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diff --git a/old/66307-0.txt b/old/66307-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 215e97a..0000000 --- a/old/66307-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15340 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Memoirs of Bertha von Suttner (Vol. 2 -of 2), by Bertha von Von Suttner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Memoirs of Bertha von Suttner (Vol. 2 of 2) - The Records of an Eventful Life - -Author: Bertha von Von Suttner - -Release Date: September 14, 2021 [eBook #66307] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF BERTHA VON SUTTNER -(VOL. 2 OF 2) *** - - - - - - MEMOIRS OF BERTHA VON SUTTNER - - THE RECORDS OF AN EVENTFUL LIFE - - - AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION - - - VOLUME II - - - PUBLISHED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF PEACE - GINN AND COMPANY, BOSTON AND LONDON - 1910 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY GINN AND COMPANY - ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - =The Athenæum Press= - GINN AND COMPANY · PROPRIETORS BOSTON · U.S.A. - - - - - CONTENTS OF VOLUME II - - - PART SEVEN (CONTINUED) - - - PAGE - - XL. FROM HARMANNSDORF AND FROM CHICAGO 3 - - Slow increase. Far-reaching endeavors from our quiet corner. - Childlessness. With Aunt Lotti. My brother. The World’s Fair at - Chicago, and the Peace Congress. Olga Wisinger-Florian. I am - represented by Olga Wisinger. Congress of Religions. Petition of - the various ecclesiastical bodies to the governments in favor of a - court of arbitration. - - - XLI. VASÍLI VERESHCHÁGIN 9 - - Vereshchágin in Vienna. He does the honors at his exhibition. “All - Quiet before Plevna.” “Apotheosis of War.” Moltke standing before - this picture. A picture of what Vereshchágin himself had seen - during the war and painted. Concerning a picture which he could - not paint. Further reminiscences of his military life. His - Napoleon pictures. A remark of William II regarding them. War and - hunting. - - - XLII. THE COMMITTEE MEETING AT BRUSSELS AND ITS RESULTS 15 - - Committee meeting of the Interparliamentary Union at Brussels. - Letter from Senator Trarieux. Address to Gladstone. Address to the - French and Italian deputies. Warning as to the duties of the - Union. The “inevitable war” between France and Italy. The case of - Aigues-Mortes. Settlement through the friends of peace in both - countries. - - - XLIII. FROM DIARY AND PORTFOLIO 24 - - Extracts from diary. Caprivi in support of the military bill. - Bebel’s interpellation. Invention of a bullet-proof cloth. - Settlement of the Bering question. King Alexander to his Servians. - Dynamite tragedies in Spain. Visit of the Russian fleet at Toulon. - Marcoartu’s letter to me. His letter to Jules Simon. General - inquiry of the Paris _Figaro_ as to a gift for the Tsaritsa. My - answer to it. Exchange of letters with Émile Zola. - - - XLIV. VARIOUS INTERESTING LETTERS 37 - - Increase of correspondence. Countess Hedwig Pötting. Gift from - Duke von Oldenburg. Schloss Erlaa. The duke’s consort. Peace - efforts of Prince Peter von Oldenburg thirty years ago. Letter - from this prince to Bismarck. Letter from Björnstjerne Björnson. - - - XLV. PEACE CONGRESS IN ANTWERP AND INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE - AT THE HAGUE 47 - - Preparation for the Congress by the Belgian government. Houzeau de - Lehaye. A reminiscence of the battlefield of Sedan. Concerning - free trade. Audience with King Leopold. Invitation to the - Interparliamentary Conference. Reception the evening before. Pithy - sentences from Rahusen’s address. Opening. “No other cause in the - whole world....” Second day of deliberation. Stanhope. Gladstone’s - proposal. Debate over the tribunal plan. Dr. Hirsch puts on the - brake. Rejoinder by Frédéric Passy and Houzeau. Randal Cremer. - Concluding festivities in Scheveningen. - - - XLVI. VARIOUS RECOLLECTIONS 60 - - In Harmannsdorf again. My husband writes _Sie wollen nicht_. Max - Nordau’s opinion of it. My labors and correspondence. Rear Admiral - Réveillère. Dolmens and menhirs. From the patriot of Brittany to - the patriot of humanity. Réveillère’s views about social economy, - the lot of the masses, professional politicians, etc. A fine - comparison. Deaths of Prince Achille Murat, Duke von Oldenburg, - and Ruggero Bonghi. - - - XLVII. FURTHER VARIED RECOLLECTIONS 69 - - The Union for Resistance to Anti-Semitism once more. Article by A. - G. von Suttner. In the house of Christian Kinsky. Recollection of - a home dinner with the Empress. War between Japan and China. - Appeal of the Peace Congress to the Powers for intervention. - Answer of the Russian Minister of War, Giers. The fruits of German - military instruction in Japan. The Peace of Shimonoseki. - Interparliamentary Conference in Brussels. Sending out the - formulated and accepted plan for an arbitration tribunal. First - appearance of the Hungarian Group, with Maurus Jókai and Count - Apponyi at its head. Hopeful and distressful signs of the times. - From the Congress of the Association Littéraire in Dresden. Trip - to Prague. At Professor Jodl’s. Lecture in “The German House.” - Banquet. La Busca. Visit at Vrchlicky’s. Trip to Budapest. - Founding of the Hungarian Peace Society. War in sight between - England and the United States. Removal of the danger. - - - XLVIII. POLITICAL KALEIDOSCOPE 90 - - Gumplowicz: father and son. The Italian campaign in Africa. - Utterances of King Menelik. The defeat of Adowa. The warlike - press. Demonstrations against war. Victory of the peace party. - Correspondence with Carneri. From Armenia and Macedonia. - Insurrection in Cuba and a sharp proclamation. Professor Röntgen’s - discovery. The Anglo-American arbitration treaty. Death of Jules - Simon. A letter from Jules Simon. - - - XLIX. THE SEVENTH WORLD’S PEACE CONGRESS AND THE SEVENTH - INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST 107 - - General Türr’s visit at Harmannsdorf. Anecdotes from his life. - Garibaldi’s appeal to the governments. Our journey to Budapest. - Reception and preliminary festival. Opening of the Congress. From - Türr’s address. The historical Millennial Exposition. Élie - Ducommun gives a report on the year’s events. Debate: Armenian - horrors. Address to the pope. Letter from Dr. Ofner. Excursion to - the Margareteninsel. The youngest member of the Congress. Exciting - debate about dueling. Nepluief and his institution. Deputation - from the Society for the Protection of Animals. Conclusion of the - Congress. Preliminary festival of the Conference. Soirée at the - Parkklub. Opening session in the House of Magnates. Second - session. Soirée at the Prime Minister’s. From the protocol. - Apponyi on the participation of Russia in the conferences. The - Russian consul Vasily and his action. Excursion into the future. - Visit at Maurus Jókai’s. Gala operatic performance. End of the - Conference. Opening of the “Iron Gate.” - - - L. OTHER EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1896 134 - - Jingo criticism of Budapest. A prophetic chapter from _Schach der - Qual_. A poem by Hoyos and a letter from Nathaniel Rothschild. - Visits of the Tsar. Extracts from diary. Correspondence between - the Austrian Peace Society and the English Department of Foreign - Affairs. Treaty of peace between Menelik and Italy. - - - LI. ALFRED NOBEL’S DEATH AND WILL 141 - - News of his death. His last letter to me. The will. Letter from - Moritz Adler. The will is contested. Letter from the executor. - Emanuel Nobel’s noble act. Fortunate solution. Distribution of the - peace prize up to date. - - - LII. FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR 1897 148 - - From my collections of letters. Signing of the Anglo-American - arbitration treaty. The ratification fails by three votes. - Insurrection in Crete. The concert of the powers. Outbreak of the - Turko-Grecian War. Extracts from diary. The letter “to all good - men” from Fortress Montjuich. Letter from Prince Scipione - Borghese. Our literary labors. My audience with Emperor Franz - Joseph I. Text of the petition submitted. - - - LIII. SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR 1897 161 - - Letter from Count Eugen Zichy. The Eighth Peace Congress at - Hamburg. Letter from Prince Emil Schönaich-Carolath. Egidy’s - début. Regarding the assassination of Canova. Public meeting in - the Sagebiel. Egidy’s speech. New adherents. Henri Dunant. Appeal - to the Oriental peoples. Extracts from diary. Bad news from all - sides. Attitude of the press. The Russian Emperor in Darmstadt. - Letter from Marie Büchner. The Dreyfus affair. Dispatch of the - European squadron to the Yellow Sea. - - - LIV. A STIRRING HALF YEAR 176 - - Outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Article in mourning borders. - Fridtjof Nansen’s lecture in Vienna. Extracts from diary. - Bereavement in the family, Countess Lotti Sizzo’s death. Johann - von Bloch’s book. Death of Bismarck. End of the Spanish-American - War. - - - PART EIGHT, 1898–1908 - - - LV. THE TSAR’S RESCRIPT 187 - - Arrival of the good tidings. Extracts from editorials in _Die - Waffen nieder_. Congratulatory letters from Moritz Adler, Dr. Karl - von Scherzer, Björnstjerne Björnson, Balduin Groller, Professor - Martens, Prince Dolgorukof, Vice Admiral Semsey, Hedwig Pötting, - Kemény, Novikof, Henri Dunant. Objections of opponents. - - LVI. EVENTS AND MEETINGS 202 - - The Empress Elisabeth. The last days of my father-in-law. Egidy on - the assassination of the Empress. Session of the delegates in - Turin. Egidy evening in Vienna. Reminiscence of the campaign of - 1866. William T. Stead in Vienna on his pilgrimage. His portrait. - His audience with Nicholas II. His meeting with Bloch. My - interview with Muravieff. Conclusion of Spanish-American treaty of - peace. Reply of the chairman of the Spanish Commission to a - memorial from Émile Arnaud. Still the Dreyfus affair. General Türr - with King Humbert. Egidy dead. Letter from his son. - - LVII. BEFORE THE HAGUE 225 - - Emperor Nicholas regarding the reception of his rescript. - Discouragement in St. Petersburg. Stead’s project for a peace - crusade. Count Muravieff’s second circular. The wedge driven into - the peace question. The general conception and our conception. - Journey to Berlin. Osten-Sacken. Formation of an information - committee. Letter from Bebel. Service in honor of Egidy. Trip to - Nice. Meeting with Madame Adam. Monsieur Catusse. A noteworthy - Dreyfus reminiscence. My lecture. Madame Bashkirtseff. Trip to - Cannes for a lecture. Lucien Murat’s visit. Return to - Harmannsdorf. Correspondence with Bloch, Scipione Borghese, and - D’Estournelles de Constant. Letters from Hodgson Pratt and Élie - Ducommun. A plan of action suggested by Henri Dunant. - - LVIII. THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE 245 - - My Hague diary. Arrival. First interview. Stead’s interviews with - the Tsar and with Bülow. Our call on the Austrian delegation. - Divine service in the Russian chapel. Opening session. Johann von - Bloch. Party at Beaufort’s. Yang-Yü and his wife. Baron - d’Estournelles. Léon Bourgeois. We give a dinner. Richet’s call. - Luncheon with Frau Moscheles. Andrew D. White. Extract from - Staal’s opening speech. Call on our ambassador’s wife. Count - Costantino Nigra. Reception at court. Lord Aberdeen. Sir Julian - Pauncefote. Bloch plans a series of lectures. Plenary assembly of - May 25. The Russian, English, and American motions. - - LIX. THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (CONTINUED) 270 - - J. Novikof. Reception at the Baroness Grovestins’s. Dr. Holls. - Utterances of the nationalistic press. Excursion to Scheveningen. - We give a small dinner. Threatening letter to Herr von Staal. At - Ten Kate’s. Reports from Descamps. Beernaert on the Geneva - Convention. Letter from Levysohn. Results in the matter of - mediation. New acquaintances. First of Bloch’s evening lectures: - subject, “The Development of Firearms.” Stead publishes a daily - chronicle on the Conference. Young Vasily’s album. Removal to - Scheveningen. Baron Pirquet brings a letter from the - Interparliamentary Union of Brussels. Bloch’s second lecture: - subject, “Mobilization.” My birthday. Dinner at Okoliczany’s. - Lieutenant Pichon. Letters from aëronauts. Discussion on the - permanent tribunal. President Kruger and Sir Alfred Milner. An - amusing incident. Bloch’s third lecture: subject, “Naval Warfare.” - A conversation with Léon Bourgeois. His call to Paris. False - reports and denials. What Emperor Nicholas said to Stead. Rumor of - the blocking of the arbitration business. Bloch’s final lecture: - subject, “The War of the Future.” - - LX. THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (CONCLUDED) 294 - - Turning point in the arbitration question. Professor Zorn. Madame - Ratazzi. Professor Martens. Mirza Rhiza Khan. Letter from Frau - Büchner. Trip to Amsterdam. At the photographer’s. Limitation of - armaments. Two important sessions. Colonel von Schwarzhoff. - Limitation rejected. Baron Bildt and Bourgeois. Ball at Staal’s. - The Grotius celebration. Letter from Andrew D. White. Article 27. - Departure. International Inquiry Commission. Beldimann in - opposition. Again the Inquiry Commission. Beldimann’s ultimatum. - _Acte final._ - - LXI. AFTER THE HAGUE CONFERENCE 327 - - Journey to Norway to the ninth Interparliamentary Conference. The - woman’s movement in the North. Military honors shown the friends - of peace. Evening before the Conference. Björnstjerne Björnson. - Opening in the Storthing. A _mot_ by Minister Steen. Report on the - Nobel foundation. Garden party at Steen’s. Henrik Ibsen. At M. - Catusse’s. Excursion to Frognersättern. Last session. Message from - The Hague. Final banquet. Björnson as a speaker. My interview with - him. Harmannsdorf again. Aunt Büschel’s death. Margarete Suttner’s - betrothal. Letter from Count Apponyi. What then constituted my - life. A physician’s prescription. Controversy between the jingoes - and pacifists in England. End of the Dreyfus affair. Germany’s - naval plan. The South African war breaks out. Letter from Count - Nigra. - - LXII. THE TURN OF THE CENTURY 347 - - 1900 or 1901. Address to the Powers. Letters from Henryk - Sienkiewicz. Letter from the Prince of Mingrelia. Count Apponyi’s - press scheme. The Interparliamentary Conference at Paris. Count - Apponyi on the Conference. Dr. Clark’s action regarding - Chamberlain and President Kruger. _Altera pars._ The troubles in - China. Letters from Yang-Yü to my husband. The Peace Congress at - Paris. The Bloch family. Madame Séverine. The Exposition. Dinner - at Professor Charles Richet’s. Miss Alice Williams. Literary work. - Nomination of the Hague judges. Letters from Martens and - Schönborn. D’Estournelles’s lecture in Vienna. Dr. Holls’s - mission. Our silver wedding. Letter from Tolstoi. First assignment - of the Nobel prizes. Dunant’s thanks. Decennial celebration of the - Union. Letters of congratulation from Passy, Szell, Schönborn, - D’Estournelles, Chlumecky, Rosegger, and Björnson. - - LXIII. THE LAST YEAR 379 - - Premonitions. Bloch’s death. The Transvaal. Stanhope on the - situation. My husband’s sudden illness. Three letters. Congress in - Monaco. The Oceanographic Museum. Prince Albert I. The corrective. - Pierre Quillard on the Armenian horrors. The crag castle. Venetian - night. The Duke of Urach. From Prince Albert’s after-dinner - speech. A dedication to the German Emperor. Return home. An act of - D’Estournelles’s. The first controversy before the Hague Tribunal. - Opening of the Bloch Museum at Lucerne. Anti-dueling League. A - letter from Prince Alfonso de Borbon. Offer for a lecture tour in - the United States. Hodgson Pratt on America. Visits of Emanuel - Nobel and Princess Tamara of Georgia at Harmannsdorf. Sojourn in - Ellischau. A surprise. Adjournment of the Interparliamentary - Conference at Vienna. The end. From the will. Provisional - conclusion. What is yet to follow. - - - SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER, 1904 - - THREE WEEKS IN AMERICA 405 - - The Bremen Rathauskeller. The Emperor’s beaker. A peaceful voyage. - A ship on fire. A curious contradiction. The Statue of Liberty. - Tariff vandals. The first interviewers. First impression of New - York. Old comrades. The “yellow press.” The Interparliamentary - Conference. Secretary Hay’s address. Public meetings. Russia and - Japan shake hands. A Chinese lady. The Boston Public Library. - Sojourn in New York. The “smart set.” Carl Schurz. The - Waldorf-Astoria. The worship of bigness. At the Pulitzers’. The - _World_. Philadelphia. Fairmount Park. Two days in Washington. A - conversation with Roosevelt. “Universal peace is coming.” A peace - meeting at Cincinnati. Niagara Falls. An advertising monstrosity. - A visit in Ithaca. - - INDEX 431 - - - - - PART SEVEN - [CONTINUED] - - - - - XL - FROM HARMANNSDORF AND FROM CHICAGO - - Slow increase · Far-reaching endeavors from our quiet corner · - Childlessness · With Aunt Lotti · My brother · The World’s Fair at - Chicago, and the Peace Congress · Olga Wisinger-Florian · I am - represented by Olga Wisinger · Congress of Religions · Petition of the - various ecclesiastical bodies to the governments in favor of a court of - arbitration - - -So now there existed in the capital of Germany a Peace Society, about -which as a center branch societies would presumably group themselves in -all the larger German cities. The proposed task of forming a widespread -public opinion was, therefore, well underway. I saw with delight, in my -imagination, an undeviating development of the movement. I clearly -recognized, however, that the beginnings were comparatively -insignificant. What were our two or three thousand organized members -compared to the thousand five hundred millions that populate the earth? -And how puny, not only in numbers but also in power and reputation, -compared to the representatives and supporters of the old system! But -what is the significance of the first violet-dotted patch of grass -compared to the fields, stretching miles and miles, still covered with -the snows of March? It signifies that the spring is at hand. What -signifies the first gleam of dawn penetrating the mantle of night? It -signifies that the sunrise is coming. Thus I accepted the modest results -achieved up to that time by the peace idea, and harbored no doubt that -the element of spring, the element of light that abides in it, must come -to fulfillment in gradual but uninterrupted and ever swifter -progression. - -I have no doubt of it either, even at the present day; but I have -learned from experience that such movements do not take place in so -straight a line and in such a regular tempo as I then supposed. It is a -zigzag line, now attaining great height and speed, then sinking down -again; it apparently vanishes, and then with a new start reaches quite -unexpected points. And all direct, methodical (_zielbewusste_) work—to -use the tiresome, hackneyed word—is on the one hand hampered, on the -other helped, by unanticipated, invisible secondary influences; more -often helped than hampered, for, where any innovation is to be -introduced, its forces converge from all directions. - -Our life was now richly filled. We enjoyed two special blessings which -one can hardly think of in combination,—impetuous reaching out into the -wide world, and peace in our quiet corner. Full of hopes, expectations, -struggles, in flaming enthusiasm or in overwhelming indignation, we set -sail into the future; and a sheltered, safe little nest, beautifully -pillowed with love and gayety, was ours at that time. - -Many expressed their pity for us because we were childless. The blessing -of children is, indeed, regarded as the highest happiness; but I have -never expressed in these memoirs one single word of regret for this -lack, nor have we, either of us, ever complained of it. Possibly, if we -had known that good fortune, we should not have been able to comprehend -how such a deprivation can be borne without pain; but it is a fact, our -childlessness never cost us a sigh. I explain this in this way: not only -did we find perfect satisfaction in each other, but that need of living -for the future which lies at the basis of the desire to have offspring -and to work and provide for them was satisfied in our case by our -vocation, which also was striving for the future, and which delighted in -something still in its infancy, but growing and flourishing. Besides, we -had our literary activity, and it is well known and recognized in -popular language that authorship is a kind of paternity (_Autorschaft -ist eine Art Vaterschaft_). - -And yet how absolutely different my life had shaped itself from what had -been anticipated in my childhood and youth! I often had at this time -occasion to turn my thoughts back to those days of youth and childhood, -and to refresh my recollections of them. My old Aunt Lotti, Elvira’s -mother, who was now quite alone in the world and had nothing to love -except me, had moved into our neighborhood. She lived about an hour’s -walk from Harmannsdorf, and I used to drive over to see her at least -once a week, and chat with her for an hour or two, on old reminiscences -for the most part. She took the liveliest interest in my domestic -happiness and my labors, and yet we liked best to talk together of times -gone by, of the days when Elvira and I played “puff” together. - -Aunt Lotti was really the only link that connected me with my early -life. My brother was still alive, to be sure, but, except for an -exchange of letters once in a great while, we were quite out of touch -with each other. So in these recollections I have had nothing to say of -him. He was an odd fish, living perfectly aloof from mankind and -isolated in a small Dalmatian city, occupying himself with floriculture -and chess. His company consisted of a number of cats. Solitary walks -along the seashore, the reading of botanical and mineralogical works, -were his only passions. I had not seen him since 1872, and up to the -time of his death, which occurred a few years ago, we never met again. - -In the year of 1893 we did not attend any Peace Congress. Ever since I -was carried away by this movement, I have counted the stations of my -recollections for the most part by journeys to Peace Congresses, for -these always brought visible tokens of the progress of the cause that -was so dear to my heart and the possibility of taking an active part in -helping it along. They brought me into touch, too, with the old friends, -and led to the formation of new friendships; finally, they took us to -new places in environments hitherto unknown, and they procured for us -that enjoyment which My Own drank in with the greatest avidity,—travel -itself. To get into a carriage together, and then to be off and away—it -was an indescribable joy! - -The Congress this year was held at Chicago, in connection with the -exposition which was called the “World’s Fair.” Our means were not -sufficient for such a long journey and we gave it up. I intrusted the -duty of representing me at this Congress to my friend Malaria, the -celebrated painter Frau Olga Wisinger. She had been with us in the -Austrian delegation at Rome, and was an enthusiastic adherent of the -cause; so the mission was in good hands. The name “Malaria” is only a -nickname and does not refer in any way to the great artist’s feverish -propensities. This was its origin: at Rome all the participants had to -register their names and occupations, that a list of those present might -be printed and distributed; so in the Austrian group we read, “Signora -Olga Wisinger, Malaria,” for that was the way the Italians had -deciphered the word _malerin_, “painter.” - -During the World’s Fair, countless congresses were held in Chicago, and -one of them was the Congress of Religions. All the great sects of the -world had sent their dignitaries to represent them. This was certainly -the first time that the promulgators of different creeds had come -together, not to proselyte or to battle with one another, but to bring -out the principles that are common to them all. And Christian bishops, -Mosaic rabbis, Buddhist and Mohammedan priests, found themselves at one -in the principle: God is the father of all; therefore all are brethren. -So there was also a peace principle resulting from this Congress of -Religions. - -The actual Peace Congress which met August 14–19, in the Art Institute, -under the Administrative Department of the Columbian Exposition, was -presided over by Josiah Quincy, Assistant Secretary of State. Among the -participants and speakers was William Jennings Bryan, who in the year -1904 ran as Roosevelt’s opponent for the presidency of the United -States, and who may perhaps at some future election win the victory. - -In this Congress delegates from Africa and China participated. Europeans -were only slimly represented. The journey across the great pond, which -means for Americans only “a trip,” still frightens the inhabitants of -our continent. Dr. Adolf Richter went from Germany, Dr. Darby from -England, Moneta from Italy, and from Austria—“Malaria.” The Americans of -course were well represented and by distinguished men,—scholars, judges, -statesmen. A soldier even, General Charles H. Howard, gave an address on -the International Tribunal. A special church convention joined the -movement by referring to the projected petition of the various Christian -bodies of the world to the governments in behalf of the Court of -Arbitration. This plan was carried out, and the petition, which was -signed by about a hundred ecclesiastical dignitaries of all countries, -was subsequently laid before all the heads of governments. I was -intrusted with the duty of presenting the copy destined for the Emperor -of Austria. - - - - - XLI - VASÍLI VERESHCHÁGIN - - Vereshchágin in Vienna · He does the honors at his exhibition · “All - Quiet before Plevna” · “Apotheosis of War” · Moltke standing before this - picture · A picture of what Vereshchágin himself had seen during the war - and painted · Concerning a picture which he could not paint · Further - reminiscences of his military life · His Napoleon pictures · A remark of - William II regarding them · War and hunting - - -Now I will tell about Vasíli Vereshchágin. When I learned that the great -Russian painter, who was battling with his brush against the same foe -that I was fighting with my pen, was staying in Vienna, where he was -exhibiting a number of his pictures, I hastened to the city to see those -celebrated paintings,—“All Quiet before Plevna,” the “Apotheosis of -War,” and all those other variously named indictments of war. Even in -the titles that he gave his pictures the artist expressed the bitterness -which, next to the pain, animated his brush. The sentinel forgotten in -the wilderness of snow, standing there until the drift reaches half to -his breast,—that was what Vereshchágin’s genius saw back of the -generals’ well-known dispatch, “All quiet before Plevna”; and a pyramid -of skulls surrounded by a flock of flapping ravens,—thus he depicted the -“Apotheosis of War.” - -Even before I had managed to get to the exhibition, I received a note -from the painter inviting me to come to the studio on a certain day at -ten o’clock in the morning; he would be there and would himself do the -honors. We were on hand punctually, My Own and I. Vereshchágin received -us at the door. He was of medium height, and wore a long gray beard; -full of animation and fluent in speech (he spoke in French), he had a -passionate nature subdued by irony. - -“We are colleagues and comrades, gracious lady”; such was his greeting. -And then he led us from picture to picture, and related how each came to -be painted and what idea was in his mind as he worked. At many of the -paintings we could not suppress a cry of horror. - -“Perhaps you believe that is exaggerated? No, the reality is much more -terrible. I have often been reproached for representing war in its evil, -repulsive aspect; as if war had two aspects,—a pleasing, attractive -side, and another ugly, repulsive. There is only one kind of war, with -only one end and aim: the enemy must suffer as much as possible; must -lose as many as possible in killed, wounded, and prisoners; must receive -one blow after another until he asks for quarter.” - -As we stopped in front of the “Apotheosis of War,” he called our -attention to an inscription in small Russian letters near the border of -the picture. - -“You can’t read that; it is Russian and means, ‘Dedicated to the -Conquerors of the Past: the Present and the Future.’ When the picture -was on exhibition in Berlin, Moltke stood in front of it. I was by his -side, and I translated the words for him; the dedication was a dig at -him too.” - -Another painting represented a road buried in a thick covering of snow, -with here and there hands or feet sticking out of it. - -“What in heaven’s name is that?” we cried. - -“No work of the imagination. It is actual fact that in winter, both in -the last Turko-Russian war and during other campaigns, the road along -which the regiments were passing was covered with corpses; one who had -not seen it would find it hard to believe. The wheels of the cannons, -the tumbrels and other wagons, would crush the wretched men, still -living, down into the ruts, where the dead bodies were deliberately left -that the road might not be injured; and they were pressed way down under -the snow, only the protruding legs and arms showing here and there that -the road was a thickly populated graveyard....” - -“I understand,” said I, “that you were blamed for depicting the most -horrible things that you saw.” - -“The most horrible? No. I found much dramatic material from which I -absolutely recoiled, because I was utterly unable to put it on the -canvas. For instance, I had the following experience: my brother,[1] who -was an aide to General Skobelef, was killed during the third assault on -Plevna. The spot where he fell was held by the enemy, so I could not -rescue his body. Three months later, when Plevna was in our hands, I -went to the place and found it covered with bodies,—more correctly, with -skeletons; wherever I looked I found skulls grinning at me, and here and -there skeletons still wearing shirts and tattered clothes. They seemed -to be pointing with their hands somewhere into the distance. Which of -these was my brother? I carefully examined the tatters, the -configuration of the skulls, the eye sockets, and I couldn’t stand it; -the tears streamed from my eyes, and for a long time I could not control -my loud sobbing. Nevertheless, I sat down and made a sketch of this -place, which reminded me of Dante’s pictures of hell. I wanted to -produce such a picture, with my own figure searching among all those -skeletons—impossible! Again, a year later, two years later, when I began -on the canvas, the same tears choked me and prevented me from -proceeding; and so I have never been able to finish that picture.” - -I am warranted in saying that I am repeating Vereshchágin’s own words, -for I urged him then and there to incorporate in an article what he had -just told me, and send it to me for my monthly periodical. He granted my -wish, and in the seventh and eighth issues of _Die Waffen nieder_ for -1893 Vereshchágin published these reminiscences and many others besides. - -“In order to get a clearer idea of what war is,” continued Vereshchágin, -“I made up my mind to be an eyewitness of the whole thing. I -participated in an infantry charge on the enemy, and, as it happened, I -led the attack. I have been in a cavalry skirmish and victory, and I -have been with the marines on board of a torpedo boat in an attack on -great ships. On this last occasion I was punished for my curiosity by a -severe wound, which almost sent me to kingdom come, to continue my -observations there.” - -Well, we know to-day that it was indeed his fate to be dispatched into -the next world by a Japanese mine. Almost the first news that startled -the world at the time of the Russo-Japanese War was that of the sinking -of the ironclad _Petropavlovsk_, which ran on a mine. Vereshchágin, -pencil in hand, was on board, sketching. A shock, a cry of anguish from -eight hundred throats, and down into the depths sank ship and crew! -Vereshchágin’s intention was to observe and depict the events of the -most modern of wars—what would those pictures have turned out to be? -Perhaps it would have been as impossible to finish them as it was to -reproduce the scene at Plevna. There are horrors which incapacitate the -artist’s hand or darken the observer’s mind. The Russo-Japanese War -brought the general madness to a head. Vereshchágin’s vibrant artist -spirit would perhaps have been the first to become mad if he had ever -tried to paint the scenes which have been enacted on barbed wire and in -wolf-pits (_trous-de-loup_). - -A few years later—let me here complete my personal recollections of -Vereshchágin—I met him a second time. He was giving in Vienna an -exhibition of his series of Napoleon pictures. It is said that Emperor -William II, on seeing one of these paintings, remarked to him: “With -these, dear master, you are battling against war more effectually than -all the Peace Congresses in the world.” - -Nevertheless, I believe that the artist’s intention was not in the least -to engage in that sort of battle. He wanted to be true. He did not hate -war at all; he found in it the excitements of the chase. - -“I have many times killed men in battle,”—these are his own words,—“and -I can say from experience that the excitement, as well as the feeling of -satisfaction and contentment, that comes after killing a man is -precisely like the sensation which comes when one has brought down -uncommonly large game.” - - - - - XLII - THE COMMITTEE MEETING AT BRUSSELS AND ITS RESULTS - - Committee meeting of the Interparliamentary Union at Brussels · Letter - from Senator Trarieux · Address to Gladstone · Address to the French and - Italian deputies · Warning as to the duties of the Union · The - “inevitable war” between France and Italy · The case of Aigues-Mortes · - Settlement through the friends of peace in both countries - - -It was decided at the Interparliamentary Conference which was held at -Bern in the year 1892, that the next one should meet at Christiania; but -this intention was frustrated by circumstances. The conflict between -Sweden and Norway, which led, twelve years later, to the separation of -the two countries, had even then taken such form as to make it clearly -inadvisable to select the Norwegian capital as the seat of an -international conference. - -So the Conference itself fell through. As a substitute for it the -members of the bureau, or managing board, of the Interparliamentary -Union met at Brussels for a committee meeting. This board had been -organized the preceding year at Bern, and consisted of the following -members: Dr. Baumbach, member of the Prussian Upper House (represented -by Dr. Max Hirsch); Baron von Pirquet, member of the Imperial Parliament -(Austria); Don Arturo de Marcoartu, senator (Spain); Trarieux, senator -(France); Right Honorable Philip Stanhope, member of the House of -Commons (England); Marquis Pandolfi, deputy (Italy); Ullman, president -of the Storthing (Norway), represented by Frédéric Bajer, deputy -(Denmark); Rahusen, deputy (Netherlands); Urechia, senator (Roumania); -Gobat, national councilor, head of the Interparliamentary Bureau -(Switzerland). - -I got very little information from the newspapers regarding the sessions -of this committee. I only knew that Pandolfi wanted to propose the -institution of a permanent diplomatic council for the adjustment of -national quarrels, and Stanhope the establishment of an international -tribunal. So, in order to get more definite information, I wrote to -Senator Trarieux and received the following reply: - - Senate, Paris, November 3, 1903 - - Dear Madam: - - I was glad to learn from your letter that our Brussels Conference made - a good impression in your country, and I thank you sincerely for the - personal sympathy that you manifest toward us. - - I believe, just as you do, that, although we must regret that we did - not meet in a full conference at Christiania, in accordance with the - vote at Bern, nevertheless we succeeded in counteracting this - disappointment by the important transactions of our bureau. - - Although each regular group of the Interparliamentary Union was - represented by only one delegate at Brussels, yet we felt strong - because of the assurances of confidence which were transmitted to us - from thousands of colleagues; and our resolves, if approved, have - scarcely less authority than if they had been the result of the votes - of our mandators themselves. - - Our chief labor was the final determination of the order of business - which in the future is to obtain in the deliberations of the Union. I - trust they will be accepted by the next Conference. - - Above all we endeavored not to step out of the sphere within which we - have from the start confined our undertaking. We cherish the - conviction that in order to reach our goal we must not dream of being - an academy in which all questions can be treated. - - We do not desire to be confounded with revolutionary cosmopolitanism; - we therefore exclude from our programme everything that might cause - the governments to look on us with suspicion. We do not talk of - changes in the map of Europe, nor of rectification of boundaries, nor - of any attack on the principle of nationality, nor of a solution of - those problems of external politics on account of which nations hold - themselves ready for war; we take up only the study of those proposals - which aim directly at doing away with war and substituting for it the - solution of difficulties through a regularly constituted - jurisdiction,—that is a ground on which the broad-minded patriots of - all countries may meet. - - We have not limited ourselves to the preparation of our programme, but - have also passed several resolutions, the importance of which you must - have recognized if they came to your knowledge. - - Thus we voted to send to Mr. Gladstone a congratulatory address - regarding the words which he uttered in the English House of Commons - on the proposed court of arbitration; moreover, we have sent a - petition to our colleagues of the regular groups in the French and - Italian parliaments, urging them most strongly to work with all their - energies for a _rapprochement_ of their two great countries, which now - are unfortunately kept apart through imaginary antagonism. - - I am sending you, gracious lady, both of these documents, which, on - account of the ideas expressed in them, deserved to be made publicly - known throughout the whole world. They are only words, to be sure, but - words which exert an influence, because they correspond to the highest - endeavors of mankind and contain nothing that arouses criticism even - from the most timid of the practical-minded. He who contemns them - makes a mistake; contempt and skepticism are out of place when it is a - question of penetrating into the secret thoughts of nations, of - finding the way to their hearts, and of bringing new truths before the - minds of rulers. - - Kindly remember me to Baron Suttner, and accept, gracious lady, my - most respectful homage. - - L. Trarieux, Senator - -Enclosed were copies of the addresses sent by the Bureau of the -Interparliamentary Union to Gladstone and the French and Italian -deputies. I here print the text of these documents, long since buried in -the archives and forgotten, because I believe that they afford valuable -information for those of my readers who are seeking from my memoirs to -acquaint themselves with the history of the peace movement. In the -letter to Gladstone can be seen the development of the principle of the -court of arbitration, which a few years later found expression in the -Hague Tribunal and numerous arbitration treaties. The actual origin goes -still further back, to be sure; but the phase here elucidated gave the -impulse to its speedy accomplishment, as is shown still more clearly in -the report of the Interparliamentary Conference of the following year -(1894) at The Hague. - - TO THE PRIME MINISTER, WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE - - Your Excellency: - - We have just read the debates that have been held in the English House - of Commons[2] concerning the motion of Mr. William Randal Cremer and - Sir John Lubbock relative to a permanent treaty of arbitration between - Great Britain and the United States, and we take the greatest possible - satisfaction in the following passage from your speech[3]: - - “I will only say in conclusion these few words; and although these - declarations in favor of arbitration and in the general interests of - peace, as well as against vast military establishments, are of great - value, there is another method of proceeding which, I think, in our - limited sphere, we upon this bench have endeavored to promote, and to - which I have attached very considerable value, and that is the - promotion of what I may call a Central Tribunal in Europe, a Council - of the Great Powers, in which it may be anticipated, or at all events - may be favorably conjectured, that the rival selfishnesses, if I may - use so barbarous an expression, may neutralize one another, and - something like impartial authority may be attained for the settlement - of disputes. I am quite convinced that if selfishness were to be sunk - and each state were to attain to some tolerable capacity of forming a - moderate estimate of its own claims, in such a case the action of a - central authority in Europe would be of inestimable value.” - - These declarations and resolutions, sir, have interested us greatly, - and while we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the powerful - support they give to the ideas of which we have constituted ourselves - the official representatives in the eyes of Europe, we take it upon - ourselves to emphasize their political importance. - - Thanks to you, it is now a certainty that the great states will accept - the idea of breaking with the barbaric rule of war and, by means of a - systematic organization of international law, of preparing the way for - the peaceful solution of conflicts such as might arise between the - different nations. It seems to us that your wise and noble words - cannot have too wide a publicity, and we shall endeavor to circulate - them as far as possible in the states which we have the honor to - represent. - - But we do not confine ourselves to offering this public homage to you; - we are also bold enough to append a respectful request. - - Words are forgotten and signify nothing without deeds. It is far more - possible for you than for us to give them an effectual sanction by - taking the initiative for positive resolutions,—of course, as far as - is permitted by diplomatic considerations. - - It seems to us that England is in a position to set a great example by - making a proposal like that made by the United States of America, and - it would delight us if you regarded it as possible, now that the - official negotiations with that great power have been begun, to go a - step further and offer to negotiate arbitration treaties with such - other powers as should be favorably disposed, since you have so openly - declared yourself in their favor. In our opinion these would be the - best means of assuring peace among the nations. - - We believe that no voice would have greater authority than yours in - bringing these new ideas to the attention of the governments, and that - the result of such a work would be the noblest crown of a glorious - career, which perhaps appears more splendid by reason of the services - which you have performed in behalf of humanitarian ideas than of those - which you have rendered to your own country. - -The second address shows very distinctly what views were held during the -first year of its existence by the Interparliamentary Board regarding -the tasks and duties of the members of the Union. Our contemporaries who -follow parliamentary proceedings will, alas, be able to attest that -these tasks were not accomplished. - - - LETTER TO THE FRENCH AND ITALIAN DEPUTIES - - Your Board of the Interparliamentary Conference has just completed its - labors, and you will receive its report; but it has thought it - expedient, before separating, to call your most earnest attention to - the obligation which is incumbent upon you, of working with all your - might to dissipate the clouds which of late have been rolling up - between your two great countries. - - The strained relations between France and Italy could not fail to - awaken the apprehensions of the Interparliamentary Board, and, while - it does not wish to criticise diplomatic actions, the modification of - which is not within its province, it desires, nevertheless, to express - the opinion that there exist no grounds for insoluble disagreement, - and that cordial relations, which are of such weighty importance for - the peace of the world, can be resumed. - - If existing alliances—as the contracting parties are continually - asserting—are intended only to guarantee the European balance of - power, then there can be no reason for nations which are united by the - holy bond of common origin to live on a footing of such enmity as - might at any moment degenerate into menace. Exaggerated sensitiveness - or regrettable misunderstandings are alone responsible for a state of - affairs which at all costs must be cleared up. The French and the - Italian people are fundamentally inspired by an eager desire for - peace. The idea of an armed conflict is repugnant to them both. A - fratricidal strife which should bring them face to face on the - battlefield would be a real crime and would mean a backward step in - civilization. Public opinion, it would seem, might be easily roused - against such a misfortune. To enlighten public opinion, to remind it - of its real interests,—this it is for which you should exert your - influence. Endeavor above all things to make your colleagues in the - parliaments to which you belong, share in your anxieties, which - doubtless are equal to those borne by us. Conjure the journals of both - your countries to be serviceable to you by avoiding in their - discussions everything that might embitter the controversies; or, - better still, let them use their efforts to calm excited feelings. - Make it plain to your fellow-countrymen that such insignificant - motives should not be allowed to end in the most horrible of all - disasters. - - Your board has no doubt, honored colleagues, that this act of - intervention would be worthy of you and that it would redound to the - glory of the Interparliamentary Conference, and it begs you most - earnestly not to let our appeal remain unheard. - -The ill feeling between Italy and France referred to in this letter has -long since given way to a friendly relationship. But at that time it had -reached the point that seemed to give occasion for the certain -“inevitable war” always seen by the military circles as everywhere -threatening; that is to say, beckoning. Then there is incitement in this -direction on the part of the press, there are irritations among the -people, and it comes to brawls and fights which keep adding to the -bitterness. - -In the summer of 1893 a fight had taken place in a workshop in a village -of southern France,—Aigues-Mortes,—where Italians were employed. What -first gave rise to it was the fact that an Italian workman washed some -dirty trousers in a French spring. I find the following observation -regarding this circumstance jotted down in my diary: - - -September 8. The international affairs of Europe rest on such sound and -reasonable foundations that such an occasion is all that is required to -bring so-called “high politics” into action, and to make historians -resigned to the necessity of entering in their annals beside the War of -the White and Red Roses the War of the Dirty Trousers. - - -The incident gave rise to many articles in the papers—the Aigues-Mortes -story was headed “Franco-Italian Friction”—and to national -demonstrations. - -But fortunately there was already a peace movement. The Italian Chamber -on the one side, with four hundred members belonging to the -Interparliamentary Union; on the other the action of the Frenchmen, -Frédéric Passy, Trarieux, and others, managed to dispel the danger. Of -course the “war-in-sight-loving” circles were not contented. The -following dispatch from Rome was sent to the _Figaro_ on the -twenty-second of August: - - The Conservatives have agreed to send an address to the King; they - blame the Ministry for showing too great weakness in hindering the - national demonstrations and putting up with the demonstrations - favorable to the French. - -So only hostile demonstrations are to be encouraged! - - - - - XLIII - FROM DIARY AND PORTFOLIO - - Extracts from diary · Caprivi in support of the military bill · Bebel’s - interpellation · Invention of a bullet-proof cloth · Settlement of the - Bering question · King Alexander to his Servians · Dynamite tragedies in - Spain · Visit of the Russian fleet at Toulon · Marcoartu’s letter to me - · His letter to Jules Simon · General inquiry of the Paris _Figaro_ as - to a gift for the Tsaritsa · My answer to it · Exchange of letters with - Émile Zola - - -When I look back for further recollections of the year 1893, and turn -the leaves of my diary to refresh my memory, I discover that I was not -interested in incidents of my own life, but rather in the events of -contemporary history, and especially in such political phenomena as -appertained to questions of peace and war. Among the complicated doings -of the world, the features which I followed—and still continue to -follow—with passionate interest were the phases of a battle,—the battle -which a new idea, a young movement, had begun to wage with deep-rooted -existing phenomena. After the manifestations and impressions produced by -the powerful “Old,” I listened toward the future and followed with the -keenest attention and hopefulness the growth of the as yet invisible and -feeble “New,” whereof the great mass of people still had no knowledge. I -saw clearly that the tiny plant had started to grow, but I was also well -aware how stony the soil was, how harsh were the winds that opposed the -development of its life. - -How different are the contents of my diary and the pictures in my memory -now from those of my youth! Then the center was my own person and all -that concerned it,—plans for an artistic career and for marriage, -worldly pleasures, domestic cares, and such a lack of understanding and -of interest in the events of the day that I scarcely knew what was going -on; and a contemporaneous war was noted only after it had broken out, -and was disposed of with a line in my day’s records. But since I had -become engrossed in the peace question my soul had become a kind of -seismograph, which was affected by the slightest political shocks. - -Here are a few extracts from my diary of the year 1893: - - -January 18. Caprivi’s speech in support of the military bill was pure -_fanfare_. It almost signalized the advance of the hostile troops -through the Brandenburg Gate, and once more brought into circulation the -word “offensive,” which had in a large measure gone out of fashion; for -in the last twenty years pleas for armaments have been made only in the -name of defense. The Danish Peace Society entered a protest against the -insinuation in the Chancellor’s speech in regard to the probable -attitude in the next war. As if, indeed, the next war were thus to be -announced! We talk about the horrors of _a_ possible war of the future -in Europe, but the definite article we do not like to use,—we do not -speak of “the next _auto-da-fé_.” - - -March 1. The question of peace and arbitration came up yesterday for -open debate in the German Reichstag. Bebel inquires whether the -authorities are going to join with England and the United States in -their endeavors to bring about a solution of international differences -by a court of arbitration. Secretary of State von Marschall replies that -the United States had, in their brief communication, made no tender in -this direction. Nature makes no leaps; still less does official -politics. The question came to debate without result, but it was not -pushed aside with a smile. - - -March 20. A man named Dowe is said to have invented a bullet-proof -cloth. If the contest between resistance and penetration, as it is -carried on between torpedo and armor plate at sea, is to involve the -land forces also, there will probably ensue the accelerated ruin of -the nations and a _reductio ad absurdum_ of all warfare. Just imagine! -a new military bill for providing the millions of the army with -bullet-proof wadding,—this voted and furnished at the same time in all -countries; and this, if war should break out at this stage of the -game, would afford a lovely campaign of unwoundable opponents! Then -there would have to be a hasty majority demand for new offensive -weapons with bullet-proof-wadding-pierceable bombshells (fired, -wherever possible, from mines and balloons, from the frog’s- and -bird’s-eye view), then the introduction of armored umbrellas and -mine-proof overshoes,—and all this for “the maintenance of Peace.”... - - -April 4. To-day the arbitrators meet in the building of the Ministry of -Foreign Affairs in Paris, to settle the Bering question. Such an event -ought to give the editorial writers of the whole world subject matter -for extended observations, and ought to be accompanied by magnificent -pageantry. - - -April 10. Our papers have published the news of the Bering arbitration -without comment. On the other hand, the _Westminster Gazette_ writes: -“If the intrinsic importance of events and the outward demonstrations -were in proportion, the report of the Bering arbitration would ring -throughout the world to-day.” And the _Daily Telegraph_: “The Bering -arbitration, as well as that on the _Alabama_ question, affords mankind -to-day a majestic spectacle.” An estimate of the importance of the -event—typical of the daily press—is afforded by the Paris _Figaro_, -which adds the observation that the seal question, if it is decided by -the arbitration commission in a humanitarian manner, will involve a rise -in the price of sealskins and persuade our fine ladies to have -economical recourse to rabbit skins! - - -September 8. King Alexander addressed his Servians on his _seventeenth_ -birthday; “Heroes! For ten years I have belonged to the army, and as -your general in chief (_oberster Kriegsherr_) I will live for the glory -of the Servian arms!” Ah, how delightful to be still a child.... - - -This entry of my diary makes me especially meditative when I compare it -with later events,—the slaughter of the king in the year 1903 by Servian -“heroes” with Servian weapons. - - -Beginning of November. Terrible dynamite tragedies have taken place in -Spain. Bombs hurled in the auditorium of the Barcelona theater, -spreading death and terror (the coming revolution, if righteous social -reforms do not obviate it, will be unthinkably terrible through its -explosive weapons); and the catastrophe of Santander,—a harbor, a whole -harbor, in bright flames; ships blown up, thousands of human beings on -the ground, heaps of corpses, a whole railway train shattered, houses -transformed into piles of rubbish; the air rendered pestilential by the -smell of burning powder and petroleum mills; chimneys flying through -space; anchors flung from the bottom of the sea, three hundred meters -into the air; the sea beaten and roaring, not by a storm but by the -explosion of twenty-five cases of dynamite,—all this gives a foretaste -of the deliberate, not accidental, episodes of future naval battles, in -which the explosion of mines and the like is already provided for. With -the era of explosives and electricity an annihilating power is put into -men’s hands which demands that henceforth humanity come to the truth. -The beast and the devil, the savage and the child,—all these must be -overcome in the human race, if, with such means at hand, they are not to -turn the earth into a hell, a madhouse, or a desert waste. - - -An event of the year 1893 which aroused my liveliest interest was the -visit of the Russian fleet to Toulon and the fraternal festivities that -were associated with it. I followed with close attention the twofold -effect produced by this incident. It gave rise to chauvinistic passions -and at the same time to “pacifistic” sentiments. Demonstrations in the -one or the other direction took place alternately or broke out -simultaneously. On the one hand the _Dreibund_, or Triple Alliance, on -the other the _Zweibund_, or Double Alliance, were celebrated as -guaranties of peace or as organizations for offensive enterprises; -between the two lay the conception that they signified the established -equipoise. - -The official Russian utterances were unwearied in declaring that the -visit of the fleet to Toulon was a peaceful demonstration, and in -reiterating that absolutely nothing of an aggressive or provocative -character could be related to the festivities in France. The French -journals were constrained to print these assurances and the _Figaro_ -hastened to add: “Of course! _Une manifestation essentiellement et -exclusivement pacifique_”; besides, the French press, and especially the -_Figaro_, would never in the world have upheld any other manifestation! -But a few days later the same _Figaro_ proposed that during the Russian -festivities “Les Danicheffs” should be performed in the Odéon Theater, -“in which piece one passage would be certain to elicit storms of -applause,—‘As long as there are Russians and Frenchmen and wild beasts, -the Russians and French will stand in alliance against those wild -beasts’”! - -The whole tone of a large part of the Parisian press during the period -preceding the festivities was calculated to exacerbate hatred of -Germany. After a time, however, the festivities took the form of peace -assurances, and the gala performances in honor of the Russian guests -ended with an apotheosis representing peace. - -At that time I received the following letter from Senator Marcoartu: - - Madrid (Senate), November 13, 1893 - - Dear Madam: - - While in Paris I witnessed the Franco-Russian demonstrations in favor - of peace. This once more awoke in me the idea which I promulgated in - 1876 in my English work, “Internationalism” (or the ten years’ truce - of God). Herewith I send you the letter that I wrote to Jules Simon. - It seems to me that the friends of peace, instead of falling asleep - under the tent of arbitration, should now start an agitation in behalf - of a ten years’ truce. The thing would be feasible and salutary. - - Another question of present moment to which I should like to call - public attention is the neutralization of straits, isthmuses, and the - like. On this point read the bulletin of the _Société d’économie - politique_, Paris, 1892, p. 88, and in _Le Matin_ of October 29, 1893, - the interview which an editor of that paper had with me during the - Franco-Russian festivities. - - In cordial friendship, your very devoted - Marcoartu - -Here is the letter to Jules Simon: - - Paris, October 29, 1893 - - Dear Sir: - - The congratulatory telegram from his Majesty the Emperor of Russia to - the President of the French Republic, in which he declares his desire - to coöperate in the confirmation of universal peace, has made such a - vivid impression on me that I am addressing you with the following - question: - - Do you not believe that, in view of Gladstone’s speech in the English - House of Commons, on the 16th of June, in which he urges the - establishment of a permanent international court of arbitration, and - in view of the Emperor’s telegram from Gatchina, the moment has now - arrived for a sincere and honorable peace agreement for the whole - civilized world? Since a very strong compact between the great empire - of the North and the great French Republic for the establishment of - universal peace exists; since, further, as you told me, the Emperor of - powerful Germany has been outspoken in favor of peace; since the - sovereigns and public opinion of Austria and Italy favor peace; since - England has no thought of other than commercial conquests; since the - whole world is sensible of the necessity of stable peace in order to - diminish the colossal burdens which the present war footing, even in - time of peace, entails upon the nations; would it not be possible to - bring about a sort of truce of God, to last until after the World’s - Exposition at Paris in 1900, which is going to demonstrate by its - splendor the progress in civilization made by the nineteenth century? - - An international agreement would have to bind nations to refrain from - every hostile action during those ten years. Every question of war - would be postponed; an Areopagus would have to settle all differences - not determined diplomatically. - - During this new peace era governments would be occupied in developing - the resources of their countries, improving the condition of public - health, furthering education and works of general utility, settling - economic, social, and financial questions, or at least studying how - finally to civilize countries still backward, so that by the year 1900 - all nations would have the opportunity to show how far they had - progressed intellectually and materially, and by how much human - prosperity had been increased. - - We have lived through twenty years of peace in constant dread of war; - now let an attempt be made for once to bring about a ten years’ peace, - free from the care and cost of war.[4] Many years ago I wrote: - - “In the first third of the century Steam said to the earth, ‘There are - no mountains any more’; and the rails have made smooth the surface of - the planet. - - “In the second third of the century Electricity spoke to the waters: - ‘There is no ocean any more’; and the thought-bearing wires encircle - the globe. - - “To-day I hope and beseech God that in the last third of the century - Reason may say to men, ‘There is no war any more.’”[5] - - Accept, dear sir, my, etc. - Arturo de Marcoartu - -Apropos of the Franco-Russian festivities the Paris _Figaro_ published -an inquiry as to what gift should be sent to the Empress of Russia as a -memento of the Toulon days. I sent in an answer to the question. -Together with many other suggestions, the paper (under date of October -7) printed mine, introducing it with the following words: - - We award the prize to the jewel proposed by Baroness Berthe de - Suttner,—an olive branch in diamonds, the significance of which she - thus explains: - - “Pacific demonstration,—such is the character which the Russian - government has declared its wish to give to the visit of its squadron - to France; therefore the jewel offered to the Tsaritsa to commemorate - this event should be an emblem of peace. - - “And precisely because the ultra patriots (_les chauvins_) of all - countries will take advantage of the Franco-Russian festivities to - attribute to them or see in them a defiant and threatening character, - the partisans of peace must take this occasion to emphasize the - opposite tendency. - - “At the bar of history a peculiar situation will be presented by this - year 1893: two groups of allied powers, believing themselves - reciprocally threatened, having exhausted all their forces of - sacrifice and devotion in preparing an efficacious defense, declare - loudly, in the face of Europe, that their dearest desire, their most - sacred mission, is to spare our continent the unimaginable horror of a - future conflagration. Both of them, while making this solemn - proclamation of pacific intentions, are at the same time exhibiting - their formidable military forces, their keen swords, their invincible - armor. Both sides have demonstrated that their alliances and their - friendships are assured, that they are ready to fulfill all their - obligations and kindle with every enthusiasm. Thus they find - themselves face to face, equal in power, equal in dignity, and—with - the exception of a few divergent secondary interests—desirous of the - same thing,—peace. - - “Unless one or both lie—and what right would one have to make such an - accusation?—this situation can have logically no other end than a - definitive pacification; consequently overtures might be made from one - side or the other, or simultaneously, without the slightest imputation - of weakness or of fear. - - “Peace offered by the stronger may be humiliating for the weaker; and - hitherto, in fact, treaties of peace have been signed only after a war - and under the dictation of the conqueror. But in the present - conditions, the element of the ‘weaker party’ having disappeared, a - new element might make its advent into the history of social - evolution, namely, the treaty of peace before—that is to say, in place - of—war; in other words, the end of the barbarous age. - - “If the days which are in preparation are called to facilitate the - greatest triumph which the genius of humanity will have ever won, the - jewel which shall commemorate them will be the most beautiful - adornment which ever a queen wore. The olive branch inaugurated by the - Tsaritsa might in future fêtes be adopted by the wives of all monarchs - or presidents who were gathered together; and as the emblem need not - invariably be in diamonds, the women of the people might likewise - adorn themselves with it, for only the festivals of peace can be at - the same time festivals of liberty.” - -Here also let one bit of French correspondence be added from the year -1893. In connection with the annual meeting of my Union I desired to get -from Émile Zola an expression of his sympathy, and I asked him for it. -Here is his reply: - - Paris, December 1, 1893 - - Madame: - - Alas! I dream, as do all of you, of disarmament, of universal peace. - But, I confess, I fear that it is simply a dream; for I see in all - directions threats of war arising, and, unfortunately, I do not - believe that the effort of reason and of pity, which humanity ought to - make toward exchanging the great fraternal embrace within a brief time - (_pour échanger à bref délai le grand baiser fraternel_), is within - the range of possibility. - - What I can promise you is to work in my little corner (_mon petit - coin_), with all my powers and with all my heart for the - reconciliation of the nations. - - Accept, madame, etc., - Émile Zola - -I did not want to leave this letter unanswered. I wrote back: - - Château de Harmannsdorf, December 13, 1893 - - Master: - - Accept my sincerest thanks; your letter, containing the precious - promise that you will work with all your heart for the reconciliation - of the nations, has aroused the enthusiasm of our general assembly. - - The fraternal embrace? Universal love?... You are right; humanity has - not as yet got to that point. But it does not require mutual love - (_tendresse mutuelle_) to give up killing one another. What exists - to-day, and what the peace leagues are combating, is the system of a - destructive, organized, legitimized hatred, such as does not in the - last analysis exist any longer in human hearts. - - There has been talk of late of an international conference, having in - view a coalition against the danger of anarchy. Never will the - foolishness of the present situation have been more glaring than when - these representatives of states which are living together in absolute - anarchy—since they acknowledge no superior power—shall deliberate - around the same table on methods of protecting themselves against five - or six criminal bombs, while at the same time they will go on - threatening one another with a hundred thousand legal bombs! - - Perhaps the idea might occur to them of saying: To unite in face of a - common enemy, we must be reconciled; to defend civilization against - barbarism, let us begin by being civilized ourselves; if we desire to - protect society from the danger which the action of a madman may - inflict upon it, let us, first of all, do away with the thousandfold - more terrible danger which the frown of one of the mighty of the earth - would be sufficient to let loose upon it; if we wish to punish the - lawless, let us recognize a law above ourselves; if we wish to parry - the blows of the desperate, let us cease to spend billions in - fomenting despair. - - But in order that the official delegates may use this reasonable - language, they must have back of them the universal acclaim (_la - clameur universelle_) to encourage them, or, better still, to compel - them to do so. - - The evolution of humanity is not a dream, it is a fact scientifically - proved. Its end cannot be the premature destruction toward which it is - being precipitated by the present system; its end must be the reign of - law in control of force. Arms and ferocity develop in inverse - ratio,—the tooth, the big stick, the sword, the musket, the explosive - bomb, the electric war engine; and, on the other side, the wild beast, - the savage, the warrior, the old soldier, the fighter of to-day - (so-called safeguard of peace), the humane man of the future, who, in - possession of a power of boundless destructiveness, will refuse to use - it. - - Whether this future be near or far depends on the work done in _les - petits coins_. Allow me, then, monsieur, not to share in your _hélas!_ - but to congratulate myself in the name of all the peace workers to - whom you have promised your powerful aid,—a promise which I note with - a feeling of deep gratitude. - - Accept my, etc., - Berthe de Suttner - - - - - XLIV - VARIOUS INTERESTING LETTERS - - Increase of correspondence · Countess Hedwig Pötting · Gift from Duke - von Oldenburg · Schloss Erlaa · The duke’s consort · Peace efforts of - Prince Peter von Oldenburg thirty years ago · Letter from this prince to - Bismarck · Letter from Björnstjerne Björnson - - -My public activity brought numberless voices from all parts of the world -into my house. Signed or anonymous letters; letters from my own country; -letters from other parts of Europe and from beyond the sea; letters with -explosions of admiration or of coarseness; letters requesting -information or making all sorts of propositions for the surest and -speediest attainment of our object,—a farmer proposed a special manure -system, which, through the creation of good harvests and the consequent -enrichment of the people, would unquestionably lead to national peace; -manuscripts of from ten to a hundred pages, containing treatises on the -problem of war; offers of lifelong zeal in the service of the cause, if -only the person might be assured a satisfactory sum in compensation for -giving up his profession,—all this sort of thing came to me by mail in -ever-increasing proportions. - -Of course it was not possible for me to answer them all, and this the -more because I had not ceased to carry on my literary labors; at that -time I was writing my novel _Die Tiefinnersten_, and My Own, who -assisted me as much as he could in my correspondence and in editing the -review, was working at a second sequel to his _Kinder des Kaukasus_. - -Many of the letters were really so interesting that they could not be -left unanswered. One day, after the evening meeting of the Peace -Society, which had been held under my chairmanship, I got such a -beautiful letter, glowing with such genuine enthusiasm, that the -desire awoke in me to become acquainted with the writer. The signature -was that of one of my own rank, also a canoness, and this very -circumstance astonished me. It is not consonant with the nature of the -aristocratic women of Austria, particularly of the elder canonesses -(_Chorschwestern_) of the nunneries, to be enthusiastic in behalf of -politically revolutionary ideas, and to give spontaneous and frank -utterance to such enthusiasm. So I answered the letter by going myself -to the writer’s residence, and, as I did not find her at home, I left -my card with a few hearty words on it. - -The following day she hastened to me, and as a result we formed a -cordial friendship. To-day I have no dearer friend than the Countess -Hedwig Pötting, and Hedwig has no truer friend than I. We absolutely -understood each other. And an equally profound mutual understanding -arose between her and my husband. Her views so absolutely coincided with -his, that they came to the conclusion they must have been brother and -sister in some previous incarnation, and they called each other -_Siriusbruder_ and _Siriusschwester_. - -Intimate friendship rarely exists without nicknames, and so I used to be -called, not only by Hedwig but also by My Own, not Bertha but _Löwos_, -and I used to call Hedwig _die Hex_ (the witch). That does not sound -very friendly, but as it was the pet name which her own idolized -mother—a splendid old lady of clear and open mind—called her by, I also -adopted it. Die Hex helped me faithfully in my life work; she became one -of the officers of the Union; she adapted my novel, _Die Waffen nieder_, -for young people under the title _Marthas Tagebuch_ (“Martha’s Diary”); -she gave me much useful counsel; and in many trying hours was a support -and comfort to me. - - -“Yesterday at Erlaa received a very valuable gift”; this entry I find in -my diary of May, 1894. Erlaa is the name of a castle in the vicinity of -Vienna, occupied by Duke Elimar von Oldenburg and his family. There we -were often invited to dinner. The castle is surrounded by a splendid -park, and I remember how, during that May time, the intoxicating perfume -of elder blossoms poured in at the open terrace doors, and what a sweet -tumult thousands of songsters made in the shrubbery. The duke’s -consort—she was called duchess from courtesy, but, inasmuch as she was -morganatically married, she had only the baronial title—was a striking -personage of tall, overslender, willowy figure. Being very musical, she -delighted in attracting artists into her house, and she herself, as well -as the duke, used to spend many evenings at the piano and melodeon, or -with the violin and cello. The duchess—since every one gave her that -title, I will call her so too—was not particularly well disposed to me. -I discovered that afterwards. Coming from a sternly puritanic family, -she found my free religious views rather repugnant to her. I have -letters from her in which she attempted to convert me to stricter -articles of faith; but I learned through remarks that she made to others -that she accused me of “materialism,” that my novel _Die Tiefinnersten_ -had particularly displeased her, because in it—according to her idea—I -ridiculed everything ideal, profound, or sacred. Now the novel ridicules -only the stilted and mystical style of those who are always making use -of the words “profound” and “inmost,” when they cannot find anything -clear to say. - -The circumstances connected with the gift mentioned in my diary were -these: in the course of a conversation at table, when the subject of -peace was mooted, the duke said to me: “I am not the first one of my -family, baroness, to be interested in your cause. My father’s brother, -Prince Peter von Oldenburg, worked in his day for the abolition of war. -Although on his mother’s side he was grandson of the Emperor Paul, and -although he held the rank of a general in the Russian infantry and was -at the head of the Stavodub regiment of dragoons, he was a militant -friend of peace. He did not regard the matter simply as an ideal and as -a dream to be realized in centuries to come, but worked strenuously to -bring it about; he traveled from court to court, laid his ideas before -the Queen of England and the King of Prussia; yet at that time, thirty -years ago, his efforts remained fruitless....” - -“What!” I exclaimed; “and nobody heard anything about it!” - -“My uncle kept on resolutely with his efforts,” continued the duke. “I -possess the draft of a letter addressed to Bismarck in 1873, in which he -set forth his ideas,—also without result.” - -“Oh, if I might see that letter!” - -“It has never been published, but you shall have a copy of it.” - -With the heartiest thanks I accepted the gift. Here is the letter -written to the aged Chancellor: - - Your Serene Highness: - - Fearing that I may have no opportunity for a serious conversation with - you during your busy sojourn in St. Petersburg, I am bold enough to - present in writing what, by word of mouth, would probably be less - explicit and evident. - - My letters to your gracious sovereign, as well as my application to M. - Thiers and the steps that I have taken in trying to induce my imperial - master to assure the peace of Europe forever, are well known to your - Highness. With the same object in view I applied to the ex-Emperor - Napoleon in the year 1863, and I have reason to believe that during - and after Sedan he must have regretted having acted in opposition to - my views and those of so many other right-thinking men. - - Who knows better than your Serene Highness the situation of Europe and - Germany? Is it satisfactory or not? The answer to this question I - leave to the great statesman whose name will be immortal in the - history of the world. - - Surely every right-thinking person was rejoiced at the meeting of the - three emperors in Berlin. The visit of your Emperor at St. Petersburg - strengthens the opinion that a guaranty for peace is to be found in - the friendship of two powerful imperial states existing side by side. - But how contradictory to the peace idea are the enormous military - establishments of all states! Even Russia is now introducing the - Prussian system of universal conscription, and, although the Prussians - regard this as a guaranty of peace, yet that increase of the army and - of the military budget is a heavy burden for Russia, diminishing its - resources for prosperity. - - During my visit with M. Thiers in Versailles last year he said to me: - - “Que voulez-vous que nous fassions? Nous sommes les faibles, les - vaincus, mais du moment qu’il y aura des propositions de désarmement - de la part des vainqueurs, nous sommes prêts à entrer en - négociations.”[6] - - I reported this conversation to my emperor and wrote as follows to - yours: - - “A solemnly serious, fateful moment has come. In the scales of Destiny - the mighty word of the German Emperor is of heavy weight. The history - of the world is the tribunal of the world (_Die Weltgeschichte ist das - Weltgericht_). William the Victorious is chosen by the God of battles - to bear the immortal name of the Blessed, as founder of peace.” - - This historical mission he shall and must fulfill: God has aided him - to make the volcanic center of revolutions harmless for a long time to - come, and, we hope, forever. Now it must be his task to extirpate _en - principe_ the root of evil, the highest potency of sin,—war; for never - will a permanent prosperity obtain on earth as long as governments (1) - act contrary to Christianity; (2) stand in the way of true - civilization. - - What, according to the notions of the law, is the essential - characteristic of the _civis_? Obedience to the laws. But war is a - disorganization of legal conditions; therefore it is the renunciation - of civilization. In the present circumstances civilization is only an - illusion, consisting purely of intelligence for material objects, such - as railways, telegraphs, and the invention of instruments of - annihilation. - - After the tremendous successes of the German arms in the last war the - question arises, with whom and for what object shall any other war be - waged? Prussia’s position in Germany and vis-à-vis to Austria and - Denmark is clear; Italy united; France harmless and on good terms with - Russia,—all this is a guaranty of peace. - - What problem, then, is before us now? That of combating revolutionary, - communistic, democratic ideas, that are opposed to religion, the - monarchical principle, and the social foundation of the State.[7] - Subversive ideas, however, are not overcome by bayonets, but by means - of wise ideas and regulations, which must proceed only from those who - reign by the grace of God and are chosen by Providence to establish - the happiness of nations. - - The peace idea would be the very best means of meeting the French idea - of revenge. Although the French are not to be relied on as a nation, I - am persuaded that the notion of a perpetual peace would nevertheless - appear plausible to the propertied and intelligent mass of the - population, even if the government conducted by M. Thiers should be - supplanted by another; for the motto of the French is _gagner pour - jouir_, and I believe that the mass of the population would prefer - _jouissance_ rather than _gloire_. - - Even in Prussia the multitudinous lawsuits against persons who try to - get rid of compulsory service show how many feel that it is a burden; - and God forbid that the alleviation should ever proceed from below - instead of from above. - - The latest history of Russia is an edifying example of what the will - of a noble, humane, and magnanimous monarch can do to benefit his - people. So when two monarchs, related by race and friendship, clasp - hands, may God aid them to make their union a blessing for their - countries and for suffering mankind. - - In my memorial to your emperor I said, “Only a fool or a knave can - think of a state without an armed force”; and in my letter to M. - Thiers I wrote, _abolir la force armée serait une idée criminelle et - insensée_. - - One cannot express one’s self more energetically on this point. In - Prussia, to abolish a system to which it owes its historical position - would be as imbecile as for Russia to think of holding the Poles in - control and of protecting the tremendous frontier from the Black Sea - to the Pacific Ocean against savage tribes, without an army. The - question, therefore, is simply this: What numerical extension should - one give to the principle of universal compulsory service, and in what - proportion should the military budget stand to the other expenditures - of the State? - - In my humble opinion it should be thus regulated: - - 1. _En principe_ abolish war between civilized nations and let the - governments guarantee to each other the possession of their respective - territories. - - 2. Settle questions at issue by an international commission of - arbitration, after the example of England and America. - - 3. Determine the strength of armaments (_die Stärke der bewaffneten - Macht_) by an international convention. - - Even should the abolition of war be relegated by many to the domain of - fairy tales, I nevertheless have the courage to believe that therein - lies the only means of saving the Church, the monarchical principle, - and society, and of curing the State of the cancerous evil which at - the present time is preventing its perfection; and, on the other hand, - through the reduction of the war budget, of procuring for the State - the following means for its internal development and prosperity: (1) - reduction of taxes; (2) improvement in education and promotion of - science and art; (3) increase in salaries, especially of teachers and - the clergy; (4) improvement in the condition of the laboring classes; - (5) provision for beneficent objects. - - The accomplishment of such lofty, purely Christian, and humane ideas, - proceeding directly from two such mighty monarchs, would be the most - glorious victory over the principle of evil; a new era of blessing - would begin; one cry of jubilation would ring through the universe and - find a response among the angels of heaven. If God is on my side, who - can be against me, and what worldly power could resist those who would - act in the name of the Lord? - - This is the humble opinion of a man growing old, heavily tried by - fate, one who, not fearing the opinions of the world or its criticism, - looking to God and eternity, merely following the voice of his - conscience, seeks nothing else on this earth than a quiet grave beside - his dear ones who have gone before. - - _Dixi et salvavi animam meam._ - - With the highest consideration, I have the honor of being - - Your Serene Highness’s most devoted servant - Peter, Prinz von Oldenburg - - St. Petersburg, April 15 (27), 1873 - -What answer Bismarck gave, or whether he replied at all, Duke Elimar did -not know. - -There is surely nothing more interesting than such old authentic -letters. They show how ideas later become facts, and how events which -afterwards develop were, long before, thoughts in men’s minds. Here I -find also among my correspondence the following letter from Björnson. In -view of the disunion of the Scandinavian countries, which eventuated ten -years later, it assumes a quite especial significance: - - Schwaz, Tirol, July 20, 1894 - - My dear Comrade: - - —But be consoled; when Norway becomes mistress of her external affairs - (this is the object of the struggle) we shall go immediately to Russia - and demand a permanent court of arbitration for all disagreements. If - that succeeds,—and why should it not?—we will proceed to all other - matters. As soon as our relationship to Sweden permits of it, we shall - transform our army into an internal police force. - - One example is stronger than a thousand apostles! The great majority - of the Norwegians have wholly lost belief in the beneficence of - armaments and are ready to set the example. - - At the same time Sweden is arming on a scale quite extraordinary for a - people not rich. The general feeling in Sweden—so I am told—threatens - Norway with war, merely because Norway desires to have charge of its - own affairs. - - Sweden might educate us by means of war to be good comrades in arms! - It would be the first time in history that the two great opposites had - stood in such blunt opposition,—on the one side a permanent court of - arbitration for all eventual quarrels, and no army any more; on the - other side, war to compel us to keep a larger army and to enter a - firmer military alliance. - - But I trust that the struggle will end peaceably; I trust that the - general feeling in Norway in favor of the principle of “arbitration - instead of war” is also making progress in Sweden. In fact, already - the spirit of freedom in Norway—to the great annoyance of the highly - conservative court of the Swedish nobility and other great lords who - are powerful there—has spread widely in Sweden. - - Accept my heartiest congratulations and gratitude, my dear Baroness; - were it not so far, I would come and make you a visit! - - Your most devoted - Björnstjerne Björnson - - - - - XLV -PEACE CONGRESS IN ANTWERP AND INTERPARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE - - Preparation for the Congress by the Belgian government · Houzeau de - Lehaye · A reminiscence of the battlefield of Sedan · Concerning free - trade · Audience with King Leopold · Invitation to the - Interparliamentary Conference · Reception the evening before · Pithy - sentences from Rahusen’s address · Opening · “No other cause in the - whole world....” · Second day of deliberation · Stanhope · Gladstone’s - proposal · Debate over the tribunal plan · Dr. Hirsch puts on the brake - · Rejoinder by Frédéric Passy and Houzeau · Randal Cremer · Concluding - festivities in Scheveningen - - -My memory retains as the most important events of the year 1894 our -participation in the Sixth Peace Congress at Antwerp and in the -Interparliamentary Conference which followed immediately at The Hague. -Another festal journey into unfamiliar countries, and another stage of -progress in the triumphant march of an Idea! - -Before the assembling of the Congress the Belgian Minister of State, Le -Bruyn, laid before King Leopold a report setting forth the remarkable -growth of the movement and adducing as a proof of it the fact that in -countries like Austria and Germany, which hitherto had held aloof from -the cause, great peace societies had sprung into existence and found -fruitful soil. The king’s reply to this report was the establishment of -a committee whose duty it should be to forward the labors of the Peace -Congress that was to meet at Antwerp. The committee, composed of thirty -members, included the most distinguished names in Belgium, in large part -officials connected with the government. - -The opening session took place on the twentieth of August, in the great -hall of the Athenæum. We had arrived the day before, and had looked -about a little in the commercial metropolis of Belgium, and had spent -the evening in pleasant intercourse with several of our friends who had -journeyed thither from all parts of the world. - -Our new president, Houzeau de Lehaye, was in the number,—a lively little -man, full of wit and possessing the gift of fascinating eloquence. As -chairman he conducted the proceedings with tact and firmness, and -whenever in succeeding Congresses he took part in the debates, as he was -particularly apt to do if any obstacles had to be avoided, one could -always depend on his tact. - -“Twenty-four years ago,” Houzeau told us that first day, “I visited the -battlefield of Sedan. I have the impression of it still before me,—those -corpses, those temporary graves, those flocks of ravens, the troops of -maddened horses tearing over the plain, the wounded and dying lying in -their gore, the teeth clinched in the agony of tetanus, the columns of -prisoners of war, the heaps of discarded weapons, and in the midst of a -grass plat the brass instruments of a military band surprised by the -enemy in the climax of the saber song from ‘The Grand Duchess of -Gerolstein.’ And I saw white sheets of letter paper, covered with the -simple messages of love of mothers and sweethearts, flying round in the -autumn wind until they fell into lakes of blood; and the horrible vision -of countless bones and bleeding flesh all trodden down into the mire.... -The peasants had fled from their villages across the neighboring -boundary, and were then returning slowly to find misery and ruin, to -which they would later have to succumb; and this,” he added, as he -concluded his reminiscences with restrained passion, “is this to be the -sum of civilization?” - -Houzeau de Lehaye is a decided advocate of free trade. In his opening -address, in which he depicted the errors and prejudices lying at the -foundation of any defense of the institution of war, he said: - - There is still another error which does not indeed involve a brutal - battle of saber and cannon, but nevertheless is not much less - calamitous. In spite of all the counter-evidence of the political - economists, in spite of repeated results based on experience, yet how - widespread is the prejudice that a nation becomes poor when the - prosperity of neighboring peoples makes too rapid advances. And in - order to preserve an imaginary equilibrium they hasten to have - recourse to a protective tariff. And this war of the tariffs is not - less destructive than the other. By a righteous retribution this - weapon chiefly wounds those that wield it. And all these errors have - their foundation in the false notion of the source of wealth and - prosperity. It is worth while to note that there is only one - source,—labor! - -One would think that such simple truths would not require to be stated -at this late day, for it is clear enough that wealth can be increased -only from the creation of material things and not through mere change of -place,—from Peter’s pocket into Paul’s; a transaction which, in -addition, often means the destruction of the values shuffled this way -and that. But the simpler, the more self-evident a truth is, the more it -is wrapped up in the veils and fogs of old prejudices and current -phraseology, and therefore it does much good to hear it once again -spoken out so frankly and clearly. - -This time there was a Portuguese at the Congress,—Magelhaes Lima, the -publisher of the radical-liberal newspaper _O Seculo_. From America came -Dr. Trueblood, who has never missed any of the European Peace -Congresses. - -I remember a lovely trip on the Schelde in a steamship put at our -service by the government. Then a trip was made to Brussels between two -sessions. A deputation of five members of the Congress, conducted by -Houzeau, was received in audience by King Leopold. Frédéric Passy, Count -Bothmer from Wiesbaden, my husband, and I made up the deputation. We -drove from the railway station to the palace. In the audience chamber -the king came to meet us,—recognizable instantly even at a distance by -his long, square white beard,—and Houzeau presented the rest of us. I no -longer recollect anything that was said; probably it was of small -consequence. I only know that the king seemed to be on very jovial terms -with Houzeau de Lehaye, for he slapped him several times laughingly on -the shoulder. I remember one sentence that King Leopold said to us: - -“The sovereign of a perpetually neutral state, like Belgium, must -naturally feel interested in the question of international pacification. -But of course,” he added,—and thereby all that he had said before was -“of course” taken back,—“to protect this neutrality we must be armed.” - -“What we are working for in our circles, your Majesty,” one of us -replied, “is that the security of treaties should rest on law and honor -and not on the power of arms.” - -Houzeau did not wait to be dismissed, but himself gave the signal for -departure. “The train does not wait—it knows no etiquette,” said he. -There was another little _tape d’amitié_ on our president’s shoulder: -“You care mighty little for etiquette yourself, my dear Houzeau....” - -Immediately after the Antwerp Congress the Interparliamentary Conference -was opened. This year, having been invited by the Netherlands -government, it met at The Hague. As we were not Parliamentarians we had -no title to be present, but Minister van Houzeau had sent me the -following letter under date of May 23: - - Dear Baroness: - - On account of my appointment as Minister I have left the committee on - organization of the Interparliamentary Conference; yet I hope, as - representative of the government, to give to the Conference the - address of welcome in September. The limited space in the hall where - the meetings are to be held will permit only a small number of guests - and representatives of the press to be present; nevertheless the - committee will doubtless assure so prominent an advocate of the peace - cause a place among the very first. It will delight me to greet you as - well as your husband here in September, and also our friend Pirquet - and, if possible, others from your country. - - Our hospitable city, with its splendid beach, will permit visitors to - combine the useful with the agreeable; and the assured visit of many - prominent men will, it is to be hoped, permit the Conference, in which - the presidents of both our chambers will take part, to accomplish - something beneficial in regard to the practical promotion of - international arbitration. - - With friendly greeting, your devoted - S. van Houzeau - -Thus the opportunity was afforded us of being present during the notable -debates of that national representative Conference which was the -precursor—and, one may say the cause—of the later Conference of nations -at The Hague. - -On the day of the opening session, the third of September, there was a -reception in the rotunda of the Zoölogical Garden. Here the participants -and the guests met together. The president of the Conference, Rahusen, -made an address to the foreign Parliamentarians, from which I took down -in my notebook the following sentences: - - If we pass beyond the boundaries of our country, do we imagine - ourselves in a hostile land? Have you had any such experience in - coming here? I believe that I am justified in saying No. - - ... It is a phenomenon of our time that we find a solidarity among the - nations such as did not formerly exist. - - ... I know well that there are still men who ridicule such ideas; - meantime let us rejoice that no one condemns them. - - ... The morning glow of international righteousness indicates the - setting of the old war sun. If the last rays of this sun—which, - decrepit with age, has already lost its blaze and its warmth—shall - once be wholly extinguished,[8] then we, or those who come after us, - shall be filled with jubilant joy, and shall be astonished that the - civilized world could ever have called in brute force as an arbiter - between nations no longer inimical to each other but bound together by - so many common interests. - -After this official part of the evening the company sauntered out into -the open air, where the friends, some promenading, some taking places at -tables about the rotunda, met and remained chatting till midnight. - -At ten o’clock the next morning the formal opening took place in the -assembly hall of the First Chamber of the States-General, a hall not -very large but as high as a house and having its ceiling decorated with -splendid paintings. I had a place in the gallery and enjoyed the -magnificent spectacle, as the representatives of fourteen different -parliaments took their seats one after another at the green-covered -tables, while the members of the government who were to greet the -Conference took places on the president’s dais. Minister van Houten, of -the Interior Department, made the first address: - -“No other cause in the whole world,” said he, “equals in magnitude that -which is to be advocated here.” - -I must delay a moment over this statement. It expresses what at that -time formed (and forms equally to-day) the substratum of my feelings, -thoughts, and endeavors, and likewise explains why in this second -portion of my memoirs the phases of the peace movement take up so much -space. - -“No other cause in the whole world equals this in magnitude,”—I am not -expressing a personal opinion, I am quoting; this is a conviction so -deeply and religiously instilled into my mind (this is usually called a -vocation!) that I cannot confess it often and loudly enough. Even if I -knew that nine tenths of the cultured world still disregarded and -ignored the movement, and one of these nine tenths went so far as to be -hostile to it,—that is of no consequence; I appeal to the future. The -twentieth century will not end without having seen human society shake -off, as a legal institution, the greatest of all scourges,—war. - -In writing my diary I am accustomed, when I am making note of situations -which are threatening or promising, to mark them with an asterisk, then -to turn over twenty or thirty blank pages and write, “Well, how has it -resulted? See p. —.” Then when, in the course of my entries, I come -quite unexpectedly on this question, I can answer it. And so here I ask -some much, much later reader, who perchance has fished this book out -from some second-hand dealer’s dust-covered bookshelf, “Well, how has it -resulted? Was I right?” Then he may write on the margin the answer,—I -see the gloss already before me,—“Yes, thank God!” (19??). - -And now, back to The Hague, 1894. The proceedings of the first day -resulted in nothing noteworthy. The second made up for it! Whoever reads -the report of that day’s proceedings from a critically historical point -of view can detect in it the embryo of the later Hague Tribunal, which, -in turn, is at present only the embryo of what is yet to be. - -Goals attained? The believer in evolution does not require them for his -assurance; the line which shows the direction taken is enough. - -I took my seat in the gallery in the greatest excitement, as at the -theater when an interesting star performance is promised by the -programme. The order of the day ran: “Preliminary Plan for the -Organization of an International Tribunal of Arbitration,” presented by -Stanhope. - -A new man,—the Right Honorable Philip James Stanhope, Lord -Chesterfield’s younger brother and intimate friend of the “grand old -man,” Gladstone. At Gladstone’s direct instance Stanhope had come to the -Conference in order to put before it the outcome of June 16, 1893, when -in the English House of Commons Cremer’s motion was carried, and the -Premier, in supporting it, appended the dictum that arbitration treaties -were not the last word in assuring the peace of the world; a permanent -central tribunal, a higher council of the powers, must be established. - -Stanhope began his speech amid the breathless attention of the assembly. -He speaks in the purest French, almost without accent. And in spite of -all his unruffled clarity he speaks with such fire that he is frequently -interrupted with shouts of applause. After he had explained Gladstone’s -proposal he proceeded: - - It is our duty now to bring this demand courageously before the - governments. - - Everything which up to the present time appertains to so-called - international law has been established without precise principles, and - rests on accidents, on precedents, on the arbitrary decisions of - princes. Consequently, international law has made the least progress - of all sciences, and presents a contradictory mass of ambiguous waste - paper (_de paperasses vagues_). - - Two great needs stand before the civilized nations,—an international - tribunal, and a code corresponding to the modern spirit and elastic - enough to fit new progress. This would insure the triumph of culture - and do away with the criminal recourse to deadly encounters. - - As things are to-day, fresh military loans are demanded in every - parliament, and we are lashed by the press until we give our - consent.[9] It would be otherwise if we could reply: “The dangers - against which the armaments demanded are to protect us would be - obviated by the tribunal which we desire.” Therefore a project ought - to be elaborated which we might lay before the governments. - -Here Stanhope developed a few points which were to be established as the -basis of the organization, and he concluded with these words: - - If next year we approach the governments with such a plan, and if our - action were in unison, the future would give us the victory; at all - events, the moral victory would be assured to us in having done our - whole duty. - -Then came a debate. The German deputy, Dr. Hirsch,—from the beginning -the Germans have performed the function of the brake in the Peace -Conferences,—speaks against Stanhope’s proposition, nevertheless -recognizing the noble ideas so eloquently presented: - - It is essential that the members of the Conference should pass only - such resolutions as are comprehensible and practicable, and as may be - presented to the parliaments with some probability of their being - accepted; now Herr von Caprivi would certainly _never_ take into - consideration the project of an international tribunal. We ought to - avoid also inviting the curse of absurdity through plans of that kind; - for opponents are only too much inclined to ridicule the members of - the Conference as dreamers. - -Houzeau de Lehaye springs from his seat like a jack-in-the-box: - - In view of such great ideas [he shouts] as those that have just been - developed, in view of the establishment of a cause by such men as - Stanhope and Gladstone, the word “absurd” should never be uttered - again! [_Applause._] I second the motion. - -Now the revered Passy arises: - - I should like to enter my protest against a second word which my - honored friend, Dr. Hirsch, has used,—the word “never.” No great - advancement, no innovation, has ever been carried through, but that - the prediction has been made at the beginning that it could never be - done. For example, that parliamentarians from all nations should meet - to discuss the peace of the world, that they should do this in the - assembly hall of the Upper House of a monarchical state,—if the - question had been propounded five years ago, When will all this - happen? who would not have answered, “Never!” - -And, in fact,—Passy accidentally hit upon the very figure,—five years -later, on the 29th of July, 1899, the International Tribunal was -established in the very city where the plan for such a tribunal, -proposed by Gladstone, was laid on the table. Dr. Hirsch’s “never” did -not last very long! To be sure, this tribunal does not as yet possess a -mandatory character; the protesters who were active in objecting to the -establishment of the tribunal at all saw to it that it should not have -this character. And all who cling to the institution of war are also -persuaded that this shall _never_ be. - -Many other speakers supported the motion, and at last it was adopted -with acclamation. - -I felt deeply moved; so did My Own, who sat beside me; we exchanged a -silent pressure of the hand. - -The members were then chosen who should formulate the plan which was to -be laid before the next year’s Conference. - -This plan,—I anticipate events in order to show that that session was -really historical,—this plan was presented to the Conference of 1895, at -Brussels, was accepted and sent to all the governments, and assuredly -contributed to the calling of the Hague Conference in 1898, and served -as a basis for the establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration -and its regulations. - -That session brought one other sensation. After Stanhope’s motion was -adopted, Randal Cremer mounted the platform. He was greeted with loud -applause. He, together with Frédéric Passy, had been the inaugurator of -the Interparliamentary Conferences. He had secured the signatures for -the Anglo-American arbitration treaty, first in his own country and -then, after crossing the ocean, in the United States; and it was due to -him that the motion on that famous sixteenth of June, 1893, was adopted -with Gladstone’s aid. His mode of speaking is simple and unadorned; he -betrays clearly the former laboring man. - -After the session he came up to us in the corridor and informed us that -before leaving home he talked with Lord Rosebery; that he had not been -permitted to repeat at the Conference what the Premier had said to him, -but it had been of the most encouraging character. His feeling of -confidence communicated itself to us. - -The concluding banquet took place in the assembly room at Scheveningen. -The orchestra played all the national hymns in succession. I sat between -Rahusen and Houzeau. Stanhope delivered an extraordinarily keen and -witty speech, the venerable Passy one full of eloquence and fire. I also -had to speak. Fireworks were set off on the esplanade. The final -apotheosis formed the words _Vive la Paix_, glowing in fiery letters, -over which beamed a genius with a branch of palms. - -What thoughts were in the minds of the guests of the watering-place as -they promenaded by and stared at us? Probably none, and they were not so -very far wrong; for what is left after the words have ceased, the toasts -have been pledged, and the fireworks have been sent off? Nothing! From -far down in the depths must the energies come through which epochs are -changed.... - - - - - XLVI - VARIOUS RECOLLECTIONS - - In Harmannsdorf again · My husband writes _Sie wollen nicht_ · Max - Nordau’s opinion of it · My labors and correspondence · Rear Admiral - Réveillère · Dolmens and menhirs · From the patriot of Brittany to the - patriot of humanity · Réveillère’s views about social economy, the lot - of the masses, professional politicians, etc. · A fine comparison · - Deaths of Prince Achille Murat, Duke von Oldenburg, and Ruggero Bonghi - - -After our return from Holland to our beloved Harmannsdorf we resumed our -quiet, happy, laborious life. My Own began writing his two-volume novel -entitled _Sie wollen nicht_, which was to be his ripest work. Max Nordau -wrote to him regarding it: - - Forgive me for delaying until to-day to thank you for your highly - interesting novel _Sie wollen nicht_. It takes a long time for me to - find opportunity, in my over-busy life, to read 730 pages of prose, no - matter how very easy and agreeable may be its style, unless it happens - to fit in directly with my line of work. - - What I think of your character I should not be permitted to tell you. - I know that men of real character find any praise of their - characteristics disagreeable. At any rate I may say in brief that I - admire the German writer who has the courage to-day to create the - figures of a Gutfeld, Zinzler, and Kölble. Artistically your novel - stands high. Perhaps there are too many threads interwoven, and the - web is, perhaps, not drawn tight enough. That the main drama is not - introduced until the last chapters, with the appearance of Palkowski, - is no advantage from the standpoint of composition; but all that is a - trifle compared to the great advantage of its wealth of motives and - the vital energy of the complicated multitude of personages. Old - Jörgen alone would suffice to make your novel ever fresh in the - reader’s memory. - -At that time I was writing _Vor dem Gewitter_. The editorial work on my -monthly periodical likewise gave me abundant occupation, and my -correspondence even more. I wrote regularly to Alfred Nobel in order to -keep him informed as to the development of the peace cause. I constantly -had long, stimulating letters from Carneri as well as from Rudolf Hoyos, -Friedrich Bodenstedt, Spielhagen, Karl von Scherzer, M. G. Conrad, and -others. I found a new, and to me personally unknown, correspondent in an -old French naval officer, Rear Admiral Réveillère. I cannot now remember -whether he wrote to me first or I to him. Whether or no, our -correspondence was based on similarity of ideas and a mutual knowledge -of each other’s writings. The first time I ever heard of Réveillère was -at the banquet of the Interparliamentary Conference of 1894, at -Scheveningen, when Frédéric Passy, in proposing a toast to the sea which -was roaring beyond the doors of the hall, said he was quoting the words -of his friend Réveillère. - -Born in 1828, in Brittany, he had long followed the sea, and now was -living in retirement in Brest, his native city, known to fame as a -savant and a writer. He occupied his leisure time in writing books and -articles. He had participated in many naval battles and many battles of -ideas. The list of the titles of his books shows to how many countries -he had traveled in the performance of his duties, and also how manifold -were the regions which he had explored as a poet and thinker: “Gaul and -the Gauls,” “The Enigma of Nature,” “Across the Unknown,” “The Voices of -the Rocks,” “Journey Around the World,” “Seeds and Embryos,” “Against -Storm and Flood,” “The Three Promontories,” “Letters of a Mariner,” -“Tales and Stories,” “The Indian Seas,” “The Chinese Seas,” “The -Conquest of the Ocean,” “The Search for the Ideal”; still later came -“United Europe” (Paris, Berger Levraut, 1896), “Guardianship and -Anarchy” (Ibid., 1896), “Extension, Expansion” (Ibid., 1898). - -He wrote me once how it happened that he, the son of conservative -Brittany, grown gray in the naval service, had joined the pacifists: - - Often we are inspired by two ideas which have no apparent connection, - and it sometimes takes years before the bond that connects them is - discovered. It has cost me much time and thought to explain the - connection between the two ruling passions which possess me and which - had seemed to me to have no relationship with each other,—a - deep-seated enthusiasm for the federation of Europe, and an - instinctive cult for dolmens and menhirs. - - From my earliest childhood I have been fascinated by the riddle that - is presented in stone on all sides in my Breton homeland; and ever - since my childhood I have been in love with the beautiful dream of a - European federation,—a dream which is bound to come true in spite of - the prejudices of statesmen and the prepossessions of crowned heads. - The great work of the European alliance must begin with the - _rapprochement_ of those nations whose customs and ideas have the - closest analogy. The nations living along the Atlantic coast have been - the only ones to assimilate the principles of the French Revolution: I - mean the following countries: Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium, France, - Portugal, and ancient Helvetia, the oldest of the European republics. - England had, long since, already passed through her revolution. - - Later my archæological studies taught me that this was the very region - of the dolmens. All these nations had common ancestors,—the - Megalithians; from the North Cape as far as Tangiers the same race - occupied the coast; there were the same burial rites, always based on - the same articles of faith; and the result was that to me the dolmens - and menhirs came to stand as the symbols of a Western federation. - -And another time: - - The accident of birth made me first of all a Breton patriot. When I - emerged from the narrow egoism of childhood, my first love was - directed to Brittany. When the development of my intellect permitted - me to realize the solidarity of my little homeland with the French - fatherland, I became a French patriot. Later I learned from history - that all the nations on this side of the Rhine once formed a glorious - Federation; then I became a Gallic patriot. Still later study of the - Megalithic monuments revealed to me a new connection,—that with the - Megalithic race. As logic continued its work, I became a European - patriot; finally, a patriot of humanity. In our day national love is - an imbecile love unless it is illuminated by the love for mankind. - -I have read only the three last-named works of the admiral; but he -regularly sent me the articles that he published in the journal _La -Dépêche_, in which he always took a consistent attitude—that of -“illuminating” love for mankind—toward all the questions of the day; -not, however, in the least in a visionary way, nor with any smack of -mysticism, which so constantly stirs the spiritual lives of poetically -inclined seafarers. He based his political ideals on actual and positive -considerations, drawn particularly from the domain of national economy. -Thus he wrote: - - In order to meet the industrial rivalry of the United States of - America and the yellow races, it would be desirable—in the interest of - France and Germany—to see a customs union formed, embracing Germany, - Belgium, Holland, and France, and including, at the same time, the - colonies of these countries. It really seems almost impossible at the - present time to swim against the stream of protective tariffs, and yet - every nation is conscious of the necessity of extending its market. If - there is opposition to this extension on European soil, why is not an - effort made to gain it through a colonial union,—a union by means of - which the federated countries might insure to their citizens, their - vessels, and their products the same rights and privileges in all the - colonies? - -With regard to the lot of the masses, which so greatly needs to be -improved, Réveillère says that this amelioration depends on the general -production of useful articles. As long as the masses are wasting their -energies in unproductive labors there is no alleviation possible for -them, ... and at the present time the nations are wearing themselves out -in unproductive and destructive labor. There is no halfway measure; -either international anarchy (that is to say, the lack of a code of laws -regulating the intercourse of nations), with poverty, or federation, -with wealth. - -My Breton friend was inclined not to mince words in speaking of the -politicians: “Steam has changed everything in this world except the -routine of our statesmen!” And in the following letter: - - Engineers and scholars are all the time at work filling up the graves - which the professionals in statecraft are digging; the engineers are - expending all their energies in increasing the productivity of labor, - the politicians are doing everything they possibly can to make it - sterile. - -Many persons are of the opinion that the end sought is too broad and -distant, and the initiation of it is beset with too great difficulties, -to be willing to attempt the regulation of a pacific mutual relationship -among the European states; especially at the present time, when almost -every state has to endure so much trouble and disturbance arising from -the violent national and social battles which are raging within its own -borders. An answer to this objection is afforded by the following -passage from one of Réveillère’s books (“Extension, Expansion,” p. 23): - - When a physician has to treat a case of consumption, his first care is - to prevent his patient from breathing poisoned air. If he has to - perform an operation, he sees to it that the room in which the - operation is to take place is purified of every contagious germ. - Exactly the same principle holds with regard to national diseases. No - state can think of curing its internal ills before the European room - is disinfected. Certainly it is the duty of every nation to do - everything possible to modify the ills of its own people; but to claim - that serious internal reforms can be carried out without having first - secured European federation is just like caring for wounded men in a - hall filled with microbes. - -I kept up a correspondence with Admiral Réveillère for a long time. Of -late years our letters fell off in frequency. A short time ago—in March, -1908—he died. Ah, when we have grown old, how often we have to report of -our friends that they are no more! In childhood life is like a nursery; -in youth, like a garden; in old age, like a cemetery. - -Tidings of a death which affected us painfully—I am now telling of what -happened in the year 1895—came to us suddenly from the Caucasus,—Prince -Achille Murat had shot himself. Was it suicide or an accident? I never -learned the exact truth. It happened in Zugdidi, in the villa which My -Own had built for the Murats. Princess Salomé, who was sitting in the -next room, heard the report of a shot in her husband’s room. She -hastened in and found the unfortunate man fallen back in an easy-chair, -with a pistol between his legs, the barrel pointing up in the air. Had -he been cleaning the weapon carelessly, or was it weariness of life? As -I said, I do not know. - -And still another loss: On the 17th of October, 1895, Duke Elimar von -Oldenburg departed this life, in his fifty-second year, at his castle of -Erlaa. A short time before, he had given me a second article by his -uncle, Prince Peter, entitled “Thoughts of a Russian Patriot,” which -ends with these ringing words: - - Let me be permitted to express the dearest wish of my heart, as I face - God and Eternity,—an agreement of all governments in the interest of - peace and humanity! May that happy day dawn when men can say, War - between civilized nations is at an end. - -Duke Elimar’s widow was completely overwhelmed by this sudden and -premature bereavement. To my letter of condolence she wrote me the -following answer, which throws a brilliant light on the noble -characteristics of the departed and his consort: - - Brogan, October 29, 1895 - - Dear Baroness: - - Most hearty thanks for your warm, sympathetic words, and also for the - splendid wreath sent by the Society of the Friends of Peace, which, - with so many other gifts of love and tokens of respect, adorns the - last resting-place of the deceased. There is _no_ consolation for such - hours. What I have lost no one can truly realize who does not know how - the inner bond that united us, joining every fiber of our two lives - together, had been interwoven in the nineteen years of undivided, - untroubled wedlock, so that with the uprooting of one life the - thousands and thousands of roots of the other were torn from the - ground. The profound loneliness which has come upon me through this - loss is often scarcely to be endured, and at the present time I can - hardly imagine how in this life, on this earth, I can ever again take - root. One who has lived for nineteen years in such intimate - relationship with a man like my husband cannot easily become - accustomed to other persons. - - The pure, lofty idealism which—I may say—formed the very quintessence - of his being and made him so extremely lovable, so winning, and so - attractive to all who came into contact with him, I shall never again - find anywhere so embodied as in him, and since he has gone from me I - miss him always everywhere to such a degree that it is often simply - unendurable for me to be with others. And yet the proofs of - _unofficial_, genuine, heartfelt sympathy from so many good and noble - people in these days has done me unspeakable good. To you also, my - dear Baroness, my best and heartiest thanks once again for all your - sympathy. - - Your sincerely devoted - Natalie von Oldenburg - -A few years later she sent me a volume of poems dedicated to the memory -of the departed and breathing a pathetic grief. - -And yet a third loss: On the 31st of October, 1895, Ruggero Bonghi, so -beloved in our circle, died in Torre del Greco at the age of -sixty-eight. Italy mourned in him the reformer of public education, the -professor of philosophy, the editor of the _Nuova Antologia_, the -founder and director of the orphan asylum at Anagni; we mourned the -active apostle of our common cause, the man who from a lofty tribune had -spoken these beautiful words: “We promoters of peace, who work for it -with glowing zeal, have in the last analysis no other object than -this,—that man shall become _wholly human_.” Our Austrian Union -telegraphed the following words to Rome for the funeral: _Sincero dolore -e riconoscenza eterna_. “Sincere grief and eternal gratitude.” - - - - - XLVII - FURTHER VARIED RECOLLECTIONS - - The Union for Resistance to Anti-Semitism once more · Article by A. G. - von Suttner · In the house of Christian Kinsky · Recollection of a home - dinner with the Empress · War between Japan and China · Appeal of the - Peace Congress to the Powers for intervention · Answer of the Russian - Minister of War, Giers · The fruits of German military instruction in - Japan · The Peace of Shimonoseki · Interparliamentary Conference in - Brussels · Sending out the formulated and accepted plan for an - arbitration tribunal · First appearance of the Hungarian Group, with - Maurus Jókai and Count Apponyi at its head · Hopeful and distressful - signs of the times · From the Congress of the Association Littéraire in - Dresden · Trip to Prague · At Professor Jodl’s · Lecture in “The German - House” · Banquet · La Busca · Visit at Vrchlicky’s · Trip to Budapest · - Founding of the Hungarian Peace Society · War in sight between England - and the United States · Removal of the danger - - -This year—I am still speaking of 1895, as I turn the leaves of the -volume containing my diary for that period—we did not make any journey -to a Peace Congress, for the simple reason that no Congress was held. -But we did not on that account spend the whole year at Harmannsdorf. -Trips were made to Prague, to Budapest (with lectures), to -Lussinpiccolo, which I will describe later on; and we visited Vienna a -number of times, whither we were called by duty and pleasure. - -The business of his Union caused My Own much labor and much anxiety. -Anti-Semitism, against which he was waging battle, had increased rather -than diminished in violence. Dr. Karl Lueger, a leader in the -Anti-Semitic party, had been nominated and elected by that party as -mayor; but the Emperor did not confirm the election, to the indignation -of a large part of the bourgeoisie and to the consternation of those -higher circles who, under the influence of their spiritual advisers, -supported the candidature of Karl Lueger. - -An Austrian aristocrat holding an important position told me of finding -himself in a company at court when the news of Lueger’s nonconfirmation -was brought. “Oh, the poor Emperor!” cried the Duchess of Württemberg, -daughter of Archduke Albrecht, “the poor Emperor—in the hands of the -Freemasons!” And a year later, in the same circle, where my informant -happened to be again when the news of Lueger’s confirmation came, the -same princess raised her eyes and her clasped hands to heaven with the -words, “God be praised! Light has dawned on the Emperor at last!” - -That was the time when a Jew-baiting chaplain—Deckert was his -name—preached from the pulpit and in pamphlets in the most vehement -terms against the Jews—with success. This induced the “anti”-union to -enter the field and to appear with a protest before the president of the -House of Deputies. But I will let my husband himself have the floor. He -published in the _Neue Freie Presse_ the following article, the contents -of which will best show what was going on in the camp of the -Anti-Semites, and what thoughts and purposes were awakened thereby in -the camp of their opponents: - - - THE PRESENT SITUATION - - Now the wily old magician - Once again his leave has taken! - Spirits that owed him submission - Now shall at my call awaken. - I his cell invaded; - I have learned the spell! - I’ll do—spirit-aided— - Miracles as well! - Goethe: _Der Zauberlehrling_ - - For twenty years now the “Magician’s apprentice” (_Zauberlehrling_) - has been trying his experiments in Austria. The old master who knew - how to exercise and to exorcise the spirits has gone; constitution, - parliamentarianism, the fundamental law of the state, have become mere - documents, and the unbridled spirits are up to their mad tricks. And - now, since it has resulted as all who were not hiding their heads in - the sand saw that it would result, the cry of dismay echoes through - the land: - - Lord, the need’s immense! - Those I called—the spirits— - Will not vanish hence! - - Or perhaps it will still be claimed that they were never summoned? - Would any one wish to deny that we looked on with remarkable patience, - endured them,—yea, verily, absolutely defended them,—instead of - calling on the master who would have driven away the demons while - there was still time? - - Yes, if with us a system had not grown into a standard separating - so-called “serious” politicians from dilettanti! The system, which is - called in plain English “I dare not” (_Ich trau’ mich nicht_), has - been wrapped up by the “serious” in a distinguished-appearing vesture, - and elevated under the title of “Opportunism” to the concept of - political wisdom. - - What this Opportunism has on its conscience is fearful! It is the - brake, the slave chain holding back every energetic activity, - hindering everything, making every transaction impossible; it is the - cause of the broken-winged condition that obtains to-day, of the - distrust, of the fatalistic _après nous le déluge_; it is the cause of - the universal discontent and apathy on the one side, of the loud - shouts of triumph, the renewed efforts on that side yonder, which is - now only one step away from its appointed goal. - - Here I can add a word from experience, for I have been standing in the - very midst of the stormy waves, and I shall still stand there as long - as the office is intrusted to me of representing that portion of my - fellow-citizens which has undertaken to oppose the assaults of the - preachers of hatred and the apostles of persecution. By virtue of this - office I feel myself called upon, indeed in duty bound, to put in my - word and to speak of the experiences which the Union for Resistance to - Anti-Semitism has had since it was founded. - - I need only to point out the Rescue Society as an example of what - opposition humanitarian associations meet with from the influential - classes. Our Union was meant to be a rescue society in a certain - sense, namely, for the purpose of rescuing the good old Austrian - spirit, the spirit of patience, of justice, of brotherly love, the - spirit that used to prevail at that time when, in the struggle for - freedom and human dignity, Christians and Jews stood together in the - very van, united in purpose and in genuine brotherhood, to conquer or - to die. This spirit we desired to help rise to its old honorable - condition; this was the reason for our emerging from our peaceful calm - in order to take up the battle against poisoned arrows and every kind - of disgusting weapon. - - What was more natural and more justifiable than for us to yield to the - expectation that every one who had any claim to culture and morality - should joyfully join with us and thus raise a millionfold protest - against the mad actions of the thoughtlessly unbridled spirits? What - was more reasonable than to hope that in the influential circles in - whose hands the reins are placed we should be greeted with joy as the - breakwater against the onrush of the destroying billows, as the dam - which is to be carefully repaired and made secure at a time when a - freshet is expected?... - - Yes, we believed and expected that, but we had forgotten just one - thing,—Opportunism. Only gradually did we come to realize that warm - feelings, honorable enthusiasm, fresh, fiery zeal, are ideal concepts - which have found no place in the lexicon of higher politics; we - learned that everything must be diplomatically weighed, accurately, - even to milligrams, so that if possible, even in the most - heterogeneous conditions, a transaction may be satisfactory to A and B - and C; in short, that all things and everything must first be placed - on the scales of the Opportune before there can be any departure from - reserve. - - We have, indeed, attempted to emancipate ourselves at times from this - terrible thing, and to undertake several little _coups d’état_ on our - own responsibility, but even then the capital O had to appear on the - door before it would open for us; and when we were admitted we heard - nothing more comforting than that “in case of exigency,” that is to - say, in case it should ever become opportune, our desires would be - taken into consideration. - - We have seen how these pledges were kept in the affair of the Rescue - Society; in short, we were obliged to recognize that no support was to - be found in the quarter where it should have been freely offered us. - - And yonder in the camp of our opponents they were not blind. This - buttoned-upness (_Zugeknöpftheit_) which we met with was a direct - encouragement to them to continue in the direction marked out, and - they have made the most of it in order to make capital out of it, in - order to win new support. Was that not to have been foreseen? Ought we - to wonder that in view of such official toleration the defection among - officials and teachers over to that side should grow ever more and - more serious?... - - A frank, a decided word from above, spoken at the right time, in place - of evasive circumlocutions which, like the answers of the ancient - oracles, may be stretched and twisted to suit any interpretation, - would have prevented what had to come to-day—nay, not had, but was - allowed, to come. And this definite, frank utterance, open to no - misinterpretation, is the right of that portion of our fellow-citizens - who, contrary to all civil order, are exposed to the wildest insults - and threats, without protection and practically declared to be - outlawed. This frank utterance is: _Anti-Semitism, in print, in word, - and in deed, is a movement dangerous to society, deeply injurious to - the existence of the state and the fundamental laws of the state. No - government can permit it any more than anarchy or other endeavors - which, through exercise of force, tend to disturb internal peace and - to bring about civil war._ - - We have labored to have this or a similar judgment pronounced, and in - so doing we have done our duty. Come what will, we will not desert the - breach; for we have in our hearts the consciousness of occupying a - standpoint which every right-feeling and right-thinking man must take. - This consciousness is sufficient to keep up our courage. In our ranks - there is not one who is striving for any personal advantage from the - realization of these principles; on the contrary, we know that to-day - we stand just as unprotected, just as much exposed to all insults, as - are those whose rights we desire to see secured. - - But, in conclusion, an old proverb says, “God helps those that help - themselves,” and it must come to self-protection if this particular - form of anarchy, which is already making the doors of Austria ring - with its blows, shall succeed in breaking them down. Let us rally if - it must come to that! - - A. Gundaccar von Suttner - -I said above that duty and pleasure took us to Vienna. Our pleasure -consisted chiefly in going to the theater. Oh, it was indeed a delight -to attend plays with My Own, who was so keen to enjoy, so thoroughly one -of “the thankful public”! Especially in jolly plays he could laugh as no -one else did! And next to the theater came social intercourse with -sympathetic friends. We had long chats on literary and pacifistic topics -with Carneri and Hoyos, with Groller, Herzl, and various other men of -the pen. - -Great pleasure was afforded us also in visiting at the house of my -cousin, Christian Kinsky. Every time we came to Vienna we were invited -to dine with him and his thoroughly sensible wife, Therese. Christian -was then provincial marshal of Austria. The burden and dignity of his -office took nothing from his coruscating humor, from his inexhaustible -wit. And at the same time such free, clear-cut views of things! Therese -also was very liberal-minded in all matters. Quite the contrary was -Christian’s sister, Countess Ernestine Crenneville, who often came up of -an afternoon with her handiwork for a little gossiping (_Plausch_). She -occupied a lower floor in the Kinsky house in the Laudongasse, and, like -the generality of the Austrian aristocracy, was very religious and -ecclesiastically inclined. She had many times tried to convert her -brother, but he always evaded the issue with laughter and bantering; and -they got along together very well. It would indeed have been hard not to -get along well with Ernestine, for her piety was tolerant, and she was -goodness and gentleness itself. I had known her in her blooming, -youthful beauty; now she was old, but still a pretty little lady, and -had much that was interesting to tell of her life. - -Once I jotted down in my diary a reminiscence of hers. The conversation -had turned upon our Empress and her mania for traveling about the world -so restlessly. - -“I remember,” related Ernestine, “how one day we were sitting together -after a little dinner at the Empress’s—a very small party, the -Archduchess Valerie, the Duke of Cumberland, and I. A few ladies of the -court were near. The Empress was very silent and sad. Suddenly she cries -out, ‘Oh, let us go outside, out on the green grass and far away!’ -Archduchess Valerie springs up: ‘For mercy’s sake, mamma....’ The Duke -of Cumberland exclaims soothingly, ‘You are right, your Majesty,’ and -whispers to her daughter, ‘Only never let her go alone, never alone.’” - - -War had broken out between Japan and China. Such events no longer left -me so indifferent as they did when I was young. Even though this tragedy -was being enacted far away, in another quarter of the globe, the fact -that the fiend against whom our party was fighting had broken loose -again indicated a setback for our movement; for who could tell what -future wars, in which Europe might also be involved, this war would -bring in its train? - -Even during the Peace Congress at Antwerp, in the autumn of 1894, the -Sino-Japanese conflict was rising threateningly above the horizon, and I -remember that among the resolutions at that time one contained an -exhortation to the two empires, and also to the other powers, to avoid -the outbreak or the continuance of the war by means of arbitration or -intervention; but we were not heard. The only government which paid any -attention to this action was the Russian. From that came the following -answer: - - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, St. Petersburg, October 15, 1894 - M. A. Houzeau, President of the World’s Peace Congress - - Dear Sir: - - I received in due time the letter which you addressed to the Imperial - Government, urging the great Powers in common to take steps to put an - end to the bloody war between Japan and China. The success of such - intervention would, above all, depend on unanimity of views and - endeavors, which latter his Majesty’s government will always be ready - to support for the possible avoidance, diminution, and prevention of - the horrors of war. - - In giving you this assurance I beg you, my dear sir, to accept the - expression of my especial consideration. - - Giers - -And when the battles had begun, then the whole world again listened with -the keenest interest. Yet this was noteworthy: little Japan proved to be -more than a match for huge China. There was no little pride manifested -in German military circles at these Japanese victories, since the -complete system of armament and of tactics in the Land of the Rising Sun -was the fruit of the instruction which German military instructors had -given the Japanese army. We Europeans are the bearers of culture. -Perhaps it is also going to be our province to make the Chinese into a -first-class fighting nation. Attempts in this direction are not lacking; -this comes under “unanimity of views and endeavors.” Quite naturally, he -who possesses a set of white chessmen and likes to play chess must -provide for an opponent with an equivalent number of black ones. - -In May, 1895, the Asiatic war came to an end. The Peace of Shimonoseki -was signed, and secured to the Japanese important advantages from the -victory. This the European Powers would not endure, and they united in -advising the Japanese to renounce various fruits of their triumph over -China; otherwise they would feel compelled to back up this request by -recourse to arms. Fortunately Japan yielded, and this “recourse” was not -required. But why did the Powers not unite _before_ the war in -intervening and demanding that the Korean question should be submitted -to a court of arbitration? - -The Interparliamentary Conference of the year 1895 met at Brussels. -Although we were invited, this time we did not attend; but our -correspondents kept us informed of the course of events. The principal -features of this Conference were: - - Submission and acceptance of the plan for a national tribunal - determined upon the preceding year, and formulated by Houzeau, La - Fontaine, and Descamps. - - Resolution to send this plan to all governments. - - Participation in the Union for the first time of a Hungarian group. At - the head of this group, Maurus Jókai, and, as its most brilliant - representative, Count Apponyi, whose eloquence makes a sensation. - - Invitation of the Hungarians to hold the next—the seventh—Conference - at Budapest at the time of the Millennial Festival; accepted. - -All these tidings filled me with joy. Once more a few important steps -forward had been taken; an elaborated plan for a national tribunal was -now placed before the governments, and the project did not emanate from -unauthorized dreamers in private life, but from statesmen, the -representatives of seventeen countries; and the whole thing came from -the initiative of one of the strongest and most distinguished men of his -day, William E. Gladstone. Moreover, it could be seen how the nucleus of -the peace endeavor was gaining new force—this time from the acquisition -of Hungary, with one of her most influential statesmen, Apponyi, and her -most celebrated poet, Jókai. - -It was as if there could be seen on the horizon something still small -and distant, but slowly growing bigger, and certainly ever coming -nearer. No longer a vision of the fancy, no mere “pious wish,” but -something substantial, actual, which to be sure may still be attacked -and hampered, but no longer flatly denied. And why attacked? Was it not -good fortune and success drawing nigh? Ever larger would become the -throngs of those who recognize it, and then they would all hasten to -meet the approaching marvel and greet it with jubilation! - -In our comprehension of this, My Own and I were happy, and we labored in -the great work according to our feeble powers, full of joyous -confidence. Not as if we did not see the obstacles in the way; we were -painfully conscious of them, and we realized the opposition that was -still to be overcome. Anything old and firmly rooted has very obstinate -endurance, and the law of inertia gives it effective protection. Men do -not like to be shaken out of their ruts; they avoid new roads, even -though they lead them into paradise! - -These were the thoughts that formed the basis of the novel _Sie wollen -nicht_. The question of peace was not treated in it, but the question of -social reforms in the domain of political economy: A landed proprietor -introduces all sorts of improvements, desires to bring about conditions -which shall give his laborers prosperity and independence, but “they do -not want it”; they distrust him and ruin him. - -Yes, the increasing, approaching ray of light on the horizon rejoiced -us, but we had our trials in the immediate and the near which filled the -world about us. Thus at that time terrible news began to arrive from -Armenia,—butchery instigated, measures taken to exterminate a whole -nation. From Spain also came gloomy tidings,—Cuba wanted to gain her -independence, and, in order to retain her, her yoke was made ever more -oppressive ... and the Madagascan enterprise of the French ... in brief, -cause enough for horror and worriment all around! But also sufficient -cause for hope and joy! - - -The Association Littéraire held its congress in Dresden. We were invited -to attend, since my husband was a member of the society. I do not know -what prevented us from accepting the invitation; but I find in my papers -a report from there which at that time gave me great pleasure: - - During a literary evening, at which the King and the Queen, the - leaders of official society of Dresden, and all the participants of - the Congress were present, J. Grand-Carteret, in an address on “German - Women as judged by the French,” said these words: - - “Spiritually the German woman has been presented to us by Luther and - Johann Fischart, later by Goethe and Schiller, until at last, like an - incarnation of the human conscience she stands before us as the - apostle of peace and civilization, and with the Baroness von Suttner - utters the cry which long since ought to have found an echo in the - heart of every mother, _Die Waffen nieder!_” - - At the banquet in Leipzig, Grand-Carteret returned to the same theme - in his toast: - - “... I drink to the book, that is to say, to the general expansion of - humane thought. - - “To the book that had its origin in Germany, _en pleine nuit armée_, - to the book born on crossroads and to-day casting a light on the - highway of the future; to the book which has arisen against the - sword.... - - “I drink to the feminine Volapük of the future, which all by itself, - if men continue to want to kill one another, will permit the women of - all countries to utter the cry, _Die Waffen nieder!_ For the first - time in thirty-five years we have felt the soul of the people here - vibrating. I drink to that soul to-day!” - - At the same banquet Émile Chasles, Inspector General of Public - Instruction in France, delivered a speech which closed with these - words: “I salute the spirit of internationalism, which rises above the - quarrels of men and governs nations with the aim of drawing them - together.” - -We made an excursion to Prague, the city of my birth. The Concordia -Union had invited me to deliver a lecture. Before this affair, which -took place at eight o’clock in the evening in the mirror room of the -Deutsches Haus, we were invited to dinner at Professor Jodl’s. The -famous philosopher—a friend of my friend Carneri—was then a docent in -the University of Prague, while he is now a light in our Vienna -Hochschule. It was a pleasant little meal, with few but choice guests. -The professor’s young wife, Margarete, was a fascinating housewife, who -had already won my heart, because I knew her as the liberal-minded -translator of Olive Schreiner’s stories. This same Olive Schreiner, in -her “Peter Halket,” has said a wonderful thing,—a thing that expresses -beautifully my profoundest belief: “With the rising and setting of the -sun, with the revolving flight of the planets, our fellowship grows and -grows.... The earth is ours.” - -Since I was to speak in a literary union, I had chosen the subject of -peace literature, and as I was in Bohemia, I cited also Bohemian -authors,—the two great poets Vrchlicky and Swatopluck Czech. In my -absolute innocence I had no suspicion of the fact that it was something -unheard of in Prague, so torn by national jealousies, to praise Czech -geniuses in the Deutsches Haus. For a moment a certain feeling of -restraint seems to have manifested itself in the hall, but when the -splendid verses of the two princes of Czech poetry—paraphrased rather -than translated into German by Friedrich Adler—rang out, the German -auditors were disarmed and the ill-humor passed off. There is no field -which would be better adapted to bringing about reconciliation between -two contending factions than the field of supernational pacification. - -At the banquet which followed the lecture I made the acquaintance of -many interesting people, and particularly of the theatrical manager -Angelo Neumann, and his wife, Johanna Buska. The latter was very much -after the style of Sarah Bernhardt,—so delicate, so thin, so -golden-voiced, so exquisitely elegant, and so many-sided in her art. -There is no leading part in the repertory, from the naïve to the heroic, -the sentimental, and the coquettish, which la Busca had not played and -made the most of. That evening she recited a poem which Friedrich Adler -had composed as a rejoinder to Carducci’s “Ode to War.” - -The next day we went to see Vrchlicky. We were conducted by a maid into -a little drawing-room, where we were kept waiting some time for the -master of the house. When the door opened and he entered, I was rather -disappointed. I have been so accustomed to find generally in the -creators of beautiful works handsome people that I was literally -horrified at Vrchlicky’s ugliness—for he is ugly, his best friend must -admit it. A flat, potato-like nose, tangled hair,—only from the eyes -shines forth his clear intellect, and in the metallic tones of his voice -vibrates his fiery soul. - -“I am very much delighted,” he said, as he shook hands with us, “that -you have both come to Prague. You will find here a thoroughly -intelligent public.” - -“Well, the public, because of national antipathies, is surely not -altogether receptive of our cause, as we discovered only last evening.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed the poet, “there are no national passions in music.” - -We did not understand the significance of this remark, and after a while -the conversation took all sorts of turns, during which sometimes we and -sometimes Vrchlicky showed the greatest astonishment in our faces, until -it finally transpired that we were taken for Mr. and Mrs. Ree, the -well-known piano virtuosos, who were going to give a concert that -evening in Prague and had promised to call on Vrchlicky. When the -misunderstanding was cleared away we warmed up to each other, and I saw -that he was as enthusiastic an adherent of my cause as I was an -enthusiastic admirer of his genius. - -Our next little journey took us to Budapest—of course also in the -interest of peace. “You have become genuine peace-drummers” (_die reinen -Friedens-Commis-Voyageurs_), said my father-in-law banteringly. - -Just as in the year 1891 it seemed a necessity to found a society in -Austria, that the country might be represented at the Congress in Rome, -so now, since the Interparliamentary Union had invited us to the -Millennial Festival at Budapest, it seemed likewise necessary for a -private society to come into existence there and invite the other -societies to take part in a Peace Congress. Our Vienna Society took up -the agitation of this matter in the Hungarian capital. Leopold Katscher, -the well-known publicist, who had wide-branching affiliations in -Hungary, where he had lived for many years, and who was now a member of -our Union, made a trip to Budapest, and called on Maurus Jókai, and on -the statesmen with whom I, for my part, was assiduously corresponding. -And the result? Instead of giving a detailed account of this I will -quote the text of the following dispatch which was sent to the Vienna -press: - - Budapest, December 15. Peace Union established yesterday. Meeting - conducted by B. von Berzeviczy, vice president of the Reichstag. - Addresses in Hungarian by Jókai, and in German by Baroness von - Suttner; a whirlwind of applause. Several hundred prospective members - come forward. Voted to accept the invitation to the Seventh World’s - Peace Congress. Influential personages chosen to serve on the - directorate, among them two members of the former cabinet. Jókai, - president. Unexampled enthusiasm shown by the press; all the Hungarian - and German papers devote from four to ten columns to the reports. - Prime Minister Banffy declared to Baroness von Suttner that both the - Interparliamentary Conference and the World’s Peace Congress would be - welcomed in Budapest, and that the government would not only assist - but would take the lead in the arrangements, though they were not - instituted by the government. - -But simultaneously my diaries bring back the echo of very gloomy events -and voices from that time. Under various dates of December I find the -following entries: - - -“War in sight.” So it is reported in all the papers since this dispatch -was received: “The President of the United States has spoken insultingly -and imperatively now that England has rejected arbitration in the -Venezuela affair.” Now England has no alternative—so run the leading -articles—but to pick up the gauntlet. Fresh dispatches: All America -aroused over Cleveland’s message; all England in a rage; demands for -many millions for warships, torpedoes, fortifications; a hundred -thousand Irishmen have offered their services to the United States. The -war-prophesying tone of the leading articles is accentuated; the -familiar “inevitableness” of the conflict is demonstrated. Every -journalist on the Continent is able to point out with certainty what -England cannot put up with except at a loss of her honor, what all -Europe cannot permit without imperiling its interests.... What is going -to be the result?... - - -The result I chronicled ten days later in the following words: - - -It was a test of strength. Only a few years ago, when the peace idea had -not as yet taken form and utterance, the misfortune would have -inevitably occurred. The greater part of the press, the chauvinists of -all countries, the military parties, the speculators, those engaged in -the industries of war, adventurers of all kinds who expected personal -advantage from the general scrimmage,—all these have assuredly left -nothing undone to promote the breaking out of war. On the other hand, -negotiations were instituted. Not only our Unions, but also chambers of -commerce and mercantile corporations took a stand against the war, and -in almost all churches sermons were preached against it, and statesmen, -interviewed as to their opinions, revolted at the thought of settling -the question by an appeal to arms. - -Lord Rosebery says, “I absolutely refuse to believe in a war between -England and the United States over such a question, for that would be an -unexampled crime.” - -Gladstone says, “Simple human reason is here sufficient.” - -The English heir-apparent and his son telegraph to the _World_, “It is -impossible for us to believe in the possibility of a war between the two -friendly states.” - -How if the Prince of Wales had spoken out in as martial a tone for his -nation as certain continental editors found it for their interest to do -in the name of “all England”? How if he had sent a sword-rattling, -fist-doubling dispatch? Or rather no dispatch at all? How did heirs to -the crown happen to write to mere newspapers? The generality are -gathered together, or at least recruits—so tradition likes to have -it—and the requisite blunt threats are uttered. The future King of Great -Britain acted otherwise. - - -My novel _Vor dem Gewitter_ (“Before the Storm”) was finished. The newly -founded Austrian Literary Society issued it as its first publication in -an edition of three thousand copies, and this inauguration was -celebrated by a banquet given by the publisher, Professor Lützow. The -actress Lewinsky, from the royal theater, read a chapter from my novel; -congratulatory addresses were made, and when the champagne went round a -great success was predicted for the enterprise; but in a few -years—Austria is no field for literary establishments—the business -failed. - -When I had written the word “End” on the last page of the book _Vor dem -Gewitter_, I began another under the title _Einsam und arm_ (“Lonely and -Poor”). And My Own, besides working at his two-volume _Sie wollen -nicht_, wrote many stories of the Caucasus region. We were as -industrious as bees,—that must be granted us. There we sat evenings at -our common worktable, generally until midnight or later—and wrote and -wrote. We used to talk about what we were doing, but we did not read our -manuscripts to each other; we did give ourselves the delight, however, -of reading each other’s proofs. - -Ah, those happy, lovely times! Even though they were full of cares,—for -the Harmannsdorf stone quarries were getting more and more involved in -difficulties, causing the whole family deep anxiety; for the fear ever -increased that we should not be able to keep up the dear home. One -sacrifice after another was demanded,—even the quite opulent rewards of -our literary labors were swallowed up in the abyss,—all in vain; as I -look back on those days the exclamation is nevertheless justified,—Oh, -those lovely times! For I was sincerely happy and so was My Own, in -spite of Venezuela, in spite of Armenia, in spite of Cuba, and even in -spite of Harmannsdorf. Our kingdom lay elsewhere,—the kingdom of our -closely united, laughing hearts. - -And then our studies. It was our custom at that time to read aloud at -least an hour every day to each other. We had then just discovered -Bölsche. He introduced us into the halls of nature’s marvels, initiated -us into the mysteries of the splendid universe. It often happened that -when the reading had brought us a new revelation we would stop and -exchange a silent pressure of the hand. - - - - - XLVIII - POLITICAL KALEIDOSCOPE - - Gumplowicz: father and son · The Italian campaign in Africa · Utterances - of King Menelik · The defeat of Adowa · The warlike press · - Demonstrations against war · Victory of the peace party · Correspondence - with Carneri · From Armenia and Macedonia · Insurrection in Cuba and a - sharp proclamation · Professor Röntgen’s discovery · The Anglo-American - arbitration treaty · Death of Jules Simon · A letter from Jules Simon. - - -Among the letters preserved from the year 1896 I find an interesting one -from Gumplowicz, the professor of philosophy. How I came to correspond -with him I do not remember. It is not to be supposed that I could have -been drawn to his works in admiration and sympathy, for, together with -Gaboriau and Joseph Chamberlain, he is one of the most influential -defenders of that vicious race theory on which are based Aryan pride and -German and Latin conceit, which are so hateful to my very soul. Probably -his son was the occasion of this correspondence. As radical as the -father was conservative, he had sent me for my periodical a series of -poems, entitled “The Angel of Destruction” (_Der Engel der -Vernichtung_), translated by himself in a masterly manner from the -“Slave Songs” of the Polish poet, Adam Asnyk. Whether it was this -translation or some other publication which had aroused the displeasure -of the German authorities, all I knew was that the young singer of -freedom was condemned to a long period of imprisonment. When, during my -lecture in Prague at the Deutsches Haus, I quoted various poems, I read -also some stanzas from “The Angel of Destruction.” I see from an old -account of that lecture that I informed the public of the poet’s fate in -the following words: - - A soul of fire ... but not wise and prudent: what moved him—sympathy - with human misery, indignation against human enslavement—he spoke out - too clamorously and in the wrong place, and he is now atoning for it - in state prison, with two years and a quarter of solitary - confinement.... Do you realize what that means for a youth with - exuberant powers of vitality, with a soul full of poetic inspiration, - with eager yearning for work, for love, for helping the world to - betterment,—seven and twenty months of solitude!... I believe it will - rejoice his heart if word is sent him that his verses, so deeply - penetrated with emotion, have been heard in this circle, and that his - fate has touched a few noble hearts here—it will be to him like a - greeting from freedom, for freedom.... And if you now applaud this - sentiment, may every handclap count as applause for our imprisoned - colleague. - -The hearty applause that followed vindicated the defiant bard of peace -in Plötzensee. - -Here is the letter from the professor at Graz: - - Graz, April 21, 1896 - - My dear Baroness: - - Your note caused me great embarrassment. I am asked to give my views - on your article, “Two Kinds of Morals,” which would necessitate - uttering my opinion concerning your whole philosophy of peace. I will - make you a counter-proposal,—fling me, together with the horrid - Sighele, into a pot, and leave these naughty professors entirely out - of consideration. There is nothing to be done with them. They only - spoil your temper, drive you out of your dreams, and spoil that - noblest enjoyment of yours which you find in agitating the peace idea. - I, at least, will not take it upon me to play such a rascally rôle in - opposition to you. You desire to see the picture at Sais and I am to - raise the curtain, am I? No, my dear Baroness, that I will not do. I - have long made it my principle: - - “Where’er a heart for peace glows calm, - Oh, let it be, disturb it not!” - - Must I on your account go back on these principles? Again the poet - warns me: - - “Believe my word, that were a fault!” - - Not for a moment do I yield to the illusion that I could persuade you; - the chasm is too wide for me to be able to throw a bridge across, and - I am not convinced that by doing so I should do any good. It would be - a better thing if _you_ could convert _me_; but hops and malt are lost - on me,—I am even worse than Sighele. - - The difference between us bad professors and you, Baroness, is this, - that we are stating facts,—among them the _fact_ of the “Two Kinds of - Morals,”—while you are preaching to the world how it ought to be. I - always listen to your preaching with great pleasure. I should have no - objection, on the contrary I should be very happy, if the world would - change in accordance with your ideas. Only I am afraid that it does - not depend on the world to slough off its skin, and that your - moralizing is in reality a complaint lodged against the dear God in - heaven, who made the world as it is. Yes, if you could stir him to - bring out his work in a second revised edition, that would be really a - success! - - By all means believe that if the world will only “have the will,” then - everything will come out all right! Because of taking that very - standpoint my son is in prison in Plötzensee. He, too, could not - comprehend that the State is so “unmoral” as to let the unemployed go - hungry while it has control of bread and nourishment in ample - sufficiency, this being in direct contravention of the commandment - about love for the neighbor. And so he went forth and gave the State a - castigation, calling it a “band of exploiters,” a “legally organized - horde of bandits.” From the standpoint of “the one and only morality” - he was perfectly right. Since he has been in prison I have refrained - from attacking this standpoint to his face. Why? Because this - enthusiasm for this “one and only morality,” the bringing about of - which he has been striving for, makes him happy and enables him easily - to endure all the trials and privations of his dungeon. And just for - the same reason I have no idea of attacking to your face the - standpoint which you accept; for in your endeavor to make this clear - to all the world you are certainly finding your greatest happiness. - How could I satisfy my conscience if I willingly disturbed your - happiness? - - Go on your way, my dear Baroness, in peace; do not worry about the - Sigheles; do not read Gumplowicz’s “Conflict of the Races”; it might - cause you sad hours; and do remain always what you are,—the champion - of a beautiful idea! In order to fulfill that mission stick to the - persuasion that this idea is the truth, the sole and only truth. And - of this belief may no professorial chatter ever rob you! - - With this wish, I remain with the sincerest respect - - Your most faithful - Gumplowicz - -I have inserted this letter in my memoirs because I like to let the -opponents, especially such eminent opponents, have their say. What reply -I made to the professor I do not remember, but assuredly I did not leave -uncontroverted the idea that I was pleased by the condescension with -which he regarded my views as pleasing delusions! The morality that -to-day is already beginning to influence the lives of individuals is not -a fact handed down by tradition from the creation of the world, but a -phase gradually won by social development and beginning to react on -governmental life and to work on quite different factors from mere -“hearts that glow calmly for peace.” - - -Italy at that time was trying to make war in Africa. It wanted to -conquer Abyssinia; but that was not so easy. The Negus was victorious in -many battles. The Italians had been obliged to withdraw from Fort -Makoli. Then Menelik expressed his desire to enter into peace -negotiations. General Baratieri sends Major Salsa into the enemy’s camp. -But no conclusion of peace is reached. The Negus demands the evacuation -of the newly acquired territories; whereupon Baratieri sends word that -these propositions can neither be accepted nor be taken into -consideration as a basis of further proceedings. So then, further -prosecution of the war. Reënforcements are sent. The _Riforma_ declares -that Baratieri has done well in refusing the Negus’s overtures; they -insult the dignity of the nation. - -In place of Baratieri another generalissimo is to be shipped off, and -the victory of Italy is assured. General Baldissera, Austrian born, who -in the year 1866 had fought against Italy, is intrusted with this -mission of conquest. So now let it be said that it can be something else -than the most glowing patriotism that moves the mover of battles!... - -And Menelik meantime? A French physician, drawn to the enemy’s camp -during a journey of research, wrote from Oboch: - - The Negus received me.... Is he really sad, or does he only put it on? - He keeps affirming that he is to the last degree troubled about this - war which has cost and will continue to cost the shedding of so much - Christian blood. He is attacked—he defends himself; yet if he is too - hard pushed and they want to try it again, then—Menelik seems - confident as to the upshot of the war, but why so much blood? - -Why, O swarthy Emperor? Because the white gentlemen in the editorial -offices declare that it is the “duty demanded by honor.” - -In Italy the protest of the people against the continuation of the war -continues to grow louder. But since it is Republicans and Socialists who -vote for the discontinuance of the campaign, their demonstrations are -suppressed by the government. On February 29 a great anti-African -banquet was planned in Milan, but forbidden by the prefecture. And on -the next day comes the terrible news of the defeat in Adowa,—eight -thousand men fallen—the rest put to flight—two generals killed—in short, -a catastrophe; wild agony in Italy and sympathy throughout Europe. All -the fury is concentrated on Baratieri because he attempted such a -sortie. - -Out of the multitude of reports about Adowa I have entered in my diary -only one or two lines from _Il Corriere della Sera_ of the eighth of -March: “The soldiers of Amara, who are cruel brigands, hacked down the -Italian wounded, mutilated them, and tore the clothes from their -bodies.” - -Gentlemen of the press, who have demanded the continuance of the war, -does it not occur to your consciences that you are accessories in the -mutilation of your fellow-countrymen? No, they demand that the blood of -the fallen shall be avenged,—in other words, that still others, -unnumbered, shall experience the same misfortune. _L’Opinione_ writes: - - Baratieri’s act was that of a lunatic; he wasted in a craven way the - lives of eight thousand soldiers and two hundred officers. But our - military honor remains unblemished. The material lost will be replaced - within a month; our military power remains as it was. The country - understands this and is ready to avenge the blood of the fallen. Those - who think the contrary are a handful of people [that is to say, those - who come out against the war—ah, why are they only a handful?], people - without God and without a country. Nevertheless, these people can do - no harm, for the nation is against them. - -Was it?... A dispatch of March 9 says: - - The anti-African movement is assuming great dimensions. In Rome, - Turin, Milan, Bologna, and Padua, committees of ladies are active in - getting signatures for a peace petition to Parliament. This has been - signed by many thousand persons. - -So acted the ladies; the women of the people were still more energetic. -They threw themselves down on the rails before the cars that were about -to carry away their husbands and sons to the place of embarkation, and -thus actually prevented the departure of the trains. - -Likewise in the barracks, a protest is made against sending more men to -the African shambles, and large numbers of deserters are escaping over -the border. What is beginning to take place in the whole country is a -battle between the idea of war and that of peace. - -The King, the first war lord, with a military education, grown up in -soldierly traditions, sees only the possibility of continuing the war, -of winning a victory, of brilliantly bestowing the honor of his -arms,—would sooner abdicate than conclude peace _now_!... He would be -glad to retain Crispi, but a storm is arising against him throughout the -land and—Crispi falls. A new ministry is formed. Rudini—that name stands -on the list of the Interparliamentary Union—becomes Prime Minister. What -will he demand in the name of the government at the opening of -Parliament? The Crispi journals and the papers representing the war -party are fierce against any idea of peace: “Revenge for Adowa!” _Guerra -a fondo!_ (“War to the bitter end!”) And had it been a lustrum earlier, -this cry alone would have come to the surface. Yet louder and more -impetuously now arise the voices in protestation against the continuance -of the unrighteous war. The movement of protest was organized; hence it -was effective. Through Teodoro Moneta I learned all that was going on in -this direction. It was a victory; for the new minister, Rudini, did not -demand the continuance of the war.... - -It might be urged that what I am relating is really a -political-historical chronicle, and not a biography. But it _is_ my -life’s history; for the very life of my soul was closely bound up with -these events. My thoughts, my labors, my correspondence, were all filled -with those performances on the world’s stage. And that I am repeating -what is for the most part a matter of common knowledge, what was printed -in the newspapers everywhere, and therefore is treasured in the memory -of all,—this I do not believe. The forgetfulness of the public is great. -What one day brings, the next swallows up again. I know from my own -experience how, before I had begun to live for the peace cause, -political events, even though they were important, disappeared from my -memory without leaving a trace, if indeed they had attracted my -attention at all. But now I noted in my diary everything that related to -the struggle that was taking place between the new idea and the old -institutions; this was the red thread which I followed in weaving the -history of the day,—a thread which assuredly has quite escaped those who -have not kept their eyes expressly fixed upon it. - -A letter from my friend Carneri, written during the Italo-African war, -shows that I had vigorously complained to him of the pain which that -tragedy was causing me. The letter ran: - - Marburg, March 5, 1896 - - My dear Friend, - - Do not be vexed if I fail to attain my object, which is none other - than to give you permanent comfort in your suffering over the present - condition of the civilized world. - - We two from the beginning have taken a quite different standpoint (you - may still remember my hesitation at the first invitation to join the - Peace Society, and that I yielded, much less won by the cause itself - than by your own personal charm), and I should like to bring you to my - way of thinking, which consequently _should_ be yours. - - “Consequently,”—how so? I hear you say. Because you, like me, accept - the theory of evolution. This knows nothing of a complete cessation of - conflict, and recognizes only a gradual amelioration of the methods of - the conflict. It also knows nothing of a complete disappearance of - want—not to be confused with the wretchedness of poverty, which can - very properly be checked; this theory holds rather that want is the - great stimulus to progress. A cessation of all want would be absolute - stagnation, and therefore it is just as little thinkable as a world of - nothing but good people, which would be a contradiction in itself, - just as it would be to think of a day without night. - - I believe firmly in progress; but I expect it to come not in a - universal improvement of men, but as a gradual refinement of the good. - If you could be content with this modest but firmly established view - of life, you would not need to make any change in your activity in the - cause of peace, but you would look at the world with that calmness - with which one must face what is unalterable, and you would be - safeguarded against disillusions as painful as they are superfluous. - - The movement toward the quickest possible establishment of a general - arbitration tribunal is now on, and must take its course. At least do - not promote it; for if it remain without results, this would be far - more favorable for the cause of peace than if such a court, which - would have to be preceded by an international agreement, should make a - perfect fiasco. The only practical thing to-day is that the contending - parties should themselves choose arbitrators in whom they have - confidence. This custom is, happily, getting to be more and more - generally adopted, and all attempts to push it can only endanger it. - To win more and more advocates for this custom is the task which will - bring the greatest blessings from the work of these peace unions; but - all the peace unions in the world have not as yet in all this time - performed such a service for the idea of peace as my Martha alone with - her matchless tale. - - This is one thing you have to keep ever before you, and if you will - join me in smiling at the Utopias of those who believe it possible to - have a world of angels, then you will share my indifference in the way - you regard that ancient beast, Man, and his constant readiness to heap - up inflammables on inflammables. - - Do you remember how I warned you against an American who counseled - disarmament? They will yet, in alliance with Russia, threaten Europe; - and I am thoroughly convinced that it is only the enormous armies, - which no one would be able to command and provide for, that are to-day - an assurance of peace and are smoothing the way for the arbitrators. - - The defeat of the Italians in Africa pains me; but it is a wholesome - lesson. If I were Crispi’s successor, I should have no scruple in - openly declaring, “Italy has been deservedly punished for a great - offense; let us not make the offense worse; we have something better - to do,” and Italy would give jubilant ratification to - - Your Carneri - -I possess a copy of my reply, and I give some extracts from it: - - Harmannsdorf, March 10, 1896 - - Dear Friend, - - Your letter is a new proof of your affection. I have known for a long - time that you are not one of us,—have known it from the day when you - discovered that it would be money ill spent to contribute a legacy as - a proof of respect to my life work. You find my work useless,—almost - harmful; but at the same time you love Martha and Löwos, and would - like to spare Martha pain. But, my dear, if I did not feel pain what - would be the impulse for my work? Certainly not, as my enemies say, - vanity? You surely do not believe that? No, pain at the way men stick - to their barbarism is what penetrates me and compels me to oppose my - weak activity against the general inaction. If one should keep waiting - for the next century or so for things to be done of themselves, they - would never get done. After the principle of railroads was discovered - (they, too, were sufficiently opposed), locomotives and tracks had - also to be built, without waiting until a future generation should be - ripe for such a mode of travel.... - - The war that does not break out because of worry over the - responsibility, that is to say, because of the excess of armaments, is - not peace, for it is doubly precarious: in the first place, because - the armaments are in themselves ruinous, materially and morally, for - they exhaust all resources, they enslave and degrade men, and they - _must_ keep alive the spirit of war and the worship of force, which is - happening in all schools at the present time; secondly, because the - explosion of the powder magazine is left to depend on the arbitrary - will of a few people.... - - Of course disarmament—especially of a single state—cannot begin - immediately; but just as the interminable increase of armaments is the - consequence of the anarchy that prevails in the mutual relations of - states, so would disarmament be the consequence of their mutual - relations based upon law.... - - And if only people would not keep saying to us believers in evolution - that the progress of culture is slow, as if we did not know it! But, - because of that, to leave the first steps to the next generations and - stand still ourselves is not a correct way to apply our knowledge of - the slowness of the general movement forward; for we ought also to - know that this trifling advance of the whole mass is the result of the - greatest haste and the greatest output of energy on the part of single - atoms. - - ... Yes, you are right; one looks calmly into the face of the - unalterable and is spared painful disillusionment; but you are not - right in adding that with such a realization I could maintain the same - activity; for I regard the present state of things as not unalterable, - and my whole activity consists in nothing else whatever than in modest - but steady coöperation, according to my ability, in bringing about the - change. - - Your scruples about the Universal Court of Arbitration now in process - of establishment rest upon an erroneous conception of the plan. That - is usually the cause of mistaken judgments. It is believed that Mr. X - is aiming at something irrational, and one therefore hesitates about - helping Mr. X. On the other hand, Mr. X knows very accurately all the - objections to what is attributed to him; unfortunately, however, the - real thing that he wants is not known.... - - “Share your indifference in the way I regard that ancient beast, Man, - and his constant readiness to heap up inflammables on inflammables.” - No, the “young God” in man cannot have this indifference if he is - going to conquer the ancient beast in man. The great heaps of - inflammables, which are to-day growing smaller and smaller, even - though they are still predominant, must not be left under the illusion - that their realm is inviolable; and besides, - - “He is guilty of half the harm - Who, to stop it, will not lift an arm.” - - What separates us two is faith. If you believed, as I do, in the - possibility of the result, you would suffer as keenly as I do from the - inertia of the world around us, but you would yourself take hold and - act, and you would find your own pain and grief a small price for the - beckoning reward; at the same time you would have the additional joys - which often stir me when I see how the work is advancing; how, here - and there, ever more numerous and ever more determined, are arising - those who demand the accomplishment of what is already granted - theoretically by the majority. - - May the difference of our beliefs in peace matters in no respect - embitter our old friendship, but do not attempt any more to free me - from my worries; it is in vain. Only he can mitigate them who shares - them and helps me in the battle, but helps not because he is “won by - personal charm,” but because he believes in the possibility, in the - necessity, of this battle. - - B. S. - -At this period I had still other political joys and sorrows. The -persecutions of Armenians in Turkey were ever assuming more grewsome -proportions. The Balkan tribes, in their distress, put their hope in the -peace societies. One day I was surprised by the following dispatch from -Rustchuk: - - June 28 - - Bertha von Suttner, Vienna: - - A meeting attended by more than two thousand persons was held to-day - to express the wish that the twenty-third article of the Treaty of - Berlin might be made operative in Turkey. It was voted in the name of - the freedom of all the peoples of Turkey, and with a view to putting - an end to the continual shedding of blood and preventing a possible - European war, to urge you to enlist the services of the Peace League - in recommending to the European governments the enforcement of Article - 23 of the Berlin Treaty. - - The Macedonian Committee in Rustchuk for the - Freedom of European Turkey - Koptchef - -The insurrection of the unhappy Cubans, and the Draconic method of -subjugation employed by the Spaniards, was a real paroxysm of the system -of force. General Weyler, who was hated with a deadly hatred by the -Cubans on account of his cruelties, was sent over as Governor General. -On his arrival he issued a proclamation; the neat document is “sharp,” -that must be confessed: - - The death penalty for promulgation, directly or indirectly, of news - favorable to the insurrection; death for assisting in smuggling arms - or for failing to prevent same; death for the telegraph operator who - communicates news of the war to third persons; death for any one who - verbally or through the press or in any other way lowers the prestige - of Spain; death for any one who utters words favorable to the rebels, - etc.,—these punishments to be determined by a court-martial without - appeal, and all verdicts to be immediately executed. - -Thereupon great indignation in the United States regarding the Spanish -dictatorship. - -And now the joyful things which my diary contains: - - -A great event has happened: a professor in Würzburg,—his name is on all -lips,—Professor Röntgen, has discovered a way of photographing the -invisible by invisible rays. O thou wonderful world of magic! What -splendid surprises hast thou still in store for us? Invisible rays which -disclose the hidden—utterly new horizons open before us. Thus science -enriches the world without having caused any increase of poverty or -destruction. This is the true expander of empire,—a contrast to the -sword which enriches one person only by what it has snatched from -another, mangling him into the bargain! - - -And another joy I found in the progress of the Anglo-American -arbitration treaty for the settlement of all differences, without any -reference to the limitations that later treaties contain. It was not yet -adopted and ratified, but the negotiations were powerfully urged on both -sides of the ocean. The editors of the _Review of Reviews_ (William T. -Stead) and the _Daily Chronicle_, in coöperation with the English -pacifists, established inquiries, meetings, demonstrations, petitions—in -short, a popular movement, in which the most distinguished men of the -day were enlisted and induced to take part. At the meeting which, on the -third of March, brought six thousand people to Queen’s Hall, sympathetic -letters were read from Gladstone, Balfour, Rosebery, Herbert Spencer, -and others. The resolve of this meeting was communicated officially by -its chairman, Sir James Stansfeld, a former member of the Cabinet and -friend of Lord Salisbury’s, to the latter, whereupon the Premier replied -that the matter had the sanction of the government. On Easter Sunday -three English Church dignitaries issued a manifesto to the people. The -issuer applied directly to Cardinal Rampolla, and he replied with the -approval of the pope. - -On the other side of the ocean there was the same movement in favor of -the treaty. A national convention is called in Washington for the -twenty-second and twenty-third of April for the same purpose, and the -signatories are statesmen, bishops, judges, governors. President -Cleveland is well known to be inspired with the same desire; in short, -the conclusion of the treaty may confidently be expected to take place -very soon; and a new epoch of the history of civilization will be -thereby initiated. - -Now death overtook the former French Prime Minister, in whom our -movement had such a firm support,—Jules Simon. My friend Frédéric Passy -was especially affected at this bereavement. It is a matter of common -knowledge that Jules Simon had won the sympathies of Emperor William II. - -I have a letter from the famous statesman and philosopher which shows -clearly with what conviction and passionate eagerness he fought against -the institution of war. I had written urging him to attend a festival -meeting of our Union in Vienna, and received the following reply: - - Senate, Paris, May 24, 1892 - - Madam: - - You ask if I will come to the meeting at Vienna. Alas! no, and I am - very sorry that I cannot. I have taken upon me all kinds of - obligations which are devouring my life without any too great - advantage to the causes I am serving. You thoughtlessly