the hands of the Minister of War, asking for an end at last to our appalling martyrdom; I have put the defence of our rights into the hands of the Minister of War, whose duty it is to have repaired, at last, this long-enduring and appalling error.
I am waiting impatiently. I want to wish that I may yet have a minute of happiness upon this earth; but what I have no right to doubt for one instant is that justice will be done, that justice will be done you and our children, that you will have your day of supreme happiness.
I repeat to you, then, with all the strength of my soul, "Courage, courage!" I embrace you as I love you, with all my strength, with all the power of my affection, as I embrace our dear and adored children.
Alfred.
A thousand kisses to your dear parents, to all I love.
9 January, 1898.
After long and terrible waiting I have just received, altogether, the mails of October and November.
I need not tell you what indescribable emotion seizes me when I read the letters of those whom I love so much, of those for whom I would give my blood, drop by drop; of those for whose sake I live.
Had I thought, darling, of myself alone, long ago should I have been in my grave; it is the thought of you, the thought of our children, that sustains me, that lifts me up when I am bowed under the weight of so much suffering. I told you in my last letters all that I
