COUNT ST. AULAIRE'S TALLEYRAND
[To the Editor of Tun SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I do not want to make a controversial answer on points of detail raised in M. de Saint Aulaire's letter—perhaps he will allow me to use Talleyrand's excuse, " pour ne pas fatiguer le Saint-Pere" ; but I should like to say that I had not the least intention of reading him a moral lecture 1
I admired his book not merely for its high literary qualities, but also for its obvious sincerity and seriousness of purpose. I should differ from hit* and from the tradition of French diplomacy, on many questions : I would explain these differences in terms similar to those used by M. Clemeneeau at the Conference of Paris, about differences between himself and his British and American colleages :
" L'etat d'esprit de nos allies n'est pas necessaireinent le &Are, et lorsque nous ne sommes pas d'accord avec eux, it est injuste de s'en prendre soit a ceux qui n arrivant pas a les convaincre, snit a our en leur attribuant des pensees mauvaises, qui ne sont pm dana leur coeur. Qu'est-ce quo vows voulez ? CI:acun de nous vit dans le cadre de son histoire."
I should add that the differences in outlook between France and Great Britain are very real because they are deeply rooted in history ; but I entirely agree with M. de Saint Aulaire that the Franco-British co-operation which he has done so much to maintain has been and is one of the strongest guarantees of the continuance of European civilisa- tion in these threatening times. On the greatest political issues of the day Frenchmen and Englishmen speak the same language. For this reason they have been able to discuss, and I hope they will always be able to discuss, their differences of interpretation with great frankness, and without any implication of sinister motives or moral shortcomings.
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