accept an - engagement and discover the next morning that if you had not alienated - your liberty you could make a better use of your energies. - - I could do nothing which would be more in line with my ideas and my - tastes, if it be permitted to speak of one’s inclinations when it is a - question of duty; no, I could do nothing that would satisfy me better - than to go to Vienna and fight under your leadership and that of your - friends against this eternal war from which we are suffering in the - midst of perfect peace, and which is becoming a disease endemic in the - whole human race. - - I know perfectly well that I should not say anything which has not - been said and which ought not to be repeated again this time. I do not - blush for our cause because of its antiquity, nor because of the - necessity which rests on its defenders of reiterating unceasingly the - same arguments and the same complaints. It is like a Catholic litany, - which ceaselessly repeats the same words to the same music, and which, - in its monotony, is none the less an energetic and passionate prayer. - I should have liked to mingle my voice in that chorus of thousands of - voices which will be raised in protest against the collective - assassinations, against the official massacres, against the - destruction of human life and property in this horrible hell. - - As I am unable to go there and raise my voice, I find some - consolation, madam, in sending you my lamentation; and permit me to - add to it my perfect admiration for all you are doing, and the homage - of my respect. - - Jules Simon - - - - - XLIX - THE SEVENTH WORLD’S PEACE CONGRESS AND THE SEVENTH INTERPARLIAMENTARY - CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST - - General Türr’s visit at Harmannsdorf · Anecdotes from his life · - Garibaldi’s appeal to the governments · Our journey to Budapest · - Reception and preliminary festival · Opening of the Congress · From - Türr’s address · The historical Millennial Exposition · Élie Ducommun - gives a report on the year’s events · Debate: Armenian horrors · Address - to the pope · Letter from Dr. Ofner · Excursion to the Margareteninsel · - The youngest member of the Congress · Exciting debate about dueling · - Nepluief and his institution · Deputation from the Society for the - Protection of Animals · Conclusion of the Congress · Preliminary - festival of the Conference · Soirée at the Parkklub · Opening session in - the House of Magnates · Second session · Soirée at the Prime Minister’s - · From the protocol · Apponyi on the participation of Russia in the - conferences · The Russian consul Vasily and his action · Excursion into - the future · Visit at Maurus Jókai’s · Gala operatic performance · End - of the Conference · Opening of the “Iron Gate” - - -Now we were getting ready to start for Budapest, where, during the -Millennial Festival, the Seventh World’s Peace Congress and the Seventh -Interparliamentary Conference were to be held. - -General Türr was chosen as chairman of the Congress. On the twenty-sixth -of August we were surprised by a dispatch from Türr announcing that he -was coming to Harmannsdorf. He had arrived in Vienna from Rome, and -before continuing his journey to Budapest he wanted to fulfill a promise -made long before to visit us in our home. - -It gave us great delight, and in order to show it we prepared a grand -reception for him. Before the entrance to the palace a triumphal arch -was erected, adorned with the inscription - - WELCOME, STEPHAN TÜRR - -and when the carriage that brought him from the station, whither My Own -had gone to meet him, drove up, a double line of our foresters performed -a fanfare. Türr was greatly pleased with the fun. - -Although he was then seventy-one years old, he was as fresh and martial -and elastic in his bearing as if he had been only fifty at most. At our -house he added another to his conquests. Not to speak of myself, our -pretty niece Maria Louise, who was twenty-two, was so fascinated by him -that she begged a cousin who was a painter and happened to be with us to -make a life-size portrait of the handsome old warrior. The portrait was -painted and she hung it in her boudoir. - -My diary has the following entry under date of August 26: - - -On arising I find a dispatch from Türr. Wire reply and make -preparations. Arrival at four o’clock. Much fun over triumphal gate, -banners, and fanfare; looks fine. At the very first, long chat in the -billiard room about the Congress. Still much to be done in preparation, -but the larger part has already been begun by his friends, and through -his influence many advances by the government. Dinner with the whole -family. Then black coffee in the garden. Very interesting stories. On -the whole, he is full of gayety, goodness, and wit—like all men of the -highest distinction who have been condemned to death two or three times! - - -Of the anecdotes from his experiences, which he intermingled with his -conversation, I jotted down a few afterwards in a condensed form: - -In the year 1868 he came to Vienna, commissioned by King Victor -Emmanuel, whose adjutant general he was, to bring this message to -Emperor Franz Joseph: “Tell the Emperor that in me he has not only a -good relative but also a good friend.” Türr told us in what a friendly -manner the Emperor received the message and the messenger—although he -had once been proscribed and under the ban as a revolutionist. - -Türr had no specially good things to say of Bismarck. From his -conversations with the Chancellor he quoted the following remarks: -“After supper I brought Rechberg to the point of letting me buy -Lauenburg—I wanted to prove that this Austrian would sell what he had no -right to.” And again: “I have not succeeded very well in persuading my -king that we must wage war against Austria, but I have brought him to -the very edge of the ditch, and now he must leap.” - -Türr was once talking with a Chinaman about civilization. “Do you know,” -remarked the man from the Middle Kingdom, “that your _liberté_, -_fraternité_, _égalité_, are very fine, but a fourth thing is -necessary.” - -“And that is—?” - -_Un harmonisateur._ - -“What is that?” - -The Chinaman, making a gesture suggestive of whipping, said, _Le -bambou_. - -Türr is also somewhat of the opinion that it would be a good thing if -men could have some of their bad qualities whipped out of them, -especially some of their stupidity. _La bêtise humaine est -in-com-men-su-ra-ble_ ... and _that_ word is still too short! - - Ach Götter, - Schneidt’s Bretter! - -With this sigh of resignation he used to conclude his observations over -this or that piece of immeasurable stupidity among men. - -He told us ever so much about his life as a soldier. He had already -passed his fiftieth year in military service, for he had entered the -army in 1842. During this half century he had seen so much that was -horrible on the various battlefields, that he had consequently become an -enemy of war: - - It was in May, 1860. We were marching with Garibaldi’s thousand heroes - against Palermo. In the neighborhood of the market place of Partenio - we had a glimpse of something that filled the hardest-hearted of us - with horror. Beside the road a dozen Bourbon soldiers lay dead, and a - pack of dogs were gnawing at their bodies.... We approached and saw - that the soldiers had been burned. Garibaldi expressed his indignation - at this in a terrible outbreak of rage. He could hardly hold in till - he entered the little town. The inhabitants received him with joy, but - he shouted to the exulting people in a voice trembling with wrath: - - “I have seen here a barbarous deed—the partisans of freedom have no - right to give way to such inhumane cruelty....” - - The people listened in deep silence to the general’s outburst of - passion. Finally some one came forward and said: - - “We must acknowledge that we have done wrong, but before you condemn - us, listen to what happened here; perhaps you will find our action - comprehensible....” - - And the people conducted the general to a group of houses. He was - taken into four or five of these houses and shown a heap of women and - children, all scorched and burned to cinders. “This is what the - Bourbon soldiers have done,” they cried; “they drove the women and - children into these houses, set the houses on fire, and would not let - one escape. They guarded the doors until the wretched creatures - struggled with death in the flames. We heard their screams of agony - and hurried to help them; but it was too late.... In our bitter - indignation we could only wreak our vengeance for the innocent victims - by hurling the monsters into the fire in turn, and then we brought - them out into the road.” - -Türr told us also of the document that Garibaldi, after the campaign was -concluded, sent to all the crowned heads of Europe, urging them to form -a league of peace. No notice was taken of this action and it is -generally unknown. The only trace of it still remaining is the remark in -the encyclopedia under the name Garibaldi: “Brave, patriotic, -disinterested, warm-hearted, but _without deep political insight, a -visionary_.” But it was really General Türr who suggested that attempt. -Again I quote his own words: - - One evening at Naples I was with Garibaldi on the balcony. The - general, according to his usual custom, was contemplating the sky full - of glorious stars. For a long time he was silent; at last he said: - - “Dear friend, we have again done only half a job. God knows how much - blood will still have to be shed before the unity of Italy is - established.” - - “May be ... but, general, you can be contented with the great result - that we have brought about within six months. The shedding of much - blood might be avoided if better views should obtain among the - rulers.... If, as far as it were possible, an agreement might be - entered into by the European countries; if what Henry the Fourth and - Elizabeth, Queen of England, centuries ago dreamed, and what Minister - Sully so beautifully described, could be brought about,—who knows but - the king’s noble idea might even then have been realized, if a - fanatic’s dagger had not struck him down. But it would seem as if the - time had now come to carry it out, so as to save Europe from other - dreadful massacres and battles. General, you have accomplished a great - work; you would seem to be the very one to bring an appeal to the - rulers and the nations in the interest of peace and confederation.” - - We talked for a long time about this, and the very next morning - Garibaldi brought the appeal which, with a few modifications, we sent - to the powers. Since that time I have often had that appeal printed. - Whenever opportunity has offered I have striven to call the attention - of those in power and the great public to Garibaldi’s lofty ideas. And - now, when the peace workers and the representatives of the nations are - about to assemble on the occasion of the Millennial Festival, I am - going once more to bring forth the never-to-be-forgotten leader’s - inspired words of exhortation. It will not fail to be interesting—amid - the conservative tendencies—to hear ideas of the so-called - “revolutionists and subverters,” dictated as they were by the purest - philanthropy; for those men sought to overthrow nothing except the - dikes that block freedom and progress. - -General Türr pulled out of his pocket a copy of Garibaldi’s appeal and -handed it to me. It is an interesting document, and it makes one realize -how thoughts which are regarded as new have been conceived many years -back, and how they are swallowed up in forgetfulness, no matter how -eloquently they may have been spoken. Ever again and ever again they -have to emerge, like something new, surprising people, until at last -they become common property. - -In this appeal Garibaldi points to the enormous armaments of the sixties -(what would he say to-day!); he laments that in the midst of so-called -civilization we fill our lives with mutual threats against one another. -He proposes an alliance of all the states of Europe; then there would be -no more fighting forces on land and sea (that we should be now building -air-fleets he did not foresee), and the enormous funds that have to be -withdrawn from the necessities of the nations for unproductive, -death-dealing purposes might be made available for ends that would -improve property and lift the level of human life; these latter are then -enumerated. - -The document also gives satisfactory answers to possible objections. -“What will become of the multitude of men who are serving in the army -and in the navy?” - - Rulers would have to study institutions of common utility if their - minds were no longer absorbed in ideas of conquest and devastation.... - In consequence of the advance in industry and the greater stability of - commerce, the merchant service would soon take care of the whole - personnel of the navy; the immense and innumerable works and - undertakings which would spring up because of peace, the alliance, and - security, would employ twice as many men as are serving in the army. - -The appeal concludes with warm words addressed to those princes to whom -“the sacred duty is intrusted of doing good and cherishing that -greatness which is higher than ephemeral false greatness,—that true -greatness the foundation of which would be the love and the gratitude of -the nations.” - -General Türr returned that same evening to Vienna and went the next day -to Budapest, where he finished the laborious preparations for the -Congress. - -Two days before the Congress opened we three followed him there. I say -“we three,” for we took our niece Maria Louise with us; we wanted her to -enjoy this journey and the social festivities with us. - -I see us on board a Danube steamer. It was a beautiful, sunny September -day. There was quite a little peace band of us,—Malaria, Dr. Kunwald, -the Grollers, husband and wife, and Countess Pötting, “die Hex”; of -friends from abroad,—Frédéric Passy, Gaston Moch and his wife, Yves -Guyot the former Minister, publisher of _Le Siècle_ and a great free -trader before the Lord, the Grelix couple, and M. Claparède from -Switzerland. - -So we had already a little Congress on deck; even at meals our company -clung together. We passed by Pressburg, by Gran with its proud episcopal -palace, and at Waitzen a deputation from Budapest which had been sent -out to meet us came aboard,—three members of the Congress committee, and -with them a reporter of the _Pesti Napló_ (the “_Budapest Journal_”). It -was already evening and all the lights were ablaze when we slowly came -into port. On the dock stood other members of the committee, among them -Director Kemény, who greeted us with an address; and gathered about was -a dense throng shouting _Éljen!_ (“Hail!”) at the top of their voices. -Carriages in waiting whirled us all to the Hotel Royal, where General -Türr and a number of other colleagues were already awaiting us. That was -the day of our arrival, September 15. By the entries in my diary I will -now bring in review before my memory the week of the Budapest Congress -and Conference. - - -September 16. Interviews the whole morning. Leopold Katscher brings me -newspapers and tells about the preliminary labors. Luncheon in the Hotel -Hungaria given by General Türr with only a few intimate friends. Visits -with Karolyi, Banffy, and others. In the evening of this day before the -opening of the Congress all the delegates are invited to a reception in -the great drawing-rooms of the Hotel Royal. Türr and Count Eugen Zichy, -the great Asiatic traveler, act as hosts. At supper various addresses: -Pierantoni, a giant in stature, with a stentorian voice, speaks in -Italian, and as fascinatingly as if he were a famous reader rather than -a famous teacher of international law. I make the acquaintance of Dr. -Ludwig Stein, professor in Bern University, whose philosophical -feuilletons in the press have long been a delight to me. Frédéric Passy -and Frédéric Bajer speak, and the “Peace Fury” is also obliged to take -part. - -September 17. Opening session in the council chamber of the new City -Hall. Before the door, in the entrance hall, and on the stairs are -stationed pandours, splendid in their lace-adorned uniforms and armor. -It reminds one of the reception at the Capitol. The hall is packed. The -galleries are densely crowded. Türr takes his place on the platform -between the Minister of the Interior and the Mayor. He opens the -Congress with a brief, vigorous address. Here is a passage from it: - - Not so very long ago there were princes and noblemen who fought one - another and exercised jurisdiction over their subjects and serfs. If - any one at that day had told them that the time would come when they - would be required to bring their quarrels before a judge, they would - have declared that person a dreamer, a Utopian, or something worse. - And now these great lords are compelled to appear before the judge, - where all their former serfs stand on the same footing with them. - - This change might be brought about also in the relations of the - powers, and all the easier since it does not here concern two or three - hundred princes and thousands of members of the high and lower - nobility. We have to-day six great powers; and even these have - united,—some in the Triple Alliance, the others in a friendly union; - and all for the purpose of preserving peace. - - Now then, only one further step is required. If these two groups - unite, then the smaller states will join, and the free confederation - of the European powers is accomplished. - -After the session the participants in the Congress are conducted to the -Millennial Exposition,—the “Historical Exposition,” ... a thousand years -of Hungarian history, from the primitive simplicity of the semibarbarous -time of Arpád down to the refined industry of the highly developed—let -us say only quarter-barbarous—to-day. And if another thousand years pass -by and again an exposition illustrates the course of development, will -the little medals with the word _pax_ on them, such as we all have -attached to our clothes as tokens, at that time be found perchance among -the articles of apparel? - -In the evening a garden party in Oes-Budavar. Everywhere at the -appearance of the troops of peace ring forth from the densely encircling -public hearty shouts of _Éljen!_ - -September 18. An interesting session. Élie Ducommun reads the report -about the events of the past year. In the first place the progress of -arbitration and the other successes and labors of the League; then a -survey of the military events in Egypt, Abyssinia, Cuba, and Madagascar; -finally, the latest events in Turkey. “Whoever may have been the -originators of the atrocities, every civilized man must condemn them, -just as he must condemn those who permitted the atrocities.”[10] - -James Capper, the sympathetic Englishman with the white, apostolic head, -with the hearty, ringing voice, gets the floor. “The report of the -Central Bureau,” he says, “shows so clearly the absurdity of the -so-called armed peace.... What! The many armies, the terrible engines of -destruction, are for the purpose of furnishing and maintaining peace, -are they? and yet six million soldiers have not sufficed to prevent the -infamies that have been taking place in the Orient! We should not look -idly on while brigands trample down a whole nation! If I see in the -street a child attacked by villains, I consider it my duty to interfere -with both fists in defense of the one attacked, and if in the struggle I -should have to lose my life, I would do it willingly!” Loud applause. We -all feel it would be a legitimate use of force to protect the persecuted -against force. - -A young French priest, Abbé Pichot, moves that the Congress send an -address to the Pope, begging him to grant the movement his support: it -is known to him that Leo XIII had the peace cause much at heart, and -that a word of approval from that quarter would be of the highest value. -I spring to my feet and second the motion. I also know for a fact that -the Pope has frequently of late years spoken against preparations for -war and in favor of the international arbitration tribunal; but it is -not sufficiently well known, because these utterances were made to a -Russian publicist and an editor of the _Daily Chronicle_. The Catholic -press and the Church generally, as well as the whole Catholic world, -have failed to hear those words. How very different would be the effect -if the Pope should direct these observations of his directly to the -millions of his faithful. So then, I urged, let the respectful request -be submitted to him that he embody in an encyclical the expressions of -encouragement already often pronounced by him in the presence of the -advocates of peace. Some one objects: the motion could not fail to -offend those of other beliefs, especially freethinkers; no religious -tendency should be introduced. Frédéric Passy explains that we are -dealing not with religious but with humanitarian demonstrations. The -motion is carried. - -In the evening, gala performance of the opera _Der Geiger von -Cremona_.[11] - -I receive a letter from Dr. Julius Ofner, deputy to the Austrian -Parliament. I give the text of it here: - - ... I should gladly have taken part in the deliberations on the - international arbitration tribunal. The talk that is made on this - point seems to me too timid, too much directed to the welfare of the - states and too little to their duties; _apostles do not flatter_. - - From a legal point of view there can be no doubt: no law without a - judge; no one can decide in his own cause, and history teaches that if - states desire even the most unrighteous things, they have always found - crown jurists to defend them and declare them lawful. As long, - therefore, as there is no tribunal erected for international - differences, there will be international politeness, international - morals, but no international justice. The strong is infallible; - injured justice turns only against the weak. The appeal to - sovereignty, which, it is said, must not be curtailed, is nothing but - a cloak for the desire to be permitted to do arbitrary wrong. For all - law limits the single individual for the advantage of the rest, limits - arbitrariness for the advantage of universal liberty. Law and - righteousness are at the foundation of all culture, and what Kant said - in regard to mankind in general applies to states,—“If there were no - law it would not be worth while for men to live on earth.” - -There is nothing sensational in the session. The afternoon is spent at -the Othon, a journalists’ club. In Türr’s company my niece and I make a -call on Prime Minister Banffy. - -September 20. Outing for the members of the Congress. We are taken on -special steamboats to the Margareteninsel, where the committee provide a -luncheon. The weather is splendid—the tables are set in the open air, -surrounded by the wonderful grounds of the park. “Do you know, my dear -colleagues and friends,” said General Türr, “this island was formerly a -wilderness. The owner, Archduke Joseph, by clearing, cultivating, and -decorating it, has made a paradise of it. So may that wilderness which -to-day prevails in international life be turned by the civilizing power -of the work of peace into a blooming land like the Margareteninsel.” - -Of course others also speak. Deep emotion is caused, however, when an -Italian delegate, a former captain on the general staff, Conte di -Pampero, lifting up his eight-year-old son and standing him on the -table, asks permission to speak in the name of the youngest member of -the Congress, and, laying his hand as if in blessing on the lad’s head, -adjures those present to bring up their children, just as he is doing, -to hate war and love humanity.... - -September 21. Very lively debate over dueling. A delegate—Félix Lacaze -from France—makes the motion that all Peace Societies shall require -their members to agree to decline all duels. A great controversy arises. -Count Eugen Zichy declares that if this is carried he must as a matter -of honor resign from the Union. Such an obligation cannot be undertaken -in certain countries and in certain circles. The English members, who -are indignant that the duel is being discussed, are provoked and refuse -to allow Count Zichy to have the floor a second time, although he -declares he wishes to speak in the line of conciliation. Finally Houzeau -de Lehaye, the ever conciliatory, offers a compromise resolution which, -although declaring that nothing can be mandatory upon the members, -nevertheless urges them to make every effort to discourage the use of -the duel, as contradictory to the principles which they are supporting, -and to secure the execution of the laws that relate to it. - -I have made an interesting new acquaintance,—a Russian by the name of -Nepluief. He introduced himself to me during a recess in the -proceedings, and is urging me to support his ideas. He has founded in -his country an institution based on the principles of education for -peace. He gives the impression of being a _grand seigneur_, and at the -same time a deeply religious man. His idea in coming here is to acquaint -the Congress with the institution which he has called into life, and -have it imitated everywhere. He called himself on his visiting card -“Président de la Confrérie ouvrière de l’Exaltation de la Croix.” In -this way he imparts an ecclesiastical tinge to his socialistic -undertaking. A multimillionaire, possesser of wide landed estates and -numerous factories in the Government of Chernigof, he began his career -as a diplomat, but gave it up in order to devote himself wholly to the -task of elevating the Russian peasants morally and materially. At his -own expense he founded popular schools for industrial and agricultural -training, and peasant unions which he calls “Brotherhoods.” From the -first he gave these unions a share in the profits of his undertaking; -later he turned over his whole property to their complete control, -reserving for himself only the title of life president of these -enterprises. But things did not run smoothly. For years he had to -contend with the ill will of the Russian bureaucracy, which suspected -him of being a socialist. Finally, however, his work of education -brought him satisfactory results. He has explained his methods and -experiences in a pamphlet, which he distributed to the members of the -Congress. He himself departed from Budapest the same day.[12] - -In the evening a banquet is given by the city. - -September 22. A deputation from the Society for the Protection of -Animals call upon me and beg me to support their endeavors. I reply that -I have at that moment a book under way, entitled _Schach der Qual_ -(“Check to Suffering”), in which there is to be a chapter pleading for -our poor dumb fellow-creatures, that are so cruelly treated. - -Final session. At half past one General Türr ends the Congress with the -greeting _Auf Wiedersehn_. The “meeting again” takes place two hours -later, in the Hotel Royal, where a farewell dinner is given to the -president and the committee and the rest of us. Malaria—Olga -Wisinger—had taken charge of the arrangements. But even now there is no -general breaking up, for many of the participants remain here in order -to be present at the opening to-morrow of the Interparliamentary -Conference. - - -We were also among those who were going to remain a few days longer. As -early as the sixteenth of August the following letter had reached us at -Harmannsdorf: - - Interparliamentary Conference, Hungarian Group - Budapest, August 15 - - Your Highness: - - The useful zeal and the self-sacrificing and profitable labors which - you have undertaken in the interest and service of universal peace - make it a pleasant duty for us to invite you, as well as your husband, - and your niece the Baroness von Suttner, to the Interparliamentary - Conference which is to open at Budapest on the twenty-second of - September. - - As you are aware, only members of legislatures can take part in the - Conference; yet it may interest you to follow the sessions from the - gallery and to participate in the festivities and excursions. - - In this hope, etc. - Koloman v. Szell, Chairman - Aristide v. Deszewffy, Secretary - of the Executive Committee - -I return to my Budapest diary. - - -September 23. Yesterday, as on the eve of the Congress, a great soirée -in the Parkklub, cards of invitation for which were sent out by Koloman -von Szell. This clubhouse is really beautiful—massive, splendid, with -English comfort. All the members of the Conference are present; we have -a joyous meeting with old acquaintances,—Stanhope, Beernaert, Cremer, -Descamps, and others. Many ladies of Hungarian society and the wives of -the members of the Conference are there. Almost all the Hungarian -ministers, Baron Banffy at their head; Counts Eugen Zichy, Albert -Apponyi, Szapary, Esterhazy, and many journalists and artists. Our old -Passy is closely surrounded. Maria Louise looks wondrously pretty and, -it seems to me, is turning the heads of several of the Magyars! Also -that northern maiden, Ranghild Lund, the beauty of the conference days -at Rome, is here and arousing much admiration. John Lund comes up to me -and brings me a message from Björnson. I make the acquaintance of a -young Countess Kalnoky (unmarried and very independent), and her free -and broad-minded views greatly appeal to me. Then we are joined by a -Countess Forgac; she has much to tell us of Empress Elisabeth, among -other things the following: Some spirit communications had been made -(presumably at a spiritualistic séance) to the effect that the place -where the Crown Prince Rudolf is staying is worse than hell and no -prayers are of any avail; the Empress is full of despair about it. -Melinda Karolyi and I exchange glances equivalent to many exclamation -marks. - -Servants bring round delicious edibles and drinkables. A journalist -remarks, “One need not be a member of a peace league to find this sort -of international meeting decidedly pleasanter than those where bombs and -grenades are served.” - -To-day the opening session takes place in the House of Magnates. Before -the building, on the edge of the street, fastened together with garlands -of flowers, stand masts, from which float the flags of all the nations -that participate in the Conference,—an object lesson for the passers-by. -That conception of a “European Confederation,” still so strange, is here -expressed in the language of emblems. - -We reach our places in the gallery before the members of the -Conference make their appearance in the hall, so we watch them as they -come in deliberately and take their places. In the ministerial chairs, -where of late the King’s Hungarian councilors sat, now the foreign -parliamentarians are taking their seats. Frédéric Passy is between -Cardinal Schlauch and Minister Darany. Gobat mounts the platform and -proposes that the president of the Hungarian House of Deputies, -Desider Szilagyi, be chairman of the Conference. He accepts and -delivers the welcoming address. Now follow the speeches of old -acquaintances,—Pirquet, Descamps, Beernaert, Von Bar, Bajer, and -others. Apponyi is new and surprising to me. What a speaker! He has a -tall, elegant figure, a powerful barytone voice, and an easy mastery -of foreign tongues. - -At the second session at four o’clock begin the actual transactions. -Point I: “Permanent International Arbitration Tribunal.” Descamps -reports that he has sent to all the sovereigns and governments the -memorandum in regard to this question, drawn up in accordance with the -motion of the previous year. Most of the governments had replied -favorably to the principles, but the most decisive answer came from St. -Petersburg, from the recently departed Prince Lobanof. - -In the evening a great soirée at the Prime Minister’s. - - -I see that my diary has not kept a very strict account of the various -phases of the transactions of the Conference. But the official protocol -lies before me and I will here dwell upon something that seems to me -important in the historical development of the peace cause. In that -session of September 22, 1896, the following resolution was offered by -Pierantoni: - - The Seventh Interparliamentary Conference requests all civilized - states to call a diplomatic conference in order that the question of - an international court of arbitration may be laid before it; at this - conference the labors of the Interparliamentary Union shall serve as a - basis for further resolves. - -A Conference of Diplomatists. In this term does there not already -ring—how shall I express it?—a note suggestive of the conferences at The -Hague, in which, indeed, the labors of Descamps and La Fontaine served -as the foundation of the establishment of the Hague Tribunal. - -And still another debate of historical interest. During the session of -the twenty-fourth of September the order of the day contains the -question whether those nations that have no parliament may be able to -participate in the Interparliamentary Conferences, and what their status -shall be. Count Albert Apponyi, who has composed a memorial on this -subject, which is distributed through the hall, makes the report. He -refers to the memorial, and confines himself to a brief exposition. He -reserves the privilege of again expressing his views at the conclusion -of the debate; now he will only state the motion: - - That an amendment be added to the statutes to the effect that the - Conferences shall admit to their deliberations also the delegates of - sovereigns, rulers, and governments, as well as of the Russian - Imperial Council or any similar institution in nonconstitutional - countries, in so far as such delegates are accredited by their - governments. The Management (_Bureau_) shall be authorized to inform - the rulers and governments of nonconstitutional countries that the - Conference would be pleased to welcome their delegates to its - deliberations. - -Lewakowski, member of the Austrian Parliament, opposes Apponyi’s motion; -its aim is wholly and solely the admission of Russia. - -“We are here,” he declares, “as the representatives of the people, and -we are working here in the spirit of our commissions. The Russian nation -cannot send any representative that can have the same authority as we -have.” Norton, Snape, Pirquet, Rahusen, and Passy speak in favor of the -motion. - -M. G. Conrad[13] opposes the motion in the most violent terms: “Either -we are a parliamentary conference or we are not. We do not need to know -what the governments say; we want to hear the views of the people -themselves. And the views of the Russian people you surely will not be -likely to hear from the mouths of the delegates of the Russian -government.” - -Stanhope favors the adoption of the motion. The magnificent object of -the Conference, he declares, would only be furthered by it. There -actually exists in Russia something that corresponds to a parliamentary -body, and, who knows? some day, directly through the influence of our -Conference, something may develop that will lead to constitutionalism. - -Then Count Apponyi brings the debate to a conclusion. He takes strong -issue with his opponents. In reply to Lewakowski he declares that -numerous gentlemen are sitting here who have not received their -credentials from their nation and indeed are members of the upper houses -appointed by their sovereigns. In the one scale are placed the -objections that have been adduced, in the other the immense importance -of the fact that such a great empire as Russia, occupying a third of all -Europe, ought to share in our deliberations. This question came up for -the first time in the Hungarian Group, and was agitated in the interest -of those countries that have, to be sure, no parliaments, and yet desire -to participate in our labors and to battle for the peace of the world. -These also have the right to collaborate with us in the great work of -civilization. We are all pursuing the one aim of helping a righteous -cause to victory, and any kind of assistance can be welcomed by us. The -honored president of the former Conference has sent to all the -governments his memorandum regarding the Court of Arbitration, and the -most sympathetic reply was that received from the late Prince Lobanof. - -Descamps: “That is correct.” - -Apponyi: “In Russia, as may be seen by many indications, the tendency to -take part in European affairs is strong; for some time Russia has been -represented at most Congresses. We must give her the opportunity to -share also in our labors; it is indeed not beyond the bounds of -possibility that the development of affairs in Russia will be in this -way favorably influenced. At all events the sympathy of such a powerful -state could only strengthen our endeavors.” - -It is interesting to connect with this debate of September 24, 1896, the -fact that on the 24th of August, 1898, the manifesto calling the Peace -Conference at The Hague emanated from Russia. - -One other circumstance must also be mentioned here. The then Russian -consul, Vasily, was present at the sessions and exercises of the -Conference at Budapest, and communicated to his government accurate and -sympathetic reports. He was an unhesitating friend of peace. His report -was, as I afterwards learned, cast in the form of an impassioned plea -for cessation of war preparations. The suggestion did not receive the -approval of his superiors, and remained for some time forgotten. A year -later, however, when Lord Salisbury in his Guildhall address -animadverted on the endless increase in armament among the nations, and -declared that the only hope of escaping general ruin lay in the union of -the powers in some kind of an international constitution, then M. Vasily -presented anew his idea in behalf of an attempt to bring about an -international understanding on this point. Vasily was attached to the -ministry of foreign affairs; he naturally communicated his ideas to his -chief, Count Lamsdorff, who, in turn, laid them before the Emperor. - -When, in 1906, the Interparliamentary Conference met in London, a -parliament was sitting in St. Petersburg which sent its representatives -to England, not in the name of a group, but of the whole Duma. To be -sure, on the very day when, at the opening session in Westminster Hall, -the Russian delegate was to deliver his salutatory, the news arrived -that the Duma was prorogued. The Russians were obliged, therefore, to -quit London with their business unaccomplished, and Campbell-Bannerman, -who opened the Interparliamentary Conference, was given the opportunity -of perpetrating his _mot_, which afterwards became so famous: _La douma -est morte, vive la douma!_ - -After this brief excursion into the future I return to the Budapest -notes in my diary. - - -September 24. After the morning session, when the Russian debate was on, -in which Apponyi distinguished himself and which Vasily and Novikof -followed with great interest, we make a call on Maurus Jókai. An attack -of indisposition prevented him from taking part in the Conference, but -he is well enough to receive us. He lives in a villa of his own, not -large but very beautiful, and surrounded by a garden. He shows us all -his treasures,—his worktable, his books, and the gifts which he received -at his Jubilee; among them the splendid offering from the Hungarian -nation, the de luxe edition of his complete works, for the publication -of which subscriptions of a hundred thousand gulden were paid in -advance,—a gift of honor presented to the poet by his fellow-countrymen. -Two very interesting hours. Jókai tells us much about his life. He gives -me his photograph inscribed with his name. - -In the evening a gala performance of the opera _Bank-Ban_, by Erkel[14]; -Bianca Bianchi trills like a nightingale. - -September 25. Final session. Closing banquet in the festival hall of the -Exposition. Eight hundred participants. On both sides of the vestibule -stand Haiduks in gala uniform. At the table of honor, with the leaders -of the various foreign groups, are Beernaert, Passy, Stanhope, Descamps, -and others; and the Hungarians, Szilagyi, Szell, Apponyi, Szapary, -Berzeviczy, Franz Kossuth, and Mayor Ráth as host. My neighbors are the -English General Havelock and Count Koloman Esterhazy. After the toast to -the King, offered by the mayor, Koloman Szell toasts the members of the -Conference, “the masters and banner bearers in the greatest question in -the progress of civilization.” - -The exercises were not at an end even on the last day of the Conference. -The participants were invited to help celebrate the opening of the “Iron -Gate,” which was to take place in the presence of the Emperor. On the -twenty-sixth of September, in the evening, two special trains took us to -Orsova, where comfortable quarters were assigned to each and every -guest. On the morning of the twenty-seventh, radiant with unclouded -sunshine, we all went aboard the special steamboat _Zriny_, which, -occupying the fourth place in the column, accompanied the imperial ship -down the Danube; the second boat carried the generals, the third the -diplomats. After the flotilla reached the Kazan pass, the imperial ship -cut through a cable of flowers stretched across the Danube canal—the -“Iron Gate” was opened. - -“This festal occasion,” said Emperor Franz Joseph, “which brings us -together to celebrate a great work of public utility, fills me with -happiness, and in the conviction that this work will give a powerful and -healthy impulse to the peaceful and advantageous development of -international relations, I drink to the happiness and prosperity of the -nations.” - -The four steamboats now moved slowly past and sailed back to Orsova. - - - - - L - OTHER EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1896 - - Jingo criticism of Budapest · A prophetic chapter from _Schach der Qual_ - · A poem by Hoyos and a letter from Nathaniel Rothschild · Visits of the - Tsar · Extracts from diary · Correspondence between the Austrian Peace - Society and the English Department of Foreign Affairs · Treaty of peace - between Menelik and Italy - - -Again at Harmannsdorf. The days at Budapest had left a joyous feeling of -exultation. The meeting had given conspicuous testimony to the growth of -the movement and to the impression that it was making in powerful -political circles. Perfectly amusing and indeed comical in its malicious -perversion of facts, its absolutely bottomless ignorance, was an article -in the jingo press that I found in a mountain of press notices which had -collected at home during our absence. The _St. James Gazette_ of -September 18 wrote: - - There are more important transactions in progress at this moment in - Europe than the Seventh Peace Congress, which has just met in the - Grand Hall of the Municipal Palace in Budapest. None are more odd, or, - in a way, better worth looking at. The good men who have met on the - initiative of a most excellent lady, the Baroness Bertha von Suttner, - author of “Down with Arms,” and creator of the Peace Congress, - represent the fine flower of all that vaguely well-meaning, emotional, - and unpractical class of persons which is to be found in most - countries, and nowhere in finer feather than among ourselves. To see - that there is something wrong in the world, and to propose a remedy - which, on inquiry, turns out to be a radical change in human nature, - is the same thing with them. They are active in many fields, or, to - speak with more accuracy, they talk at large on many subjects; but - they are nowhere seen in more complete beauty than when in congress - assembled for the purpose of speaking of peace.... Carlyle wanted to - know the meaning of the moralist who, in the conflict between Gods and - Giants, put out his hand armed “with a pair of tweezers.” At this - moment, when it is really not too much to say that all Europe is “a - town of war, the people’s hearts yet wild, brimful of fear,” the good - Baroness Bertha and like-minded persons come forward at Budapest with - their pair of tweezers.... The value of the Baroness von Suttner’s - picnic becomes fully conspicuous when we turn, etc., etc. - -I sent Alfred Nobel a careful account of the events at Budapest, and -corresponded also with Egidy about them. I worked steadily on my book, -_Schach der Qual_, an imaginative story. A chapter in it is called -_Frohbotschaft_ (“Good Tidings”). It describes an “international -conference for securing peace.” In his opening address the chairman -speaks these words: - - This meeting is called together at the initiative of one of the most - powerful sovereigns of Europe, and after the assent to its principal - object has been obtained from all the other governments; and almost - all countries, great and small, with very few exceptions, have - declared their agreement and are here represented. - -The book was begun in 1895 and was published by Pierson at the beginning -of 1897, so that the words here cited cannot be a reminiscence of the -Hague Peace Conference, which was first summoned in 1898 by “one of the -most powerful sovereigns of Europe”; but they are a prophetic -announcement of it. This was a coincidence rare enough to make it worthy -of remark. - -Other incidents that interested me during the year 1896 I find jotted -down in my diary: - - -October 2. No letter from Hoyos in a long time. He must be ill. I hope -he will soon be well again, the splendid man! There are not many in our -aristocracy who are so free and grand and magnanimous in their thoughts, -and who are so entirely opposite to reactionary—almost socialistic. Note -this example of it: Lately a collection was taken for the unemployed. -Hoyos added the following verses to his contribution: - - _Sammlung für die Arbeitslosen_ - - For the unemployed, collections,— - Coal, old clothes, and doles of bread, - Linen, hose,—they’re no corrections - For the want so widely spread! - - Do not mitigate starvation; - See that hunger you expel; - Then you’ll make the demonstration - That you love your neighbor well. - - Give not alms to your poor neighbor; - Stop the source of poverty;[15] - Do not limit, hamper Labor; - Make its course forever free! - - In the Code’s indwelling spirit - Let not Law o’er Duty stand; - Let them the same place inherit; - Let all men the Law command! - -October 10. The Emperor of Russia has been in Vienna. From there he went -to Breslau, Balmoral, Paris. The result of it is _Pax et Robur_. So at -least some remark; others say the result is _Revanche_; still a third -think that everything remains as it was before. But this last is not -correct. It has brought about something new, to wit,—that in divided and -split-up and hostile Europe the sovereign of one country travels to -another and goes everywhere as a friend and is everywhere received as a -friend. Indeed, if Europe were a civilized complex of states, that would -be as natural and as much a matter of course as it is for a landed -proprietor to make a series of visits among all the neighboring -families. Not in half a century, perhaps, has the word “peace” been so -frequently, so emphatically, so solemnly, so universally repeated in -speeches and newspapers as it has been in consequence of this journey. -That shows the tendency of the _Zeitgeist_; but it is still far from the -peace that we mean. For the whole affair abounds in contradictions, -especially the contradiction that exists between the new tendency and -the old institutions, views, and political constellations still -intrenched in power. Here is a monster of contradiction, such as the -history of the world has never before displayed: two mutually opposed -shields loaded with explosives; two hostile guardians of the peace, or -two peaceable guardians of enmity,—_Dreibund_ and _Zweibund_. Why not -equally well _Fünfbund_? - -October 15. Already 165,000 men in all have been sent to Cuba. The -Spanish Ministry of War intend to dispatch 40,000 more, because yellow -fever and other diseases have already greatly reduced the number of the -effective. A loan of a milliard is planned. - -October 18. Rear Admiral Tirpitz has elaborated a naval budget of -150,000,000 marks. The _Post_ writes: “Tirpitz has made use of a long -leave of absence, under orders from the supreme authority, to formulate -from the strategic-technical standpoint a plan for organizing our fleet -so that from the military standpoint it shall correspond to the demands -of the present time.” When shall we ever plan from the ethical-humane -standpoint how circumstances may be shaped so that from the standpoint -of the philosopher they may correspond to the demands of a better -future? - -November 9. Yesterday our beloved Rudolf Hoyos departed this life at his -Castle Leuterburg in Silesia. Ever more and more numerous the graves! - -November 10. Telegram from Washington: “The English ambassador -Pauncefote lays before Secretary of State Olney the proposals for the -Anglo-American treaty pertaining to the settlement of all future -controversies through arbitration.” - -This news may announce the dawn of a new epoch of civilization. Yet our -“serious” politicians do not touch upon it in their leading articles. - -The following letters were exchanged between the Austrian Peace Society -and the Department of Foreign Affairs at London on this occasion: - - Austrian Peace Society - Vienna, November 17, 1896 - - My Lord Marquis: - - The Committee of the Austrian Peace Society venture to express to your - Lordship their deep gratification in the treaty passed at Washington, - November 9th. This is the greatest triumph which the cause of - civilization has hitherto attained, and posterity will never forget - the part which, in this happy achievement, is due to your Lordship’s - wisdom and energy. - - We have the honor to be, respectfully - Baroness Bertha Suttner (president) - Prince Alfred Wrede (vice president) - - To the most Honorable - the Marquis of Salisbury - London, Foreign Office - - London, Foreign Office - November 21, 1896 - - Madam: - - I am directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to acknowledge the receipt - of your letter of the 17th inst., expressing the gratification of the - Austrian Peace Association in regard to the negotiation between Great - Britain and the United States on the question of arbitration, and I am - to express his Lordship’s thanks for your communication. - - I am, Madam, your most obedient humble servant - F. H. Villiers - - The Baroness of Suttner, Vienna - -November 20. The papers are full of the Bismarck disclosure.[16] The -explanations given right and left in the Reichstag by Prince Hohenlohe -and Herr von Marschall set a limit to further extension. Yes, much was -certainly disclosed in this affair, and particularly the rascally face -not of this or that politician but of that folk-cheating intrigante -called “high politics.” - -November 25. Good news. Italy and Menelik have concluded peace. Only a -few days ago the Trieste _Picolo_ learned from a diplomat of high rank -that the chances for a treaty of peace with Menelik were small; he was -unwilling to submit to the condition that he should not put himself -under the protection of any European power. “Let the Roman government -circles take into account the probabilities that the prisoners must be -left to their fate(!) and hostilities resumed.” But the diplomat of high -rank was fortunately mistaken. The treaty of peace is signed. In a -letter which Menelik on this occasion addressed to the King of Italy he -said that it was a pleasure for him, on the twentieth of November, the -Queen’s birthday, to be able to restore their sons to the Italian -mothers; and thus he showed a tenderer feeling for the prisoners than -the above-mentioned Roman government circles. - -According to the tenor of the treaty Italy renounces the (falsely -interpreted) treaty of Utshili, and the two belligerents resume their -former boundaries. Consequently the _status quo ante_—why, therefore, -the great sorrow, the gigantic expenditures, the heaps of corpses -mutilated and putrefying in the torrid sun? Why? why? - - - - - LI - ALFRED NOBEL’S DEATH AND WILL - - News of his death · His last letter to me · The will · Letter from - Moritz Adler · The will is contested · Letter from the executor · - Emanuel Nobel’s noble act · Fortunate solution · Distribution of the - peace prize up to date - - -December 12. Alfred Nobel is dead. - -I recorded this loss in my diary with this single line. The news—I found -it in the newspapers—was a bitter blow to me. The tie of a twenty years’ -friendship was snapped. The last letter which I received from Nobel was -from Paris, dated the twenty-first of November, and ran as follows: - - Paris, November 21, 1896 - - Dear Baroness and Friend: - - “Feeling well”—no, unhappily for me, I am not, and I am even - consulting doctors, which is contrary not only to my custom, but also - to my principles. I, who have no heart, figuratively speaking, have - one organically, and I am conscious of it. - - But that will suffice for me and my petty miseries. I am enchanted to - see that the peace movement is gaining ground. That is due to the - civilizing of the masses, and especially to the prejudice hunters and - darkness hunters, among whom you hold an exalted rank. Those are your - titles of nobility. - - Heartily yours, - A. Nobel - -The ailing heart on which he touches playfully brought him to his death. -On the tenth of December—he was then at his villa in San Remo—he was -suddenly snatched away by angina pectoris. No one was with him when he -died; he was found in his workroom—dead! - -Some time after the report of Alfred Nobel’s death the newspapers -announced that he had left his millions for benevolent purposes, a part -to go towards promoting the peace movement. But the details were -lacking. I received, however, from the Austrian ambassador in Stockholm -a copy of the will; and the executor of it, Engineer Sohlmann, entered -into correspondence with me. So I became accurately informed as to the -provisions of this remarkable last will and testament: - - After payment of legacies to relatives, amounting to about a million - crowns, the residue of the property—thirty-five millions—was set aside - for the formation of a fund, from the interest of which five yearly - prizes should be assigned to such as had contributed some notable - service to the benefit of mankind. These were specifically: - - 1. For the most important discovery and invention in the realm of - physics; - - 2. For the most important discovery and invention in the realm of - chemistry; - - 3. For the most important discoveries in the domain of physiology or - medicine; - - 4. For the most distinguished productions of an idealistic tendency in - the realm of literature; - - 5. To that man or woman who shall have worked most effectively for the - fraternization of mankind, the diminution of armies, and the promotion - of Peace Congresses. - - The Stockholm Academy is intrusted with the assignment of the first - four prizes, the Norwegian Storthing with that of the fifth. - -After the publication of the provisions of the will I received the -following letter from the faithful collaborator on my _Review_, Moritz -Adler, the author of the valuable essays _Zur Philosophie des Krieges_ -(“The Philosophy of War”). - - Vienna, January 4, 1897 - - My dear Madam: - - Allow me to congratulate you with all my heart on the New Year’s - delight which the splendid Nobel foundation must have given you, of - course modified by the drop of wormwood which the death of such a - spirit and heart mixed with the nectar. _Multis ille bonis flebilis - occidit_ can be truthfully said of this great man now passed away. He - left behind no sanitary train for future gladiatorial baiting of the - nations, for it was far from his idea to wish to put to sleep the - consciences of the mighty and to make them believe that he thought it - possible for the disgrace to be repeated. He has not founded a - hospital, either, for the other sick, who are not innocently condemned - by society to wounds and death. But millions in days to come will - rejoice in brighter life and health, and perhaps not one in a thousand - will ever suspect that he owes it to Nobel alone that he is not a - cripple or a candidate for an infirmary. Could we have believed it - possible that Mammon, Mammon sprung from dynamite, should be so - ennobled? I am happy to have lived until this day; it has been the - richest joy of my life. - - I kiss your hand with the profoundest respect. - Moritz Adler - -Indeed, yes; this foundation was a deep gratification to me; again -something new had come into the world: not the donors of alms, nor the -lawgivers, least of all the conquerors, have been held up as the -benefactors of mankind, but the discoverers and explorers, and the poets -inspired by high ideals, and, in the same category, the workers in the -service of international peace. Already the news of this last will and -testament has aroused general attention; and every year, at the time -when the prizes are awarded, this sensation will be repeated. It has -been openly declared to the world, not by an overexcited dreamer, but by -an inventor of genius (an inventor of war material into the bargain), -that the brotherhood of nations, the diminution of armies, the promotion -of Peace Congresses, belong to the things that signify most for the -well-being of mankind. - -Thus a guiding star is fixed in the sky, and the clouds that have -hitherto obscured it are breaking away more and more; the name of this -star is Human Happiness. But as long as men legally threaten one -another’s lives, as long as they are at feud instead of being helpful -one to another, there will be no universal happiness. Yet it must and -will come. The increasing spirit of research puts into man’s hand a -nature-controlling power which can make of him a god or a devil. - -“Here you have a material,” said the living Nobel to his own generation, -“with which you can annihilate everything and yourself as well....” But -the dead Nobel compels us to look at yonder star and says to future -generations, “Grow nobler, and you will attain happiness.” - -It was five years before the distribution of the prizes began. It took -this length of time because a lawsuit which was brought by certain -members of the Nobel family against the validity of the will had to be -decided, and then the estate had to be liquidated. If the then head of -the family, Emanuel Nobel, had joined the rest in the protest, the will -would have been broken, to his own great advantage; but Emanuel Nobel -refused his consent to this step. He declared that his uncle’s will was -sacred to him, and he took the ground that it must be faithfully carried -out in all respects, even in regard to the fifth clause, which was -especially endangered. - -A letter dated April 13, 1898, from the executor of the will, brought me -interesting particulars regarding the whole matter. Mr. Ragnar Sohlmann -wrote: - - ... As you will have learned from the papers, certain members of the - Nobel family have been attempting to break Herr Nobel’s will in the - Swedish courts, and especially on the ground that no residuary legatee - is constituted. The Nobel fund as created by the will itself lacks the - necessary elements—so they claim—for performing its functions,—that is - to say, administrators. - - To this we shall reply that all necessary elements have been provided - by the will, namely, the capital, the scope of action, and the - institutions designated to perform the action,—the Swedish Academy and - the Norwegian Storthing. The mere organization—so we shall - urge—belongs evidently to the task conferred upon the executors and - the Academy. - - Originally the complainants conceived the plan of bringing the suit - before a French court by endeavoring to prove that Herr Nobel’s legal - residence was not in Sweden but in Paris. They regarded the French - laws as more favorable to their claims than the Swedish, and this - undoubtedly would have been the case. We have so far succeeded in - preventing the execution of this plan, and only a few days ago the - highest court of Sweden rendered the decision that Bofors was Herr - Alfred Nobel’s legal residence. - - The fact that Herr Emanuel Nobel, of St. Petersburg, and the whole - Russian branch of the family decline to take part in the suit forms a - very important factor in the coming trial. This circumstance assures - the fulfillment of the will in so far as it concerns the corresponding - portion of the property. In consequence, the will may be regarded as - established regarding eight twentieths of the whole estate. That - diminishes also the chances for a judicial declaration of the - invalidity of the remaining twelve twentieths. - - The chief danger for the will lies in the actual animosity which at - the present time obtains between Sweden and Norway, and in the fear - here entertained—even among the members of the government—that the - whole thing might give rise to further irritation between the two - countries. The conservatives especially believe—or pretend to - believe—that the Norwegian Storthing might use the prize to “bribe” - other countries to oppose Sweden. And they have certainly been given - some ground for their fears by the appointment of Björnson, who is - regarded as Sweden’s worst enemy and is on the committee which is to - award the prizes. The truth of the matter is that the members of the - Nobel family who are trying to break the will are supported by the - conservatives here, even by some members of the government.[17] - -So far my correspondent, who indicated that these communications were -confidential, not designed for publication. Of course, as long as the -matter was undecided I did not give out the above information; but now, -since the lawsuit was long ago decided in favor of the validity of the -will, and the accompanying circumstances have become an open secret, I -may be permitted to regard the injunction of privacy as removed. But it -is a matter of universal interest to see how picayune politics -everywhere harbors suspicions and enmities, and how, in general, the -“conservatives” are distrustful of the peace movement and kindred -matters. Now the Swedish-Norwegian controversy has been settled; -Björnson is no longer counted as an enemy of Sweden. He received from -the hand of the King himself the Nobel prize for literature, and, in -company with Emanuel Nobel, dined at the royal table, on which occasion -Oscar II conversed in the most friendly spirit with the Norwegian bard. - -The first distribution of the prizes took place on the tenth of October, -1901, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. At commemorative exercises in -Stockholm the King himself delivered to the laureates the four prizes -assigned by the Swedish Academy. The peace prize was awarded by the -Nobel committee of the Storthing. - -In the eight years that have passed since then the peace prize has been -awarded as follows: 1901, Frédéric Passy and Henri Dunant;[18] 1902, -Élie Ducommun and Albert Gobat; 1903, William Randal Cremer; 1904, -Institut du droit international; 1905, Bertha von Suttner; 1906, -President Theodore Roosevelt; 1907, Ernesto Teodoro Moneta and Louis -Renault; 1908, K. P. Arnoldson and M. F. Bajer. - - - - - LII - FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR 1897 - - From my collections of letters · Signing of the Anglo-American - arbitration treaty · The ratification fails by three votes · - Insurrection in Crete · The concert of the powers · Outbreak of the - Turko-Grecian War · Extracts from diary · The letter “to all good men” - from Fortress Montjuich · Letter from Prince Scipione Borghese · Our - literary labors · My audience with Emperor Franz Joseph I · Text of the - petition submitted - - -Here let a few specimens from my collections of letters be reproduced. -Some weeks before the annual meeting of my Union, which took place early -in January, 1897, I applied to various personages, asking for -communications to be read; and I received numerous replies, among them -the following: - - Political Department of the Swiss Confederation, Bern - December 10, 1896 - - My dear Madam: - - Your letter of the fifth instant was duly received, and I thank you - most sincerely for the congratulations therein conveyed from the - Austrian Society of the Friends of Peace to the Swiss government. - - The Parliament indeed follows with genuine interest the philanthropic - endeavors to spare the civilized world the horrors of war, and it - joins with great sympathy in the demonstrations that aim to make - nations comprehend the priceless advantage of peace. - - In expressing to you the best wishes for the complete success of your - general assembly, permit me, my dear Madam, once more to thank you - heartily and to assure you of my distinguished consideration. - - The President of the Swiss Confederation - Lachenal - - International Peace Bureau - Secretary’s Office - Bern, December 9, 1896 - - Honored Colleague: - - Every isolated effort of the friends of peace resembles those tiny - globules of mist, the condensation of which will afterwards form the - rain for which the caravan is yearning. These particles are not - noticeable; no one heeds them, and when the cooling rain is falling - the atoms that so patiently worked to constitute it are no longer - remembered. - - “Who cares for that,” say our faithful prophets, “if only it rains?” - - For more than five years the Austrian Society of the Friends of Peace - has been resolutely pushing forward, and its efficacy has been gaining - in breadth without losing anything in depth. It will have a - significant share in the final success of our united effort, and it - desires, just as we all do, nothing else than that the law of - international peace may some day appear as much a matter of course and - as self-originated as the law of gravity and the light of the sun. - - In those happy days the peace unions and peace bureaus will exist only - as mere traces in the recollection of a few archivists, who will have - made the discovery that there were, in that strange epoch of cannons, - anti-cannon endeavors also. - - Accept for yourself, honored colleague, and for your worthy - fellow-workers, the assurance of my perfect consideration and high - attachment. - - Ducommun - Honorary Secretary of the International Peace Bureau - - Brussels, Chamber of Representatives - Office of the President, October 13, 1896 - - My dear Baroness: - - I was absent from Brussels when your letter of the fourth arrived, and - I reached home too late to be able to send in season the lines desired - for the meeting. - - It is now certain that Brussels will have the sequel of Budapest in - the course of the coming summer. I hope that on this occasion we shall - have the honor of seeing you again. This would greatly delight Madame - Beernaert as well as myself. - - Accept, etc. - Beernaert - - Nice, December 6 - - ... King Humbert told me that he had heard with great pleasure the - fine results of the Peace Congress in Budapest. “I am for peace,” said - his Majesty; “Italy needs peace, and you see that now a more friendly - understanding with France is coming about.” - - My best greetings to all of the old fellow-combatants - S. Türr - -At that time somewhat strained relations existed between France and -England. I had learned that Gladstone’s friend, our proved fellow-worker -Philip Stanhope, was introducing an act which had for its object the -improvement of the relations between the two countries. I wrote him -asking for detailed information and received the following reply: - - Algiers, December 11, 1896 - - Dear Frau von Suttner: - - I am unfortunate in always being away from home when you do me the - honor of writing me, and so it happens that your letter of November 23 - reached me only day before yesterday. - - It is correct that I am among those who are at the present time - working for a combination to improve the relations between France and - England. You, who follow with such keen attention the development of - public opinion, are in a position to appreciate the dangerous tendency - in those relations which has recently developed, especially in a - portion of the press. These influences are difficult to resist, and - the work required will demand much time and energy. The - combination[19] of which you have heard is as yet only sketched in - very indefinite outlines; but on the reassembling of Parliament on the - twentieth of January we hope to make some progress, and I will send - you accurate details. - - As regards the Venezuelan affair, the treaty in settlement of it has - been definitely concluded between England and the United States; and - we are just in receipt of the news that it has been accepted by the - government of Venezuela. So this question is in a fair way to be - settled by arbitration; and as regards that far greater question, - namely, the conclusion of a general and permanent treaty between the - two powers, President Cleveland in his message to Congress of December - 7 announces that the negotiations touching it are on the point of - coming to a favorable and definite conclusion. - - So as soon as I reach London for the opening of Parliament, I hope to - be in a position to send you a fuller résumé of this question,—which - we may expect will then be definitely decided,—together with all the - details that you may desire. - - Accept, etc. - Philip Stanhope - -The contents of these letters have a historical interest, as they show -how leading men in influential positions were all the time working to -bring the postulates of the peace movement to validity. On the other -hand, these varied and occasional fragments from my extensive store of -letters have also a biographical interest, for they mirror the course of -development of that cause which ever more and more was becoming my -vocation, my very life, my “one important thing”! And I was enabled to -find therein such profound contentment for the reason that I knew I was -in harmony with so many and such a rapidly increasing number of noble -contemporaries, and especially in complete unanimity of soul with an -endlessly beloved and loving life companion. Every inward experience and -every outward event aroused in us both the same feelings. And -therewithal was that full consciousness of peace, that absolute sense of -security against all that might happen, which we feel when we know that -there is a heart in whose fidelity we may have absolute confidence, a -breast in which we may find a refuge from all the bitterness of fate—in -a word, the boundless happiness of unconditional unity of love. - - -On the eleventh of January, 1897, the permanent arbitration treaty, -which had been so long in preparation, between England and the United -States was signed by Ambassador Sir Julian Pauncefote and Secretary of -State Olney. President Cleveland designated the event as the beginning -of a new era of civilization. The golden pen with which the treaty was -signed was deposited in the National Museum. Queen Victoria said in her -address from the throne that she hoped the example would be imitated in -other countries. In the daily press and among the general public the -news attracted no attention whatever. - -It is true this first attempt did not come to fruition. The treaty had -to be ratified before it could be made effective. In order that a law -may be passed or an agreement become valid a two-thirds majority in the -American Senate is required. When the arbitration treaty with England -came up for ratification, three votes were lacking of this two-thirds -majority, and thus it was defeated. - -This in no respect altered the main significance of the fact that it was -signed by the representatives of both governments; the forces that -brought about the drawing up and signing of the treaty would in time -also overcome the opposition of the Senate. - -An insurrection breaks out on the island of Crete. Kanea is burning. The -villages in the vicinity are on fire. Skirmishes between Turks and -Greeks are taking place. Who began it? No matter; the island of Crete -declares that it will shake off the Turkish yoke and join Greece. Street -demonstrations in Athens; tremendous excitement. The Chamber in its -session of February 25 votes to send war ships to Crete. - -Something new makes its appearance,—the “Concert of the Powers.” The -powers unite to restore order and quiet in Crete and guarantee Cretan -autonomy. - -In the entries in my diary during April, 1897, I find an echo of the way -in which these proceedings were conducted. Let me introduce a few -passages here: - - -That was an Easter gift!—the outbreak of hostilities between Greece and -Turkey. So then the “Concert of the Powers” was unable or _unwilling_ to -hinder the misfortune? Probably both. In the circles of diplomacy and -the regents neither power nor will are as yet sufficiently developed in -the direction of the spirit of peace; they still remain under the curse -of the thousand-year-old Genius of War. - - -That the war was so long controlled, that it is now to be localized, -that the “European Concert” will prevent the general conflagration,—this -is a victory of the New. That the war broke out at all, that the powers -look on and hesitate to interfere,—this is a victory of the Old. - - -It is clearly shown how necessary and advantageous at the present time -an effective European code of laws, a European tribunal, _one_ European -army, would be. The embryo of these things has shown itself, to be sure, -but the development into a strong, healthy, living thing is yet to be. - - -Yes, tendencies toward a federation of the civilized countries are -included in the “Concert.” If this has gone forward with little harmony -and unsteady step, the fault lies in this fact: it is the might of the -mighty, not the rights of the weak, that they want to support. Much -stress is laid on the consideration that is due the will represented by -the great powers, not on the consideration that should be given the -cause of the weak. Compassion, righteousness, and liberty,—that is the -triad that must lie at the basis of a genuine peace concert! - - -A picture from the campaign: Wild flight of the Greeks. For miles and -miles around the darkness of the night was illuminated by the flashes of -the shots which the fugitives in wild confusion fired at one another. -Horses, becoming unmanageable under the blows of the whip, dashed off -and overturned the wagons with all their contents. Helpless men and -wailing women everywhere, over whom the fugitives, impelled by despair, -like wild hordes, recklessly trampling everything and everybody under -foot, dashed away through the night.... - - -In the meantime, while the war is raging on one side, in perfect silence -the conflicts obviated by arbitration are increasing in number. The -controversy between the United States and England as to the Guiana -boundary, and a similar controversy between France and Brazil, have been -submitted to arbitration, the former on the fifth, the latter on the -tenth, of April. - - -A war cloud, however, is rising between Great Britain and the Transvaal. -Will public opinion be influenced strongly enough by our friends in -England to avert the danger? - - -Egidy writes me that he has applied to the Spanish ambassador in Berlin -with regard to the cry for help from Barcelona.[20] - - -About that time I received the following letter from Prince Scipione -Borghese, the same who ten years later was to make the great automobile -trip from Pekin to Paris: - - London, April 28, 1897 - - My dear Baroness: - - Accept my heartiest thanks for your most encouraging letter, which was - sent to me here from Rome. - - The trifling service that I have done for the ideal of peace is only a - shadow compared to what in greatness and brilliancy other and better - men have done for the progress of mankind. In my opinion this - perpetual struggling forward toward a better and more righteous life - must be the end and aim of all our actions. - - I am happy to be able to come into direct alliance with you, and I - hope very much to make your personal acquaintance soon. - - In the meantime, my dear Baroness, I remain respectfully, - - Your most devoted - Scipione Borghese - -Our literary labors do not rest. My husband is putting the last touches -to _Sie wollen nicht_, and I am beginning the novel _Marthas Kinder_ -(“Martha’s Children”), the second part of _Die Waffen nieder_, having -just finished the translation of an English book, “Marmaduke, Emperor of -Europe.” _Die Waffen nieder_ is appearing in a French translation in the -_Indépendance belge_. - -This same translation two years later was issued in book form by Zola’s -publisher, Tasquelles (Charpentier). From the French public came now -many newspaper notices and private letters which showed me that the -theme treated in that book was waking a loud echo among contemporaries -in other countries. - -In May, 1897, I received from London, from the ecclesiastical -Arbitration Alliance, a letter asking if I would be willing to present -to the Emperor of Austria a copy of an address which a hundred and -seventy dignitaries of the Church were sending to all rulers. I -assented, and thereupon received the document, a beautifully engrossed -copy of the text in a tasteful roll, with the autograph signatures of -the petitioners. A special copy was provided for every potentate. At the -head of the hundred and seventy names, which comprised only high -ecclesiastical dignitaries, were the Archbishop of Dublin, the bishops -of Ripon, Durham, and Killaloe, Queen Victoria’s chaplain, and others. - -I applied at the office of the cabinet for an audience, and it was -granted for the third of June at ten o’clock in the morning. I was -obliged to state the object of my desire in my request for an audience. - -On the day set, at the appointed hour, I presented myself in the -imperial palace, accompanied by the vice president of my Union. There -was a perfect swarm of uniforms in the anteroom to the audience chamber. -Generals and staff officers were awaiting their turn to be summoned. We -were not kept waiting long. When the door opened to permit the personage -who had just been with the Emperor to pass out, we were immediately -summoned. This preference was not at all due to the fact that the -presiding officers of the Peace Society were bringing an “arbitration -petition,” but simply because my escort was a prince (at court -everything goes by rank and title). - -I had my artistic-looking roll in my hands and a well-prepared speech on -my tongue,—which at the crucial moment completely failed me,—and we -passed through the door, which was held open by an adjutant and closed -behind us. The Emperor was standing by his writing table and he took a -few steps to meet us. After a low, courtly bow, which I am under the -impression was a success, I gave utterance to my desire. My escort added -a few explanatory words, and I handed the Emperor the document; he -received it with a kindly smile. When I told him that the address was -concerning an international arbitration tribunal he replied: “That would -indeed be very fine ...; it is difficult however....” Then a few -questions to us both, the assurance that the document would be carefully -read and considered, an inclination of the head, with a gracious “I -thank you,” and we were dismissed. - -Here is the text of the petition which we presented, and which is now -buried in the archives: - - To his Majesty Franz Joseph I - Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary - King of Bohemia, etc. - - Blessing and Grace and Peace! - - In common with other organizations of the Christian Church we are - taking the liberty of appearing, in all humility, before your Majesty, - as the monarch of a great and mighty people, for the purpose of - calling your Majesty’s attention to the method of peaceful solution of - such difficulties as may arise between the nations of the earth. - - The spectacle which Christian peoples present as they face each other - with portentous armaments, ready at the slightest challenge to go to - war and settle their differences by the shedding of blood, is, to say - the least, a stain on the glorious name of Christ. - - We cannot, without the deepest pain, look upon the horrors of war, - with all the evils which it brings in its train, such as unscrupulous - sacrifice of human life, which should be regarded as sacred; bitter - poverty in so many homes; destruction of valuable property; - interruptions in the education of the young and in the development of - the religious life; and general brutalization of the people. - - Even when war is avoided, the presence of a powerful army withdraws - vast numbers of men from family life as well as from the productive - occupations of peace; moreover, in order to support this state of - things, heavy burdens must be laid upon the people. It is also true - that the settlement of international differences by force of arms does - not rest on the principles of right and justice, but on the barbarous - principle of the triumph of the stronger. - - What encourages us to recommend this matter to your Majesty’s - benevolent consideration is the fact that already so much has been - accomplished; as, for example, in the settlement of the _Alabama_ - question by the Geneva Court of Arbitration, or in the deliberations - of the American Conference at Washington, not to mention other - important cases. Happy for the world will be the time when all - international controversies shall find their peaceful solution! - - This is what we are earnestly striving for. Regarding the ways and - means for attaining this end we refrain from all special suggestions, - confidently intrusting to your Majesty’s superior intuition and wisdom - all details in the domain of political life. - - We offer our prayers that the richest blessings of the Prince of Peace - may rest upon your Majesty’s realm and people, and especially on your - Majesty. - -I learned how the petition was presented to the other rulers. Frédéric -Passy presented it to the President of the French republic. In -Switzerland the President received it from Élie Ducommun; the President -of the Confederation declared that the contents of the address -corresponded perfectly with his ideas and those of the Parliament. Dr. -Trueblood, of Boston, undertook the service for America, Marcoartu for -Spain, and the address was presented to the Queen of England by Lord -Salisbury. The Tsar also received it, but I do not know through whom. - -The petitioners themselves could scarcely have expected that the action -would have an immediate effect. Words of this kind scattered abroad are -seeds of grain, or, by a better figure of speech, hammer blows. New -ideas are like nails; old conditions and institutions are like thick -walls. So it is not enough to hold up the sharp nail and give it one -blow; the nail must be hit hundreds and hundreds of times, and on the -head too, that it may be firmly fixed at last. - - - - - LIII - SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR 1897 - - Letter from Count Eugen Zichy · The Eighth Peace Congress at Hamburg · - Letter from Prince Emil Schönaich-Carolath · Egidy’s début · Regarding - the assassination of Canova · Public meeting in the Sagebiel · Egidy’s - speech · New adherents · Henri Dunant · Appeal to the Oriental peoples · - Extracts from diary · Bad news from all sides · Attitude of the press · - The Russian Emperor in Darmstadt · Letter from Marie Büchner · The - Dreyfus affair · Dispatch of the European squadron to the Yellow Sea - - -The enthusiasm for the peace cause which had flamed up at the Millennial -Festival in Hungary had not proved to be merely a fire in the stubble, -as so many pessimists had predicted it would be. I kept getting news of -the progress and growth of the group in that country. The following -letter bears witness to the opinions of one of the most brilliant -members of the Congress, Count Eugen Zichy: - - Vienna, December 4, 1897 - - My dear Baroness, - Most honored President: - - To-morrow our delegations break up, and it has not been my good - fortune, during our several weeks’ _séjour_ here in Vienna, to see - you. Twice I have made the attempt—alas! in vain. You were out of - town—still in the country! So I will at least send you in writing my - hearty respects and greeting. You must have read with delight - Berzeviczy’s utterances in our delegation, and have rejoiced, - likewise, at the reply made thereto by our skillful and masterly - (_takt- und sattelfest_) Minister of Foreign Affairs. Great ideas are - realized only slowly, but a healthy seed always brings healthy fruit, - even if, as often happens, it takes a long time; so it is with the - idea for which you, dear Baroness, and all of us are fighting. _Gutta - cavat lapidem!_ Over and over, and ever unweariedly, we must renew the - battle, and at length it will, it must, win the day; for our aim is - humanitarian,—the welfare of mankind. - - And an idea that has this for its only object is not to become - effectual? Impossible! That is the answer that hovers on my tongue, - and “impossible” will at length be the shout of all reasonable human - beings! And we shall be victorious! And the victory will then really - be—universal peace! And even if the present does not recognize it, - posterity will remember with gratitude those who turned the first sod. - - I understand that in a few days—I believe about the middle of - December—you are to hold your annual meeting in Vienna. Permit me, - dear Baroness, to send my sincerest respects, and to beg of you to - communicate to our peace friends my warmest greetings and good wishes. - May your work be blessed! - - I hope, dear Baroness, that you may for a long time to come have the - most abundant health and strength to share in bringing your work to - completion. And for my own self I desire that you continue to grant me - your favor and good will, which I so highly prize. - - May the Angel of Peace be with you and your work! - - Your most faithful fellow-worker and admirer - Eugen Zichy - -This year the meetings of the peace workers were not held, as -hitherto, in the same place, but in different towns. The Congress met -from the twelfth to the sixteenth of August at Hamburg, and the -interparliamentarians had their sessions a few days earlier in -Brussels. - -We took part in the Hamburg gathering. Again we met all our old -friends,—Passy, Türr, Bajer, Émile Arnaud, Dr. Richter, Moneta, Hodgson -Pratt, Ducommun, and others. We had anticipated that the chairmanship of -the Hamburg Congress would be taken by the writer of exquisite verses, -Prince Schönaich-Carolath, but he declined to take it, though he was -suggested for the office. What his reasons were may be seen from the -following letter: - - Haseldorf, July 19, 1897 - - Highly honored, gracious Baroness: - - Allow me to thank you cordially for your friendly lines. The - expectation that in all human probability I should be permitted to - greet you in Hamburg has caused me much happiness, even though I look - toward the Congress with a kind of solemn enthusiasm. Your kindly - supposition that I have been intrusted with the chairmanship is in so - far correct that the Hamburg local group at first, as I heard, thought - of conferring that honor upon me. Later, I believe, a more official - personage was found, and this saved me from declining with thanks; for - I have not the gift of speech and the acquaintance with parliamentary - usages requisite for the performance of the duties of such a position. - - My wife and I regret that we cannot have the honor of seeing you and - your honored husband at our house; my wife’s health unfortunately - makes it impossible for her to entertain company in Hamburg as she had - hoped. If ever Copenhagen should be selected for a peace gathering, we - shall venture to ask you again, either before or after the Congress, - to honor us with a visit in our more hospitable Danish home. - - Begging you to remember me most warmly to the Baron, and with regards - to yourself, gracious and kindly Baroness, - - I sign myself yours devotedly - E. Schönaich-Carolath - -A new fellow-champion came upon the arena,—Moritz von Egidy. It was a -source of pride and satisfaction to me that I had won him over to take -part in the Congress and to assist our cause by the fascinating power of -his eloquence in the public meeting which had been arranged by the -Congress. - -At the first session,—all present being under the influence of the -painful news, just received from Spain, of the assassination of Prime -Minister Cánovas by an Italian anarchist,—Teodoro Moneta, in conjunction -with R. Raqueni, editor of _Il Epoca_, in the name of the Italian group -offered the following resolution: - - The undersigned, citizens of the country from which, unhappily, came - the fanatic who has murdered the Prime Minister of Spain, urge that - the Congress, before it begins its labors, transmit to the widow of - Cánovas del Castillo the expression of its profound sympathy. Devoted - to doctrine which involves the harmonization of politics and morals, - we insist that under no conditions must the principle of the - inviolability of human life be transgressed, for on this principle our - whole existence and the lofty aims that the Peace League has in view - are based. - -The public meeting, which took place on the first evening, brought -together in the hall of the Sagebiel establishment an audience of five -thousand of all ranks. Otto Ernst made the opening address. Then Richard -Feldhaus recited a poem by Schmidt-Cabanis. And then Egidy. This was the -first time I had ever heard him speak. Clear, assured, deliberate, -vibrant, powerful. The real voice of command. “Be good!” is an -injunction which is usually whispered mildly or spoken in an unctuous, -preachifying tone; Egidy thundered it out like a command. The gist of -his address was: - - We must grow into the unmilitary age which we are fighting to bring - about. A new mode of thought must take possession of our inmost being. - War predicates the hostile opposition of man to man. We must oppose - this hostility and put in its place the feeling of solidarity - (_Zusammengehörigkeit_). In this soil is to grow the natural equality - of all people and all peoples. This equality of birth leads to the - right of every one in the nation, and of every nation taken - collectively, to determine its own career under the limitations made - by the duties that each one has in turn toward the whole. In a certain - sense we have already entered upon the warless age; but we do not - realize its blessings because we have not the courage to meet the - transformation. - -Egidy spoke also of other conflicts besides those of war: - - The conflict between employers and employees, between consumers and - producers, must cease. To every person in the community must be - assured a dignified existence. Then every conflict will cease. In the - unions we already have the beginnings of it.... Credal relationships - must become different. The faith of the individual must be respected, - but the discrepant evaluation and persecution of individual forms of - belief must cease. - -The French artillery captain, Gaston Moch, who was present at the -Congress, was so delighted by the former Prussian lieutenant colonel -that he subsequently published a book, _L’Ère sans violence_, in which -he introduced Egidy’s doctrine and way of looking at things, together -with several translations from his articles and speeches. - -At the second session I announced that a new adherent had joined -us,—Jean Henri Dunant, the founder of the Geneva Convention of the Red -Cross. I stated that he would use his influence in the Red Cross -societies so as to work through them for our cause, especially in the -Oriental nations, amongst whom the Red Cross numbered many adherents and -to whom a special appeal was to be directed in all the Oriental -languages. I presented the text of this appeal. Dunant had sent it to me -with a request that I should give it my signature and win the sanction -of the Congress. - -General Türr announced that he was prepared to procure its translation -into Turkish and to have it disseminated. - -Here are a few extracts from my diary: - - -August 14. Banquet given by the city at the Horticultural Show. My -neighbors are Egidy and a senator. Three hundred persons present. Egidy -as a table companion does not show his apostle or popular-preacher side; -he is a jolly, amusing companion, versed in the usages of the best -society. - -August 16. Yesterday, after a session which was adjourned early, about -five o’clock in the afternoon, we took a trip down the harbor and made -an excursion to Blankenese. What a rush of traffic in the colossal -harbor! What a host of ships docking and discharging! Our party had -supper on the Süllberg; My Own was toastmaster. Novikof, Trueblood, and -Ducommun made addresses. A general feeling of enthusiasm. It was after -eleven o’clock when we got down to the float. The road was illuminated -with Bengal lights. As the steamboat put off, the Süllberg Restaurant -was so brightly lighted up that it looked as if it were bathed in fire. -Music on the ship; as we sailed along, rockets flew up into the air -against the cloudless, moonlit sky. These are the old instruments for -celebrating,—toasts, music, fireworks,—which are indeed also employed in -the celebrations of battle anniversaries; but how differently they act -when they are accompaniments to the feelings of fraternity, of -prospective redemption,—redemption from the curse of slaughter and -hatred.... - - -I will also copy the advice which Dr. Wagner, a Hamburg author and -journalist, gave us. “It seems to me of dubious value,” he said, “for -the Congresses to indulge in long and tedious debates over resolutions -for the future, and merely to vote on them, perhaps with trifling -majorities. Debates bring to the main issue more confused rubbish than -serious, valuable thoughts. It would seem to me a far more useful -activity for the cause if the members were presented with a series of -vigorous reports and speeches, which, when accepted by the Congress -after discussion, should be printed and disseminated as pamphlets in -tens, nay hundreds, of thousands of copies, and also brought before the -governments and parliaments.” - -At the final session Lisbon was suggested as the next place for holding -the Congress. The Interparliamentary Union, which had met at Brussels, -decided upon Lisbon as the place for their 1898 meeting. But it was to -result differently. - -How did things look in the rest of the world while the debates regarding -arbitration and peace were going on in Brussels and Hamburg? Of the -“peace negotiations” between Turkey and Greece no end is in sight. Spain -also is still a prey to discords. Fresh troops are constantly being sent -off to America, and the reports from there announce terrible and -increasing losses through sickness. Protests are raised in the country, -among them that of Silvela, that concessions ought to be made to the -Cubans, that a _convenio_ with them should be entered into. But the -government remains inexorable: First surrender, then talk of reform may -be in order. This attitude wins much applause in the European press. -“Liberal policy,” so run the leading articles, “is admissible in times -of peace; in times of war it is equivalent to abdication. Besides, the -moment would be ill chosen to make the United States any gift or -concessions. All Europe is stirred by her aggressive and extravagant -policy, and all Europe has an interest in seeing Spain stand firm. The -government is, therefore, right in paying no heed to timorous and -interested proposals. The undeviating policy which the Prime Minister -has chosen, and to which he clings, is alone worthy of a statesman.” - -So stubbornness, despotism, uninterrupted sacrifice of the country’s -sons and the country’s money,—that is the only worthy attitude! And such -views are borne out in millions of sheets from the editors’ tables. -Lucky for these gentlemen that there are no great public scales in which -their responsibility might be weighed! - -The Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, General Woodford, -came to Spain in order to offer the services of his government for -intervention, so that an end might be made of the Cuban war. The press -and public opinion (it is well known how that is created!) assume a very -hostile attitude to the American ambassador, who cannot understand it. -Why should Spain decline mediation which would put an end to a war -ruinous to the country?