posed military law was heatedly discussed
in Germany. Realising that the Military Commission was on the point of
rejecting it, William II finished his speech in the following words--

"The supporters of the proposed Sedlitz Law accused the Government of
weakness, when it withdrew the Bill in the face of the clearly declared
opposition of a majority of the nation. Well, then, the proposed
military law provides us with an opportunity of showing that my
Government is not a weak one, and that the firm will of my grandfather,
the Emperor William, lives again in me."

A few days before the vote in the Reichstag, Herr Bebel had raised the
question of International Arbitration wherein, he said, lay Germany's
best means of proving her love for peace, even should it involve the
risk of having the question of Alsace-Lorraine brought before an
International Tribunal. Hereupon, Von Caprivi, Chancellor of the
Prusso-German Empire, replied to the applause which had come from
almost the entire Reichstag, as follows--

"The deputy Bebel advises us to adopt a tribunal of International
Arbitration. He admits the possibility that such a tribunal might
raise some day the question of Alsace-Lorraine; he insinuates that we
were to blame for the outbreak of war in 1870, and that there are those
who maintain this idea with even greater strength and assurance than
himself. Well, then, if such a tribunal should come together, and
should express, no matter in what connection, its opinion on the
question of Alsace-Lorraine, and if that opinion should be to the
effect that Germany should hand back Alsace-Lorraine, I am convinced
that Germany would never submit to such a decision, and that she would
rather shed her blood to the last drop than to hand back these
provinces."

To which Herr Bebel naturally replied--

"When one holds ideas of this kind, it is perfectly evident that one
cannot admit of International tribunals."

Before his little speech, His Majesty the German Emperor had made a big
one, from which we learned yet once again that William I had been
entrusted with a mission, and had handed it down to William II; and
then we heard once more the phrase with which Bismarck had deafened our
ears, on one of his blustering days, and which the King of Prussia has
re-issued in a new form and on his own account: "We Germans fear God
and nothing else in this world."

Well, Sire, I for my part believe that your Majesty fears s