xcited to such a degree
that the Government, even if it desired, could no longer
consent to it, all the less, he said to me, because the very
reply of Servia gave proof of the lack of sincerity in its
promises for the future.

On the same day, July 28th, the German Imperial Chancellor sent for
the English Ambassador and excused his failure to accept the proposed
conference of the neutral Powers, on the ground that he did not think
it would be effective,

because such a conference would, in his opinion, have the
appearance of an "Areopagus" consisting of two Powers of
each group sitting in judgment upon the two remaining
Powers.

After engaging in this narrow and insincere quibble, and, being
reminded of Servia's conciliatory reply,

his Excellency said that he did not wish to discuss the
Servian note, but that Austria's standpoint, and in this he
agreed, was that her quarrel with Servia was a purely
Austrian concern, _with which Russia had nothing to do_.[36]

[Footnote 36: English _White Paper_, No. 71.]

At this stage of the controversy it will be noted that every proposal
to preserve peace had come from the Triple Entente and that every such
proposal had met with an uncompromising negative from Austria, and
either that or obstructive quibbles from Germany.

CHAPTER VII

THE ATTITUDE OF FRANCE

Before proceeding to record the second and final stage in the peace
parleys, in which the German Kaiser became the protagonist, it is
desirable to interpolate the additional data, which the French _Yellow
Book_ has given to the world since the preceding chapter was written
and the first editions of this book were printed. This can be done
with little sacrifice to the chronological sequence of this narrative.

The evidence of the _Yellow Book_ is fuller in scope and greater in
detail than the other governmental publications, and while largely
cumulative in its character, it serves to bring into a sharper light
certain phases of this extraordinary controversy.

It has been prepared with great care by M. Jules Cambon, who was
the French Ambassador at Berlin during the controversy, and MM. de
Margerie and Berthelot, experienced and influential diplomats in the
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It consists of 160 documents,
classified into seven chapters, each dealing with different periods
of time in the great controversy. The delay in its presenta