Bonsal, Stephen
Stories
1
Chapters
81
Words
89.4 K
Comments
0
Reading
7 h, 27 m
I had been told by the Colonel (who, being a man of one language himself, with generous exaggeration regarded me as a master of many tongues) that I was to act as interpreter for the President and himself in the sessions of the League of Nations Commission; that is, that I was to interpret from French into English for their edification. While by no means eager for the task, I was not greatly afraid; of course I had never done any long-winded verbal interpreting before, but then, in wartime, you have to do…- 91.2 K • Completed
- I have made it a rule, of course with an exception now and then, not to confide to my diary any of the spectacular events that have followed upon the ora formidabile of the Armistice. I have omitted all reference to the pageantry with which the cavalcades of kings have been greeted as they came to the City of Light, and I ignore the visits of the President to the capitals of Europe now breathing freely after the tortured agony of war. These events are in the hands of competent remembrancers and assuredly…
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- In accepting the presidency of the Peace Conference today M. Clemenceau gave the delegates assembled from all over the world a taste of his quality. No typescript was in his hand, there was no rustling of papers. He drew his inspiration from the world audience before him. No “releases” came to us or to the representatives of the world press; and I am glad I took down his noble words just as they were spoken, as they came, not from his secretariat, but from his great heart. He said: “I cannot avoid…
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- As I came into his study this morning I found Colonel House, always so calm and composed, visibly—but pleasantly—affected. Before him was the speech which the President delivered in Manchester (England) on the thirtieth—the words which they had so carefully, so prayerfully considered together last week. The substantial paragraph which should be long remembered both at home and abroad reads: “There is a great voice of Humanity abroad in the world just now which he who cannot hear is deaf. There…
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- Now that we have an armistice of sorts a tremendous discussion has arisen as to why Paris has been chosen as the scene of the Great Assizes and why, apparently, President Wilson has decided to take part personally in the discussions which will follow. Many, including Lloyd George, regret the decision that has been made and are quite voluble in expressing the opinion that it is the worst possible choice. Perhaps it is advisable to set down the circumstances that led to the decision, in so far as they are…
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- An interesting if somewhat belated dispatch came today from the Colonel’s mysterious spy; he gives a vivid description of the German collapse. Evidently he was an eyewitness of many of the amazing incidents in Kiel as well as in Berlin. Apparently on October 29th, the very day on which the members of the Supreme War Council were gathered together chez House, listening to the Armistice terms which the Germans might and in the judgment of Marshal Foch should have, in case they asked for them, a desperate…
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- The hot fit is over and the satisfaction that we all felt on Armistice night is fading fast. I recall with amazement many of the foolish things we said and did; like millions of others, we gave loose rein to our joy. How we cheered that noble woman who, holding aloft a fasces of Allied banners on the steps of the opera house, sang the “Marseillaise,” “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and “Britannia Rules the Waves.” Our behavior was more decorous as we attended the Mass of Victory and sang the Te…
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- It was on November the 4th that the Supreme War Council approved the memorandum of the Allies addressed to Wilson, which accepted the Fourteen Points, reserving, however, the right for further discussion on Point Two, and also a clearer definition of the reparation clause. It was in this way, you might say, the war ended. On November the 5th the memorandum reached the President and was sent on by him to the Germans, with a statement to the effect that the actual terms could be obtained from Marshal Foch,…
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- I have been so busy during the past seven days, fetching and carrying, translating notes, condensing interminable conversations, and talking over the Paris telephone (alas, and getting nowhere), that I find I have not been able to make a daily record of the many happenings of this momentous week. How I wish I could resume my familiar role of a detached observer and be relieved of the subordinate but exacting tasks that now fall to my lot. Today, however, there is a breathing spell, and I shall…
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- Colonel Bonsai once told me the story of how this diary came to be written. One winter’s afternoon in Berlin, in 1915, he observed a distressed and bewildered American, a sheet of paper clutched in his hand, trying in vain to get help from passing Germans in finding his way. One after another they ignored him or brushed him aside, and seeing the way open for a good deed, Colonel Bonsai came to the rescue and took charge. He led his compatriot to the one shop in Berlin where English newspapers could…
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