ot know the air-raids had had much effect.

"They had an unfortunate psychological effect."

"Well, you don't forgive us."

"On the contrary, the generality of Englishmen forgive Germany now she
is down."

My friend perceptibly winced at the word "down." I had used the wrong
word. But it is true enough.

"We know the Quakers are our friends, and the pacifists," said he. "We
are thankful for their friendship, but we need to win over the other
people. Make the business people feel that the Versailles Peace is bad
business, and the Imperialists that it is bad for Empire."

"They know that already, that it is not good for business and not very
good for the Empire. What we have to get over is something
psychological--the belief in 'the dirty Hun,' the belief in German
trickery and spite."

He had never heard of that sentence which is a motto in Carmelite
Street, "They'll cheat you yet, those Junkers," or "Once a German
always a German."

There is a genuine belief among the English masses that the Germans are
cheating us, that they are pretending to demobilize and keeping a large
army in secret readiness, pretending to be unable to pay "reparations,"
not taxing themselves, faking their figures.

W---- and several others whom I met in Germany put it in the foreground
of the work to be done for re-establishing Germany in the comity of
nations, that it should be proved that Germany was not responsible for
the beginning of the war. It is still the theme of innumerable
articles in the Press. The German mind has not grasped the fact that
no intelligent European blames Germany exclusively. Now that the hot
mood of war is past we are all ready to recognize that we were all in
part to blame. We all founded our security on armies and navies, the
nation that produced the "Dreadnought" most of all. We were all living
and picnicking and unfortunately quarrelling in the great cordite
warehouse of European militarism, and one day it blew up. If we had
not been so well prepared it could not have happened so. If the Kaiser
pronounced the dreadful atheism of "Let the guns speak," he really did
so after the event.

In debating this matter the German mentality disclosed itself in the
Germans with whom I conversed in Berlin. I had a suspicion that one of
them might have said England began it, if I had been other than an
Englishman. Edward the Seventh who arranged the _entente cordiale_ had
evidently something to do with