might have had of winning over Alsace-Lorriane--and it could never have been a good one--was ruined by the daily and tyrannous blundering of the German Government.

The prohibition of the teaching of French in the primary schools, the immediate imposition of German military service on the newly-annexed territories, the constant espionage on all those known to hold strong sympathies with France, or views antagonistic to the German administration, the infamous passport regulations, and a hundred other grievances, deepened year by year the regret for France, and the dislike for Germany.

After the first period of "protestation," marked by the constant election of "protesting" deputies to the Reichstag, came the period of repression--the "graveyard peace" of the late eighties and early nineties--followed by an apparent acquiescence of the native population.

"Our young people in those years no longer sang the 'Marseillaise,'" said Dr.Bucher.Politically, the Alsatians despaired and--"we had to live together, _bon gre, mal gre_.

But deep in our hearts lay our French sympathies.