—Yes, why? As if ruin of country and people were -to be taken into account when national pride is involved! - -The Emperor and Empress of Russia were to spend the month of October in -Darmstadt. I find in my correspondence a letter from Frau Büchner, the -daughter-in-law of the author of _Kraft und Stoff_, who was _persona -grata_ with the late Princess Alice of Hesse, mother of the young -Tsaritsa. - - Darmstadt, February 13, 1897 - - Gracious and honored Lady: - - Your very charming letter has made me more than happy, and I should - have willingly answered it immediately to tell you how ready I am to - fulfill your wish; but only to-day do I get to it. I have considered - the matter from every side; it can be managed only in case the Empress - should be here. It is expected here that she will take up her - residence this summer at Castle Seeheim, near Darmstadt. If that - should happen, my husband thinks that he might smuggle the book[21] in - through a chamberlain with whom he is personally acquainted. But I - myself have no confidence in this scheme, for the gentleman in - question seems to me not at all equal to the responsibility. I think - the book should be sent directly to the Empress here in Germany, where - watchfulness and exclusiveness are not so absolutely punctilious. Then - the name of a Baroness Suttner would assuredly help it to make its own - way. - - That would not work in Russia, even through the mediation of the court - here,—that is to say, of any person connected with it. Our sovereigns - here are still young and take little interest in anything in - particular, and consequently play no great rôle. - - Oh, if a Grand Duchess Alice were still alive who made it her special - purpose to support noble efforts, to look out for the general good, - and to establish truly benevolent institutions! That wise woman had - sympathy with the burgher class, and from it she selected her most - efficient forces; and a Luise Büchner was her right hand in her useful - undertakings. How easy such a matter would have been then! And yet - even at that time my father-in-law did not get on with her sister, the - Empress Frederick; she was very much interested in his works, and - caused this to be intimated to him, and so he sent her the book of the - two crowned Liberals, but she never again let him hear from her. And - she was a comparatively liberally educated English princess! - - Even here little is known about the character and opinions of the - young Empress of Russia. From all that is heard it seems that the - dowager Empress there wields the scepter, and it is said she has not - become reconciled to the fact that her daughter-in-law is a German - princess. - - So the young woman will have little to say in her country. - Nevertheless, I will let no opportunity pass of executing your - commission; perhaps it will be more successful than I can now count - upon. Perhaps, also, the Empress has inherited something of her - mother’s energy and capacity and will be able in time to win a - position and to maintain it. In that case I am firmly convinced that - her influence will be good, since nothing but good has ever been heard - regarding her character. - - I have not lately told you that I know and prize your husband’s works - also—especially the fresh, thrilling tales in _Die Kinder des - Kaukasus_. Those wonderfully beautiful descriptions of nature have - constantly brought before my eyes your own idyllic life there. It must - be splendid to live in such a lovely land when you have the genuine, - inspired feeling for such beauty. In fact, I think often of your life, - your habits, your environment; just because you are both such talented - people you must get double the enjoyment out of everything. Only I had - always imagined that you lived in beautiful, gay Vienna; so I was - greatly astonished that you were in the country. I was obliged to - overturn your whole surroundings,—that is, as they existed in my - imagination,—and conjure up a quite different frame for the picture of - your life. In doing this I was helped by your _Einsam und arm_; that - must have been written at Castle Harmannsdorf. - - I should so like to know whether you took for Karl Binsemann a model - out of real life. This interested me so very much because generally in - real life it is just the opposite: As a rule a man who is in - unfortunate circumstances is a reformer in his youth; it is then he - has the genuine sacred fire for righteousness. By the time he reaches - old age he becomes weary, indifferent, and selfish, by reason of cares - or the eternal monotony of his days. Then he says to himself, “What is - the use of puzzling one’s brains over insoluble enigmas, what is the - good of becoming indignant over injustice—it does not prevent it!” - - Of course I am speaking of men of the same rank in life and the same - grade of culture as a Binsemann. If this figure were taken from life, - or at least suggested by a prototype, it would make the book much - dearer to me, because I have always believed that it is not in - accordance with life for any one to be thoughtless of such things in - his youth, and in old age to begin, for the first time, to think - rightly. The descriptions are so true to reality, and everything is so - vivid, that one cannot help feeling, just as in reading _Die Waffen - nieder_, that they must be taken directly from life. - - My father-in-law was greatly delighted to hear from you again. All the - cordial greetings from yourself and your husband are most cordially - reciprocated. - - In the hope of being able to carry out your commission successfully, I - am - - Yours with deepest respect - Marie Büchner - -During the month of November the Dreyfus case made the whole world hold -its breath. My Own and I followed the affair with the greatest interest -and sympathy. At that time Scheurer-Kestner, Bernard Lazare, and Émile -Zola came out in favor of the reopening of the trial. The _Figaro_ had -published Esterhazy’s autograph; it was an ocular demonstration that the -handwriting was the same as that on the _bordereau_. All the military, -and especially the Anti-Semitic circles, were against a new trial. The -interest which I took in the course of the affair is frequently -reflected in my diary: - - -November 18. Probably the case will be taken up again. The mere -possibility that the man banished to Devil’s Island is innocent would be -horrible, supposing the sentence should stand ... and we are bound now -to believe in this possibility. The public conscience would remain -forever oppressed by this thought.... Again it has been strikingly shown -that there is such a thing as a “European soul.” A French journal -remarks, in a peevish tone, about the many comments in other countries, -“In the last analysis, the matter concerns France only.” - -No, no! such national exclusiveness has ceased in our day. If a -catastrophe occurs in any country,—the assassination of a ruler, the -burning of a charity bazaar,—expressions of sympathy stream in from all -directions, making the afflicted country glad. But if it permits other -countries to share in its good and evil fortunes, then it must also be -willing that its right and wrong actions should be judged everywhere. -The partisans of justice all over the world have an equal interest in -the conquest of justice and truth over tyranny and concealment. And, -vice versa, the partisans of authority, the race persecutors, are in the -same camp all over the world; not only in France but also in Austria and -everywhere are to be found passionate anti-Dreyfusards! - -The two camps are growing more and more clearly divided. But the forces -are very unequally distributed. The party that champions the right has -certainly on its side the overwhelming power that is peculiar to its -object,—universal human happiness; the other party has the actual power, -however—has the cannon behind it.... - -Power engenders pride. Everything is permitted to it—so it thinks—and it -wishes to make manifest that it is bold enough to attempt anything. So -the whole Esterhazy investigation, the Esterhazy trial, and the shameful -Esterhazy apotheosis are a pure satire on every judicial proceeding, a -slap in the face of august Justice,—even more, a trampling of her scales -under the spur-armed heel of the soldier’s boot! The people must knuckle -under,—that must be borne in upon them so that another time the desire -may pass of pulling down the General Staff’s sacred ensign of error! You -wanted to run up against a _res judicata_, did you? Very well, now you -have two of them. And quite right; the people knuckled under. “The -affair is at an end” (_Affaire liquidée_ is the heading over the leading -articles in the papers); but a man got up and uttered the cry of his -soul,—_J’accuse_,—one man against an army! The far-distant ages to come -will praise this heroic action. - -Even in our family circle there were disputes about the affair. My -father-in-law, the conservative-minded, ardent reader of _Das -Vaterland_, would hear nothing of the proofs in favor of the exile. He -also believed in the “Jewish syndicate” that was bent on buying the -rehearing. And my mother-in-law had nothing good to say about Zola; she -had even gone so far once as to make a great auto-da-fé of such of his -books as had strayed into the house. - - -The year 1897 closes with an event that might well arouse much anxiety -among the partisans of peace. We know how it began, but we can never -know how it will end; it carries war in its womb, for it is once more -something undertaken under the emblem of force,—the voyage of the -fighting squadron to the Yellow Sea. - -So then ... Port Arthur besieged by the Russians, Kiauchau by the -Germans,—that is the newly created situation. High Politics, that is -fifty or sixty men and a following of newspapers, see to it that there -shall never be any rest, that no progress can ever be made toward the -healing of internal troubles, the elevation of human society. A cruel -state of things for the champions of peace! For years there have been -perpetual wars and rumors of wars, even while in the governmental -circles there were constant assurances of peace. Japan and China, the -Venezuela controversy, Spain and Cuba, Armenian massacres, Italy and -Africa, Greece and Turkey, England and India, and now this East-Asiatic -expedition! And all the time constantly increasing armaments and -paroxysms over fleets. No wonder that the slow, as it were subterranean, -peace movement remains unobserved by the masses. - - - - - LIV - A STIRRING HALF YEAR - - Outbreak of the Spanish-American War · Article in mourning borders · - Fridtjof Nansen’s lecture in Vienna · Extracts from diary · Bereavement - in the family, Countess Lotti Sizzo’s death · Johann von Bloch’s book · - Death of Bismarck · End of the Spanish-American War - - -The beginning of the year 1898 brought me much anxiety. Not domestic -anxiety or heart sorrow or worry about money. My troubles—faithfully -shared indeed by my husband—were far away from Harmannsdorf; they were -on the distant ocean. - -The United States warship, the _Maine_, blows up. The suspicion is rife -that the ship was destroyed by the Spaniards; can it be true? In -heaven’s name, what is not possible among men, who in general regard -hate and slaughter as “political” weapons? In American jingo circles -there is a mad craze to declare war on Spain as a punishment for -this—“unproved”—crime. I have direct information that in government -circles (with McKinley at the head) as well as in wide circles among the -people, the peace sentiment is strong. In Spain also there is -excitement, in the name of national honor. The journals _Globo_ and -_Liberal_ (how everything calls itself liberal!) regard any concession -in the Cuban question, any acceptance of an indemnity, as out of -reason,—rather, utter ruin, “rather let us all perish!” And the Bishop -of Madrid heads a subscription for the purchase of battle ships. - -Long the scales waver this way and that. Our friends in America and also -in Europe put forth their utmost efforts. Petitions are sent to -McKinley, to the Queen Regent—but in vain. The May number of my magazine -appeared with a black border, and printed the following text on the -front page: - - Bordered with mourning black we present here the tidings that in the - last week of April, 1898—so short a time before the entrance of a new - century—the grewsome fury and bearer of the old barbarism is again let - loose. - - What makes our trouble harder to endure is this: America, the cradle - and shelter of the peace movement—America, which scarcely a year ago - was on the point of putting into vigorous actuality the long-cherished - ideal of the first permanent arbitration treaty—America, which is - unacquainted with militarism—America must be the field where war is - let loose! - - By that outbreak the signal for a universal war may have been given, - for who can foresee the consequences? There is a fire; the burning - rafters are flying, and all our roofs are thatched with straw—with - petroleum-soaked straw. - - Once again has the mighty Ancient won the victory over the as yet not - sufficiently strengthened New. Again Force chooses to set itself up as - the judge and avenger of sins committed by Force, and heaps up sins on - sins all calling for revenge. Cruelty and oppression in Cuba; that was - the long-continued accumulation of the “unendurable.” Why could not - the European Concert have swept this “unendurable” off the face of the - earth? Because they will not grant the principle that peoples may be - allowed to throw off the yoke. - - Our movement has thus suffered a heavy blow. All the opposing elements - are triumphing, yet we must not allow the results of the work that has - already been done to be obscured. The forms of those—both individuals - and corporate bodies—who stand for the ideals of a time free from - manslaughter and oppression, remain unbowed; their voices still ring - out loud and clear; their light, be it the torch swung high or a - modest spark, still shines into the darkness. The present, though - still so dark, must not make our faith in a brighter future grow - faint. - - Yet even this faith does not help to deaden the pain of the days that - are before us. Misfortune—though perhaps deserved, yet none the less - severe—has overtaken our poor race during these spring days. - -On the sixth of May the famous Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen came to -Vienna, and gave a lecture that same evening in the hall of the Rathaus -before two thousand people. We were prevented from going to the city, -but I wrote Nansen the following letter, to reach him a few hours before -the lecture: - - Harmannsdorf, May 5 - - Dear Sir, - Highly and sincerely honored: - - You have no time to read long letters; so I can only indicate, without - offering reasons, what I desire to ask. You will, I know, meet with - perfect sympathy what is only half said. - - A new era must be dawning for the world,—after the old heroic age of - war comes the heroic age of knowledge and investigation. Who would be - better authorized than you to point out the way thither? This evening - thousands of my fellow-countrymen will listen to you. I beg of you to - weave into your lecture two lines which shall express this thought: - the reign of war must yield; the future must belong to the right. The - impression will be immense, just at this moment, when the sea is again - desecrated with burning and exploding ships. Speak words like these - and you will thus give the work of peace a powerful impulse forward. - - With the most profound respect - Bertha von Suttner - -The text of the lecture was published, from the manuscript, on the -seventh of May, by the _Neue Freie Presse_. In it there was no reference -to general questions of civilization. On the other hand, _Das Tagblatt_ -published a report taken stenographically, and there it said: - - Nansen brought his lecture to a close as follows: “People will ask, - what are the results of polar explorations? I reply, science desires - to know everything. There must be no spot on the earth unseen by a - human eye and untrodden by a human foot. Man’s lot is to fight the - battle of light against darkness. There are still many problems to be - solved. The time for great wars of conquest has passed; the time for - conquests in the land of science, of the unknown, will last, and we - hope that the future will bring us many more conquests, and thereby - forward the interests of mankind.” - -Further entries in my diary during May echo all kinds of events from -abroad: - - -... The great sea fight which the public of the arena is so anxiously -awaiting is still unfought. Epidemics are breaking out in Cuba and the -Philippines, and “the red cock,” that dreadful bird, is flying from -place to place.... - -... The craze for fleets has also reached Austria. Enormous plans for -strengthening the navy have been broached. Unions of the great -industries are pleading for it. The slogan “Protection for exports” is -throwing a mantle of political economy around the wish to pocket great -profits from manufacturing and furnishing supplies. Nevertheless -Switzerland has an export trade, and without a fleet, either! - -... Debates over the increased price of grain. Of course the price of -bread is not raised by the American war and the closely guarded -boundaries! Oh, no! Our political economists know better. The Stock -Exchange is to blame for everything; and a sure means for relief of the -distress has been proposed by a friend of our mayor,—hang three thousand -Jews; or, still better, grind up all the Jews for artificial fertilizer. -This last proposition was only meant humorously—gentlemen can also be -witty.... - -... [The Dreyfus Affair.] The Zola case is to be brought once more into -court. Esterhazy threatens to kill Picquart; the mob insults Zola—_à -l’eau! à l’eau!_—and the persecuting press again resumes its system of -abuse and slander. - -... In England the Colonial Secretary gives utterance to a speech which -has brought the whole European press into turmoil. He said that war -should have been declared against Russia long before.... The speech is -universally pronounced unstatesmanlike. Well, yes, the accepted course -is to prepare for war, make plans, bring it on, and scheme for it,—that -the diplomatists do; but to call it by name in times of peace, oh, -never! The customary method demands that one must speak of the familiar -“good relations.” - -Chamberlain also jostles the Transvaal; he is bound that the sovereignty -of England shall be recognized there. Kruger produces the text of -treaties which make such a demand untenable, and suggests submitting the -matter to an arbitration tribunal. Chamberlain and his organs haughtily -announce that a question regarding Great Britain’s right of sovereignty -shall never under any conditions be submitted to arbitration. How far -below par has the splendid thought, “Right instead of Might,” everywhere -fallen! The waves are hissing and roaring around it on all sides, are -threatening to swallow it up; but this thought is a rock,—the billows -will dash into spray and fall back, and the thought will tower on high. - -Up till to-day (May 28) the two hostile fleets have not met. The great -naval battle for which the whole body of spectators is waiting -(glass-house owners who anxiously want to see how the stones fly) has -not as yet taken place. Only a privateering game is played on the ocean. -A prize court has been instituted in order to decide whether a ship is -rightfully captured or not. Why not a court that shall discontinue the -whole business of official piracy? - - -The month of June brought an unexpected bereavement into our family -circle. One afternoon, I remember, my sister-in-law Lotti, the Countess -Sizzo, came into our room and sank with a groan into an easy-chair. She -held a great bunch of roses in her hand and had just come in from the -garden, where she had got overheated in picking and watering the -flowers. After a while she felt better, chatted quite gayly, and left us -to go to her own room. There, as we were immediately informed, she -fainted. She was put to bed. It was a slight stroke of apoplexy. A -physician was summoned from Vienna. When he arrived she seemed better, -and he announced that the invalid would be well in three weeks. It was -about the twelfth of June, and with minds at rest we took our usual -wedding anniversary excursion. When we got back our poor “Hendl”—this -was my sister-in-law’s nickname, but I do not know why she was called -so—had grown decidedly worse. The Vienna doctor had come again and was -now ordering constant application of ice bags to her head. The sisters -took turns in caring for her, and My Own also spent many hours by -Lotti’s sick bed, for she seemed most grateful and happy to have her -brother near her. On the eighth or tenth day the death agony began. The -death rattle lasted from four o’clock in the afternoon until one at -night. We were all gathered around her bed and in the next room,—the -aged parents, the two sisters, Marianne and Luise, the families from -Stockern, and also a cousin who had loved Lotti for years. I still see -him before me as, hearing from the next room the heavy breathing, he -staggered, leaned against the wall with outstretched arms like one -crucified, and cried, “That is the end—the end!” - -And it was the end. The pastor was summoned. Then it lasted an hour or -two longer; the rattling grew more subdued, the breathing less frequent, -and the last sigh was drawn gently. - -The next day the body was borne into the castle chapel. Clothed in white -satin, with her golden hair unbound, roses in her folded hands, a -celestial smile on her lips, she looked as young and as lovely as a -bride. - -Although I had lived so long, it was the first time I had ever seen the -dead body of one whom I had known in life. All those whom I had lost -from my own circle—my mother, Elvira, Fritz Fürstenberg, the Dedopali, -Mathilde—had died when I was far away, and I had always avoided looking -upon the dead who were indifferent to me. - -Very soon indeed I was to see more dead—among them one who was my -world.... - - -In July the news came of the appearance of a great work, in six volumes -and in Russian, against war. The author was said to be a Russian state -councilor, named Johann von Bloch. The book was entitled “The Future of -War in its Technical, Economic, and Political Relations.” A German -translation was shortly to appear. Permission to publish it had been -granted only a short time before, after the author had had an audience -with the Tsar. - -News of hunger riots comes from Italy and Spain. For a time the danger -has been acute that a United States squadron would attempt to land -troops in Spain. - -The Dreyfus affair takes its course: ever clearer proofs of Esterhazy’s -guilt on the one hand, ever more insane adherence to _la chose jugée_ on -the other. - -On the thirtieth of July comes the following entry in my diary: - - -Bismarck dead. The question arises whether the statesman is as yet born -who shall be for the thought of humanity what Bismarck has been for -German thought. - - -And a few days later: - - -In the cathedral at Berlin a funeral service is held at the Emperor’s -command. Court preacher Faber quotes from the favorite psalm of the -departed. The text[22] runs: - - Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, - And a two-edged sword in their hand; - To execute vengeance upon the nations, - And punishments upon the peoples; - To bind their kings with chains, - And their nobles with fetters of iron. - -Sword and chains—well, yes, those were the Iron Chancellor’s ideals. Now -he belongs to the past. The future requires other symbols,—instead of -blood-dripping iron, the light-streaming diamond. - -The Spanish-American War is at an end. The hostilities ceased on the -fourteenth of August. - - -And ten days later the world was surprised by an event, the account of -which I must give in a new part of these memoirs. - -PART EIGHT - -1898–1908 - - - - - LV - THE TSAR’S RESCRIPT - - Arrival of the good tidings · Extracts from editorials in _Die Waffen - nieder_ · Congratulatory letters from Moritz Adler, Dr. Karl von - Scherzer, Björnstjerne Björnson, Balduin Groller, Professor Martens, - Prince Dolgorukof, Vice Admiral Semsey, Hedwig Pötting, Kemény, Novikof, - Henri Dunant · Objections of opponents - - -I was sitting in the summerhouse one beautiful August day, waiting for -the arrival of the mail. My Own was in the habit of going himself to the -postman to get the letters and newspapers that he brought. This was to -me always the most interesting hour of the day. - -This time he came back with flying steps and shining face and shouted, -while still at a distance, “I am bringing the most magnificent, the most -surprising news to-day....” - -“What is it? Have we made a ten-strike?” - -“Almost—listen! This is what some one wrote in last evening’s paper.” - -He sat down and read: - -“‘The maintenance of general peace and a possible reduction of the -excessive armaments which weigh upon all nations—’” - -“That is what we are always saying,” I interrupted, “‘present themselves -in the existing condition of the whole world as the ideal toward which -the endeavors of all governments should be directed.’” - -“Should be, but are not—” - -“‘The present moment would be very favorable for seeking, by means of -international discussion, the most effectual means of insuring to all -peoples the benefits of a real and lasting peace,—’” - -“That article must be by Passy or one of our friends.” - -“What a clever guess!—‘and, above all, of putting an end to the -progressive development of armaments.’” - -“Well, indeed—” - -“‘Hundreds of millions are devoted to acquiring terrible engines of -destruction, which are destined to-morrow to lose all value in -consequence of some fresh discovery in this field.’” - -“That is nothing new.” - -“‘National culture, economic progress, and the production of wealth are -either paralyzed, or checked in their development. Economic crises, -brought on in great measure by the system of developing armaments to the -utmost, and the constant danger that lies in this massing of war -material, are transforming the armies of our days into a crushing burden -which the peoples have more and more difficulty in bearing.’” - -“That article must have been written by a social democrat!” - -“More clever than before!—‘It appears evident, then, that if this state -of things is to be prolonged it will inevitably lead to the very -catastrophe which it is desired to avert, and the very thought of whose -horrors makes every man shudder.’” - -“Not _every_ man—” - -“‘To seek the means of warding off the calamities that are threatening -the whole world is the supreme duty that is to-day imposed on all -states.’” - -“Yes, if only the rulers of states thought so!” - -“Well, read for yourself—and rejoice!” - -He handed me the paper—and what did I see? That was no article from -socialistic or peace circles—it was an official document, addressed in -the name of one of the highest war lords to all governments, with an -invitation to meet in a conference which should have to deal with this -“serious question”—a conference which—I cite the actual words—“would -unite in one powerful combination the efforts of all states which are -sincerely seeking to make the great idea of universal peace triumphant.” - -Was not that like a dream, like a fairy tale? - -I recollect that hour which, after receiving these tidings,—truly “Good -Tidings,” as the chapter heading of _Schach der Qual_ expressed it,—My -Own and I spent together discussing the marvelous event from all sides; -it was one of the loveliest hours of our lives. It was actually like -counting over the amount of an unexpected windfall. - -In the September number of my periodical I expressed my views regarding -this event in the following words: - - The news that stands at the head of this number, the Tsar’s rescript, - is the greatest event which, up to the present time, the peace - movement has had to show. It has filled us all with jubilation, for - the colossal, and at the same time the unexpected, overpowers. The - tidings filled the rest of the world with astonishment, and indeed - many (especially the friends of war) with apprehension. - - Deep feeling is expressed in the young monarch’s words. The - conventionality of ordinary diplomatic phrases, which say nothing, is - abandoned once for all. So the peace movement—and we have lived to see - the day—has passed over into the sphere of accomplishment. - - But the _raison d’être_ of our societies is not abolished thereby. The - Tsar’s act proceeded only from the public spirit which of late has - been so strongly wrought upon; and the support of public spirit, the - organized demonstration of the popular will, is required in order to - support this action which has come from so high a source, in order to - overcome the hostile forces which will assuredly even now stand in the - way. - - On the whole, from our standpoint, the event cannot be estimated - highly enough. One of the most powerful of rulers acknowledges the - peace ideal, comes out as an opponent of militarism; from this time on - the movement is incalculably nearer its goal; new ways are opening - before it, and it is to be carried on to a new basis of - operations.[23] - -And in the next issue: - - ... Other periodicals may have already to a certain degree lost - interest in the subject and may only treat it as a reality when the - suggested conference takes place; but for us it does not mean a merely - ephemeral event, but the most significant milestone in our history so - far. - - One of the most important and most difficult tasks of the peace - societies—the making their purposes known—has been given a mighty - boost, for from this time forth the knowledge thereof has not only - penetrated into the masses but has also compelled the attention of - every politician. - - So in this respect the work is accomplished; but now comes the equally - difficult task of assisting, according to our abilities, to secure the - success of the conference, for the bringing about of which we have - preached and voted so much. - - Already pessimists and doubters and dealers in spiteful insinuations - have arisen on all sides. “As if by a silent conspiracy a large part - of the daily press has banded together for the annihilation of a plan - which embraces the dearest hopes of humanity” (_Concord_). The great - masses are as lacking in discretion and understanding regarding the - rescript as they were in regard to the endeavors of the peace - movement, the whole programme of which is contained in it in - concentrated form. - - One thing is forgotten in this controversy and dubiety. There is - always an attempt made to calculate what is to be the result of the - conference, and the marvelous fact is left unnoticed that the - invitation itself—from such a quarter and with such a motive back of - it—is really a triumph for the cause and instantly renders nugatory - the hundreds of objections which have always been brought up against - our endeavors under the pretext that it would be impossible for - autocrats and the most powerful war lords ever to give up the growing - armaments. - - The settling up of the goal is now the great and cheering element in - the event; the discussion of ways and means may be confidently left to - those who are sincerely aiming to reach the goal. This is what our - enemies feel, and that is why they throw doubt on the sincerity of the - invitation. As if one could lie with such words! The rescript is - absolutely lacking in the vague sinuosities of diplomatic verbosity. - As if anything said should not be directly examined and accepted for - what it is! That is the first right of every utterance of every - ingenuous man who has not as yet been seduced into rascality.[24] - -During the days following the publication of the rescript numberless -congratulatory letters and telegrams came to me. I, too, sent -congratulations to true-hearted allies. Egidy likewise received many -tokens of rejoicing. He afterwards told me that a lady, a friend of his, -put a copy of the newspaper containing the rescript in a cover and laid -it on his writing table, with the inscription _Geburtstagsgeschenk_ (“a -birthday present”); it chanced that Egidy’s birthday coincided with this -event. - -Here is a selection from the letters that I received: - - Ischl, August 29 - - Highly honored and gracious Lady: - - Warm and most respectful congratulations to you and your husband from - the depths of my heart! What feelings it must arouse in you! the - noblest of all joyful emotions! - - That I have lived to see this day I regard as the most - incomprehensible and the most surprising delight of my life, which has - been so rich in sorrows and so lean in hope. I could not have dreamed - of this most noteworthy _ex oriente lux_, when in _Wenn ich Kaiser - oder König wäre_ (“If I were Emperor or King”) I attempted to bind the - laurel of this day around the temples of William I, or when in “The - Strike” I let a wise prince pour out his heart as he stood facing the - unripe nations. Now the dream has come true, and may these forever - sleeping nations and inert consciences be aroused with the sound of - the trumpet! Goethe hit it: - - Thy spirit world is not forbidden; - Thy heart is dead; thy wits are slow! - Wake! student, lave thy breast unchidden - Within the ruddy morning glow! - - I consider myself happy to be able to share your delight. - - Most respectfully yours - Moritz Adler - - Porto Rose near Pirano, August 31 - - My heartiest congratulations that your indefatigable endeavors - continued throughout long years in the interest of universal peace - have suddenly, by means of a word on the Neva, brought such a - surprising and brilliant victory into happy prospect! - - With heart and hand - Dr. Karl von Scherzer - Minister Plenipotentiary (retired) - - Munich, August 30 - - ... The Tsar has done a splendid thing. Whatever may come of it, from - now on the air is throbbing with thoughts of peace,—even where - yesterday they were deemed impossible. This will bring great and - unexpected results. Now the Anglo-American treaty will be ratified, - and ultimately all Germans will be at one—in such an air all things - can come about. You see! it is worth while to preach, to have faith, - to be a prophet, energetically and incessantly! - - Björnstjerne Björnson - - Vienna, August 30 - - Congratulations from the bottom of my heart! Salvos of victory! Now - will the great socialist politicians still continue to scorn us! - - Balduin Groller - - Sondja, October, 1898 - - ... I know from a very trustworthy source of information that the - Emperor wrote this document after he had read _Die Waffen nieder_. - Consequently this fortunate event is to be ascribed wholly to your - influence.[25] I learned quite incidentally, through the newspapers, - of the rescript which has caused all the friends of peace so much - delight, for I have, during the last few years, been very little in - St. Petersburg. I take no part in political activities, as I have - devoted myself to the interests of the zemstvo, which at the present - time demand a great deal of labor and ever claim more and more the - intellectual powers of the country. However, a few years ago I made - the attempt to organize a Russian peace society. This attempt failed, - either because a favorable soil for such a union had not been - sufficiently prepared in advance or because I myself lacked the - necessary qualifications for promoting it. - - As far as the public opinion of the province is concerned, I can from - personal observation assert that the most progressive element of - society regards the plan of the peace conference from the same - standpoint as the leading article of the inclosed newspaper,—favorably - and hopefully. As is always the case while public opinion is forming, - this is divided into two extreme camps,—the Utopians and the skeptics; - the latter, unfortunately, in a majority. I am nevertheless persuaded - that our young monarch will draw from the bosom of Russian society the - same strength which his grandfather Alexander II thirty-six years ago - had to help him in the accomplishment of another solemn deed,—the - enfranchisement of the peasants from serfdom,—although then, too, - there were many skeptics and people who were even strongly opposed to - the reform. The labor and active effort in the question that is - interesting us fall, in the present hour, both in Europe and in - America, on the parliamentary forces, whose duty it is now to compel - their governments to express themselves sincerely and without - reservation in regard to the conference proposed by Count Muravieff. - - By a strange irony of fate I learned of the imperial manifesto just as - I was taking part in the maneuvers in my capacity as reserve officer. - The officers regarded the matter without excitement, although the best - among them could not help recognizing the correctness of the ideas - embodied in the rescript. The others were of the opinion that all the - peace projects concerned them very little, and that the military - service to which they had been brought up would still for a long time - fill their lives. - - Our society was deeply moved and grieved by the death of your Empress. - What a sad madness speaks in such deeds, and how much to be pitied is - mankind when, besides the battle against war, we must also in the - midst of peace think of the pacification of the classes. - - Accept, etc. - Prince Peter Dolgorukof - - Soras near Eperies, August 30 - - A storm of delight is rushing through the world in view of the mighty - aurora that is shining from St. Petersburg. Whatever the result be, - the mighty word of one of the mightiest can never be unspoken. - - The Lord bless your efforts! - - Vice Admiral Semsey - - Velden, August 30 - - Hurrah for the morning glow in the East! - - Hedwig Pötting - - Budapest, August 29 - - Can it be possible, can it be true? Now the thing is to use this - victory wisely. Something must and will be done. Now it is a pride and - a joy to be a friend of peace. - - I congratulate us all, and first of all, you. This will rouse many. - - Kemény - Secretary of the Hungarian Peace Society - - Beckenhorn, September 12 - - ... What do I think of the manifesto? A thousand things. I was at the - Lake of Lucerne. I had been enjoying a delightful walk, and in the - evening after dinner I took up the _Indépendance_. I confess I did so - almost reluctantly—politics is such an unsavory dish. One would - willingly forget it when yielding to the witchery of lovely nature and - recovering from the miseries of humanity in the undisturbed purity of - the lofty mountain peaks. So, then, imagine my amazement! Instead of - the usual diplomatic commonplaces, the Emperor’s manifesto! That - absolutely staggered me! - - But what do I think of it? In the first place, that we all, those of - us who are of one mind with the spirit of the manifesto, ought to - support Nicholas II with all our might, not only against his opponents - but also against his own person. The undertaking is of great - difficulty. He might lose courage in face of the obstacles. Then it - will be necessary for liberal opinion in Europe, and especially for - the peace unions, to give him unwearied, never-failing assistance. - - Secondly, even if the manifesto should have no immediate results, it - will undoubtedly have gigantic indirect influence. It establishes a - new epoch in the history of Europe. That can never be changed. - - Are you coming to Turin? That will be the place for us to lay out a - complete plan of campaign. Though I do not belong to the Bureau, yet I - am going there at any rate. If I do not have the good fortune to see - you in Turin, I will on my way back make you that promised visit at - Harmannsdorf. - - Yours, etc. - J. Novikof - - Heiden, September 21 - - ... Allow me to express my congratulations on the great step which the - Tsar has taken on the path to which your most zealous apostleship has - been devoted. It is a gigantic step, and, whatever may happen, the - world will not shriek, “Utopia!” Disdain of our ideas is no longer - possible; even if accomplishment does not immediately follow the work - of the conference, which will assuredly take place, still, at all - events, a beginning will have been made. This initiative will forever - serve as a precedent. - - The Empress Elisabeth’s death has greatly saddened me—ah! if only our - ideas had been made effective ten years earlier, there would not be - any anarchists now. - - Henri Dunant - Founder of the Red Cross - -The replies of the governments to the manifesto soon began to be -received,—almost all in the affirmative. But sincerity was lacking in -the tone of the acceptances and in the whole treatment of the -invitation. Everywhere, simultaneously, an increase in armaments was -seen to be under way. Very deplorable was the attitude of the German -Social-Democratic party, which holds that only by this party can -militarism be driven from the world; if any one else tries to do it, one -who—_nota bene_—has the power to do it, then it is fraud and farce. - -The _Neue Hamburger Zeitung_ sent a note to distinguished -contemporaries, requesting opinions on the Russian manifesto. Very -interesting replies were received. Among those who were in favor, many -of them enthusiastically in favor, were Leo Tolstoi, Maurus Jókai, Otto -Ernst, Ernst von Wolzogen, Peter Rosegger, Dr. M. G. Conrad, Cesare -Lombroso, and General Türr. I am going to introduce here, however, only -some of the replies sent by opponents of the peace movement, because it -seems to me most instructive, for understanding the development of -universal ideas and social conditions, to learn the obstacles which had -and still have to be overcome. - - Small differences, like the Caroline Islands question, can be settled - by arbitration; greater differences will continue to lead to tests of - power ... perpetual peace is in heaven. There is no heaven on earth. - - Friedrich Naumann - Retired Pastor - - The history of many thousand years unfortunately argues against the - possibility that war will ever cease.... At all events the Russian - proposal for disarmament is one of the cleverest diplomatic moves of - modern times. - - B. von Werner - - These are questions of high politics with which I have nothing to do. - In my opinion, so far as our trade is concerned, all interests are - subordinated to one that is paramount, namely, that Germany be - respected and feared, but so far as possible without being hated, in - the world. Therefore the mercantile class has a vital interest in - seeing the safety of the empire assured in the ways understood by - those who are responsible for it. - - Ferdinand Laeisz - Chairman of the Hamburg Board of Trade - - I cannot assent to the general notion that armies prepared for battle - are unproductive. Armies are a protection to the nations against - attacks.... The idea of disarmament is unfortunate. We should be glad - that slouchy men can be trained in a manly education. - - Reinhold Begas, Sculptor - - This noble enthusiasm will miscarry, just as in 1890 the International - Assembly of Workingmen did under Emperor William’s auspices. A mighty - state will never, without a struggle, submit to a verdict which - offends its rights or merely its essential desires. A glance at the - map is sufficient: our empire can resist the ever-possible double - attack of France and Russia only by having all its powers in - readiness. - - I do not waste time thinking of Utopias. France lays down as a - condition for every debate the return of the imperial lands; we lay - down as our condition the exclusion of every discussion of this - question. I think this is a sufficient answer. The talk of the private - friends of peace is mere nonsense; the Tsar’s advocacy of peace is - perhaps a stimulus to war. - - Felix Dahn - - Gastein, on the anniversary of Sedan - (September 2, 1870) - - The present proposal of Tsarish Russia for disarmament is a fraud. - - W. Liebknecht - - The stronger the armaments the greater the fear of assuming the - responsibility of starting a war. Disarmament would make wars more - frequent. Reduction of the present force would withdraw a part of the - people from the school of military discipline and very generally - diminish their efficiency.... The vital questions of the nations will - always be settled by war. Germany must always lead the great powers in - its armaments, because it is the only country that has three great - powers as neighbors and may at any time be exposed to the danger of - waging war on three frontiers. With the increasing solidarity of - states, wars will naturally become more and more infrequent. It is a - dream to expect anything more, and not even a beautiful dream; for - with the guaranty of perpetual peace the degeneracy of mankind would - be confirmed. - - Dr. Eduard von Hartmann - -The reply that most unctuously dripped with wisdom was that furnished by -Herr W. Metzger, the Social-Democratic delegate to the Reichstag from -the third electoral district in Hamburg. He wrote to the editors that -“he did not feel the slightest inclination to waste even a quarter of an -hour on that Russian diplomatic trick.” So the third electoral district -may be at rest—its representative is saving his time for higher -interests than those that are moving the whole civilized world! - -Those are the utterances of single individuals. As regards the voice of -the newspapers, I collected a great number of clippings at the time. The -following are typical of the tone of those opposed: - - The Tsar’s proposal for disarmament goes against nature and against - civilization. This alone condemns it. Baroness von Suttner, who a few - years ago gave the command _Die Waffen nieder_, and thereby won among - all men a brilliant success, is now indeed experiencing the great - triumph of having the Tsar join in her summons; but there will be only - a short-lived joy in this for Frau von Suttner and all good souls, - for, as we have said, disarmament is contrary to nature and inimical - to civilization, etc.—_Heidelberger Zeitung_, August 30. - - When the Russian disarmament rescript appeared in August, one of the - severest criticisms made upon it was this: “Prince Bismarck has been - dead twenty-eight days.” This was as much as to say that care had been - taken not to submit this question to European statesmen for discussion - during this great stateman’s lifetime, but they waited until after he - was dead to spring it. We do not question the correctness of this - interpretation, but are of the opinion that if Prince Bismarck had - lived to see the publication of the Russian note he would have used - the full weight of his authority to prevent Germany from relinquishing - at a conference even the very smallest part of its right and duty to - regulate its armament absolutely according to its own - discretion.—_Hamburger Nachrichten_, September 18. - - A stranger official document than the Tsar’s peace manifesto, his - summons to disarm and his proposal for a general conference, has never - before thrown official and unofficial Europe into astonishment. The - question rises to the lips, Is this an honest Utopia, or is there - hidden behind it a deep calculation of Russian politics, which, as is - well known, is excelled in slyness by the diplomacy of no other state? - It remains at all events a Utopia, in spite of all the European - “Friends of Peace,” and all the other chatter about international - brotherhood.—_Grenzboten_, Number 37, September 15. - - Our officials believed without any kind of real investigation that - they must applaud that manifesto with drums and trumpets, solely for - the reason that it had the mighty Tsar as its originator; and they - kept up this policy of groveling when there was no more possible doubt - that the originator of this manifesto was not the Tsar, but those - international peace enthusiasts of the stamp of Suttner and her - allies, whom hitherto no one has taken seriously. Our Emperor has - found the only correct answer to the Tsar’s proposal; we can wait - until his answer is taken to heart in the quarter for which it is - intended, and then the Utopian idea of an international conference for - disarmament, which is of no earthly use, will disappear finally from - the programme.—_Staatsbürgerzeitung_, September 9. - -At the banquet of the Westphalian Provincial Diet, on the eighth of -September, Emperor William said: - -“Peace will never be better assured than by a thoroughly drilled army -ready for instant service, such as, in detachments, we at the present -time have had opportunity to admire and to rejoice over. God grant us -that it may be ever within our power to conquer with this always keen -and well-cared-for weapon. Then the Westphalian peasant may go to sleep -in peace.” - - - - - LVI - EVENTS AND MEETINGS - - The Empress Elisabeth · The last days of my father-in-law · Egidy on the - assassination of the Empress · Session of the delegates in Turin · Egidy - evening in Vienna · Reminiscence of the campaign of 1866 · William T. - Stead in Vienna on his pilgrimage · His portrait · His audience with - Nicholas II · His meeting with Bloch · My interview with Muravieff · - Conclusion of Spanish-American treaty of peace · Reply of the chairman - of the Spanish Commission to a memorial from Émile Arnaud · Still the - Dreyfus affair · General Türr with King Humbert · Egidy dead · Letter - from his son - - -The Empress Elisabeth assassinated! An infamous dagger thrust into a -quiet, proud, unworldly, and generous heart. Once again mourning and -terror flashed through the whole civilized world with lightning speed. -More and more it is shown that this civilized world has only _one_ soul. -The memory of this princess, so opulent in sufferings, so endowed with -beauty, will go down in history as a radiant and poetic vision. And that -vision will be haloed with a tragic charm—so shockingly sad though it -is, so hateful the deed that was responsible for it—from the fact that -she did not die in her bed of illness or old age, but fell under the -deadly blow of a fanatic madman, just as she was setting out on a new -voyage into the splendor of nature which she loved so well. Out of the -gray monotony of the commonplace thou standest forth for all time,—a -figure in shining black,—Elisabeth of Austria! - -My father-in-law, then seventy-nine years of age, had been for some -time, especially since Lotti’s death, very much shattered in health. He -no longer took his daily walks, often dropped off to sleep, sometimes -began to wander in his speech,—in short, his demise was evidently near -at hand. Nevertheless he had his secretary and faithful attendant—my -husband’s former tutor—read the newspaper to him every day. When the -news of the assassination of the Empress arrived we made haste to warn -Herr Wiesner (that was the secretary’s name, though at home we always -called him “Dominus”) not to read to the old gentleman the passages -regarding the tragedy. Attached with the deepest devotion to the -imperial house, Old Austrian to his finger tips, an enthusiastic admirer -of the beautiful Empress,—the news of her death would have terribly -shocked him, and we desired to spare him that. - -Only a few days after this event he died in My Own’s arms. At five -o’clock one morning we were summoned to his bedside. The nurse thought -that he was dying, but he soon rallied and lay peacefully. About nine -o’clock—meantime the doctor had been called and all the members of the -family stood about the bed—he sat up and took my husband’s hand. - -“Artur,” he said, “you know I have always been an industrious worker—I -must write a few letters to-day; ... there the Dominus stands waiting -for me to dictate—but, Artur, I should like to rest to-day—I may, may I -not?—just a little sleep—yes?” - -My Own laid him gently back on the pillow. “Dear father—sleep!” - -The old man thrust his arm under the pillow and turned his face to one -side. With a satisfied sigh he closed his eyes, and after a few minutes -he fell asleep—in the sleep that knows no waking. - - -Egidy wrote me as follows regarding the Empress Elisabeth’s death: - - ... The most affecting word that has been spoken about your Empress’s - death is that from her own husband’s mouth: “It is incomprehensible - how a man could lay his hand on this woman, who in all her life had - never harmed any one and had done nothing but good.” - - A touching truth is to be found in this thought, and at the same time, - also, the earnest call to think the thought again. Possibly the - innocent woman had to die this sudden death in order that deep sorrow - might come upon the best of all peoples, in order that all might mourn - with the bereaved husband and Emperor, and also in order that we might - repeat that lamentation in our thought, and comprehend, should the - grief-stricken Emperor in humble realization come to the following - resolution: - - “Henceforth men who have never done any one any harm shall cease - mercilessly thrusting the deadly steel into one another’s hearts. - Henceforth I will not allow men whose lives are confided to my - protection to march to fields of battle; no longer will I train to war - the nations that are under my scepter. The labor of the remaining - years that Providence shall vouchsafe me belongs to internal and - external preparation for the warless epoch.” - -Egidy still further elaborated this idea in the October number of his -_Versöhnung_ (“Reconciliation”). - - -The plans for the meetings to be held in Lisbon in the year 1898 fell -through. The Iberian peninsula seemed little fitted to arrange for peace -congresses as long as the Spanish-American War was in progress; so this -year the two Bernese councils met for consultation in different places, -having for their object the decision of what attitude to take regarding -the Russian circular. The Interparliamentary Union met in Brussels, the -International Peace Bureau in Turin, where a World’s Exposition was -being held. - -We went to Turin, My Own and I, in spite of our bereavement, starting a -fortnight after the old baron had been laid away in the family tomb at -Höflein. - -A letter which I wrote to a friend tells of our visit to the capital of -Piedmont: - - Turin, Grand Hôtel d’Europe, - September 28, 1898 - - The committee which has been assembled here concluded its labors - to-day. The manifesto of the Emperor of Russia naturally formed the - basis and suggested the direction of the proceedings. - - On Sunday, the twenty-fifth, the Turin “Peace Days” began with the - centennial jubilee of the Piedmontese statesman, Count Federigo - Sclopis. In the vast Aula of the Royal University the festival - committee and a great audience were assembled. The hall was packed. - - General Türr conducted me to the front row and introduced me to the - Mayor of Turin, Baron Casano, the governor, Marchese Guiccioli,—I - could not help thinking of Byron, who loved a Guiccioli whom I used to - know in Paris,—and the Minister, Count Ferraris. We sat in front of - the desk. The cards of invitation bore the names of twenty-four - eminent men as patrons of the festival; among them were Biancheri, - President of the Chamber, Minister Vigliani, the presidents of the - Roman and Bernese Courts of Cassation, the rector of the University, - the president of the Academy of Sciences, and others. - - Lawyer Luzatti was the first to take the platform, and he gave us a - biographical sketch of Federigo Sclopis. He eulogized his services, - and particularized as most glorious the part he played as chairman of - the Alabama Court of Arbitration. Then the vice president of the Roman - Senate, who is also chairman of the Roman Peace Society, spoke, and he - was followed by our Frédéric Passy. He had been in his youth a friend - of Sclopis’s, and was therefore able to tell much that was fresh and - interesting about the life of the great man. - - The meeting was over at noon. The rest of the day was devoted to - social intercourse and the Exposition. Such visitors as had any taste - for art were here afforded more delights than are often found in - displays of this kind, for the galleries of sculpture and painting are - better filled than usual, and in a great edifice, built like a - coliseum, an orchestra of two hundred artists gave wonderful concerts. - - But if I prove unable to tell much about the Exposition in general, - who will blame a member of the Congress for that? Here old friends are - discovered and new and congenial acquaintances are made, and this fact - serves to promote serious conversation; so the Exposition park, with - its many pavilions, is neglected; you sit down with your comrades - round a café table and talk of the things that are in your heart. The - manifesto first of all, but also everything else that is going on in - the world; among other things, the Dreyfus affair, which just at this - moment every one has more or less in mind. A delegate from Paris, - Gaston Moch, who himself had been a cavalry officer and had served in - the same corps with the exile, has much interesting information to - give. Even as early as 1894 he had looked behind the scenes in the - affair and had realized that the Jewish officer would not be endured - on the general staff. A peculiar thing was also told us: In the summer - of 1894, and thus before the charge was brought against Dreyfus, _Le - Journal_ published a novel as a feuilleton, in which a plot for the - extermination of an unpopular comrade was devised and carried out: the - smuggling into the intelligence bureau of a forged document and the - like,—a whole chain of intrigues such as was actually adopted against - the innocent man, just as if Paty, Henry, and the rest had taken the - novel as a pattern to go by. - - On Monday, the twenty-sixth, the delegates met for their first session - in the Palazzo Carignan. The splendor of the Italian princely palaces - is well known. The hall where we met is of sheer gold; the wall - coverings are of gold, the doors and window shutters heavily gilded; - adjoining, and also glittering with gold, is the historic chamber in - which Victor Emmanuel was born. - - As the president of the Bureau was obliged to go to Brussels to attend - the session of the Interparliamentary Directorate, the chairmanship of - our meetings was intrusted to the lawyer Luzatti. Though many letters - of greeting arrived, I will cite only the Italian Prime Minister’s: - - “Our country—on the ground of the principles that have inspired its - regeneration, on the ground of its ideals of civilization as well as - of its political interests—our country must desire that in - international questions juristic reason may win the day over the - appeal to force. - - E. Visconti-Venosta” - -The first subject for discussion is expressed clearly in the text of the -resolution that was passed: - -“The Meeting is of the opinion that the societies throughout their -spheres of activity should organize demonstrations of every kind, in the -form of petitions and meetings designed to promote a favorable result of -the Tsar’s rescript; it invites the societies to communicate the effects -of these demonstrations to the International Bureau in Bern, which will -give them the greatest possible publicity.” - -The English delegates were able to report that in their country numerous -demonstrations in this direction had already taken place. Political -leaders in Parliament had joined in the movement, among them Sir William -Harcourt, Morley, the Marquis of Ripon, Earl Crewe, Bryce, Sir John -Lubbock, Sir Wilfrid Lawson, Spencer Watson, and others; also many -bishops, and the three English cardinals, Vaughan, Loyne, and Gibbons. -The Congress of the Trade Unions, which had until recently held aloof, -voted unanimously and enthusiastically as follows: - -“This Congress of organized laborers, representing the industrial -classes of Great Britain and Ireland, greets the Tsar’s message with -satisfaction and calls upon the government to employ all legitimate -means to promote its success, since militarism is a great enemy to labor -and a cruel burden for the slaving millions.” - -This attitude of the English workingmen—be this observed in -parenthesis—is at all events more beneficial than that of the socialists -of other lands, who are distrustful of the Russian Emperor’s views, and -who say, “Peace and disarmament, yes—but _we_ want to bring it about, we -alone, and in our own way.” But what is destined to benefit all mankind -must be done by all; it cannot be the work of a class and against other -classes. - -Élie Ducommun gave a report on the events of the year, which he claimed -would have marked it as one of the most unfortunate and discouraging for -the movement, had it not ended with the Russian Emperor’s proposal of -official investigation of means for bringing about assured peace and the -reduction of armaments. Moreover, to the assets of the year were to be -reckoned the agreement of France and England on the Niger question, the -arbitration between France and Brazil, and, finally, the conclusion of a -permanent arbitration treaty between Italy and the Argentine Republic. - -The assembly sent a congratulatory dispatch to the Italian government on -this treaty,—the first of its kind and likely to prove of the greatest -blessing as an example to be followed.[26] - -On the other hand, apprehension was felt regarding the danger that -threatens on the part of Argentina, which is on the point of declaring -war against Chile. It was suggested that a trustworthy person might be -sent in the name of the Peace Bureau to Argentina and Chile to urge both -their presidents to submit the unsettled controversy to a court of -arbitration. Perhaps they would turn a deaf ear to our delegate, but -more probably a word spoken in the name of two hundred societies, -representing both the New World and the Old, would turn the scale in -their deliberations. Dr. Evans Darby suggested, on the other hand, that, -as the outbreak of hostilities was already imminent and the delegate -would assuredly arrive too late, a cablegram should be dispatched -instead. - -Accordingly two dispatches were sent on that very same day in the name -of the Turin assembly, one to Valparaiso, the other to Buenos Aires, -earnestly urging the two governments to avoid a war, which, just at this -present moment, would be a lamentable setback to the approaching -conference summoned by the Russian Emperor.[27] - -The cable dispatches cost nine hundred francs. Prodigal Friends of -Peace! when one thinks how penurious the war boards are! - -On the evening of the twenty-ninth the general public of Turin were -invited to listen to addresses in the Circolo filologico. There was not -a vacant place in the vast auditorium. General Türr made the first -speech and cited passages from Garibaldi’s appeal to the governments. -Then I followed with a reading of my short story, _Es müssen doch schöne -Erinnerungen sein_, translated into Italian for this occasion, under the -title _Bei ricordi_ (“Beautiful Recollections”), by the poet F. Fontana. -Then Émile Arnaud, Professor Ludwig Stein of Bern University, Novikof, -and others spoke. - -The audience was in such a high pitch of enthusiasm and sympathy at the -end that I mustered courage, amid the storm of applause, to mount the -platform again and make a brief appeal that the listeners should not -reward our words with mere clapping of hands,—we were not artists hungry -for approbation, we were plain champions of a holy cause,—but rather -should join our organization; they might come up and sign their names. -This invitation was accepted, and by reason of the addresses that -evening the membership list of the Turin Peace Union was increased by -many and influential names. - -This Union has also a special section in the Exposition building. The -autograph entries in the book that is there are very interesting. Even -Arabic and Chinese signatures are among them; also dialogues: some one -wrote in French, “I do not believe in it”; some one else wrote -underneath, “I pity you with all my heart.” Tolstoi’s son wrote in the -register, _Quale è lo scopo della guerra? L’assassinio_—(“What is the -object of war? Massacre!”). - -Our first care after our return to Austria was to organize a meeting to -agitate in behalf of the Russian circular. Lieutenant Colonel von Egidy -came at my request to address this meeting, which took place in the -Ronacher ballroom on the eighteenth of October. It was the first time he -had ever spoken in Vienna. Although our Viennese did not fully realize -how distinguished he was, they were in a high degree curious about the -famous man who had once been an officer of the empire. It was -universally known that he had been compelled to leave the military -service on account of his convictions as expressed in his pamphlet -_Ernste Gedanken_ (“Serious Thoughts”). - -An acquaintance, Count X., whom I had invited to hear the address, wrote -me: - - I have never read a line by Egidy. But I cannot share your opinion - regarding him, for in the first place I cannot endure the Prussians; - secondly, if a soldier has done anything so unseemly(!) that he can no - longer serve, I am compelled to reject what he says, even were he as - wise as Aristotle. - -Well, now, there are figures in history who have done such unseemly -things that they have been compelled not only to doff their uniforms but -also to empty the cup of hemlock or die at the stake or on the cross; -these would probably have been subjected to a still severer criticism at -the hands of my friend the count. - -An hour beforehand the doors of the hall were thrown open, and the -throng which had long been waiting rushed in. The great room was soon -packed; people stood in the gallery behind the last seats. Entrance was -free, “every one invited,”—such was Egidy’s wish. - -The representative of the government took his place at the chairman’s -table near me. I made a few prefatory remarks; then Egidy stepped -forward, and his words rang out like bell tones. It was ever so when -this orator spoke,—bronze in his voice, gold in his words, consecration -in the room. - -The Tsar’s rescript furnished the text. After he had explained what was -contained in this manifesto, Egidy passed in review the various kinds of -misunderstanding and misinterpretation it had met in the world. The -doubts and questions raised in various quarters, the difficulties of -detail enumerated by civilization brakemen (Kulturbremser, a word of -characteristic Egidy coinage),—all this he answered and explained in -clear, occasionally witty language, and always with logical conciseness. -And the audience vibrated with him. Every satirical point was punctuated -with a laugh, at every allusion a murmur of appreciation ran through the -assembly. You might have believed that all were penetrated by the -orator’s meaning, yet how many of those present had probably expressed, -only an hour or two before, ideas which were current as the view of the -majority: “A proposal for disarmament?... Hm!... political move—a trap -set—practically unfeasible idealism....” - -Most characteristic of this prevalent skepticism remains deeply engraven -on my memory the picture of a deputy,—a member also of the -Interparliamentary Union,—who, after I had spoken for a time about the -manifesto, turned his head in my direction and said, with a sly wink, -“Do you believe that story?” - -This phrase became a catchword between My Own and me; whenever either of -us communicated to the other anything perfectly unquestionable and -simple, we would look as sly as we could and hiss out, “Do you believe -that story?” - -After the address Egidy was our guest at a supper which, together with -Baron Leitenberger and a few other friends, we gave in his honor at -Sacher’s. At the supper a pretty scene was enacted. One of our company -was a former officer, now a deputy and also vice president of the -Austrian Interparliamentary Group, Herr von Gniewocz. He turned the -conversation to the campaign of 1866, in which he had taken part. Egidy -then told how he also had been there, and then the two men recalled -certain incidents, one of which, as it appeared in the comparison of -details, had brought them face to face as opponents. And now here they -were, both as adherents and champions of the peace cause, united in -joyous festal mood. - -Mark Twain happened to be in Vienna at this time and was present at this -supper. The American humorist used the Egidy-Gniewocz incident for a -brilliant improvisation, full of wit and feeling. He had been present at -the lecture, had been recognized by the audience, and was asked to -speak. He mounted the platform and declared that, as far as he was -concerned, having only a penknife with him, he was ready to disarm! - - -A few days later I was permitted to make the personal acquaintance of a -man who has taken a most important part in the peace movement, and with -whose activity I had long been acquainted,—William T. Stead. A telegram -from Vienna signed with his name invited me to make an appointment for a -meeting with him as he was passing through the city. With delight I -acceded to his wish, and on the following evening I spent several hours -with the famous English journalist, enjoying with him a frugal supper -and the most exhilarating conversation. We talked about a hundred -things. - -His external appearance is that of a gentleman; his hair and full beard -are turning somewhat gray; he has noble, intelligent features, is -forty-nine years of age, and his conversation is full of witty turns and -comprehensive views of the world. His characteristics, one might say, -are the energy of gentleness, tenderness, and capacity—also humor; those -seem to be the predominant elements of his nature. - -The son of a Protestant clergyman, he was brought up in strict -orthodoxy. And since then, although he has attained spiritual -emancipation and discarded every sign of dogma, he has kept a deeply -religious spirit and is penetrated with the conviction that the spirit -of goodness—God—is gradually bringing this world to perfection and using -for this purpose inspired men as his instruments,—men who, being -conscious that they are working in the service of a lofty principle, -feel strengthened and elevated by it, full of joyous and courageous -reliance in the support that is behind them in their divine mission. - -The object of his journey was to ascertain how the Russian Emperor’s -manifesto was received in different countries, and especially in -official circles, and, above all, to learn what direction the Tsar -himself and his ministers intended to give to the coming conference. - -He had been on a journey through Europe, and was now on his return from -Livadia, still under the impression of two extended interviews which the -young Tsar had granted him. He had not been received as a journalist, -but as a privileged guest in accordance with the wish of the late -Emperor, Alexander III. About ten years before, a perfectly false idea -of the Russian autocrat had gained currency with the British public. He -was described as morose, violent, and insincere. And it was particularly -supposed that he was all ready to let loose the horrors of a universal -war. Stead, the journalist, had succeeded in dissipating this -impression. In the year 1888 he had been accorded an audience at the -imperial court at Gatchina, and the Emperor had engaged in an -exceedingly frank conversation with him. When Stead returned to England -he was able to announce with the utmost particularity that Alexander III -was quite the opposite of the popular conception of him; that he was an -enemy of all falsehoods, and imbued with the strongest detestation of -war. These representations entirely changed public opinion, and must -have helped to avert the ever-present danger of war. - -From what Stead told me of the impression made upon him during his -audience with Nicholas II, I felt warranted in concluding that the young -Emperor was thoroughly in earnest in the matter of the manifesto. I -complained to him of the lack of comprehension, the stupidity, and at -the same time the hostile spite with which the message was received, for -the disappointment to me had been unprecedented; I had so firmly -believed that, with the exception of a small circle, the world would -surely break out into jubilation at having the hope so nearly fulfilled -of being freed from the mountainous weight that oppressed it. To this -Stead replied: - -“The manifesto is a mirror—a kind of magic mirror. You hold it up before -men whose nature you wish to learn, and according to the judgments they -pronounce on it, it reflects clearly the image of their spirit and their -character.” - -“But since almost everywhere a petty, ugly picture is shown,” I went on -complaining, “since the purpose manifested by the Tsar is to be -counteracted by mistrust, indifference, open and secret resistance, the -lofty work may fail....” - -“Are you of so little faith?... You?... Such a declaration may be -delayed. But can it be silenced? Never! I myself, as I have made this -journey through the cities of Europe, began to grow faint-hearted, but -what I learned in Russia has restored my courage. The Emperor, I have -faith to believe, now that he has put his hand to the plow, will draw -the furrow, and his three ministers are with him in the matter. One is -Kuropatkin, the Minister of War, whose ambition it is to reduce -armaments; the second is Witte, Minister of Finance; the third, Count -Lamsdorff, pupil and follower of Giers, the efficient force in the -Ministry of Foreign Affairs. - -“As regards the questions to be discussed at the coming conference,” -continued Stead, “of course neither the Tsar nor any of his ministers -thinks of disarmament in the literal meaning of the word; such a -proposition is not to be made at all. The practical purpose of the -discussions is to bring about a cessation of the ever-increasing -preparations for war.” - -During his journey Stead had also visited Councilor von Bloch, author of -the great work “War.” This work is said to have made a marked impression -on the Tsar, even when he was still crown prince, and very possibly it -gave him the impulse to issue the rescript. Upon Stead’s asking him what -results he expected from the conference, Bloch replied: - -“In my opinion the most useful thing that can be done is for the -conference, after its preliminary session, to appoint a committee of its -ablest members, who shall be intrusted with the duty of investigating -the degree to which modern warfare under present social conditions has -become practically impossible—impossible, that is to say, without -hitherto unheard-of loss of life on the battlefield, absolute -destruction of the social structure, inevitable bankruptcy, and -threatening revolution.” - -Stead proceeded from Vienna to Rome, where he heard that he might expect -some encouraging words from the Pope, all the more as Leo XIII had -already many times expressed himself in sympathy with the peace cause. -He did not, however, succeed in securing an audience at the Vatican. - - -The Russian Minister Muravieff also came to Vienna in the course of a -journey he was making through Europe, and he remained there two or three -days in order to hold conferences at court and with the ministers, just -as he had done in other capitals, and to get a personal notion as to -what reception the rescript had met with; also under what premises the -rulers would be ready to send delegates to the conference. - -I requested an interview with the Minister, and he sent me word by -return mail that he would be glad to receive me the following forenoon -at the Russian Embassy, where he was staying. - -We had scarcely entered the drawing-room (my husband accompanied me) -when Count Muravieff came in by another door. He was of medium height, -wore a gray mustache, and had a round, kindly face. In spite of a -certain coldness and dignity he appeared sympathetic. Like all Russian -_grands seigneurs_, he showed the most gracious courtesy and spoke -faultless French. It gave him infinite pleasure, he said as he greeted -me, to make the personal acquaintance of so zealous a champion of the -idea for which the Tsar and his government had now enlisted as -apostles,—an idea which he confidently hoped would gradually conquer the -world. - -On my return home, after a conversation which lasted almost an hour, I -noted down the following utterances of the count in my diary: - -“It is not to be expected that the end will be reached in a short time. -Think only of the Geneva Convention; that also took years before it -became the comprehensive organization that it is to-day. Only one step -must be made at a time. For the present, the cessation of armaments is -the first stage. It is not to be expected that the states will consent -to complete disarmament, or even to a diminution of the contingent; but -if we could reach a common halt in the ‘race to ruin,’ that would be a -favorable beginning. Henceforth the endeavor must be made to put -universal peace on a safe basis, for a war in the future is surely a -thing of horror and of ruin,—really an impossible thing; to take care of -the present huge armies in the field is impracticable. The first result -of a war waged between the great powers will be starvation....” - -I detected the echo of Bloch’s doctrine in those last words, and that -justifies the assumption that the work of the Russian councilor had -helped to give the impulse to the drawing up of the rescript. Only Bloch -had added to the word “starvation” two others, “revolution” and -“anarchy.” - -From what Muravieff told us of his journey through Europe, it was -evident that his presence and intervention had as a result the blunting -of the edge of the Fashoda conflict. From his conferences with the -different sovereigns he had evidently become convinced that there was no -inclination at present to adopt any measures toward the reduction of -armies, or to accept the principle that war and the military -establishment should be done away with, and that, in face of this -difficulty, a basis must be found on which the first step,—stopping the -increase in armaments,—might be taken in common. “It cannot be -expected,” he said, “that at this very first conference the great final -object will be attained.” - -“It would be sufficient,” I remarked, “if the powers would make an -agreement not to wage any war in the next twenty, or even in the next -ten, years.” - -“Twenty years—ten years! _Vous allez trop vite, madame._ We could be -satisfied if such an agreement were entered into for three years. But I -believe even that will not be demanded. First and foremost there must be -a pledge not to increase the contingents or make any new purchases of -instruments of destruction. The constant demands for more money always -mean a conflict between the ministers of war and the ministers of -finance.” - -“They ought to appoint ministers of peace,” said my husband, -interrupting. - -“Ministers of peace?” he repeated thoughtfully. “Well, yes, courts of -arbitration, national tribunals—” And he began to talk with great -practical knowledge about all the postulates of the peace movement. - -“In my youth,” he told us, “when the movement was in its infancy,—I was -then an attaché in Stockholm,—I enrolled myself as a member of the -League.” - -I gave him some details as to the condition and progress of the -movement. Much of what I told him he already knew. The names of the -prominent representatives whom I mentioned were familiar to him. He -spoke first of Egidy. I handed him Houzeau-Descamps’s pamphlet, with a -few appeals and articles. He asked me to keep him informed as to the -course of events. - -When at the end I expressed my delight at being able to press the hand -that had written that epoch-making manifesto, he replied, “_Je n’y suis -pour rien_; its only author is my august sovereign.” - - -The Spanish-American treaty of peace was signed in Paris. Our colleague, -Émile Arnaud, addressed to the commission that was intrusted with this -transaction a memorial, in which, among other things, it was suggested -that a way should be made for establishing a Spanish-American -arbitration treaty. The following reply was received from the chairman -of the Spanish Commission: - - My dear Sir: - - I am in receipt of your valued letter of the fourth instant, in which - you do me the honor of communicating to me the resolutions of the - Turin Meeting of Delegates. The desires of the commission of which I - am chairman, as well as my own personal feelings, are in full - agreement with the ends so nobly pursued by the Peace League. All - right-thinking men, whose souls are elevated above the conflicts - arising from the passions and interests of colonial politics, are - to-day at one in recognizing the necessity of settling controversies - between nations by the only means worthy of reasonable and free - beings. Our commission has been, and will continue to be, inspired by - these ideas, and if these noble endeavors fail, it will not be our - fault. I thank you infinitely for the amiable offers which you make in - the name of the Peace League, and remain - - Yours most respectfully, - Montero Rios - -The Dreyfus affair is settling down more and more to a forlorn hope; the -military system is fighting for its threatened authority. With it all -one thing that is good has taken place, namely, the union of the -intellectual class with the laboring men. - - -General Türr had an audience with King Humbert. Apropos of the -conference called by the Tsar, he spoke of the necessity of combining -the _Zweibund_ with the _Dreibund_, and forming a European -confederation. I wrote in my diary, together with this bit of -information, “This fact deserves to be noted.” - - -I find a very sad entry under date of December 30: Egidy dead! - -Early yesterday, on his return from a lecture tour, he succumbed to an -acute heart trouble. That is all I know as yet; I only know that a gap -is made in my life, for I have had a warm love for this noble man, and -have looked up to him in grateful admiration. His influence will -continue, but what he would have yet done and accomplished with the -magical power of his personality—that is lost. Moritz von Egidy, -farewell! - -Some time afterwards I received the following letter from his son:[28] - - Marine School, Kiel, March 17, 1899 - - My dear Baroness: - - Pardon me for my long delay in thanking you for the February number of - your periodical; now the receipt of a second copy impels me to write - to you at once. - - What a comforting expression you have found for your loss and ours in - those words, “The consciousness that an Egidy was here”;[29] truly and - with all my heart I thank you for those words; they are worth - infinitely more to me than many, many words, dear and well meant - though they might be, because—this may sound far enough from - altruistic, but nevertheless is not to remain unspoken—because they - animate a thought which lay in my mind but which I had not yet found - any expression for. I do not know whether you know this immediate - feeling of thankfulness which comes over one in such a case, and which - I should like to make you understand. - - All the more I am sorry to be obliged to tell you that you have been - misinformed about father’s funeral, particularly because the - information is so entirely contrary to father’s spirit. There is a - lack of recognition of the courageous, magnanimous act of the priest, - Court Chaplain Rogge, who appears in a wholly false light, from the - fact that he is only mentioned on the occasion when, in accordance - with the ritual of our Church (in which father was still a member in - spite of everything), he pronounced the blessing. - - Yes, indeed, it was a courageous act for a royal Prussian court - chaplain, who, perhaps, the very next day preached before the Emperor - in the Potsdam Garrison church, to say such words as you will find in - the February number of _Versöhnung_, and the impression of this fine - act of his on the assembly was quite extraordinary, as was openly - acknowledged by men who, perhaps for the first time in dozens of - years, were listening again to a minister, and who had come there in - the secret apprehension of having their feelings of love for my father - hurt in some way. - - Yes, the long way to the grave; but still it infused such a firm, - steadfast trust into our hearts as I escorted my splendid mother - along; our eyes were constantly attracted by the dazzling white heron - plume on the fur hussar cap as it nodded in front of us, keeping time - to the step of the bearers; the white plume, pointing upward, seemed - to us a symbol in the falling shadows of the evening. You know his - motto: “Forward! upward!” - - Especially interesting to me was the news on page 61 about the - resolution of the organized English workingmen; for you see on the - very evening before I got the book I had quite a long discussion with - the professor who lectures for us on history here at the Academy. He - asserts that, in consequence of the English election law, the - predominant power in parliament will more and more pass over to the - side of the masses, i.e. the workingmen; and herein, he says, lies the - chief danger for peace, for the instinct of the masses is always - directed to war, especially in England, where the people’s heads are - turned by their imperialistic notions, joined with an ever more and - more pronounced national conceit. A more striking answer to this - assertion than the so-called resolution I can scarcely imagine. - - Have I already told you, Baroness, that I presented “Marmaduke” (in - English text) to a French officer, with the dedication _Un souvenir - [de] nos idées qui se rencontraient_,—and that, too, after a speech on - the _Alliance franco-allemande_, which was made in the presence of - French army and navy officers, officials, and merchants, at four - o’clock in the morning, if you please, in our wardroom, on the - _Seeadler_, and not long before Fashoda, when the Russian friendship - was still very warm. The affair is noteworthy, for the reason that the - Frenchman is usually, in a large company, quite extraordinarily - careful and reserved. Moreover, the speech was made by a French - physician who was on the expedition with Marchand when lack of support - from his reserve stations compelled him to return. It was known quite - accurately in Madagascar at that time, April, 1898, that a French - expedition must have arrived at the Nile or would soon arrive there, - and every day the news of it was expected. - - Remember me kindly to your husband, and I kiss your hand as - - Your very devoted - Moritz von Egidy - - - - - LVII - BEFORE THE HAGUE - - Emperor Nicholas regarding the reception of his rescript · - Discouragement in St. Petersburg · Stead’s project for a peace crusade · - Count Muravieff’s second circular · The wedge driven into the peace - question · The general conception and our conception · Journey to Berlin - · Osten-Sacken · Formation of an information committee · Letter from - Bebel · Service in honor of Egidy · Trip to Nice · Meeting with Madame - Adam · Monsieur Catusse · A noteworthy Dreyfus reminiscence · My lecture - · Madame Bashkirtseff · Trip to Cannes for a lecture · Lucien Murat’s - visit · Return to Harmannsdorf · Correspondence with Bloch, Scipione - Borghese, and D’Estournelles de Constant · Letters from Hodgson Pratt - and Élie Ducommun · A plan of action suggested by Henri Dunant - - -Stead told me that the Emperor Nicholas, in speaking to him of his -circular, had said: - -“Have I had a single letter, or has a single person ever represented to -me that I exaggerate the danger? Not one! they all agree that I have -spoken the truth. ‘But,’ they ask me, ‘what do you propose as a -preventive?’ As if it were my affair and mine alone to prescribe a -remedy for a disease from which all the nations are suffering!” - -Even on the peoples’ side there was not that enthusiasm which the author -of the rescript might have expected. “How diminish the burdens that rest -so heavily on the shoulders of the people?” he cries to his -fellow-rulers, and he begs them to seek some means to avoid the evil -that threatens the whole world. And what is the answer to it? The masses -to whom the Emperor specially appealed remained indifferent. Although -the threat of war between France and England seemed to be dispelled, the -preparations were continued unabated on both sides. The German Emperor, -on his return from his journey to Jerusalem, immediately insisted on -increasing his army by twenty-six thousand men. - -In St. Petersburg a feeling of deep discouragement prevailed. By the -beginning of December the disappointment was so great that the -authorities almost decided to give up the project and call instead a -conference of ambassadors in that capital. - -But the world had, after all, not remained so indifferent. In England -mass meetings were held in behalf of the projected Conference. William -T. Stead proposed the scheme of an international peace crusade. The -peace societies of the Continent gave a mighty response; thus, for -example, in Austria our Union provided for participation in that action -by means of assemblies and public demonstrations, and for many weeks in -succession the “International Peace Crusade” formed a standing rubric in -the _Neue Freie Presse_ and the _Neues Wiener Tagblatt_. In the same way -the peace workers were bestirring themselves in other countries. - -By this means, as well as through the influence of a few resolute -members of the Russian government, the hope of success was again -awakened in St. Petersburg, and the half-formed determination to -substitute a simple gathering of ambassadors in place of the Conference -was dropped; on the sixteenth of January a second circular was -dispatched by Count Muravieff, once more inviting the governments to -participate in the Conference as planned, and “suggesting” a programme -of eight points: - - 1. An agreement not to increase, during a fixed period, the present - strength of the armed military and naval forces, nor the budgets - pertaining thereto, and a preliminary examination of the means by - which a reduction might be effected in future in the forces and - budgets above mentioned. - - 2. To prohibit the adoption, in the armies and fleets, of any new kind - of firearms and explosives, or of any kinds of powder more powerful - than those now in use either for rifles or cannon. - - 3. To restrict the use of the formidable explosives now existing, and - to prohibit the throwing of projectiles or explosives of any kind from - balloons or by similar means. - - 4. To prohibit the use, in naval warfare, of submarine torpedo boats - or plungers, or other similar engines of destruction, and to adopt an - agreement not to construct, in the future, vessels with rams. - - 5. To apply to naval warfare the definitions of the Geneva Convention - of 1864 as amended by the additional articles of 1868. - - 6. To neutralize, in accordance with the same convention, ships and - boats engaged in saving those in danger of drowning during or after an - engagement. - - 7. To revise the declaration concerning the laws and customs of war - which was elaborated in 1874 by the Conference of Brussels but has - remained unratified to the present time. - - 8. To accept in principle the employment of the “good offices” of - mediation and optional arbitration in cases lending themselves - thereto, with the object of preventing armed conflicts between - nations; and to come to an understanding with respect to the mode of - applying these good offices, and to establish a uniform practice in - using them. - - It is understood that all questions concerning the political relations - of states and the order of things established by treaties, and, in - general, all questions which do not directly fall within the programme - adopted by the cabinets, are to be absolutely excluded from the - deliberations of the conference. - -When the text of the second circular is compared with the first, it can -be seen how much water had been poured into the fiery wine that was -first offered to the world. In the first document there is no trace of -points 3–7. Only in points 1 and 8 are the fundamental thoughts -preserved. The other six points were evidently inserted as a result of -the replies, recommendations, and opinions that Count Muravieff had -gathered in his journey through Europe, and perhaps also from personal -letters emanating from the various courts. - -In the press, also, numerous utterances had declared that the only -reasonable and positive result which could be attained by the Conference -was to be found in modifying the regulations of war and in the domain of -the Red Cross. Here even those who were not opponents of war and -militarism would be able and willing to coöperate. Out of diplomatic -consideration for such persons the six points in question were inserted. -The famous military surgeon Professor Esmarch, a brother-in-law of the -German Empress, worked especially hard for the Red Cross at the -Conference. - -By this introduction of questions concerning military customs and the -humanizing of war into the deliberations of the Peace Conference, a -wedge (surely not without purpose) was driven into it calculated to rob -it of its individual character. That was distinctly shown in the Second -Hague Conference, in 1907. - -But I will not anticipate the historic evolution of things. For the time -being I will confine myself to the year 1899, the last year of the -departing century. - -The conference was called; the date of its opening was set. Points 1 and -8 of the programme contained in essence everything that a complete -revolution in accordance with the opinions of the peace champions could -involve; and I remember that we—I mean my husband and myself and all our -colleagues—faced the event, when it was announced, as one would face a -momentous crisis full of promise, or rather already fulfilled. I was -conscious of this historic phenomenon not merely as something that was -taking place in the world without, but as my own inmost experience, as -altogether a phase of my personal destiny. And I regarded it as “the one -important thing.” - -The skeptics of that day shrugged their shoulders at this notion, and -even the wise ones of to-day would largely smile at it. Certainly, they -might say, universal peace has not resulted from the Hague Conference; -on the contrary, horrible wars followed it, and since it was called and -repeated, the rivalry in increasing armaments has gone on with -accelerating strength. - -It is hard to make headway against such naïve arguments when they are -based on succession of events rather than on their connection and their -causes. There are minds on the chessboard of society which absolutely -cannot see farther than from one square, from one move, to the next. - -Assuredly, for the great majority the whole matter was something so -novel, so unprecedented, so unexpected, and it was so unapproachable by -familiar paths of thought and feeling, that the widespread misconception -of it was quite natural. For the rest of us, who for years had been -concentrating our labor, our thought, and our desires on this field, for -us who had traced its origins and seen the bright-shining goal clearly -outlined before us, for us it was just as natural to realize that the -new epoch—the warless day, _l’ère sans violence_, as Egidy used to call -it—had already come when the first steps toward its practical -inauguration were taken so publicly. - -In January, 1899, my husband and I went to Berlin to work there in -behalf of the crusade, or at least to arrange for a meeting in behalf of -the coming Conference. Our first call was on the Russian ambassador, -Osten-Sacken. It was remarkable, but we found that he was no enthusiast -for the affair inaugurated by his _auguste maître_; his wife also showed -herself rather skeptical. - -I addressed notes of invitation to the various leaders of political and -scientific circles of Berlin to meet for a discussion. Many of the -gentlemen responded to my call, and after a very interesting debate a -committee was formed to take charge of public demonstrations in favor of -the Peace Conference. Unfortunately, my diary of that period was not -kept up, and I cannot mention by name all those who responded to my -invitation and suggestion, or who declined it. I remember only that the -deputies, Theodor Barth and Professor Förster,—the latter also director -of the observatory,—were among the first group; that General du Verdy -wrote a very sympathetic letter, and that Bebel replied with the -following interesting note, which is still in my possession: - - Berlin, January 31, 1899 - - Dear Madam: - - You had the kindness to invite me to call last Sunday. Unfortunately, - I was unable to respond to your desire, because the letter did not - tell me where you were, and I was unable to learn until it was too - late. - - Permit me herewith to add a few words regarding my position on the - question of the Russian Emperor’s peace manifesto, since I may take it - for granted that I have to attribute to this matter the honor of your - letter. - - The Social-Democratic party is sympathetically disposed toward the - thought that underlies the manifesto. Up to the present time it has - been the only party that has opposed the development of militarism in - almost the same words as the Russian Emperor’s; it has been alone and - consistent in upholding the idea of national brotherhood for the - purpose of promoting the common interests of mankind. - - The fact that now the sovereign of an empire like Russia, whose policy - hitherto has demanded militarism first of all and made it necessary, - should at this time appear as its opponent, is highly noteworthy, but - cannot prevent us from looking upon the action with a certain distrust - until it is proved by corresponding deeds that this is unjustified. - The calling of the Conference, with the familiar programme lately - published, is not as yet sufficient. - - Moreover, there are at all events very important internal political - reasons that have incited the Russian government to undertake the - advocacy of the imperial plan, which otherwise would scarcely have - happened. Even an absolute autocrat is not supremely powerful. - - For the reason here briefly summarized, the Social-Democratic party is - somewhat cool toward an agitation in behalf of the Emperor’s - manifesto; it cannot by a heart-and-soul participation in this - agitation undertake the responsibility for what will be said and done - towards the acceptance and glorification of the Emperor’s manifesto. - If representatives of the party should then wish to protest, this - would only cause discord, which would be detrimental to the cause - itself. - - I believe, therefore, that it is in the interest of both sides to - march in separate columns in this campaign, and to allow each tendency - to advocate its special standpoint independently. - - With great respect, - A. Bebel - -While we were in Berlin a great service in honor of Egidy was held -(January 29). It was inspiring and elevating. - -The next day there was a public meeting called by the Berlin Peace -Society, at which Dr. Hirsch, Schmidt-Cabanis the writer, and I made -addresses. - -In response to an invitation from the Countess Gurowska we went from -Berlin for a fortnight’s visit at Château Montboron in Nice. I was to -speak both at Cannes and at Nice about the approaching conference. We -were met at the railway station at Nice by our hostess’s husband and -General Türr. It was just at the time of the great carnival, and the two -gentlemen took us to the city hall, where we had a fine view of the -battle of flowers. The following day we were again invited to the city -hall to witness the burning of Prince Carnival, a figure constructed of -straw. - -The reception rooms of the hall were crowded with distinguished guests, -and among others I met Madame Juliette Adam. “You must come to-morrow to -the Baroness’s lecture,” said a gentleman of our group to her. “To a -lecture on peace? I?” cried the editor of _La Nouvelle Revue_. -“Certainly not, I am for war.” I was drawn into a discussion with her, -in which I defended my side in a low voice, she hers in a wrathful tone -well suited to the subject discussed. - -The same evening I made the acquaintance of a very sympathetic -Frenchman, M. Catusse, who had just been appointed consul general for -France in Sweden. He proved to be a warm fellow-champion. Our -conversation—as was the case with almost all conversations at that -time—turned upon the _Affaire_. And then he told me the following: His -wife kept a diary. On one page in it, during the year 1894, it was noted -that an officer who had been sitting next her at a banquet, and who had -followed the trial and had the day before been present at the -degradation of Alfred Dreyfus, said to her after dinner, _Hier nous -avons condamné un innocent_ (“Yesterday we punished an innocent man”). - -My lecture, which I delivered under the chairmanship of General Türr, -won me enthusiastic applause from a very large cosmopolitan audience. -Many of the Russians who were present asked to be presented to me in -order to express their appreciation; among others an elderly lady clad -in deep mourning, who announced that she was the mother of Marie -Bashkirtseff, that young genius who died so prematurely. - -The next day I saw her in her own home, and found that it was a sort of -memorial temple to the departed; on all the walls there was nothing but -pictures painted by Marie Bashkirtseff, or representing Marie herself at -all periods of her life and in the most varying phases, always full of -beauty and charm. Neither could the sorrowful mother speak of anything -else than of her famous daughter. - -A few days later I gave a lecture in Cannes. Luncheon on the _Arche de -Noé_; Italian singers on board; magnificent weather; guests Count -Rochechouart, the mayor, the president of the Nautical Club, Türr, and -another gentleman—I do not remember his name—with a brutal face. The -table talk turns on Dreyfus. - -“I do not admit,” says Count Rochechouart, “that seven officers -condemned a comrade without being certain of their position.” - -The Mayor: “Other people, not knowing the circumstances, have no right -to express an opinion.” - -The Nautical President: “A dozen bullets ought to have been sent through -his body.” - -Rochechouart: “I belong to only one league—it is impossible to be of -another—Déroulède’s.” - -The Brutal Man: “Obviously; I should like to see you being anything -else.” - -So these are my fellow-banqueters before a lecture on peace! - -The lecture fell very flat. The hall was pretty empty. No enthusiasm. I -have not often made such a miserable speech. After the lecture, which -ended about four o’clock in the afternoon, we took a walk through the -wonderful city of gardens. - -In Nice we were rejoiced by a call which brought back sweet -recollections of the beautiful days in the Caucasus. I read in the local -newspaper that Prince Lucien Murat and his wife, born Princesse de -Rohan, had come to make a visit to the Empress Eugénie in neighboring -Cimièz. I immediately wrote a note to my former little German pupil to -tell him that we were near at hand. The next day the young couple came -to see us. One cloud only darkened the delight of the reunion, namely, -the tragic death of Prince Achille Murat, Lucien’s father. The incident -was not mentioned. - - -On our return to Harmannsdorf our days were filled with preparations for -the journey to The Hague; I wrote numerous articles and sent letters to -all points of the compass. I had buried myself in Bloch’s great work and -had written him about it. In reply I received the following letter: - - Warsaw, April 8, 1899 - - My dear Baroness: - - Heartiest thanks for your kind lines. The service ascribed to me is, - however, only the result of the movement against war which has been - going on, and in which you personally, gracious Baroness, have taken - such an important part; and I must bear witness that your personal - talent, in my opinion, has accomplished more than all technical - arguments can possibly accomplish. - - Unfortunately I could not write you sooner because I had an unusual - task to finish. Unfortunately, also, I am still so very busy that I - can only send a sketch in place of the desired programme. - - In my opinion it would be best for an agitation to be made, to the end - that the Conference _in pleno_, or that single states, should - inaugurate an investigation as to the possibility of carrying through - a great war. - - At this moment the governments are not humble enough, public opinion - is not as yet ripe enough, to be able to obtain results from the - Conference. It would be much more practical if the sessions could be - postponed until autumn, so as to let the separate states have time for - arranging investigations and preparing public opinion. - - I will at all events endeavor to meet you so as to talk the matter - over more in detail. I shall be in London about the fourteenth, at - Hotel Cecil, and shall be at the Grand Hôtel in Paris toward the - eighteenth, and there I expect to remain about a fortnight. - - I will do my best to promote matters in the direction indicated. - - It is impossible for me to predict to-day whether I shall be able to - get to Scheveningen. At any rate I shall take the liberty of writing - you in regard to this, and one of the principal motives of my desire - to be there would be to have the opportunity of becoming better - acquainted with you. - - With genuine loyalty and respect - J. Bloch - -I also asked Prince Scipione Borghese to come to The Hague, as I had -just been informed that he had come out in favor of the peace cause. He -wrote back: - - Felice Scovolo, Lago di Garda, April 20, 1899 - - My dear Madam: - - Your pleasant letter, which I am very late in answering, has excited - our desires more than you would believe possible. To spend some time - with you and _un groupe du high-life pacifique_, closely following the - work of this Conference, which is without contradiction one of the - culminating facts of the history of our century, seems to us a - delicious dream. - - Unhappily your interesting invitation will preserve all the beauty of - a dream, which is always somewhat melancholy because of its unreality. - The marriage of my youngest sister to Count Hoyos, which is to be - celebrated toward the end of May in the depths of Hungary, calls us in - that direction, and up to that time I am kept here by the carrying out - of a social and agrarian transformation in which I am enormously - interested and which keeps me at its beck and call. - - As for the Conference, the idea of which is in itself so beautiful and - its convocation such a great victory, I hope that the good will of - certain governments may compensate for the ill will of so many others, - and that the whole thing will not remain in the realm of ideas but - will give us some practical fruits.... - - You will find in our two Italian delegates, Count Nigra and Count - Zanini, two charming men who are personally very well disposed. - - Sincerely yours - Scipione Borghese - -I received from Paris the subjoined letter, from one who was quite -unknown to me. It was the first step of an animated intercourse both -epistolary and personal,—I may say of a faithful friendship and -collaboration which has not yet ceased to ally me with the author, the -most successful peace worker in France. - - Paris, April 10, 1899 - - My dear Madam: - - Since I have abandoned diplomacy to enter Parliament, I have begun to - publish in the _Revue des deux mondes_ a series of studies on the - precarious state of Europe and on the necessity imposed on all - civilized states of uniting in behalf of progress and of war on evil. - These studies, the first dated April 1, 1896, the second July 19, - 1897, will shortly be brought to a close by a third part, in which - international arbitration and relative disarmament are brought forward - as the conclusion. - - My nomination as one of the French delegates to The Hague will prevent - me from finishing this long work, though at the same time permitting - me to make it more united. I perceive, in fact, that I still require - many indispensable data not found in books. Perhaps I might obtain - them by addressing myself to your kindness of heart, since you allow - none of the manifestations of public opinion regarding universal peace - to escape you. - - This is the question that preoccupies me: Is popular sentiment in - Austria-Hungary generally and personally hostile to war? No one can - know that, but still one may have an impression. What is yours? - - If in each country in the world a like opinion, not in the clouds but - well thought out, could be obtained, with what force it could and - should weigh on the governments and consequently on their delegates at - the Conference. - - Please accept, madam, the very respectful admiration of a Frenchman - who, without knowing you, is devoted to you. - - D’Estournelles de Constant - -In my reply to this letter I brought up the hindrances which, through -the apathetic and sometimes hostile opinions of influential persons and -of the masses, were blocking the work of the Conference. From this point -of view I pleaded for a continuity of the international conferences; -for, while I expected everything from the development of the movement as -already started, certainly not much was to be expected from this first -session, made up as it was of at least as many doubters and opponents as -adherents. Thereupon Baron d’Estournelles wrote me a long letter, from -which I translate the following passage: - - I am completely in accord with you, gracious lady, only I am somewhat - more optimistic than you are with regard to the results of the - Conference. I believe, and the more I think it over the more I - believe, that the Conference cannot help doing some good—more than is - expected of it. The members will feel the revelation of the living - world, the wishes of humanity, and the nearness of the terrible - dangers that threaten Europe. - - None of the governments represented at The Hague will be willing to - expose themselves to the unpopularity, the dissatisfaction, the - ridicule, of the people, which would be evoked by a failure or a - wretched, disappointing result. - - Therefore, voluntarily or involuntarily, some good will be - accomplished, and, once on this path, it must be pursued to the end. - It will be impossible, it will be dangerous, to hold back. - -The pamphlet entitled “Perpetual Peace,” by the Munich professor Von -Stengel, came out. In this all the arguments of the opponents, all the -glorification of war and of armaments, that have ever been brought -against the notion of peace are summed up, and there is added -out-and-out derision of the approaching conference daydream. And the -author of this pamphlet had been nominated by the German government as -its representative at the Hague Conference! This aroused great -consternation in our circles, and the German peace associations -protested publicly. - -From Austria, Lammasch, professor of international law, and Count -Welsersheimb, attached to the diplomatic service, were appointed as -delegates. The latter, hitherto a stranger to me, made me a call in -order to secure facts relating to the peace movement. - -On the eleventh of May I received a telegram from Bloch. The desire to -form a committee, consisting of political economists, military men, and -politicians, which should institute and publish investigations -concerning the presumable results of a future war between the great -powers, characterized the aim of Bloch’s plans and action. He -telegraphed: - - Shall reach The Hague the sixteenth. Hope to find room at your hotel. - In case Conference at the beginning fails to institute serious - investigation, plan to form a committee which shall undertake this - work. I have letters from Prussian generals which show that the idea - is already ripe. I am ready to guarantee the expenses. It would be - very desirable, using Vienna as a rendezvous, to secure a number of - names of political economists and statisticians, and, if possible, of - military men. I think that, for execution of the plan, reporters on - special divisions of my work, or independent workers, should be - nominated, who subsequently should be coördinated through a central - committee. Any other method, however, equally acceptable. - - Bloch. - -The two grand masters of the movement, Hodgson Pratt and Élie Ducommun, -sent me the following letters before my departure for The Hague: - - St. Germain-en-Laye [without date] - - Madame la Baronne: - - I see from the newspapers that you are, as is most fitting, at The - Hague. You are a witness of one of the greatest events of modern - times, and I venture to write a few lines to congratulate you on the - fact that you have been able to contribute to the bringing about of - this great event. All changes in human affairs are in these days due - to the all-powerful influence of _public opinion_; and you have - possessed special gifts and opportunities of contributing to the - formation of that great power of opinion. The very fact of your being - _a woman_, and of your being a member of the aristocracy in an - essentially aristocratic and military nation, has powerfully attracted - attention in Continental Europe by your writings and speeches. You - have been able to speak and write with a special and personal - experience not possessed by the majority of the advocates of - international unity and concord. To this work you have brought the - great gifts of eloquence and sincere enthusiasm. God has blessed your - efforts in enabling you to see at least some of the results of your - devoted and unselfish work. - - In such a moment it is alike a pleasure and a duty to give expression - to the feelings which, as a humble brother during many years, I - entertained in regard to your great services with all my heart. - - I hoped to have said this to you _viva voce_ at Bern a few weeks ago, - and was much disappointed at not seeing you there. I regretted that - the members of the commission did not see their way to the appointment - of two or three experts in the question of arbitration tribunals, and - so forth, such as Mr. La Fontaine, and others. - - But doubtless there are delegates who will do all that is necessary, - and influence their colleagues by their knowledge and earnestness. It - is a profound source of satisfaction to know that Sir Julian - Pauncefote is taking part in the proceedings; no better man in our - cause could have been sent. - - I desire to be heartily remembered to the Baron von Suttner; and - remain with profound esteem, - - Yours truly - Hodgson Pratt - - Bern, May 10, 1899 - - My dear Madam and dear Colleague: - - You have caused me great joy in addressing to me your two letters, - which I consider as the private diary of an apostle of peace, and - which we shall preserve with particular care because there will be - found in them, in time to come, precious information. Many of our - friends to whom I have communicated your impressions have got from - reading them a confidence and a courage which they to some degree - lacked. Continue, I beg of you, to keep me informed in this way. - - The editing of the bimonthly correspondence will naturally demand the - greatest prudence, and I shall find it difficult to make selections - from the reports of the press; your _renseignements intimes_ will help - me out of this difficult pass. - - You cannot believe how many inquiries for information I receive to - which I am obliged to reply immediately, carefully guarding my - replies. It is a good sign, for it means that everywhere people are - beginning to interest themselves in the questions that figure in the - programme of The Hague; but the bad side of the medal is that, as I am - obliged to remain at my post, ready at any given moment to radiate - from the center to the extremities whatever it may become necessary to - communicate to the groups of peace at a given moment, I cannot bring - to you at The Hague the support of my presence and my efforts. Each to - his place! You fit admirably in yours, and that is the main thing. - - _Bon courage!_ - - Every good wish to M. de Suttner, I beg of you, and to the other - devoted peace workers who may inquire for me occasionally. - - Your devoted and affectionate colleague - Élie Ducommun - -The founder of the Red Cross, Henri Dunant, gave me the following -directions for the way we are traveling. Proof is shown therein that -Henri Dunant desired from the Conference not the promotion of the work -which he had established, but rather the establishment of a great new -work, international justice. No longer was “Red Cross” his rallying cry, -but “White Banners.” - - May 16, 1899 - - My dear Baroness: - - Permit me, madam, to insist very strongly on what I consider a capital - point, namely, the extreme importance of seeing the Congress pass an - official, diplomatic resolution on the subject of a _Permanent - Diplomatic Commission on Mediation_. In my letter of the twelfth I - called it a “Permanent Bureau on Mediation”; now the word “Commission” - is more suitable, and, too, it must not be confounded with the - permanent International Bureau of Peace at Bern, which is a voluntary - work and has no diplomatic mission—that is to say, in the eyes of - diplomacy it does not count. - - All our efforts ought to be concentrated on this special point, - without concerning ourselves with the rest. And for this, personal - dealings on your part with the delegates are necessary. But in my - opinion it is important to go no farther. Let them discuss the first - seven articles of the official Russian programme as much as they - please, and let us not meddle with it; do not dispute with them on - this subject, for it would weaken the authority of your words. But, as - to Article 8 of the said programme, stand firm on the necessity, the - urgency, the opportuneness, and even the courtesy toward his Majesty - the Tsar, of a formal diplomatic decision of the Hague Conference, in - a “resolution” to be made obligatory by the subsequent official - ratification of all civilized governments. Hint to the delegates that - it would be desirable that this resolution relative to Article 8 - should be distinct from all the others relative to the first seven - articles. - - Whatever be the instructions of their respective governments, the - delegates can always telegraph or write their governments on this - special point, either before or at the moment of the discussion of - Article 8, to ask for special instructions relative to it. This was - done during the Geneva Congress of 1864, and many governments wired - their delegates authorization to sign the protocol of the convention. - With much more reason they could authorize the signature of a “special - resolution relative to Article 8.” - - To attain these ends, it is important to talk the delegates over, to - win them one by one, to astonish them by the moderation of our desires - and the definiteness of what we wish. You alone, madam, are capable of - doing this. The opportunity is unique; but let us keep within bounds. - If this resolution is passed, everything is won. The future will - develop all that we can desire; but let us not lose ourselves in - details. - - I was at Brussels in 1874, when Prince Gortchakoff cheated me out of - my congress in favor of prisoners of war (under preparation for two - years) by supplanting it with a congress on the “usages of war,” - swallowing up the prisoners and even the Geneva Convention! I suffered - terribly at that time, for there was no result, and here for - twenty-five years those deliberations taken in secret congress have - remained a dead letter! - - You know that Article 8 runs thus: - - The acceptance, in principle, of the use of good offices, mediation, - and voluntary arbitration, in cases adapted to such means, with the - object of preventing armed conflicts between nations; an agreement as - to the mode of applying these means; and the adoption of a uniform - practice in using them. - - I am, my dear Baroness, most respectfully yours - H. Dunant - - P.S. At some moment during the Congress—which will last a long - time—could you not see the young Queen in order to explain all this to - her? - - 1. Article 8 must be made the subject of a special “resolution” by the - Hague Congress (a separate protocol). - - 2. And on the subject of this special resolution the Congress should - try to find a diplomatic method of acting which shall permit Holland - to play the part which the Swiss Federal Council plays for the Geneva - Convention. It is a fine rôle. - - Affairs do not proceed promptly in diplomacy. The Swiss Federal - Council convoked the governments by a diplomatic invitation dated June - 6, 1864. But the recommendation signed by France went to the same - states a few days later in June. - - Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris, and I had - arranged that on April 22, 1864; and from that time the Swiss Federal - Council at Bern has had all the protocols in its possession. Only last - year it received notices of assent to the Geneva Convention from the - Transvaal, the Republic of Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Honduras; and that - has been pending since 1864. Holland should play for the “resolution” - resulting from Article 8 of the programme of the Congress the same - rôle as the Swiss Federal Council does for the Convention. For this - purpose the delegates taken individually must be persuaded to separate - the protocols; one protocol for the first seven articles of the - programme (or any other way, as they please) and an entirely separate - and independent protocol for the “resolution” proceeding from Article - 8. - -And now, with minds keyed high, and with joyous hearts, we got ready to -go to The Hague. - - - - - LVIII - THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE - - My Hague diary · Arrival · First interview · Stead’s interviews with the - Tsar and with Bülow · Our call on the Austrian delegation · Divine - service in the Russian chapel · Opening session · Johann von Bloch · - Party at Beaufort’s · Yang-Yü and his wife · Baron d’Estournelles · Léon - Bourgeois · We give a dinner · Richet’s call · Luncheon with Frau - Moscheles · Andrew D. White · Extract from Staal’s opening speech · Call - on our ambassador’s wife · Count Costantino Nigra · Reception at court · - Lord Aberdeen · Sir Julian Pauncefote · Bloch plans a series of lectures - · Plenary assembly of May 25 · The Russian, English, and American - motions - - -In 1900 I published a comprehensive book[30] in which I gathered -together all the events of my sojourn at The Hague, all the reports -regarding the proceedings, the text of the most important speeches, and -the accurate statement of the various conventions. Those who may wish to -have a detailed account of the character, the course of events, and the -direct results of that historic assemblage I would refer to that -publication. Here I shall merely introduce my personal recollections; I -shall copy in their original form extracts from my private journal which -I used and elaborated for that book, of course excluding everything that -was too confidential and therefore uninteresting. - -At the same time I shall introduce minutes of the proceedings and -observations on world politics, for, if I am to give the history of my -life conscientiously, these things require much space. They were not -applied as accidental embroidery, but have been woven into the very -fabric of my existence. Whatever has taken place either in behalf of the -cause of peace or in opposition to it, anywhere in the world,—and -especially what occurred in those days at The Hague, where the -Conference was called together in the name of that cause,—was not a mere -experience from without, it was an essential part of my life. - - -May 16. Arrival at The Hague. The city steeped in the magic of spring. -Radiant sunshine. Lilac perfumes in the cool air. Our rooms in the hotel -all ready. Nine o’clock in the evening. We are still sitting in the -dining-room. The correspondent of the _Neues Wiener Tagblatt_ is -announced. Receive him and he takes his place at our table. He begins -the interview with great liveliness: - -“Have just been having a talk with the representative of a first-class -power. There seems to be no great doubt as to the prospective -outcome,—amplification of the Geneva Convention—” - -“If nothing more than that should be accomplished, it would be an -outrageous trick played on the hopes of the nations, and also a -disappointment for the Tsar, whose wishes for an arbitral tribunal—” - -The correspondent laughingly interrupted me: - -“We spoke about this also. Now that is simply childish. The states would -not comply with a decision which did not please them.” - -“Such a case has never once occurred.” - -“For the reason that, up to the present time, arbitration has settled -only trivialities; but when vital questions are concerned—” - -Forever and ever the time-worn arguments. I heard it come in its regular -sequence, “the vital question,” although no one knows exactly what he -means by it. What, indeed, can these “vital” concerns be that are best -promoted by killing off men by the hundred thousand? - -May 17. Stead arrived. Directly from St. Petersburg, where he had an -audience with Nicholas II, lasting an hour and a half, and spoke quite -candidly about Finland. The Tsar also empowered him to speak on the same -theme—in favor of Finnish liberties—the next day in a public assembly. - -Stead also stopped over in Berlin on his way hither, and had a -conversation with Bülow, bringing up among other things the case of -Professor Stengel and his antipeace pamphlet. Herr von Bülow at first -denied that the professor had written the brochure, and was quite hot -about it. - -“It is not true,” he declared, “it is pure invention.” - -“That cannot well be said, for the pamphlet is in its third edition....” - -“It was a simple lecture,” the minister now opined, “delivered in a -gathering of friends, and issued by the publisher behind the author’s -back.” - -That is scarcely thinkable either; but this much is clear,—the pamphlet, -if not its author, is disavowed. The appointment had been made, it was -claimed, without any knowledge of the lecture. And if that were the -case, Herr von Stengel should have declined the appointment. Any one who -has publicly called an endeavor a daydream does not proceed to take part -in the dreaming. Suppose then the intention or the orders were to oppose -it! But even if these orders were not directly given, still it is -melancholy that an opponent of the cause should be sent as a delegate. - -The Grelixes have arrived too. Felix Moscheles tells of the campaign of -agitation which he and Stead have undertaken all through the English -cities. He was one of the deputation that communicated the results of -the crusade to the Russian ambassador, who had already been appointed to -head the Russian delegation. Herr von Staal said to Moscheles: “The -Conference is admirably prepared for by these public demonstrations of -the people’s desire for peace. If I may be pardoned for using the vulgar -phrase, _Vous avez mis du foin dans nos bottes_.”[31] - -In the afternoon a round of calls. When our carriage draws up before the -Hotel Paulez, Count Welsersheimb comes out and invites us up to his -drawing-room, saying that the whole Austrian delegation is assembled -there. In fact, the little room is filled with our fellow-countrymen, -among them Herr von Merey, head of a division in the Ministry of Foreign -Affairs,—slender, aristocratic, agreeable; Viktor von Khuepach zu Ried, -lieutenant colonel on the general staff; Count Soltys, commander; -Professor Lammasch, abrupt but at the same time polite; Count Zichy, not -a delegate but Austrian ambassador at Munich. The conversation turns -naturally on the Conference. I have the impression that those present -are filled with lively interest regarding this phenomenon “Conference,” -but an interest mingled with astonishment and skepticism, with an amazed -and curious excitement, such as the marvels of nature seen for the first -time are wont to arouse. - -May 18. The eighteenth of May, 1899! This is an epoch-making date in the -history of the world. As I write it down I am deeply impressed with this -conviction. It is the first time, since history began to be written, -that the representatives of the governments come together to find a -means for “securing a permanent, genuine peace” for the world. Whether -or not this means will be found in the Conference that is to be opened -to-day has nothing to do with the magnitude of the event. In the -endeavor lies the new direction! - -May 19. This is the way yesterday went: In the morning, divine service -in the Russian chapel in celebration of the Tsar’s birthday. My Own and -I were invited. The place is small and scarcely a hundred people were -present, the men in gala uniform, the ladies in semi-informal dress. The -high mass begins. The congregation, all standing, reverent and devout, -follow it. It seemed to me as if it were my part not to pray _for_ -Nicholas II, but to address _to_ him the petition: “O thou brave of -heart, remain firm! Let not the ingratitude and the spite and the -imbecility of the world penetrate to thee to disturb and paralyze; even -if an attempt is made to belittle and misinterpret and even block thy -work, remain firm!” - -The priest holds out the cross to be kissed: the mass is over. Now -greetings and introductions are exchanged. I make the acquaintance of -Minister Beaufort’s wife. - -Drive to the opening session of the Conference. Brilliant sunshine. -Numerous carriages proceed through the shaded avenues to the “House in -the Wood,” as if in a festive parade in the Prater or the Bois. At the -grated gate a military guard of honor makes the customary salutes. I am -the only woman permitted to be present. - -What I experienced here was like the fulfillment of a lofty ambitious -dream. “Peace Conference!” For ten long years the words and the idea -have been laughed to scorn; its advocates, feeble private persons, are -regarded as “Utopians” (the favorite polite circumlocution for “crazy -fellows”); and now, at the summons of the most powerful of the war -lords, the representatives of all the sovereigns are gathering, and -their assembly bears that very name, “Peace Conference.” - -From the opening address of Minister Beaufort: - - By his initiative the Emperor of Russia has desired to fulfill the - wish expressed by his predecessor, Alexander I, that all the rulers of - Europe should come to an understanding together, so as to live like - brethren and to support one another mutually in their necessities. - -It seems to me that Nicholas II desired more than that; the question -does not affect so much the necessities of all rulers as those of all -nations. The armaments are burdensome to the nations, not to the rulers. -The so-called dynastic interest lies more in military pomp and the -prestige of warlike power. - -And Beaufort again: - - The object of the Conference is to seek for means to put a limit to - incessant armaments and alleviate the heavy distress that weighs on - the nations. The day of the assembling of this Conference will be one - of the most notable in the history of the closing century. - -After Beaufort’s speech Ambassador Staal is chosen president of the -Conference. Then follow the other nominations; the whole piece of -business lasts only half an hour,—it was intended to be merely a formal -opening ceremony. The first session is appointed for the twentieth, and -at the same time it is announced that journalists will not be admitted -to the deliberations. (Alas!) - -May 19. Bloch arrived. We greet each other like old friends. A man of -sixty, with short-cropped, grizzly beard, a bright, kindly expression, -unconstrained, elegant manners, a thoroughly natural, simple mode of -speech. I inquire of him as to the reception of his book by the Tsar. -Bloch tells us the story, and the delegates and journalists in the -drawing-room listen with interest: - - Yes, the Tsar has studied the work thoroughly. When he received me in - audience, the maps and tables from the book lay spread out on the - tables, and he had me carefully explain all the figures and diagrams. - I explained until I was tired out, but Nicholas II did not grow weary. - He kept asking new questions or throwing in observations which - testified to his deep appreciation and interest. “So _this_ is the way - the next war would develop,” he said; “_those_ would be the results, - would they?” - - The Ministry of War, to which a copy had to be submitted, furnished - the Emperor with a report and voted to authorize its publication. In - justifying its report it said: “Such a comprehensive and technical - book will not be much read; it is therefore far less dangerous than - the Suttner novel, _Die Waffen nieder_. Inasmuch as the censor passed - the latter, Bloch’s ‘War of the Future’ may _a fortiori_ be admitted.” - -In the evening a party at Beaufort’s. Like all parties in court or -diplomatic circles, and yet so entirely different. Something new has -come into the world, namely, the official treatment of the theme -“Universal Peace,” and that necessarily—being indeed the _raison d’être_ -of this reception—introduces the topic for general discussion. - -A question which very commonly serves to start the conversation is this: -What do you expect from the Conference? This question was quite -frequently put to me, or else this: Are you not happy to see your hopes -so realized? - -“Yes, very happy,” I could answer truthfully enough; “I had not once -hoped to see so much and that so speedily done.” To the first question I -had to reply that I expected from this Conference only that it would be -a beginning, a first step, a foundation stone laid. - -I am becoming acquainted with the majority of the participants, even -with the delegate from China and his wife. He is at the same time -ambassador to the court of Russia. - -“In St. Petersburg I heard you much talked about,” said Yang-Yü to me, -through his interpreter, Lu Tseng-Tsiang; “Count Muravieff told me about -his talk with you.” - -The Chinese delegate’s young wife wears her native costume, including an -embroidered silk robe, a tiny cap on her head, and paper flowers on each -side of her temples. She is a pretty young woman, yet quite of the type -which you see on Chinese porcelain; at the same time she is so heavily -rouged that her face resembles a changeless enameled mask. She is very -friendly and shakes hands vigorously with all who are presented to her. -She is accompanied by her son, a lad of twelve or thirteen, who speaks -English and French and interprets for her. - -Meet many of the old friends, Descamps, Beernaert, Rahusen, and others. - -A stranger approaches me: “Baroness, I am happy to meet you again.” It -is Baron d’Estournelles. We have not met before, but our preceding -correspondence justifies the word “revoir.” He is a genial man, with -fine head, dark mustache, and diplomatic manners; we have a -heart-to-heart conversation. His speech sparkles with witty -observations, but a profound earnestness inspires him for the Cause. - -At my request he introduces to me his chief, Léon Bourgeois. The former -French Prime Minister is the youngest head of a delegation, and when -seen among all the white-haired ambassadors, veterans in diplomacy, such -as Staal, Münster, Nigra, and Pauncefote, he with his black head -resembles (as Stead says) a starling among sea gulls. - -M. Bourgeois tells me about Frédéric Passy, whom he has lately seen and -talked with. Our _doyen_ would gladly have come to The Hague, but he had -to give it up on account of an eye trouble. He submitted to an operation -in the hope that he might be able to come to the city of the Conference -with restored eyesight; but Bourgeois says that the operation, although -it was successful, has not been attended by so prompt a recovery as had -been expected. - -May 20. Again a round of calls. The drive through the streets of The -Hague is exactly like going through a park. Not only in the _bosch_, -where the _huis_ put at the service of the Conference stands, but -everywhere are gigantic old trees; everywhere are green grassplots; and -everywhere, in this May time so rich in flowers, are heard the lovely -carols of the birds. Almost every house has a garden, and houses for -rent are not to be seen; every house, built in the style of a villa or a -small château, is the home of only one family. Of course this is true -only of the aristocratic quarter, which surrounds the royal palace and -leads from the squares where the best hotels, like Vieux Doelen and -others, are situated, down to Scheveningen. - -Our drawing-room is always full of callers, and from early in the -morning with interviewers; to-day, among others, the editors of the -_Frankfurter Zeitung_, the _Écho de Paris_, and _Black and White_. - -From Paris comes the news that the operation on Frédéric Passy has had -such unfavorable consequences that not only is he suffering intolerable -pain but even his life is in danger. Great consternation in our whole -circle. Of all the living champions of peace Frédéric Passy is without -question the most loved and honored by all who know him and his work. - -At the first plenary session to-day Herr von Staal is to define in his -address the goal and direction which his imperial master wishes the -Conference to take. How regrettable that the press is excluded! The -president’s speech would be telegraphed this very day to all the -newspapers in the world. - -May 21. Whitsunday. Dr. Trueblood from Boston arrived. He tells us that -he knows for a certainty that the United States government has committed -to its delegates a thoroughly formulated plan for a court of -arbitration. - -A sculptor from Berlin, Löher is his name, shows us the model of a peace -memorial which he would like to exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 1900. -Thus in new regions, in forms more and more varied, the new ideal is -cherished. - -At the same time, to be sure, how deeply rooted, how mighty is the old -ideal still, that of war,—everywhere prevalent, even among those -attending this Conference; just read Professor Stengel’s pamphlet!... -And the fearful thing is, ideas progress slowly, while events march -swiftly. If a case like that at Fashoda, if the controversy in the -Transvaal, suddenly precipitates a conflict while the Conference is -still in session, how it would disturb its theoretical labors! - -We give a small dinner. Our guests are Okoliczany, the Austrian -ambassador at The Hague, Count Welsersheimb, Baron d’Estournelles, Count -Gurko, and Councilor von Bloch. It was a satisfaction to me to hear -Baron d’Estournelles talk with my countrymen about the hopes and views -with which the members of the French delegation are inspired. A -satisfaction for this reason, that I had been compelled to hear many -Austrians, not here but in Vienna, ask, “How can the Conference succeed? -Even though we are sincere lovers of peace, the French, who know no -other thought than revenge, and who are represented at the Conference -only out of politeness to the Tsar, will assuredly make every endeavor -to prevent any results, even if they do not purposely conjure up a -conflict!” - -If by chance Herr von Okoliczany and Count Welsersheimb had this notion -of their French colleagues in the Conference, they have certainly this -evening been set right. - -My guests also listen with lively interest to Bloch’s remarks and -elucidations. Of course all know about his great book, have read -criticisms of it, and have had a chance to turn the leaves of the six -volumes as they lie on my drawing-room table; and so they give the most -eager attention to what the author himself relates regarding the -establishment of his work and its results. In this exposition Bloch -speaks so calmly, modestly, and to the point! It is felt that his -conviction rests on scrupulously investigated facts; he is conscious in -his own mind that he has gathered the simple truth and given it out in -its full scope. - -D’Estournelles announces a visitor. To-morrow Charles Richet is coming -to The Hague as D’Estournelles’s guest. This very day Richet’s latest -book had reached me,—a succinct history of the peace movement. The -French savant, editor of the _Revue scientifique_, is with us heart and -soul; he and Frédéric Passy are members of the board of directors of the -French Peace Society. It is therefore a twofold pleasure to hear that -the representative of France here at The Hague is a friend of his; more -than a friend, an admirer. _C’est un grand cœur, une belle -intelligence_; such is D’Estournelles’s judgment on Charles Richet. - -May 22. Another “meeting again” (_Wiedersehen_) with an old acquaintance -whom I had never seen; Charles Richet calls on us and brings us -greetings from our poor Passy. He has hopes that he will get well, but -none that he will come to The Hague. Richet proves to be a great -enthusiast in our cause. I wanted to keep him for luncheon, but he and -D’Estournelles are invited to the French ambassador’s. - -In the meantime we had an invitation to a luncheon given by Frau Grete -Moscheles to Andrew D. White, head of the American delegation and -ambassador to Berlin. - -The information which Dr. White gave us filled us all with the keenest -satisfaction: “I am guilty of no indiscretion,” he said at dessert, “if -I tell you that at the first session of the arbitration committee we -shall bring forward a complete plan for an international tribunal,—and -this at the command of the United States government. I cannot as yet -give the details, but the fact itself will, and should, be no secret.” - -May 23. In spite of closed doors, Staal’s opening address is already -known. An English paper has printed it. I extract the specially -significant passages: - - The name “Peace Conference,” which has been conferred on our meeting - by the instinct of the nations, anticipating the decisions of the - governments, designates correctly the object of our endeavors; the - “Peace Conference” cannot be unfaithful to the mission intrusted to - it; it must bring forth a tangible result such as the whole world - confidently expects from it. - - ... Let me be permitted to say that diplomacy, following a general - process of development, is no longer what it formerly was,—an art in - which personal cleverness plays the chief rôle,—but is on the point of - becoming a science with definite rules for the settlement of - international difficulties. This is to-day the ideal aim which it must - keep before its eyes, and it will unquestionably be a great advance if - there is a successful attempt made here to settle some of those rules. - - Therefore we must take special pains to generalize and to codify the - application of the principles of arbitration as well as of mediation - and friendly offices. These ideas, so to speak, form the very kernel - of our task, the common aim of our endeavors, that is to say the - solution of international controversies by peaceful means. - - ... The nations cherish a burning desire for peace, and we are - responsible to mankind and to the governments that have empowered us - with their authority, we are responsible to ourselves, to do a - profitable work in establishing methods of employing some of the means - for securing peace. In the front rank of these means stand arbitration - and mediation. - -Charles Richet and his son breakfast with us. One thing Richet said -makes a deep impression on me: “On all sides we are compelled to hear it -said that the time has not yet come to carry out our ideals. This may be -so, but certainly the present is the time to prepare for it.” - -In the afternoon a call on Frau von Okoliczany. This lady—born Princess -Lobanof—has the reputation of having been a dazzling beauty. She is -still beautiful. Figure, shoulders, arms of statuesque harmony of lines. -The white cashmere tea gown in which she received us has loose sleeves -which leave her fair, round arms free. Hands have their individual -physiognomies, as is well known; Frau von Okoliczany’s beautiful hands -accompany her vivacious conversation with what might be called vivacious -pantomime, and the motions of her arms are eloquent. - -A caller comes in,—Count Costantino Nigra. Can it be possible that this -slender, tall man, with his thick, wavy hair still blond, with his -regular features showing scarcely any marks of age, is already seventy -years old? Of course the conversation turns on the Conference and its -objects. Count Nigra gives the impression of being thoroughly imbued -with the solemnity of the task, and of being hopeful of its results. - -Of course it is his duty, not only from a diplomatic point of view but -almost from that of propriety, to speak in this way. One would hardly -dare to take part in official, nay more, secret, deliberations, and then -make light of them in a drawing-room conversation. Only to Baron von -Stengel did it happen to be sent to a Conference the object of which he -had shortly before characterized as “a daydream.”... But apart from -diplomatic punctiliousness, you are instinctively aware when any one -speaks frankly and from conviction, and I get the impression that Count -Nigra is going to work earnestly and zealously for the cause. - - May 24 D’après les ordres de - Sa Majesté _la Reine_ - Le Maréchal de la Cour a l’honneur d’inviter - Monsieur le Baron, Madame la Baronne Berthe Suttner - née Comtesse Kinsky, et Mademoiselle de Suttner[32] - à une Soirée au Palais - Mercredi le 24 Mai à 9½ heures - en Gala - -One court function is like another: the long line of carriages which -drive in _à la file_ through the palace gates; the broad, covered steps -adorned with flowers, where the liveried lackeys stand on either side -and with dumb show indicate the way; the lofty, gilded drawing-rooms -with polished parqueted floors; the numberless uniforms and gala court -costumes of the men, the trailing light robes of the ladies, who are -adorned with diamonds, flowers, and heron plumes; the atmosphere full of -excitement and expectation. - -The first halls through which we pass are rather empty; we are shown by -the master of ceremonies through a vast, half-filled room, and farther -still into a salon which is quite densely crowded. Here people are -standing almost tête-à-tête. Nods of recognition and greetings are -exchanged; there is lively conversation. Some one remarks that it is -different at the English court. There the appearance of the Queen is -awaited in religious silence. - -A half hour elapses. In the adjoining drawing-room the guests take their -places round the center, which is left vacant. These are the diplomats -and their wives, for whom their majesties will hold court. The Chinaman -and his wife again make the most striking appearance in this circle. -They are in silken robes with rich embroidery of flowers, but Mrs. Yang -wears for the adornment of her head only the usual paper flowers hanging -down over her temples. - -“Leurs Majestés les Reines!” - -A lane is made in the circle and in come Queen Wilhelmina and Queen Emma -surrounded by their courtiers. Both are in white. A white veil flows -down from the Queen mother’s diadem. The girl Queen wears the broad band -of the Order of Catherine, which this day was conferred upon her by Herr -von Staal in the name of the Tsar. - -The circle is completed. The Queen stands for a moment before each lady -and gentleman, bows, speaks a few words, bows again, and passes on. - -After this diplomatic court is over, the other presentations are made. -Frau von Okoliczany leads me up to her Majesty and calls me by name. - -A brief conversation in French ensues. The young Queen, graciously -smiling, asks me, just as she probably asks most of the others, if this -is the first time I have ever visited The Hague and how I like it. I -include in my reply the observation that my sojourn in Holland is made -particularly happy by the greatness of the cause that brought me there. -The gracious little sovereign nods at that but says nothing. - -I was presented also to Queen Emma by our ambassador’s wife. - -After the two royal women have spoken with all present, the whole -company withdraws into a third salon, an enormous room, probably the -ballroom, where a long table, covered with flowers, fruits, cold dishes, -tea, and other liquid refreshments, stands along one side, while near -the other are little round tables at which the guests may sit. An -orchestra in the gallery plays various concert pieces. As I listened I -was surprised to hear the intermezzo from _Cavalleria Rusticana_. - -But not much attention is given to the music. Ear and eye and mind are -occupied with other things. Did I begin by saying that this court -function was like all others? That was wrong. This is a court function -such as has never been seen before since courts began,—a court function -which only a year ago, if prophesied, would have been laughed to scorn -as the wildest freak of the imagination. - -“Baroness, the Minister of War desires to be presented to you.” - -Then again,—“Gracious lady, permit me to introduce myself; my name is -Kramer, Secretary in the Ministry of War, and I am eager to tell you -that the ideal for which you stand in your novel I have been cherishing -in silence for two and thirty years, and now I am heartily rejoiced to -see its accomplishment drawing nearer.” - -I had a long conversation with Lu Tseng-Tsiang, Secretary of the Chinese -Embassy in St. Petersburg. - -“For us Chinese especially,” he remarked, “the attainment of the object -set by the Conference would be most highly desirable, for we are -particularly threatened by the most serious dangers of the European -policy of force.” - -Herr von Staal talks with me and Herr von Descamps about Johann von -Bloch and his book. “C’est un homme remarquable,” he observes. “He wants -to prove that peace is no longer a Utopia, but that, in the present -state of arms and armies, it is Utopia for civilized nations to wage -war. And,” adds the Russian diplomat, “he may be right.” - -May 25. A card is brought me, announcing the Earl of Aberdeen. I have -been for some time in correspondence with Lady Isabel Aberdeen, who is -to preside at the forthcoming Congress of Women in London. - -The earl, formerly Governor of Canada,—still a young man of tall, -slender figure, with a short, black beard,—brings me greetings from his -wife. He tells me that he has been taking an active part in the great -campaign of meetings organized by Stead, and has spoken at the -gatherings. Charles Richet joins us, also a few German newspaper -correspondents, who hitherto have heard and written only things -derogatory to the cause of peace; they lay stress especially on the -principle that the only guaranty for peace lies in the thorough armament -of Germany, since all the other nations are hungry for war. It was a -great satisfaction to me that they could hear the Frenchman and the -Englishman defend the cause in perfect unanimity and with the most -powerful arguments. At the same time, these two men are no “obscure -cranks,” but one of them is among the highest dignitaries of the British -Empire and the other is one of the most distinguished savants of the -University of Paris. - -In the afternoon, at the reception at the Russian Embassy, we meet Sir -Julian Pauncefote. He is seventy-one years old, but of robust physique; -his head and beard are already white, his beard cut in Austrian style -with the chin shaven; figure tall and slender; expression of face -friendly and noble. Just as services rendered on the battlefield justify -promotion to a superior command in a campaign of war, so distinguished -deeds in behalf of peace give a suitable title to appointment as a -delegate to this Conference. Sir Julian in his diplomatic career has to -his credit two great victories in the campaign of peace. - -He was ambassador in Washington when Cleveland’s message on the -Venezuela question startled the world, and everywhere the tidings flew -that war between the United States and England was unavoidable. If a -Chamberlain had been in his place at that post, possibly matters might -have gone to hostilities. Sir Julian was able to conduct affairs in such -a calm and conciliatory tone that the matter was submitted to the court -of arbitration which, at this very moment, under the chairmanship of -Professor von Martens, is deliberating on it in Paris. Secondly, Sir -Julian is the man who, together with the United States Secretary of -State Olney, on the eleventh of January, 1899, signed the famous -arbitration treaty between America and Great Britain—the first treaty of -the sort that was ever drawn up. He is not responsible for the fact that -the ratification which had to ensue failed by three votes of the -requisite two-thirds majority. - -Just as Dr. White had told us a few days before of the plan of the -Americans, so now Sir Julian assures us that his delegation, too, will -come out with a definite proposal in the third committee (that on -arbitration). He cherishes the strongest hopes of a positive result. I -bring the conversation to the stillborn Anglo-American treaty. He -replies that the matter will certainly be taken up again. “What does not -succeed on the first throw, my dear Baroness, succeeds on the second or -the third.” - -In the evening a party at the house of the Queen’s head chamberlain. -Again make the acquaintance of many great people, among them -distinguished “foreigners.” The German delegation is the only one from -which no one does me the honor of greeting me. Count Münster treats me -as if I were a rattlebrain. When Professor Stengel spoke in his pamphlet -of the “comical persons” of the peace movement, from whose grotesque -behavior and ideas he could not sufficiently warn people, he evidently -included me in the number. - -May 26. Bloch has conceived the idea of having a series of lectures to -which the public shall be invited. No other place, no other opportunity, -is so well suited for representing the “Utopia of War.” The documentary -and statistic-bolstered facts and conclusions which these lectures will -contain must be of especial interest, he says, to the military -delegates. My Own and I are assisting him in his arrangements, going -round with him in search of halls, giving orders, and the like. - -A visit from the correspondent of the _Frankfurter Zeitung_. He has just -come from Herr von Stengel, who assured the reporter that he had -protested only against the excrescences of the peace movement (well, -yes, the comical persons),—that, nevertheless, as a delegate he should -do his best to help the cause along. Very good! - -The correspondents of _Figaro_ and of the _Écho de Paris_ interview me. -Mr. Leveson-Gower, Secretary of the British Embassy, in behalf of the -_North American Review_ asks me to furnish an article on the movement -for the July number. - -At three o’clock, in Hotel Vieux Doelen, on business. Meet Stead there. - -“At last I see you,” I cried. “I always expect news from you, as you are -on such intimate terms with the delegates....” - -“And you shall have it. More important and better news to-day than you -could have hoped. Here is a copy of the report which I have just sent to -the English newspapers. Read it and rejoice with me. The Conference has -done a wonderfully fine stroke of work.” - -Here is an extract from the report: - - - PLENARY MEETING OF MAY 25 - - On the Order of the Day the subject of the third committee is - “Peaceable Adjustment of International Controversies.” - - Herr von Staal introduces the Russian proposals as a basis for the - deliberations. It is a document consisting of eighteen articles - bearing the title, “Elements for the Elaboration of a Convention to be - concluded between the Powers taking Part in the Conference.” These - elements are (1) Good offices and mediation, (2) International - arbitration, (3) International commissions of inquiry. - - Before the discussion of the articles begins, Sir Julian Pauncefote - rises in the name of his government and moves that a supplementary - article be added to the Russian plan, namely, the organization of a - permanent court of arbitration. In a brief but very impressive speech - the English delegate advocates this motion. He refers to the arguments - which are contained in his colleague Descamps’s “Address to the - Governments.”[33] - - The words and the positive action of the chief of the English - delegates evidently cause a great sensation. As he ends his speech, a - solemn silence reigns. Many of the members look at one another in - sheer astonishment—many of them, perhaps, for the first time - appreciate that serious matters are to be treated, brought forward by - practical statesmen acting with sincerity. - - Still greater is the surprise when Herr von Staal declares that the - Russian government also has in readiness a plan, in twenty-six - articles, for the establishment of a permanent court of arbitration. - - Next comes Dr. White with the American proposition. In the - introduction it says: “The proposition shows the earnest desire of the - President of the United States that a permanent international tribunal - be established for the adjustment, by means of arbitration, of the - controversies between nations, and shows the readiness of the - President to assist in its establishment.” How radical this proposal - was in its intentions can be seen in the third and fourth articles. - - “Article III. The tribunal is to be permanent, and ready at any moment - to undertake all cases that are submitted. - - “Article IV. All controversies of every kind[34] shall be subject to - decision by mutual agreement, and every case submitted must be - accompanied by a pledge to abide by the decision of the tribunal.” - -Indeed a fine stroke of work! So here at the very beginning are -positive, concrete plans in the name of four governments, proposed for -discussion and settlement. What a pity that such initiatives have not -come also from Austria, Germany, and France! - -What a pity, too, that the reports of this session, together with the -exact texts of the propositions, are not instantly telegraphed into all -the four quarters of the world and published and discussed in all the -newspapers, so that some understanding of the great interests here -involved may begin to dawn upon the world, and it may be a witness and a -judge as to the way and manner, how and by whom, these interests are -here represented! - - - - - LIX - THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (_continued_) - - J. Novikof · Reception at the Baroness Grovestins’s · Dr. Holls · - Utterances of the nationalistic press · Excursion to Scheveningen · We - give a small dinner · Threatening letter to Herr von Staal · At Ten - Kate’s · Reports from Descamps · Beernaert on the Geneva Convention · - Letter from Levysohn · Results in the matter of mediation · New - acquaintances · First of Bloch’s evening lectures: subject, “The - Development of Firearms” · Stead publishes a daily chronicle on the - Conference · Young Vasily’s album · Removal to Scheveningen · Baron - Pirquet brings a letter from the Interparliamentary Union of Brussels · - Bloch’s second lecture: subject, “Mobilization” · My birthday · Dinner - at Okoliczany’s · Lieutenant Pichon · Letters from aëronauts · - Discussion on the permanent tribunal · President Kruger and Sir Alfred - Milner · An amusing incident · Bloch’s third lecture: subject, “Naval - Warfare” · A conversation with Léon Bourgeois · His call to Paris · - False reports and denials · What Emperor Nicholas said to Stead · Rumor - of the blocking of the arbitration business · Bloch’s final lecture: - subject, “The War of the Future” - - -May 28. Novikof arrived. What kind of a man do you think is the author -of sociological-philosophical works of seven hundred royal-octavo pages -each, with such titles as _Les luttes entre sociétés humaines et leurs -phases successives_, _La théorie organique des sociétés_, and the like? -I have read these books and this is the idea of the man which I had in -my mind: White bearded, with spectacles, in externalities a trifle -neglectful of appearances,—for if a person sticks all day long poring -over learned books and carries round socialistic problems in his head, -he can scarcely be expected to bother himself with the petty vanities of -the toilet; I imagined him very earnest but free from pedantry,—for his -style is fresh and sparkling,—and probably a bit gloomy, for if one -looks so searchingly into the motive powers of the world, has been -busied so incessantly with the phenomena of wretchedness and suffering, -a mood of melancholy might well be expected. - -And the actual Novikof? An elegant man of the world, the jolliest of -companions, with far too youthful an appearance for his forty-nine -years; full of wit and _entrain_ in his conversation. I believe these -characteristics, charming as they are, injure him to a certain extent. -Any one who has not read his books would not suspect what a man he is, -would not take up the reading of them with that feeling of awe with -which one should bury one’s self in scientific works. - -In the forenoon a reception at the house of the Baroness Grovestins. -Almost all the delegates are present. On the stairs I meet Count Münster -and his daughter. In the drawing-room the family of the Chinese delegate -forms the center of a numerous group. Madame Yang wears the selfsame -coiffure as at the court, the same paper flowers down her temples, and -though it is daytime she is painted like a mask, just as if she were -under a chandelier. And yet there is a touch of lovableness in her -pretty little face. Her gestures when she extends her hand are something -like a wooden doll’s; but then she shakes the hand of the other person -so heartily that it seems to mean, “For life, old comrade!” Her son of -twelve and her little daughter of eight, both also in Chinese costume, -accompany her, and they bear the brunt of the conversation, for they -speak both English and French. - -These children will not be brought up as pure, unadulterated Chinese. -Behind their wall lies henceforth for them a piece of the world,—a -world, moreover, in which all nations are joined to treat together in -the name of universal peace; this idea will remain all their lives bound -up with the recollection of the sweetmeats which Fräulein von -Grovestins, with pretty speeches, offers them on a Delft plate. -Gradually all Chinese walls—there are others than that one which bounds -the Middle Kingdom—will fall. We already see them tottering. - -Make new acquaintances, among them Dr. Holls, the second American -delegate.[35] He sits down with me on a small corner sofa. We talk -German together. He is by profession a lawyer in New York; comes from a -German-American family; has a tall, thick-set, angular figure, and his -eyebrows are outlined high on his forehead like circumflex accents. He -confirms the news that I have heard from Stead. He informs me that -public interest in the Conference is nowhere else so keen as in his own -country. Cablegrams are received every day; resolutions and letters of -sympathy come from all the states and from the most diverse circles. -Each one of these messages is gratefully acknowledged, and they not only -are instrumental in strengthening the American delegates but also make a -strong impression on the representatives of other countries, who cannot -fail to see in this interest displayed by the Republic of the West a -significant sign of the times. I express my regret that this information -does not immediately make the round of the European press. - -“Yes,” assents Holls, “the exclusion of journalists was a great mistake. -The majority of the European states are represented here by diplomats -who see in mystery and secrecy the factors of successful diplomacy. We -Americans and a few others were opposed to it—but the majority decided. -Now it may result that the representatives of the great newspapers will -feel insulted and go away—a few have already done so. Their editors will -retaliate by belittling or ignoring the Conference.” - -May 29. By way of exception, no party. Spend the evening at home with a -group of friends,—Fried, the Grelix couple, the painter Ten Kate, and -Novikof. We get a scornful satisfaction in reading aloud a package of -extracts from the German nationalistic press. - -As the various _Neueste Nachrichten_ and the various _Lokalanzeiger_ in -Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Munich, and elsewhere comment on the -Conference, we find unqualified such expressions as “The disgusting -drama at The Hague,” “The Conference of Absurdities,” “The noxious -nuisance now under way, which must arouse righteous indignation in all -right-thinking men and genuine Germans,” “For the development of -universal history the comedy at The Hague will signify about as much as -a visit from ‘Charley’s Aunt’ would signify in the life of a single -individual.” - -And even _Vorwärts_ (_et tu, Brute!_)—which is not nationalistic but -scouts the Conference because it was called together by an autocrat and -is composed of aristocrats and bourgeois—even _Vorwärts_ writes: “How -long will the augurs restrain themselves before they burst out into -Homeric laughter and separate amid the laughter of the world?” - -Give heed, ye contemporaries! If ye fail to take seriously such a -serious work of beneficence, and to remind those who are engaged in -it—even though there be among them men of contrary opinion—of the -seriousness of their task, to hold them responsible for its -accomplishment, to take them at their word,—take care, I say, lest ye -yourselves have to repent not amid the laughter but amid the tears of -the world! - -May 30. Excursion to Scheveningen. From the city, which lies in the -midst of a garden, you drive a couple of miles through avenues lined all -the way with trees, like a park, down to the seashore. Along the way, to -right and left, are multitudes of villas behind flowering gardens. In -Scheveningen itself, along the shore, multitudes of hotels. Everything -as yet is deserted. A cold, salty wind blows from the North Sea, which -under a gray sky rolls in gray billows. The wicker chairs are not yet -brought down on the beach and the bathing machines are not in their -accustomed places. On the broad terrace of the Kurhaus, around the -silent music pavilion, already stand countless rows of tables and -chairs, but all unoccupied. On the sea no ships or boats are to be seen; -the bathing season does not seem to be open yet even for the sea gulls. - -Only a few carriages and pedestrians enliven the beach and the streets. -Scheveningen is indeed for all the residents of The Hague, and now -specially for the members of the Conference, a general goal for -promenading. We exchange greetings with many acquaintances. Our -fellow-countryman, Count Welsersheimb, has come down on his bicycle, and -chats with us as he wheels for some distance beside our carriage. Herr -von Okoliczany, accompanied by his slender daughter, rides by. The -Chinese flag is seen waving over the Hotel Oranje; Yang-Yü, with his -family, is the only delegate who has already left The Hague and taken up -his residence at Scheveningen. - -All those dikes, those structures! How painstaking and courageous the -Dutch people have been in rescuing their land from the waters! _Those_ -are battles worthy of men—against the weight and the wrath of the -elements. Should the dike-building against the wrath of our fellow-men -be alone unaccomplishable? - -We gave a small dinner, the party consisting of Rahusen, president of -the Chamber; Von Khuepach, the Austrian military delegate; the second -Russian delegate, Vasily[36]; Novikof, Bloch, and we three,—a small -circle at a round table, the most advantageous arrangement for general -and animated conversation. When the coffee was brought, we were joined -by the correspondent of the _Neue Freie Presse_, Dr. Frischauer, whom I -had invited, but who was prevented from coming sooner. - -After dinner a soirée at the Karnebeeks’. Frau von Staal tells me, in -the course of a conversation, how her husband is besieged every day with -addresses, memoranda, pamphlets, and deputations from all parts of the -world. - -“And I suppose with numberless letters also, many of them right crazy -ones?” - -“Oh, yes, even with threatening letters! Anonymous warnings that there -is a plan on foot to assassinate him.” - -“Why! that is horrible! How does Herr von Staal take that?” - -“He smiles at it!” - -The artist Ten Kate to-day gives us a jolly dinner at the hotel Twe -Steeden, where he lives during his sojourn at The Hague—his own home is -the estate Epé. His lovely wife does the honors. Among the guests are -Mesdames von Waszklewicz and Selenka, Herr von Bloch, Novikof, Dr. -Trueblood, and A. H. Fried,—in short, a little Peace Congress in itself; -and it is still more a Peace Congress when after dinner the door opens -and in comes the Chevalier Descamps. - -“Excuse the intrusion,” he exclaims; “my rooms are situated above this -dining-room. Your jolly voices reached me up there, and when I asked who -were celebrating a wedding downstairs I learned who were here, and so I -come, uninvited, but as the bringer of good tidings; we had a splendid -session to-day.” - -He is surrounded and interrogated. He tells us the third committee has -been that very afternoon wrestling with the question of the arbitration -tribunal, and indeed, as Descamps assures us, in a very satisfactory -manner. The plan broached in the well-known “memorandum to the -governments” has been taken as a basis of the new scheme; and the firm -intention of the majority of the members of the committee to bring the -matter to a positive result was manifested in that session. Descamps -himself has been intrusted with the report on the project. So the matter -is certainly in good hands. - -A call from Beernaert and his wife. He tells me with satisfaction the -result of the session from which he has just come. The second committee, -of which he is chairman, has voted to recommend the Brussels Treaty (an -extension of the Geneva Convention of 1864). - -“It delights me that you are delighted,” I replied, “but I tell you -frankly that the question of the humanization of war—especially in a -Peace Congress—cannot interest me. The business concerns the -codification of peace. Saint George rode forth to kill the dragon, not -merely to trim its claws. Or, as Frédéric Passy says, _On n’humanise pas -le carnage, on le condamne, parce qu’on s’humanise_” (“Carnage is not -humanized, it is condemned because men grow more human”). - -“_Vous êtes une intransigeante_—an irreconcilable,” he remarks with a -smile, and consoles me with the simultaneous progress of the Conference -on the arbitration question, of which I know he is the steadfast -promoter. - -I received the following letter from the editor of the _Berliner -Tageblatt_, to whom I had expressed my regret and astonishment that no -correspondence from the Conference was to be found in a paper of such -wide circulation: - - Berlin, May 31, 1899 - - My dear Baroness: - - Your kind letter of yesterday’s date compels me to inform you that, in - the first place, we are not unrepresented at the Hague Congress, so - that we are informed of everything necessary and worth knowing; and, - in the second place, that, in view of the hostile treatment the - members of the Congress have seen fit to accord the press, I consider - it unbecoming to degrade journalism by dancing attendance on the - various statesmen. - - Since the gentlemen, nevertheless, can only by the aid of publicity - show any proof of their industry and their good behavior,—a proof - which they must have to show to their superiors,—I quietly wait until - things come to me, and communicate to my readers only what is worth - their knowing. - - If such a man as Mr. Stead complains that nothing is told him, you - will easily comprehend that men who are not accustomed to be received - by the Tsar feel somewhat cool toward the actions of diplomacy. - - All this will not prevent me from joyously recognizing even the - slightest advance toward better things made during the deliberations - of the Congress, but I consider my paper and my readers too good to - snap up the crumbs that may fall from the news table of the Congress. - - I trust that you will be able to appreciate this attitude of an - independent and liberal newspaper, and that you will not, after this - statement, find anything strange in our position. - - With the expression of the most especial consideration I have the - honor of remaining - - Yours most sincerely - Dr. Artur Levysohn - -An unwarranted standpoint. Events of the day have to be communicated by -the press in accordance with their significance and entirely apart from -the sensibilities of the journalists. Consideration for the public must -turn the scale. - -To-day the bathing season and the Kurhaus at Scheveningen were opened. -Herr von Bloch invited us to a dinner at the Kurhaus. Among those -present were the journalists, Dillon and Dr. Frischauer. He tells us, -from information communicated to him by Professor Martens, that the -principle of mediation has been incorporated into the text of the -Convention; especially the duty of neutral states to offer “good -offices” at the threat of war or after the outbreak of hostilities, and -this henceforth shall never be regarded as an “unfriendly act.” Count -Nigra is to be thanked for this last paragraph. - -June 2. Dr. Frischauer takes his departure. He comes to say good-by to -us, and authorizes me to send to the _Neue Freie Presse_ in the form of -telegrams and letters everything interesting that may happen. - -In the evening the usual Friday reception at the Beauforts. Make several -new acquaintances; among them Turkhan Pasha. In his elegant external -appearance he reminds me of Rudolf Hoyos; he has been for many years -Minister of Foreign Affairs, and bears the title of Vizier. He enjoyed -the dubious fortune of having been military governor of the island of -Crete. He speaks the purest French, is courteous and gracious, but a -slightly satirical tone dominates his conversation. - -I also meet Noury Bey, the second Turkish delegate, a man at least forty -years of age, with very delicate features and reddish beard; he is -inspector in the Ministry of Public Works. Last year he was sent as -delegate from Turkey to the anti-anarchist Congress at Rome. Both the -Ottoman dignitaries give me the impression of not regarding the success -of the business here as especially likely or desirable. - -Chedomille Myatovic, former Servian Minister of Foreign Affairs and now -Minister Plenipotentiary at London, is on the other hand an enthusiastic -adherent of the ends proposed by the Conference. - -Augustin d’Ornellos Vasconsellos, the delegate from Portugal, tells me -that he has translated Goethe’s _Faust_ into his vernacular. - -I meet De Mier, Mexican ambassador in Paris. Except the United States -and Mexico, no American country is represented here. - -June 3. The evening of Bloch’s lecture. The public invited. Almost all -the delegates present. Many journalists, Dutch and foreign. Subject, -“The Development of Firearms.” Behind the lecturer’s desk a white -background for the stereopticon pictures. Bloch speaks with great -naturalness and simplicity; never seeks oratorical effects. It is -evident that he does not care to “deliver an address,” but only to say -what he has to say. He wants to show a picture of the war of the future. -And where would he find a more suitable public than the audience -assembled here,—diplomats and military men who would be called upon to -deliberate over some such war or to wage it, but are now called upon to -avoid it? - -The historic development of firearms, from the first flintlock down to -the latest models, is displayed before the audience by means of pictures -and charts. The projectile of the new infantry weapon sweeps away -everything that it encounters, within a range of six hundred meters. But -still greater improvements beckon. In all armies experiments are being -made with rifles of smaller caliber. It is calculated that if in the -Franco-Prussian War the present-day guns had been used, the losses would -have been at least four times as great; if the newest models had been -used, the losses would have been thirteen times as great. To be sure, -such a transformation in the armies of the _Dreibund_ and of the -_Zweibund_ would cost four billion francs. - -(Now, in view of such a fine result—just consider, thirteen times more -dead and maimed than with the primitive musket—four billions would not -indeed be too much, and this sum is easily raised by somewhat increasing -the living expenses of the laboring people!) - -That parenthesis is mine, not Bloch’s. His lecture is quite objective; -he makes no bitter attacks; he adduces figures and data; the drawing of -conclusions he leaves to the reason and the conscience of his hearers. - -The lecture is interrupted by a half hour’s recess. In an adjoining -hall, tables are loaded with all kinds of refreshments, which are passed -round. Bloch is host, and the lecture halls are transformed into -drawing-rooms, where greetings are exchanged, new acquaintances are -made, and impressions of the lecture are compared. - -June 5. The editor of the _Dagblad_ has granted Stead the first pages of -his paper for the publication of a daily chronicle of the Conference. -To-day the first number appeared. Excellently prepared. Will be of great -use. A splendid man, this Stead. First his nine months’ campaign in -writing and speaking, and now this labor! - -A seventeen-year-old son of Vasily’s calls on me. He brings an album, on -the cover of which appears in relief the word “Pax,” and he is getting -all the members of the Conference and the friends of peace who are here -to write their names in it. How many high military officers will -immortalize themselves in the Pax album! And the impression made on this -youth will certainly never be effaced. In what an entirely different way -the generation that will succeed us will approach the idea of universal -peace—they who will have been witnesses of this idea rising up and -forcing its way into official circles and into the foreground of -contemporary history. In our youth such a thing was either quite unknown -or made a matter of ridicule. If this boy who is making a collection of -contemporary autographs under the rubric “Pax” shall sometime obtain -office and honors, perhaps have to speak a weighty word in the political -questions of the future, then he will think very differently from our -grizzled politicians about the cause of national justice, and if at that -day a new official Peace Congress should be called, in which he and his -like should have to give their votes, then the proceedings would be -attended by many less doubts and difficulties than can possibly be the -case with the present Conference, the first of its kind. - -June 6. We move down to Scheveningen to the Hotel Kurhaus. It does not -take us long to get settled. At the end of two hours our corner -drawing-room looks as cozy as if it had been occupied for two -years—thanks to the kindness of the manager, Herr Goldbeck, who permits -us to arrange everything in our rooms just as we please. The prettiest -furniture of the as yet rather empty hotel is put entirely at our -service. Great studio windows occupy nearly all of two walls. One, -opposite the door, frames a picture of the sea; at the other the red -silken shades are pulled down and cause the whole room to be bathed in a -ruddy glow. Flowers in vases, in jardinières, and in pots; splendid -baskets of fruit, pineapples, melons, grapes,—the last a delicate -attention of Herr von Bloch’s; books, pamphlets, maps, newspapers. - -At yesterday’s session M. Descamps reported on the work of the -committee. Léon Bourgeois presided. How pleasant that now Stead’s -chronicle contains all these details of the sessions and the authentic -texts of the articles proposed. Now one can follow the course of events -quite accurately. An agreement has been reached regarding several -articles of the Russian proposal concerning good offices and mediation. - -Only there stands in the articles the fatal clause, “If circumstances -permit.” Here is clearly seen the result of compromise, which is -generally contained in the text of resolutions of such committees, -composed of advocates and opponents of any cause. Only under the -condition of a rider which robs the main article of its universal -validity will those of the other party give up their opposition. The -back door is saved, and that is the main thing with them. - -Arrival of Baron Pirquet. He has been in Brussels, where the council of -the Interparliamentary Union held a session in order to lay out a -programme for the Conference that is to take place in August at -Christiania; and he brings a letter from the Union to the colleagues -that are attending the Hague Congress. - -Pirquet breaks the news to me that my cousin Christian Kinsky, in whose -house we had spent so many pleasant hours, had died suddenly a few days -before. - -In the evening Bloch’s second lecture. He depicts the difficulties that -would attend the mobilization of the modern millionfold armies. After -the first fortnight of a war of the future a tenth part of the -armies—not counting the wounded—would be in the hospitals. He also cites -a statement made by General Haeseler: “If the improvement of firearms -continues, there will not be enough survivors to bury the dead.” - -This lecture, like the first, was interrupted by a recess for -conversation and refreshments. We talked with Léon Bourgeois about -events in Paris. There, it seems, a band of young men of title (Boni de -Castellane and others) attacked the President’s hat with their canes. -Bourgeois grants that this is disgusting; “but,” he adds, “it is no more -dangerous than the foam on the seashore.” - -June 7. At yesterday’s session the deliberations of the first committee -(on the laws of war, weapons, etc.) had the floor. Concerning this I -make no entry in my diary. The securing and organizing of peace have -nothing to do with the regulation of war, nothing at all—quite the -contrary! It is desired—that is, it is desired by many—that the -opposition between the two ends be abolished; they desire that the one -be substituted in place of the other! They are driving in the wedge that -shall split the work of peace. - -Imagine a congress convened for the enfranchisement of slaves; would a -convention then be necessary in regard to the treatment of the negroes, -concerning, for instance, the number of blows that might be meted out to -them when they should show themselves lazy in the work of the sugar -plantations? - -Or in the movement against torture as a means of securing justice, would -the agreement that the oil to be dropped into the victim’s ears should -be heated only to thirty degrees instead of up to the boiling point have -been a stage on the way to the goal, or rather a tarrying on that other -way which was to be abandoned? - -June 9. My Own waked me with a kiss and a warm “I thank thee!” - -“What for?” - -“That thou wert born!” - -Yes, quite right,—it is my birthday. That does not interest me, but what -is going to be born here,—national justice; that takes my whole mind -captive. Yesterday was devoted to the work of the third committee on -Article X of the proposal for a court of arbitration,—namely, the -article that shall determine the cases in which appeal to the court of -arbitration is to be obligatory, cases which “do not touch either vital -interests or the honor of states.” There again the back door, or rather -a barn door, for the entrance of war. He has good defenders here, the -brutal fellow! - -Great dinner at the residence of our ambassador, Okoliczany. My -neighbors are the Russian chargé d’affaires and M. Pichon, assistant -secretary of the French Delegation,—a young lieutenant with a saucy -little mustache. But he has understanding, and sympathy for our cause, -and is a great admirer of D’Estournelles. He acknowledges that the world -is progressing, and that a coming civilization will have no more room -for war; only he defends the colonial policy of war. He himself has been -in the Sudan. - -June 10. It is hard for me to keep up with my correspondence. I have -never before in the course of a whole year received so many letters, -telegrams, and voluminous writings as now, while I am here at The Hague. -They announce schemes, proposals, infallible methods for securing peace. -And all of this I am expected to make comprehensible to the delegates! -Inventors of airships and flying machines send me their plans and -prospectuses. By the conquest of the atmosphere the boundaries with -their customhouses and fortifications must needs disappear, opine these -aëronautical letter writers. - -Or is it true that the ministers of war are hurrying to build air -fleets? and to form flying regiments of uhlans? All new inventions are -invariably employed by the war authorities. And yet I am firmly -persuaded that every technical improvement, especially all means of -easier communication, ultimately lead to universal peace. - -Yesterday the arbitration committee took up Article XIII of the Russian -plan, calling for immediate consideration of the question of a permanent -tribunal, and that, too, of a tribunal not merely _in posse_ but _in -esse_. - -While they are here treating theoretically about arbitration, it is said -that the matter is to be put to a practical test once again. President -Kruger has proposed to Sir Alfred Milner that certain differences of -opinion should be submitted to arbitration. Sir Alfred objected that -such an action would put in question England’s sovereignty. - -June 11. At the Grovestins’s Sunday reception something amusing happened -to me. A Spanish lady, Señora Perez, asked me what I thought of peace. I -must have made a dubious face, for she anticipated my answer, saying, -“Do not decide, I beg of you, until you have read a book entitled _Die -Waffen nieder_. Have you heard of it?” - -“Oh, yes, until I am sick of it.” - -“Oh, no, no; first read it, and then express your opinion. The author is -said to be at The Hague.” - -“The author is sitting next you.” - -As so often happens, Señora Perez had missed my name when we were -introduced. - -Bloch gives a small dinner at the Hotel Royal. After dinner we drive to -his third lecture. Subject, “Naval Warfare.” The fate of wars is decided -not at sea but on land. Between two evenly matched fleets there will be -no decisive victory, but mutual destruction of the fleets. The -impossibility of protecting marine commerce in times of war. Comparison -of the expenses for the fleet with the value of commerce; the pretended -protection costs a hundred times more than the worth of what is -protected. - -Count Nigra sits near me. Bloch’s deductions greatly interest him. We -speak of the results to be expected. - -“The world finds it hard to understand,” said Nigra, “how momentous are -the foundations here being laid for the building of the future; nor does -it understand that the calling of the Conference is in itself an event -of supreme importance.” - -During the intermission an alarming rumor circulates, to the effect that -in the debate about the court of arbitration the “dead point” was -reached,—a decisive opposition on the part of one of the great powers. - -June 12. During the morning our quiet excursion in celebration of our -twenty-third wedding anniversary. In the evening a few guests at -dinner,—Bihourd, the French ambassador at The Hague, Captain Sheïn, of -the Russian navy, Léon Bourgeois, Bloch, and Theodor Herzl. - -I hardly ever had a more interesting table companion than Bourgeois. -What made our conversation so particularly enjoyable was our complete -agreement in matters concerning peace. The former—and perhaps the -future, who knows?