the Government to decide
what attitude they should take now, or restrict the freedom of the House
of Commons to decide what their attitude should be.

Well, Sir, I will go further, and I will say this: The situation in the
present crisis is not precisely the same as it was in the Morocco
question. In the Morocco question it was primarily a dispute which
concerned France--a dispute which concerned France and France
primarily--a dispute, as it seemed to us, affecting France out of an
agreement subsisting between us and France, and published to the whole
world, in which we engaged to give France diplomatic support. No doubt
we were pledged to give nothing but diplomatic support; we were, at any
rate, pledged by a definite public agreement to stand with France
diplomatically in that question.

The present crisis has originated differently. It has not originated
with regard to Morocco. It has not originated as regards anything with
which we had a special agreement with France; it has not originated with
anything which primarily concerned France. It has originated in a
dispute between Austria and Servia. I can say this with the most
absolute confidence--no Government and no country has less desire to be
involved in war over a dispute with Austria and Servia than the
Government and the Country of France. They are involved in it because of
their obligation of honor under a definite alliance with Russia. Well,
it is only fair to say to the House that that obligation of honor cannot
apply in the same way to us. We are not parties to the Franco-Russian
alliance. We do not even know the terms of that alliance. So far I
have, I think, faithfully and completely cleared the ground with regard
to the question of obligation.

I now come to what we think the situation requires of us. For many years
we have had a long-standing friendship with France. I remember well the
feeling in the House--and my own feeling--for I spoke on the subject, I
think, when the late Government made their agreement with France--the
warm and cordial feeling resulting from the fact that these two nations,
who had had perpetual differences in the past, had cleared these
differences away; I remember saying, I think, that it seemed to me that
some benign influence had been at work to produce the cordial atmosphere
that had made that possible. But how far that friendship entails
obligation--it has been a friendship between the nations and ratified by
the nations--