If our capital, then, should extend a cold welcome to the august mother of the German Sovereign, the result could not fail to be of immediate advantage to the vote of military credits.  I ask my readers to notice, by the way, the deliberate coincidence of the journey of the Empress with the demand for these credits, and also with the anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles.  Finally, it was to be expected that if she were badly received, the mistake thus committed by the Empress Frederick would make “the Englishwoman” more unpopular in Germany; and, so far as one knows, her Imperial son has never been passionately devoted to her.  Moreover, she afforded Bismarck an opportunity of getting rid of a little of his venom, as witness the following words of his—­

“Only an Englishwoman,” the ex-Chancellor declared during a visit to Mr. Burckardt, “could possibly have inspired the Emperor with the idea of sending her to Paris as a challenge to the French.  A German woman would have had too much respect for her own dignity to go and visit Versailles and Saint-Cloud.  The nobility of her feelings would have forbidden her to make a triumphal appearance amidst the ruins of the houses and castles destroyed by our troops, and her pride would have prevented her from seeking the homage and the favours of the vanquished.  The Empress is English, and English she will remain.”

But if France were to welcome with enthusiasm—­or even with favour—­the Empress Frederick, William II might justifiably conclude (without making allowance for the sympathy which the widow of the Emperor-Martyr inspires in Frenchwomen) that France had accepted the accomplished fact, abandoned her claims to Alsace-Lorraine, and the defence of her future interests in common with Russia.  In that case, he would have treated France as he treats those who show him the greatest devotion.  In order to get a clear idea of the object pursued by William II, it is sufficient to read two short extracts from the Etoile Belge, a blind admirer of the Emperor of Germany, and to read them separately from the enthusiastic articles which this paper published at the commencement of the journey of the Empress Frederick.

The correspondent of the Etoile Belge wrote as follows—­

“In confiding his mother and his sister to the hospitality of Paris, William II committed an act as clever as it was courageous.  Let him continue in this policy of pacific advances, and the idea of a reconciliation with Germany will soon become more popular than the Russian Alliance.”

The Berlin correspondent of the same Etoile wrote—­

“Germany has at least as much as England to gain in bringing it about that Russia should not feel too sure of French support.”

Is not this clear enough?  There you have it:  the real object which underlay the visit incognito of the Empress Frederick for the furtherance of the interests of Germany, It meant a reconciliation with Germany, which would have separated us from Russia, from which England had everything to gain, which would once more have surrendered our credit to Italy unconditionally, and would have compelled us to renounce Alsace-Lorraine for good and all.