—French Premier is enthusiastic for the objects of the -Conference. The task which he has to fulfill here seems to him far more -productive and important than the formation of a cabinet. In Paris a -ministerial crisis is at hand and Bourgeois will probably be recalled; -but he firmly intends to return so as to bring to an end to the best of -his ability the work here, “which promises to be useful to the world and -at the same time to his fatherland.” - -We talk among other things of the French national press. I regret the -hectoring tone, especially in that portion of the press which the people -at large read. - -“That is not so bad,” he replies. “Nowhere else do the people—especially -the workingmen—read the newspapers so much as with us; but they have no -faith in them. The French laborer buys a newspaper, reads it, chatters -about it, but doesn’t pin his faith to it. His mind is open, awake, and -he is thirsty for everything that is free and upright. Race hatred -disgusts him. I know what is thought in the workingmen’s circles, for I -myself come from them.” - -I ask him about the “dead point” in the arbitration question. - -“I cannot say anything just now,” is his reply, “but be assured—nothing -will be left untried.” - -We conclude the evening in the great music hall, where a concert -arranged by Manager Goldbeck is given in honor of the delegates. -Bourgeois is obliged to depart before the other guests; he must go back -to the city, he explains apologetically. - -After a while Count Nigra comes up to me: “Do you know the news? The -French ministry fell some hours ago. M. Bourgeois has just been summoned -to Paris by telegraph.” - -June 13. The _Neues Wiener Tagblatt_ prints a dispatch from The Hague: -“The negotiations regarding the court of arbitration, as we learn by -telegraph from Brussels, have completely gone to pieces.” - -I send a line to Chevalier Descamps, requesting him, if the -above-mentioned news is false, to write a denial and let me send it -immediately to the paper. Descamps himself comes to bring me the answer. -The news is false, and he allows me to make the desired correction. At -the same time he begs me to write this very day to Émile Arnaud, asking -him if he will not cease attacking in the _Indépendance belge_ the -projected system of a permanent bureau and pleading for permanent -treaties instead; one at a distance cannot judge what at the moment is -to be attained, and what an obstacle it is in the way of the workers -here if what has been secured with difficulty meets with the opposition -of its own friends. - -June 14. Up to the present time the question of armaments has been -considered in the Conference only from one side, namely, to the end that -agreements may be reached as to renouncing further perfection of -weapons. Yet the idea was regarded as impracticable. In spite of a very -eloquent plea of General den Beer Poortugael, who proposed that all the -armies should retain the present type of arms, the committee came to the -conclusion that it would be impossible to carry out such a regulation. -Nothing as yet has been said about Emperor Nicholas’s own proposition as -to limitation of armaments. The debates steer clear of this question so -far. A favorable result would be all the more desirable, since lately -Admiral Goschen declared in the House of Commons that the projected -increase of the British fleet would be immediately stopped if at the -Hague Conference a limitation of armaments should be determined upon. - -Stead tells me what Emperor Nicholas said to him four weeks ago: - -“Why are they always talking about disarmament? I never used the -expression; it does not appear in the rescript. I know only too well -that immediate disarmament is excluded. It is, indeed, difficult to -speak of the diminution of armaments. Surely the most practical step, -and the first that should be taken, would be an attempt to come to an -agreement to refrain from increasing armaments for a term of years. -After four or five years we should learn to trust one another and to -keep our word. By this means we should secure a basis for a proposal to -reduce the armaments.” - -These words lead to the conclusion that the Russian delegates will offer -in the Conference a motion for stopping the increase of armaments. - -Meantime the rumor grows more and more prevalent that the question of a -court of arbitration has come to a pause, owing to the declarations of -the German delegates that the principle of arbitration is directly -contrary to the principle of state sovereignty, which Germany in no -circumstances will renounce. - -I receive from Berlin the telegraphic query, “How about Zorn’s[37] -speech?” - -I send the telegram to the professor named, who is staying also at the -Kurhaus, and receive for answer, “I know nothing about a speech by -Zorn.” - -Stead, in his to-day’s chronicle, contradicts the alarming rumors and -writes: - - Whatever may be the attitude which the German government may - ultimately assume, nothing could be more correct than the attitude of - the German delegates. They are working with their colleagues in what - we hope will prove a great establishment for assuring universal peace, - and it is to be greatly regretted that their coöperation has been so - misrepresented during the last few days. - -In the evening Bloch’s last lecture. Subject, “The War of the Future -from the Economic Standpoint.” Almost all the delegates, also President -Staal, present. I learn that some Russian military members of the -Conference were very indignant over Bloch’s lectures, and demanded his -arrest. - - - - - LX - THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE (_concluded_) - - Turning point in the arbitration question · Professor Zorn · Madame - Ratazzi · Professor Martens · Mirza Rhiza Khan · Letter from Frau - Büchner · Trip to Amsterdam · At the photographer’s · Limitation of - armaments · Two important sessions · Colonel von Schwarzhoff · - Limitation rejected · Baron Bildt and Bourgeois · Ball at Staal’s · The - Grotius celebration · Letter from Andrew D. White · Article 27 · - Departure · International Inquiry Commission · Beldimann in opposition · - Again the Inquiry Commission · Beldimann’s ultimatum · _Acte final_ - - -June 15. In the afternoon a reception given by Monsieur and Madame -d’Estournelles. The whole Congress comes and goes. Dr. White is buried -in a conversation with Count Münster. Then he comes to me. - -“If you can bring any pressure to bear on influential persons, Baroness, -do it now. Every possible measure must be employed to clear away the -difficulties that are springing up.... The most important question -before our Congress—that of a court of arbitration—has reached a turning -point; that is what I was talking with Count Münster about.” - -I promised to go to one of my friends staying at The Hague, and in high -favor with the German Emperor’s uncle, the Grand Duke of Baden, and urge -him to apply to the prince in these critical circumstances. - -Our host introduced me to Professor Zorn. First of all I thank him for -his denial in regard to “Zorn’s speech,” of which he still knows -absolutely nothing. - -“In fact, no such speech was ever made,” replied the professor. “I took -part in the discussion, but I made no speech and made no such remarks as -many newspapers attributed to me.” - -The conversation turns on the Bloch lectures. - -“Pure fallacies,” said the professor. “Military men think that a war of -the future will be less bloody than those of the past.” - -“Less bloody! with these weapons, with this tenfold faster firing per -minute—” - -“All the fewer missiles will hit—” - -“Oh, no, the war of the future cannot be palliated; what the future -needs is peace.” - -“That is found only in heaven!” - -In the evening a great party at the Okoliczanys’. A new person makes her -appearance,—Madame Ratazzi, Türr’s sister-in-law, born Bonaparte Wyse. I -saw this woman thirty years ago at Homburg, the greatest beauty I ever -met. And now? Alas! how miserable to look on _des ans l’irréparable -outrage_ (the irreparable ravages of the years). - -Long conversation with our host. He holds the opinion that, sooner or -later, even without any conference, Europe must arrive at the formation -of a union; the ceaseless expense for armaments, necessitated by lack of -unity, the constant rivalries of commerce, the policy of protection,—all -this, unless a change ensues, exposes Europe to the danger of being -ruined by America. A peace alliance uniting our part of the world is a -necessity. This is the same thesis as our Minister of Foreign Affairs, -Count Goluchowski, advanced in a noteworthy _exposé_ before the Congress -was called together. - -General den Beer Poortugael joins me. I express my admiration of his -latest speech. He assures me that the limitation of armaments must be -striven for, not only because the nations expect this result from the -Conference, but also because it is the only way to escape the threatened -catastrophe. Remarkable words from the lips of a general! - -June 16. In the evening a reception at Beaufort’s. I make the -acquaintance of Professor Martens. He arrived to-day from Paris, where -he is acting as president in the Venezuela arbitration tribunal. He will -attend only one session and then return immediately to Paris. Speaking -of the condition of things here, he tells me that, even though many of -the powers should hesitate or delay to sign the convention, this would -do no harm, because the protocols will be left open, even for the powers -that are not represented here. - -Another exotic acquaintance, Mirza Rhiza Khan, the delegate from -Persia.[38] He is forty-five years old, has Oriental features, a thick -black mustache, and sparkling eyes; his white uniform is decorated with -numberless orders; on his cap is the Persian lion. In 1889 he -accompanied the former shah, Nasr-ed-Din, as his adjutant general on his -tour through Europe. Now he is ambassador to St. Petersburg. He was -educated in Constantinople and Tiflis, and tells us of the Princess -Tamara of Georgia, whom he knows very well; she is now at the Caucasian -baths of Botjom. - -June 17. An artistic festival arranged by the government in honor of the -Conference, comprising living pictures, musical productions, and -national dances. Make the acquaintance of Baron von Stengel. He is very -stiff and repelling. We exchange only a few words—something about “loyal -opposition” and “there must needs be different views”; a few indifferent -observations about the performances of the evening and we soon separate. - -A Dutch army physician introduces himself to me. He had read my novel -while in Borneo. The sufferings that he had witnessed there in the -practice of his calling exceed all belief. He had been mortally unhappy, -and so the book had made a double impression on him, and had awakened in -him a longing for the accomplishment of everything which the Conference -at The Hague has in view. - -June 18. I receive from the daughter-in-law of Professor Lüdwig Buchner, -who had died not long ago, the following letter in reply to a letter of -condolence: - - Darmstadt, June 17, 1899 - - My dear Baroness, - - A year of the loftiest triumph! May all that are to follow be as rich - in success! This is what all your most faithful admirers desire with - glowing enthusiasm. - - Your kind sympathy called forth by the departure of our beloved father - has been a great comfort to us. Many mourn for him with us. He, the - faithful champion of the truth, will be survived by his works. Happy - as his life was, his death was no less enviable. Even in the midst of - his fullest creative powers he glided without a sound, without a sigh, - from gentle slumber into the Unknown. Many times, when tormented by - his trying cough, weary from sleepless nights, he spoke of his - approaching end; and so it found him with the calm of a true - philosopher. Everything had been put in readiness with the greatest - care for this event. He was enabled to pass away calmly; a rich life - lay behind him. He had employed his great intellectual gifts wholly - for the good of his fellow-men. The kindness and fidelity of his heart - were rewarded by the purest joys of a sweet family life. He knew that - his loving, self-sacrificing wife was surrounded by a grateful band of - children, in whose happiness the deeply bereaved woman will find her - best consolation. We all console one another, in our deep sorrow for - the irremediable gap in our family circle, by thoughts of the - beautiful, happy life which he was permitted to enjoy so long. - - For the ninth of June I wish you with my whole heart happiness and - health, and I hope that you may retain all your joyous powers of - creation, which have allowed you in the past to overcome so many - difficulties. In such a victorious career your inspiration will never - be paralyzed, and you will march forward on the road to that victory - which is to secure the happiness of mankind! - - With the deepest respect - Your wholly devoted - Marie Büchner - -The debates on the arbitration tribunal have come to a pause; they will -not be resumed until fresh instructions have been received. Dr. Holls -and Professor Zorn have gone to Hannover, where the German Emperor is at -present sojourning. Mr. White intrusted to Dr. Holls a long letter to -Bülow. - -In the course of the afternoon we receive many callers, including Frau -von Okoliczany and her daughter, Mevrouw Smeth, and Mirza Rhiza Khan. -The Persian delegate tells me that he has been endeavoring to introduce -the Latin alphabet into Persia, but that it has met with great -opposition, especially among the priests, who declare that it is a sin -to make use of any other letters than those in which the Koran is -written. - -Baron and Baroness d’Estournelles also call on me to-day. We talk about -Professor Zorn. D’Estournelles assures me that this German delegate is -striving with all his might to bring the matter of the arbitration -tribunal to a favorable conclusion: _Il pense comme vous et moi_. - -Now I doubt that. I will go as far as to believe, as Stead states also -in the _Dagblad_, that Professor Zorn is determined that the matter of -the arbitration tribunal shall not be shipwrecked; but that he is as -radical in his views as D’Estournelles or as I—he himself would -repudiate the idea! - -June 19. Trip to Amsterdam with a large party. We drove three times -around the whole city and hurried through the museums, allowing the -pictures by Van Dyck and Franz Hals and Rubens to flash before our eyes. -Only before Rembrandt’s great painting, “The Night Watch,” which we had -recently seen presented as a living picture, we remained for half an -hour in contemplation. At your very first entrance into the suite of -galleries it shines upon you from the farthest background. You would -think that the sun was shining on it; but its brilliancy comes from its -colors. - -In the museum is a splendid case filled with Indian treasures, -consisting of rings and chains and all sorts of jewels taken as loot -from conquered rajahs; therefore simply freebooters’ booty. Mankind does -not look upon it as such. - -We visit also the diamond-polishing works. A whole house filled with -workmen. On every floor a different phase of the transformation which -this precious form of carbon goes through before it becomes an ornament. -On the top floor, reached by a very narrow wooden staircase, sit the -most skillful of the laborers, who give the last finish to the stones. -They allow the foreign visitors to look; they explain the processes. The -trouble seems too great! What effort and what patience to make this -dull, hard substance glitter with a hundred facets! - -The manager shows us on a velvet ground the models in crystal of all the -largest and most famous diamonds that are in the possession of the -various crowned heads,—the Kohinoor and others. I did not heed the names -attached to these little globules of glass representing millions in -value. - -“Since so many diamonds have been mined in the Transvaal,” said one of -the polishers, “we can scarcely keep up with our work; and yet there are -thousands of us diamond cutters in Amsterdam.” - -“Just see!” remarked Herr von Bloch to us, “just see how the world hangs -together! Suppose war should break out in the Transvaal, the -consequences would be that here in Amsterdam thousands of workingmen’s -families would suffer from want!” - -We had dinner—all excursions culminate in eating—at a restaurant from -which there was a view of a canal full of life and movement. It was a -beautiful, lively picture from the open window near which I sat. On the -other side of the canal are old houses, truly Dutch in appearance, and a -church with a very lofty belfry. Boats and scows were moving up and down -heavily laden with flowers,—mainly tulips, roses, and lilies. Suddenly -the bells in the tower began to ring; the tones kept interweaving, and -for ten minutes a melodious, silver-clear chime of bells continued to -play. - -Not until late at night did we return to The Hague. At the waiting room -of the railway station we meet Dr. Holls. He has just come back from -Germany, whither he had gone accompanied by Professor Zorn, with a -mission to smooth out at the main source the difficulties that had -arisen in the matter of the arbitration tribunal. - -“Any news? Any news?” we ask in the greatest excitement. - -“I cannot tell you anything yet,” replied Dr. Holls. “Only I will -mention the title of one of Shakespeare’s plays, ‘All’s well that ends -well.’”[39] - -June 21. Léon Bourgeois, who had only just come from Paris, is recalled -again by Loubet and commissioned to form a cabinet. Will he be able, -will he be willing, to renounce the task of being prime minister? I have -it from his own lips that this is his purpose; he is going to do his -very utmost to return to The Hague in order to see the business of the -arbitration tribunal through to the end. - -To-day I went with the painter Ten Kate to the photographer. A sculptor, -a friend of his, wants to chisel my bust, and for this purpose I must be -taken _en face_ and _en profil_, in three-quarters profile and from -behind, wrapped statuesquely in some soft, flowing white material, with -my hair arranged in Grecian style and with a palm branch as an ornament -for the breast. The process lasted several hours. - -I was posed and pulled into shape. Then the photographer, whose name -is Wollrabe, goes to his camera, looks in, shakes his head, and -hobbles back to me—he has a wooden leg—to pull my left shoulder a -little toward the right, to lift my chin, and to twitch my draperies -down; and in this he has the critical and practical aid of Master Ten -Kate. “There, now it’s all right” (_So, jetzt ist es jutt_). Hop, hop, -hop to the camera. Again a shaking of the head and hop, hop, hop back -to me again. After a little tugging,—“There, now it’s all right.” And -so half a dozen times for each exposure. And all the while I must -preserve the earnest physiognomy of a statue, in spite of the great -temptation to laugh at the forest-goblinlike, to-and-fro stumping of -the so-hard-to-be-satisfied Wollrabe, who, by the way, has wonderfully -beautiful pictures in his studio, among them the best extant portrait -of the young queen. - -One ought to be, indeed, especially young and beautiful to be painted -and chiseled. And not only the hop, hop, hop of my photographer with his -funny bird name—“Wool-raven”—strikes me as comical, but also his -white-draped model, adorned with the vegetable of peace—but I must not -laugh! - -June 23. The article proposed in the programme for “an agreement -concerning the use of certain weapons and forbidding new purchases and -inventions” has been decided in the negative. Stead, speaking with me -regarding this matter, says: - -“Do not for a moment imagine that this is a bad thing. Rudyard Kipling -wrote me at the beginning of the peace crusade, ‘War will last until -some inventive genius furnishes a machine which will annihilate fifty -per cent of the combatants as soon as they face one another.’ Therefore -I think that the Conference, while it has decisively rejected a whole -series of proposals—even those that came from the Tsar—in the line of -prohibiting the improvement of cannon and other weapons, has been acting -in behalf of peace and not of war.” - -“I think so too,” I reply; “only that is not their reason for doing as -they have. The military men who have voted the measure down have done so -for the special purpose of promoting militarism.” - -To-day the Congress is considering a weighty point, Section 1 of -Muravieff’s second circular: - - An understanding not to increase for a fixed period the present - effective of the armed military and naval forces, and, at the same - time, not to increase the budgets pertaining thereto. - -This is the question that is of greatest importance for the champions of -peace, for it touches the evil of armed peace. - -This condition—according to Türr, _la peur armée_—has this basis: the -presupposition on which the relations of nations are established is that -the neighbor has the morals of a bandit and the conscience of a pirate! - -Bad news from London,—the House of Commons has granted four million -pounds for purposes of war. - -Under date of June 27 I confided to my diary the text of the whole -“armament” debate, which took place on the twenty-third and twenty-sixth -of the month. Here I will introduce only the most notable passages. This -is sufficient to bring out the attitude of the various governments -toward this question. - - - FIRST SESSION, JUNE 23. HERR BEERNAERT, CHAIRMAN - - We have now reached the serious problem which the Russian government - placed first of all, so worded that it instantly aroused the attention - of the world. - - This time it is not the nations, but a mighty monarch, who believes - that the enormous burdens that are the result of the armed peace in - which Europe has been existing since 1871 are calculated “to paralyze - public welfare at its sources, and that their constant increase - involves an oppressive load which the nations will have ever greater - and greater difficulty in enduring.” - - Count Muravieff’s circular has stated the problem in a little more - condensed form as follows: “What are the means by which a limit might - be set to the increase of armaments? Could the nations pledge - themselves against an increase or even in favor of a reduction?” - - I hope that our honored president, his Excellency von Staal, who has - asked for the floor, will give us an explicit explanation of these - points. - - Herr von Staal said: - - ... “The question before us—limitation of the military budget and of - the military establishment—deserves a thorough investigation, all the - more from the fact (let me repeat it) that this constitutes the chief - purpose of our assemblage, namely, to lighten as far as possible the - terrible burden which oppresses the nations and checks their material - as well as their moral development. - - “Do I need to say that there is no question here of Utopian and - chimerical measures? It does not mean that we shall proceed to - disarmament. What we desire is a limitation, a period of quiescence, - in the constantly accelerating race of armaments and expenditures. - - “We make this proposition in the conviction that if an agreement is - reached, a gradual reduction will take place. Immovability does not - belong to the domain of history, and if we succeed in preserving a - certain stability for a few years, it may be taken for granted that - the advantageous tendency toward diminution of military expenditures - will be confirmed and developed. The movement would perfectly - correspond to the ideas which inspire the Russian rescript. - - “But we have not yet got that far. At the present moment the question - before us is only for a cessation, for a fixed period of years, in the - increase of the military budgets and of the contingents.” - - General den Beer Poortugael: - - “Gentlemen: Here we find ourselves facing the chief object of - Muravieff’s circular. It is truly worth while for us to concentrate - our powers to the highest endeavor. We must regard the great interests - of the nations, so intimately bound up with his recommendation, and I - believe that I am not going too far when I say that the question must - be treated with a certain reverence. - - “The armies and military budgets that have been steadily growing - larger and larger for the last quarter of a century have now attained - gigantic, terrifying, dangerous dimensions. Four millions of men under - arms and army budgets of five billions of francs a year! Is that not - terrible? - - “Truly, this increase of armies, of fleets, of budgets, of debts, - seems to have been brought out of a Pandora’s box, the gift of a - wicked fairy who desires the misfortune of Europe. War is sure to - arise from this method of foresight, which is meant to safeguard - peace. The increase of contingents and of expenses will be the real - cause of war. - - ... “To the states which, through our military organizations, are - bound together like mountain climbers in the Alps by a rope, the Tsar - has said, ‘Let us make a common endeavor, let us pause on this path - which leads to the abyss, else we are lost.’ - - “A halt, then! Fellow-delegates, it is our duty to use our utmost - endeavors. It will be worth while. Let us call a halt!” - - This speech, spoken in an impassioned voice, aroused amazement. Many - could not refrain from applause; others could hardly help shaking - their heads. Some one is said to have remarked, “Bebel, out and out!” - - Now the Russian motion was submitted. - - - THE PROGRAMME - - Colonel von Schilinsky’s remarks: - - ... “It may be asked, gentlemen, whether the nations represented at - the Conference will be perfectly satisfied if we bring them the - arbitration tribunal and laws for seasons of war, but nothing for - seasons of peace,—this armed peace, which bears so heavily upon them - that often the statement is heard that an open war would be better - than this concealed war of armaments, this perpetual rivalry where - every nation exhibits greater armies in time of peace than it ever did - before during the greatest wars. - - ... “Moreover, this continued increase of military power fails to - attain its object, for the relative strength of the various countries - remains the same. If any government increases its troops, forms new - battalions, its neighbor follows its example without delay, so as to - preserve the proportions; the neighbor’s neighbor does the same, and - so it goes on without end. The effective increases, but the - proportions remain about the same. - - ... “Moreover, we are proposing nothing new. The limitation of - contingents and of the budget has long been customary in many - countries. For example, there is the _Septennat_ in Germany. This - means that the total number of the troops in time of peace is fixed - for seven—now five—years. In Russia also the war budget is established - on a five years’ basis. So it is a question of well-known measures - which have been used for a long time, which alarm no one, and which - bring about good results; it is a question of applying these - regulations for even a shorter time, if you please. The only novelty - about it is the resolution, the courage to state that it is time to - call a halt. - - And Russia moves that we call a halt.” - -After Colonel von Schilinsky had spoken, Captain Sheïn made a similar -proposal for the navy. All this perfectly corresponds with what Emperor -Nicholas said to Stead, and also with the utterances that Muravieff had -made in my presence. - -The truth is, the Russian government, in the presence of the whole -world, in behalf of the welfare of all nations, has officially proposed -to the other governments that they should come to an agreement -henceforth not to increase armaments. At the same time, it has clearly -opened up the prospect of a subsequent reduction. The accompanying -proposals for a permanent tribunal, the arbitration code, and the -propositions regarding mediation as well,—all this shows that, whatever -the decisions of the Conference may be, the promoters have done their -part honorably. - -Session of June 26. The Commission assembles again. Léon Bourgeois has -arrived. Colonel von Schwarzhoff is opposing the Russian motion. He -takes sides also against General den Beer Poortugael; he cannot, he -says, accept these ideas, and is unwilling that his silence should be -construed as assent. The German people is not oppressed by the weight of -taxes; it is not on the sheer edge of the abyss; it is not hastening to -ruin,—quite the contrary. As regards the universal duty to bear arms, -the German does not regard it as a heavy burden but as a sacred and -patriotic duty, to the fulfillment of which he owes his existence, his -prosperity, and his future. Then he speaks of the difficulties which -beset the plan of limiting armaments, and explains that it would meet -with insuperable technical obstacles. - -The German delegate’s speech is regarded by the others as a clear proof -that Germany is going to vote against the limitation motion. - -Then Schilinsky, Den Beer Poortugael, and Dr. Stancioff of Bulgaria -speak once more in defense of the motion. - -The chairman proposes the nomination of a committee to study into the -subject. For this committee the opponent, Colonel von Schwarzhoff, and -the maker of the motion are chosen; also army and navy experts. - -June 30. So, then, to-day, in the “House in the Wood,” the fate of the -proposal for limitation of armaments was decided. - -Rejected. Referred for further consideration to the cabinets of the -great powers. A resolution made by Léon Bourgeois and adopted by the -Conference saved the principle. - -Last soirée at Minister Beaufort’s. - -Sir Julian Pauncefote comes and sits by me. Of course I lead the -conversation to the Conference again and ask him how long it will -probably continue. - -“At least a fortnight,” Sir Julian opines. “I can assure you,” he adds, -“the Conference is doing a great work, and other conferences will -follow. To be sure, the limitation clause was voted down, yet with the -general declaration that it must be taken up later. But, on the other -hand, the permanent tribunal has become a fact, and for this result -Professor Zorn is to be specially praised for his endeavors.” - -Turkhan Pasha escorts me to the refreshment table. There Herr Beernaert -hands me an ice. He has recently arrived from Brussels, where the -disturbances have fortunately come to an end. The obstruction of the -socialists in the Chamber consisted in their always starting the -Marseillaise whenever any one began to speak. - -“Things are now all right again,” says the minister, “_ils ont mis bas -les armes_. But here I understand some things are not all right. -‘Limitation’ is buried; the military experts declared it was out of the -question.” - -“Buried? At all events, the flowers are saved. Bildt[40] spoke -wonderfully, beautifully; and a motion by Bourgeois was voted and -assures a resurrection. The coffin is not nailed up; the boards are -loose....” - -“Such questions,” I added, “should not be treated from the technical but -from a quite different standpoint. If the military men alone are to be -allowed to decide about disarmament—” - -“Surely,” says Herr Beernaert, finishing my sentence. “It is as if -cobblers should deliberate on how men could give up wearing footgear!” - -July 1. Now I know the report concerning yesterday’s limitation session. -Servia first declared its adhesion; then Greece its dissent. Hereupon -the report of the commission on studies was read—a very laconic report: - - 1. That it would be very difficult, even for a space of only five - years, to fix the number of the troops without simultaneously - regulating other elements of defense. - - 2. That it would be no less difficult to regulate the elements of this - defense by means of an international convention, since the defense is - organized in each country from very different points of view. - - Consequently the committee regrets its inability to accept the - proposal made in the name of the Russian government. - - The committee recommends that the subject of the subsequent decision - be intrusted to the respective governments. - -Such is the text of the military commission’s report; and so the matter -was simply set aside. The execution of the proposal offers difficulties, -“consequently” it cannot be accepted! This “consequently,” however, is -not satisfactory. The motive adduced for setting aside a project of such -wide scope is not sufficient. There is more to be said about it than -that it is difficult to carry out. It must also be clear whether it is -not desirable, beneficent, nay, more, essential. And if this conclusion -is reached, then if it is to be rejected, there must be a better reason -than its difficulty; its impossibility must be shown. - -But the matter before us cannot be impossible in principle; certainly -not in the form just presented. And it must not be rejected, but rather -postponed for future realization. This was the feeling of a large part -of the Conference; and two other delegates—the Swede Baron Bildt and the -Frenchman Léon Bourgeois—give expression to this feeling in fiery -extempore speeches. - -From Baron Bildt’s speech (“It is not enough”): - - ... Now, at the conclusion of our labors, we shall realize that we - have faced one of the most important problems of the century, and that - we have accomplished very little. We have no right to cherish - illusions. If the transactions of the Conference come to public - knowledge, then, in spite of all that has been done for arbitration, - the Red Cross, and the rest, a loud cry will be raised, “It is not - enough!” - - And the majority of us, in our own consciences, will justify that - outcry, “It is not enough!” To be sure, our consciences will tell us, - for our consolation, that we have done our duty, because we have been - faithful to the instructions that have been given us. But I venture to - say that our duty is not yet completed, and that we still have - something left to do. That is, to investigate with the greatest - frankness and truth and to report to our governments what defects are - to be found in the preparation or execution of the great work, and - with steadfastness, with obstinacy, to seek the means to do better and - to do more. Now let these means be found in new conferences, in direct - negotiations, or simply in the policy of a good example. This is the - duty which is left for us to fulfill. - -This speech made a sensation. The applause had not died down when the -head of the French delegation took the floor. - -From Léon Bourgeois’s speech (“Our task is higher”): - - I have listened with great delight to Baron Bildt’s eloquent words. - They correspond not only to my personal feelings and those of my - colleagues of the French delegation,[41] but also, I am sure, to the - unanimous feelings of the Conference. I join in the appeal which Baron - Bildt has made. I believe that (to express his ideas still more - explicitly) our commission has something further to do. - - I have carefully read the text of the conclusion reached by the - technical committee. This text shows the difficulties which at the - present moment attend the limitation of armament. This investigation - was also the mandate of the committee. But our commission is under - obligation to regard the problem before us from a universal and higher - standpoint. - - ... Colonel von Schwarzhoff tells us that Germany easily bears the - burdens of its military organization, and that in spite of these - burdens it can point to a great economical development. - - I come from a country which also bears cheerfully the obligations of - national defense, and we hope next year, when the Exposition will be - held, to show the world that our products and our economical - development stand on a high level. But the colonel will grant me that - in his country as well as in mine, if a share of the considerable - resources now spent for military purposes were devoted to the service - of productive activity, the total of prosperity would be developed at - a much more rapid rate. - - Moreover, we have here not only to take into account how our country - endures the burdens of the armed peace. Our task is higher,—we are - called upon to consider the joint situation of all the nations. - -After further considerations, Bourgeois proposes that the question be -referred to the governments for further discussion at the next -Conference. But, that the position of the present Conference may be -brought to a definite expression, he offers the following amendment to -the report: - - The commission takes the view that the limitation of the military - burdens resting on the world would be in the highest degree desirable - for the improvement of the moral and material condition of mankind. - -This resolution was adopted. - -I immediately translated the text of both speeches and dispatched it to -the _Neue Freie Presse_. - -July 2. Yesterday a ball at the Staals’. When we arrive, at ten o’clock, -the drawing-rooms are already almost full. All the lower rooms of the -Vieux Doelen—the peristyle, salons, dining-room, and other -apartments—have been engaged for this function and are richly decorated. -The walls of the ballroom are adorned with greenery from which gleam -white lilies. Nothing but white flowers everywhere, the symbols of -peace. There is a flood of electric light from the chandeliers. The -orchestra is hidden behind a hedge of palms. Softly lighted corridors -lead to smaller adjoining rooms, in which the guests find nooks for -confidential conversation. The doors leading from the ballroom to the -terrace stand open, and a broad flight of steps leads down into the -lighted garden. - -All the delegates are present except Admiral Fisher,[42] whose absence -is all the more to be regretted because he is one of the jolliest of the -dancers. - -Baron Bildt presents his son to me, a young man of twenty-two, just -arrived from Upsala, where he is studying at the University. - -“I was on the point of devoting myself to a military career,” the young -Swede told me in the course of our conversation. “And do you know, -gracious lady, what kept me from it? The reading of your book. And -to-day, in this company, I am doubly glad that I chose another -profession. Perhaps later it will be permitted me to labor for the great -cause that brought my father to The Hague.” - -“I see; a new ambition is awaking, in a new field! Remain faithful to -this impulse, and may you sometime by means of it become a judge in the -International Arbitration Court or Swedish Minister of Peace!” - -“Oh, how glad I should be!” - -Andrew D. White urges me, in case I have the opportunity, to oppose -those pessimistic prejudices which have gone abroad regarding the -Conference, and which render more difficult the possibility of further -work and the assembling of new conferences. He expresses the opinion -that the Emperor of Russia has one good means at his command,—simply to -introduce into his country the shipwrecked “limitation” or even the -reduction of the military effective. He is the autocrat—his will -decides. And the policy of such an example would be most effective. - -Well, indeed, the manifesto, the summoning of the Conference, the -motions laid before it, which implied the pledge that he would do what -he proposed,—all these things were indeed examples. But those who are -eagerly bent on the preservation of the entire military system have not -been constrained to follow in the same track. How can any one venture, -after all, in a matter requiring common agreement, to take the lead -alone? - -A Russian tells me that in his own country there is also a strong -military party which holds the Tsar’s plans in deep disfavor, so that, -even in his immediate proximity, opposition and differences of opinion -are strongly felt. It would require iron energy to hold out against -them. Alas, the cruel are apt to be iron.... - -We give an afternoon reception. Among those present are Herr and Frau -Berends and their daughter; Dr. White and his wife, who has just -arrived; Monsieur and Madame Descamps; our countrymen, Count -Welsersheimb, Lieutenant Colonel von Khuepach, and Professor Lammasch; -my young Russian officer whom I met at yesterday’s ball, and young -Bildt; Dr. Holls; Bourgeois; the Persian ambassador; Bonnefon; Vasily -and his son; Pompili; Schmidt auf Altenstadt, editor of the _Dagblad_; -Herr von Raffaelovitch and his daughter; and Minister Beernaert. - -Beernaert goes to-morrow to Brussels. They have had a ministerial crisis -there too. - -“I am going to play the rôle of Bourgeois at Brussels,” he said with a -laugh. - -“Then,” rejoined the other, “play it to the end and come back.” - -To-day I noted a deep remark uttered by Léon Bourgeois. The talk turned -on the great progressive ideas which permeate the world so slowly, -altogether too slowly, because the daily happenings, the problems and -sensations of the moment, claim everybody’s entire attention. -_L’actualité, c’est l’ennemi_, said he. - -The Swedish envoy’s son again took his oath to me that he would remain -true to the ideal of peace and work for it according to his ability. - -The conversation reverted to that session in which Colonel Schwarzhoff -delivered his speech against the proposition of limitation. The -gentlemen remarked that he had spoken with great _mordant_. Now the -German equivalent for that word is not _beissend_ (“biting”) but -_schneidig_ (“keen”). In either case it is an adjective expressing -admiration. Now, it seems to me, sharp teeth and polished sonority are -very valuable things in their place, but are they specially suited for -the Peace Conference? - -At dinner we are in Oriental company,—with Noury Bey and Mirza Rhiza -Khan. Were it not for the fez, one might take Noury Bey for a Frenchman. -He takes the point of view of the Turkish patriotic party, faithful to -the Sultan, not that of the Young Turks. The persecution of the -Armenians has been necessary, he says; they are revolutionists, rebels, -conspirators. In short, they are wicked lambs; the wolf is in the right! - -We were regretting the failure of the project for restricting armaments -or talking of something similar, I do not remember exactly what. - -“But that is a thing,” remarked Noury Bey to my husband, “which you, as -an Austrian patriot, ought to approve of.” - -“We friends of peace do not recognize this contradiction,” replied my -husband; “what one must regret as a man, one cannot be glad of as a -patriot. And indeed it is a mistake to believe that what will not -benefit mankind will be useful to one’s own country. In any case, the -interest of humanity, absolute right, always stands higher than the -special advantages of any one country.” - -“Splendid!” cried Noury Bey in amazement, but not without irony. “People -with such views ought to be appointed judges in the coming international -tribunal.” - -July 4. To-day, in connection with the American holiday, an excursion to -Delft in commemoration of Grotius. In the early morning a severe storm -is raging and rain is beating on the window panes. We countermand our -order for a carriage and stay at home. - -It is a melancholy, gloomy day. The windows rattle and tremble; an -ice-cold wind forces itself in. Gray are the rolling clouds and the -foaming angry sea. Lamentation, brawling, and menace commingle in the -roar of wind and waves. - -The beach is deserted. As far as the eye can see there is not a living -creature. The bath houses and covered chairs and booths are all moved -off—or have the billows carried them away? The high, foam-capped -breakers tumble over one another and come nearer and nearer, and are -already dashing over the terrace wall. Perhaps the whole terrace may be -destroyed, as it was a few years ago. And all the time this tumultuous -lamentation! How can one feel cheerful? - -Truly, there is reason enough for melancholy. This Conference, which -should show sorrow-laden, danger-threatened mankind a way to get finally -rid of the sorrow and the dangers which arise not from the elements but -from their own selves,—how its work has met with misunderstanding and -resistance both in the world outside and in its own midst! Nowhere -enthusiastic aid—nay, not even eager curiosity, and not once a warm word -from those who hold the power in their hands. Cold, cold are all the -hearts—cold as the draft that penetrates through the rattling windows. I -am chilled to the bone! - -In the evening a festival in the concert room in honor of the American -delegates. The decorations are star-spangled banners; there is a -rendering of American songs. Dr. Holls tells me that the Grotius -festival was a brilliant success, and useful words were spoken, -especially by Ambassador White. He also informs me that the permanent -Court of Arbitration is accepted. Only the paragraph about obligatory -cases is omitted. - -July 5. In reply to my note of regret, addressed to Andrew D. White, and -explaining that our absence from the festival was caused by the weather, -I receive the following reply: - - House in the Wood, July 5, 1899 - - Dear Baroness von Suttner: - - We were very sorry not to see you and the Baron at Delft, but we fully - understood and appreciated the reason. We really did not expect more - than a dozen or twenty people, and were greatly surprised to see so - large a number present. - - It was to me very inspiring and gave me new hopes as to the results of - the Conference. - - I beg you not to forget what I urged upon you at our last meeting. We - are to accomplish here more than we dared hope when we came - together,—far more; and the great thing is to prevent thoughtless, - feather-brained enthusiasts from discrediting the work, since to do so - is to discourage all future efforts of this sort. - - We have paved the way for future conferences which will develop our - work—unless the people at large are taught that nothing has been done - in this way. - - Please call me kindly to the remembrance of Baron von Suttner, and I - remain, dear madam, most respectfully and truly yours, - - Andrew D. White - -July 6. At the last session an important article was added to the -project of the arbitration tribunal. It was proposed by D’Estournelles, -and is to the effect that the signatory powers, in case of a conflict -threatening between two or more countries, shall consider it their duty -to remind these powers that the Court of Arbitration stands open to -them. - -Servia and Roumania make a lively protest against the word “duty.” -Roumania, represented by Beldimann, moreover protests regularly, -consistently, and forever. - -After a persuasive speech by Léon Bourgeois, D’Estournelles’s motion is -adopted. - -July 7. We take our departure. Ever so many friends accompany us to the -railway station. The coach is filled with farewell bouquets. Good-by, -thou lovely city of gardens! Will coming generations make pilgrimages to -thee because the first International Court of Arbitration came into -existence here? Enriched by the memories of lovely days and interesting -people, and by uplifting impressions, I take my departure from thee, -historic place.... - -We were obliged, on account of private affairs, to leave before the -close of the Conference, but I received from there every day papers, -letters, and dispatches, which kept me informed of the progress and the -_acte final_ of the Conference. - -I jot down here the most important of these records. - -On the seventh of July the session of the third committee (on peaceful -adjustment of international controversies) adjourned until the -seventeenth, that in the meantime further instructions might be received -from the governments. Sir Julian Pauncefote makes a trip to London. The -articles which principally give occasion for seeking further -instructions are those that treat of the International Commission of -Inquiry. The text up for debate runs: - - In cases of an international nature, involving neither honor nor vital - interests, and arising from a difference of opinion on points of fact, - the signatory powers recommend that the parties, having been unable to - come to an agreement by the usual means of diplomacy, should, as far - as circumstances allow, institute an international commission of - inquiry, which shall clear away these differences by getting at the - facts through an impartial and conscientious investigation. - -What a bundle of limitations! “As far as circumstances allow,” “neither -honor nor vital interests.” It can be seen with what timidity and -circumspection these grewsome instruments called “jurisdiction,” -“process of inquiry”—that is, right and truth,—are taken hold of. -Torpedoes, dumdum bullets, ekrasit, and lyddite—we are already used to -such things, we are no longer afraid of them; but legal processes in -international affairs,—those would be too dangerous for vital interests: -at all events, for the interests of militarism.... - -The origin of this formula “honor and vital interests of a nation” is -well known. It has always been produced in the following form by the -opponents of international arbitration: “Hitherto courts of arbitration -have exercised their functions in small matters but not in important -ones.” What has hitherto been used as an argument is now to be -incorporated in a treaty! - -To some the limitations seem superfluous, to others the whole -proposition seems too far-reaching and—being without precedent—too -uncanny; hence the adjournment to wait for further instructions. Stead, -in his chronicle in the _Dagblad_, calls attention to this and implores -the committee to modify the article at the next reading. - -On the nineteenth of July the committee assembles again. Herr Beldimann -in an hour’s speech attacks the Commission of Inquiry with all his -energy. Roumania, he declares, will enter into no arrangement that shall -have an obligatory character. Not for a moment will it permit the rights -of its sovereign independence to be brought into question. (I love the -Roumanians proud!) He moves the rejection of the whole proposition. -Servia upholds the arguments of the previous speaker. Chevalier Descamps -defends the motion, and he is followed in this by Herr Martens, who -speaks with still greater energy. Objections like those expressed by the -representative of Roumania ought not to prevent an arrangement which is -calculated to assure universal peace and avoid conflicts. - -In the afternoon comes the second meeting of the committee. The text of -the controverted paragraph is somewhat altered. An additional clause -reads: - - The report of the International Commission of Inquiry is limited to a - statement of facts, and has in no way the character of an arbitral - decision. It leaves the powers that are in dispute entire freedom as - to the weight to be given to this statement. - -On the other hand, the phrase “honor and vital interests” is omitted. -Roumania and Servia desire to wait for further instructions by wire. - -July 20. The articles regarding mediation and good offices are accepted -without objection. When the article on the Commission of Inquiry is -reached, Beldimann declares that he has not yet received any reply from -his government. A few delegates are indignant at the further -procrastination, and it is finally decided to take up the article again -in two days. Now, without further objections, the reading of the report -is continued. When Article 27 is reached,—the one proposed by -D’Estournelles, which lays an obligation upon the powers to remind -parties in dispute that there is a Tribunal,—the interest of the session -reaches its culminating point. - -The representatives of Roumania and Servia set themselves in violent -opposition to it. But Professor Zorn warmly advocates its acceptance. -Dr. Holls declares that Article 27 is the crown of the whole work, and -he decidedly protests against any change in its wording. - -Count Nigra, kindled by the electricity of the atmosphere, springs up -and apostrophizes the representatives of the Danube states: “We are here -neither as great nor as small states; we are all alike sovereign—we act -here as free and equal.” - -The sensation of the session was still to come. Never before had a more -excited and more elevated feeling ruled in the “House in the Wood.” -Never before had the transactions aroused so much moral enthusiasm. So -the moment was favorable when Léon Bourgeois took the floor, and in -fiery words, in the name of France, supplemented the speech made by -Professor Zorn. In one point he was obliged, he said, to oppose Count -Nigra,—there are great and smaller powers. But the measure of greatness -is not to be found in the area of their territory, nor in the -effectiveness of their troops, nor in the number of their inhabitants. -The greatness of a power is to be measured by the greatness of its ideas -and by the faithfulness with which it adheres to the principles on which -the progress of mankind is based. - -The orator spoke further in the same tenor, and all listened as if under -a spell. When he ended, the storm of applause would not cease, and one -delegate after another warmly pressed around the speaker to congratulate -him. - -And Article 27 was accepted. - -July 22. Again the Commission of Inquiry. The question is asked whether -the representatives of Roumania, Greece, and Servia have received the -answers of their governments. Mr. Delyannis declares, in the name of -Greece, that he has been instructed to accept the new form of the -convention. Dr. Velkovitch,[43] in the name of Servia, makes a similar -declaration. Now it is Roumania’s turn. The president announces that he -has just had a letter from Herr Beldimann, stating that his instructions -have come to-day authorizing him to accept the new form, but only on -condition that the eliminated clauses, “honor and interests of the -nations” and “when circumstances allow,” be restored. Otherwise Roumania -cannot sign the convention. - -Put to vote, the Beldimann ultimatum is accepted. - -In the last plenary session, on July 28, Descamps’s “Rapport final à la -Conférence sur le règlement pacifique des conflits internationaux” is -read. - -The introduction to this document brings out thoughts and points of view -which embrace the whole ideal of peace,—I might rather say the whole -gospel of peace,—as, for example: - - Resolved to use every endeavor to bring about the peaceful solution of - international conflicts; recognizing the solidarity which unites - shoulder to shoulder all the civilized nations; desirous of extending - the sovereignty of law and of strengthening the sentiment of - international justice, etc., the undersigned [the names follow] have - agreed upon the following provisions. - -The first of the sixty-one paragraphs gives the gist of everything that -is elaborated in the rest: - -“With a view to obviating, as far as possible, recourse to force in the -relations between states, the signatory powers agree to use their best -efforts to insure the pacific settlement of international differences.” - -Early on July 29 the conventions were signed in the “House in the Wood,” -and the formal concluding session took place in the afternoon. The last -word—it was uttered by D’Estournelles—was: - -“May our Conference be a beginning, not a conclusion. May our countries, -by inaugurating new assemblages such as this has been, continue to serve -the cause of civilization and of peace!” - - - - - LXI - AFTER THE HAGUE CONFERENCE - - Journey to Norway to the ninth Interparliamentary Conference · The - woman’s movement in the North · Military honors shown the friends of - peace · Evening before the Conference · Björnstjerne Björnson · Opening - in the Storthing · A _mot_ by Minister Steen · Report on the Nobel - foundation · Garden party at Steen’s · Henrik Ibsen · At M. Catusse’s · - Excursion to Frognersättern · Last session · Message from The Hague · - Final banquet · Björnson as a speaker · My interview with him · - Harmannsdorf again · Aunt Büschel’s death · Margarete Suttner’s - betrothal · Letter from Count Apponyi · What then constituted my life · - A physician’s prescription · Controversy between the jingoes and - pacifists in England · End of the Dreyfus affair · Germany’s naval plan - · The South African war breaks out · Letter from Count Nigra - - -As soon as we returned to Harmannsdorf I set to work revising my diary -from which have been taken, for this autobiography, most of the passages -referring to the Conference. I sent the book to the publisher, and it -appeared in 1900, but I cannot report any great awakening of interest -thereby. The contemporary world is either indifferent or unfriendly in -its attitude toward the Hague Conference. - -We remained at home only a short time. After about three weeks we -started forth again, this time for Norway. Invitations from the -management of the Interparliamentary Conference which was to meet there -from the first to the sixth of August had come to us, as well as to Herr -von Bloch, requesting us to attend the deliberations and festivities as -guests of honor. We did not require a second invitation. A journey to -the Northland, what a holiday! - -Again a wholly new part of the world opening before us. We reached -Christiania on the evening of July 30. On the thirty-first the ship -placed at the disposal of the interparliamentarians was to arrive. This -ship was met by another, on which were the managers of the Conference as -well as such of the deputies as had preferred to come by rail. John Lund -invited us to accompany him on the trip. - -There were many other guests besides us on board. We met many old -friends and acquaintances, including Ullman (the president of the -Storthing), Von Bar of the University of Göttingen, Marcoartu, Baron -Pirquet, and others. It was two o’clock in the afternoon, the blue sky -was cloudless, the fiord lay bathed in the brightest sunshine, and a -cool breeze stirred the air. A military orchestra was on board, and to -the strains of the Norwegian national hymn our steamer moved away. -Streamers of the various colors of the fourteen countries represented at -the Conference waved from the masts. - -We made many new acquaintances. The wife of Blehr, afterwards minister -but at that time ambassador in Stockholm, told me about the progress of -the woman’s movement already started in Norway; she said that they were -not far from the attainment of suffrage. Every one, from the wives of -statesmen down to the peasant women, was taking an active part in -political life. - -I asked if it were true that Sweden and Norway were living like -quarrelsome brethren. - -“No,” replied Frau Blehr, “the relationship is that of a marriage in -which the man has everything, the wife nothing, to say; and, according -to modern ideas, that can be no kind of a happy marriage. Norway, in -this union, plays the part of the wife without authority, and what she -wants is what to-day the woman with equal privileges demands in -marriage—the right to her own personality.” - -We sailed past a small flotilla of war vessels which were in readiness -to meet the ship of the interparliamentarians and give it convoy. A war -flotilla to meet a ship of peace! This new method of showing honor -surprised me. Lund told us that the committee had found some difficulty -in overcoming the opposition of the conservatives, who regarded it as -out of character that military honors should be paid to the champions of -antimilitarism. Such parties are accustomed to take great stock in the -notion of a quiet amalgamation of contrarieties. Soldiers and pacifists -need not be antagonistic or endeavor to destroy one another, but may -join in a higher unity,—an army fighting for assured legal protection. - -Greetings and shouts were exchanged between our ship and the fleet, -although this conduct was contrary to the stipulation that during the -trip they should take no notice of each other. About five o’clock the -vessels met. John Lund and other members of the Storthing were rowed -over to the parliamentary vessel and boarded her to extend greetings. - -The fortification of Oskarborg fired a salute. At the foot of the walls -troops were drawn up and a loud hurrah, divided into three regular -periods and nine times repeated,—that being the Northern cheer,—came -across distinctly, and the flags were dipped in salutation. Beyond -Oskarborg, as soon as the two parliamentary vessels arrived, the war -ships took the lead and gave convoy up to the city of the Congress. - -At nine o’clock in the evening, but still in clear daylight, we make our -entry into Christiania. The quay along its whole extent is thronged with -jubilant townspeople; people stream forth from all the side streets. - -On the evening of the first of August there is a miscellaneous -assemblage, with a concert in the Hans-Haugen, a public garden situated -on a hill. We meet old acquaintances: Dr. Barth from Berlin, Dr. -Harmening from Jena, Pierantoni from Rome, Senator Labiche from Paris, -Count Albert Apponyi from Budapest, Gniewocz and Dr. Millanich from -Vienna. Also many new delegates attending their first Interparliamentary -Conference are presented to me; among them several members of the Center -in the German Reichstag, Dr. Herold, and a few of the Young-Czech party -from the Austrian parliament. - -A gigantic figure approaches me. I instantly recognize the -characteristic head with the white lion’s mane: oh, joy—it is -Björnstjerne Björnson. He kisses my hand and we chat a few minutes; but -soon a frail little woman in a white gown hurries up to him, with the -words, “Father, they are looking for you....” - -Björnson introduces his daughter, Frau Ibsen. - -A buffet was arranged for the assembled guests in a large hall. During -the festival the papers arrive with news about the close of the -Conference at The Hague. A passage from Beaufort’s speech was most -eagerly discussed. On account of technical difficulties the formula for -a limitation of armaments adapted to the new conditions in all countries -has not as yet been drawn up, but all are agreed on the principle that -this formula must be sought and found. Here now is a task laid out for -the Interparliamentary Union, namely, to develop further the work begun -at The Hague. - -At this writing—1908—however, that formula has not been found. -Parliamentarians, with but few exceptions, when they are not in the -Conference but in parliament, do nothing but consent, consent. The study -of the problem was postponed from the first to the second and from the -second to the third Hague Conference, and still it remains -uninvestigated. Where there is no will, there is no way. - -On the next day—to return to 1899—came the formal opening in the -Storthing. At the earlier Conferences scarcely more than sixty or eighty -persons were present; this time there are more than three hundred. -Germany, which hitherto has been represented by not more than two or -three, sends forty to Christiania; France sends twenty-six, Austria -fourteen. If this continues, special halls will have to be built for the -“Interparliament”! - -I noted the final sentence from Minister of State Steen’s opening -speech: “And so we shall be victorious—which will be a blessing to the -defeated.” That gives the criterion for what all noble champions of the -future are to attain. - -President Ullman makes a report on the Nobel foundation. The first -distribution is to take place on the tenth of December, 1901. The -interest accruing up to that time is to be employed as a capital fund -for the creation of a Nobel Institute in Christiania, that is, a central -school for the study and development of international law. From the -annual income of the bequest (200,000 Swedish kroner) 50,000 kroner are -to be reserved for the support of the Institute. - -For the first time the United States of America is represented at an -Interparliamentary Conference. Mr. Barrows reports that in his country -there are many people who have never seen an officer and many officers -who have never seen their regiment assembled. He believes that he is -warranted—especially in view of the instructions and proposals intrusted -to the delegates to the Hague Conference—in declaring that the jingo -spirit, which was aroused by the last war with Spain, and which is in -such absolute opposition to the fundamental principles of the land of -the star-spangled banner, will never get the upper hand. - -So this was the first time that an American representative appeared in -the arena of the Interparliamentary Union; but of late the New World is -taking the first place in the universal peace movement. From that -direction will come for the Old World the impulse, the example,—perhaps -the necessity,—for the creation of United Europe. - -Mr. Barrows was followed by Count Albert Apponyi. He informed the -meeting that Koloman von Szell, the former leader of the Hungarian -Interparliamentary group, had now become prime minister. Fiery, eloquent -as always, flowed Apponyi’s speech, and when he had finished, Björnson -went up to him and pressed his hand. - -In the evening a garden party at Minister of State Steen’s. Here I met -Ibsen. Long ago I had written him to get his views in regard to the -peace cause. He then replied that his life was wholly devoted to the -dramatic art and he had no views at all on the question at issue. I now -wanted to ask if his presence was a sign of an awakened interest in the -movement, but some one came between us and I had no other chance to -resume the interrupted conversation. - -The next afternoon we made the acquaintance of all the members of the -French group present. M. Catusse, the recently accredited ambassador of -France at Stockholm, whom we had met before both at Nice and at The -Hague, had invited all his French colleagues to take tea with him, and -my husband and I were also asked. We found more than a dozen members of -the Chamber and the Senate, among them the former premier, Cochery. - -We spoke of Léon Bourgeois. He had left The Hague for Paris on account -of the last cabinet crisis, and there he had informed several of the -gentlemen that he should be unwilling to undertake the formation of a -new cabinet, because he considered the work that he had to complete at -The Hague more important. - -Senator Labiche told us that the day before, when he was introduced to -Björnson, the poet asked him point blank, _Êtes-vous Dreyfusard?_—for -Björnson himself is. - -The day and evening ended with an entertainment given by the city. A -hundred and fifty carriages were in readiness and took the guests to the -Frognersättern, a favorite place of resort, the road to which winds up -continuously for five miles through thick forest trees, past all the red -cottages of the peasantry, which give the characteristic physiognomy to -“the land of the thousand homesteads,” as the poet of the national hymn -(Björnson) calls his native land. In the midst of the forest, on high -land, you pass glittering lakes, and, wherever there is a wide prospect, -fiord and city gleam in ever-varying beauty. - -On the second and last day of the Conference the transactions occupied -the whole time from nine o’clock until five. The principal subject on -the programme was the Conference at The Hague. Stanhope reads a message -brought from there by W. T. Stead and bearing the signatures of -Beernaert, Rahusen, D’Estournelles, Descamps, and others. This message -communicates to their colleagues assembled at Christiania the outcome of -the arbitration question,—a result which, as soon as its importance is -grasped, will be recognized as the crowning event of the nineteenth -century. The conclusion of the message read: - -“So this is the machine which the Hague Conference has created, and it -is for you, representatives of the nations, and for the nations to -provide it with steam.” - -A duty which—I repeat it with regret—neither the nations nor their -representatives up to the present time have fulfilled. - -It was voted that Paris should be the place for the next Conference, and -the date, 1900. - -The last evening was devoted to the parting banquet, given by the -Storthing. Björnson arose as the first speaker. He spoke French. His -somewhat singsong tone was not well suited to the French accent, but the -emphasis and the enthusiasm of the address atoned for that. His theme -was “The Truth.” Björnson wants to see truth injected into -politics—politics should become ethical. Of course every self-respecting -“practical politician” will smile indulgently at that idea. After -leaving the table, the guests, four hundred in number, scattered through -the many adjoining rooms. Here appeared a troop of young people in neat -black clothes and white caps—I took them for students, but they were -artisans—and sang Norwegian and German part songs. Björnson addressed -them and they themselves expressed words of thanks to all the men and -women present who were working for peace, that most important of all -advantages for the laboring man. - -While we were drinking our coffee, I had at last a long talk with -Björnson. I can forgive him for not calling upon me, for he has not a -moment of rest. He is regarded as a universal counselor. Young poets -bring him their manuscripts; young women aspirants to a theatrical -career play their heroine rôles before him; and he is incapable of -refusing any one. Speaking of the artisans who had just been singing, he -told me that in his country this class took more interest than the -higher strata of society, in intellectual things. “I was recognized by -them,” he said, “much earlier than by the so-called intelligent class.” - -“And isn’t it true,” I asked, “that the peasants here are very advanced? -I hear that there are no illiterate among them.” - -“Oh, the peasants,” cried Björnson, “they are the foundation of our -kingdom; they are its pillars.” - -We made the return journey from Norway in Bloch’s company, though indeed -only as far as Berlin. There our paths diverged, Bloch going to Warsaw -and we to Vienna and Harmannsdorf. - -Here sad news and joyous news awaited us. - -My Aunt Büschel, seventy-nine years old, whom I was in the habit of -visiting every week at Eggenburg near by, to talk with her about old -times, about Elvira, and about my mother,—had peacefully passed away -during our absence. She had a short illness, and was cared for by my -relatives. With her death the last link that connected me with the days -of my youth was broken. - -The joyous event was a betrothal. On the day after our return the whole -family from the neighboring Stockern drove over to Harmannsdorf -accompanied by a young cousin, Baron Johann Baptist Moser. All wore -mysterious looks as they whispered together and put on such strange -expressions! When we were gathered together at lunch, and dessert was -served, my brother-in-law Richard suddenly rose and, portentously -clearing his throat, said,— - -“My dear friends, I hereby inform you that yesterday evening my dear -daughter Margarete and my dear nephew Moser became engaged.” - -Universal jubilation, and I myself felt the tears of joy coming into my -eyes, for I had long cherished the desire that these dearly beloved -young folks, who were so admirably suited to each other, should strike -up a match, and so the news brought keen delight to me. - -I had no lack of work to do. The interrupted Hague diary had to be -finished; likewise the reports for my periodical. This, by the way, was -to cease publication at the end of the year and to be absorbed by the -_Friedenswarte_, edited by A. H. Fried, whose regular collaborator I am -up to the present time. - -One day I received several copies of the _Budapester Tagblatt_ -containing an excellent article by Count Albert Apponyi, who gave in it -a very favorable report regarding the Hague Conference, and made the -suggestion for a press league, to be associated with the -Interparliamentary Union. I thanked the count for sending me the papers -and praised the idea. In answer I received the following letter: - - Eberhard, August 28, 1899 - - My dear Baroness: - - In thanking you for your friendly letter I must observe that, though I - certainly estimate at its full value the submission of my lucubrations - to your very competent criticism, the thought of burdening you with - several copies of the _Budapester Tagblatt_ was entirely due to the - editors of that paper. Had it been my doings it would have been - inexcusably presumptuous. - - It rejoices me that the thoughts that I wrote down meet with your - approval. The optimism which I display is, however, rather a tactical - maneuver than actual conviction. The great powers at The Hague were - less than lukewarm, and I am not sure that their assent to The Hague - conventions—especially in the case of Germany and Austria-Hungary—will - be given. The rulers do not want the thing to succeed; they do not - want war, indeed, but every institution in which they can detect any - limitation of their absolute power (to do either good or ill) is - instinctively repugnant to them. - - Meantime, we in Hungary—where, after the beneficent parliamentary - revolution of this winter, we are perhaps on the way to recuperation - (but I repeat the word “perhaps”)—will do our best to bring our - monarchy, through constitutional methods of pressure, into the right - course. My position for this end has become somewhat better, and I - will certainly make the most of it. I shall also endeavor to form the - press league mentioned in my article. It is intended to form a - connecting link between the Interparliamentary Union and the people. - As for the rest, only a kind Providence can make anything good out of - such wretched material. - - With sincere respect, - Your wholly devoted - Albert Apponyi - -As I turn over the leaves of my diary for that time, I find that three -different objects filled my soul, each with different moods. There was -my great life interest, my “one thing essential,” which just now through -the Hague Conference had arrived at such a mighty stage of development. -It was almost as if the goal, which only a few years before was so far -away, had now come so near and was so distinct that soon all would -perforce take note of it and therefore hasten to it. I saw clearly what -I myself had to do: it was to give as many of my fellow-countrymen as -possible a knowledge of the results of the Conference, and I devoted -myself diligently to this task, writing numerous newspaper articles and -my book on the Hague Conference. - -I must confess I could not take an unqualified joy in doing this, for I -had been a witness to the opposition, open and secret, which had been -directed at The Hague against the realization of the “warless age.” But -all the more strenuous was the obligation to put to the service of the -cause all the new facts and supports which the present state of the -movement afforded its defenders. - -Something else was rising full of threat on the horizon. The war party -in England seemed to be getting the upper hand; the Outlander crisis in -the Transvaal was growing more and more acute. What if it broke into -war? That would discredit the peace work that had been begun and would -decidedly put it back. Can it be that between the two forces of Might -and Right, Might is again to carry the day? - -Another object of my thought and anxiety was found in our domestic -circumstances. The losses in the quarries, in the failure of crops, and -in unfortunate speculations had increased to such an extent that it was -now almost impossible to keep our beloved Harmannsdorf above water much -longer. And what then? What a grief for the poor old mother, for the -sisters, and also for My Own, if the home nest were to be sacrificed! - -The third field of my feelings and moods lay within our married -happiness. In this was my peculiar inalienable home, my refuge for all -possible conditions of life,—something beyond Harmannsdorf and the -Transvaal, beyond everything, come what might,—and so the leaves of my -diary are full not only of political and domestic records of all kinds, -but also of memoranda of our gay little jokes, our confidential, -enjoyable walks, our uplifting reading, our hours of music together, and -our evening games of chess. To us personally nothing could happen. We -had each other,—that was everything. - -The thought that we might be torn apart by the all-destroyer Death we -put out of our minds. And yet at that time I was not very strong and I -believe My Own felt some alarm about my condition. I had suddenly become -so languid; it was hard for me to walk; after a few steps I became so -dizzy that I could scarcely stand. My Own dragged me off to a physician; -I say “dragged,” because all my life long I have been strenuously -opposed to medical treatment. This physician gave me an examination and -asked me all manner of questions and ordered—what do you suppose? - -I will give the details because it is an interesting case. In the first -place I followed his directions, which also was contrary to my custom; -up to that time the only use I had made of medicine was to throw it out -of the window. What is more, the treatment helped me. In a short time I -became as healthy as a fish in water. Well then, what was the doctor’s -prescription? Bicycling! I, a heavy woman of fifty-six, who had never -mounted a wheel, was now to attempt this schoolgirl’s sport! It was -comical, but I did it. The prescription was tremendously tempting to me. -It had always been my keen desire to enjoy this skimming away on the -thin-legged iron steed, and I had regretted that I was born too early to -experience this delight. Now it was imposed upon me as a duty to my -health! I immediately bought a wheel, and one of the castle servants was -appointed my instructor. He helped me to mount the thing and down I -went. Up again, down again—twenty times in succession. That was my first -lesson. - -“Would it not be better to try a tricycle?” asked My Own solicitously, -for he gained no confidence at all from this début. But I would not hear -to it. “The doctor has prescribed bicycling and bicycling it shall be.” - -With a persistence at which I myself am amazed I kept up my lessons; -more and more infrequently the wheel wobbled, ever more and more rare -were the trees against which I obstinately steered, and after a long -course of instruction—I certainly am not going to confess how long—I -attained such skill that I wheeled in great style through the avenues of -the park and really made a very elegantly executed figure eight! - -In doing this I felt perfectly well; the blood circulated with -reinvigorated energy; dashing away on the wheel became to me a perfect -delight; I had no more attacks of lassitude; I grew slenderer, and at -the same time I had a feeling as if youth, youth were streaming through -my veins! - - -Things in the Transvaal were going from bad to worse. People in England, -worked upon through their passion, were demanding war. The London -pacifists were putting forth their utmost endeavors to ward off the -misfortune; they instituted meetings, they wrote to the papers; W. T. -Stead established a new weekly, _War against War_,—all in vain. Any one -who pleaded for peace was repudiated, scouted as a “Little Englishman,” -if not even held up to scorn and derision as a traitor. Managers of -halls would no longer permit the use of them for peace meetings, and if -such gatherings were held they were broken up by turbulent mobs. -Assaults even were committed. At a public meeting held by the Peace -Association in Trafalgar Square, the orators were not only overwhelmed -with insults but were attacked with projectiles. An open jackknife was -hurled at Felix Moscheles, narrowly escaping his head. - -In the meantime the second Dreyfus trial was held at Rennes, and with -the same military fanaticism and partisanship as in the days when -Esterhazy was glorified and Zola was persecuted with shouts of _à l’eau! -à l’eau!