312 VENEZUELA AND AFTER 



democracy, that purpose was fully achieved in 

 the first week succeeding the Venezuelan mes 

 sage, Then came the distortions and confusion 

 of the twister. It began to appear on calm re 

 flection that, despite the stirring words at the 

 end of Cleveland s message, war with Great 

 Britain was neither declared nor imminent. 

 Whether or not the Monroe Doctrine applied to 

 the boundary dispute, no allegation was made 

 that the treasured doctrine had in fact been 

 violated. Peril to the honor and interests of 

 the United States was hypothetical, not actual; 

 and the warning of dire results to follow a cer 

 tain contingency was to be effective only after 

 a body of historians and jurists should have 

 discovered a boundary line which in all proba 

 bility was humanly undiscoverable. With the 

 due realization of these conditions the spirit of 

 militant Americanism receded into the depths 

 and, stronger and more self-confident for hav 

 ing been revealed in its full proportions, awaited 

 a more propitious season for asserting itself. 



Among the English people, meanwhile, Cleve 

 land s message and the manifestations of Ameri 

 can feeling that followed it were received chiefly 

 with bewilderment and incredulity. That the 

 two governments should have reached in utter 



