suppose that he had sent the following:

I have just returned to Berlin and find Europe on the verge
of war. I sympathize entirely with you and your country in
its demands upon Servia. I agree with you that the Servian
reply is not satisfactory. In accordance with the
obligations of our alliance, I shall in any event support
with the full power of the German sword the cause of
Austria. Servia has by its reply admitted its responsibility
for the murder of the Archduke and has unreservedly accepted
certain of your demands, and as to others has agreed to
submit them either to The Hague Tribunal for arbitration, or
to a concert of Powers. You will decide whether Austria is
satisfied to accept either of these suggestions, but as
England, France, and Russia have asked that time be granted
to consider a peaceful and satisfactory solution of the
difficulty, and as the questions reserved by Servia can be
used as the basis for further discussion without prejudice
to the rights of Austria, and as it is to the interest of
every country and the entire world that its peace should not
be broken unnecessarily, I shall be gratified if you can
agree that a reasonable time shall be granted as a matter of
courtesy to Russia, England, and France, in order that it
may be determined upon due consideration whether it is not
possible to preserve peace without sacrificing in any
respect the legitimate demands of Austria, which have my
full sympathy and support.

WILHELM.

Would the Austrian Emperor, himself a noble-minded and peace-loving
monarch, have refused this reasonable request? A little time, a little
patience and some forbearance for the rights of other States and the
youth of Europe need not have perished. Again, "the pity of it."

In its place the following correspondence took place between the
Kaiser on the one hand and the Czar and King George on the other. It
is so dramatic that it justifies quotation _in extenso_.

On the night of July 28th, the Kaiser sent the following dispatch to
the Czar:

I have heard with the greatest anxiety of the impression
which is caused by the action of Austria-Hungary against
Servia. The unscrupulous agitation which has been going on
for years in Servia has led to the revolting crime of which
Archduke Franz Ferdinand has become a victim