IV

THE TREATY

59

thereafter. The German commentators had littledifficulty in showing that the draft Treaty con-stituted a breach of engagements and of internationalmorality comparable with their own offence in theinvasion of Belgium. Nevertheless, the German replywas not in all its parts a document fully worthy of theoccasion, because in spite of the justice and import-ance of much of its contents, a truly broad treatmentand high dignity of outlook were a little wanting,and the general effect lacks the simple treatment,with the dispassionate objectivity of despair, which thedeep passions of the occasion might have evoked. TheAllied Governments gave it, in any case, no seriousconsideration, and I doubt if anything which theGerman delegation could have said at that stageof the proceedings would have much influenced theresult.

The commonest virtues of the individual are oftenlacking in the spokesmen of nations; a statesmanrepresenting not himself but his country may prove,without incurring excessive blame—as history oftenrecords—vindictive, perfidious, and egotistic. Thesequalities are familiar in treaties imposed by victors.But the German delegation did not succeed in ex-posing in burning and prophetic words the qualitywhich chiefly distinguishes this transaction from allits historical predecessors—its insincerity.

This theme, however, must be for another penthan mine. I am mainly concerned in what follows,