![]() ![]() He scorned his English connections and all question of his own career compared to what he regarded as his duty to the Arabs. He accompanied Feisal everywhere as friend and interpreter. It soon became evident that his cause was not going well in Paris. It appeared that he was a savant as well as a soldier: an archaeologist as well as a man of action: a brilliant scholar as well as an Arab partisan. I began to hear much more about him from friends who had fought under his command, and indeed there was endless talk about him in every circle, military, diplomatic and academic. Whether he wore the prosaic clothes of English daily life or afterwards in the uniform of an Air Force mechanic, I always saw him henceforward as he appears in Augustus John’s brilliant pencil sketch. We got on much better this time, and I began to form that impression of his strength and quality which since has never left me. He looked what he was, one of Nature’s greatest princes. From amid the flowing draperies his noble features, his perfectly-chiseled lips and flashing eyes loaded with fire and comprehension shone forth. The gravity of his demeanor the precision of his opinions the range and quality of his conversation all seemed enhanced to a remarkable degree by the splendid Arab head-dress and garb. He wore his Arab robes, and the full magnificence of his countenance revealed itself. It was, if my memory serves me right, in Paris. I did not see Lawrence again for some weeks. The Sykes-Picot Agreement, which we had made during the War, had greatly confused the issue of principle, and only the Peace Conference could decide conflicting claims and pledges. He said that the French meant to have Syria and rule it from Damascus, and that nothing would turn them from it. I said that this was no defence at all for the method adopted, and then turned the conversation into other and more agreeable channels.īut I must admit that this episode made me anxious to learn more about what had actually happened in the desert war, and opened my eyes to the passions which were seething in Arab bosoms. The King himself should be made aware of what was being done in his name, and he knew no other way. This was the only way in his power, he said, of rousing the highest authorities in the State to a realization of the fact that the honour of Great Britain was at stake in the faithful treatment of the Arabs and that their betrayal to the Syrian demands of France would be an indelible blot on our history. Whether or not Lawrence saw I had misunderstood the incident, he made no effort to minimize it or to excuse himself. The King and Lawrence were alone at the time. When the King was about to bestow the Insignia, Lawrence begged that he might be allowed to refuse them. At the same time His Majesty thought it would be convenient to give him the Commandership of the Bath and the Distinguished Service Order to which he had already been gazetted. The King received Lawrence in order to have a talk with him. The refusal did in fact take place, but not at the public ceremonial. It is only recently that I have learned the true facts. As he was my guest I could not say more, but in my official position I could not say less. Any man might refuse a title or a decoration, any man might in refusing state the reasons of principle which led to his action, but to choose the occasion when His Majesty in pursuance of his constitutional duty was actually about to perform the gracious act of personally investing him, as the occasion for making a political demonstration, was monstrous. I was Secretary of State for War, so I said at once that his conduct was most wrong, not fair to the King as a gentleman and grossly disrespectful to him as a sovereign. The impression I received was that he had refused to accept the decorations which the King was about to confer on him at an official ceremony. We were men only and the conversation was general, but presently someone rather mischievously told the story of his behavior at an Investiture some weeks before. On this occasion, however, he wore plain clothes, and looked at first sight like one of the many clean-cut young officers who had gained high rank and distinction in the struggle. Usually at this time in London or Paris he wore his Arab dress in order to identify himself with the interests of the Emir Feisal and with the Arabian claims then under harsh debate. Join us at the National WWI Museum for the 39th International Churchill Conference.
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