her place once for all among the foremost free Nations of
the world, or that she will sink to defeat and become a second-rate
Power alike in thought and action. This is a day of her reckoning,
and every man among us must personally face that reckoning along with
her.

The case needs no arguing. I assume that I am only expressing your
own thoughts--what must be in the mind of every true man when he
faces the tragedy and the solemn glory of the present war, for the
emancipation of mankind. I summon you to a great duty, a great
privilege, a shining dignity and distinction.

I shall expect every man who is not a slacker to be at my side
throughout this great enterprise. In it no man can win honor who
thinks of himself.

XII

REPLY OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE COMMUNICATION OF THE POPE TO THE
BELLIGERENT GOVERNMENTS

(_August 27, 1917_)

To His Holiness Benedictus XV., Pope.

In acknowledgment of the communication of Your Holiness to the
belligerent peoples, dated August 1, 1917, the President of the
United States requests me to transmit the following reply:

Every heart that has not been blinded and hardened by this terrible
war must be touched by this moving appeal of His Holiness, the Pope,
must feel the dignity and force of the humane and generous motives
which prompted it, and must fervently wish that we might take the
path of peace he so persuasively points out. But it would be folly to
take it if it does not, in fact, lead to the goal he proposes. Our
response must be based upon the stern facts and upon nothing else. It
is not a mere cessation of arms he desires; it is a stable and
enduring peace. This agony must not be gone through with again, and
it must be a matter of very sober judgment what will insure us
against it.

THE PROPOSAL FROM THE VATICAN

His Holiness, in substance, proposes that we return to the _status
quo ante bellum_, and that then there be a general condonation,
disarmament, and a concert of nations based upon an acceptance of the
principle of arbitration; that by a similar concert freedom of the
seas be established; and that the territorial claims of France and
Italy, the perplexing problems of the Balkan states, and the
restitution of Poland be left to such conciliatory adjustments as may
be possible in the new temper of such a peace, due regard being paid
to the aspirations of the peoples whose political fortunes and
affiliations will be involved.

It is manifest that no