de Beaufort. "Before the meeting of to-day adjourns, I wish to Chapter VII address you in a few words: The Government has speech of M. been happy to see you here. It has followed your deliberations with very great interest, and it rejoices with you that your labors have borne fruit. If the Peace Conference has not been able to realize the dreams of Utopians, we should not lose sight of the fact that in this respect it does not differ from all meetings of serious and intelligent men, having a practical end in view. If, on the other hand, it has put to shame the gloomy predictions of pessimists who see in it nothing but a generous effort, certain to exhaust itself in the recital of great wishes, it has demonstrated the justice of the view of the August Monarch who has chosen this present moment for his initiative. I do not wish at this moment to speak of the great mass of results which have been accomplished. "It is true that a unanimous agreement on the question of disarmament could not possibly be expressed in a practicable formula, applicable to the domestic requirements of the different countries, or in harmony with their diverse needs. Let us remember on this subject the words of the great historian- the Duke of Broglie — who, a few weeks ago said, regarding the Peace Conference, We live in a time where it is necessary to take account more and more of the moral effect of a great measure, rather than of its material or important results.' Without doubt the moral effect of your deliberations, already evident, will make itself felt more and more, and will not fail to de Beaufort. Chapter VII show itself in a striking manner, in public opinion. Speech of M. It will powerfully second the efforts of Governments to solve the question of the limitation of armaments. It will remain a serious and legitimate concern of the statesmen of all countries. "Permit me, before the close, to express the hope that His Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, may find a renewal of efforts for the continuation of the great work which he has undertaken, the most effective consolation in the great and cruel sorrow which has just overtaken him. For us, the recollection of your sojourn will remain forever a bright spot in the annals of our country, because we are firmly convinced that it has opened a new era in the history of international relations between civilized peoples." The President thereupon declared that the sessions of the Peace Conference were closed, and that the meeting was adjourned without day. 1 The death of the Heir Apparent, Grand Duke George, of Russia, on July 10. CHAPTER VIII THE BEARINGS OF THE CONFERENCE UPON INTER- Conference a summation. IN considering the bearings of the Peace Confer- The ence and its results upon the science of International natural conLaw and upon the future policy of civilized Powers, the first fact which must be borne in mind is that the Conference itself should be regarded, historically, not as the outcome of a sudden impulse on the part of the Emperor of Russia, but as the natural and almost inevitable consummation of a movement and tendency in European diplomacy whose beginnings date back to the Peace of Westphalia. schemes for When the Conference was first called, its connection with the intellectual, scientific, and philosophic aspirations for universal and eternal peace was emphasized by innumerable articles and dissertations containing a great display of erudition and research. It seemed difficult even for the daily papers to discuss Former the rescript of the Emperor of Russia without allu- Eternal sions to the "Great Plan" of Henry IV. and Sully, the Essay of William Penn, the great work of the Abbé St. Pierre, and the famous pamphlet of Kant "Eternal Peace." It cannot be denied that this view had a certain justification, but it wholly failed on Peace. nature of the ference. Chapter VIII to grasp an essential characteristic of the Peace ConDiplomatic ference, to wit: its diplomatic nature. The gatherPeace Con- ing at The Hague was the lineal descendant, so to speak, not of the innumerable Peace Congresses held in various quarters of the globe, but of the diplomatic assemblies called for the purpose of solving a present problem, and of furnishing guarantees, more or less permanent, for peace between the Powers represented, beginning with the Conferences of Münster and Osnabrück in 1648, including those of Utrecht in 1713, of Paris in 1763, and, above all, the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and that of Berlin in 1878. Differences between it and the Congresses of and Berlin. The vital distinction between these gatherings and the Peace Conference at The Hague is, that all of Vienna, Paris, the former were held at the end of a period of warfare, and their first important object was to restore peace between actual belligerents; whereas the Peace Conference was the first diplomatic gathering called to discuss guarantees of peace, without reference to any particular war, - past, present, or prospective. All of the other gatherings above mentioned also had the object of affording guarantees for as permanent a peace as seemed possible at the time, and this is notably true of the Congress of Vienna, held at the close of the Napoleonic convulsion. That Congress, it should be remembered, fixed the general outlines of the boundaries between European nationalities in a manner which has scarcely been disturbed, the one important exception being the annexation of AlsaceLorraine to the German Empire. The problem fol equilibrium lowing the fixing of these general lines was that of Chapter VIII national consolidation under the freest possible institutions, and the struggle for this object fills the history of the sixty years immediately following that historic gathering. When national unity and liberty had been gained by Germany and Italy, the most of Europe was able to contemplate what certainly seems to be a stable equilibrium of international relations; A stable and this equilibrium is only slightly affected by the attained. shifting of the Franco-German frontier on the Vosges and the Rhine. The more immediate and historic. causes of friction having thus been removed, no insuperable obstacle remained to a federation of the civilized Powers, definitely organized for purposes of international justice. The time had come to make the expression "International Law" a reality, instead of the cover for a miscellaneous collection of moral precepts and rules of intercourse. ment of The chief obstacle to the attainment of this object No impairwas for many years the fear that it implied an im- National pairment of national power, especially for defence. Defence. This conviction was based upon a curious confusion between cause and effect. It was the absence of anything worthy to be called International Law which made universal military service and the highest possible efficiency in warlike preparations necessary, not militarism and all that it implies which prevented the establishment of International Law. During the lifetime of Prince Bismarck the system of universal military service which, under his guidance, had achieved such brilliant successes, |