_ Now a furious anti-Dreyfusard even makes an attempt upon the -life of the defendant’s lawyer, Labori. The court-martial condemns -Dreyfus to death—but he is pardoned. - -In Vienna a meeting is held at which Dr. Lueger declares, “Dreyfus -belongs to the Devil’s Island and all the Jews as well.” This impelled -my husband to call a counter meeting of his Union. The combat with -popular frenzy and against national hatred is a hard, apparently quite -hopeless, task, only just begun. Pain and indignation and a bitter sense -of feebleness take possession of the combatant; but still there is -nothing else for him to do—he must take up the fight. And since -absolutely nothing in this world is lost, such protests certainly have -their effect ultimately in their own way, even if they seem for the -moment to be wasted. - -In the German empire plans for a tremendous fleet are adopted. “Our -future lies on the water,”—therefore enormous increase of armament on -the sea. Exactly the opposite of what was at the foundation of the Hague -Conference. Bloch writes me that Emperor William is said to have -persuaded the Tsar that the peace cause—that is, in the form of an -arbitration tribunal and the limitation of armaments (the German Emperor -is surely in favor of preserving peace by the protection of the -bayonet)—is directly contrary to dynastic interests. - -The South African war breaks out. Our opponents cry scornfully, “So this -is the result of the Hague Conference, is it?” - -I had desired to publish in my monthly an expression of opinion -regarding this misfortune from an English peace champion so highly -regarded as Philip Stanhope, who I knew would be deeply grieved by it. -He replied that it would not be in good taste to express his views in -foreign periodicals while his country was involved in war. Now that the -war is long finished there is no indiscretion in my reproducing his -letter: - - Padworth House, Reading, November 19, 1899 - - Dear Baroness von Suttner: - - I have to thank you most sincerely for your letter. In times like - these, when one finds one’s self in a small minority, the - encouragement of friends is of great service, and no one is more - authorized than yourself to speak upon such an issue, having for many - years given your life to the service of the cause of peace. - - Just now it is impossible to write anything for publication in a - foreign journal. While we are in the throes of a great war it would be - unseemly to do so, and I will therefore ask you to kindly excuse me in - this regard for the present. I may, however, say to yourself as a - friend what I could not publicly say about the situation. - - I think the jingo feeling is subsiding in England. Now that the people - are at last realizing what war means, there is less shouting and - enthusiasm. I am told that even in the music halls this tendency is - very marked. Of course patriotic songs will always command a large - audience and excite natural patriotic emotions, but people are - beginning to think and to ask themselves what the war is about, and - whether warfare is the best way of really pacifying South Africa. I - have great confidence in the ultimate good sense of my countrymen when - the fever has passed away. - - All the same, the path of idealists like ourselves is not made more - easy by what has happened. - - I hope Baron von Suttner is well. Kindly remember me to him and allow - me to subscribe myself as - - Very sincerely yours - Philip Stanhope - -I asked an expression of opinion from Count Nigra for the annual meeting -of my Union. The ambassador replied with the following letter: - - Rome, Grand Hotel, November 29, 1899 - - My dear Baroness: - - You are quite right in seizing the occasion of the meeting of the - Austrian peace society to ask a word of approbation and encouragement - from those who worked for peace at the Conference at The Hague. That - Conference has had to meet with two untoward accidents,—the Dreyfus - affair and the conflict in the Transvaal. The first distracted public - attention from our work; the other seems to contradict it. The - coincidence is certainly very regrettable. But these are only passing - incidents, while our work is destined to last as long as time lasts. - The Conference is accused of not having produced immediate results. To - tell the truth we enjoyed no illusion in this respect. We knew - perfectly well that we had not been working to secure the peace of the - world from one day to another. On the contrary, we had the - consciousness of working for the future of humanity. - - Moreover, is it true that the Conference had no immediate effect? I - think that the mere fact that such a Conference was convoked by a - powerful monarch, like the Emperor of Russia, that it was accepted by - all the powers, and that it could meet and work for months with the - purpose of making wars less frequent and less cruel for the - nations,—that fact alone is already a great result. It proves at least - that the ideas of peace and arbitration have entered into the - consciousness of governments and of peoples. - - Besides, as I have just said, we had in view not the fleeting moment - but the future history of the world. The tree, the seed of which we - have planted, is likely to grow but slowly, like everything else that - is destined to increase and throw down deep roots. We shall not be - able to repose in the shade of its branches, but those who follow us - will gather its fruits. I have faith in our work for the future. The - ideas that we have aroused in the minds of the governments and of the - peoples cannot vanish like deceptive mirages. They have their _raisons - d’être_ in the universal consciousness. Like every human conception, - they meet, in their application, with periods of arrested development - and even, if one may thus express one’s self, with passing eclipses. - But nothing shall prevent their onward course. The end which we have - set before ourselves is that of a forward march in constant progress. - It is the law of history. Blind is he who does not see it. - - So then, _sursum corda_, and let us remember that Christ blamed men of - little faith. You can remind your assembly of this in order that it - may be taken in elsewhere. - - Accept, madam, my very sincere regards - Nigra - - - - - LXII - THE TURN OF THE CENTURY - - 1900 or 1901 · Address to the powers · Letters from Henryk Sienkiewicz · - Letter from the Prince of Mingrelia · Count Apponyi’s press scheme · The - Interparliamentary Conference at Paris · Count Apponyi on the Conference - · Dr. Clark’s action regarding Chamberlain and President Kruger · - _Altera pars_ · The troubles in China · Letters from Yang-Yü to my - husband · The Peace Congress at Paris · The Bloch family · Madame - Séverine · The Exposition · Dinner at Professor Charles Richet’s · Miss - Alice Williams · Literary work · Nomination of the Hague judges · - Letters from Martens and Schönborn · D’Estournelles’s lecture in Vienna - · Dr. Holls’s mission · Our silver wedding · Letter from Tolstoi · First - assignment of the Nobel prizes · Dunant’s thanks · Decennial celebration - of the Union · Letters of congratulation from Passy, Szell, Schönborn, - D’Estournelles, Chlumecky, Rosegger and Björnson - - -Now we began to write 1900. A new century. To be sure the ancient -controversy raged a good deal as to whether the century began with the -cipher or with the figure one; but I think that the number 1901 -signifies that the first year of the twentieth century is finished, so -that it begins with 1900, therefore it already is.[44] To be sure, time -runs without figures into the Ocean of Eternity, but such turning points -are always impressive. - -Even the Tsar’s rescript said, “This Conference should be, by the help -of God, a happy presage for a century which is about to open.” Our age, -however, allowed this significant epoch to pass by without “turning over -a new leaf,” without saying, “Now we will dedicate the twentieth century -by breaking with the old barbarism.” - -Barbarism was happily rescued by its admirers, and an immeasurably -horrible and pitiful war, with lurid-glaring jingoism in its train, -raged as a portentous presage marking the transition from the old -century to the new. - -All the pacifists were troubled and indignant over this turn of affairs; -but none was disheartened. It is well known that the line of progress -often runs back a little in order later to advance with accelerated -rapidity; and the results already achieved, the unexpected new victories -in the domain of the peace cause, were already in our hands. That -certainly was not going backwards. In the work of the pioneers also -there was no moment of inaction; the protests against the continuation -of the South African war, the reminder to the powers that mediation was -open to them, the articles, the petitions,—all these things were -zealously attended to by our Bern Bureau, by Stead in his _Weekly_, by -the Unions in their meetings. Even though no direct result was attained, -still the principle was unviolated, the standpoint was held, the banner -was kept aloft. - -Our friends had organized an international demonstration in the form of -an address to the powers, signed by public societies and distinguished -individuals of all nations. The names of those who were included were -both numerous and imposing; but I will here call attention only to the -answer of one great man who refused to join with us. I had sent out a -great many invitations, among others one to Henryk Sienkiewicz. He sent -me a long reply, in which he declined to sign the petition because he -held the opinion that there were much worse and more pressing sufferings -to be relieved than those of the Boers; for instance, the sufferings of -the Poles persecuted by “Hakatism.” He believed that the English would -never be able—even though they might be victorious in the Transvaal—to -attempt to denationalize the people there and deprive them of all -freedom. So we might much better work for people nearer at home; such -was the conclusion of Sienkiewicz’s letter: - - Ah, madam, before taking up with Africa, interest yourself in Europe. - A gigantic humanitarian work is within your reach. Endeavor to make - the spirit of the German nation ennoble the present _régime_, and see - to it that it does not become debased by false statesmanship. - - England gave birth to a great minister who spent his life in defending - the rights of oppressed Ireland; can you show me another in all - Europe? Leave the English spirit in peace, for it will of itself - attain the end that you propose, and work for causes nearer home. - Elevate political morality, ennoble the consciences of the mighty; may - the clouds of injustice and of treason against human right vanish - away! May a breath of humanity freshen the air poisoned by Hakatist - currents! Carry the good tidings to your neighbors, bring them words - of love, endeavor to instill the Kingdom of Christ into their souls. - You have a noble heart, a good and unshaken will! - -I replied in a few lines in which I informed him that I desired to reply -to him in an open letter. Thereupon Sienkiewicz wrote back: - - Warsaw, March 7, 1900 - - My dear Baroness: - - I allowed a Cracow newspaper to publish the letter which I sent in - reply to yours, for in circumstances so important the greatest - publicity cannot fail to be advantageous to the ideas which you, - madam, defend with such commendable warmth. - - The news that you wish to reply in an open letter causes me real joy. - I believe that the more light we carry into these gloomy vaults the - more we drive out of them the creatures that exist only in the - darkness. - - With assurances of my highest regard - Henryk Sienkiewicz - -Our correspondence was accordingly published in French and Polish -newspapers. The text of my reply is not within my reach; I only know -that I pointed out that one should never say to any one who is -undertaking something useful and helpful, “Better do this than that.” If -“this” as well as “that” is directed to the same end—freedom, and -suppression of injustice and suffering—then do both; but better than -that which is nearer in space is the universal; for if the general -principle is saved, it can be applied to other and local cases. - - -All this political correspondence did not prevent me from exchanging -letters with my own intimate friends. Even with our friends in the -Caucasus, in spite of years of separation, intercourse was not broken -off. - -The following letter from the Prince of Mingrelia, which I find in my -letter-file for 1900, is a witness of that fact: - - St. Petersburg, March 24 (April 6), 1900 - - My dear Baroness: - - How much I should like to see you and chat with you! At St. Petersburg - all your writings are translated and your individuality interests the - public. - - It is clear that the sympathies of all are aroused by your beautiful - ideas. Nevertheless a strange thing is happening: every one is in - favor of peace, and along with that all the powers are arming. - International laws are easily read, but the application of them is - pretty difficult. One must be resigned and confess that the system of - Brennus is always the order of the day.[45] The English are doing in - the Transvaal what others are doing elsewhere. Did not these very - Boers who are pillaged now, first pillage the native Africans? In this - world each has his turn. ’Tis the great immutable law. “He who takes - the sword shall perish by the sword.” When one is a philosopher, - injustice seems the rule, justice the exception. - - Salomé will be in Paris in May, I think. I expect to take a trip in - August. At all events I will keep you informed of my deeds and - actions. I am going to send you my photograph very soon. - - Please give my love to your husband, and think of me always as - - Your very devoted - Niko - -Count Apponyi was still at work on his press project. He wrote me -regarding it: - - Budapest, March 27, 1900 - - Dear Madam: - - Yesterday something took place here which, with God’s help, may prove - of incalculable importance for the peace movement. That is, we have - taken the first step toward the establishment of an international - peace union of the press, and the Hungarian group, made up of almost - all the newspapers of the capital, is already formed. The proposed - press union, for which we have elaborated a provisional charter, is to - be organized in every degree parallel with the Interparliamentary - Union, and is to be in constant touch with it. The idea originated - with the Hungarian Interparliamentary Group, which, as a _Conseil - interparlementaire_ will make the motion at the Paris Conference, as - indeed it has already done at the Brussels meeting, that all the - national groups shall endeavor to help form the press groups, and that - our Interparliamentary Bureau shall serve these groups as a center - until there shall be so many of them that the independent - international organization of the press can come into existence. - - I have got the matter under way through correspondence; have written - Descamps, Labiche, Rahusen, Dr. Hirsch, Stanhope, Pierantoni, and - Pirquet. Pirquet is already at work on it; I have not yet had any - answer from the others. - - The importance of the plan scarcely requires argument. But I am taking - the liberty of inclosing an extract from the address which I gave - before the press club here and which clearly outlines my idea. It is - hardly to be expected that the scheme will be everywhere so - enthusiastically and unanimously adopted as it has been here, where an - exceptional intimacy exists between parliament and press. But - influential newspapers will everywhere be enlisted, and what we need - is the systematic labors of these unpartisan journals. - - What advantage is it if, for example, the _Neue Freie Presse_ - publishes to-day an article from your pen, Baroness, or one by - Councilor Bloch, but on the other six days of the week speaks of the - peace movement—if at all—in a scornful tone? Such sporadic articles of - individual persons, no matter how distinguished, are put down as - special labors, and any possible influence that they might have on the - reader is immediately rendered nugatory. Only the constant logical - attitude of the editorial boards renders the action of the press - effectual. Now then, imagine the press organized and conducted for one - purpose throughout the whole civilized world and brought into tactical - partnership with the parliamentary activity; then that steam power - which the Hague peace machinery needs to put it into action would be - supplied. This seems to us practically much more important than to - discover new articles which might be added to the Hague Convention. - - After all this I hardly need to ask your benevolent furtherance of our - scheme, for I do not believe that anything could impart more power to - the peace movement than the success of this plan. - - With greatest respect, I am - - Your wholly devoted - Albert Apponyi - -Undeterred by the South African war, the Interparliamentary Union held -its Conference, and the Peace Unions likewise assembled for their annual -Congress. Both organizations met in Paris, where the World’s Exposition -was being held. I got a letter from the French Senate inviting us to -attend the Conference as guests. Various circumstances prevented us from -accepting this invitation. - -The Conference was opened with impressive words by the president of the -Senate, M. Fallières, now President of the Republic. The sensation of -the Conference was the bearing and eloquence of Count Apponyi. He -outlined his plan for a press union to be allied with the -Interparliamentary Bureau, and in fact the foundation for such a union -was actually laid. Unfortunately the matter did not materialize and was -not generally adopted. Success will come with the next attempt. - -The political bitterness which at that time divided the French into two -camps, under the still convulsing excitement of the “Affair,” was a very -unfavorable circumstance for the holding of an Interparliamentary -Conference. The following letter from Count Apponyi refers to this: - - Weidlingau, August 8, 1900 - - My dear Baroness: - - I should like to add to the accompanying text of my speech just a few - remarks on the Paris Interparliamentary Conference. - - We were very sorry indeed that you were not there, but you may well - congratulate yourself that you were not. It was the gloomiest meeting, - the most disappointing of all our hopes, of any that I ever attended. - The French were for the most part absent: _Si M. un tel en est, je - n’en suis pas_; so the word goes. It was an unfortunate idea to lay - the scene of our endeavors in the France of to-day, where everything - is regarded from the visual angle of a party quarrel so accentuated - that it has almost reached the point of civil war. - - Everything that is not in accord with the present régime,—more - accurately, with the left wing of the present régime,—was on strike, - Deschanel, president of the chamber, included; the press was partly - indifferent, partly hostile. I am afraid that this Conference will - have a bad reactionary influence on men’s minds everywhere. The German - group seemed to me infected by the French unsteadiness; it was - numerously represented, but evaporated almost completely toward the - end. - - Perhaps I see things in too dark colors, but truly I have no personal - reasons for doing so; my efforts were received in the friendliest - spirit, and my group, numerously represented, made the most delightful - picture. I can guarantee the soundness of this group. - - But I do not give up the cause in France; as far as it was permitted - me by the brevity of the time and the general flight of those - concerned, I tried to get into touch with the absent parliamentary - circles, and I shall certainly be able to strengthen these relations - and perhaps serve as a neutral connecting link in the interest of our - cause. No Frenchman is capable of uniting two of his fellow-countrymen - who are not wholly unanimous in their views, even though it concerns - an object highly regarded by both; not even our very sympathetic - friend D’Estournelles, who is in great favor in all camps, at least - socially. And without France nothing can be accomplished. - - If you ask the question, Who is to blame for this? I can only reply, - All. But who is most to blame? That would be a long chapter, and I - will not go into it, although I have a definite answer ready. I hope - you will not lay this pessimistic statement of the case up against me; - but we must see clearly, not so as to be discouraged, but so as to act - in a suitable manner. - - With great respect - Your wholly devoted - Albert Apponyi - -Our friend Dr. Clark, a Scotchman, who has never missed a Peace Congress -and has always distinguished himself by his clever speeches -characterized by a certain dry humor, had just been made the object of -bitter attacks by the British press. He sent me the following -explanation of the circumstances: - - Ardnahane Cove, Dunbartonshire, September 11, 1900 - - Dear Madam von Suttner: - - I have received your letter, for which I thank you very heartily. - These are indeed evil days for the cause with which we are associated, - though I cannot but think that the events of the last year must have - led many to the contemplation of the awful waste of life and suffering - caused by the present system of settling international disputes by - force of arms, and will induce them to work for the day when - arbitration shall take the place of war with its horrible human - sacrifice. - - You mention the letters written to President Kruger and General - Joubert by me on the 29th of September of last year, which have lately - been published by Mr. Chamberlain and copied by the continental press. - It is quite true that there has been a great deal of misrepresentation - on that subject. For some months before the war began there had been a - small party in this country who had been working to bring about a - peaceable settlement. I had some correspondence with President Kruger - and General Joubert, in which I had advised them to make such - concessions to the British government that the calamity of war might - be averted, since the prosperity of South Africa must depend on the - good faith and friendly feeling between the two white races. The - published letters, to which you refer, are the last portion of this - correspondence, and were written less than a fortnight before the war - began. In my letter to President Kruger I gave him the result of an - interview which I had with Mr. Chamberlain, in which I endeavored to - induce him to accede to the repeated request which the Transvaal - government had made that matters at issue should be settled by - arbitration, and to consent that a permanent arbitration tribunal - should be formed to which all present and future disputes should at - once be submitted. I told him that the Transvaal government were - willing to submit the differences pending between the two governments - to a court of arbitration, consisting of the four chief justices of - South Africa, and to accept the Lord Chief Justice of England as - umpire in the event of the two colonial and two republican chief - justices not being able to agree,—a suggestion which, as you will have - seen, the colonial secretary was not able to accept. - - The force of misrepresentation and calumny which the peace party here - have had to endure from the virulent and unscrupulous jingo press can - be estimated by the manner in which they have misrepresented my - warning to President Kruger. I knew, as every one who knew anything of - the geography of South Africa must have known, that the obvious line - of action for the Boers to adopt would be that of seizing the passes, - and I warned President Kruger that to do so would alienate the - sympathy of many of their supporters in this country and on the - continent of Europe. My words were deliberately misconstrued, and it - was asserted that I urged the Boers to seize the passes. Nothing - further from the truth can be imagined. - - But, in spite of the difficulties with which we have had to contend, - there is, undoubtedly, a large minority here who are firmly convinced - that the war is an unjust one, and who regard the settlement by - annexation as another wrong against which they will continue to - protest. We shall go on working by all constitutional means for the - restoration of the independence of the two republics, believing that - by these means only can peace and prosperity exist once more in South - Africa. We believe that we are working in a just cause, and shall hope - in the not too distant future that we may be able to appeal to the - justice of this people, who will then have recognized the folly and - wickedness for which they have been made responsible. - - We do not doubt the future. We are sure that it is with us. It is true - that the middle classes and the moderate liberals have abandoned their - old watchword of “Peace, retrenchment, and reform,” but the radicals - and socialists are standing firmly by these principles. I send you a - copy of the socialist paper _Justice_, which expressed fairly the - attitude of the democratic party. I have, as you know, opposed the - growth of socialism, which I formerly believed to be inimical to - freedom and progress, but I am considerably modifying my views. The - power for evil of the lawless and conscienceless capitalism which is - now rampant is so great, and entails such unlimited moral and physical - degeneracy, that I am convinced some form of collective action is a - necessity to put an end to its baneful influence. - - The history of this miserable war determines us to stand more - determinedly by the principle of the substitution of arbitration for - war. It becomes clearer and clearer that no permanent settlement can - be based on war, and that, as between individuals, so between nations, - magnanimity is not only morally desirable, _but it is the best - policy_. - - I am taking a yachting holiday in Scotland, but we may be overtaken by - a general election here at any time. - - Thanking you again for your letter, believe me to remain - - Yours faithfully - G. B. Clark - -But in this Transvaal affair I must also let the _altera pars_ have its -say. The English nation, so vilified on the Continent because of the -Boer War, was not as a whole (as many liked to assert) led into this -campaign merely by the passion for gain and through love of warfare. -Noble motives—as is usually the case in every war—animated the majority. -The desire is to “give freedom,” to make wrong into right, to serve the -fatherland; life itself is sacrificed. The object and aim may be -praiseworthy; only it is unfortunate that the method is so unholy and -vicious. I received the following letter from the sister of the Minister -of Cape Colony: - - Stockton, April 18, 1900 - - Madam: - - Because of the high honor in which I bear you and the deep sympathy - with which I read _Die Waffen nieder_, I send you this letter, written - by a Cape Dutch woman, sister of Mr. Schreiner, Prime Minister of Cape - Colony. I do not know if you are well enough acquainted with Cape - politics to be aware of the full significance of the fact that he came - into office as leader of the Afrikander Bond. - - That his sister should write as she does about this war should surely - come as a startling revelation to many people on the Continent who are - so sorely misjudging my beloved country. - - She will answer for you as to the motives of those Cape Dutch who are - holding by the Union Jack. For those of my own country I, living in - the heart of England, daily in touch with the lower, middle, and upper - middle classes, affirm to you, as before God, that no wish for - conquest and no lust for gold weighs anything at all with us. - - We are giving the lives of our best beloved—giving them by - thousands—to right wrong, to destroy oppression of our - fellow-subjects, both white and black, to put an end to a very unjust - and most corrupt form of government. Also to prevent our Colony of the - Cape, Natal, Rhodesia, and Bechuanaland, conquered by our blood and - treasure at various times, from being wrested from us. - - This is the simple truth. We should like high-minded people abroad to - know and recognize that truth. But if it may not be, we can only still - repeat the old battle cry of our forefathers, “May God defend the - right!” - - Pardon an insignificant old Englishwoman for venturing to address you. - It is only because of the immense sympathy with your noble-hearted - efforts to stop wars, ambitious and unjust, that I have done so. - England loves peace also, and her united millions who now with one - heart and soul are carrying out this war (and madam, the very peasants - are naming their children after our generals) would never allow war to - be made on our European neighbors. There is not the slightest wish or - expectation of such a thing among us. Foreign journals which assert - the contrary and thereby try to fan the flames of war are guilty of a - European crime. - - I am, madam, faithfully yours - Emily Axbell - -The year 1900 brought, besides the struggle so obstinately contested in -South Africa, still other warlike events into the world, notably the -troubles in China. First the Boxer uprising, the assassination of the -German ambassador Ketteler, then the expedition for rescue and revenge -sent by the combined European powers. - -I can still remember vividly with what feelings we followed the -successive phases of these events. First the tidings of -alarm, then the full horror of it. Then the Emperor William’s -“Pardon-will-not-be-granted” speech—“Never in a thousand years shall a -Chinaman venture to look askance at a German!” Great Heavens! in a -thousand years it is to be hoped that no man will any longer inspire -other men with fear.... Then the anxious question every day, “Are the -legations still safe?” Then the joy that something corresponding to our -ideal had been spontaneously developed: an international protective army -for the rescue of the oppressed European brotherhood-in-arms,—a -precursor of European unity. Then again the sorrow at the behavior of -this army. Not only protection but also revenge, cruelty, and looting! -The description of the outrages committed there by Europeans on -noncombatants, even on the innocent, made one’s blood run cold. The -thing itself—a united force of French, Russian, and other troops under -the command of a German general—belonged to the new methods that are to -come; but the execution still showed the old spirit. - -Even before things had reached their worst in China, the Chinese -ambassador in St. Petersburg, Yang-Yü, whom we met at The Hague, wrote -the following letter in reply to one which my husband had addressed to -him in this emergency: - - Imperial Chinese Embassy - St. Petersburg, August 4 (17), 1900 - - My dear Baron: - - The melancholy events now happening in my country often make me think - of the friends of peace and those whom I had the honor of knowing at - The Hague. - - Your letter of the eighth instant has deeply touched me, and I am - persuaded that, in spite of the fact that you are, as you say, a - negligible quantity, you will finally triumph and rule. The light will - shine from this negligible quantity, and a spark will suffice to - kindle forever this pharos of peace. May the sword and the cannon of - which you speak soon be beaten into plowshares. - - So, then, it is a sacred duty for you to defend this noble cause - without ever yielding to discouragement, with absolute firmness, - resolution, and conviction, and without ever ceasing to make your - voice heard! - - I should be most happy if by my opinion and my personal impressions I - could contribute in some way to the humanitarian work in which you are - engaged. During journeys which I have taken, both as an envoy and as - an investigator, I have visited the United States of America, Peru and - other states of South America, Austria-Hungary, Germany, England, - Spain, France, Holland, Japan, and Russia; everywhere I went I studied - the customs of the people, and I have been particularly interested in - the army, in commerce, and in agriculture, all of which I have found - most perfectly administered. I took note of what differentiates these - countries from ours and what benefits they have to confer upon my - country. But what should I say? This incessant rivalry and this - jealousy manifested among all nations somewhat detract from this - perfection. If I have one desire to formulate, it is to see all - countries rise superior to these sentiments and live always in a good - understanding; this would assure them a lasting peace. - - The conflict existing at present between China and the foreign powers - comes in large part from mutual misunderstandings. I am firmly - convinced that neither China nor any of these powers desires to break - these pleasant relationships. Things have been pushed to this point, - owing to the heedlessness of Chinese functionaries and military - parties blinded by ambition. It is more than time to do away with - these misunderstandings, and to reëstablish the old relations; - otherwise, not only will China be brought to the greatest distress, - but, moreover, international quarrels may result, and this would - certainly not be in the interest of humanity as a whole. I hope that - the governments of none of the countries will lose sight of the - opportunity of putting an end to this state of things. - - The first cause that prepared and brought about the present conflict - is due to the sworn hatred of the people against the Christians. - Assuredly the end pursued by the missionaries, of doing good to - others, is very praiseworthy. But, as a general thing, right-thinking - Chinese would not for anything in the world abandon the religion that - comes down to them from their ancestors, for the sake of embracing one - that is wholly foreign to them; the result is that the new converts - are unfortunately in large measure dishonest people who hide behind - the shelter of the Church to give themselves up to their evil - passions, such as bringing lawsuits with impunity, and molesting and - robbing their fellow-countrymen. The feelings of the people, which - were at first merely wrath and indignation, and do not date from - yesterday, have been changed into an implacable hatred, the fury of - which it is impossible any longer to restrain. The Chinese no more - desire to be converted to Christianity than the Europeans would wish - to embrace the maxims of Confucius. - - My personal opinion is that commercial relations between China and the - foreign powers may be developed to any desired extent; but as for the - question of religion, it would be more prudent to allow each to - respect his own as he understands it; this would be calculated to - preserve the future from all conflict. I do not know whether the - foreign governments will at last recognize the whole importance of the - question and renounce it definitely. - - In the belief that I have answered all your questions, I beg leave to - assure you that I shall always be charmed to be useful and agreeable - to you. - - Yours with most sincere esteem - Yang-Yü, Chinese Minister - -And a little later a second letter came from the same source: - - Imperial Chinese Embassy - St. Petersburg, September 10 (23), 1900 - - My dear Baron: - - Sincere thanks for your kind letter, as well as for the newspaper - clippings, which have greatly interested me. - - I hasten to send you and the Baroness my best wishes for a good - journey and a happy sojourn in Paris. I likewise hope that you will - have a brilliant success in the noble assembly of the ninth Peace - Congress. Once again you are going to spread the light and to plead - for that peace cause which ought to be dear to every human heart. - Therefore I should be greatly delighted to learn that all your - endeavors toward this end have fully succeeded. - - Yours with most sincere esteem - Yang-Yü, Chinese Minister - -In the late summer we went to Paris to attend the Peace Congress that -was to be held there, and to see the Exposition. - -Johann von Bloch, who was living with his family at the Hotel -Westminster, had invited us to stay at the same hotel as his guests. Now -I made the acquaintance of our friend’s wife and daughters. Frau von -Bloch looked like her eldest daughter’s sister, so similar and so young. -This daughter is the wife of Herr von Koszielski, formerly so well liked -at the Berlin court. He was known popularly as “Admiralski.” Bloch had -good reason to be proud of his family. It would be difficult to imagine -a bouquet of prettier, wittier, or more elegant women than the four that -formed his _entourage_. - -The Congress was opened by Minister Millerand. Frédéric Passy was -honorary president; Professor Charles Richet presided. - -Madame Séverine was a new apparition. I had often read, in the French -papers, articles by this talented woman, and had admired the brilliancy -of her style, and especially the greatness of her heart; for almost -always, when she wrote her chronicles, there was some distress to reveal -and to alleviate, some past wrong to right, ideas of freedom and -gentleness to defend. Now I made her personal acquaintance and heard her -speak. One who has never listened to Madame Séverine’s extempore -speeches has no notion to what a height of passion and poetry eloquence -can rise. Madame Séverine is also interesting outwardly. She was then -forty-three years old, but her hair was already perfectly white—the -result of the tragedies of life which she had passed through. She had -dark, flashing eyes, vivacious play of expression, and a neat figure. -Toward the close of her fascinating speech she greeted me as _notre sœur -d’Autriche_, and when she finished,—both of us standing on the -platform,—in my emotion I threw my arms around her, and that elicited a -storm of jubilation in the hall. - -We made a flying visit to the Exposition under the guidance of Charles -Richet. All expositions are alike. The things that especially remained -in my memory were the Eiffel Tower, the _trottoir roulant_, the tiny -corner in the pavilion in which our Bern Bureau and its literature were -displayed, and the gigantic hall in which army and navy had heaped up -their latest appliances for destruction. - -Richet invited us also to a small dinner given for a few friends. -D’Estournelles sat next me. We talked about the general lack of -information on the part of the public regarding the Hague Conference, -and he told me that he had delivered explanatory lectures on this -subject in various cities in France. - -“Oh, if you could only come to Vienna and give such a lecture!” - -“You need only to invite me,” he replied; “I will render you any service -that you may require of me.” - -I made him shake hands on it. - -At Paris during that time I formed a new bond of friendship which has -proved very valuable to me. An English lady, the daughter of a sea -captain, earning her living in Paris by giving English lessons, had -asked to be presented to me in the Congress hall. I exchanged a few -pleasant words with her and then turned to others. The following day she -wrote me a letter. This was filled with such enthusiasm, with such -devotion to my cause and my person, that I was captivated and asked the -writer to come to see me. Miss Alice Williams—for that was her name—came -immediately and brought me a bunch of roses. But more than flowers, she -brought me a soul—a soul overflowing with the ideals that are precious -to me. As the daughter of an English “sea-bear,” and rather -chauvinistically educated and inclined, she had been, so she told me, -converted by reading _Die Waffen nieder_, and from that time forth had -been a devoted adherent. In the course of years she has proved that such -was the case. I am deeply indebted to her for her friendship, her wise -suggestions, her energy, and her activity. - - -After our return to Harmannsdorf I devoted myself once more to literary -occupations. I wrote the novel _Marthas Kinder_, the sequel to _Die -Waffen nieder_. My Own also again resumed his labors and wrote on his -novel _Im Zeichen des Trusts_. But in spite of this we did not neglect -our work for the Unions and our journalistic writing. I took especial -pains to make the newspaper public acquainted with the Hague business, -which now threatened to be entirely forgotten in the excitement of -Chinese and South African events. - -But, in the meantime, the various conventions were ratified and the -judges of the permanent tribunal were nominated. In accordance with the -agreement, each country was to nominate four judges from among its most -influential and distinguished men. The number of names thus selected -furnishes a list from which, in case of a controversy which is referred -to the Hague tribunal, the contending parties may each select two -judges, not belonging to their own land; and these in their turn will -choose a fifth to serve as president of the court. - -The newspapers brought us the names of the nominees. Among those from -Austria were Count Schönborn, and Lammasch; from Hungary, Count Apponyi; -from France, Bourgeois and D’Estournelles. Of the Russian judges I found -only the name of Professor von Martens. So I wrote to him both to -congratulate him and also to ask him who were the three others named by -the Russian government. I received the following letter in reply: - - St. Petersburg, November 1 (14), 1900 - - My dear Baroness: - - I hasten to offer you my sincere thanks for your congratulations on my - nomination as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The - Hague. The honor which you have been good enough to speak of so warmly - is indeed the greatest that I have ever received, and I am proud of - it; it is a genuine pleasure to receive your felicitations. Your - eminent merits in the defense of the interests of peace and - arbitration have given you, madam, an exceptional place among the - partisans of this great idea. I thank you again from the bottom of my - heart. - - You ask me, madam, who are my Russian colleagues in the Permanent - Court. I am happy to be able to tell you that they are the leading - jurists and statesmen of Russia. Here are their names: - - 1. His Excellency, the Secretary of State, Pobyedonostsef, Procurator - of the Holy Synod. M. Pobyedonostsef’s religious ideas and his great - influence in the most exalted governmental spheres are known - throughout Europe; but he is at the same time a great lawyer, an - accomplished scientist, and a sincere friend of international - arbitration. - - 2. His Excellency, the Secretary of State, De Frisch, who holds in the - Council of the Russian Empire the office of president of the “Section - of Laws.” He is a Russian statesman of very great influence in all - legislative questions, and is one of the highest dignitaries of the - empire. He has been president of the Grand Commission to elaborate the - new criminal code of Russia. - - 3. His Excellency, the Secretary of State, Muravieff, present Minister - of Justice for the Russian Empire. He is a statesman endowed with the - greatest talents, and a very eminent lawyer. The late Count Muravieff - was his cousin. - - Finally, the last—is your humble servant. His Majesty the Emperor, by - his nomination, in the month of May, of these Russian members of the - Permanent Court of Arbitration, has certainly tried to prove once more - what deep sympathy he feels for this creation of the Peace Conference, - and his utmost desire to give this court the greatest possible _éclat_ - and the most serious importance. Such certainly is the opinion that at - present obtains in high governmental spheres. - - You would infinitely oblige me if you would send me three copies of - your article on the Permanent Court and its members. Do you suppose - you could possibly publish the article in the _Neue Freie Presse_, - which is read in Russia? Madame de Martens wishes to be remembered, - and I beg you to accept the assurance of my highest regard. - - Martens - -I received other letters from the newly appointed delegates, thanking me -for my congratulations; but I will cite only the one from Count -Schönborn: - - Vienna, January 11, 1901 - - Dear Baroness: - - Will you accept my heartiest and humblest thanks for the thoroughly - kind letter of the eighth which reached me yesterday, and which I - should have instantly answered had not an unusually long session of - the Court of Administration occupied my time. Please accept at the - same time my warmest thanks for your kindness in sending me the highly - interesting publication, as well as your congratulations. - - I am so deeply impressed by the importance of the duty imposed upon - the Hague Court of Arbitration that I was at first dubious about - accepting the nomination, and not until after some explanations were - made which pacified my scruples did I dare accept the complimentary - mandate. - - We, that is to say the Arbitration Tribunal, shall not have much to - attend to at first, probably, but I confidently hope that a good vital - germ has been planted, and that later, if the institution proves its - value in several apparently unimportant cases, the number of its - adherents and the number and importance of the contentions submitted - to it will increase. - - With the expression of especial respect, I am - - Yours sincerely - Friedrich Schönborn - -I sent my congratulations, together with a copy of my Hague diary, to -two German gentlemen nominated to the same dignity. One of them did not -reply at all; the other sent me three marks! - - -The beginning of the year 1901 still brought no cessation of the Boer -War. Such a mighty power opposed to such a small one, and yet the -decision was so long delayed! - -Many of Bloch’s predictions regarding modern warfare were justified,—for -instance, the advantage held by those who were on the defensive, the -long, indecisive continuation of battles, the enormously increased -sacrifices of money and men, and many other things. Bloch was at that -time in London, where he was delivering lectures at the Navy Club before -an audience of admirals and generals. Moreover, he was busily engaged -with the preliminary arrangements for the founding of his War and Peace -Museum at Lucerne. - -Mindful of the promise which I had obtained from D’Estournelles, I wrote -urging him to come to Vienna and give a lecture on the Hague Conference. -He consented without hesitation. Count Apponyi, as soon as he heard of -his coming, invited him to take advantage of this opportunity to spend a -few days with him at his castle of Eberhard, and also to deliver a -lecture in Budapest. This invitation D’Estournelles likewise accepted. - -We put ourselves out to secure the attendance of a select and -influential audience for the lecture in Vienna. I addressed myself to -the then French ambassador, Marquis de Reverseaux, who gave me every -assistance in his power in behalf of his fellow-countryman, whom he so -highly prized. He not only saw to it that the members of his embassy -should be present at the lecture, but he also undertook to extend -invitations to the whole diplomatic corps. We for our part sent -invitations to the ministers, to the principal officials at court, and -to the leading politicians. We made no attempt to arrange for a -particularly democratic assemblage, for in the first place the common -people would not understand French, and in the second place we were -particularly desirous that the political, court, and aristocratic -circles, which are accustomed to look so superciliously cold upon the -peace cause and the Hague Conference, should for once have a chance to -hear an explanation of it from the lips of a man who was himself a -diplomat and a politician and an aristocrat, and who had taken a -prominent part in the work of the Hague Conference. I had also taken -pains to get the directors of the Theresianum and the Oriental Academy -to send us a number of their students, for the teaching offered would be -particularly useful to just such young men, destined for political and -diplomatic careers. - -The affair went off brilliantly. D’Estournelles spoke splendidly, and -the very numerous public, composed of just the elements that we desired, -listened with great attention and approbation. It was a _succès_. - -That evening—the lecture having occupied the time from four till six—we -gave a small _souper intime_ in honor of our foreign guest. Among those -present were D’Estournelles’s two Austrian colleagues of the Hague -Court, Count Schönborn and Lammasch; also Barons Ernst von Plener and -Peter Pirquet of the Austrian Interparliamentary Group. - - -This year we did not attend the Peace Congress, which was held at -Glasgow. The following letter I received from the American delegate to -the Hague Conference, Dr. Holls, who, as it appeared, had undertaken to -make a journey through Europe on a peace mission. I had extended him an -invitation to visit me in Vienna. - - Claridge’s Hotel, Brook Street, W. - July 26, 1901 - - My dear Madam: - - Your friendly letter reached me here after many wanderings. I regret - very sincerely not having seen you in Vienna, but my time there was - exceedingly brief and almost wholly occupied with business. - - As you have seen from the published interview, my journey to Russia - was very satisfactory. But I do not believe that it would be advisable - to publish anything further about it at present. - - The miscomprehension of our work disturbs me very little; it must make - its way by reason of its services. I should have been glad to discuss - with you, more extensively than is possible by letter, the present - phases of the question; but this year it is impossible. The thing to - do now is to wait patiently. The plant is growing, and there is no - object in disturbing its growth by too frequent investigation of how - far it has already progressed. For that reason I regret even the - holding of a Peace Congress this year. - - General resolutions of condemnation are of very little value. The most - we can do now is to make excrescences of militarism—for example, silly - dueling—ridiculous. - - With hearty respect, I remain - Yours sincerely - Dr. W. Holls - -On the twelfth of June we celebrated our silver wedding; not by a great -festival at home, with congratulations, deputations, and toasts, but, as -usual, by an excursion into solitude. Sacred day! The retrospect upon -five-and-twenty years of undisturbed comradeship! We had left -Harmannsdorf two days before—no one knew where we had gone—like a pair -of fugitive lovers. The festal day we spent in a romantic forest region, -hiding ourselves in the deepest depths of the woods and calling up -reminiscence after reminiscence! A rich life lay behind us. And what -might come in the future? How much farther should we wander together on -the path that leads from the silver to the golden wedding? How fortunate -that fate gives no answer to such questions! - -I had written again to the sage of Yasnaya Polyana, and in reply -received the following very characteristic lines: - - August 28, 1901 - - Dear Baroness: - - I thank you for your good letter. It was very pleasant for me to know - that you retain a kindly memory of me. - - At the risk of being tiresome to you by repeating what I have many - times said in my writings, and what I believe I have written to you, I - cannot refrain from saying once again that the longer I live and the - more I consider the question of war the more I am convinced that the - sole solution of the question is for the citizens to refuse to be - soldiers. As long as every man at the age of twenty or twenty-one - abjures his religion—not only Christianity but the commandments of - Moses (“Thou shalt not kill”)—and promises to kill all those whom his - superior orders him to kill, even his brothers and parents, so long - war will not cease; and it will grow more and more cruel, as it is - already becoming in our day. - - For the disappearance of war there is no need of conferences or peace - societies; one thing only is needed, namely, the reëstablishment of - the dignity of man. If the smallest part of the energy spent nowadays - for articles and fine speeches in the conferences and peace societies - were employed in the schools and among the people for destroying false - religion and propagating the true, wars would soon become impossible. - - Your excellent book has had a great effect in spreading abroad a - realization of the horrors of war. It would be well now to show people - that they themselves are the ones that bring about all the evils of - war by obeying men rather than God. I take the liberty of suggesting - that you devote yourself to this task, which is the only means of - attaining the end you have in view. - - Begging you to excuse me for the liberty which I have taken, I remain - - Yours with highest regard - Leo Tolstoi - -This year, for the first time, the Nobel prizes were distributed. The -date selected was the tenth of December, the anniversary of the -testator’s death. The peace prize was divided and assigned in equal -shares to Frédéric Passy and Henri Dunant. Highly as I regarded and -still regard Dunant, persuaded as I was and am of his friendly attitude -toward peace, nevertheless his services and his fame rested on a quite -different field from that which Nobel had in mind. The granting of the -prize to Dunant was once more a concession to that spirit which managed -to force its way even into the Hague Conference, and which supports the -dogma that the endeavors against war should be discreetly limited to its -alleviation. - -That Frédéric Passy, the oldest, the most deserving, and the most highly -regarded of all pacifists, received the prize was a great satisfaction -to all of us—only the whole amount should have gone to him. - -I received the following letter from Dunant: - - Heiden, December 10, 1901 - - My dear Madam: - - I am impelled to offer you my homage on this day, as I have just been - informed by an official telegram from Christiania that the Nobel peace - prize has been granted to me in conjunction with my honored colleague - of many years’ standing, Frédéric Passy. - - This prize, gracious lady, is your work; for through your - instrumentality Herr Nobel became devoted to the peace movement, and - at your suggestion he became its promoter. - - For more than fifty years I have been a pronounced adherent of the - cause of international peace, and a fighter under the white banner. - The work of international brotherhood has been my aim ever since my - earliest youth. I say this and repeat it to-day more emphatically than - ever in my character as founder of the universal institution of the - Red Cross and as promoter of the Geneva Convention of August 22, 1864. - - When, in the year 1861, I wrote my _Souvenir de Solferino_, my - principal aim—be assured of this—was general pacification; I desired - as far as I could to awaken horror of war in the readers of my book. - - This has been recognized, and I will merely adduce one example. The - famous Professor Marc Girardin, of the French Academy, said in an - article devoted to my book, “I could wish that this book should be - widely read, especially by those who love and glorify war.” - - And Victor Hugo wrote me: “You furnish mankind with weapons, and you - help peace by making war hateful.... I applaud your noble desire.” - - I might say much on this theme, and bring forward a quantity of - citations in like spirit from authorities of all kinds and all - countries; but I must refrain, and beg you, Baroness, to accept the - assurance of my most sincere gratitude and my deepest respect. - - Henri Dunant - -The yearly meeting of my Union for 1901 took the form of a sort of -jubilee; ten years had passed since its establishment. - -From among the many letters of greeting that reached me on this occasion -I will include a few in these reminiscences, for the reason that they -depict the status of the movement at that time, and also furnish a -résumé of its philosophy. - - Paris, December 27, 1901 - - Gracious Lady and dear Associate: - - The friend has usually written you; to-day the president of the French - Society for Arbitration among the Nations and—since he cannot hide the - title—the first recipient of the Nobel prize sends these lines to you, - though of course the friend is not eliminated. If I am correctly - informed, you are holding the tenth general assembly of the society of - which you are the head. And this is an event which we cannot permit to - pass without notice. It means something for a Union to have lived ten - years, especially for the reason that at its inception many, even - among the well disposed, might reasonably have doubts of its - continuance. You certainly had to meet the prejudice, if not the - opposition, of some; the skepticism and the scruples of others; not to - mention the ridicule of those who could not understand that a woman - might take part in the political questions which, according to their - ideas, are reserved exclusively for masculine intelligence and - activity. - - But, supported certainly by true and genuine sympathies, you have put - up a good fight, and you have attained your end. - - Courage, then, and patience! And may it be permitted me in my - character as dean, and as a veteran of the peace militia, to send to - you, and through you to transmit to your society, the thanks, the - congratulations, and the benediction of all those who combine regard - for human life, love for justice, and faith in the future with horror - of force and bloodshed. - - Frédéric Passy - - Budapest, December 21, 1901 - - Noble and honored Baroness: - - The agreeable fact that the Austrian Society of the Friends of Peace, - called into existence by your Excellency, and still conducted through - the indefatigable energy of your Excellency, can now look back over a - ten years’ activity, constrains me to congratulate your Excellency - most warmly on this circumstance. - - Though there may be many who will be unable to appreciate the - endeavors of the society, I can, as far as I am concerned, assure your - Excellency that I can estimate at their true value all great and noble - ideas, as well as those who labor for the accomplishment of such - ideas, and so I follow these endeavors with the warmest interest. - - With the highest esteem, I am yours respectfully - - Szell, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary - - [Telegram.] On the decennial anniversary of your Union I send you my - congratulations, and beg to be enrolled as a life member of the - Austrian Peace Society, at the same time calling attention to the - ideas expressed in my letter of the tenth of December. - - Henri Dunant - - Vienna, December 30, 1901 - - ... The friends of peace in various countries have done good service, - for it is certain that they have materially contributed to the - formation of the Court of Arbitration, and it cannot be doubted that - their moral support is necessary to the embryonic undertaking. - - I am taking the liberty, my dear Baroness, of most respectfully - offering you, who have played so prominent a part in the whole - movement, my best wishes for your honored person, as well as for the - success of the great work. - - With especial respect, yours faithfully - Schönborn, First President of the Imperial Court of Administration - - Paris, December 30, 1901 - - Dear Madam and Friend: - - You are about celebrating the decennial anniversary of the society - which you called into life, and which, I hope, as a recompense - therefor, will save many human lives. Be undisturbed while those who - admire contentions and spectacles make sport of your endeavors; these - people are looking out for their own interests, for they feel that - they are threatened with ruin; in fighting against peace they are - fighting for their own existence. What would become of the so-called - patriotic, imperialistic, and nationalistic press in all countries if - wars between nations should cease, and if the daily instigations - should remain ineffectual? People would then cease buying and reading - these papers. And what would become of the great sensation mongers if - the continual threat of war should no longer be a burden on each - country, and if the peaceful idea of the Court of Arbitration should - make its way into the usages of mankind? - - The principle of international arbitration has a great portion of the - press universal against it, exactly as the same principle in its - application to labor and employers of labor has the opposition of - certain politicians and agitators. - - Nevertheless, this last system has lately made great strides forward, - and it seems like the only righteous and reasonable solution of labor - difficulties. - - It will be so with the international courts of arbitration as soon as - the Hague Tribunal shall have begun to exert its activities. That is - the real reason why it has met with such obstinate opposition; for if - its doors are once opened, it will be difficult to close them again. - - So let us, then, beat these doors down. Let us, in common with all - true men of all lands, through our united protests compel the - governments to renounce their inactivity and their unfriendliness. Let - us compel them to comprehend that their duty is in harmony with their - interests if they would avoid the social revolution. - - After they have had the magnanimous unwisdom to call into existence - the Hague Arbitration Tribunal, with the approval of the whole world, - they cannot bury it alive now without bringing themselves into - condemnation and betraying the fact that they are afraid of justice - and are adherents of a system of violence against which public opinion - long ago revolted. - - In a word, let us demand the opening of the Hague Court of - Arbitration! There is our salvation, there is to be found the means - for hastening the accomplishment of your hopes and mine. - - Most heartily and respectfully yours - D’Estournelles de Constant - - Vienna, December 26, 1901 - - My dear Baroness: - - On the occasion of the decennial celebration of the Society of - Austrian Friends of Peace I am sending to the Union, and above all to - you,—its spiritual head, its soul,—my best congratulations. You can - look back with pride and satisfaction over this long period of - unceasing activity, which, supported by intrepid faith in your noble - cause, rejoices in such splendid success and through the results of - the Hague Conference must convert the most obstinate doubter to a - belief in its necessity and usefulness. - - Accept, Baroness, the assurance of my especial consideration. - - Chlumecky, Former Minister - - Graz, December 31, 1901 - - The thought of universal peace can no longer be put out of the world; - this is the first result of the League of the Friends of Peace! - - We have the same courage—so sorely needed—for peace as the soldier has - for war! Salutations, friends, for the New Year! - - Peter Rosegger - - Aulestad, December 18, 1901 - - The future of the peace cause always comes to me in the guise of a - sunrise. For us Northlanders the sunrise can mean so much more than - for the people to the south of us; we expect it only once in a while, - and greet it as a miracle. The darkness was so oppressively long, the - silence so mysterious, the first glow over the rocky peaks so - deceptive! It lasts and lasts and ever grows—but still no sun! Even - when the sky is already streaming full of hope—yet still no sun! And - it is cold—really colder than before, for fancy has become impatient. - - Then suddenly, like a flash of lightning, even while we are gazing, - comes the so-long-expected Majesty! So powerful, so compellingly - powerful that the eyes cannot endure it. We turn and look at the - landscape, which, without our noticing it, has been so long ensouled; - at the air which, without our perceiving it, has been so long flooded - with light. Everything, everything, even down into the depths, and - high up on the summits, is bathed in the sun, clear, complete, filled - with warmth, throbbing with music.... - - So I think it is happening to us. In our yearning we do not take note - of what is being accomplished—how near already the great sun of - universal peace is. Something is coming, and it seems like a miracle. - But it is no miracle; in our impatience we do not see how everything - was all in readiness for it. - - My greeting to the assembly! - Björnstjerne Björnson - - - - - LXIII - THE LAST YEAR - - Premonitions · Bloch’s death · The Transvaal · Stanhope on the situation - · My husband’s sudden illness · Three letters · Congress in Monaco · The - Oceanographic Museum · Prince Albert I · The corrective · Pierre - Quillard on the Armenian horrors · The crag castle · Venetian night · - The Duke of Urach · From Prince Albert’s after-dinner speech · A - dedication to the German Emperor · Return home · An act of - D’Estournelles’s · The first controversy before the Hague Tribunal · - Opening of the Bloch Museum at Lucerne · Anti-dueling League · A letter - from Prince Alfonso de Borbon · Offer for a lecture tour in the United - States · Hodgson Pratt on America · Visits of Emanuel Nobel and Princess - Tamara of Georgia at Harmannsdorf · Sojourn in Ellischau · A surprise · - Adjournment of the Interparliamentary Conference at Vienna · The end · - From the will · Provisional conclusion · What is yet to follow - - -The last year of him who was my all. - -On New Year’s Day, 1902, all sorts of trifling annoyances happened to -us. - -“You will see,” said My Own, more in jest than in earnest, for he was -not superstitious, “this is going to be a bad year.” - -During the first week indeed came bad news, a dispatch from -Warsaw,—“Johann von Bloch dead of heart disease.” Once more a mighty -fellow-combatant gone from us! - -The war in the Transvaal still kept on. It was now in its third year. At -first the English believed that it was merely a little military -promenade; and now these unending sacrifices and losses. I wrote to -Philip Stanhope asking him if he could give me some information -regarding the situation, and perhaps raise his voice against the -continuance of the strife. He wrote back: - - 3 Carlton Gardens, S.W. - January 25, 1902 - - Dear Baroness de Suttner: - - I am overwhelmed with confusion. I have been since the beginning of - December in Italy, and have only recently returned for a short time to - find your note of December 14 awaiting me. - - I should have been pleased to contribute a few words to the - publication of the Austrian Society upon the occasion of its 10th - anniversary, though all such words of peace, coming from my country, - would be in sad contrast with realities. - - However, all great causes have dark moments to traverse, and there - will again be a reaction against the militarism and the jingoism of - the present age. - - I hope to see you in Vienna in the autumn, and to find you in good - health. - - Please remember me to Baron de Suttner, and believe me - - Sincerely yours - Philip Stanhope - -This year the Peace Congress was to be held as early as April, and it -was to meet at Monaco by invitation of Prince Albert. The neighborhood -of Monte Carlo was a circumstance which caused some hesitation among -many of our friends,—I did not share it,—and only after a considerable -correspondence among the members of the Bern Bureau (in whose hands the -organization of the Congress lies) was a majority won for the choice of -Monaco. My husband and I were greatly pleased at the prospect of this -trip and the visit in this paradisiac corner of the world. - -My happy frame of mind was increased by the fact that my book _Marthas -Kinder_ was on the eve of appearing. The proceeds from it (my publisher, -Pierson, had bought the novel with all rights, including those of -translation, for an honorarium of 15,000 marks) enabled me to stave off -for at least a little while longer the breaking up of our beloved -Harmannsdorf, and during this time so much might happen to rescue the -estate; so we looked forward with joyous hearts to the coming journey. - -Only a few days before the date set for our departure, My Own was -attacked by a very sudden indisposition. As he was going to get up one -morning, his legs gave way. He was obliged to go back to bed, and he -felt pain in his right knee. We hoped it would not amount to anything. -Our trunks were already packed, the sleeping-car tickets were already -bought, and our rooms in Monaco engaged. Also the lecture which I was -going to deliver at a public meeting on the events of the Hague -Conference was prepared and announced. - -“If by day after to-morrow I am not all right again, you must go,” -insisted my husband; “it is your duty.” - -And so it came about. The doctor ordered that the disabled leg should be -kept wrapped up and perfectly quiet. This was a great grief to us both; -we had counted so much on the journey together, and the separation -filled me with tribulation. Up to the last moment he hoped still to be -able to go, or at least to follow me a day later, but it was not -possible. I had to go to Monaco without him, yet I was not alone; my -friend Countess Hedwig Pötting accompanied me. The delight in the visit -there was spoiled for me by the separation from him and my anxiety about -him. Every day I had a telegram from him, and besides he wrote me three -letters. These letters lie in my jewel casket; they are the last which -he ever wrote me. They must have a place in these memoirs: - - Easter Sunday, 1902 - - My beloved Löwos: - - I am afraid this written greeting will be all that you will get from - me while you are in Monaco. How happy I should be if this very - afternoon I could convince myself that I was going to be able to - follow you. When I think that to-morrow you will probably be traveling - without me, it makes my heart so terribly heavy! It was not good of - Nemo[46] to separate us so cruelly. He might have let us enjoy this - little pleasure! But I will not make your heart heavier than it is - already. You must keep your head clear and be easy in mind, so as to - fulfill the duty which you have no right to shun. - - My holiest wishes and my heart’s love accompany you on your way, my - dear old Löwos, though in these circumstances it is rather a thorny - way. But it ought not to be that; you must enter upon it with the - joyous feeling that you are rendering a fine service and are going to - render fine service yet again. So you must get all the pleasure you - can out of the lovely place and the friends who all cling to you with - such love and respect. - - Enjoy your stay, my dearest, and then you will come back to me with - all the more delight and contentment. - - This is all for this time; and now I take your dear head, my Löwos, - between my hands and kiss it a thousand times. - - Your Own - - March 31, 1902 - - My dear old heart’s Löwos: - - Those were sad hours of loneliness and abandonment after your - departure! It enabled me to realize how deep you have grown into my - heart, my precious, precious pet. Now I am trying to accustom myself - to the unavoidable, but reactions will be sure to return, for I miss - you too deeply. - - I have followed you in my thoughts on the stages of your journey. Now - you are probably through breakfast and waiting for the train at the - railway station. - - If only days enough had gone by, so that I could say, “Day after - to-morrow it will be day after to-morrow, and so on.” - - I shall not be so well looked after to-day as I am by you. Maria - Louise has just been in for a moment; she has taken cold, so is not - exactly rosy and merry. - - As soon as I have finished writing these lines I must rest awhile. - Even writing takes hold of me. I will lie back and think about you. If - our nerves were only receptive for telepathy we should certainly be in - close contact these days! The doctor is taking his time about his - morning visit to-day; but I believe the leg is somewhat better. - - Farewell, my dearest, I kiss you many thousand times. - - Your Own - - April 2, 1902 - - My precious Löwos: - - Ten o’clock! There you are perhaps at this very minute standing on the - platform and giving your address, which is not very long. So, as far - as I can follow it, I am taking part in the Congress. The newspaper - reports will not give any very detailed account of it. - - Yesterday Chimani[47] was here. He discovered some improvement, but - there is still inflammation; therefore strict orders not to get out of - bed. - - I received your telegram yesterday evening about half past eight. I - was beginning to be a trifle uneasy when no word came. My reply, which - I intrusted to the messenger, you will not be likely to get until - to-day. - - It is a beautiful summer’s day—and here I am in bed! Have such a - longing to get out. - - Nothing interesting in the mail. Among other things a crazy letter to - you from a crazy photographer in Graz. Then came a letter of twenty - quarto pages from Linz and a little book which the author published - ten years ago through Schabelitz. Of course I do not send you this - stuff. - - Thank the Hex [Countess Pötting] for her card and sisterly greeting. - Kisses on thy Löwos mouth from - - Thy Own - -How the poor man would have enjoyed those days at Monaco! The place was -all a glory of spring splendor. We had seen the Riviera before, but not -at a time of such luxurious profusion of flowers. - -A hall in the new building destined for the Oceanographic Museum had -been cleared for the proceedings of the Congress. All the speeches and -debates had a constant accompaniment of distant hammering. In the -immediate neighborhood the work was at a standstill during the hours of -session, but not very far away the pounding and sawing and nailing went -steadily on. This seemed to disturb some of the orators; yet one of them -found in it a welcome occasion for bringing out in a beautiful picture -how the work in the name of which we were there assembled was also an -edifice, already designed but still unfinished,—an edifice which, like -this, would also arise in usefulness and beauty to the honor of the -builders and to the advantage of mankind. - -After the opening session, which Prince Albert had attended, all the -participants stood about in the open space before the entrance to -exchange greetings and to enjoy the scenes of recognition which are -repeated at every Congress: “Ah, it’s you! This is fine!” - -This time all addressed me with the question, “And where is the Baron?” -I had to tell them about his illness, which elicited general regret. I -really believe there was no one in the whole world who had ever known -him, even superficially, without being drawn into sympathy with him. - -The prince stood not far from me in a group, and was talking with -General Türr. I was able to get a good look at him. Of rather more than -medium height, of slender and supple figure, he was then at the -beginning of the fifties, but not yet turning gray. He wore a closely -trimmed, dark beard, and his expression was unusually melancholy. He -came up to me and offered me his hand. He was delighted, he said, to see -me, for he had long known of my devotion to the cause for the -furtherance of which he now desired to work as energetically as he -could. He remained some time in conversation with me. - -“One thing occurs to me to say to you,” he remarked in the course of the -conversation; “you see this work going on here,” pointing toward the -Museum; “this shows the tendency of my aims and endeavors; it is -intended as a corrective,”—and now he indicated the crags of Monte Carlo -visible in the distance and crowned with the Casino,—“a corrective to -that inheritance which is so hateful to me.” - -I especially recollect among the transactions the indignant and pathetic -protest of the Frenchman, Pierre Quillard, against the atrocious -massacres being perpetrated on the Armenians at that time, and -unfortunately still going on. Thus our Congresses definitely assumed the -burden of furnishing a forum for the complaints and for the defense of -all the persecuted,—a service which the governments, relying on the -principle of nonintervention, still refuse to undertake. - -In the course of the day we members of the Congress inspected the castle -which is the home of the Prince of Monaco, and which rises high above -the crags. It is an antiquated edifice with battlements, outside -stairways, and porticoes. In the cloistered private garden there is an -endless profusion of flowers. Palms as high as a house stand there on -rocky ground, to which every atom of soil had to be carried. The state -rooms we saw for the first time in the evening, when they were all -ablaze with light, at a gala reception given in honor of the Congress; -the officials of Nice were also invited. Especially imposing is the -throne room, although the throne of such a tiny kingdom is not imposing. -My attention was attracted in this room to a kind of tower of flowers -reaching to the ceiling. I was told that this was the throne, with its -seat, its steps, and its baldachin, all masked by this gigantic screen -of flowers. - -A second festivity was arranged by the city for our benefit. It was a -kind of “Venetian Night.” All the ships and boats in the harbor and all -the houses along the bay were illuminated, Bengal fires were blazing on -the mountains, there were torchlight processions and bands of music. The -entire population, strangers visiting the resort, the citizens of -Monaco, laboring men, and peasants from the regions round about took -part in the gayeties. Tents were pitched on the heights for the -Congressists and the prince, and from here there was a fine prospect of -the whole region bathed in light. I sat in the prince’s tent, between -him and his cousin, the Duke of Urach. The latter, an officer in the -German army, talked with me on the subject of the Congress. He granted -that war would sometime be overcome by civilization, but before that -day, he thought, many economic and perhaps also social battles would be -fought out with weapons. - -“What was discussed in the session this afternoon?” Prince Albert asked -me. - -“Propaganda,” I replied. - -“Look at this picture and listen to this babel of voices; all the people -have learned to-day that there is an active peace movement; that is a -propaganda,” said the prince. - -He presided at the final banquet. He sat between Madame Séverine and me. -On this occasion he told me much about his labors and his plans. His -book, _La carrière d’un navigateur_, had recently been published; he -proposed to send it to me, and told me that I should find in it the -whole story of his studies and his—soul! - -When it came to the toasts he arose and delivered the first speech: - -“It fills me with pride and joy” (these were almost the identical words -of his exordium) “to take a place in the peace movement; for the -scientific work to which my life is devoted requires for its development -the victory of the peace work, the victory over the cruel inheritance of -primitive barbarism, the victory over the warlike spirit which poisons -the fruits of civilization.” - -Not in after-dinner speeches alone—which vanish like the foam on the -lifted glass—did Prince Albert utter such opinions, but also in the -dedication of his book, “A Seaman’s Career,”[48] he says: - - I dedicate the German version of this book to his Majesty Emperor - William II, who is the patron of labor and science, and is thus - preparing for the realization of the noblest desire of human - consciousness, namely the union of all civilizing forces for the - purpose of bringing about the reign of an inviolable peace. - -Later I saw the Emperor’s manuscript reply, in which, in a -page-and-a-half quarto, he thanks his _cher cousin_ for the dedication, -and in perfect agreement with his ideas repeats the words therein -referring to the peace cause. - -Although the dispatches that I got every day from Harmannsdorf were -encouraging, I was feverishly impatient to be at home again. Great was -the joy of being reunited. During our twenty-six years of married life -this was the first time we had ever been separated for more than a day -or two. We had said good-by in tears; in tears I threw my arms again -around my dear one’s neck. And alas! he had not yet recovered; he was -still obliged to lie in bed. His illness, so the doctor said, had been -an attack of periostitis, and he was bidden to be very careful for some -time to come. When he got up the first time he suffered severely from -palpitation of the heart; and this was of frequent recurrence. Under the -twelfth of April I find in my diary for the first time the anxious -exclamation, “Palpitation again—oh, that is a serious malady.... Organic -disorder—I am deeply worried.” - -After some time there was an improvement and my anxieties were allayed. - -The Transvaal war showed no sign of coming to an end; to be sure peace -negotiations had already been broached, but no armistice was declared at -the same time; on the contrary, English reënforcements were shipped anew -to Africa. This caused the London _Times_ to express great satisfaction. -Oh, these war-inciting editorial patriots! The neutral powers were not -to be induced to offer mediation. Surely one must not hamper the arm of -a fighter! But as far as affording assistance to the fighter by lending -money or furnishing horses,—enormous transports of horses were leaving -Fiume for the English,—that the neutrals permit themselves to do. _Les -affaires sont les affaires!_ - -Article 27 of the Hague Convention was forgotten. Moreover the Hague -Tribunal—the poor new-born infant—seemed condemned to die for lack of -sustenance. Then suddenly came a controversy which was submitted to the -tribunal—an old quarrel between the United States and Mexico regarding -Church property. President Roosevelt brought the matter before the Hague -Tribunal. - -I knew that our friend D’Estournelles, who had taken upon himself the -task of preventing the work at The Hague from dying of asphyxiation, had -undertaken a journey to America, where he was making a lecture tour. I -suspected that he had not been without influence in bringing about the -trial of the Church-property question before the tribunal. And, in fact, -this was the case; two documents furnish proof of it. First, the -following letter from D’Estournelles in reply to one expressing my -conjecture that he had been concerned in the matter. Here is his letter: - - Paris, Chamber of Deputies - September 5, 1902 - - Dear Friend: - - You have guessed it; my object in going to the United States was in - large measure to show President Roosevelt the great part he might play - in world politics, now that the liberal spirit in Europe had foregone - its chance. I told him the whole story and he understood it. - - I said: “You are a danger or a hope for the world, according as you - advance toward conquest or arbitration, toward violence or justice. It - is believed that you are inclined to the side of violence; prove the - contrary.” - - “How?” - - “By giving life to the Hague Court.” - - And that is what the President has done. I have waited until the Court - assembled before mentioning what I did. It is now in session. That is - a great point, and we must praise Roosevelt, first because he deserves - it, and secondly that he may find imitators. - - The affectionate friend of you both - D’Estournelles - -The second document is an extract from a report made by the French -embassy at Washington to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris. I -received an authentic copy of this extract. It reads: - - Washington, Embassy of the French Republic - April 7, 1902 - - Sir: - - We must tell the truth, and render to each what is due. When, nearly - two months ago, I presented M. d’Estournelles to President Roosevelt, - our fellow-countryman spoke to him with much enthusiasm about the - Conference at the Hague; he held up before his eyes the glory with - which Mr. Roosevelt would cover his incumbency if he would open the - Arbitral Tribunal for any question, no matter how insignificant, and - thus give an example to the world. President Roosevelt was struck with - M. d’Estournelles’s language, and yesterday I was confidentially - informed by him that on the very next day after the latter’s visit he - charged Mr. Hay to find some matter to submit to the permanent judges - of The Hague. - - (Signed) Jules Cambon - - To the Minister of Foreign Affairs - -And thus through the devotion of a single person, supported by the -energy of a powerful ally, that machine was set in motion. A proof was -given to the world that it could perform its functions. Of course the -opponents objected that it was nothing but a quite insignificant case -which was submitted—as if insignificant cases had not many times led to -war. Not the case but the method is what counts. - -My husband had so far recovered that we were able to go to Switzerland -together to attend the opening of the Bloch Museum. The preliminary -arrangements had been well advanced during the founder’s lifetime, but -it took his widow’s entire energy, her entire capacity for sacrifice, -and her extraordinary activity to finish the work. What the six-volume -work “War” relates and proves with the printed word, the Lucerne War and -Peace Museum reiterates with its weapons, its models, its pictures, and -its charts. - -The opening festival and the events of the succeeding days took the form -of a small Peace Congress; for Madame von Bloch had invited a great -number of influential personages belonging to the movement to come to -Lucerne as her guests. And thus at this festival the whole company met -again,—Frédéric Passy, W. T. Stead, Gaston Moch, General Türr, Madame -Séverine, Dr. Richter (the veteran chairman of the German Peace -Society), Professor Wilhelm Förster, Moneta, D’Estournelles, and many -others. - -War is the duel of the nations; the duel is war between two individuals. -Now a movement had been started against the primitive custom of dueling -so firmly intrenched in the continental countries, though England long -ago got rid of it. Prince Löwenstein and Prince Alfonso de Borbon were -at the head of this movement. The latter especially showed a tireless -zeal. I wrote him at this time of my intention to bring the objects of -the anti-dueling league up for discussion at the next meeting of the -Union. The prince replied: - - Ebenzweier, August 12, 1902 - - Madam: - - I thank you heartily for your kind letter of July 22 and the - prospectus of your Vienna Conference. I hope the Conference may be - followed by the best results. You are working, madam, with admirable - devotion to your cause. I shall be very glad to see our anti-dueling - movement once more approved by your assembly, as it was last year by - the one at Glasgow. - - With the highest regard, I remain - - Yours faithfully - Alfonso de Borbon y Austria-Este - -A manager made me an offer to arrange a tour through the United States -for readings from my works. I declined; My Own’s uncertain state of -health would have been a sufficient excuse for refusing the offer. I had -no very clear conception of America, but I have a letter from Hodgson -Pratt which he wrote after making a flying trip across “the great pond,” -and in which he says, among other things: - - ... But my visit to the States convinced me that the great treaty - would come! I returned quite infatuated with the Yankees,—improved - Englishmen I call them,—so bright, so clear in thought and word, so - resolute, so animated, so strong! It was almost a new revelation to - hear and see those dear younger cousins. They have our British - solidity, but with a youthfulness we have lost. I never spent six - months of such enthusiasm. - -When I first read this letter, dated in 1897, it did not mean much to -me. But since I myself have been in America I understand Hodgson Pratt’s -words, and I subscribe to every one of them. Yes, “clear and strong, -resolute and animated,” they certainly are; yes, “a revelation,”—so -appeared to me, too, that new young world! - -In the summer of 1902 we received several interesting visits at -Harmannsdorf; I mean visits from abroad, for with our friends of the -neighborhood there was always continual going back and forth. The -visitors to whom I refer came from St. Petersburg and the Caucasus. - -First Emanuel Nobel, my departed friend Alfred Nobel’s nephew. I found -that Emanuel had many traits of resemblance to Alfred,—the same -seriousness, the same depth, the same broad, democratic ideas. In his -outward semblance, also, and in his voice the nephew reminded me of the -uncle. Emanuel is unmarried. The rumor that he was to marry his friend -Minister Witte’s sister proved to be false; he lives in absolute -devotion to his brother’s numerous family. He is at the head of the -greatest naphtha business in the world. Fourteen vessels carry its -products on the seas. Twice a year he journeys to Baku, where his most -productive oil wells flow. When, a few years later, during the -Russo-Japanese war, those oil wells were set on fire and blazed up into -the skies like pillars of flame, his losses must have been immense. - -The second visit from abroad was from the Princess Tamara of Georgia and -her two daughters. They stayed two days at Harmannsdorf, and we indulged -in endless reminiscences of the old times in the Caucasus. That beloved, -beautiful country, too, was to endure the most atrocious sufferings from -that miserable war. - -During August of that year my husband and I accepted an invitation from -Count Heinrich Taaffe (son of the former Austrian Prime Minister) and -his charming wife to visit them at Castle Ellischau in northern Bohemia, -where we spent a very delightful week. - -A beautiful surprise was sprung upon me there. One evening about nine -o’clock, as we sat after dinner on the balcony, from which there is a -wide prospect of wooded mountains outlined on the horizon, suddenly on a -summit against the dark sky the word “Pax” stood out in giant letters of -flame. At the same time, from the distance, little lights, glimmering -ever more numerous and ever nearer, approached the castle through the -shrubbery. It was a torchlight procession. A throng of people came up, a -band of music began to play, and finally the whole procession halted on -the open place below the balcony. A man stepped forward—he was the -school-teacher—and delivered an address in Bohemian, in which the word -“peace” frequently occurred. I had to make a reply, also in Bohemian, my -host whispering the words to me, for I do not know my native tongue. To -be sure the Kinskys are a Czechish family, but in my childhood the -Czechish national consciousness had not awakened, and as I grew older I -was no longer receptive to it, having attained the European -consciousness. But I was none the less pleased with the schoolmaster’s -discourse. The village people—those also from neighboring -villages—stayed about for a long time; the musicians played a polka and -the young people danced. My husband and I were heartily delighted with -the clever little festival. Never did a more grateful fireworks audience -utter its “ah!” than we at the moment when the lofty “Pax” illumined the -evening sky. - -Fortunate will be our descendants for whom this word shall gleam on the -political horizon, not as a fleeting pyrotechnical display but as an -unalterable token. - -In September the Interparliamentary Conference was to have been held in -Vienna. Baron Pirquet was at the head of the organization committee. The -preparations were under way, the programme had been sent out, the -opening day was appointed, when, just on the eve of it, a circular was -dispatched stating that on account of unforeseen technical difficulties -the Conference would have to be given up and postponed until the -following year. Baron Pirquet confidentially informed me that the -difficulties were not technical but political. This was a hard blow to -him. - -I also was painfully affected by the circumstance, but at this time I -had quite different troubles. While at Ellischau, even while at Lucerne, -My Own had often complained of pain, and many of our friends later told -me that they had been shocked at his appearance. - -A long, long illness began. First—but no. I will not here relate the -story of this tragic time—not here. In _Briefe an einen Toten_ (“Letters -to One Dead”) I have related to the beloved Shade everything,—how he and -how I suffered, and how he died. - -December 10, 1902, was the day of his death. Up to the ninth I confided -to my diary all the phases of my anxiety and my hope, my despondency and -my despair. It is astounding how much like a friend such a book becomes -to one—how one can tell it all one’s thoughts and complaints, how one -can shed over it the tears that one must hide from others, particularly -from a dear one who is ill. But on the tenth of December I could write -no more, and not for a long time afterward. - -Much later I came back to this trusty confidant and made a large cross -on the last written leaf. On the new page I wrote: - - December 29. Here yawns a terrible hiatus in this book. The most awful - days of my life, henceforth to be lonely, so inexpressibly lonely.... - - On the tenth, after an hour of agony, and after he had called me by - name, My Own, My very Own, breathed away his precious life! - - Maria Louise, Sister Luise, Pauline, the two physicians, and I stood - about his deathbed—endlessly sad and tragic hours.... - - Have lost everything! - - Then followed the days and nights of the deathwatch. - - So lovely he lay there with his own characteristic smile on his cold, - ice-cold lips, which I could not kiss often enough.... - - On the thirteenth solemn service for the dead; the weeping inmates of - the house and the villagers; the mourning guests. We accompanied the - coffin to Eggenburg. - - On the fourteenth the journey to Gotha. - - On the sixteenth the flaming pyre! - -During his lifetime he whom I lost said to me many dear and beautiful -words, which are imprinted on my heart; but the loveliest are those -which he spoke from beyond the grave, in his last will. After a few last -instructions and directions it reads: - - And now, My Own, one single word to thee: Thanks! Thou hast made me - happy; thou hast helped me to win from life its loveliest aspects, to - get delight from it. Not a second of discontent has ever come between - us, and for this I thank thy great understanding, thy great heart, thy - great love!... - - Thou knowest that we realized within our hearts the duty of - contributing our mite to the betterment of the world, of laboring, of - struggling for the right, for the imperishable light of the truth. - Though I go home, for you this duty is not extinguished. Thy happy - recollection of thy companion must be a support to thee. Thou must - work on in our plans, for the sake of the good cause keep up the work - until thou also at last shalt reach the end of the brief journey of - life. Courage then! No hesitation! In what we are trying to do we are - at one, and therefore must thou try still to accomplish much! - - - CONCLUSION - -I am going to break off these records of my life at this point; I cannot -call that which has filled my days between the tenth of December, 1902, -and the present time, life. To be sure, I heeded the injunction which -came to me from beyond the grave, and I have worked on; and I have seen -in the loom of time much of that red woof to which my thoughts and -desires are directed. I shall go on to speak further of that, but not in -connection with the other personal things commemorated here. Moreover, -the events of the last few years are still too near at hand to furnish a -satisfactory perspective. - -Since my career, however, does not end with that date of sorrow—since I -have not yet reached, as the will says, “the end of the brief journey of -life,” I shall have much more to communicate concerning the further -course of that movement in which I have found my life task. - -In the last six years important phases have developed in the battle -between the cause of peace and the cause of war: for instance, the -Anglo-French _entente_; the series of arbitration treaties following -one after another (some among them without the usual limitations); the -outbreak and fearful catastrophes of the Russo-Japanese war; the Hull -incident, which, through the application of an investigation -commission instituted by the Hague Court, was prevented from -developing into a world conflagration; Roosevelt’s action in restoring -peace in eastern Asia; the entrance of the North American group into -the Interparliamentary Union; the rising cloud between England and -Germany; its dissipation through the exchange of visits of -international corporations brought about by the pacifists; the further -assignments of the Nobel prizes; the activity and expenditures of -Andrew Carnegie for peace purposes; the peaceful separation of Sweden -and Norway, the first example of the kind in history; the lessons of -the Russian revolution; the recent proposal of the English premier, -Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, for a union to limit armaments; the -calling of the Second Hague Peace Conference; the Interparliamentary -Conference at London, at which, for the first time, members of the -Russian duma participated, though on account of the dissolution of the -duma they were obliged to withdraw (_La douma est morte, vive la -douma!