d invalidation of the treaty of 1839 being thus unimportant,
Dr. Dernberg and Professor von Mach fall back upon the only remaining
defense, that France had already violated the neutrality of Belgium
with the latter's consent. _Of this there is no evidence whatever._ We
have, on the contrary, the express assurance, which France gave on the
eve of the German invasion both to Belgium and England, that it would
not violate the rights of Belgium, and in addition we have the
significant fact that when Belgium was invaded, and it was vitally
necessary that the French Army should go with all possible speed to
its relief and thus stop the invasion and save France itself from
invasion, it was ten days before France could send any adequate
support. Unhappily it was then too late.

If it were true that France intended to invade Belgium, then of all
the blunders that the German Foreign Office has made, the greatest was
that it did not permit France to carry out this step, for it would
have palliated the action of Germany in meeting such violation by a
similar invasion, and it would thus have been an immeasurable gain for
Germany and a greater injury to France.

Germany's greatest weakness to-day is its moral isolation. It stands
condemned by the judgment of the civilized world. No physical power it
can exercise can compensate for this loss of moral power. Even success
will be too dearly bought at such a price. There are things which
succeed better than success. Truth is one of them.

Under the plea of necessity, which means Germany's desire to minimize
its losses of life, Germany has turned Belgium into a shambles,
trampled a peaceful nation under foot and almost crushed its soul
beneath the iron tread of its mighty armies.

Almost wounded unto death, and for a time prostrate under the heel of
the conqueror, the honor of Belgium shines unsullied by any selfish
interests, personal dishonor, or lack of courage.

It is claimed that there were officers of the French Army in Liege and
Namur before the war broke out. Neither names nor dates have been
given, and the allegation might be fairly dismissed because of the
very vagueness of the charge. But even if it were true, international
law does not forbid the officers of one nation serving with the armies
of another. German officers have for many years been thus employed in
Turkey and engaged in training and developing the Turkish Army, but no
one has ever contended that the employmen