, or, like others, you have
consented to become Prussians in order that the land you worship may
remain in hands that are still French.) What say you, when our
dreadful defeat, our piled-up ruin, and the spoliation of a portion of
France, become for a German official organ our _former differences_?
What words are these in which to speak of 1870-71, of that
unforgettable and tragic invasion, of the terrible anguish of our
ravished provinces, and what a proof they afford of the great gulf
which separates the mind of Germany from that of France!

September 26, 1894.

The German Emperor does not forget that he is before all things a
Prussian. Having administered a reprimand to the nobility, he proceeds
to give to the five new fortresses at Koenigsberg, the five greatest
family names of the Prussian nobility.

At Thorn he declared--

"Only they can count upon my royal favour who shall regard themselves
as absolutely and entirely Prussian subjects." The Germans have not
yet realised that the German Empire will be Prussian, before ever
Prussia consents to lose herself in a united Germany.

October 28, 1894.

The German Emperor, King of Prussia, with that love of peace for which
even Frenchmen are pleased to praise him, is now chiefly occupied in
displaying his passion for militarism. In the case of William II, it
will be necessary to modify a hallowed phrase, and to say to him:
"Seeing you in uniform, I guessed that you were no soldier."

The Emperor, King of Prussia, insists on continually reminding the
German peoples that he is the commander-in-chief of the armies of the
Empire, and he never misses an opportunity of emphasising the fact. At
the presentation of flags to the 132 new battalions created by the new
military law, (and doubtless with a view to peace, as usual) the
Emperor with his own hand hammered 132 nails, fixing the standards to
their flag-staffs. This sort of thing fills me with admiration, and if
it were not for my stupid obstinacy, it might convert me to share the
opinion of M. Jules Simon, who holds that we should entertain the King
of Prussia at the Exhibition in 1900, and welcome him as the great
_clou_[6] on that occasion. But I should not jest about those feelings
which transcend all others in the heart of the French people. Germany
owes us Alsace-Lorraine; she has every interest in trying to make us
forget the debt. What would one think of a creditor who allowed the
debtor to