“That, I contend,” the Bishop observed, “is a declaration which should never have been made.  Whatever may be our own feelings with regard to the government of Germany, the Kaiser has held the nation together and is at the present moment its responsible head.  If he has had the good sense to yield to the demands of his people, as is proved by this document, then it is very certain that the declaration must be forgotten.  I have reason to believe, however, that even if the negotiations have been commenced in the name of the Kaiser, an immediate change is likely to take place in the constitution of Germany.”

“Germany’s new form of government, I understand,” Fenn intervened, “will be modelled upon our own, which, after the abolition of the House of Lords, and the abnegation of the King’s prerogative, will be as near the ideal democracy as is possible.  That change will be in itself our most potent guarantee against all future wars.  No democracy ever encouraged bloodshed.  It is, to my mind, a clearly proved fact that all wars are the result of court intrigue.  There will be no more of that.  The passing of monarchical rule in Germany will mean the doom of all autocracies.”

There was a little sympathetic murmur.  Julian, to whom Catherine had been whispering, next asked a question.

“I suppose,” he said, “that no doubt can be cast upon the authenticity of the three signatures attached to this document?”

“That’s been in my own mind, Mr. Fiske—­leastwise, Mr. Orden,” Phineas Cross, the Northumbrian, remarked, from the other side of the table.  “They’re up to any mortal dodge, these Germans.  Are we to accept it as beyond all doubt that this document is entirely genuine?”

“How can we do otherwise?” Fenn demanded.  “Freistner, who is responsible for it, has been in unofficial correspondence with us since the commencement of the war.  We know his handwriting, we know his character, we’ve had a hundred different occasions to test his earnestness and trustworthiness.  This document is in his own writing and accompanied by remarks and references to previous correspondence which render its authenticity indisputable.”

“Granted that the proposals themselves are genuine, there still remain the three signatures,” Julian observed.

“Why should we doubt them?” Fenn protested.  “Freistner guarantees them, and Freistner is our friend, the friend and champion of Labour throughout the world.  To attempt to deceive us would be to cover himself with eternal obloquy.”

“Yet these terms,” Julian pointed out, “differ fundamentally from anything which Germany has yet allowed to be made public.”

“There are two factors here which may be considered,” Miles Furley intervened.  “The first is that the economic condition of Germany is far worse than she has allowed us to know.  The second, which is even more interesting to us, is the rapid growth in influence, power, and numbers of the Socialist and Labour Party in that country.”