the European spirit walks alongside the truth.
Freedom is no longer a bloody phantom, but a beautiful and great goddess of public prosperity. Even in Germany, the country that I have described with so much love, the exciting breath of the times abates the last stronghold of prejudice.
Be happy, you who live in such a time; but even happier will be your descendants as the hour approaches; the hour announced by the Precursor; you will see the cleared horizon, but, as in the days of the Hebrews, you will remain on the threshold of the Promised Land but will not see the radiant Sun of new days.
Staël
