TOPICS OF THE. DAY.
THE KING'S VISIT AND Tilt ENTENTE.
THEvisit of the King and Queen to Paris has proved, as we were sure it would, a very great success. Englishmen are popular now in France, not merely on political grounds ar because it is the fashion to admire all things English, but because France has become of late years far less self-centred than forinerly, and far more inclined to inquire into and understand her neighbours and their doings. This awakening, this growth of the sympathy both of approbation and of comprehension in regard to England was certain to make the King popular, for there is no more typical and characteristic Englishman than he. What is more, he is an English sailor, and the English sailor has always been admired in France—the nation • which above all others understands, and gives things and men their true values. The King's geniality is an English geniality, and therefore he has charmed his hosts exactly in the right way, and far more certainly than if he had been one of those cosmopolitan monarchs who bear no particular hall-mark of speech or manner, but are as inter- national in aspect, language, and style as a Grand Hotel. Ring George is not an embodied protocol or an abstraction of diplomatic etiquette, but a. very individual and very human person, and this France has seen and appreciated. Queen Mary was no less certain to delight her boats than the King, for she, too, is "right English." Her green her dignity, and her sincerity of manner represent the best traditions of the English "great lady," and enchanted all who came in touch with her, either in the reception-rooms of the Elysee and the Quai d'Orsay, or in the thronged and roaring streets. What greatly helped to bind the charm of the King and Queen upon the Parisians was the fact that both were themselves charmed. Good manners and good feelings would no doubt have prompted them to appear delighted even if they had been wearied or uninterested, and were only going through the long cere- monials as &public duty. But, as a matter of fact, there was no simulation of pleasure. It was real. The electric spark of sympathetic enjoyment flashed backwards and forwards between the Royal carriage and the crowd. Only one Englishman has ever so successfully conquered the heart of France, and that was an Englishman whom the King has no desire to rival—his own father. A couple of years ago we argued in these columns in favour of developing the Entente Cordiale into an alliance. At the time at which we wrote we were, we still think, justified in our line of argument. Events, however, have shown that our fears lest the Entente should gradually weaken and prove a cause for suspicion and anxiety were groundless. The Entente has not grown weaker, but, instead, perceptibly stronger. It has become the chief bulwark of the peace of the world. While this is so there is no ground for interfering with it, or demand- ing that it should be developed into a more formal alliance. For all practical purposes it is an alliance, and an alliance founded upon something stronger than the formal terms of a written instrument. It is founded on, and guaranteed by, the essential interests of the three Powers concerned. Peace is the highest interest of Russia, of France, and of Britain. None of these Powers desires any change in the status quo. Therefore we may be certain that none of these Powers will wantonly provoke a change, attack a neighbour, or act in any arbitrary or aggressive manner. The Entente has one cardinal object, and one only, and that is to prevent a recourse to arms. That, in truth, is why no formal document is needed. If the object of the three Powers, or of any of them, were aggressive, were to bring about the destruction of any other Power, or to accomplish any special purpose in any part of the world, the formalities of a binding alliance might be necessary, or at any rate advisable. Experience has shown that it is not necessary in a case where the aspirations of the Powers are so little aggressive as those of France, Russia, and Britain.
No doubt an essential factor in the keeping of the peace is that the three Powers should stand by each other absolutely in the event of any one of them being attacked by the Triple Alliance or any member of that Alliance. But here again there is no need for specific agreement. We,
no more than Russia, could allow France to be over- whelmed by her Eastern neighbour. Again, we and France could not endure to see Russia overborne by Germany and Austria. Lastly, Russia and l'rance could not safely see the sceptre of the seas transferred to Germany, for that would place them at too terrible a disadvantage. To put the matter quite plainly, if Germany were to create a virtual Hegemony by the destruction of any one of the three Powers of the Entente, the condition of Europe would be' absolutely unendurable for any nation which was unwilling to bend the knee. That is known to the rulers of all the three. Powers by a study of ascertained facts, and instinctively to their peoples. Therefore the Entente iafouuded upon a rock, and should be maintained in its present, form. Remember, that many attempts have been made to destroy it, and to divide the Powers concerned and embroil them with each,. other, but all these efforts have failed. The Entente has come triumphantly out of all the attempts made by hostile outsiders to test its strength. That being so, it would, in our opinion, be madness to alter its character. There is no wiser saying than the French proverb, Le tizieux eat Vennemi du hies; or, in plain English, " We have got a good thing and we had better stick to it, If we try to. make it better, we are very likely only to make it worse."
If ever there should be any sign of the Entente growing weaker, or proving inadequate for the purposes for which it was framed, then without doubt we and all. Englishmen shall be prepared to reconsider its character and to re-form it. Till then it. holds the field as a matter of vital import, not only to the three Powers concerned, but to the peace of the world.
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