emblance to those of 1920, and
would also probably follow each other in the same sequence. The
differences would occur where modern improvements had been added.

Might not the same process of evolution have taken place between the
dates at which the works of Joly and Nilus were published? I do not
agree with the opinion of the _Morning Post_ that "the author of the
Protocols must have had the _Dialogues_ of Joly before him." It is
possible, but not proven. Indeed, I find it difficult to imagine that
anyone embarking on such an elaborate imposture should not have
possessed the wit to avoid quoting passages verbatim--without even
troubling to arrange them in a different sequence--from a book which
might at any moment be produced as evidence against him. For contrary to
the assertions of the _Times_ the _Dialogues_ of Joly is by no means a
rare book, not only was it to be found at the British Museum but at the
London Library and recently I was able to buy a copy for the modest sum
of 15 francs. There was therefore every possibility of Nilus being
suddenly confronted with the source of his plagiarism. Further, is it
conceivable that a plagiarist so unskilful and so unimaginative would
have been capable of improving on the original? For the Protocols are a
vast improvement on the _Dialogues_ of Joly. The most striking passages
they contain are not to be found in the earlier work, nor, which is more
remarkable, are several of the amazing prophecies concerning the future
which time has realized. It is this latter fact which presents the most
insuperable obstacle to the _Times_ solution of the problem.

To sum up then, the Protocols are either a mere plagiarism of Maurice
Joly's work, in which case the prophetic passages added by Nilus or
another remain unexplained, or they are a revised edition of the plan
communicated to Joly in 1864, brought up to date and supplemented so as
to suit modern conditions by the continuers of the plot.

Whether in this case the authors of the Protocols were Jews or whether
the Jewish portions have been interpolated by the people into whose
hands they fell is another question. Here we must admit the absence of
any direct evidence. An International circle of world revolutionaries
working on the lines of the Illuminati, of which the existence has
already been indicated, offers a perfectly possible alternative to the
"Learned Elders of Zion." It would be easier, however to absolve the
Jews from all