THE ANGLO-TURKISH CONVENTION. 417 short her occupation of Egypt, and, having succeeded in wilfully tying her own hands, was only set free from her self-imposed obligations by the jealousy of France. In saying this, I have no wish to deny that France had grounds for resenting our supremacy in a country which at one time was completely under French influence. My complaint is not that France objected to our occupation of Egypt, but that her policy in this, as in other matters, was dictated by prejudice, not by common sense.

To illustrate my meaning, let me recall an incident, which seems to me to explain much in the character of French foreign policy that would otherwise be unintelligble. Somewhere about this period an eminent French politician came to me, as a publicist, and requested my co-operation in a project which, as he asserted, would secure peace to the world. His contention was, that Europe could never be really at peace so long as Germany and France remained armed for war ; that the two countries could never be reconciled so long as Alsace and Lorraine remained German provinces ; and that therefore Germany should be called upon by England, Austria, Russia, and Italy, to allow Alsace and Lorraine to be converted into a neutral independent State, which would act as a buffer between herself and France. Being anxious to avoid giving olBfence, I contented myself with pointing out t:hat even if Germanv surrendered the fruit of her hard-won victories sooner than confront an hostile 2 E