“There are three parties I could belong to,” said the small landlord; “the alliance of October 17th, the alliance of Right and Order, and the Constitutional Democratic Party. I would be willing to support any one of these three, in the hope that they would lead directly or indirectly to the disappearance of the present dynasty and to the establishment of a real autocracy.” The student laughed. “The Constitutional Democrats will not lead you to an autocracy of any kind,” he said. “I am not so sure,” said the landlord. “Napoleon was the child of the Revolution, and so was Cromwell. I support the Radicals in the same way in which I would have supported the Puritans to get rid of Charles I., and make way for Cromwell.” “And Charles II.?” asked the professor, who had just returned from a prolonged stay in England. “Precisely, and Charles II.,” said the landlord. “The Charles the Firsts of history are invincibly ignorant, whereas the Charles the Seconds have learned the lesson and make ideal monarchs. One cannot always be governed by men of genius, and in the intervening period, when the genius is absent, I prefer to be governed by a man of the world, such as Charles II. or Louis XVIII., rather than by demagogues and idealists.” “It is better to be governed by honest demagogues and idealists than by dishonest Bureaucrats,” said the student. “The Bureaucrats made the war.” “When the war was declared you students marched cheering into the streets, and I myself happening to be in uniform that day—I am in the Reserve—was carried in reluctant triumph on the shoulders of an enthusiastic crowd. The war can be blamed, not because it was immoral, for it was not more immoral than any other war, but because it was made too late, and because it was unsuccessful.” “The war,” said the professor, “was a war made by irresponsible capitalists, in the same way as the South African War was the work of a gang of financiers, and had a true Englishman of genius, such as Gladstone or Bright, been alive, the war would not have been possible.” “Yes,” said the student, “the feeling here was never so great against England during this war as during the war in South Africa.” “The English,” answered the landlord, “made the same mistake as we did; they knew nothing about South Africa, and made the war later than they should have done; had they waited longer the Afrikander element would have probably turned them out of South Africa altogether, and they would have lost their prestige and their Colonies. Bismarck foresaw this, and hoped that it might happen.” “The English have gained nothing by having betrayed their ancient tradition, and sacrificed to false gods,” said the professor, “but now they are returning to the true path, and it is to Liberal England that we must look for example and support.”