The Prince of Wales was on Friday week entertained in
Paris at a grand banquet by the exhibitors, and made two speeches— one in English, and one in French—which appear to have pro- duced a most favourable impression. There was nothing in them beyond a cordial expression of the Prince's liking for France and Paris, but they had a ring of sincerity, and the French- men present were so pleased that they immediately ascribed to the Prince's kindly acknowledgments a political meaning. England wished to renew the entente cordiale ; England was expressing her sympathy with the misfortunes of France ; England had abandoned all her rivalry. The Prince was pro- bably quite innocent of any political intention in his speech, but the readiness and heartiness with which his cordial expres- sions were received have a definite political value. There are few Englishmen with a right to a political opinion who do not believe that the cordial and permanent alliance of England and France is of the last importance to the future of Europe, and if Frenchmen are of the same mind, there is at least one political. arrangement which is efficacious and which will stand. The English indeed have, within these two months, given one strong instance of the respect in which they hold France. They have forfeited their best chance of acquiring Egypt, the very key of their house, rather than wound the rather feminine suscepti- bilities of the French people.
Previous page
