The Boston _Herald_ correspondent of February 5, said of France and Germany: "Now both are counted as among the most civilized and most humanitarian on the face of the globe, and yet the _certainty of war_ between the two hereditary enemies on either side of the Rhine is _as certain as anything can be_. When it comes, be it sooner or later, one of the two adversaries is inevitably condemned, if not to total annihilation, at least to such a crushing punishment that for many long years the defeated power will be little more than a geographical expression on modern maps." His letter concluded with an elaborate statement of the military resources and condition of the two nations, which approximate an equality in the aggregate. A Paris dispatch of the same date said that "Prince Bismarck has succeeded in establishing a coalition between Austria, England, and Italy against Russia. Germany will join the coalition if France supports Russia." The New York _Sun_ of February 7, said: "We suppose there is no subject which just now is more earnestly discussed among intelligent Americans than the probable result of the war between France and Germany which is believed to be approaching. France ought by this time to have outstripped her enemy in point of military efficiency. She has laid out since 1871 nearly twice as much on her permanent armament, and she devotes nearly twice as much to the current military expenses of each year. She has maintained a larger peace establishment, and she should have it in her power to bring to the field a larger number of soldiers who have served under the colors." February 10 the Paris correspondent of the Berlin _Post_ said that General Boulanger was growing in popularity, and "is regarded by the masses as the long-expected liberator. The whole country is anxious for _revanche_ [revenge], and is arming silently, but with the evident belief that the hour is coming." To add to the growing hostility, the _Post_ quotes from the Paris _Figaro_ an article imputing the grossest immorality to German women. At the same date, the Buda Pesth _Journal_ urged Austria to attack Russia before the latter has completed her preparations on the lower Danube. It said: "_War is inevitable_, and it is better to begin fighting before the Balkan states have been Russianized." Senor Castillo, the Spanish minister of the interior, said that Spain had taken steps to augment her defences and protect her colonies, in view of the possible European war. February 12 a despatch to the London _News_ from St. Petersburg said: "Ominous fears of a European war prevail here. It is announced that German colonists in the Caucasus have been notified to hold themselves in readiness to return to Germany and join the reserves."