T. E. Lawrence Correspondence – Page 369

LH 9/13 4.2 not prejudiced, only postponed a way for production of necessary papers. Next day Balfour propounded Weizac, Ficher, protested Clemenceau accepted one delegate, and Fichon said they could have no more since they were an embryonationality, not an independent state. Balfour and Lloyd George countered sharply with the statement that they & France had recognised its independence, and the point - two delegates - was carried. Feisal had meanwhile been visited by Gout, who told him his commission was intentional, and the English were only playing with him. He said France was strong, & the sooner Feisal ceased to listen to the mischief-makers in Mesopotamia & Syria who were working against France, the better it would be for him. They recognised no Arab army in Syria, and Allenby lied if he said they did. So Feisal saw that his representation was contested, and spent a very miserable night in consequence. I found him wandering about the hotel at 2 A.M. When we won he took it as a good augury of all the future battles and was very joyful. At the first sitting he was amused when Clemenceau, as temporary president, put the question of his own confirmation in the office to the delegates. He voted with the rest for him., Lloyd-George in according the proposal said that while he was a boy at school Clemenceau was holding office. The campaign in favour of America co-operating in the East, to secure the practice of her ideals, goes well. Kipling's enthusism had turned over Doubleday that night in England. Ellis is now in