The principal cause of fear had been what had looked nu commonly like a conspiracy of the three great Continental Powers to oust England from predominance in the East. First there was the seizure of kiao-chau, the bombastic fare wells Of the German Royal brothers; then immediately, the aggressive attitude of Russia at Port Arthur then immediately, the rumour that France had seized Hainan, was sending an expedition to Yun-nan, and had ships in hoi-how harbour. All this had the look of concert; for within the last few years it had got to be more and more recognised by the British public that centuries of neighbourhood had fostered among the Continental nations a certain spirit of kinship, in which the island-kingdom was no Sharer. In the course of years the Straits of Dover had widened into an ocean. Europe had receded from Britain, and Britain, in her pride, had drawn back from Europe. From the curl of the moustache, to the colour and 'cut of the evening-dress, to the manner in which women held up their skirts, there was similarity between French and German, between German and Russian and Austrian, and dissimilarity between all these and English.