Well, then, if such a tribunal should come together, and
should express, no matter in what connection, its opinion on the
question of Alsace-Lorraine, and if that opinion should be to the
effect that Germany should hand back Alsace-Lorraine, I am convinced
that Germany would never submit to such a decision, and that she would
rather shed her blood to the last drop than to hand back these
provinces."
To which Herr Bebel naturally replied--
"When one holds ideas of this kind, it is perfectly evident that one
cannot admit of International tribunals."
Before his little speech, His Majesty the German Emperor had made a big
one, from which we learned yet once again that William I had been
entrusted with a mission, and had handed it down to William II; and
then we heard once more the phrase with which Bismarck had deafened our
ears, on one of his blustering days, and which the King of Prussia has
re-issued in a new form and on his own account: "We Germans fear God
and nothing else in this world."
Well, Sire, I for my part believe that your Majesty fears something
else besides God, and that is the disintegration of the Triple Alliance.
March 29, 1893. [4]
William II is ever at pains to invest those occasions in which his
personality plays a part, with all the glamour of Imperial pomp. Once
again, accompanied this time by an enormous retinue of Germans glad of
the occasion of a free trip to a sunny land, William II is about to
remind the Romans at Rome of the majesty of the Caesars.
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