All his surroundings are suited to his character. The chair on which he sits has goat’s feet, and its back is the bearded head of a goat. The very telephone has something about it subtly suggestive of the devil. A gorgeously attired flunkey who stands behind the chair does not attempt to conceal his delight at the joke; for he is not the conventional English serving man, who betrays no appreciation of what is said by his master. He is in perfect sympathy with the devil, for he is himself a devil. The nature of the devil is expressed more completely in the footman than in the master. His legs are the legs of a goat, and his feet are its cloven hoofs; and, whereas on the master’s head the idea of horns is suggested only by the arrangement of the hair, horns openly protrude from the bald skull of the serving-man. There is no veneer of fashion and intellect and wit here: the hateful animalism of the face is in keeping with the animal limbs. From these surroundings comes the message to Potsdam. The Prussian monarchs have always been given to the outward forms of religion in their messages. For every success which they have announced to their people they have professed their appreciation of the good conduct of that German God whom alone they recognise. But Mephistopheles has been struck with one omission in the series of messages from the Kaiser at the front announcing the stages of his success. There has been no expression of thanks to the “dear old God” for the application of fire as an agent of victory, and he calls up his friend at Potsdam to twit him with the omission. WILLIAM MITCHELL RAMSAY [Illustration: BURNING FIRE “Hullo! Potsdam? Did you thank your dear old God for this new success?”] The German Oculist The position of Holland as a neutral state is one of increasing difficulty. She has no desire to join in the war on either side; all she asks for is to be left alone to pursue her own mercantile path and to maintain the rights and privileges of her kingdom. Naturally enough, however, she feels very uneasy at the close proximity of a power like Germany, which has shown how little the independence of nationalities is regarded in her military councils. Holland, it must be remembered, has the example of Belgium before her eyes. She knows therefore what it must mean to be overrun by Hunnish hordes, and to lose at once the vitality of her national life and the security of her towns.