In determining upon the journey of his august mother to Paris, the
Emperor took no risks other than those which pleased him, and which
served the purposes of his grudges and his policy. In the first place,
this journey would serve for a moment to divert attention in Germany from
a policy which the great industrials and the workmen, the party of
progress and the conservatives, all unite in condemning. In the next
place, Berlin, having for a long time made ready to be amiable to Paris,
was bound to resent all the more acutely any failure to reciprocate her
kind advances. These results could not fail to be favourable to the vote
of credits for military purposes, which are always the last credits asked
for by the Government (whether under Bismarck or under Caprivi) and which
are always voted under stress of an appeal to the eternal but utterly
non-existent dangers, that are supposed to threaten Germany from France.

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