"They include, amongst other things, an over-confidence in the
promises of others; too great belief, I fear, in the probity of our
friends. We paid a staggering price in 1914 for those qualities. Lord
Dorminster would have me believe that there is a still more terrible
price for us to pay in the future, unless we change our whole outlook,
abandon our belief in the League of Nations, and once more acknowledge
the supremacy of force."
"Lord Dorminster is right," Prince Shan pronounced. "I have come here to
tell you so, Mr. Mervin Brown."
"You come here as a friend of England?" the latter asked.
"I come here as one who hesitates to become her enemy," was the measured
reply. "I will be perfectly frank with you, sir. I came to this country
to discuss a project which, with the acquiescence of China and Japan,
would have resulted in the humiliation of your country and the
gratification of Germany's eagerly desired revenge."
"You believe in the existence of that sentiment, then?" the Prime
Minister enquired.
"Any one short of a very insular Englishman," the Prince replied, "would
have realised it long ago. There is a great society in Germany, scarcely
even a secret society, pledged to wipe out the humiliations of the last
great war. Lord Dorminster tells me that you are to-day without a secret
service. For that reason you have remained in ignorance of the mines
beneath your feet. Germany has laid her plans well and carefully.
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