would come to discuss “business” with Sir [sic] Cecil Rhodes, or that the latter would have dared to present himself, in a check suit, before the Kaiser wearing his winged helmet—­such a prophet would have been regarded as a dangerous lunatic.  Nevertheless, so it is.  Mr. Rhodes entered the Imperial Palace quite simply and naturally, conveying to the Emperor the affectionate regards of Queen Victoria.  I do not know whether they shook hands.  Between business men, shopkeepers ready for a deal, etiquette is superfluous and a ready understanding easy.  Shake!

Herr von Buelow, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs communicated the news to the Reichstag, promising further information on the subject before long.  And now, what becomes of the hope of a rupture with England, anticipated by our worthy apostles of the Franco-German Alliance against perfidious Albion?  Not only does William II flirt with old England and give her pledges, but he opens his arms to the most dangerous, the most enterprising, the most compromised of Englishmen, the Napoleon of the Cape!

April 27, 1899. [3]

Were it not for Alsace-Lorraine, we should be the ally of colonial Germany.  Were it not for Alsace-Lorraine, we should be the most ardent disciples of the noble, truly humane, and admirable work of disarmament undertaken by the Emperor Nicholas II.  Alsace-Lorraine has made us the irreconcilable enemies of Germanism and at the same time the faithful, devoted and ever loyal friends of every Slav cause.

Familiar with the work of these causes, attached to the greatness of our allies, those of us who were the first to seek that mighty alliance, will ever labour to strengthen and extend it by all the resources which can add to its glory, but at the same time we are anxious that nothing should be said or done to diminish our own first claims to restitution.  An article in the Novae Vremya contains a protest against the idea (disseminated by the German Press) that Russia is working to bring about a reconciliation between Germany and France.  The Russian organ declares that such a rapprochement would deprive France of all the advantages of her alliance with Russia.  The St. Petersburg newspaper adds a sentence which appeals to us, because we can adapt it to our own case.  “A Franco-German entente,” says the Novae Vremya, “would erect a cross on the Franco-Russian entente.”  A Russo-German entente would erect a cross on the Franco-Russian entente.

Needless to say, the Kolnische Zeitung informs us that the Novae Vremya only represents middle-class opinion in Russia.  Well, that isn’t so bad, considering that we are sure of the antipathy of the whole Russian people for the Germans.  The Kleine Zeitung, already reckoning on the conclusion of the rapprochement between Germany and France, adds that it will be received with sympathy throughout the whole German Empire.  I believe you, O Kleine Zeitung!  And the more so when, with a mixture of haughtiness and careless indifference, you add “with the exception of the question of Alsace-Lorraine, which for us does not exist, there is no difference which should separate Germany from France!”