Even when war is avoided, the presence of a powerful army withdraws vast numbers of men from family life as well as from the productive occupations of peace; moreover, in order to support this state of things, heavy burdens must be laid upon the people. It is also true that the settlement of international differences by force of arms does not rest on the principles of right and justice, but on the barbarous principle of the triumph of the stronger.
What encourages us to recommend this matter to your Majesty’s benevolent consideration is the fact that already so much has been accomplished; as, for example, in the settlement of the Alabama question by the Geneva Court of Arbitration, or in the deliberations of the American Conference at Washington, not to mention other important cases. Happy for the world will be the time when all international controversies shall find their peaceful solution!
This is what we are earnestly striving for. Regarding the ways and means for attaining this end we refrain from all special suggestions, confidently intrusting to your Majesty’s superior intuition and wisdom all details in the domain of political life.
We offer our prayers that the richest blessings of the Prince of Peace may rest upon your Majesty’s realm and people, and especially on your Majesty.
I learned how the petition was presented to the other rulers. Frédéric Passy presented it to the President of the French republic. In Switzerland the President received it from Élie Ducommun; the President of the Confederation declared that the contents of the address corresponded perfectly with his ideas and those of the Parliament. Dr. Trueblood, of Boston, undertook the service for America, Marcoartu for Spain, and the address was presented to the Queen of England by Lord Salisbury. The Tsar also received it, but I do not know through whom.
The petitioners themselves could scarcely have expected that the action would have an immediate effect. Words of this kind scattered abroad are seeds of grain, or, by a better figure of speech, hammer blows. New ideas are like nails; old conditions and institutions are like thick walls. So it is not enough to hold up the sharp nail and give it one blow; the nail must be hit hundreds and hundreds of times, and on the head too, that it may be firmly fixed at last.
LIII
SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR 1897
Letter from Count Eugen Zichy · The Eighth Peace Congress at Hamburg · Letter from Prince Emil Schönaich-Carolath · Egidy’s début · Regarding the assassination of Canova · Public meeting in the Sagebiel · Egidy’s speech · New adherents · Henri Dunant · Appeal to the Oriental peoples · Extracts from diary · Bad news from all sides · Attitude of the press · The Russian Emperor in Darmstadt · Letter from Marie Büchner · The Dreyfus affair · Dispatch of the European squadron to the Yellow Sea
The enthusiasm for the peace cause which had flamed up at the Millennial Festival in Hungary had not proved to be merely a fire in the stubble, as so many pessimists had predicted it would be. I kept getting news of the progress and growth of the group in that country. The following letter bears witness to the opinions of one of the most brilliant members of the Congress, Count Eugen Zichy:
Vienna, December 4, 1897