348 The French Army Enters Fez t I 9 11 



" 22nd May. — The French Prime Minister, Monis, and the War 

 Minister, Marceaux, have been, the one killed, the other seriously hurt 

 by an aeroplane which they were watching the start of in an air race 

 from Paris to Madrid yesterday. This may make a difference in the 

 political world, and just possibly save Morocco from being invaded by 

 the French. May God confound them ! I fear it is as Belloc told 

 me, the German Government have either given in or come to an ar- 

 rangement about Morocco, for the occupation of Fez is no longer 

 concealed, the price perhaps of France's and Russia's withdrawal of 

 their opposition to the Bagdad railway. [Compare Dr. Dillon's 

 ' Eclipse of Russia.' ] 



" 24th May. — The French have entered Fez, it is said, without op- 

 position, the whole story of Europeans whose lives were reported to 

 be in danger having proved to be a fable of the same kind as that 

 invented about Johannesburg at the time of the Jameson raid (N.B. — 

 Jameson has just been made a knight by our Liberal Government), and 

 now the same course of lying is to be pursued by the French about 

 remaining there as we pursued in Egypt. 



" 26th May. — There has been a report of a threat issued by the 

 Russian Government to Turkey in regard to Montenegro, but to-day 

 it is announced that its arrogant tone is apologized for. Germany once 

 more has intervened. 



"28^ May (Sunday). — Newbuildings. Shane Leslie, Patrick 

 Butler, Francis Meynell, and Ryan were here for the week end, and 

 yesterday Mallock. Young Meynell is clever and interesting, and But- 

 ler a good young man, with no little wisdom too. With Belloc and 

 his wife who came to dinner, an entirely Catholic party. 



" 1st June. — The foolish Lords have passed the Veto Bill, and so 

 have committed suicide without a division and without glory. Never 

 was a position so frittered away. Arthur Balfour is principally re- 

 sponsible for this, acting on the advice of the two Whig deserters, 

 Rosebery and Lansdowne. If he had stood firm two years ago and 

 risked a civil war he would have had all the physical force of the 

 country with him, and popular opinion, at least in England, too. There 

 would have been no civil war, and he would have come back to office 

 and stayed there for twenty years. It was the Whig obstinacy about 

 Home Rule in Ireland that prevented it, and has caused their ruin. 



" 6th June. — A young Copt, Louis Aknoukh Fanous, came to con- 

 sult me as to how to bring about a reconciliation between the Copts 

 and Moslems in Egypt, in which I was very ready to help on two 

 conditions — that the Copts should declare themselves (1) honestly 

 for evacuation and (2) for the maintenance of the connection with 

 the Ottoman Empire. He told me that the younger generation of 

 Copts were quite ready for this. They did not want foreign rule, or 



