peace, and in
this spirit not only overlooked the original misconduct of
Austria but made every reasonable concession in the hope of
preserving peace.

4. That Austria, having mobilized its army, Russia was
reasonably justified in mobilizing its forces. Such act of
mobilization is the right of any sovereign State, and as
long as the Russian armies did not cross the border or take
any aggressive action, no other nation had any just right to
complain, each having the same right to make similar
preparations.

5. That Germany, in abruptly declaring war against Russia
for failure to demobilize, when the other Powers had offered
to make any reasonable concession and peace parleys were
still in progress, precipitated the war.

6. That the invasion of Belgium by Germany was without any
provocation and in violation of Belgium's inherent rights as
a sovereign State. The sanctity of its territory does not
depend exclusively upon the Treaty of 1839 or The Hague
Convention, but upon fundamental and axiomatic principles of
international law. These treaties were simply declaratory of
Belgium's rights as a sovereign nation and simply reaffirmed
by a special covenant the duty of Germany and the other
Powers to respect the neutrality of Belgium.

7. England was justified in its declaration of war upon
Germany, not only because of its direct interests in the
neutrality of Belgium, but also because of the ethical duty
of the strong nations to protect the weak upon adequate
occasion from indefensible wrong. Apart from this general
ethical justification, England was, under the Treaty of
1839, under an especial obligation to defend the neutrality
of Belgium, and had it failed to respect that obligation it
would have broken its solemn covenant.

If they are "thrice armed" who have their "quarrel just," then
England, France, Russia, and Belgium can await with confidence, not
merely the immediate issue of the titanic conflict, but also the
equally important judgment of history.

EPILOGUE

On the evening of July 31, 1914, the author reached Basle. The rapid
progress of events, narrated in this volume, suggested the wisdom of
continuing the journey to Paris that night, but as I wanted to see the
tomb of Erasmus in the Basle Cathedral I determined to break my long
journey