The State of Prussia--Sudden Rise to Power--Bismarck Prime Minister--War With Denmark--With Austria--With France--Metz and Sedan--Von Moltke--The Fall of Paris--William I. Crowned Emperor--United Germany--Bismarck and the Young Kaiser--Peculiarities of William II.--Germany of To-Day 207 CHAPTER XV Gladstone the Apostle of Liberalism in England Sterling Character of the Man--His Steady Progress to Power--Becomes Prime Minister--Home and Foreign Affairs Under His Administration--His Long Contest With Disraeli--Early Conservatism Later Liberalism--Home Rule Champion--Result of Gladstone's Labors 243 CHAPTER XVI Ireland the Downtrodden Ancient Ireland--English Domination--Oppression--Patriotic Struggles Against English Rule--Robert Emmet and His Sad Fate--Daniel O'Connell--Grattan, Curran and Other Patriots--The Fenians--Gladstone's Work for Ireland--Parnell, the Irish Leader in Parliament--Ireland of the Present 259 CHAPTER XVII England and Her Indian Empire Why England Went to India--Lord Clive and the East India Company--Sir Arthur Wellesley--Trouble With the Natives--Subjugation of Indian States--The Great Mutiny--Havelock--Relief of Lucknow--Repulse From Afghanistan--Conquest of Burmah--Queen Victoria Crowned Empress of India--What English Rule Has Done for the Orient--A Vast Country Teeming With Population--Its Resources and Its Prospects 268 CHAPTER XVIII Thiers, Gambetta and the Rise of the New French Republic French Instability of Character--Modern Statesmen of France--Thiers--MacMahon--Gambetta--The New Republic--Leaders in Politics--Dangerous Powers of the Army--Moral and Religious Decline--Law and Justice--The Dreyfus Case as an Index to France's National Character and the Perils Which Beset the Republic 277 CHAPTER XIX Paul Kruger and South Africa Review of the Boers--Their Establishment in Cape Colony--The Rise and Progress of the Transvaal Republic--Diamond Mines and Gold Discoveries--England's Aggressiveness--The Career of Cecil Rhodes--Attempt to Overthrow the Republic--The Zulus and Neighboring Peoples--The Uitlanders--Political Struggle of England and Paul Kruger--Chamberlain's Demands--The Boers' Firm Stand--War of 1899 295 CHAPTER XX The Rise of Japan and the Decline of China