however, was not what had moved the American people; it was, rather, the silence, the dignity, the calm courage of France amid her present trials. He continued:] To see a nation receiving fierce blows from an aggressor without crying out, and returning them without boasting; to see that nation united, the people of the factories and those of the trenches, the people of thought and the people of toil, to see these grouping themselves around their fighters; to see at the Marne the triumph of dash, at Verdun the triumph of patience; to see this palpitating capital, which German calumny had called the capital of pleasure and frivolity, so peaceful in tragic hours, so calm when glory later came to shine upon our banners, reserving its enthusiasm for the day when universal right, by force of our arms, shall be implanted throughout the whole world-that is the spectacle which, I assure you, stirred to its depths the American soul. * * * It would have been easy for America, if she had desired to stand aloof, to think only of her individual grievances at the hands of imperial Germany. She might have said that she could not tolerate on her own soil the tortuous intrigues of a faithless Ambassador. She might have said that she would never subject the honor of the land of Washington to the arrogance of the Germanic boot; that she could not bear to hear the cries of those unfortunate victims who, in Summer evenings and Winter nights, were hurled without warning, by criminal hands, into the depths of the sea. America did say these things, but she said more. Her merit, after stating her own grievances, the thing that will constitute her historic honor before the world, is that she heard the cry of all humanity, that she invoked human right, universal right! Never have I felt that profound truth so deeply as in the great City of Chicago, the greatest German city after Berlin, where, pressed by 20,000 breasts, wearied by effort and emotion, I proclaimed in your name the whole truth about AlsaceLorraine, repudiating the historic and juridical fraud that has proceeded out of America has entered the war with the belief that there can be no peace without victory, unless we are to be recreant in our duty to the tomb and to the cradle, and, by the barbarous rhythm that returns every thirty years, are to allow our sons to go upon the battlefield and stand where their fathers have fallen. She has entered knowing what she has to do: not only to continue what she did while still chained to neutrality-render us financial and economic service-but to go to the end with her full might, giving to the Allies immediate aid of every kind until victory is won by constant co-operation. Ah, well! It is universal justice that has thus been proclaimed by America as she takes her place by the side of France and the Allies to champion it. But what! Is France going to permit a portion of her heritage to be snatched from her? Human rights, universal justice, the independence of nations-whence have these sprung? It was by the spirit of our philosophers that the fire of independence was lighted in the world; it was by our men of action in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that the foundations of justice and liberty were laid. Ah, I know, I understand! Yes, yes, three years of war, of economic and political difficulties, of griefs, of graves added to graves, of cradles over which mothers ask whether this is the punishment for life itself! All the sorrows, all the anguish, all the anxieties that tear our hearts; yes, all these-and after them? [Here the whole Chamber, thrilled, rose as one man, carried away by the speaker's eloquence. M. Viviani spoke of the sacrifices that his people would still have to bear before victory could come, and concluded with this peroration:] Such is the result that we must attain. For this, oh! life is hard, difficult, delicate! The mourning robes, the tears, the sufferings of the widows whom we meet at every step of the way, and who try to hide under their veils their saddening grief, yet who demand expiation; all that we meet, all that we know, all that is written to us, all that we think, yes, all this creates around us an inextricable difficulty. But do not forget: you are not accountable to the France of today, you are accountable to the France of yesterday, you are accountable to the France of tomorrow. To conquer and prevent the repetition of such crimes, after victory, when the American Army stands by our side; when immediate aid and constant co-operation are promised us, when we are certain not to be alone on the field of combat, when the same glory shall be harvested under different flags, when all the free peoples shall stand upon a land that trembles, while their own hearts tremble not; when before the world we shall have made an example of an autocracy which, if not beaten down, has received fearful blows and deserves to fall; when it is certain that there can be no more peace in the world for the sons of our sons so long as this bleeding autoc THE racy survives, I ask myself, truly, when duty is at once so tragic and so simple, how can it be difficult to follow whither it leads? But you will follow it. At present your duty is simple: first to be men, to look our destiny