It was announced at the end of last week that
Queen Wilhelmina's illness was an attack of typhoid, and the people of Holland were at first greatly alarmed. The churches all over the country were thronged with men praying for the Queen, and there was much talk of a Regency, which would, there seems no doubt, have been conferred upon the devoted and experi- enced Queen-Mother. On Wednesday morning, however, the Queen's temperature, which had reached 1040, began falling, and by the latest accounts her Majesty was believed by the doctors to be out of danger, though convalescence may take several weeks. It must not be forgotten that although the
Dutch have fallen in love with their bright young Queen, they are also greatly moved by the prospect of political dangers which might have followed her disappearance from the scene. Though it is not true that the Queen is absolutely the last of her race, all other heirs claim through the female line, and are Princes born and educated in Germany. The Dutch do not like that, believing that a Prince so trained will always look up to the German Emperor, and that William II. will leave no stone unturned to attract Holland, probably on very liberal terms, into the circle of his dominion. He would then have a solid foothold in the Far East, and might from Java master the whole of the Eastern Archipelago, which the Australians at heart regard as their future heritage.
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