The remissness of Förster and G[isitzky] I can very easily explain to myself; they are with their whole soul “Ethics,”[[46]] and in that case one cannot take charge of any second undertaking. The position of president might well remain temporarily vacant. The main thing is the secretary. Besides him, all the great names as “Honorary Presidents.”
December 5, 1892
Here is the letter desired. Write address and name on it. Perhaps in the meantime K. [Professor Kohler] has already declined or you have another in mind.
December 5, 1892
That was right unfriendly of Spielhagen. In the very lines in which he declined [the presidency] he might have included a manifesto. The heart must be in it. Well,—and thank God,—ours is!
December 16, 1892
As to the election of a president, I think once more that if worst comes to worst the position can remain vacant and two vice presidents can be chosen. The main thing would be an energetic secretary. To drop the matter is no longer admissible. They are rejoicing over it too warmly in Bern; besides, it has already been announced everywhere by the autograph correspondence of the Bureau. Hodgson Pratt is in raptures. So stick tight and hold out. If they do not at once get a clear idea of what they are about, no matter; the important thing is, to be; the rest takes care of itself.
December 21, 1892
How my heart throbs at it! [That is, at the meeting of the German Peace Society set for the twenty-first of December.] How I rejoiced over your Habemus Papam! Yes, that is a Christmas deed!
Thus the long-desired formation of the Society had become an accomplished fact!