States we lie down every night in George Washington's feather-bed
of no entangling alliances.

Then remember, too, that the German monarchy is a cross between the
Napoleonic ambition and its inheritance from Frederick the Great
and Bismarck. I suppose the three damnedest liars that were ever
born are these three--old Frederick, Napoleon, and Bismarck--not, I
take it, because they naturally loved lying, but because the game
they played constantly called for lying. There was no other way to
play it: they _had_ to fool people all the time. You have abundant
leisure--do this: Read the whole career of Napoleon and write down
the startling and exact parallels that you will find there to what
is happening to-day. The French were united and patriotic, just as
the Germans now are. When they invaded other people's territory,
they said they were attacked and that the other people had brought
on war. They had their lying diplomats, their corruption funds;
they levied money on cities and states; they took booty; and they
were God's elect. It's a wonderful parallel--not strangely, because
the game is the same and the moral methods are the same. Only the
tools are somewhat different--the submarine, for example. Hence the
_Lusitania_ disaster (not disavowed, you will observe), the
_Arabic_ disaster, the propaganda, underground and above, in the
United States. And there'll be more. The Napoleonic Wars were
about eleven years long. I fancy that we shall have war and wars
from this attempt to dominate Europe, for perhaps as long a period.
The Balkans can't be quieted by this war only, nor Russia and Italy
perhaps. And Germany may have a series of earthquakes
herself--internal explosions. Then Poland and perhaps some of the
Scandinavian States. Nobody can tell.