At
the presentation of flags to the 132 new battalions created by the new
military law, (and doubtless with a view to peace, as usual) the
Emperor with his own hand hammered 132 nails, fixing the standards to
their flag-staffs. This sort of thing fills me with admiration, and if
it were not for my stupid obstinacy, it might convert me to share the
opinion of M. Jules Simon, who holds that we should entertain the King
of Prussia at the Exhibition in 1900, and welcome him as the great
_clou_[6] on that occasion. But I should not jest about those feelings
which transcend all others in the heart of the French people. Germany
owes us Alsace-Lorraine; she has every interest in trying to make us
forget the debt. What would one think of a creditor who allowed the
debtor to persuade him that the debt no longer existed? A nation which
reserves its rights against the victor, and maintains its claims to
conquered territory, may be despoiled but is not vanquished. Would
Italy have recovered Lombardy and Venice had she not unceasingly
protested against the Austrian occupation? Excessive politeness
towards those who have inflicted upon us the unforgettable outrage of
defeat is not a sign of good manners, but of culpable weakness, for it
inflicts suffering upon those who have to put up with the material
consequences of Germany's conquest, and might end in separating them
from their old and unforgotten mother country.
When William II conducted the Prince of Naples to Metz he was only
acting in accordance with his usual ideas as an insolent conqueror.
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