ite a good fellow, the
Saxon is a decent sort of man, the Bavarian is chiefly a brute in drink,
whilst the Prussian--we all know what the Prussian is, the black centre
of hardness, the incarnation of the shady trick, and the very complex
soul of mechanical efficiency.

The Hohenzollern here makes a sandbag of the Hapsburg, of whom Fate has
already made a football.

Fate has always been behind the Hapsburg for his own sins and those of
his house. She has made him kneel at last.

H. DE VERE STACPOOLE.

[Illustration: "You see how I manage to keep the enemy out of _my_
country!"]

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THE GERMAN OFFER

The German claim--not the Austrian nor the Turk, for the alliance
following Germany is to be allowed little force--is that, the
civilization of Europe now being defeated, a Roman pride may be generous
to the fallen. Before modern Germany is routed, as may be seen in the
features of its citizens, the nobility of its public works, and the
admirable, restrained, and classic sense of its literature, this
generosity to a humbled world will take the form of letting nations, of
right independent, enjoy some measure of freedom under a German
suzerainty. In the matter of property the magnanimous descendants of
Frederick and William the Great will restore the machines which cannot
be wrenched from their concrete beds, and the walls of the
manufactories. More liquid property, such as jewellery, furniture,
pictures--and coin--it will be more difficult to trace. In any case,
Europe may breathe again, though with a shorter breath than it did
before Germany conquered at the Marne.... This is the majestic vision
which the subtle diplomats of Berlin present to the admiration of the
neutral Powers, happily free from wicked passions of war, and not
blinded, as are the British, French, Russians, Italians, Belgians, and
the Serbians, by petty spite. Their audience, their triple audience, is
part of Greece, some of the public of Spain, and sections of that of the
United States. To the French and the British armies in the West, to the
Russians in the East, and to the Italians upon their frontiers, the
terms appear insufficient. Therein would seem to lie the gravity of
Prussia's case. These belligerent Powers will go so far as to demand
more than the mere restoration of stolen property, from cottage
furniture to freedom. A