I cannot close this chapter without some reference to the wealth of the two nations from the military point of view, that we are all compelled to consider. To be rich is of no use in actual warfare unless we are also ready. The French had plenty of money in 1870, as they proved shortly afterwards by paying two hundred millions sterling to Germany, yet that money could not win the battles of Gravelotte and Sedan. At the same time the luxurious establishments of rich French people, the wines in their cellars, their collections of pictures, their beautiful books, their pretty carriages, all the pleasant things that are commonly associated with the idea of wealth, were of no more practical value than the embroidery on the mocassins of a Red Indian. The truth is unpleasant, but we have to face it, that wealth itself is valueless for warlike purposes _unless it has been employed in time_, and that it is not the richest nation, but the most prepared nation, that lives best through the day of trial.[80] CHAPTER III ALLIANCES [Sidenote: Marriage as an Alliance.] [Sidenote: The French Ideal.] [Sidenote: The English Ideal.] The notion of marriage as an alliance is more generally prevalent in France than in England, where it belongs only to the upper, or at least the wealthier classes. The ideal of a French marriage is the practice of princes in the middle ages and at the Renaissance, when they were affianced to ladies whom they had never seen, merely on the ground that their social position was suitable. The ideal of an English marriage is that the social position of both parties must be suitable, but that they ought previously to have some acquaintance with each other and some appearance of affection. There are, however, many exceptions in the practice of both countries. In both, there is a strong disapproval of the _mésalliance_, which goes so far that even in England it is said that society will condone a seduction more willingly. [Sidenote: Definition of _Mésalliance_.] [Sidenote: _Mésalliances_ in England.] [Sidenote: Ideas of Class in France.] [Sidenote: Preservation of the Wife’s Surname in France.]