in the face, whatever it be; to tell us that there is no historic fatality that cannot be redressed by cour age and will; then to go on thus all the way to victory. After that, let others, more happy, who shall not have known our griefs, survive! But we shall have bequeathed to humanity the most magnificent heritage for which it has ever hoped. [At the close the assembly leaped to its feet, acclaiming the orator, then turned its applause upon General Pershing, who, standing in the diplomatic tribune, was waving his military cap. The crowd in the galleries joined in the thrilling demonstration, and the public posting of the speech was ordered by a unanimous vote.] Brazil's Revocation of Neutrality HE friendly act of Brazil in revoking its earlier attitude of neutrality and definitely taking sides with the United States as against Germany was formally communicated to the Washington Government on June 4, 1917, by the Brazilian Ambassador, Dr. Domicio da Gama, in the following note: Mr. Secretary of State: The President of the republic has just instructed me to inform your Excellency's Government that he has approved the law which revokes Brazil's neutrality in the war between the United States of America and the German Empire. The republic thus recognized the fact that one of the belligerents is a constituent portion of the American Continent and that we are bound to that belligerent by traditional friendship and the same sentiment in the defense of the vital interests of America and the accepted principles of law. Brazil ever was and is now free from warlike ambitions, and, while it always refrained from showing any partiality in the European conflict, it could no longer stand unconcerned when the struggle involved the United States, actuated by no interest whatever but solely for the sake of international judicial order, and when Germany included us and the other neutral powers in the most violent acts of war. While the comparative lack of reciprocity on the part of the American republics divested until now the Monroe Doctrine of its true character, by permitting of an interpretation based on the prerogatives of their sovereignty, the present events which brought Brazil even now to the side of the United States at a critical moment in the history of the world are still imparting to our foreign policy a practical shape of continental solidarity, a policy, however, that was also that of the former régime whenever any of the other sister friendly nations of the American Continent was concerned. The republic strictly observed our political and diplomatic traditions and remained true to the liberal principles in which the nation was nurtured. Thus understanding our duty and Brazil taking the position to which its antecedents and the conscience of a free people pointed, whatever fate the morrow may have in store for us, we shall conserve the Constitution which governs us and which has not yet been surpassed in the guarantees due to the rights, lives, and property of foreigners. In bringing the above-stated resolution to your Excellency's knowledge, I beg you to be pleased to convey to your Government the sentiments of unalterable friendship of the Brazilian people and Government. I avail myself of the opportunity to reiterate to your Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration. DOMICIO DA GAMA. The reply to Ambassador da Gama was sent by Frank L. Polk, Counselor of the State Department, as Acting Secretary of State. The text is as follows: Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of June 4 by which, in pursuance of instructions from the President of Brazil, you inform me of the enactment of a law revoking Brazil's declaration of neutrality in the war between the United States and Germany and request me to convey to this Government the sentiments of unalterable friendship of the Brazilian people and Government. I have received with profound gratification this notification of the friendly co-operation of Brazil in the efforts of the United States to assist in the perpetuation of the principles of free government and the preservation of the agencies for the amelioration of the sufferings and losses of war so slowly and toilfully built up during the emergencies of mankind from barbarism. Your Government's invaluable contribution to the cause of American solidarity, now rendered more important than ever as a protection to civilization and a means of enforcing the laws of humanity, is highly appreciated by the United States. I shall be glad if you will be good enough to convey to the President, the Government, and the people of Brazil the thanks of this Government and people for their course, so consistent with the antecedents of your great and free nation and so important in its bearing on issues which are vital to the welfare of all the American republics. Requesting that you will also assure your Government and people of most cordial reciprocation by the Government and people of the United States of their assurances of friendship, always so greatly valued, and now happily rendered still warmer and closer by the action of Brazil, I avail myself of the occasion to renew to your Excellency the assurances of my highest consideration. FRANK L. POLK, Acting Secretary