The Coming Conquest of England | Page 7

large French army defeated us to the profit and
advantage of England. That England, and England alone, is again
behind this attack upon us by Japan has been dwelt upon by those who
have already addressed you. Our enemies do not see themselves called
upon to depart in the slightest degree from a policy that has so long
stood them in such good stead, and it must, therefore, be our policy to
assure ourselves of the alliance, or at least, where an alliance is
unattainable, of the benevolent neutrality of the other continental
Powers in view of a war with England. To begin with, as regards our
ally, the French Republic, a satisfactory solution of our task in this
direction is already assured by the existing treaties. Yet these treaties
do not bind the French Government to afford us military support in the

case of a war which, in the eyes of shortsighted observers, might
perhaps be regarded as one which we had ourselves provoked. We have
accordingly opened negotiations through our Ambassador with M.
Delcasse, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, and with the
President of the Republic himself. I have the supreme satisfaction of
being in a position to lay before you the result of these negotiations in
the form of a despatch just received from our Ambassador in Paris. It
runs, in the main, as follows: 'I hasten to inform Your Excellency that,
in the name of the French Republic, M. Delcasse has given me the
solemn assurance that France will declare war upon England at the
moment His Majesty the Tsar has directed his armies to march upon
India. The considerations which have prompted the French Government
to take this step have been further explained to me by M. Delcasse in
our conference of this day, when he expressed himself somewhat as
follows: "Napoleon, a hundred years ago, perceived with rare
discernment that England was the real enemy of all continental nations,
and that the European continent could not pursue any other policy but
to combine in resisting that great pirate. The magnificent plan of
Napoleon was the alliance of France with Spain, Italy, Austria,
Germany, and Russia, in order to combat the rapacity of England. And
he would, in all probability, have carried his scheme through had it not
been that considerations of domestic policy determined the Tsar
Alexander I., in spite of his admiration for Napoleon's ability, to run
counter to the latter's intentions. The consequences of Napoleon's
defeat have shown themselves sufficiently clearly during the past
hundred years in the enormous growth of the English power. The
present political constellation, which in many respects is very similar to
that of the year 1804, should be utilised to revive Napoleon's plan once
more. Russia has, of course, the first and most vital interest in the
downfall of England, for, so long as Great Britain controls all the seas
and all the important coastlines, it is like a giant whose hands and feet
are fettered. Yet France is also checked in her natural development. Her
flourishing colonies in America and the Atlantic Ocean were wrested
from her in the eighteenth century. She was ousted by this
overpowering adversary from her settlements in the East Indies and--
what the French nation feels perhaps most acutely--Egypt, purchased
for France by the great Napoleon with the blood of his soldiers, was

weaned away by English gold and English intrigues. The Suez Canal,
built by a Frenchman, Lesseps, is in the possession of the English,
facilitating their communications with India, and securing them the
sovereignty of the world. France will accordingly make certain
stipulations as the price of its alliance-- stipulations which are so loyal
and equitable that there is no question whatever of their not being
agreed to on the part of her ally, Russia. France demands that her
possessions in Tonking, Cochin China, Cambodia, Annam, and Laos
shall be guaranteed; that Russia be instrumental in assisting her to
acquire Egypt, and that it pledge itself to support the French policy in
Tunis and the rest of Africa." In accordance with my instructions, I felt
myself empowered to assure M. Delcasse that his conditions were
accepted on our side. In answer to my question, whether a war with
England would be popular in France, the Minister said: "The French
people will be ready for any sacrifice if we make Fashoda our war-cry.
British insolence never showed itself more brutal and insulting than
over this affair. Our brave Marchand was on the spot with a superior
force, and France was within her rights. The simple demand of an
English officer, who possessed no other force but the moral one of the
English flag, compelled us, however, under the political circumstances
which then obtained, to abandon our righteous claims, and to recall