P.S. At some moment during the Congress—which will last a long time—could you not see the young Queen in order to explain all this to her? 1. Article 8 must be made the subject of a special “resolution” by the Hague Congress (a separate protocol). 2. And on the subject of this special resolution the Congress should try to find a diplomatic method of acting which shall permit Holland to play the part which the Swiss Federal Council plays for the Geneva Convention. It is a fine rôle. Affairs do not proceed promptly in diplomacy. The Swiss Federal Council convoked the governments by a diplomatic invitation dated June 6, 1864. But the recommendation signed by France went to the same states a few days later in June. Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Paris, and I had arranged that on April 22, 1864; and from that time the Swiss Federal Council at Bern has had all the protocols in its possession. Only last year it received notices of assent to the Geneva Convention from the Transvaal, the Republic of Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Honduras; and that has been pending since 1864. Holland should play for the “resolution” resulting from Article 8 of the programme of the Congress the same rôle as the Swiss Federal Council does for the Convention. For this purpose the delegates taken individually must be persuaded to separate the protocols; one protocol for the first seven articles of the programme (or any other way, as they please) and an entirely separate and independent protocol for the “resolution” proceeding from Article 8. And now, with minds keyed high, and with joyous hearts, we got ready to go to The Hague. LVIII THE FIRST PEACE CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE My Hague diary · Arrival · First interview · Stead’s interviews with the Tsar and with Bülow · Our call on the Austrian delegation · Divine service in the Russian chapel · Opening session · Johann von Bloch · Party at Beaufort’s · Yang-Yü and his wife · Baron d’Estournelles · Léon Bourgeois · We give a dinner · Richet’s call · Luncheon with Frau Moscheles · Andrew D. White · Extract from Staal’s opening speech · Call on our ambassador’s wife · Count Costantino Nigra · Reception at court · Lord Aberdeen · Sir Julian Pauncefote · Bloch plans a series of lectures · Plenary assembly of May 25 · The Russian, English, and American motions