Prince d'Arenberg, naturally enough, sought to discount Count Reventlow's heroics.
The Pan-Germans, he argued, were like the French Chauvinists,—a comparison to which M. de Noussanne very properly demurred, for M. Deroulede is a sucking-dove alongside of Count Reventlow. The Kaiser, continued the Prince, was the most sincerely pacific man he knew ; the vivacity of his speeches was inevitable in a man responsible for Germany's future and honour in the eyes of the world. As for the visit to Tangier, salt water was everybody's domain, and the Mediterranean and the Atlantic were not tabu. Besides, Germany, as a naval Power, could not get on without coaling-stations and points dappui. "She had no intention of taking anything from anybody, but in what remained to be conquered and organised she asked for her share." When M. de Noussanne observed that France must be free to choose her friends, the Prince replied : "No doubt, but choose them at least in accordance with your real interests." In fine, Prince d'Arenberg's apologia for German policy, as the Times correspondent points out, is not less significant than the extravagant pretensions of Count Reventlow.
Previous page
