We must put in a word of warning here to
our own countrymen. Suppose it happens that a Government of Concentration arises in Hungary, under Count Bela Serenyi, or Count Zichy, very ready to throw the German Old Man of the Sea off the back of the country. There will then be a natural tendency to deal leniently with an Austria-Hungary that shows such signs of grace. But it must never be forgotten that kindness towards Vienna and Budapest may be cruelty to the Czechs, Slovaks, Rumanians, and all the South Slav se/its. We have a solemn duty to these people. Let it not be said of us, in the words of Tom Paine, that "we pity the plumage and forget the dying bird." We have soon too many signs that well-meaning Radicals here when they deprecate " harsh- ness " towards Austria-Hungary have a heart of stone for the unhappy subject races. Let us all think this over in good time, and make up our minds that if there should be any self-deceiving attempt among British Radicals to play a Hapsburg policy we will have none of it. The bloodstained plumage of the Hapsburg; may be a pitiful and moving sight, but it cannot be compared with the long tortures suffered by the dying bird.
