Fighting for peace

Potsdam Capital city of the federal state of Brandenburg in Germany, southwest of Berlin. Berlin was the official capital of Prussia and later of the German Empire, but the court remained in nearby Potsdam, and many government officials also settled in Potsdam. The city lost this status as a second capital in 1918, when World War I ended and the emperor Wilhelm II was deposed.

refractory (persons) Hard or impossible to manage; stubbornly disobedient.

sagacity Sound judgment.

schmuck Obnoxious, contemptible, clumsy or stupid person.

schrecklichkeit Frightfulness; horror.

soubrette Maidservant in a play displaying coquetry, pertness, and a tendency to engage in intrigue. Flirtatious or frivolous young woman.

trepanning Using a small circular saw with a center pin mounted on a strong hollow metal shaft that is attached a transverse handle: used in surgery to remove circular disks of bone from the skull.

ululation Howl, as a dog or a wolf; hoot, as an owl; to lament loudly and shrilly.

Vallombrosa Resort in central Italy, near Florence; a famous abbey.

vicegerent Person appointed by a head of state to act as an administrative deputy.

voluble Continuous flow of words; fluent; glib; talkative: articulate, garrulous, loquacious.

[End Transcriber's Notes]

BY HENRY VAN DYKE Fighting for Peace The Unknown Quantity The Ruling Passion The Blue Flower ---------------------- Out-of-Doors in the Holy Land Days Off Little Rivers Fisherman's Luck --------------------- Poems, Collection in one volume --------------------- The Red Flower The Grand Canyon, and Other Poems The White Bees, and Other Poems The Builders, and Other Poems Music, and Other Poems The Toiling of Felix, and Other Poems The House of Rimmon

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

FIGHTING FOR PEACE

BY HENRY VAN DYKE D.C.L. (OXFORD) RECENTLY UNITED STATES MINISTER TO HOLLAND

NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1917

Copyright, 1917, by Charles Scribner's Sons Published November, 1917

[Illustration: Scribner's Logo]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

FOREWORD

I. FAIR-WEATHER AND STORM SIGNS

II. APOLOGUE

III. THE WERWOLF AT LARGE

IV. GERMAN MENDAX

V. A DIALOGUE ON PEACE BETWEEN A HOUSEHOLDER AND A BURGLAR

VI. STAND FAST, YE FREE!

VII. PAX HUMANA

FOREWORD

This brief series of chapters is not a tale

"Of moving accidents by flood and field, Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach."

Some dangers I have passed through during the last three years, but nothing to speak of.

Nor is it a romance in the style of those thrilling novels of secret diplomacy which I peruse with wonder and delight in hours of relaxation, chiefly because they move about in worlds regarding which I have no experience and little faith.

There is nothing secret or mysterious about the American diplomatic service, so far as I have known it. Of course there are times when, like every other honestly and properly conducted affair, it does not seek publicity in the newspapers. That, I should suppose, must always be a fundamental condition of frank and free conversation between governments as between gentlemen. There is a certain kind of reserve which is essential to candor.

But American diplomacy has no picturesque meetings at midnight in the gloom of lonely forests; no confabulations in black cellars with bands of hireling desperadoes waiting to carry out its decrees; no disguises, no masks, no dark lanterns--nothing half so exciting and melodramatic. On the contrary, it is amazingly plain and straightforward, with plenty of hard work, but always open and aboveboard. That is the rule for the diplomatic service of the United States.