life, English public men--had for him an irresistible
charm; and his greatest ambition as a diplomat had been to maintain the
most cordial relations between his own country and Great Britain. This
was precisely the type of Ambassador that fitted into the Imperial
purpose at that crisis. Germany was preparing energetically but quietly
for war; it was highly essential that its most formidable potential foe,
Great Britain, should be deceived as to the Imperial plans and lulled
into a sense of security. The diabolical character of Prince
Lichnowsky's selection for this purpose was that, though his mission was
one of deception, he was not himself a party to it and did not realize
until it was too late that he had been used merely as a tool. Prince
Lichnowsky was not called upon to assume a mask; all that was necessary
was that he should simply be himself. And he acquitted himself with
great success. He soon became a favourite in London society; the Foreign
Office found him always ready to cooeperate in any plan that tended to
improve relations between the two countries. It will be remembered that,
when Colonel House returned to London from his interview with the Kaiser
in June, 1914, he found British statesmen incredulous about any trouble
with Germany. This attitude was the consequence of Lichnowsky's work.
The fact is that relations between the two countries had not been so
harmonious in twenty years. All causes of possible friction had been
adjusted. The treaty regulating the future of the Bagdad Railroad, the
only problem that clouded the future, had been initialled by both the
British and the German Foreign Offices and was about to be signed at the
moment when the ultimatums began to fly through the air. Prince
Lichnowsky was thus entitled to look upon his ambassadorship as one of
the most successful in modern history, for it had removed all possible
cause of war.

And then suddenly came the stunning blow. For several days Lichnowsky's
behaviour was that of an irresponsible person. Those who came into
contact with him found his mind wandering and incoherent. Page describes
the German Ambassador as coming down and receiving him in his pajamas;
he was not the only one who had that experience, for members of the
British Foreign Office transacted business with this most punctilious of
diplomats in a similar condition of personal disarray. And the
dishabille extended to his mental operations as well.

But Lichnowsky's and