Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/175

Rh of war [Against Serbia.—K.] he will no longer be in a position to negotiate with Austria direct, and has made a request here to resume intervention. '''[In spite of the Tsar's appeal to me! I am thus shoved aside.—W.]''' The Russian Government regards the cessation of hostilities for the present as a necessary preliminary to this mediation.

"Sir Edward Grey repeated his suggestion, already reported, that we should take part in a mediation à quatre, which we had already accepted in principle. He personally thought that a suitable foundation for mediation would be that Austria should announce her terms—for example, after occupying Belgrade or other places. [Good! We have been endeavouring to attain this for days past. In vain!—W.] If your Excellency would, however, undertake mediation, a prospect of which I held out this morning, this would, of course, suit him equally well. But mediation appeared to him to be urgently required if a European catastrophe were not to result. [Instead of mediation, a serious word in St. Petersburg and Paris, to the effect that England is not assisting them, would at once restore the situation.—W.]

"Sir E. Grey then said to me that he had a friendly and private communication to make, namely, that he did not wish our personal relations, which had been so friendly, and our intimate exchange of ideas on all political questions to mislead me, and he wished himself to be spared the reproach [It remains.—W.] of insincerity afterwards. [Aha! the low swindler!—W.]

"The British Government wished, as before, to continue our previous friendly relations, and so long