tly and
communicated to me the following:

"'Sir Edward Grey has asked the French and German Governments,
separately, whether each of them was prepared to respect the
neutrality of Belgium.

"'In view of the existing treaties, I am also instructed to inform the
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium that _Sir Edward Grey presumes
that Belgium will do her utmost to maintain her neutrality_.'

"I immediately thanked Sir Francis Villiers for this communication,
which the Belgian Government appreciates very highly, and I added that
Great Britain and the other nations, guarantors of our independence,
might be sure that we would neglect no effort to maintain our
neutrality, and that we were convinced that the other powers, in view
of the excellent relations of friendship and confidence which we have
always enjoyed with them, would observe and maintain this neutrality."

At the decisive moment, the attitude of Belgium was thus
irreproachable. She was not bound to any other nation; she had her
hands free. She declared that she was ready to make the necessary
sacrifices to defend her neutrality and to resist any aggression from
whatever source, and she added that, trusting in her friendly
relations with the powers, she was unwilling to believe that any of
them would violate her neutrality.

On Aug. 3, at 7 A.M., after having received the ultimatum from
Germany, Belgium declared that she refused to repudiate her
engagements.

The next day, the 4th of August, at 3 P.M., the Belgian Minister for
Foreign Affairs received from Sir F. Villiers, Minister of England in
Brussels, the following note:

BRUSSELS, Aug. 4, 1914.

I am instructed to inform the Belgian Government that if
Germany exercises pressure for the purpose of compelling
Belgium to abandon her position of a neutral country, the
Government of his Britannic Majesty expects Belgium to
resist by every possible means. The Government of his
Britannic Majesty is ready, in that event, to join with
Russia and France, _if desired by Belgium_, to offer to the
Belgian Government, at once, common action for the purpose
of resisting the use of force by Germany against Belgium,
and at the same time to offer a guarantee to maintain the
independence and the integrity of Belgium in the future.

England offered her help _but did not impose it_. She did not intend
to send troops into Belgian territory as a preventive m