In the absence of our Ambassador, the Embassy in London had been since the 4th of December under the charge of the First Secretary, and it was this gentleman who presented me to Lord Granville. He warned me, just as our Ambassador in Vienna had done, not to harbour any illusions; nothing was to be obtained from England. The English Cabinet was absolutely decided not to deviate from the strictest neutrality, and all efforts to make them leave it would be waste of time.

This was just at the time of a military event of the greatest importance which had taken place during the last days of November.

I refer to the sortie of General Ducrot, which commenced so gloriously and which unfortunately so quickly disappointed all our hopes of a change in the hazard of arms. To-day the events of this painful time are far from our minds. The passing years have robbed them of their intensity. I should therefore like to write down here, without making any change, some passages from my diary, in order to give some idea of the situation at the beginning of December.

“... All this was not encouraging. What was even worse, our affairs, which had begun to improve with the good news of Ducrot’s victorious sortie—a fact which had accelerated my voyage to London—have again fallen into that critical and distressing situation which inspires Europe with fear of our enemy and holds aloof from us all those who admire our resistance and who would like to see it crowned with success.

“The ray of sunshine which for a moment shone on the fate of our arms has vanished all too soon. The victory which restored our courage and inflamed our hopes has lasted all too short a time.

“Already at Rouen, where I spent the night the day before the Prussians entered it, alarming rumours were circulating in the town, and when I arrived in London all hope of success was lost!

“Our young and valorous army of the Loire, which the day before had been still victorious, was beaten. The army of Paris had been obliged to abandon the positions it had bravely conquered in the bloodstained days of the 29th and 30th of November. On the 3rd of December it retreated to Paris.”

This was the military situation when I went for my first interview with the late Lord Granville, at that time Minister for Foreign Affairs.

I will not draw a portrait of this eminent statesman, but would like to indicate some peculiarities of his manner of speech, in order to throw light on the conversation which I am about to describe.

I had been told that Lord Granville was extremely polite and distinguished, but cold and chary of speech, and that his caution was such as sometimes to be taken for timidity. He spoke little, and easily allowed the conversation to drop into silence.

If I discovered those good qualities in the English Minister that had been reported to me, I feel bound to say that I observed none of those defects of which I had been warned.

Lord Granville certainly did not like to waste his time in useless speech, but he did not allow the conversation to drop when a serious question was being elucidated, and he knew how to be eloquent, even in French. Only occasionally his tongue stopped suddenly—he spoke French very slowly but very correctly—as if he had encountered a material obstacle which he would not or could not overcome.

When I entered the Foreign Office I entertained no great illusions, but I was armed with deep confidence and with a determination that was difficult to subdue. I had faith in the justice of my cause, and this faith animated my courage.

What I was about to ask was so just and reasonable, so in harmony with the interests of England herself, that in spite of all that I had been told I still preserved a spark of hope at the bottom of my heart.

I was at any rate decided not to leave the Foreign Office before completely exhausting the question which was the object of my mission, and I was determined not to leave without having clearly understood and defined the attitude towards ourselves that England proposed to maintain. I had to know, in a word, what we might hope from her.

I must say, and I say it with pleasure, that the eminent statesman was at pains to facilitate this task. His welcome was perfect, his language was frank, direct and courteous, and his answers precise and complete. At the beginning of our conversation only, he appeared to me a little cold and reserved in his answers. But, the ice once broken, he no longer hesitated to express all his thoughts. He even seemed to find pleasure in sounding the situation with me, so as to leave nothing in doubt or obscurity.