"And finally, those who know Russia and her last movement certainly feel that _autocracy will never more be re-established in the forms it had before_ 1905, _and that a Russian Constitution could never take the Imperialist forms and spirit which Parliamentary rule has taken in Germany_. As to us, who know Russia from the inside, we are sure that the Russians never will be capable of becoming the aggressive, warlike nation Germany is. Not only the whole history of the Russians shows it, but with the Federation which Russia is _bound to_ become in the very near future, such a warlike spirit would be absolutely incompatible."--_Quoted in "Freedom," also in the "Manchester Guardian," October, 1914_. * * * * * THE FUTURE OF EUROPE. _Portion of a letter written by P. Kropotkin to Mr. R.J. Kelly, K.C., of Dublin, December 15, 1915._ "The same for the South Slavs and for all nationalities oppressed in Europe. When the last Balkan War had shown the inner power of the South Slavs, I greeted in it the disintegration of the Turkish Empire, which would be followed by the disintegration of the three other Empires--Austria, Russia, and Germany--so as to open the way for two, three, or more federations. A South Slavonic federation--the Balkan United State was the dream of Bakunin--would be followed by a free Poland, free Finland, Free Caucasia, free Siberia, federated for peace purposes. Yes, dear Mr. Kelly, you are right, we are on the eve of great events in Europe. Warmest wishes that this should become a reality, or receive a sound beginning of realization, during the coming new year, and my very best wishes to you of health and vigour.--Sincerely yours, "P. KROPOTKIN." * * * * * SERVIA. "We are therefore justified in declining to accept such evidence. We are witnessing the birththroes of a new nation, the triumph of the idea of national unity among the disunited Southern Slavs, and it is the duty of Britain and France, whose Fleets are now operating on the Adriatic, to insist upon a just and permanent solution, based upon the principle of nationality and the wishes of the Southern Slav race. Only by treating the problem as an organic whole and avoiding patchwork we can hope to remove one of the chief danger centres in Europe."--_Lecture at Essex Hall, November 13, 1914, by R.W. Seton Watson_. * * * * * THE BATTLEFIELD. "Then the camps of the wounded--O heavens what scene is this?--is this indeed _humanity_--these butchers' shambles? There are several of them. There they lie, in the largest, in an open space in the woods, from two hundred to three hundred poor fellows--the groans and screams--the odour of blood, mixed with the fresh scent of the night, the grass, the trees--that slaughter-house! Oh, well is it their mothers, their sisters cannot see them--cannot conceive and never conceived these things.