that are to be dangled before their eyes."

"My lord," replied the last speaker, "I am considered an agitator, and
am accused of being responsible for the present perilous position of
England. Well, I will accept that responsibility. Never in the world's
history did a statesman entertain great plans without exposing his
country to certain risks. I remind you how Bismarck, after the war of
1866 had been fought to a successful issue, said that the old women
would have beaten him to death with cudgels had the Prussian army been
defeated. But it was not defeated, and he stood before them as a man
who had united Germany and made Prussia great. He exposed Prussia to the
greatest risks, in that by his agitation he made almost the whole world
Prussia's enemy, declared war upon Austria and upon the whole of South
Germany, and forced the latter eventually to engage in the war against
France. England at that time pursued the luckless policy of observing
and waiting for an opportunity, merely because no agitator conducted its
policy. Had England in 1866 declared war against Prussia, Germany would
not to-day be so powerful as to be able to wage war upon us. Since those
days, profound changes have taken place in England itself, and entirely
owing to the growth of the German power. Since the fall of Napoleon,
we have not troubled ourselves sufficiently about events upon the
Continent, but in our proud self-assurance have thought ourselves so
powerful, that we only needed to influence the decisions of foreign
governments, in order to pursue our own lines of policy. But this
self-assurance suffered a severe shock in the events of 1866 and 1870,
and England has, and rightly enough, become nervous. The Englishman down
to that period despised the forward policy of the Continental powers.
This is no longer the case, but, on the other hand patriotic tendencies
are at work even in England itself, which are branded by the weak-minded
apostles of peace as chauvinistic. Let that pass, I am proud to call
myself a chauvinist in the sense that I do not desire peace at any
price, but peace only for England's welfare. The patriotic tendencies
of our people have been directed into their proper channel by my
predecessor Chamberlain. And has not the Government for the last thirty
years hearkened to these patriotic feelings, in that, whether led by
Disraeli or Gladstone, it has brought about an enormous strengthening of
our defensive forces both on land