released for special work by order of the Government, though even then he was forbidden to write.
Our friends’ publications and utterances had an echo in France, Italy and America. Steed was in constant touch with France and Italy, and often went there during the war to lecture and to do other propaganda work. Through these activities, as well as by his personal influence in the most important political circles, his views gained currency and weight. He often found (temporary) difficulties in official quarters. Soon after the outbreak of war, Lord Northcliffe and “The Times” criticized some features of official foreign policy, and the Foreign Office broke off relations with “The Times” during the whole winter of 1914–1915. It was not until May 1915 that the breach was healed. As soon as I had got my bearings in London I began to call on official personages. One of the first was Sir George Russell Clerk, of the Foreign Office, afterwards the British Minister in Prague; then Sir Maurice de Bunsen, the former British Ambassador in Vienna, and a number of secretaries and officials in the Foreign Office and other departments. Mr. Phillip Kerr, the secretary of Mr. Lloyd George, I remember particularly and likewise the group of the “Round Table,” with some members of which I had personal relations. This serious review published a number of instructive and pertinent articles upon our question and European problems generally. Among Members of Parliament I must name Sir Samuel Hoare and Mr. (now Sir) Frederick Whyte (afterwards the First Speaker of the Indian National Assembly). Whyte was a friend of Seton-Watson and a diligent contributor to the “New Europe” which he edited while Seton-Watson was under military discipline. I extended also my acquaintanceship with journalists, Mr. Steed and Madame Rose giving me good openings to this end-openings that enabled me not only to meet prominent newspaper proprietors and writers like Northcliffe, Mr. Garvin of the “Observer,” Dr. Dillon and Dr. Harold Williams, but to “place” articles and interviews. With French, American and many other press representatives I was also in touch; and, from time to time, I approached eminent men in other spheres of life. Among these were Sir Arthur Evans, the famous authority on Cretan culture, who knew the Balkans well, the Southern Slav lands in particular; and the Russian savant, Professor Paul Vinogradoff, of Oxford. Lord Bryce—whose works on the Holy Roman Empire and on America gave me occasion to discuss with him Germany
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