And hesitation was not allowable, all our interests impelled us toward Germany, the evidence was so binding as to impose itself.

The stern law of the struggle for life weighs as heavily on nations as on individuals, and this it is which explains and justifies the rupture between the two sisters, France and Italy, the forgetting of so many ties, race, commercial intercourse, and, if you like, services also.

The two sisters, ah! they now pursue each other with so much hatred that all common sense even seems at an end.

My poor old heart bleeds when I read the articles which your newspapers and ours exchange like poisoned darts.

When will this fratricidal massacre cease, which of the two will first realise the necessity of peace, the necessity of the alliance of the Latin races, if they are to remain alive amidst those torrents of other races which more and more invade the world ?" Then gaily, with the _bonhomie_ of a hero disarmed by old age, and seeking a refuge in his dreams, Orlando added: "Come, you must promise to help me as soon as you are in Paris.