of nearly 200,000 marks on behalf of the regiment of
Hanseatic infantry which fought at Loigny on December 2, and for
distressed veterans of that regiment.

Germany was in great need of something to distract her attention by a
stroke of exotic brilliancy and by the creation of some new object of
hatred. Enmity for ever directed against France, was beginning
somewhat to pall. This continually living on the strength of one's old
triumphs, made Germany to appear like some much-dyed old dandy, seeking
to gain recognition for past conquests by means of art and cosmetics.
The time had come to create a diversion. The German Emperor, King of
Prussia, has found it with his usual headlong impetuosity, the quality
which impels him always to seize things on the wing, to display
alternately the capacity of a genius, and that of a stupid
blunderer. . . .

March 1, 1896. [2]

German opinion persists in expressing its severe criticisms on the
subject of the Transvaal business and continues to display its sympathy
for the Boers. There is every reason to expect that German interests
will now be able to create for themselves numerous outlets in the
Transvaal.

William II has made another speech on the subject of the war of 1870;
in this he is like the tide, which the waves carry away only to bring
it back. Lord, Lord, deliver us from this torture! I, for one, can
bear it no longer. My eyes are filled with tears of rage as I listen
and listen again, for ever, unceasingly and without end, to the tale of
our defeat and to the glorification of the army which conquered us, to
the tale of the German Empire born of these Prussian victories. Will
it ever be finished, this tale? When will they have done, once and for
all, with inscribing these cruel records of theirs in the golden book
of Germany, and shut the clasp upon it?

We know that William II either painted himself, or had painted, a
picture, which was all the rage in Germany and which represented Europe
invaded by the Chinese. It would look as if William II really believed
in the danger of this impending invasion, to judge by the inscription
on the engraving of this picture, reproduced by the thousand; "Nations
of Europe, take care for your most sacred treasures!--WILLIAM I.R."

But if this be so, how comes it that the German Emperor is sending
hundreds of military instructors to the Chinese, who are supposed to be
threatening his country?

June 1, 1896. [3]