_); the labors and congress of the Universal Alliance of Women -for Peace and Arbitration under the chairmanship of Lady Aberdeen; the -Second Hague Peace Congress, this time including representatives of -forty-six countries, with the wedge still further driven in by -doubters and opponents determined to change the character of this -world parliament so that it shall come to be merely a court to -regulate wars; the favorable results, nevertheless, of this Conference -resulting from the spirit of the cause and promoted by our adherents -who were present; the brilliant début of the South American countries -which were represented in it; the determination to continue this -international coöperation; the progress of the anti-dueling movement -assisted by the King of Spain and the King of Italy; the resolutions -passed by the socialist congresses in favor of fighting against war; -the increasing number of _ententes_, in which the adherents of the old -views, and with them the press of almost the entire world, suspect -that they can see aggressive alliances formed against third parties, -but which in reality are merely new meshes of the net making for the -peaceful organization of the world; the conquest of the air, the most -revolutionary event of recent centuries in the development of -civilization, but in which the shortsighted see nothing else than a -useful means of hurling explosives, although it really involves the -abolition of boundaries, fortifications, and customhouses; at the same -time the conditions in the miserable Balkan states, where for long -years brigandage and manslaughter and atrocities have been raging and -the war storm may break at any moment. - -I have not held myself aloof from all these things; I have chronicled -them in my diaries with notes, documents, and correspondence. During -these last six years I have been about the world a good deal and met -many interesting people. For four winters in succession I have spent -several weeks as the guest of the Prince of Monaco in his crag-seated -castle, and have there met prominent personages from princely, -scientific, diplomatic, and artistic circles. A journey to America[49] -brought me into touch with Roosevelt, and opened before me vistas into -that country of unbounded possibilities, or, rather, as it presented -itself to me, of impossibilities overcome. I have participated in the -meetings of congresses during that time, namely, the Peace Congresses at -Boston, Lucerne, Milan, and Munich, and the Woman’s Congress at Berlin. -I attended as a guest the Interparliamentary Conferences at Vienna and -London. I have had frequent meetings with my old colleagues, and I have -seen new laborers in the common cause come to the fore: for instance, -Richard Bartholdt, founder of the American group; Sir Thomas Barclay, -the zealous associate promoter of the Anglo-French _entente_; Lubin, the -initiator of the Agricultural Institute at Rome; and Bryan, the -candidate for President of the United States. I have been enabled to -follow the great services rendered the peace movement in Germany by -Pastor Umfrid, by Professor Quidde, and by many others—I cannot name -them all. In the year 1905, accompanied by Miss Alice Williams, I made a -lecture tour through twenty-eight German cities. In the spring of 1906 I -had to go to Christiania to deliver there before King Haakon and the -Storthing the lecture required of the recipients of the Nobel prizes. At -that time I made a journey through Sweden and Denmark. Finally, in 1907, -just as eight years earlier, I was present at The Hague during the time -of the Peace Conference, and kept an exact record of all the -transactions, personages, and social functions. All these experiences, -impressions, letters, and memoranda may sometime come into use for -supplementing the reminiscences (so far as they bear upon the historic -development of the peace movement) which are here brought to a -conclusion; and, should I not myself arrange for their publication, they -will be found among my possessions after I am gone. - -What the immediate future will produce in this domain will assuredly -surpass in significance the modest and hidden beginnings. Though the -contemporary world is quite unconscious of the fact, the movement has -spread far beyond the circle of the Unions, of the resolutions, and of -the personal activities of single individuals; it has grown into a -struggle which involves the very conception of life and all natural -laws. It has passed from the hands of the so-called “Apostles” into the -hands of the powerful and into the minds of the awaking democracy; -within it work a hundredfold various powers, unconscious that they are -thus working. It is a process which is being accomplished by the forces -of nature, a slowly growing new organization of the world. The next -stage is to be something quite concrete, perfectly attainable, absolved -from all theoretical and all ethical universality,—the formation of an -alliance of European states. - -Whatever the old system may accomplish by its endeavors, however -insanely high the supplies of the opposing instruments of destruction -may be heaped up, whatever horrors may break out in isolated places in -the way of warlike reactions, I have no fear of being discredited in -histories written in the future when I here register the prediction, -Universal peace is on the way. - -And even if to-day many look askance at these prophecies, and turn from -the whole cause,—indifferent, yawning, shrugging their shoulders, as if -it concerned something impractical, unessential, fanciful,—yet very -speedily, if once that which is in preparation, as yet silent and -unobserved, comes into sight, there will be awakened the general -realization that this cause demands conscious coöperation, that it -includes the mightiest task of onward-marching human society,—in a word, -that it is “the one important thing.” - - July, 1908 - - - - - SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER - 1904 - THREE WEEKS IN AMERICA - - The Bremen Rathauskeller · The Emperor’s beaker · A peaceful voyage · A - ship on fire · A curious contradiction · The Statue of Liberty · Tariff - vandals · The first interviewers · First impression of New York · Old - comrades · The “yellow press” · The Interparliamentary Conference · - Secretary Hay’s address · Public meetings · Russia and Japan shake hands - · A Chinese lady · The Boston Public Library · Sojourn in New York · The - “smart set” · Carl Schurz · The Waldorf-Astoria · The worship of bigness - · At the Pulitzers’ · The _World_ · Philadelphia · Fairmount Park · Two - days in Washington · A conversation with Roosevelt · “Universal peace is - coming” · A peace meeting at Cincinnati · Niagara Falls · An advertising - monstrosity · A visit in Ithaca - - -For the English-American edition of this book I will add a few -reminiscences of my visit to the United States as I committed them to -paper in October, 1904, while returning to Europe. - -Here on board the _Kaiser Wilhelm II_ I find time and leisure to set -down in my diary some of the multitudinous and vivid impressions whereby -the store of my experiences has been increased through my brief, all too -brief, sojourn on the other side of the ocean. - -The thirteenth World’s Peace Congress was opened in Boston on the fourth -of September. That was the object of my journey; so I was not induced to -cross the ocean by my desire to make acquaintance with the New World, -and yet a wholly and completely new world was revealed to me. - -I will begin at the embarkation. My traveling companion and I spent the -evening before in the senators’ room of the Rathauskeller at Bremen, -where the local group of the German Peace Society had arranged a small -festivity in our honor. - -I saw there the enormous hogshead which holds ever so many gallons, and -the one that is filled with such precious old wine that every drop is -reckoned as worth so many hundred marks, and the beaker from which -Emperor William II is accustomed to drink when he visits the wine -cellar, and—what pleased me most—the model of the fountain on which the -quaint city musicians of Bremen are portrayed, namely, the ass on which -stands the dog which supports the cat on which sits the cock,—possibly -very clever, but certainly extremely lean, tone artists. - -The next morning, which was bright and clear, we proceeded to -Bremerhaven by a special train. This train takes transatlantic -passengers only, and stops directly opposite the gangway of the -steamship. When we arrived at the dock, gay music was pealing from the -deck, and we went on board as if we were embarking for a pleasure sail. - -After a brief hour’s delay our floating palace, _Kaiser Wilhelm der -Grosse_, gets under way. The receding rim of the harbor is filled with -people still waving their farewells, and the travelers on the decks are -also waving in response. At the same time the ship’s orchestra has begun -to play again. It is a melancholy moment, although the soul is raised on -high with expectation as we sail out over the broad ocean into another -portion of the world, into the land of unlimited possibilities, and away -from the old home, perhaps never to be seen again. What thoughts fill -the emigrant’s soul? Experienced globe-trotters, who cross the great -pond every year, may be as calm and cool at this moment as we are when -we hear the signal for the starting of the train from Mödling Station to -Vienna; but I, who was making my first trip across the Atlantic, -experienced something of the solemnity of a parting mood, although I -left nothing behind save an urn of ashes! - -It was a beautiful, smooth passage, with only two or three hours of -pitching and discomfort during the whole voyage, which was free from fog -and storm. We had a very agreeable captain,—I had the privilege of -sitting at his right hand at dinner,—and also very interesting traveling -companions. Ah! and this beneficial state of emancipation from the woes -and the worries of the day, and no newspaper with descriptions from the -theater of war. Fortunately the Marconi system is not sufficiently -advanced to give us daily tidings in full detail. That is destined to -come about, but it is to be hoped that the news then will contain fewer -barbarities. Ultimately the moral improvement of the world must keep -step with the technical. - -We went through a half hour of anxious excitement on the high seas. We -were sitting comfortably on deck, reclining in our steamer chairs, -engaged in reading or contemplation of the play of the waves, or lazily -thinking of nothing at all, when suddenly a commotion began on board. -There was a clamor of voices, and sailors ran hither and thither. The -travelers rushed to one place on the quarter-deck. - -“It is sinking!” cries one. - -“What is sinking?” I inquire, with pardonable interest; “our ship?” - -“No—do you see—yonder—” - -Now I, too, hasten to the rail; I see at some distance a sailing vessel, -a three-master, rocking on the waves. It is on fire; our ship hastens -toward her under full steam. Possibly there may be something there to be -rescued,—even human beings raising agonized prayers for aid. - -That was not the case; the vessel was a derelict. But if there had been -men on board, how we should have trembled, how anxiously we should have -followed the work of rescue that our captain would have set on foot with -all zeal, and how we should have clamored with jubilation had he -succeeded. Even if there had been no more than one man on board the -unfortunate craft, and he had been rescued from the extremity of -despair, what joy! But when the next Marconi dispatch brings the news of -a bath of blood at Port Arthur or Mukden,—that is merely an interesting -piece of news! What an insane contradiction! In regard to this I will -only say that such things must cease, for contradictions cannot prevail; -they annihilate themselves; that is the law of nature. The time will -come when the sacred sea, that binds all nations together, that -distributes wealth among them, that has been made serviceable through -the powers of man for the aims of happiness, will be no longer -desecrated by explosive mines and submarine instruments of destruction. - -On the seventh day we entered the harbor of New York; the Statue of -Liberty held out her torch to greet us,—a torch so great that a man can -take a walk around its handle. But grand and triumphant as the statue -is, its ideal falls below it even in America, which in the national hymn -arrogates to itself the proud title, “Land of the noble free.” If ever -there was a dream projected into the future, it is the dream of freedom, -up to the present time unfulfilled everywhere, yet ripening toward -fulfillment. Perhaps America, the young land unoppressed by ancient -traditional fetters, is the land where that torch will first flame forth -and then illuminate all the corners of the earth. - -I had, by the way, my first taste of its lack of freedom, at the dock, -where the vandals of the tariff rummaged in the depths of my trunks and -subjected my fur cloak to a searching examination. Heaven be praised, it -was not sealskin! And while I was trembling with the excitement of the -inspection, three reporters were asking me about the programme of the -Peace Congress and about the prospects of the war in eastern Asia. - -“Who will win, Russia or Japan?” - -“Both will lose,” I replied, opening a trunk—(to the customs officer) -“Only old clothes!”—(to the reporters) “Both will lose, and mankind with -them.” - -We proceeded directly to Boston, and, as night had already come on, the -first impression of New York, which we crossed from Hoboken to the -Forty-second Street Station, was only one mad whirl of dazzling lights, -roaring streets, and houses high as the sky! - -Boston has the reputation of being the most European city in the United -States, and likewise the capital of intellect. Really I have not much to -offer in the way of descriptions and observations; Boston for me was the -gathering place of this year’s Peace Congress, and as such absorbed all -my thoughts and attention. Here I was, then, once more in another -quarter of the world, and just as at Rome and Budapest, as in Hamburg -and Paris, among good old comrades; once more I was on the international -forum, where the ideal of international friendship, with its promise of -happiness, is practiced among the participants and is striven for in -behalf of contemporary and succeeding generations. - -The sessions of the American Peace Congress showed clearly enough what -immense strides the peace movement has recently made, in spite of, or -perhaps because of, the awful wholesale slaughter in eastern Asia, which -arouses universal horror. The conviction that this matter is not only -one of the weightiest questions of the time, but is the question of the -future, and is the foundation on which a new era of civilization, -already dawning, is to be erected, is penetrating into ever wider and -wider circles, and is already forming in America a consistent part of -public opinion, as was well shown by the course of the thirteenth Peace -Congress and the interest taken in it by the people. - -Of course there, as everywhere, one finds a chauvinistic tendency, a -“yellow press,” imperialistic appetites, and the like; but in -corroboration of the above-expressed opinion, that the peace question is -the predominant one in the public mind, stands the fact that in the -presidential campaign now convulsing the whole country the peace -sentiment is incorporated into the platform of the Democratic party, and -that Roosevelt’s opponents are striving to belittle, as an election -maneuver, the peace policy which he is now so energetically advocating. -The great mass of the people, and especially the more intelligent -classes of the country, are strongly opposed to an unlimited increase of -the navy, and to the spread of military institutions and of the warlike -spirit. - -A remarkable land, “Land of Unlimited Possibilities,” as it has been -called in the well-known book title; verily it might rather be called -“Land of Conquered Impossibilities.” Indeed, this young world,—in the -true sense of the word, this New World,—exuberant in strength, glad in -its daring, with peculiar insistency “gets on the nerves” of people of -strong conservative feelings. But any one who looks to the future, any -one who cherishes a comforting faith in development, will here feel -joyously strengthened in his hopes of progress. Certainly all the -acquisitions of the New World will redound to the advantage of the Old -World, just as all the treasures of culture of the Old have been taken -over and will still continue to be taken over by the New. It would be -good if Europeans, eager to learn and to know, might be turned to -America, in such mighty throngs as America pours into Europe. Yes, the -nations have to learn from one another; that is better than for them to -blow one another into the air. If one man desires to climb higher than -another, he must mount on the other’s shoulders, but not throw him down. - -The recent period, during which a World’s Fair and such numerous -congresses—the Interparliamentary Conference and Scientific Congress at -St. Louis, the Peace Congress in Boston, and the like—have attracted to -America so many Europeans, will do a vast amount toward widening the -knowledge and at the same time the appreciation of what we should get -from and for America. - -But let us return to the peace meetings. This time I was unfortunately -unable to attend the Interparliamentary Conference. What a brilliant -success it was we shall soon know by report. The members of the -Conference were the guests of the government, and as such were specially -honored, not only by the officials but also by the inhabitants of all -the cities that they visited; and their two most important -resolutions—the calling of a second Hague Conference and the -establishment of a permanent International Congress for the discussion -of world interests—have been laid before President Roosevelt and by him -in a measure put in motion. - -Who can doubt that the calling of a new Hague Conference, just as was -the case with the first, will meet with much opposition, and that -attempts will be made to belittle its significance and render nugatory -its results? Nothing great and new is ever accomplished without -opposition. But just as the first Conference, in spite of everything, -left behind it not only the fact of the tribunal established and the -text of the agreements “for the peaceful solution of international -conflicts by means of the Court of Arbitration, mediation, and -commissions for intervention,” but also the solemn declaration that the -moral and material welfare of the nations requires a reduction of the -burden of armaments, so also the next Conference will certainly bring -forth further and fresh results. Granted we have the letter of the law -already, all that is required is to breathe into it the spirit of life. -“Where there’s a will there’s a way,” says the proverb; but where the -way is all open the will must be exerted. - -I obtained accurate details concerning the satisfactory proceedings of -the Interparliamentary Conference, and the reception of their delegation -at the White House, from the lips of several of its members, who, being -also members of the Peace Unions, attended the Boston Congress, of which -they brought us reports. Among them were William Randal Cremer (the last -year’s laureate of the Nobel peace prize), Dr. Clark, Houzeau de Lehaye, -and H. La Fontaine. - -The opening of the Congress in Boston took the form of an imposing -festival. Begun with religious exercises, supported by the lively -interest of the public and the press, the event was regarded, throughout -the country, as the event of the day; and all the more as the first -statesman of the United States, John Hay, delivered the address of -greeting. In this address, which, by the way, was telegraphed all over -the world, there were none of those diplomatic “ifs” and “buts” and “to -be sures” and “on the other hands” which are customary on such -occasions; it was a frank, unreserved recognition of the justice and -attainability of the aim of the Congress, and it contained the -declaration that a new diplomacy and a new system of politics henceforth -must accept the golden rule (“What ye will not have done unto you, -etc.”) as a pattern of conduct,—a rule which has been banished from high -politics hitherto by so-called practical politicians, on the ground that -it was unpractical and idealistic. At this introductory meeting the -great hall of Tremont Temple was filled to the last seat, and at least -three thousand people tried in vain to obtain entrance. - -About one hundred and twenty delegates came from Europe. That is not a -large number; the majority and the most prominent among them came from -England. Carnegie, whose attendance had been announced, was prevented -from coming, and merely sent a significant letter. There were legions of -addresses of approbation from various bodies, religious, scientific, -industrial, and the like. One of the most noteworthy addresses, and -absolutely unique considering the source from which it came, was -subscribed, “Twenty-third Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry.” - -Besides the regular transactions, which were followed by large, -attentive, and receptive audiences, the Congress gave a great series of -public meetings at which the peace question was elucidated from -different points of view, as, for example, “the peace question and the -school,” “the peace movement and socialism,” “the duties and -responsibilities of woman in the peace movement,” and the like. The -classes concerned thronged to all these meetings,—the women to one, -educators to another, and laboring men to the third. - -A meeting touching the question of disarmament, and offering as its -chief speaker the well-known General Miles, was attended by many -military men,—probably by some of that Twenty-third Regiment. If the -Twenty-third Regiment has so much intelligence, there is no reason why -the Twenty-fourth, and other regiments—and in other states as well as in -Massachusetts—should not understand that, though they will do their duty -while war exists, nevertheless the “warless time”—as the Prussian -Lieutenant Colonel Moritz von Egidy saw it coming—is worth striving for. - -The public interest aroused by these addresses was so great that, -although several meetings were held simultaneously and in large -auditoriums, every place was always filled to overflowing. The speakers -were always assured of the greatest applause when they called attention -to the fact that America’s glory and grandeur consisted in having -attained such proportions without a standing army, safe without defense, -giving the world an example of peace; likewise when voices were raised -against imperialism, which seemed to be gaining ground in many places, -or against the threatening increase of the navy and the danger that the -poison of militarism might infect the whole land. Since the war with -Spain this virus has certainly worked its way into the system; but, -judging from what we saw, heard, and read in the papers (with the -exception of the “yellow” journals), the American organism is protecting -itself vigorously against it and will, it is to be hoped, cast it out -altogether. - -The scenes that took place at the socialist congress at Amsterdam were -repeated on the Boston platform,—a Japanese and a Russian shook hands -amid a storm of applause. According to old concepts were not both of -them traitors to their native countries? Or is the whole thing somewhat -comical? On the contrary, is not this action more attractive than that -which was related on the same day in a report from the theater of war. -In one grave two dead men were found clutching each other; the hand of -the Japanese was clinched on the Russian’s throat and the Russian’s -fingers had penetrated the eye sockets of the Japanese. - -A Hindoo, in native costume, from the sacred land of the Lama, was also -there. He complained of the desecration that the war had wrought in the -monks’ places of devotion. “I come from the jungles,” so his speech -began, “and to the jungles I return.” - -A tiny Chinese woman, also in national costume, was one of the most -popular speakers at the Congress. Her name is Dr. Kim. Educated by -English missionaries, she had come to America to study medicine, and now -she is going back to China to practice there. She speaks exquisite -English, and with the sweetest voice and a smiling mouth she spoke the -bitterest truths to the Europeans about the presumption with which they -were trying to impose their warlike civilization upon an older and -peaceful culture, and their dogmas upon a ripened philosophical view of -the world, and, finally, were aiming to treat the Chinese Empire as a -country to be looted. - -“We can learn much from you, friends” (the word “friends” she spoke with -a peculiarly sweet intonation), “that we grant; and if those lusts of -conquest prevail, then we shall have to be grateful for learning from -you, friends” (spoken tenderly), “the art of defending ourselves -successfully against you.” - -I have had opportunity for but little sight-seeing about Boston, for the -days were filled with meetings and labors. But the Public Library I did -visit. Oh, those book palaces, those book cathedrals in America! What is -not granted there to the people hungry for learning! And in what form it -is given! The building is adorned with all the magic of architectural -and plastic arts; the frescoes that adorn the palatial stairway—designed -by Puvis de Chavannes—are a poem; another great master, Sargent, was -intrusted with the decoration of some of the inner rooms. Beauty -everywhere! - -There is a widespread notion that the American possesses only a business -sense and not an æsthetic sense; that the cities with their -“cloud-scratchers” and elevated roads and warehouses are ugly. What a -mistake! The horn of plenty that has scattered its treasures over this -land has not forgotten beauty any more than wealth. Not to speak of -natural beauties—Niagara Falls, the Rocky Mountains, and the like—I mean -the works of man. Whoever planted woodbine, ivy, and other vines, to -clamber in rich luxuriance up the walls, even to the roofs of houses and -churches, knew that he was creating beauty. Here again nature comes to -man’s aid, for the autumn foliage glows and gleams in colors which are -quite unknown in our landscapes. In contrast with the brilliant hues -there are soft and tender tones,—such an azure green, such a rosy gray, -such a bright golden violet as only the most audacious art secessionist -would venture to mix on his palette. - -After the close of the Boston Congress public meetings were arranged in -many other cities,—New York, Philadelphia, Worcester, Springfield, -Northampton, Toronto, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and elsewhere; and in these -places the principal men and women who had been speaking at the Peace -Congress gave lectures concerning the transactions there and the peace -movement in general. Everywhere were the same enthusiastic interest on -the part of the public, the same dignified treatment on the part of -official circles, and the same detailed and approving reports from the -press. Our lectures were desired and applauded in churches, -universities, girls’ schools, workingmen’s homes, concert -halls,—everywhere. - -On my return to New York I got somewhat acquainted with the city. The -word “acquainted,” though, seems presumptuous when I had only a few -days, or rather a few hours—for the days were filled for the most part -with the duties of my calling—to devote to this giant phenomenon, this -city of three millions. Nevertheless, even what is seen as quickly as in -a lightning flash can leave an abiding impression, especially when it is -so surprising and overpowering. If I were to sum up the impression that -America made on me, I might say that I was affected somewhat as -Bellamy’s hero was, who, after sleeping for many years, wakes up in an -absolutely changed and improved world. Not as if, as in the case -described by Bellamy, several centuries had been passed in sleep, but -rather as if two or three decades, filled with discoveries and other -advances, had been anticipated; thus seemed everything around me. The -woman movement, the anti-alcohol movement, the social movement, -technical arts, popular education, democratic spirit, toleration, -comfort of living, luxury, physical development,—everything speedily -carried forward and upward to a climax. A still deeper impression than -the one made by all that was so abundantly flowering there (I grant that -there may be also many poisonous plants in the garden) was made upon me -by what is planted there, by what is still hidden in the seeds but is -full of promise for rich harvests in the future. Education is power, -education is freedom, education is ennoblement; and from that treasure, -which is indeed imported from the Old World, such mighty systems of -culture multiplied and disseminated will be established in the New World -that for the coming generations an inestimable raising of the general -standard of life is to be expected. I have had the opportunity to see -universities, colleges, and libraries, and to hear about the settlements -of university extension. “Education,” said an American lady to me, “is -something which we feel in duty bound to disseminate widely; the whole -people must be able to share in it.” - -All the development of magnificence, all the zeal in conferring -donations, which in the Old World has been shown in princely palaces and -cathedrals, in the New World—and from far richer sources—flows into -places for education. That, indeed, up to the present time, more -fundamental knowledge is to be obtained at European universities is -indicated by the fact that Americans whose means permit it, and who are -particularly ambitious, come to us to study, and that all the professors -and scientists there regard it as a privilege to be able to spend a few -years as students in our higher institutions; but I am speaking now of -the dissemination, especially the coming dissemination, of public -instruction, which is still so young in America. Its deepening will come -of itself, together with the rejection of much useless educational truck -inherited from the olden days and not likely to be any longer useful for -the new times. - -Unfortunately I did not make the acquaintance of the so-called “smart -set,” the upper four hundred, whose palaces line Fifth Avenue and who -are so constantly regarded as the type of the leading classes in -America—though as mistakenly so regarded as a certain Boulevard society -is taken for the prototype of French character. It would have been very -interesting to study this “smart set.” All that I saw was the outside of -their palaces, but they certainly presented to the eye no remarkable -splendor. Their possessors—the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers and Morgans -and Astors and others—at this season of the year were either still at -their country estates or away traveling. - -The huge opera house, in which German, French, and Italian operas, each -in the original, are performed by the leading artists of the world, was -not yet opened. The Italian opera will begin with Puccini’s _Bohème_, -sung by Caruso and Marcella Sembrich. Madame Schumann-Heink, who is -undertaking the rôle of Kundry, is just at present the object of many -social attentions and incessant interviews. The performances of -_Parsifal_, regarded by Frau Cosima Wagner as desecration, are said to -have been of overwhelming beauty. - -The Americans are importing all our treasures of refined art and old -culture; for us there is only one revenge: we must absorb more and more -of their acquisitions, give more attention to the life that is unfolding -there, rise above envy and jealousy, above pride and prejudice,—those -feelings which in an epoch of international intercourse are no longer -suitable, and which in the past have stood in the way of the development -of universal comity. For, after all, we are only one world; every -treasure, every forward step in whatever corner of the earth, increases -the wealth and the potentiality of happiness of the whole human family. - -The words “human family” (a family as yet far from united, still living -in bitter feud) bring me back to the theme that lay at the basis of my -whole transatlantic journey,—the Peace Congress. In New York, among the -festivities arranged in honor of the delegates, was a great meeting -organized by the Germans living there. It was held in Terrace Garden -under the honorary chairmanship of Oscar S. Straus, member of the -Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, former Ambassador Dr. -Andrew D. White, and the universally respected Carl Schurz. “Why so -respected?” This question was once put to Dr. White by Bismarck. “Tell -me, on what grounds does the old forty-eighter enjoy such universal and -high regard in your country?” “For this reason,” replied the American -ambassador, “because he was the man who treated the slavery question, -which at that time was _the_ question, not, as was customary, from the -philanthropical or the constitutional, but from the philosophical -standpoint, with regard to its significance not for the negroes, but for -the country.” - -Perhaps, I might add, the Americans are so charmed by Carl Schurz -because, when he was in a leading position in the public service, he -called a halt in the increasing deforestation of the country. And, above -all, because he is a personality! I made his acquaintance, and in his -house spent one of the most exhilarating hours of my American visit. - -I made a pilgrimage to Grant’s tomb, on the door of which his -exclamation is carved, “Let us have peace!” And I saw the statue of -General Sherman, who uttered the famous saying, “War is hell.” The -hellish reports of the ten days’ battle raging in eastern Asia—where, at -the very time when we in America were discussing the question of peace, -the “field of honor” was covered with incredible numbers of the -dead,—brought to us every day a confirmation of that utterance of -General Sherman’s. - -We inspected the famous hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria. It exceeds in size -and splendor anything that has thus far been attained in the way of -public houses. And yet a new hotel has just been opened in New York, -called the St. Regis, which is said to be furnished even more -luxuriously, with all sorts of art treasures, old Gobelins, masterpieces -of painting, and the like; but it is small—intended only for the upper -four hundred; I was told that the lowest price for a room was eight -dollars a day. - -The ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria is adorned with a painting proudly -proclaimed by the guide as “the biggest canvas in the world.” Not the -best-painted but the biggest canvas in the world! This naïve -boastfulness is rather characteristic of the worship of the gigantic -that prevails there. When our shops announce a sale they call it a -“great sale”; the American advertisement invites you to a “mammoth -sale.” The cicerone of the hotel called our attention to the fact that -there are three thousand gilded chairs in the ballroom and the adjacent -drawing-rooms, each with a different hand-painted scene on its cushion. -One of our company immediately sat down on one of these artistically -glorified chairs, apparently to test whether or not such delightful -artistry aroused special sensations. I had a ride on the underground -railway, which was to be opened to the public a few days later, but -which had been “running” regularly for three months so that its use -might be perfected before it was turned over to the public,—maneuver -before the real attack! - -I had the opportunity in New York of making the acquaintance of Mr. -Pulitzer, the owner of the most widely circulated American newspaper, -the _World_. His home (I was invited there to a luncheon) is of the most -exquisite splendor, and two tall, wonderfully beautiful daughters are -its life. But with all his wealth, all his power, the publisher of the -_World_ is a poor man. Two of the greatest blessings of life this -otherwise vigorous, young-looking man, not yet sixty, has lost,—his -eyesight and sleep. Nevertheless, he works incessantly, dictates his -leading articles, watches and regulates the whole course of his great -paper,—a paper which does not belong to yellow journalism, but, on the -contrary, has long advocated the peace movement. A few years ago, when -the relations between the United States and Great Britain were strained -to the danger point, the _World_ requested answers to a series of -questions, and among the responses was one from the then Prince of -Wales, which did much to allay the danger of war. - -If I had lunched a day later at the Pulitzer house, I should have made -the acquaintance of Roosevelt’s opponent, Mr. Alton B. Parker. The -_World_ favors the Democratic party without yielding to the illusion -that at the present time the election can be won from the Republicans. -Is not that a fortunate country that has only two political parties? Yet -even there not everything is rosy in the political arena. They have -their brazen-faced practice of corruption, economic battles,—trusts and -strikes,—that is to say, capitalism and labor unions in hostile, -threatening opposition (and various leaders of the latter bodies are -said not to be superior to corruption). Alas! even there, too, there is -need of what all politics, domestic and foreign, everywhere fails to -possess,—the moral perception. - -Philadelphia—after New York and Chicago the largest city of the -Union—offered us peace people a very favorable territory. This city, -founded by Puritans, to-day still largely inhabited by Friends,—as the -war-detesting Quakers are called,—dominated by the statue of William -Penn who signed the treaty of peace with the Indians (the statue crowns -the tower of the city hall),—this city is, so to speak, permeated with -the sap of the peace ideas. Correspondingly cordial, therefore, was the -welcome that was accorded the delegates of the Boston Peace Congress. -The speakers at the public reception were the governor of Pennsylvania, -the mayor of the city, the provost of the university, and the president -of the academy. The governor referred to the widespread diffusion of our -idea, which was daily gaining ground. The time, he said, could not be -far away when collective humanity—the nation, the state—would be -subjected to the same laws which enjoin upon individuals an appeal to -right instead of violently taking the remedy into their own hands. - -One of the great attractions of Philadelphia is its park, through which -we were taken on a drive. It really resembles a landscape rather than a -park, so enormous, so extensive are all its dimensions. Where we have -only a clump of trees, there they have a grove; where we have a -grassplot, they have a prairie. At the same time it is carefully tended -and richly adorned with flower beds, fountains, and statues, like a -prince’s beautiful castle garden. - -Washington was not included in the schedule of cities where lectures -were to be given; but I ran over there for two days in order to get some -idea of the capital city, and especially to meet the President. - -Washington has a character very different from that of the other cities -of the Union. It is not a city exuberant with trade and business; it has -no skyscrapers, no elevated or subterranean railways, no bank or trade -palaces,—only very quiet, very broad streets, planted with trees and -bordered by villa-like houses. Even the embassies and legations are not -housed in palaces but in similar elegant villas. On the other hand, that -part of the city where the Capitol, the Congressional Library, and the -obelisk rise from amidst wide-stretching grassplots, is of overpowering -magnificence. You might think yourself transported to an antique world. -But no—it is the new world, the world of the future. - -The Public Library is unquestionably one of the most splendid edifices -in the world. The private citizen who goes thither to read after his -day’s work is accomplished can give himself up to the feelings that are -quickened by an environment of harmonious splendor. You seem to be in -fairyland, and the paintings and marble columns and stairways have an -especially imposing effect when the lofty dome of the central hall is -illuminated with electric lights. - -On the seventeenth of September I had the honor of being received by the -President of the United States, and of having a private talk with him -about the cause which is so dear to my heart. Friendly, sincere, -evidently thoroughly impressed with the seriousness and the importance -of the matter discussed,—so seemed Theodore Roosevelt to me. Gallant -_Soldatentum_—even more, adventure-loving _Roughridertum_—is in his -blood, but he has a far-seeing social good will in his spirit; and this -last makes him the pioneer of a new era. He was the first to put into -action the tribunal of The Hague; he is now going to call a new Hague -Conference. - -“Universal peace is coming,” he said to me; “it is certainly coming—step -by step.” - -It would be unbecoming in me to repeat what was said in an unconstrained -conversation; only the following I might be permitted to state here. I -had mentioned the Anglo-American Arbitration Treaty that came so near -being concluded in 1897, and suggested that the present would be an -appropriate moment for taking it up again. - -“I have the intention,” replied the President, “of inaugurating -treaties, not with England alone, but with all nations,—with France, -Germany—” - -“Do not forget my Austria,” I interrupted. - -He smiled. “And Austria and Italy, and England of course. But England -should not be the sole and only one, else the treaty might be -misunderstood as an alliance of the English-speaking races. It is -America’s duty to make treaties simultaneously with all civilized -nations. And I contemplate one other thing, namely, that these treaties -shall be more far-reaching in their scope, and with fewer limitations, -than those already concluded in Europe.” - -The President said among other things that he especially admired -Austria’s acquisition of power in Bosnia; he called this “a feat.” - -I went from Washington directly to Cincinnati. Cincinnati is a -manufacturing city, therefore somewhat gray and smoky, but nevertheless -it is surrounded by a girdle of smiling villas and is provided with a -public garden which, not without justification, is called Eden Park. The -lectures of the peace delegates were delivered in a concert hall which -holds four thousand people, and which on that evening was filled to -overflowing. The heads of the official departments, among them a bishop, -delivered the introductory addresses, and I was given the flattering -surprise of seeing, over the platform, the title of my book gleaming in -electric letters, “Lay Down Your Arms.” - -On our way back we stopped at Buffalo, and from there made an excursion -to Niagara Falls. One thing with which I might reproach this splendid -spectacle of nature—and yet it is not its fault—is the circumstance that -around the raging waters, on the steep, wooded banks, there stand, in -place of Indian wigwams, modern villas and hotels, and—worse yet—on a -plateau mirrored in the rolling flood a billboard, twenty meters long, -calls the attention of pilgrims to Niagara to a certain species of -biscuit! On the other hand, it is bewitching when from various positions -brilliantly colored rainbows, accompanied by others of paler hues, -appear and vanish and hover over the rising mists like veils. - -I brought my visit to America to a close with a visit of several days in -Ithaca at the house of the former ambassador, Dr. Andrew D. White. -Ithaca and its famous university is a little world in itself. - -Thus these three weeks in America have flown like a dream, and I am -again on board, homeward bound—richer in magnificent impressions, with -my mental horizon enlarged more than I had ever dreamed possible. I have -looked through a new window—hastily, I must confess, and through only a -narrow opening—into the universe. - - - - - INDEX - - - Aberdeen, Earl of, II, 264 - - Aberdeen, Lady Isabel, II, 264, 400 - - Adam, Madame Juliette, I, 278, 280; II, 233 - - Adler, Friedrich, II, 82, 83 - - Adler, Moritz, I, 389; II, 142, 192 - - Adlerberg, Count, I, 200 - - Adlerberg, Countess Mary, I, 200 - - Albert, Prince of Monaco, II, 380, 385, 386, 387, 388, 401 - - Albrecht, Archduke, I, 88; II, 70 - - Alexander, King of Servia, II, 28 - - Alexander I, Tsar, II, 251 - - Alexander II, Tsar, I, 107, 232; II, 194 - - Alexander III, Tsar, II, 31, 214 - - Alfieri, Marquis, I, 367 - - Alfonso de Borbon, Prince, II, 393 - - Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, II, 169, 170 - - Alice, Princess of Hesse, later Tsaritsa, II, 169, 170 - - Almorini, Marquis, I, 104 - - Amicis, Edmondo de, I, 414 - - Anderssen, A., I, 66 - - Apponyi, Count Albert, I, 333; II, 78, 79, 124, 126, 127, 128, 131, - 132, 330, 333, 338, 351, 353, 354, 366, 369 - - Arnaud, Émile, II, 162, 209, 220, 291, 421 - - Arnim, Bettina von, I, 306 - - Arnoldson, K. P., II, 147 - - Arthur, John, I, 165 - - Asnyk, Polish poet, II, 90 - - Auersperg, Count Anton Alexander von (Anastasius Grün), I, 57 - - Augusta, Queen of Prussia, I, 158, 159 - - Axbell, Emily, II, 359 - - - Babette, lady’s maid, I, 6, 8 - - Bajer, Frédéric, I, 367, 432; II, 16, 115, 126, 147, 162 - - Baldissera, General, II, 94 - - Balfour, Arthur J., II, 104 - - Banffy, Premier, II, 85, 115, 120, 124 - - Bar, Professor von, II, 126, 328 - - Baratieri, General, II, 94, 96 - - Barclay, Sir Thomas, II, 402 - - Bärnreither, Deputy, I, 327 - - Barrows, Samuel J., II, 332 - - Barth, Dr. Theodor, I, 329, 370, 390, 392, 441; II, 231, 330 - - Bartholdt, Richard, II, 402 - - Bashkirtseff, Marie, II, 234 - - Bastiat, I, 308, 310 - - Baumbach, Dr. Rudolf, I, 390, 395, 432; II, 15 - - Bazán, Father Thomas, of Prague, I, 4 - - Beaufort, Minister, II, 251, 252, 296, 309, 331 - - Bebel, August, II, 26, 231, 306 - - Beer, Councilor, I, 327 - - Beer Poortugael, General den, II, 292, 296, 306, 307 - - Beernaert, II, 124, 126, 132, 149, 253, 277, 305, 309, 310, 316, 335 - - Begas, Reinhold, II, 198 - - Beldimann, II, 320, 322, 323, 325 - - Benedek, Lieutenant General von, I, 60, 61, 62 - - Beranek, Professor, I, 120, 122, 127, 132, 139 - - Berends, II, 315 - - Bernex, I, 239 - - Berzeviczy, Vice President von, II, 85, 132, 161 - - Biancheri, Minister, I, 358, 363; II, 205 - - Bianchi, Bianca, II, 131 - - Bihourd, Ambassador, II, 289, 312 note - - Bildt, Baron, II, 310, 311, 314; - his son, II, 314, 316 - - Bismarck, Prince, I, 279, 281; II, 41, 109, 139, 184, 200, 423 - - Björnson, Björnstjerne, I, 389, 414, 423 note; II, 45, 124, 146, 193, - 331, 334, 335, 336, 378 - - Blehr, Ambassador, II, 328 - - Bloch, Johann von, II, 183, 193, 216, 219, 235, 239, 251, 256, 257, - 263, 266, 276, 277, 279, 281, 284, 285, 289, 293, 301, 327, 336, - 344, 352, 362, 368, 379; - his wife, II, 363, 392; - his daughter, II, 363 - - Blumenthal, Oskar, I, 390 - - Bodenstedt, Friedrich, I, 266, 270, 307; II, 61 - - Boisserin, Pourquery de, I, 432 - - Bölsche, Wilhelm, I, 390; II, 89 - - Bonghi, Ruggero, I, 288, 331, 358, 360, 361, 366, 369, 389, 416; II, 67 - - Bonnefon, II, 316 - - Borghese, Prince Scipione, II, 155, 236 - - Bothmer, Count von, I, 443; II, 50 - - Boulanger, General, I, 279 - - Bourgeois, Léon, II, 254, 284, 285, 289, 290, 291, 302, 308, 309, 310, - 311, 312, 316, 320, 324, 334, 366 - - Boy-Ed, Frau Ida, I, 270 - - Brandés, Mlle., I, 281 - - Brunetière, I, 283 - - Bryan, William Jennings, II, 8, 402 - - Bryce, James, II, 207 - - Buchholz, Frau Wilhelmine, I, 370 - - Büchner, Professor Ludwig, I, 266; II, 170, 297 - - Büchner, Marie, II, 169, 298 - - Bülow, Prince, II, 247, 299 - - Buloz, author, I, 282, 284; - his wife, I, 282 - - Büschel, Frau, aunt of Baroness von Suttner, I, 20, 25, 29, 34, 36, 38, - 40, 43, 46, 49, 50, 58, 73, 74, 75, 132; II, 5, 337; - her daughter Elvira, I, 20, 22, 29, 33, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, - 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 57, 58, 62, 70, 71, 74, 75, 87, 90, 132, 174, - 235; II, 5, 337 - - Buska, Johanna, II, 83 - - - Cambon, Ambassador, II, 391 - - Campbell-Bannerman, II, 131, 400 - - Cánovas del Castillo, Premier, II, 164 - - Capper, James, I, 426; II, 117 - - Caprivi, Chancellor, II, 25, 57 - - Carnegie, Andrew, II, 399, 415 - - Carneri, Bartholomäus von, I, 290, 292, 298, 304, 307, 342, 389; II, - 61, 75, 98 - - Casano, Baron, II, 205 - - Cassel, Paulus, I, 270 - - Castellane, Boni de, II, 285 - - Castelli, Dr. I. F., I, 64 - - Castello Foglia, Marquis de, I, 432 - - Catusse, Consul General, II, 233, 333 - - Chamberlain, Joseph, II, 90, 180, 265, 355, 356 - - Chasles, Émile, II, 81 - - Chavannes, Puvis de, II, 418 - - Cherbuliez, Victor, I, 284, 290; - his wife, I, 284 - - Chimani, Richard, II, 383 - - Chlumecky, Minister von, II, 378 - - Claparède, II, 114 - - Clark, Dr. G. B., I, 432; II, 355, 414 - - Cleveland, President, II, 86, 105, 151, 152, 265 - - Cobden, Richard, I, 307, 308, 310 - - Cochery, II, 334 - - Colloredo, Prince Joseph, I, 429 - - Conrad, Dr. M. G., I, 266, 345; II, 61, 128, 197 - - Coquerel, Curé de, I, 309 - - Cormenin, de, I, 309 - - Coronini, Count Carl, I, 331, 342 - - Cremer, William Randal, I, 301, 432; II, 18, 55, 58, 124, 147, 414 - - Crenneville, General, I, 18 - - Crenneville, Countess Ernestine, II, 75 - - Crewe, Earl, II, 207 - - Crispi, II, 96, 99 - - Crozier, William, II, 272 note - - Cumberland, Duke of, II, 76 - - Czech, Polish poet, II, 82 - - - Dahms, Gustav, I, 390, 395 - - Dahn, Felix, I, 300; II, 198 - - Dalberg, I, 441 - - Darany, Minister, II, 125 - - Darby, Dr. Evans, II, 8, 208 - - Darinka, Princess of Montenegro, I, 320 - - Daudet, Alphonse, I, 286, 414 - - David, valet, I, 105 - - Deckert, Chaplain, II, 70 - - Delyannis, Minister, II, 325 - - De Mier, II, 281 - - Descamps, Chevalier, II, 78, 124, 126, 127, 129, 132, 253, 263, 268, - 277, 284, 291, 316, 322, 325, 335, 352; - his wife, II, 316 - - Deschanel, II, 354 - - D’Estournelles de Constant, Baron, II, 238, 253, 256, 257, 287, 294, - 299, 312 note, 320, 323, 326, 335, 354, 364, 366, 369, 370, 390, - 391, 392 - - Deszewffy, Aristide von, II, 124 - - Devriès, Fidès, I, 147 - - Devriès, Jeanne, I, 147 - - Dickens, Charles, I, 68, 174 - - Dillon, journalist, II, 279 - - Dobert, Paul, I, 390 - - Dolgorukof, Prince Peter, II, 195 - - D’Ornellos Vasconsellos, Augustin, II, 281 - - Dowe, inventor, II, 26 - - Dreyfus, Captain, II, 172, 180, 183, 206, 221, 233, 234, 343 - - Drouyn de Lhuys, Minister, II, 244 - - Droz, Councilor, I, 432 - - Du Bois-Reymond, I, 442 - - Ducommun, Élie, I, 367, 421, 426, 431; II, 117, 147, 149, 159, 162, - 166, 208, 240 - - Dufferin, Lord, II, 150 note - - Dunajewski, Minister, I, 300 - - Dunant, Henri, I, 72; II, 147, 165, 196, 242, 373 - - Duprez, music teacher in Paris, I, 139, 140, 144; - his wife, I, 149; - his son Léon, I, 144, 146 - - - Ebner-Eschenbach, Marie von, I, 44 - - Edward, Prince of Wales, II, 87, 425 - - Egidy, Moritz von, Lieutenant Colonel, retired, I, 346, 398; II, 135, - 155, 163, 164, 165, 166, 192, 204, 210, 212, 222, 230, 232, 416 - - Egidy, Moritz von, Lieutenant, II, 222 - - Elisabeth, Princess of Bavaria, later Empress of Austria, I, 15, 18, - 435; II, 75, 125, 202, 204 - - Emma, Queen mother of Holland, 262 - - Engel, I, 147 - - Ernst, Otto, II, 164, 197, 396 - - Esmarch, Professor, II, 228 - - Esterhazy, Count Koloman, II, 124, 132 - - Esterhazy, French captain, II, 172, 173, 180, 183, 343 - - Eugénie, Empress, I, 149, 151, 154, 199; II, 235 - - Exner, Dr. Wilhelm, I, 331 - - - Faber, court preacher, II, 184 - - Fallières, President, II, 353 - - Feldhaus, Richard, II, 164 - - Feldmann, Leopold, I, 44, 64 - - Ferraris, Minister, II, 205 - - Ferry, Secretary, I, 104 - - Fisher, Admiral John A., II, 314 - - Fontana, F., II, 209 - - Forgac, Countess, II, 124 - - Formes, Theodor, I, 15 - - Förster, Professor Wilhelm, I, 443, 444, 445, 447, 448; II, 231, 392 - - Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary, I, 11, 13, 15, 18; II, 109, - 133, 156, 158 - - Franzos, Karl Emil, I, 266, 272 - - Frederick, Empress, I, 391, 395; II, 170 - - Frederiks, Baron, I, 282 - - Frenzel, Karl, I, 390 - - Freytag, Gustav, I, 442 - - Fried, A. H., I, 373, 389, 390, 391, 440; II, 273, 277, 338 - - Friedrichs, Hermann, I, 397 - - Frisch, Secretary de, II, 367 - - Frischauer, Dr., II, 276, 279, 280 - - Fulda, Ludwig, I, 344, 389, 414 - - Fürstenberg, Friedrich, Landgrave of, I, 6, 8, 11, 16, 34, 45, 49, 60, - 74, 82, 83, 97, 125, 133, 211; II, 183 - - - Gaboriau, II, 90 - - Garcia, I, 136 - - Garibaldi, I, 345, 358; II, 110, 111, 112 - - Gibbons, Cardinal, II, 207 - - Giers, Minister, II, 77 - - Girardin, E. de, I, 309 - - Girardin, Marc, II, 374 - - Gisitzky, I, 448 - - Gladstone, II, 17, 18, 19 note, 31, 55, 57, 59, 78, 87, 104 - - Gleichen-Russwurm, Emilie von, I, 63, 65 - - Gniewocz, von, Deputy, II, 212, 330 - - Gobat, Albert, Councilor, II, 16, 125, 147 - - Goldbeck, Manager, II, 284, 291 - - Goluchowski, Count, II, 296 - - Gortchakoff, Prince, II, 243 - - Goschen, Admiral, II, 292 - - Grand-Carteret, J., II, 81 - - Grant, General, II, 423 - - Gregorovius, Ferdinand, I, 67 - - Grelling, I, 442, 446 - - Grillparzer, Franz, I, 21, 44, 52, 58, 174 - - Groller, Balduin, I, 266, 304; II, 75, 114, 193; - his wife, I, 305; II, 114 - - Grovestins, Baroness, II, 271 - - Grün, Anastasius, I, 57, 174 - - Gudenus, Baron Josef, I, 265 - - Guiccioli, Marquis, II, 205 - - Gumplowicz, Professor, II, 90, 93; - his son, 90 - - Gurko, Count, II, 256 - - Gurowska, Count, 232; - his wife, 232 - - Guyot, Yves, II, 114 - - - Haakon, King of Norway, II, 402 - - Haase, Superintendent, I, 359 - - Hadeln, Baron Friedrich von, I, 38, 39, 42, 53, 55, 70, 71, 74, 116 - - Hadeln, Franziska von, I, 42 - - Haeckel, Ernst, I, 347, 365 - - Haeseler, General, II, 285 - - Hagara, Viktor, I, 333 - - Hagemeister, General, I, 228 - - Hahn, Baron, I, 18 - - Halévy, Ludovic, I, 284 - - Halm, Friedrich, I, 58 - - Hamerling, Robert, I, 174, 266 - - Harcourt, Sir William, II, 207 - - Harmening, Dr., II, 330 - - Harrison, President, I, 426 - - Hartmann, Eduard von, II, 199 - - Hatzfeld, Princess, I, 320 - - Havelock, General, II, 132 - - Hay, John, II, 391, 414 - - Hebbel, Friedrich, I, 67 - - Heiberg, Hermann, I, 266, 269, 272, 273 - - Hellwald, Friedrich von, I, 288 - - Henckel-Donnersmarck, Count, I, 166 - - Henckell, Karl, I, 389 - - Heraclius, Prince of Georgia, I, 109, 137, 148, 150, 171, 238 - - Herold, Dr., II, 330 - - Herzl, Theodor, I, 305; II, 75, 289 - - Hetzel, I, 444 - - Heyse, Paul, I, 415 - - Hillsborough, Lord, I, 111, 113 - - Hirsch, Dr. Max, I, 390, 395, 398, 432, 441, 442; II, 15, 56, 58, 232, - 352 - - Hohenlohe, Prince, II, 140 - - Holls, Dr. Frederick, II, 272, 298, 301, 316, 319, 323, 371 - - Houten, Minister van, II, 53 - - Houzeau de Lehaye, van, II, 48, 50, 51, 57, 59, 77, 78, 121, 414 - - Howard, General Charles H., II, 8 - - Hoyos, Count Rudolf, I, 305, 342, 349, 421, 443, 444; II, 61, 75, 136, - 138, 237, 280 - - Hugo, Victor, I, 67, 73, 307, 308, 345; II, 374 - - Humbert, King of Italy, II, 150, 221 - - Hutzler, Sara, I, 270 - - Huyn, Count, I, 35, 46, 61 - - - Ibsen, Henrik, II, 333; - his wife, II, 331 - - - Jaques, Dr., I, 331 - - Jerábek, Frau Sabina, I, 4 - - Jodl, Friedrich, I, 389; II, 81; - his wife, II, 82 - - Jókai, Maurus, II, 78, 79, 85, 131, 197 - - Joseph, Archduke, II, 120 - - Joubert, General, II, 355 - - Justinus, Oskar, I, 273 - - - Kalnoky, Countess, II, 124 - - Kamarofski, Count, I, 418 - - Kant, Immanuel, I, 72, 175 - - Karolyi, Count, II, 115 - - Karolyi, Countess Melinda, II, 125 - - Karpeles, Max, I, 442 - - Kate, Ten, II, 273, 277, 302 - - Katscher, Leopold, II, 84, 115 - - Kemény, II, 115, 195 - - Ketteler, Ambassador, II, 359 - - Khuepach zu Ried, Viktor von, II, 249, 276, 316 - - Khünel, Major, I, 61 - - Kim, Dr., II, 417 - - Kinsky, Count Arthur, I, 4 - - Kinsky, Count Christian, I, 18; II, 75, 275; - his wife, I, 18; II, 75 - - Kinsky, Count Ferdinand, grandfather of Baroness von Suttner, I, 4; - his wife, I, 4 - - Kinsky, Count Franz Joseph, father of Baroness von Suttner, I, 4; - his wife, I, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 16, 25, 29, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40, 43, 49, - 50, 51, 71, 73, 75, 81, 82, 83, 85, 96, 98, 100, 103, 115, 119, - 128, 130, 139, 146, 150, 156, 158, 180, 191, 203, 228, 230, 252, - 263; II, 183 - - Kinsky, Frau Betty, aunt of Baroness von Suttner, I, 18 - - Kinsky, Lieutenant, brother of Baroness von Suttner, I, 70 - - Kipling, Rudyard, II, 303 - - Kohler, Professor, I, 448 - - Koller, Baron, I, 140 - - Königswarter, von, I, 99, 101 - - Koptchef, II, 102 - - Körner, Joseph von, maternal grandfather of Baroness von Suttner, I, 4, - 26; - his wife, I, 4, 26 - - Körner, Theodor, I, 65 - - Koslowski, Bolesta von, I, 328, 333 - - Kossuth, Franz, I, 358; II, 132 - - Koszielski, von, II, 363 - - Krafft-Ebing, Baron von, I, 342, 445 - - Kramer, Secretary, II, 263 - - Kraticek, Barbara, I, 4 - - Kraus, Baron, I, 314 - - Kruger, President, II, 180, 288, 355, 356 - - Kübeck, Baron Max, I, 327, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334 - - Kunwald, Dr., I, 339; II, 114 - - Kuropatkin, General, II, 216 - - - Labiche, Senator, II, 330, 334, 352 - - Labori, Lawyer, II, 343 - - Lacaze, Félix, II, 121 - - Lachenal, President, II, 148 - - Laeisz, Ferdinand, II, 198 - - La Fontaine, H., II, 78, 127, 241, 268, 414 - - Lamartine, A. de, I, 67 - - Lammasch, Professor, II, 239, 149, 316, 366, 370 - - Lamperti, Maestro, I, 172 - - Lamsdorff, Count, II, 130, 216 - - Land, Hans, I, 390, 396 - - L’Arronge, I, 390 - - Lawson, Sir Wilfrid, II, 207 - - Layard, Sir Austen Henry, I, 315, 317 - - Lazare, Bernard, II, 172 - - Leblanc, Léonide, I, 97 - - Le Bruyn, Minister, II, 47 - - Leitenberger, Baron, I, 350; II, 212 - - Lemoine, John, I, 310 - - Lemonnier, Charles, I, 345 - - Lenau, Nikolaus, I, 58, 59 - - Leo XIII, Pope, II, 118, 217 - - Leopold, King of Belgium, II, 47, 50, 51 - - Leveson-Gower, Secretary, II, 267 - - Levysohn, Dr. Artur, I, 390, 445; II, 279 - - Lewakowski, II, 127, 128 - - Lewinsky, actor, I, 383 - - Lewinsky, actress, II, 87 - - Liebig, Justus, I, 64 - - Liebknecht, Wilhelm, II, 198 - - Liliencron, Detlev von, I, 396 - - Lima, Magelhaes, II, 50 - - Lind, Jenny, I, 120 - - Lobanof, Prince, II, 126, 129 - - Löher, sculptor, II, 255 - - Lombroso, Cesare, II, 197 - - Low, Seth, II, 272 note - - Löwenberg, Dr., I, 396 - - Löwenstein, Prince, II, 392 - - Löwenthal, Frau Sophie, I, 59 - - Löwenthal, Dr. Wilhelm, I, 282, 287, 424 - - Loyne, Cardinal, II, 207 - - Lu Tseng-Tsiang, II, 253, 263 - - Lubbock, Sir John, II, 18, 207 - - Lubin, Professor, II, 402 - - Ludwig I, King of Bavaria, I, 62 - - Lueger, Dr. Karl, II, 70, 343 - - Lund, John, II, 124, 328, 329, 330 - - Lund, Ranghild, II, 124 - - Luzatti, II, 205, 207 - - - McKinley, President, II, 176 - - Mädler, J. H., I, 65 - - Mahan, Captain Alfred T., II, 272 note - - Manning, Cardinal, I, 316, 340 - - Manzoni, Alessandro, I, 68 - - Marcoartu, Arturo de, I, 428, 432; II, 15, 30, 159, 328 - - Margherita, Queen of Italy, I, 366 - - Maria Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess, I, 200 - - Marimon, Mlle., I, 147 - - Marschall, Secretary von, II, 26, 140 - - Martens, Professor von, II, 193, 265, 276 note, 279, 296, 322, 366; - his wife, II, 367 - - Masha, lady’s maid, I, 111 - - Maton, 145, 146 - - Matzstein, Professor, I, 310 - - Mauthner, Fritz, I, 270, 390 - - Meilhac, I, 285 - - Menelik, King of Abyssinia, II, 94, 140 - - Menger, Dr., I, 353 - - Merey, von, II, 249 - - Metternich, Princess Pauline, I, 332 - - Metzger, W., II, 199 - - Meyer, Konrad F., I, 266, 346 - - Meyer, Wilhelm, I, 396 - - Meyerbeer, G., I, 67 - - Mikhaïl, Grand Duke, I, 200 - - Miles, General, II, 415 - - Millanich, Dr., II, 330 - - Millerand, Minister, II, 363 - - Milner, Sir Alfred, II, 288 - - Mingrelia, Prince André of, I, 102, 200, 383 - - Mingrelia, Prince Gregory of, I, 201 - - Mingrelia, Prince Nikolaus of, I, 102, 107, 137, 149, 199, 200, 201, - 217, 224, 227, 237, 251, 383; II, 351; - his wife, I, 200, 201, 202, 237 - - Mingrelia, Princess Ekaterina Dadiani of, I, 101, 109, 111, 113, 115, - 117, 136, 148, 151, 170, 198, 200, 213, 217, 219, 225, 227, 233, - 237, 246, 251 - - Mingrelia, Princess Salomé of, I, 102, 104, 136, 149, 151, 199, 200; - II, 66, 351 - - Mirbeau, Octave, I, 313 - - Mirsky, Prince, I, 230 - - Mirza Rhiza Khan, II, 296, 299, 317 - - Moch, Gaston, I, 428; II, 114, 165, 206, 392 - - Moltke, Count von, I, 281, 394; II, 11 - - Moneta, Teodoro, I, 288, 426; II, 8, 97, 147, 162, 164, 392 - - Morley, John, II, 207 - - Moscheles, Felix, I, 315, 318, 326, 360, 421; II, 248, 343; - his wife, I, 318, 360; II, 258 - - Moser, Baron Johann Baptist, II, 337 - - Mosse, Rudolf, I, 395, 445; - his wife, I, 395 - - Mouchy-Noailles, Duchess, I, 155 - - Münster, Count, II, 254, 266, 271, 294 - - Murat, Prince Achille, I, 151, 152, 158, 159, 165, 168, 172, 237, 243, - 244, 383; II, 66, 235; - his wife, I, 15, 163, 156, 173, 237, 243, 245 - - Murat, Prince Lucien, I, 173, 245; II, 235; - his wife, II, 235 - - Murat, Prince Napo, I, 245 - - Muravieff, Count, II, 195, 217, 218, 227, 304, 305, 307, 367 - - Myatovic, Chedomille, II, 280 - - - Nansen, Fridtjof, II, 178 - - Napoleon III, II, 41 - - Nasir-ed-Din, Caliph, I, 256 - - Nasir-ed-Din, Shah of Persia, II, 297 - - Naumann, Friedrich, II, 197 - - Necker, Dr. Moritz, I, 290 - - Nepluief, II, 121 - - Neufville, de, I, 184, 185 - - Neumann, Angelo, II, 83; - his wife, Johanna Buska, II, 83 - - Neumann-Hofer, O., I, 390 - - Newell, Stanford, II, 272 note - - Ney, Madame Napoleon, I, 280 - - Nicholas II, Tsar, II, 130, 137, 169, 187, 207, 208, 211, 214, 215, - 216, 220, 225, 231, 246, 247, 250, 251, 252, 292, 303, 306, 307, - 315, 344, 347, 367 - - Nigra, Count Costantino, II, 237, 254, 260, 280, 289, 291, 324, 345 - - Nobel, Alfred, I, 205, 207, 210, 278, 299, 384, 424, 429, 435; II, 61, - 135, 140, 143, 144, 145, 147, 373, 374 - - Nobel, Emanuel, II, 144, 145, 147, 394 - - Nordau, Max, I, 272, 282, 290, 344; II, 60 - - Norton, II, 128 - - Nothnagel, Professor, I, 350 - - Noury Bey, II, 280, 317 - - Novikof, J., II, 131, 166, 196, 209, 270, 273, 276, 277 - - - Ofner, Dr. Julius, II, 119 - - Okoliczany, Count, II, 256, 275, 287, 295; - his wife, II, 259, 262, 299 - - Oldenburg, Duke of, I, 365, 443, 444, 445, 447 - - Oldenburg, Duke Elimar von, I, 341; II, 39, 66 - - Oldenburg, Prince Peter von, II, 40, 66 - - Olney, Secretary, II, 138, 152, 265 - - Orbeliani, Princess, I, 200 - - Oscar II, King of Sweden, 146, 147 - - Osten-Sacken, Count von, II, 230 - - Osuna, Duke of, I, 107 - - - Païva, Madame, I, 166 - - Pampero, Conte di, II, 120 - - Pandolfi, Marquis Benjamino, I, 315, 317, 319, 326, 332, 421, 428, 432; - II, 16 - - Parker, Alton B., II, 425 - - Passy, Frédéric, I, 301, 326, 328 note, 345, 391, 421, 431, 445; II, - 22, 50, 57, 58, 59, 61, 105, 114, 115, 119, 124, 125, 128, 132, 147, - 159, 162, 206, 254, 255, 257, 258, 278, 363, 373, 375, 392, 361 - - Patti, Adelina, I, 100, 108, 136 - - Paul, Tsar, II, 40 - - Pauncefote, Sir Julian, II, 138, 152, 241, 254, 265, 266, 268, 309, 321 - - Pearl, Cora, I, 97 - - Perez, Señora, II, 288 - - Pernerstorfer, Deputy, I, 329, 331 - - Pichon, Lieutenant, II, 287 - - Pichot, Abbé, II, 118 - - Picquart, Captain, II, 180 - - Pierantoni, Professor, II, 115, 330, 352 - - Pierson, publisher, I, 296, 312; II, 135, 381 - - Piette, Prosper, I, 338 - - Pirquet, Baron Peter von, I, 331, 332, 334, 342, 362, 371, 422; II, 15, - 126, 128, 285, 328, 352, 370, 396 - - Plener, Baron Ernst von, II, 370 - - Pobyedonostsef, Procurator, II, 367 - - Pompili, II, 316 - - Pötting, Countess Hedwig, II, 38, 114, 195, 382, 384 - - Pratt, Hodgson, I, 288, 316, 326, 340, 361, 363, 367, 421, 426, 448; - II, 162, 240, 393 - - Pratt, Miss, governess, I, 381 - - Pulitzer, Joseph, II, 425 - - - Quidde, Professor, II, 402 - - Quillard, Pierre, II, 386 - - Quincy, Josiah, II, 8 - - - Radetzky, Marshal, I, 10, 45, 61, 358 - - Raffaelovitch, von, II, 316 - - Rahusen, Deputy, II, 16, 52, 59, 128, 253, 276, 335, 352 - - Rampolla, Cardinal, II, 104 - - Raqueni, R., II, 164 - - Ratazzi, Madame, II, 295 - - Ráth, Mayor, II, 132 - - Reicher, Emanuel, I, 394 - - Renan, Ernest, I, 284, 285 - - Renault, Louis, II, 147, 312 note - - Reuss, Prince, I, 395 - - Réveillère, Rear Admiral, II, 61 - - Reverseaux, Marquis de, II, 369 - - Richet, Charles, II, 257, 258, 259, 264, 363, 364 - - Richter, Adolf, I, 425; II, 8, 162, 392 - - Rickert, Deputy, I, 395, 443 - - Rios, Montero, II, 221 - - Ripon, Earl of, I, 288, 316, 340; II, 207 - - Rochechouart, Count, II, 234 - - Rogge, Chaplain, II, 223 - - Roggenbach, Minister von, I, 445, 447 - - Rohan, Princess, I, 86; II, 235 - - Rokn-ed-Din, Sultan, I, 257 - - Röntgen, Professor, II, 103 - - Roosevelt, President, II, 8, 147, 390, 391, 399, 401, 411, 413, 428 - - Rosebery, Lord, II, 59, 87, 104 - - Rosegger, Peter, I, 342, 383, 389; II, 197, 378 - - Rosmorduc, Count de, I, 221, 223, 237, 243; - his wife, I, 221, 222 - - Rothan, I, 284 - - Rothschild, Baron Alphonse, I, 99 - - Rothschild, Baron N., II, 137 - - Ruchonnet, Louis, I, 424, 430 - - Rückert, Friedrich, I, 67 - - Rudini, Premier, II, 97 - - Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, I, 312; II, 125 - - Russ, Dr., I, 334 - - - Sabatier-Ungher, Karoline, I, 59 - - Saibante, Marietta, I, 85, 87, 315 - - Salisbury, Lord, II, 104, 130, 139, 159 - - Salsa, Major, II, 94 - - Sargent, John S., II, 418 - - Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, Prince Adolf, I, 177 - - Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, Prince Hermann, I, 184 - - Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, Prince Wilhelm, I, 182, 183 - - Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein, Princess Amalie, I, 183 - - Schack, Count von, I, 266 - - Scheibler, Baroness Helene, I, 86 - - Schenk, President, I, 433 - - Scherzer, Carl von, I, 342; II, 61, 193 - - Scheurer-Kestner, Senator, II, 172 - - Schilinsky, Colonel von, II, 306, 308 - - Schiller, I, 63 - - Schlauch, Cardinal, II, 125 - - Schlenther, Paul, I, 390 - - Schlief, Dr., I, 444, 445, 446 - - Schmidt auf Altenstadt, II, 316 - - Schmidt-Cabanis, II, 164, 232 - - Schnäbele, I, 279, 281 - - Schneider, Hortense, I, 152 - - Schönaich-Carolath, Prince, I, 390, 446; II, 163 - - Schönborn, Count, II, 366, 367, 370 - - Schreiner, Olive, II, 82 - - Schreiner, Premier, II, 358 - - Schubin, Ossip, I, 395, 407 - - Schücking, Levin, I, 64 - - Schurz, Carl, II, 423 - - Schurz, Frau, I, 58, 59 - - Schwarzenberg, Prince, I, 60 - - Schwarzhoff, Colonel von, II, 308, 309, 312, 316 - - Sclopis, Count Federigo, II, 205 - - Selenka, Frau von, II, 277 - - Semsey, Vice Admiral, II, 195 - - Seutter, Baroness, I, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162 - - Séverine, Madame, II, 363, 387, 392 - - Shamyl, I, 170 - - Sheïn, Captain, II, 289, 307 - - Sherman, General, II, 423 - - Shosta Rustaveli, I, 253, 255 - - Sienkiewicz, Henryk, II, 349, 350 - - Silvela, II, 168 - - Simon, Jules, I, 301; II, 30, 31, 105 - - Sizzo, Count, I, 265, 379 - - Skobelef, General, I, 280; II, 12 - - Smeth, Mevrouw, II, 299 - - Snape, II, 128 - - Sohlmann, Ragnar, II, 142, 145 - - Soltys, Count, II, 249 - - Sopowski, I, 328 - - Spencer, Herbert, II, 104 - - Spielhagen, Friedrich, I, 346, 390, 392, 444, 445, 448; II, 61 - - Staal, Ambassador von, II, 248, 251, 254, 255, 258, 262, 263, 267, 268, - 276, 293, 305, 313 - - Stancioff, Dr., II, 308 - - Stanhope, Philip, I, 432; II, 16, 55, 57, 59, 124, 128, 132, 150, 335, - 344, 352, 380 - - Stansfeld, Sir James, II, 104 - - Starhemberg, Prince Camillo, I, 422, 443, 445 - - Stead, W. T., II, 104, 213, 225, 226, 247, 248, 264, 267, 282, 284, - 292, 293, 299, 303, 307, 322, 335, 342, 348, 392 - - Steen, Minister, II, 332, 333 - - Stein, Dr. Ludwig, II, 115, 209 - - Stengel, Professor von, II, 239, 247, 256, 260, 266, 267, 297 - - Stettenheim, Julius, I, 395 - - Stöcker, Chaplain, I, 348, 352 - - Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, I, 343 - - Straus, Oscar S., II, 423 - - Stwrtnik, Baron, I, 61 - - Südekum, Dr., I, 443, 444, 447 - - Suess, Eduard, I, 327 - - Suttner, Baron von, father-in-law of Baroness Bertha von Suttner, I, - 192, 193, 196, 227, 252; II, 174, 182, 203, 205; - his wife, I, 192, 193, 194, 196, 204, 227, 234, 252; II, 174, 182 - - Suttner, Baron Artur Gundaccar von, husband of Baroness Bertha von - Suttner, I, 89, 193, 194, 198, 199, 203, 205, 208, 211, 217, 222, - 228, 229, 232, 233, 235, 237, 239, 240, 244, 246, 249, 252, 264, - 274, 276, 278, 280, 312, 315, 339, 342, 348, 356, 377, 380, 390, - 397, 414, 420, 429, 430; II, 6, 10, 38, 39, 50, 58, 60, 66, 69, 70, - 74, 80, 88, 108, 156, 166, 170, 172, 182, 187, 203, 205, 212, 218, - 220, 230, 250, 260, 266, 286, 317, 340, 343, 365, 371, 379, 380, - 381, 382, 384, 385, 389, 393, 396, 397 - - Suttner, Baron Karl von, I, 193, 194, 264, 265, 379, 386; - his wife, I, 193, 194, 265; - his daughter, I, 265, 379 - - Suttner, Baroness Lotti von, later Countess Sizzo, I, 193, 194, 265, - 379; II, 181 - - Suttner, Baroness Luise von, I, 193, 194, 234; II, 182, 397 - - Suttner, Baroness Marianne von, I, 193, 194; II, 182 - - Suttner, Baroness Mathilde von, I, 193, 194, 196, 234 - - Suttner, Margarete von, II, 337 - - Suttner, Maria Louise von, II, 108, 114, 120, 124, 260, 383, 397 - - Suttner, Richard von, I, 265, 379; II, 337; - his wife, I, 379, 380 - - Swiatkiewicz, Lieutenant Colonel von, I, 61 - - Szapary, II, 124, 132 - - Szechenyi, Count, I, 407 - - Szell, Koloman von, II, 124, 132, 333 - - Szepanowski, I, 328 - - Szilagyi, Desider, II, 126, 132 - - - Taaffe, Count Heinrich, II, 395 - - Tamara, Queen of Georgia, I, 239, 255, 281, 314; II, 297, 395; - her daughters, II, 395 - - Tancred, Sir, I, 39 - - Tasquelles, publisher, II, 156 - - Thiers, President, II, 41, 42, 43, 44 - - Tiefenbacher, Joseph, I, 78, 87, 90 - - Tirpitz, Rear Admiral, II, 138 - - Tocqueville, Alexis de, I, 310 - - Tolstoi, Leo, I, 231, 343, 346, 365; II, 197, 373 - - Traeger, Albert, I, 390, 394, 395 - - Trarieux, Senator, I, 432; II, 16, 22 - - Traun, Count, I, 266 - - Trueblood, Dr. Benjamin F., I, 425; II, 50, 159, 166, 255, 277 - - Tschawtschawadze, Princess Annette, I, 170 - - Tschawtschawadze, Princess Lisa, I, 170, 238 - - Tschawtschawadze, Princess Tamara, I, 170, 171, 238 - - Turgénief, Ivan, I, 128 - - Turkhan Pasha, II, 280, 309 - - Türr, General, I, 357; II, 107, 108, 111, 114, 115, 116, 120, 123, 150, - 162, 166, 197, 205, 209, 221, 232, 233, 304, 385, 392 - - Twain, Mark, II, 212 - - - Ullman, President, I, 432; II, 16, 328, 332 - - Umfrid, Pastor, II, 402 - - Urach, Duke of, II, 387 - - Urechia, Senator, II, 16 - - - Valerie, Archduchess, II, 76 - - Vasily, II, 130, 131, 276, 316; - his son, II, 283, 316 - - Vaughan, Cardinal, II, 207 - - Velkovitch, Dr., II, 325 - - Verdy, General du, II, 231 - - Vereshchágin, Vasíli, II, 9 - - Viardot-Garcia, Madame Pauline, I, 127, 132, 139, 145, 161 - - Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, II, 96, 109, 140, 207, 400 - - Victoria, Queen of England, I, 358; II, 41, 152, 209 - - Vigano, Professor, I, 288 - - Vigliani, Minister, II, 205 - - Villiers, F. H., II, 139 - - Virchow, Professor, I, 288, 441, 446 - - Visconti-Venosta, E., II, 207 - - Vitztum, Countess, I, 99 - - Vrchlicky, Polish poet, II, 82, 83 - - - Wagner, Dr., journalist, II, 167 - - Wagner, Frau Cosima, I, 320; II, 422 - - Wagner, Richard, I, 58, 320 - - Waszklewicz, Frau von, II, 277 - - Watson, Spencer, II, 207 - - Weilen, Joseph von, I, 44, 64, 82, 83 - - Welsersheimb, Count, II, 239, 248, 256, 275, 316 - - Werner, B. von, II, 198 - - Westcott, Brooke Foss, I, 416 - - Westminster, Duke of, I, 288, 316, 340 - - Weyler, General, II, 103 - - White, Andrew D., II, 258, 266, 268, 272 note, 294, 299, 315, 319, 423, - 430; - his wife, II, 315 - - Widman, J. V., I, 298, 389 - - Wiesner, Secretary, II, 203 - - Wilczek, Count, I, 333 - - Wilhelmina, Queen of Holland, II, 262 - - William I, King of Prussia, I, 160, 161, 162, 173; II, 41, 42, 192 - - William II, Emperor of Germany, II, 14, 105, 198, 201, 226, 344, 359, - 388, 406 - - Williams, Miss Alice, II, 365, 402 - - Wisinger, Olga, II, 7, 8, 114, 123 - - Witte, Count, II, 216 - - Wittgenstein, Prince Philipp, I, 42, 43 - - Wolff, Julius, I, 273, 390, 395 - - Wollrabe, photographer, II, 302 - - Wolzogen, Baron von, I, 390, 395; II, 197 - - Woodford, General, II, 169 - - Wormser, I, 97, 99 - - Wrangel, Marshal von, I, 60 - - Wratislav, Count, I, 86 - - Wrede, Prince Alfred, I, 342, 445; II, 139 - - - Yang-Yü, Ambassador, II, 253, 261, 275, 360, 362; - his wife, II, 253, 261, 271 - - - Zanini, Count, II, 237 - - Zeretelli, General, I, 221 - - Zichy, Count Eugen, II, 115, 121, 124, 161, 249 - - Zola, Émile, I, 414; II, 34, 172, 174, 180, 343 - - Zorn, Professor, II, 293, 295, 298, 299, 301, 309, 323 - - Zychy, I, 253 - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - Sergyeï Vasilgevitch Vereshchágin. Still another brother, Alexander - Vasilgevitch Vereshchágin, was wounded in the same campaign, and gives - vivid pictures of the horrors of the march in his volume, “At Home and - in War.” - -Footnote 2: - - Session of June 10, 1893.—B. S. - -Footnote 3: - - In the course of this speech Gladstone made the statement, “Militarism - is indeed a most terrible curse for civilization.”—B. S. - -Footnote 4: - - The justified hope of the proposer was that a definitive peace - (_definitivum_) would develop from this provisional one - (_provisorium_.) - -Footnote 5: - - Even to-day reason is not yet heeded, because the all-powerful - megaphone of the political press is closed to it.—B. S. - -Footnote 6: - - “What would you have us do? We are the weak, the vanquished; but as - soon as there are propositions of disarmament coming from the victors - we are ready to enter into negotiations.” - -Footnote 7: - - At the present time one would say “in combating social misery, in - ennobling and elevating the masses, in ethicalizing all classes” - (_Ethisierung aller Stände_).—B. S. - -Footnote 8: - - Yet how singeing hot these rays are still burning in the Transvaal and - in Manchuria! (Observation of 1908.)—B. S. - -Footnote 9: - - This is the case even to-day (1908).—B. S. - -Footnote 10: - - The first series of massacres extended from October 3, 1895, to - January 1, 1896. On the part of the Armenians, as is shown by - documentary evidence, there was no provocation whatever. In spite of - that, 85,000 people were killed, about 2300 cities and villages were - laid waste, more than 100,000 Christians were compulsorily converted - to Islam, and 500,000 were reduced to starvation.—B. S. - -Footnote 11: - - _Der Geiger_, or rather _Der Geigenmacher, von Cremona_, a one-act - opera by Hans Trneček, born May 16, 1858, at Prague. Text by Leopold - Günther, after Coppée. First produced at the Court Theater of - Schwerin, April 16, 1886.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 12: - - In 1904 Mr. Nepluief called upon me in Vienna. He had remained - faithful to himself and his apostleship. He had also succeeded in - interesting the Czarina in it. It was his desire that the peace - societies everywhere should establish such fraternities among the - common people; but, to say nothing of other objections, these - societies, above all, lack the means for doing so. - -Footnote 13: - - Our old friend the literary Hotspur, so full of mettle, from Munich, - recently elected to the Reichstag. - -Footnote 14: - - Erkel Ferenz (1810–1893), creator of the national Hungarian opera. - _Bank-Ban_ is regarded as his best work.—Translator. - -Footnote 15: - - As a contrast to this idea (_Hebt den Grund der Armut auf!_), which is - not current among philanthropic financiers, I append the following - letter: - - My dear Baroness: - - I have had the pleasure of receiving your esteemed favor of the - nineteenth. Highly as I esteem the work to which you are devoting - yourself with such self-sacrificing assiduity, I regret that I cannot - be of assistance to it by acceding to the wish that you express. The - great number of demands made upon me in behalf of humanitarian objects - forbid my considering them all. You will, therefore, my dear Baroness, - understand and will not feel offended with me, if I give the - preference to such associations as not merely have in view an ideal - purpose but pursue practical ends connected with real life. - - Regretting that I am not in a position to give you an affirmative - answer, I beg you to accept the expression of my distinguished - consideration. - - Bn. N. Rothschild - -Footnote 16: - -Secret guaranty with Russia. - -Footnote 17: - -Also, as I have learned from other sources, by the King himself.—B. S. - -Footnote 18: - -I observe that the division of the prize corresponds neither to the -letter of the will nor to the testator’s intentions, which I knew well. - -Footnote 19: - -The union, _Entente cordiale_, for the bettering of Franco-English -relations, due to the initiative of Representative Thomson and the -Honorable Philip Stanhope, under the chairmanship of Lord Dufferin.—B. -S. - -Footnote 20: - -Prisoners charged with being anarchists were tortured in the fortress of -Montjuich. A letter, dated March 11, and signed Sebastian Sunjé, -addressed to “all good men of the earth,” came to light: “Oh, by all -that is sacred to you, rescue us from the hands of our torturers.” But -alas! the “good men of the earth” are not organized, are not ready to be -mobilized. They can only shudder. - -Footnote 21: - -_Schach der Qual._ I had cherished the wish to bring to the Tsar’s -attention the chapter entitled _Frohbotschaft_ (“Good Tidings”) -containing the invitation to a conference of the powers.—B. S. - -Footnote 22: - -Psalm cxlix, 6–8.—Translator. - -Footnote 23: - -_Die Waffen nieder_, VII, 344. - -Footnote 24: - -_Die Waffen nieder_, VII, 377. - -Footnote 25: - -_Post hoc_ is not _propter hoc_. Although it delighted me to hear that -the Tsar had read my book shortly before the appearance of the -manifesto, yet I was firmly convinced that a long chain of many -influences, among which that of reading a novel could have been of only -small effect, must have preceded such an action. Later I learned that -Bloch’s book had made a deep impression on the Tsar; at that time I -suspected that Professor Martens had helped inspire the document and -wrote him to that effect. His answer follows: - - Villa Waldeuse near Wolmar - Livonia, September 9, 1898 - - My dear Madam: - - I make haste to present my sincerest thanks for the friendly letter of - the 4th inst. with which you honored me. I do not know to what degree - my teaching could have influenced his Majesty the Emperor or his - councilors in the noble task which they have imposed on the - governments and nations of the civilized world. - - I had no direct part in the celebrated rescript of August 12 (24), - having been for some time in residence on my estate in Livonia, far - from the capital. But I have applauded with the keenest sympathy and - the sincerest admiration the generous action taken by my august master - for the well-being and happiness of all civilized nations. - - As to the bibliographical notes, I shall make it my duty to - communicate them to you after the meeting of the _conférence de la - paix_. At this moment I am too busy with my official duties. - - Reiterating my very respectful thanks, I beg you, Madam, to accept the - assurance of my high consideration. - - Martens. - -Footnote 26: - -A treaty without any limitations. (Observation of 1908.—B. S.) - -Footnote 27: - -It is a fact that a few days later the question at issue was submitted -to the arbitration of the Queen of England. Later the two republics -concluded a standing agreement to bring every future controversy before -the Hague Tribunal, and as a result reduced their armaments and sold -their war ships. As a memorial to this agreement a gigantic statue of -the Christ has been erected on a peak of the mountain boundary, the -Andes. (Observation of 1908.—B. S.) - -Footnote 28: - -It was not his first letter to me. A few months before, young Egidy -surprised and delighted me with the following communication from a -distant part of the world: - - On his Majesty’s ship _Seeadler_ - Tullear, Madagascar, April 20, 1898 - - My dear Baroness: - - As the first German naval officer who, since the war of 1870, has left - a war ship to step on soil now French, I am taking the liberty of - sending you this respectful greeting. - - No great political action has brought us hither, but the fact that - German ships of war are again calling at French harbors is - symptomatic, and will certainly be welcomed by you with satisfaction; - therefore I could not deny myself the pleasure of giving you this bit - of information. - - I am glad, gracious lady, to take this opportunity to express to you a - son’s gratitude for the true comradeship which you have given my - father; I know how precious it has been to him and how thankfully he - has accepted it. - - With the request that you present my sincerest regards to your - husband, I am - - Yours most respectfully and faithfully - Moritz von Egidy, Lieutenant at Sea - -Footnote 29: - -The passage from my eulogy here referred to ran thus: - - The consciousness that an Egidy was here was such a comforting, - strengthening, joyous consciousness. We had him; this possession was - like the possession of a check book. If ever assistance, consolation, - support were required in a spiritual campaign, in an ethical dilemma, - all one had to do was to produce the check book; Egidy was certain to - honor it instantly. Always the right word, the unhesitating opinion, - nobility pure of dross. Even if there were heard on all sides: “The - world is bad, every one thinks only of himself, there is no - improvement, there are no clear notions of duty, no straight paths of - virtue,” we could always smile calmly and say to ourselves, “That is - not true; there is an Egidy here.” - -Footnote 30: - -_Die Haager Friedenskonferenz, Tagebuchblätter_, Dresden und Leipzig, E. -Pierson. 2d edition, 1901. Price 2 marks. - -Footnote 31: - -This might be translated, “You have furnished us straw for our -bricks.”—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 32: - -My niece Maria Louise was with us at The Hague. - -Footnote 33: - -He refers to the letter, the composition of which, as decreed by the -Interparliamentary Conference of 1894, was intrusted to Chevalier -Descamps and H. La Fontaine, and which, at the direction of the -Interparliamentary Congress of 1895, was sent to all the governments in -the name of the Union. - -Footnote 34: - -Nothing of the later limitations of “vital interests” and “honor of the -nations.” (Observation of 1908.) - -Footnote 35: - -The delegates for the United States of America were Andrew D. White, -United States ambassador at Berlin; Seth Low, president of Columbia -University; Stanford Newell, envoy extraordinary and minister -plenipotentiary at The Hague; Captain Alfred T. Mahan, United States -Navy; William Crozier, captain of artillery; Frederick W. Holls, lawyer, -of New York, secretary to the delegation. Mr. Holls died in -1903.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 36: - -The Russian delegates were Von Staal, ambassador at London; Martens, of -the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Vasily, also of the Foreign Department; -and five technical delegates.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 37: - -Professor Zorn of the Law Faculty in the University of Bonn, scientific -delegate to the Peace Congress.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 38: - -Persia was represented at the First Peace Conference at The Hague by -Aide-de-camp General Mirza Rhiza Khan (Arfa-ud-Dovleh), ambassador at -St. Petersburg and Stockholm, and Mirza Samad Khan (Montazis-Sultanah), -counselor of legation.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 39: - -For an account of the outcome of this critical situation see Andrew D. -White’s “Autobiography.” - -Footnote 40: - -Baron von Bildt, ambassador from Sweden and Norway to the court of -Italy. He was the only delegate plenipotentiary from Scandinavia; but -Sweden and Norway each sent two technical delegates.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 41: - -These were M. Georges Bihourd, ambassador at The Hague, Baron -d’Estournelles de Constant, and three technical delegates—General -Mounier, Rear Admiral Péphau, and Professor Louis Renault of the -Law Faculty and legal adviser to the Ministry of Foreign -Affairs.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 42: - -Sir John A. Fisher, Vice Admiral, technical delegate from Great -Britain.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 43: - -Dr. Voïslaf Velkovitch, professor of law in the University of Belgrade; -the other representatives of Servia were Miyatovitch, envoy at London -and The Hague, and Colonel Maschin, envoy at Cetinje.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 44: - -There are a hundred cents to a dollar and a hundred years to a century. -Ninety-nine cents do not make a dollar; nor does the year 1899 end the -century.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 45: - -Brennus, leader of the Senonian Gauls, who took Rome in 390 B.C. Being -offered a thousand pounds of gold as a ransom for the Capitol, he took -it and went home.—TRANSLATOR. - -Footnote 46: - -A reference to Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo, who always helps Captain -Grant’s children at the right moment, and whom we had jestingly chosen -for our guardian saint. - -Footnote 47: - -Richard Chimani, physician to the General Staff, a friend of long -standing who owned a place near us. - -Footnote 48: - -Authorized German translation, under the title _Seemannslaufbahn_, by A. -H. Fried. Berlin, Boll & Pickardt. - -Footnote 49: - -See pp. 405 ff. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - 3. 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