of State. Brazil's seizure of the war-bound German ships added to her merchant marine more than 150,000 tons. On June 30 it was announced that Brazil's navy had begun co-operating with the American fleet in South American waters in hunting for German sea raiders and submarines. Ruy Barbosa's Stirring Call to Brazil When Brazil broke off diplomatic relations with Germany on April 11, 1917, Senhor Ruy Barbosa, the most popular statesman in that country, delivered a memorable speech at a meeting of 50,000 persons in Rio Janeiro, praising the United States for going to war, and urging Brazil to do likewise. These were his closing words: God did not kindle this conflagration to consume the human race, but to save it. From the great calamity will come a great renewal. On the curve of the blood-reddened horizon already glow the first dawnings of a better world. Down will go the arbitrary Governments, and up will rise the Governments of law. Yesterday, Russia; tomorrow, Germany-and then others! God grant that we, too, my fellow-citizens, may drink in this regenerating spirit, this spirit of genuine heroism, of human devoton, of liberal self-sacrifice, and that our nationality, our Constitution, our social life, revivified in these fountains, may mitigate the present and insure us better days in the future, so that our moral stature may grow, so that we may be worthy of our place upon the earth. Then I shall be able to see in my declining years the realization of the patriotic dream of my youth; a Brazil in whose every act our hearts shall be able to discern, as in Milton's vision, "a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep and shaking her invincible locks!" Greece Joins the Allies How Constantine Departed INCE the abdication of King Constantine in favor of his second son, Alexander, who is now King of the Hellenes, a complete change has come over the attitude of the Greek Government, and the division of the nation into two factions has been brought to an end. Further light has been thrown on the course of events (see CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE, July, 1917, Pages 8385) by documents which have now come to hand, as well as by later dispatches. The full text of the ultimatum which High Commissioner Jonnart presented to Premier Zaimis in Athens on June 11 was made public by the Greek Legation at Washington. It read: The protecting powers of Greece have decided to reconstitute the unity of the kingdom without impairing the monarchical constitutional institutions that they have guaranteed to Greece. His Majesty King Constantine, having manifestly on his own initiative violated the Constitution of which France, England, and Russia are the trustees, I have the honor to declare to your Excellency that his Majesty the King has lost the confidence of the protecting powers, and that the latter consider themselves free toward him from the obligations resulting from their right of protection. I have in consequence the mission, with a view of re-establishing the real Constitution, to ask for the abdication of his Majesty King Constantine, who will himself designate, together with the protecting powers, a successor among his heirs. I am under the obligation to ask from you an answer within twenty-four hours. Constantine, as already recorded, abdicated and left Athens for Switzerland, and with him were expelled several leading men among his supporters, including former Minister Gounaris, General Dousmanis, and Colonel Metaxas. The final scenes are described in dispatches from the Athens correspondent of The London Times. On the morning of June 11, after Zaimis had seen Jonnart and learned that the Allies' decision that Constantine should abdicate was irrevocable, the Premier went straight back to the King's palace and told him of his fate. The narrative then proceeds: The King listened with great calm, and said to M. Zaimis: "I desire the Crown Council to be summoned." M. Zaimis, much distressed, left the room, and the King retired to his study, where some minutes after one of his Aides de Camp found him deep in a chair, his head bent on his hand, and very pensive." At 11:30 o'clock the Crown Council began, there being present, besides M. Zaimis, M. Skouloudis, M. Lambros, M. Dimitrakopoulos, M. Gounaris, M. Stratos, M. Kalogheropoulos, M. Rallis, and M. Dragoumis-all ex-Prime Ministers. When they were seated, the King read to them the demands of the Allies. It is difficult to be quite sure of what happened, but it seems certain that when the King pronounced the fateful words demanding his abdication he turned toward them as for their opinion, and M. Gounaris (the arch pro-German politician) half rose and said: "Impossible! It is impossible that-" when the King stopped him, raised his hand, and said: "I have decided to accept." The Council lasted till 2:30 o'clock, the Ministers insisting on seeing if a way of satisfying the Allies' demands could not be found without the abdication of the King, but it all ended in their recognizing the hopelessness of the situation, and the Council was dismissed by the King. The demeanor of the Ministers as they came out showed the throng of waiting journalists that they had heard grave news, but they would not speak. M. Gounaris