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.