o see her intervene. The present French Government, and
especially M. Delcasse may be credited with too much good sense and
good feeling to resort to the foolish, pin-pricking policy of M.
Hanotaux to which the Fashoda incident is really due. Such blunders
are not made a second time."

Only Germany remains to be considered. That there have been intimate
relations between the Governments at Pretoria and Berlin, is certain. At
one time the Emperor's aspiration was to unite his possessions in East
Africa to those in the West, and he counted on the Transvaal to assist
him. Mr. Stead's opinion on this subject, at the time of the Jameson
Raid, has already been quoted by us (_Le Siecle_, December 28th, 1899).
But this policy has since been renounced by him; the German Government
took fright at the influence exercised by Dr. Leyds on certain of the
Berlin newspapers; guns and Mauser rifles have been furnished by Krupp,
but that is a private firm; German officers have entered the Boer army,
to what extent have they been disavowed? The Emperor William is
certainly interested in the Transvaal War.

"He gets others to experiment on the value of German armaments,
rifles, guns, and all the tactical and strategetical problems
incident to the perfection of modern arms, and which have not yet
been solved. Experience, that is to say war, is worth everything in
such a matter as this, and the Boers with their German officers are
literally working for 'the King of Prussia.'"

That the Emperor should wish the Boers to succeed is logical enough, and
to all Frenchmen capable of thought, to Belgians, Swiss and Dutch too we
commend the way in which this desire is proved by M. Tallichet:

"Should the Boers be successful, England's power would be lessened.
She could no longer maintain the balance of power in Europe, which
is a service of inestimable benefit to our continent, especially to
the smaller countries, and to none more than to Holland. The
conquest of the Netherlands is a great temptation to Germany, who
would thereby gain exactly what she wishes: an excellent sea-board;
a great number of sailors; colonies, at the very moment when she is
aspiring to a first-class fleet. In a recent number of the
semi-official _Norddeutsche Zeitung_, an article was published by
Dr. Ed. von Hartmann, suggesting that Holland should be persuaded,
or if