34 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



every quarter of the world, shall be trailed in the dust — these are 

 things never to be thought of, not to be entertained for a single 

 moment, by a true-born son of France. I fear, therefore, that she is 

 but biding her time ; when she is sufficiently strong she will strike 

 the blow. And the France of to-day is very different from the 

 France of 1870. She has laid aside much of the boastful spirit that 

 came from the victorious campaigns of Louis XIV. and the Great 

 Napoleon. She has learned wisdom by defeat. What shall be the 

 result of that war between giants (for Germany has not been inactive 

 since 1870, she is quite aware of the designs of France) : what the 

 result shall be, time alone can tell. But, unless other nations 

 interfere, the war will be waged to the death. For, if France be the 

 victor, she has the old score of 181 5 and 1870 to wipe off; and she 

 has a good deal of the Latin love of vengeance. If Germany be the 

 victor, then, as Bismarck once said, " Future generations will ask, 

 Where is the country vv'hich was once called France?" 



The second disturbing cause is to be found in the Eastern Ques- 

 tion — the persistent determination of Russia to absorb Turkey, and 

 her encroachments in Central Asia. Now, if Russia were a civilized 

 nation in the true sense — a nation in whose pathway freedom and 

 justice walk — there would be no such antipathy felt toward her as 

 is now felt by ortier nations. But Poland, Siberia, and Finland forbid 

 that belief. Moreover, on many occasions she has broken her 

 pledged word, e. g., in the case of the navigation of the Dardanelles 

 and the Black Sea a few years ago. It is considered unwise, there- 

 fore, by Great Britain and the other powers to allow her to move 

 toward Constantinople. Not that they love Turkey more, or indeed 

 at all, but that they love Russia less. 



My own belief is, that the time-honored policy of Great Britain 

 is unwise. It is true that Russia is faithless, that she has silently 

 and ruthlessly advanced her posts through Central Asia towards the 

 Afghan frontier. Great Britain is, therefore, amply justified in acting 

 as she does, as far as ground of action is concerned. But I do not 

 believe that Russia in Constantinople would be more dangerous to 

 the Suez Canal, Egypt, Cyprus, Malta, or any of the other points in 

 that chain of fortresses and stations which guard Britain's pathway 

 to India, than she is now. She will never be satisfied until she 

 reaches an open southern sea. If she does not reach it at Constan- 

 tinople, she will elsewhere. If she were allowed to do this without 