seemed incapable of speaking. M. Skouloudis, under whose Premiership Fort Rupel was handed over to the Bulgarians and the disasters of today largely prepared, was pale and shaking, and had to be assisted into his motor car. When he reached home he remained prostrate for a considerable time. The deposed monarch's departure from the shores of Greece is described by the Athens correspondent of The London Times, under date of June 14: The departure of ex-King Constantine, with Queen Sophie, the Crown Prince, the Princesses, and Prince Paul, which I witnessed this morning at Oropos, a small port in the Gulf of Euboea, took place very quietly. George's yacht Sphakteria was refitted rapidly to receive the royal family, and lay off Oropos this morning escorted by two French destroyers whose Tricolors flapped broadly against the Euboean hills. The ex-King and Queen and the Crown Prince arrived in motor cars shortly after 11 o'clock. The King wore a General's uniform and got slowly out of the car, which drew up close to the jetty, where two French officers stood rigidly. A small group of country people and schoolgirls mingled with M. Zaimis, the Prime Minister, courtiers, and official personages. The King was pale, but erect and composed. He took a bouquet of flowers which a small child on the top of a wall thrust out to him. People gave subdued cheers, and peasants on the jetty knelt as the King and Queen passed them. The King made way for the Queen, bidding the people let them pass. The royal family then quickly entered a waiting motor launch and were borne to their vessel. The King was dignified and bowed and saluted, but he scarcely uttered a word from the moment of his arrival till the launch cast off. Several of his friends were weeping. One man threw himself in the water in an endeavor, apparently, to follow the royal boat, but he was rescued. The new King, Alexander, on ascending the throne, issued a proclamation in the following terms: At the moment when my venerated father, making to the Fatherland the supreme sacrifice, intrusts me with the heavy duties of the Hellenic throne, I pray that God, granting his wishes, may protect Greece and permit us to see it once more united and strong. In the grief of being separated in such painful circumstances from my well-beloved father I have the single consolation of obeying his sacred command. With all my energy I shall try to carry it out by following along the lines which so magnificently marked his reign, with the help of the people on whose love the Greek dynasty rests. I have the conviction that, in obeying the will of my father, the people by their submission will contribute to our being able together to draw our well-beloved country out of the situation in which it now is. replied to the young King's proclamation in the following manifesto addressed to the Greek people: France, Great Britain, and Russia desire to see Greece independent, great, and prosperous, and they mean to defend the noble country, which they have liberated, against the united efforts of the Turks, Bulgarians, and Germans. They (the Entente Allies) are here to circumvent the manoeuvres of the kingdom's hereditary enemies; they want to end the repeated violations of the Constitution and of the treaties and the deplorable intrigues which have resulted in the massacre of soldiers of the united countries. Berlin until now has commanded Athens and has been gradually bringing the people under the yoke of the Bulgarians and Germans. We have resolved to re-establish the constitutional rights and unity of Greece. The protecting powers have in consequence demanded the abdication of King Constantine. But they do not intend to touch the constitutional monarchy. They have no other ambitions than to assure the regular operation of the Constitution to which King George of glorious memory had always been scrupulously faithful and which King Constantine has ceased to respect. Greeks! the hour of reconciliation has come. Your destinies are closely associated with those of the protecting powers. Your ideal is the same. Your hopes are the same. We appeal to your wisdom and patriotism. The blockade is now raised. Every reprisal against the Greeks, no matter by whom, will be pitilessly suppressed. No attempt against the public order will be tolerated. The property and liberty of all will be safeguarded. A new era of peace and work is opening before you. Know that the protecting powers, respectful of the national sovereignty, have no intention of imposing upon the Greek people a general mobilization. Long live Greece, united, great, and free! On the invitation of M. Jonnart, Venizelos arrived at Piraeus on June 21. He received a great welcome from a crowd of several thousand persons and with Jonnart's approval entered into negotiations with Premier Zaimis for a fusion of the two parties. Meanwhile, King Alexander in a letter to Zaimis described himself as the faithful guardian of the Constitution, and thereby repaired the mistake he had made in his first proclamation. The new King made it clear that he was willing to comply with all the demands of the Entente Allies. But now it was Zaimis who refused to be their obedient servant. Jonnart demanded the convocation of the Parliament of |