firing of cannon.

The Great General Headquarters at Charleville-Mezieres where I
had visited Emperor William at the end of April, 1916, was only
about seventy kilometres from the battle front near Rheims. I was
naturally anxious to inspect, if not the front trenches, at least
the vicinity of the front, but the army officers attached to the
German Foreign Office, who had accompanied me, informed me that
the Chancellor had telephoned all the Generals in the vicinity to
ask permission for me to visit the lines but that not one of them
would permit me to visit his sector. This was a fairly certain
indication that sooner or later the hate for America must lead
to war or that the U-boat settlement made at the time was only a
stop gap until the increased number of submarines would enable
Germany to commence ruthless U-boat war once more in defiance of
law and humanity, and with a greater hope of military success.

Compared to Berlin, Paris seemed a land of abundance. In the
restaurants, however, the customer was limited to two courses,
but with the privilege of a second helping.

I called on Lord Bertie, the British Ambassador, to ask him to
convey my acknowledgments to the Honourable Arthur James Balfour,
from whom I had received a most complimentary communication. I
found him in the beautiful home of the British Embassy on the Rue
St. Honore, a house so cold for want of coal that I was compelled
to make my visit short for fear of pneumonia.

With Mrs. Gerard we lunched with our friends from Berlin, Jules
Cambon, a former French Ambassador there, and his family, at the
La Rue restaurant, opposite the Madelaine. Cambon seemed as game
as ever, but fatigued.

Briand, who was then Premier, invited me to breakfast at the
Minister of Foreign Affairs. The other guests included our
Ambassador, Mr. Sharp, Cambon and the Ambassadors of Britain,
Italy, Russia and Japan and several distinguished Frenchmen.

[Illustration: AMBASSADORS WILLIAM G. SHARP AND JAMES W. GERARD
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN PARIS, FEBRUARY, 1917]

I did not sit next to Briand as I ranked after the Ambassadors
accredited to France, but after lunch I sat alone with him
before the fire in one of the large and beautiful salons and
there we had a long talk, as, naturally, he wanted to know about
the situation in Germany. He impressed me as a strong man, with
the vigour of an orator, a man of temperament, a man endowed by
nature to become a leader of the Frenc