6i4 



The Review of Reviews. 



In the autumn of 1898 the Emperor of Russia issued 

 his famous Peace Rescript, which seemed to me to 

 afford an unexampled opportunity for rousing popular 

 attention to the need for arresting the portentous 

 growth of militarism. I made a tour of Europe/ 

 visiting most of the capitals in order to ascertain what 

 was thought of the proposal and to pave the way for 

 an International Agitation in favour of the Tsar's 

 scheme. In order to satisfy myself as to the ideas of 

 the Emperor. I went to I.i\adia, where I was twice 

 received by Nicholas II., and discussed the subject with 

 him at length. I \yas satisfied as to the sincerity of 

 his desire to cope with the evils from which civilisation 

 is .suffering ; I returned to London,, and proclaimed 

 with the hearty support of all the friends of peace, 

 all the organised Peace Societies, and all the friends 

 of peace in every country, a great crusade in favour 

 of the Tsar's proposal. The so-called " Peace Crusade " 

 was launched in London at a great meeting in 

 St. James's Hall, and was prosecuted more or less 

 vigoroush- in concert with the acti^■e assistance of 

 friends of peace in America. France. Germany, Belgium, 

 Holland. Denmark, and Norway and Sweden, although 

 in those latter countries the agitation owed little if 

 anything to the impetus from London. The friends 

 of peace in Scandinavia were so well organised that 

 memorials and meetings went on almost spontaneously. 

 In Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Austria the 

 popular agitation in favour of peace was largely 

 carried on in connection with the Crusade movement. 



THE EUROPEAN PILGRIMAGE ABANDONED. 



But the full development of the Crusade, which 

 embraced a pilgrimage through all the capitals ol 

 Europe with a view to presenting them with a memorial, 

 was checked by diplomatic considerations, confiden- 

 tially communicated to me, to the effect that any 

 attempt to carry out such an international pilgrimage 

 in the existing state of European atYairs might defeat 

 the very end which we had in view. Demonstrations 

 were, however, held everywhere, memorials signed by 

 hundreds of thousands of persons were forwarded to 

 Russia, or presented to the President of the Hague 

 Conference, from various countries. The cardinal 

 secretary to the Pope formally expressed the sympathy 

 of the Holy See with the movement, and everywhere 

 public attention was roused, and the nations were 

 interested in a peace propaganda to an extent that 

 had never before been believed to be possible. P'or 

 nearly three months I travelled backwards and 

 forwards throughout the length and breadth of England 

 and Scotland, addressing crowded meetings at which 



re.solutions were passed calling upon our Government 

 to support the movement against militarism and 

 in favour of peace and arbitration. Altogether in 

 England and Scotland memorials with 160,000 signa- 

 tures were presented. The Bishop of London headed 

 a deputation to Her Majesty's Government presenting 

 the result of the movement, and received from Mr. 

 Balfour the gratifying assurance that the Government 

 would do their utmost to support the cause at the 

 Hague. 



SUCCESS OF THE CRUSADE IN ENGLAND. 



The Peace Crusade in England was remarkable on 

 account of the unanimity with which all sections of 

 the conununity and all the different associations — 

 religious, socialist and industrial — worked together 

 for the common end. It was also remarkable from a 

 financial point of view. The sum of between /4.000 and 

 £5,000 was subscribed for carrying on the agitation. 

 In addition to this, I published and edited for three 

 months a weekly paper, entitled War Against War. 

 Both in size and circulation Il'iir Against War was an 

 advance upon an\thing that has yet been issued in 

 the way of a peace newspaper. As soon as the Crusade 

 was closed in England I was commissioned to proceed 

 to Russia to present the signatures of the ilemorial 

 to the Emperor. I was received by Nicholas II. at 

 Tsarskoe Selo, and reported in detail concerning the 

 moxement, about which I found he was \ery well 

 informed and extremely sympathetic. He asked me 

 to report to him personally e^■ery week the progress 

 of the discussions at the Hague. 



THE FIRST HAGUE CONFERENCE. 



From St. Petersburg I returned to the Hague, where 

 I remained during the whole meeting of the Conference. 

 Besides reporting the proceedings direct to the Emperor, 

 I hired a portion of a local daily paper, the Dagblad, 

 and published therein in French and Dutch the 

 chroniqiie of the Conference from day to dav. Great 

 difhculties were thrown in my way, but I succeeded 

 in overcoming them, and the publication of the Dagblad 

 did much to keep up the interest of the delegates in 

 their own work as well as keeping the local public 

 inlormed as to what was going on in their midst. I 

 also reported the Hague Conference for the Manchester 

 Guardian, and cabled a weckh- letter to the United 

 States, where it was published by newsptipers from 

 New York to San Francisco. During my stay at the 

 Hague I was in constant communication with the 

 delegates of England, Russia, France, Sweden and 

 Norway, and I think I may, without boasting, s;iv that 

 there was no delegate present at the Conference who 



