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HE evil conscience of Europe is an obsession from which no escape is possible. It shows itself in the restless shifting of political alliances, in feverish activity without plan, in long diplomatic hesitations and impulsive plunges, in the helpless fear of statesmen before the forces of their own making. The sense of sin is profound, for even victory has not brought absolution, and the conquerors are as profuse in their apologies as their enemies. It is a strange psychological case and one is left uncertain whether the sin is too deep or the triumph not glorious enough to give peace.

For it is still peace that the statesmen of Europe are seeking, peace with their consciences, their constituencies, their gods, and their historians. The four books in hand are the works of men who have in various ways upheld, criticized, and changed the social order which came to fulfilment in the Treaty of Versailles. Serenity is not in them. That of Viscount Haldane sets before us the ironic tragic history of a cultivated and courageous man, spiritually hostile to the implacable imperialism of Europe, foreseeing a new decency between nations and a new freedom of intercourse between them, and condemned remorselessly to struggle within the web of intrigue, to dream of peace and to create an army, to give over the effort of being a European statesman and to become a Secretary for War. One could forgive Europe everything except the corruption of minds and the frustration of purposes of men like Lord Haldane.