quivered at the least appeal, proud and happy to assert itself, to
manifest itself with the beautiful tumultuous ostentation of the
South; and it was the "neutrals" that now hid themselves after the
manner of unspeakable insects. That species had all but disappeared,
annihilated by the storm that was gathering on every hand. The Germans
themselves had gone to earth, no one knew where; and from that moment
it was certain that war was imminent and inevitable.

In the space of three months a stupendous work had been accomplished.
It is impossible for the moment to weigh and determine the part of
each of those who performed it. But we can even now say that in Italy,
which is governed preeminently by public opinion and which, more than
any other nation, has in its blood the traditions and the habits of
the forum and the ancient republics, it is above all the spoken word
that changes men's hearts and urges them to action.

2

From this point of view, the admirable campaign of agitation and
propaganda undertaken by M. Jules Destrée, author of _En Italie_, was
of an importance and possessed consequences which are beyond
comparison with anything else accomplished and which are difficult to
realize by those who were not present at one or other of the meetings
at which, for more than six months, indefatigably, travelling from
town to town, from the smallest to the most populous, he uttered the
distressful complaint of martyred Belgium, unveiling the lies, the
felonies, the monstrosities and the acts of devastation perpetrated by
the barbarian horde and making heard, with sovran eloquence, the
august voice of outraged justice and of baffled right.