But  it  is  not  into  the  past  that  we  must  look  if
we  are  to  find  the  reasons  which  we  have  for  loving
you,  for  admiring  you  and  for  being  grateful  to
you.  For  six  months  now,  we  have  been  living
in  the  midst  of  the  most  frightful  crisis  that  has
ever    overtaken   the   modern   world*     And   by    an


200  THE  WAY  OF  HONOUR

extraordinary  paradox,  the  only  victim  in  this
war  of  Titans,  up  to  the  present,  has  been  a  Httle
country,  our  own,  which  has  been  brutally  attacked
by  a  formidable  military  Power  which  had  promised
it  its  protection  and  sworn  to  guarantee  its
safety

With  what  enthusiasm,  with  what  generosity
have  you  lavished  upon  us  your  sympathy  !  It  is
true  that  your  country  has  remained  neutral  in
this  war.  But  we,  too,  were  a  neutral  country  !
If  we  are  suffering,  it  is  precisely  because  we  were
resolved  to  abide  faithfully  by  our  neutrality,  which
was  not  simply  voluntary,  but  which  had  been
imposed  upon  us  as  a  condition  of  our  inter-
national existence.
It  is  because  we  did  not  betray  our  duty,  because
we  preferred  honour  to  life  itself,  that  to-day,  to
punish  us,  they  are  burning  our  homes,  decimating
our  people  and  blackening  our  character.
