After our experiences of 1868 and 1869--and even 1870--how can we be guilty of running the same risks again? Was not William I, King of Prussia, amiable enough? Did he not do everything to lull the suspicions of Napoleon whilst he himself was arming to the teeth? We all allowed ourselves to be sufficiently fooled by Bismarck's agents and spies in 1870 to be able to recognise the secret agents of William II to-day. It is not only a shameful thing, that the _Iphigenie_ should have hoisted at her mainmasthead the Imperial flag, bearing the insulting device of 1870, it is also an encouragement to William II in the treachery which he is plotting against us. One's heart is heavy with the grief of hopelessness when one thinks of our easy-going short memories, and the suffering courage of the people of Alsace-Lorraine. During the past few days, whilst our Parisian newspapers have been discussing the probability of the obnoxious presence of the Kaiser in Paris for the Exhibition, the _Strasburger Post_ has been heaping bitter reproaches on the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine for their lack of enthusiasm and meagre contributions towards the proposed statue in honour of the late Emperor William. In spite of all the pressure applied, the subscriptions have hardly produced a few hundred marks. The German Press describes the Alsatians as ungrateful and short-sighted. August 9, 1899. [8] The mania for autocracy dominates the mind of the German Emperor, King of Prussia, and leaves no room therein for anything but exactions of a disturbing kind. We know how numerous are the crimes of _lese-majeste_; also that William II wishes the Reichstag to pass a law punishing with hard labour those who incite strikes. A lecturer at the University of Berlin, M. Arons, having dared to proclaim himself a socialist--needless to say, from the theoretical point of view--the Emperor required his Minister of Public Education to have M. Arons brought for trial before the Council of the University, consisting of forty-five professors. These acquitted the accused, who, in their opinion, had not indulged in any propaganda and was within his strict rights in expressing his personal opinions. The Emperor had their judgment heard on appeal before a court consisting of officials of the Public Education Department. To make such an appeal possible, the Reichstag was required to pass a new law in June 1898, known as the Arons Law. Whenever the occasion offered, I have shown how deep is the hatred which William II bears towards the old liberalism of the German Universities. Yet it is for this same William that certain Germanophils amongst our French Universities entertain such a disgraceful weakness. Whilst French newspapers are continually discussing, with evident sympathy, the possibility of the Kaiser's paying a visit to France during the Exhibition, it brings the tears to our eyes to read the following in the _Journal de Colmar_:--