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THE CONFERENCE

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allowances could be fairly regarded as " damage doneto the civilian population of the Allied and AssociatedPowers by German aggression by land, by sea, andfrom the air," in a sense in which the other expensesof the war could not be so regarded. It was a longtheological struggle in which, after the rejection ofmany different arguments, the President finallycapitulated before a masterpiece of the sophist's art,

At last the work was finished; and the Presi-dent's conscience was still intact. In spite ofeverything, I believe that his temperament allowedhim to leave Paris a really sincere man; and it isprobable that to this day he is genuinely convincedthat the Treaty contains practically nothing incon-sistent with his former professions.

But the work was too complete, and to this wasdue the last tragic episode of the drama. The replyof Brockdorff-Rantzau inevitably took the line thatGermany had laid down her arms on the basis ofcertain assurances, and that the Treaty in manyparticulars was not consistent with these assurances.But this was exactly what the President could notadmit; in the sweat of solitary contemplation andwith prayers to God he had done nothing that wasnot just and right; for the President to admit thatthe German reply had force in it was to destroyhis self-respect and to disrupt the inner equipoise ofhis soul; and every instinct of his stubborn naturerose in self-protection. In the language of medical

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