id to the
Italian statesman on the 17th of September, 1877:

There could be but one cause for a breach in the friendship
that unites Austria and Germany, and that would be a
disagreement between the two Governments concerning Polish
policy.... If a Polish rebellion should break out and Austria
should lend it her support, we should be obliged to assert
ourselves. We cannot permit the reconstruction of a Catholic
kingdom so near at hand. It would be a Northern France. We
have one France to look to already, and a second would become
the natural ally of the first, and we should find ourselves
entrapped between two enemies.

The resurrection of Poland would injure us in other ways as
well. It could not come about without the loss of a part of
our territory. We cannot possibly relinquish either Posen or
Dantsic, because the German Empire would remain exposed on the
Russian frontier, and we should lose an outlet on the Baltic.

In the event of Germany's defeat a large slice of Poland, including the
wealthiest parts of Silesia, with gigantic coal mines, iron works, &c.,
would be taken away from her, and if the Poles should recover their
ancient province of West Prussia, with Dantsic, Prussia's hold upon East
Prussia, with Koenigsberg, would be threatened. The loss of her Polish
districts would obviously greatly reduce Germany's military strength and
economic power. It may therefore be expected that Germany will move
heaven and earth against the re-creation of the Kingdom of Poland, and
that she will strenuously endeavor to create differences between Russia
and her allies. The statesmen of Europe should therefore, in good time,
firmly make up their minds as to the future of Poland.

J. ELLIS BARKER.

THE REDEMPTION OF EUROPE

By ALFRED NOYES.

[From King Albert's Book.]

_... donec templa refeceris_

Under which banner? It was night
Beyond all nights that ever were.
The Cross was broken. Blood-stained might
Moved like a tiger from its lair;
And all that heaven had died to quell
Awoke, and mingled earth with hell.

For Europe, if it held a creed,
Held it through custom, not through faith.
Chaos returned, in dream and deed.
Right was a legend; Love--a wraith;
And That from which the world began
Was less than even the best in man.

God in the image of a Snake
De