down to the eleventh hour they had
"never dreamt of war," never thought of depriving other nations of light
and air or of thrusting anybody from his place. And yet the ink of their
protest was not yet dry when they gave themselves the lie by showing
that down to the last detail of preparation they had everything ready
for the forthcoming struggle.

Englishmen who were in Berlin and Cologne on July 81, and August 1
(before any of the nations had declared war on Germany), could see what
was happening, though no telegrams or newspapers had yet made known the
news. A tingling atmosphere of joyous expectation in the streets; the
cafes and beer-gardens crowded with civilians in soldiers' uniforms;
orchestras striking up patriotic anthems; excited groups singing
"Deutschland ueber Alles," or rising to their feet and jingling glasses;
then the lights put out, and a general rush made for the railway
stations--everybody equipped, and knowing his duty and his destination.

THE OLD GERMAN ADAM

It was the old historic story of German duplicity, and the nations of
Europe had no excuse for being surprised. When the Prussian Monarchy
was first bestowed on the relatively humble family of the Hoehenzollerns,
they found their territory for the most part sterile, the soil round
Berlin and about Potsdam--the favourite residence of the Margraves--a
sandy desert that could scarcely be made to yield a crop of rye or oats,
so they set themselves to enlarge and enrich it by help of an army
out of all proportion to the size and importance of their States. The
results were inevitable. When war becomes the trade of a separate class
it is natural that they should wish to pursue it at the first favourable
opportunity of conquest. That opportunity came to Prussia when Charles
VI died and the Archduchess Maria Theresa succeeded to her father by
virtue of a law (the Pragmatic Sanction), to which all the Powers
of Europe had subscribed. Frederick had subscribed to it. But,
nevertheless, in the name of Prussia, without any proper excuse or even
decent pretext, he took possession of Silesia, thereby robbing the ally
whom he had bound himself to defend, and committing the same great crime
of violating his pledged word, which Germany has now committed against
Belgium.

But there was one difference between the outrages of 1740 and 1914.
The great barrator made no hypocritical pretence of desiring peace.
"Ambition, interest, the desire of making peo