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42 not think I am travelling out of the record by insisting for a moment on this consideration, that the character of many, if not most, of the late wars in Europe has been such as to throw discredit on belligerents and belligerents' rights, and to invest with a credit and dignity, which by no means essentially belongs to them, neutrals and so-called neutral rights. Wars of aggression and of policy, thinly disguising motives of covetousness and brigandage, have been the general character of the wars that have taken place in our day. This fact seems to me to be that which has debauched the public conscience and utterly confused the public mind, on the true character of war and neutrality. War is really either the greatest of crimes or the most sacred of duties, and, as I began this book by saying, the only possible justification of war (and then it is a complete one) is the refusal of your enemy to do you justice, in a matter judicially investigated and