es and bleeds. Whom can he
possibly hope to deceive? Muelhausen is not far from Paris, neither is
Colmar, nor Strasburg, nor Metz. It is from this unhappy town of Metz,
the most cruelly tortured of all, that he sends us his condolences and
his bag of money. As is usual with complete hypocrites, he is by no
means lacking in impudence. Never have the French people of
Alsace-Lorraine been accused with more bitter determination,
prosecuted, condemned and exploited by all possible means and
humiliated in every way. Never has William himself displayed such
unrestraint and wealth of insult in his speeches to the Army. I came
across him during a journey of mine some months ago, just as he was
unveiling a monument, commemorating the fatal year of 1870. With his
head thrown back, his eyes rolling in frenzy and rage, shaking his fist
towards France and with his voice coming in jerks, he uttered
imprecations, challenges and threats in wild confusion. Next day the
German Press published his speech, very carefully arranged, toned down,
and even changed in certain respects; but it still retained, in spite
of this diplomatic doctoring, an unmistakable accent of fierce and
determined hatred. There you have him in his true light, and in his
real sentiments, this man of sympathetic telegrams, of flowers, and
easy tears."

[11] _La Nouvelle Revue_, June 16, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[12] _La Nouvelle Revue_, July 1, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[13] _La Nouvelle Revue_, August 1, 1897, "Letters on Foreign Policy."

[14] Amongst the latest proofs of this, here is one, I quote from a
German newspaper: "In 1870, when war was declared, the _Koelnische
Zeitung_ offered a reward of 500 thalers for the first capture of a
French gun. This prize was won by some soldiers of the first Silesian
Battalion of the 5th Regiment of Chasseurs, who, in their first fight
at Wissemburg, took possession of a cannon which bore the name of Le
Douay, after the commander-in-chief of a French Army Corps. It
occurred to these soldiers to erect a monument at the spot where this
gun was captured. The monument itself, consisting of a large rock from
the Vosges, was the gift of one of them, and on June 20 the
presentation of the monument took place, in the presence of Chasseurs
who had come from all parts of the country and of a large number of
officers. Twenty-seven years ago, the Chasseurs were there, on the
same spot, facing the enem