that
writer's book? Was it that William II was in the first instance
seduced by the lamentable picture which De Bloch gives of France and
the organisation of her army, or (and this seems far more likely) did
he simply approve of the intrigue set on foot by the author of this
work on war, an intrigue which aimed at casting a shadow over the
patriotic hopes that France placed on the Russian alliance, by inciting
Nicholas II to call for a general disarmament?

It must be confessed that the Franco-Russian alliance struck a bitter
blow at the hopes of Polish patriots. The contempt and hostility
towards France which inspire M. de Bloch's book are proof sufficient of
the grudge its author bears us. It is perfectly evident that they must
have been delighted in Berlin at the chief object of his work. But
there were other objects in view.

For years William II has unceasingly laboured to persuade England that
she has every interest to join the Triple Alliance. His perseverance
in this direction is quite natural. But if Germany succeeded last year
in concluding an agreement with England on a few special questions, the
Hague Conference has proved that it does not involve an agreement in
matters of general policy.

Nevertheless, William II counted on this Congress to produce closer
relations with Great Britain. He hoped that the Congress would result
in sharp antagonism between England and Russia and he reckoned on this
antagonism to help him to inflict a severe defeat on Russia, which in
its turn would have enabled him to draw one or other of these two
Powers into the orbit of his policy. Great then was the disappointment
of the German Emperor _when, from the very outset of the Conference,
England, performing a most unexpected volte-face, made proposals on the
subject of arbitration, which went a great deal farther than the
Russian proposals laid before, the Congress. This master-stroke of
British diplomacy compelled Germany to come out into the open and to
reveal herself in her true light: that is to say, as the only obstacle
to the fulfilment of the Tzar's humanitarian designs_.

The Stengels, Zorns and Schwartzkopfs completed the success of British
diplomacy by the brutal violence of their opposition and the cynicism
of their proposals. It was not only on the two committees that dealt
with arbitration and disarmament that German opposition (always
supported by Turkey alone) wrecked the magnanimous attempt of Nicho