govern the conduct of modern armies is a great boon to They have, nevertheless, great value. humanity, and affords the best of all guarantees for the gradual abolition of War itself. Over and above the public and constant testimony which any laws for the limitation of War present to the moral ties which, in spite of the War itself, continue to bind together the citizens and soldiers of both States, some more particular effects of these Laws on the promotion and maintenance of Peace are brought about in certain distinctly intelligible ways, which may be recapitulated as follows:
1. Laws of War, whatever their character and merit, Legal rules tend to eliminate the element of passion from War— have, at least, the effect of assigning limits, lines, and boundaries to the conduct of War. If ferocity or individual license cannot be eradicated, they are, at least in outward form, put into fetters. If the distinction between the private citizen and the armed soldier is drawn recklessly or hastily, at any rate the notion of such a distinction is persistently maintained. War, in profession at least, as the Emperor William said at Forbach in his proclamation on entering France, is made on soldiers, and not upon citizens. In this proclamation the Emperor added that French citizens would "continue to enjoy entire security for their persons and property so long as they did not themselves deprive him, by hostile enterprises against the German troops, of the right of granting them his protection." Even if the humane treatment of prisoners of War cannot be absolutely insured, the moral duty of securing their persons from outrage, and of providing for them with all the care due to the stranger and the guest, is openly confessed. Even if private property is exposed to the utmost risks, and, in spite of every restraint, is still recklessly stolen or injured under the name of requisitions, still a distinct protest continues to be made against the supposition that War can be waged for the purposes of self-enrichment, or that unpermitted
