294 JOURNEY WITHOUT MAPS

that he might be backing the wrong horse, but in a
Liberian election this risk is small; no one really
doubted that Mr. Barclay would be re-elected. Un-
fortunately within a few days of his arrival the
financial expert was taken ill before he had been able
to interview the President, and nothing would
persuade the Liberian Ministers but that this was an
astute move to lower the price. They were the soul
of stiff politeness, but it was obvious that they in-
tended to show that they could bargain too.

The other intrigue was diplomatic and concerned
the Royal Jubilee. The Secretary of State had been
for a very long while trying to persuade the British
Charge d'Affaires to go to church and hear the
sermons of the Minister for Education. There was
nothing political in his motives, he was an earnest
humourless young man, he just thought that it would
do anyone good .to go to church, and the services at
this church were almost identical with those of the
Church of England. But his reforming zeal gave the
British representative a chance to perform a diplo-
matic coup. He told the Secretary of State that not
only would he come to church, but he would
guarantee the presence of every British subject and
probably of the other foreign representatives as well if
on the particular Sunday the Minister for Education
included in the prayers some reference to the Royal
Jubilee. The Secretary of State, I think, was a little
taken aback: he asked for time to consult the
Minister of Education, but alas! I did no.t stay long
enough in Monrovia to hear whether the bargain was
struck.

One could hardly wonder that the more excitable