She has not chosen to do so. She has
preferred to make demands in St. Petersburg and in Paris which no
Government could entertain, and to defeat by irrevocable acts the last
efforts of this country and of others for mediation. She has lived up to
the worst principles of the Frederician tradition--the tradition which
disregards all obligations of right and wrong at the bidding of
immediate self-interest. She believes that her admirable military
organization has enabled her to steal a march upon her rivals. She has
been mobilizing in all but name, while their mobilization has been
retarded by the "conversations" she continued until her moment had come.
Then she flung the mask aside. While her Ambassador was still in Paris,
while by the customs traditional with all civilized peoples she was
still at peace with France, she has sent her soldiers into Luxemburg,
and invaded the territory of the republic. It is hard to say which of
these acts is the grosser infringement of public right. With Luxemburg
she makes no pretense of quarrel. She is herself a party to the
guarantee of its neutrality contained in the Treaty of 1867. The other
guarantors are Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Austria-Hungary,
Belgium, and the Netherlands.
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