they shall confide their
vital interests, _i.e._, future existence, they prefer to lean on
successful German thoroughness, than on Britain's humanitarianism
unsupported by the strong arm. At the moment of writing there is wailing
and gnashing of teeth throughout the British Empire at the diplomatic
failure in Bulgaria and the previous fiasco in Turkey. Sir Edward Grey
has dealt with the question in Parliament, but he has not mentioned the
true reason.

The true reason is that this country has fallen into the habit of
sending diplomatic representatives abroad who have not been keen enough
to obtain a mastery of the language, or a full knowledge of the feelings
and national aspirations of the peoples to whom they were accredited.
Instead of being living ambassadors of the British idea, they have often
been concrete examples before foreign eyes of British inefficiency. An
example of the language question which came under the author's personal
notice, deserves mention.

In the spring of 1914 there seemed to be a danger that a German would be
appointed British Consul in Nuremberg, and in order to prevent this the
author wrote to a British Minister stationed in Munich. He was greatly
surprised to receive a reply--the latter, of course, was in
English--addressed on the outside to:

"Dr. T. Smith,
"_On the top_ of the University of Erlangen."

That is to say, the German preposition _auf_ was employed instead of
_an_. A mistake which even an elementary knowledge of German should have
made impossible. In the British Legation at Munich there was a
German-British Consul--a Munich timber-merchant. If readers imagine that
Munich was an unimportant city in the diplomatic sense, then they are
recommended to study the French Yellow Book, which contains final proof
that an efficient French Minister was able to make important discoveries
at the Bavarian Court.

British prestige, confidence in British efficiency and power among
neutrals has gravitated dangerously in the direction of zero, while
admiration for Germany has correspondingly risen. That there is only too
much reason for the change, the course of the war has given ample proof,
and therein lies the hope of Britain's future. The war will reveal to
the British both their strength and weakness, and if the war does not
destroy the dry rot in the land, then it is merely the precursor of
Britain's final downfall.

There can be no greater mistake than closing one's eyes to