six o'clock in the evening
On Tuesday the mounting amazements burst amain . On Tuesday the roof that could not fall in fell in . On Tuesday , the day appointed for his letter to Nona , he uttered in realisation that which , uttered in speculation , had been meaningless as an unknown word spoken in a foreign tongue : `` War ! '' The news of Tuesday morning caused him at six o'clock in the evening to have been standing two hours in the great throng that filled Market Square gazing towards the offices of the _ County Times _ . Our mobilisation , our resolve to stand by France if the German Fleet came into the Channel , lastly , most awfully pregnant of all , our obligations to Belgium , -- that had been the morning 's news , conveyed in the report of Sir Edward Grey 's statement in the House of Commons . That afternoon the Prime Minister was to make a statement . A great murmur swelled up from the waiting crowd , a great movement pressed it forward towards the _ County Times _ offices .