he capacity for acquiring effective information at lightning speed.
Unfortunately he was not over-critical and the source of his information
was not invariably the highest authority; he was prone to accept the
views of journalists rather than those of his own Foreign Office.
Effervescent as a bottle just rid of its cork, he was also unstable,
twisting and veering in his suggestions; not so much blown about by the
winds of hostile criticism, to which he paid but little attention, as
carried on by the shifting tides of political events at home. For his eye
was always across the Channel, calculating the domestic effect of each
treaty provision. Few could resist his personal magnetism in conversation
and no one would deny him the title of master-politician of his age.
During the first weeks of the Conference, Wilson seems to have fallen
under the spell of Lloyd George to some extent, who showed himself quite
as liberal as the President in many instances. But Wilson was clearly
troubled by the Welshman's mercurial policy, and before he finally left
for America, found relief in the solid consistency of Clemenceau. He
always knew where the French Premier stood, no matter how much he might
differ from him in point of view.

Beside Lloyd George, a perfect foil, sat Arthur J. Balfour, assuming the
attitude habitual to him after long years in the House of Commons--head on
the back of his chair, body reclining at a comfortable angle, long legs
stretched in front, hands grasping the lapels of his coat, eyes at
frequent intervals closed. Rising, he overtopped every one present, white
and bent though he was, in physical stature as he did also in pure
intellectual power. Graceful in tone and expression his outlook was the
philosophical, possibly over-tolerant for the exigencies of the situation,
although upon occasion his judgment proved a valuable counterweight to the
hasty enthusiasm of Lloyd George. But Balfour, like Lansing, was sometimes
treated with scant consideration by his chief and by no means exercised
the influence which his experience and capacity would lead one to expect.

On the right of the British delegates sat the two Japanese, silent,
observant, their features immobile as the Sphinx. It was a bold man who
would attempt to guess the thoughts masked by their impassive faces. They
waited for the strategic moment when they were to present their special
claims; until then they attended all meetings, scarcely speaking a wor