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130 pursued by Germany up to the 27th. It recalls Jagow's telegram of July 18th, in which he stated that the mild language of the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung was only intended to mislead "European diplomacy" and must not influence Berchtold. The four historians preferred to adopt a different sort of procedure. They say:

""The Commission has applied both to the former Imperial Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, and to the State Secretary, von Jagow, and has obtained from both the identical information that the dispatch [of Szögyeny, of July 27th] could not possibly be correct. We consider the statements of these two men to be worthy of credence.""

But we may ask whether this assurance given by the accused alone is sufficient to inspire the rest of humanity with the same confidence in their innocence. The trustworthiness of these two persons is precisely what is called in question by the evidence of a man by no means hostile to them, who had every interest in stating the truth, and who immediately after the interview with Jagow wrote down his statements in the most definite form. And he wrote them repeatedly. The passage quoted above stands at the beginning of Szögyeny 's dispatch. It ends as follows:

""In conclusion, State Secretary reiterated his attitude, and begged me, so as to prevent any misunderstanding, to assure Your Excellency that should he, as above contemplated, step forward in the character of mediator, he was absolutely not in favour of a consideration of the wishes of England.""