Personally he had no hesitation in recognising the National Defence Government as for the time being the legal government of the country. This Government was strong with the approval and the assent not only of Paris, which had confirmed it by a formal vote, but of the whole of France, and every day that passed served to augment its moral force and authority within and without the country. He recognised with pleasure the efforts that had been made by the National Defence Government to hold its own against the enemy, and he congratulated it on the great progress in resistance which, thanks to its efforts, had been made. Mr. Gladstone was not chary of compliments to ourselves, and seemed animated by great admiration for France and by a deep desire to see our efforts crowned by success. Recent events in particular had given him hopes that we should arrive at the desired result by our own strength. When we were speaking of the military deeds of the last fortnight--the battles of the army of the Loire and the general organisation of the country--he himself contrasted the position at the beginning of the war with the progress that we had since made. “I have observed with pleasure,” said he, “that there is a great change in your situation; your military organisation has made considerable advance. As you rightly say, the war has entered a new phase. You have no longer only defeats, you have also successes to record and, above all, your resistance is a serious one. You have soldiers, you have army corps to put in the field against the enemy. Prussia is beginning to encounter serious obstacles in her path. All this is really admirable and gives one reason to hope that you will perhaps soon enter a last phase, that of success. But one must not hide from oneself that it is only a distant hope. You are still only _in the state of solid resistance_. “I have great confidence in your final success. The _fundamental power of the French Nation is greater than is usually thought_. This fundamental power appears throughout her history. Take, for instance, the reign of Louis the Fourteenth. See what France suffered in the wars of that period and see what she became in spite of her exhaustion. And one must not forget that France was at that time divided into small States, while she is now a single and great united country.”