340 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XXIV 



effort was made to induce the French to allow some such 

 modification as has been put into other articles namely, 

 the words, &quot; autant que possible/ or some limiting clause 

 to the same effect; but neither Bourgeois nor D Estour- 

 nelles, representing France, would think of it for a mo 

 ment. Bourgeois, as the head of the French delegation, 

 spoke again and again, at great length. Among other 

 things, he gave us a very long disquisition on the meaning 

 of &quot;devoir&quot; as it stands in the article a disquisition 

 which showed that the Jesuits are not the only skilful 

 casuists in the world. 



I then presented my project of a declaration of the 

 American doctrine to be made by us on signing. It had 

 been scratched off with a pencil in the morning, hastily ; 

 but it was well received by Bourgeois, D Estournelles, 

 and all the others. 



Later we held a meeting of our own delegation, when, 

 to my project of a declaration stating that nothing con 

 tained in any part of the convention signed here should 

 be considered as requiring us to intrude, mingle, or en 

 tangle ourselves in European politics or internal affairs, 

 Low made an excellent addition to the effect that nothing 

 should be considered to require any abandonment of the 

 traditional attitude of the United States toward ques 

 tions purely American ; and, with slight verbal changes, 

 this combination was adopted. 



July 25. 



All night long I have been tossing about in my bed and 

 thinking of our declaration of the Monroe Doctrine to be 

 brought before the conference to-day. We all fear that 

 the conference will not receive it, or will insist on our 

 signing without it or not signing at all. 



On my way to The Hague from Scheveningen I met 

 M. Descamps, the eminent professor of international law 

 in the University of Louvain, and the leading delegate 

 in the conference as regards intricate legal questions 

 connected with the arbitration plan. He thought that 



