In this way has arisen the modern practice of justifying every resort to war, not as a trial of strength or test of justice between enemies, but as an act of virtuous and necessary chastisement against criminals. Charges of violated faith, of the abuse of flags of truce, of dishonourable stratagems, of the ill-treatment or torture of prisoners, are seized upon, regardless of any inquiry into their truth, and made the pretext for the indefinite prolongation of hostilities. The lawful enemy is denounced as a rebel or a criminal, whom it would be wicked to treat with or trust; and only an unconditional surrender, which drives him to desperation, and so embitters the war, is regarded as a possible preliminary to peace. The time has surely come when such a demand, on the ground of reprisals, should cease to operate as a bar to peace. One of the proposals at the Brussels Conference was that no commander should be forced to capitulate under dishonourable conditions, that is to say, without the customary honours of war. It should be one of the demands of civilisation that an unconditional surrender, such as was insisted upon from Arabi in 1882 and led to the bombardment of Alexandria with all the subsequent troubles, should under no circumstances be insisted on in treating with an enemy; and that no victorious belligerent should demand of a defeated one what under reversed conditions it would consider dishonourable to grant itself. CHAPTER V. MILITARY STRATAGEMS. _Hé! qu’il y a de tromperie au monde! et en nostre mestier plus qu’en autre qui soit._--MARSHAL MONTLUC. Grotius’ theory of fair stratagems--The teaching of international law--Ancient and modern naval stratagems--Early Roman dislike of such stratagems as ambuscades, feigned retreats, or night attacks--The degenerate standard of Frontinus and Polyænus--The conference-stratagem of modern Europe--The distinction between perfidy and stratagem--The perfidy of Francis I.--Vattel’s theory about spies--Frederick the Great’s military instructions about spies--Lord Wolseley on spies and truth in war--The custom of hanging or shooting spies--Better to keep them as prisoners of war--Balloonists regarded as spies--The practice of military surprises--Death formerly the penalty for capture in a surprise--Stratagems of uncertain character, such as forged despatches or false intelligence--The use of the telegraph in deceiving the enemy--May prisoners of war be compelled to propagate lies?--General character of the military code of fraud.