CHAPTER XII
THE INCENDIARY AT WORK
THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE GERMAN
NAVY
No one in England felt in the least uneasy about the German navy. Nothing but contempt was entertained for the “Emperor’s toy.” It was compared to a crow, which had adorned itself with a parrot’s feathers; and everywhere proofs were adduced of the superiority of the English fleet, alike as regards quantity and quality. Such were the views held in well-informed circles. But none the less was the German Navy, even when still very small, held up as a terrible instrument of war. Already in the first years of the new century the following argument was frequently to be met with in England, whence it was transmitted to the whole world: Germany, and more especially the German Emperor, is planning to attack and destroy the
