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matters, but brooked no interference with the way in which 

 he directed his army to wage war. 



After the termination of the war of 1870-71, the military 

 renown which the Germans had won was almost equalled by 

 their reputation for humanity towards the inhabitants of the 

 invaded country. This reputation spread all over Europe 

 and in Great Britain and even to some extent in France it 

 prevented adequate preparation being made to meet the 

 attack which his successor, for purposes of conquest and 

 plunder, was manifestly preparing. The people had heard 

 their fathers say " If we are to be invaded, let us be invaded 

 by Germany." They did not then know the significance of 

 the difference between the numerals I and II. 



No. 21. AND THE HOUSE OF COMMONS? (From the Scotsman, 



October 5, 1907.) 435 



This letter was written when I had finished my autumn 

 work on the Morteratsch glacier, and saw in the English 

 newspapers that the Prime Minister had fixed October 5, 

 1907, for the meeting in Edinburgh where he was to open 

 the promised campaign against the House of Lords as an 

 independent legislative body under the British Constitution. 

 It occurred to me that, for the day, Edinburgh would 

 be practically a concentration camp of the followers of 

 Mr Asquith, and that it might perhaps be useful to give them 

 an opportunity of reading, in the morning, views on the 

 constitutional Houses of Legislature different from those 

 which they were likely to hear in the evening. It gave me 

 great satisfaction when I learned that the letter had appeared 

 in the Scotsman of that morning. 



The behaviour of autocrats of different types differs in 

 their methods of diverting public attention from the abuses 

 of personal rule at home. Monarchical autocrats usually 

 involve their country in a foreign war. Parliamentary auto- 

 crats, when a dissolution is impending, start some burning 

 question affecting the inhabitants of a remote foreign country, 

 so that the people is diverted from attending to its own 

 interests until the general election is over. In the present 

 case this geographical limitation was set aside and the people 

 were incited to a form of civil war in which it was hoped there 

 would be no fighting. The House of Lords was used for the 

 same purpose as Ireland had been used by generations of 

 unscrupulous British politicians. 



