Our old-fashioned English pronunciation of Latin may have been
illogical, but on one occasion it helped to avert a European war. The
late Count Benckendorff, the last Russian Ambassador to the Court of
St. James's, a singularly fascinating man, was protocolist to the
Congress of Berlin in 1878, and as such was present at every sitting
of the Congress. He told me that at one meeting of the
Plenipotentiaries, Prince Gortschakoff announced that Russia, in
direct contravention of Article XIII of the Treaty of Paris of 1856,
intended to fortify the port of Batoum. This was expressly forbidden
by the Treaty of Paris, so Lord Beaconsfield rose from his chair and
said quietly, "Casus belli," _only_ he pronounced the Latin words
in the English fashion, and Count Benckendorff assured me that no one
present, with the exception of the British delegates, had the glimmer
of an idea of what he was talking about. They imagined that he was
making some remark in English to Lord Salisbury, and took no notice of
it whatever. Lord Salisbury whispered to his colleague, and ultimately
Prince Gortschakoff withdrew the claim to fortify Batoum. "But," added
Count Benckendorff, "just imagine the consternation of the Congress
had Lord Beaconsfield hurled his ultimatum to Russia with the
continental pronunciation 'cahsous bellee!'" Just picture the breaking
up of the Congress, the frantic telegrams, the shrieking headlines,
the general consternation, and the terrific results that might have
followed! And all these tremendous possibilities were averted by our
old-fashioned English pronunciation of Latin!
My old Chief and godfather, the late Lord Dufferin, in his most
amusing _Letters From High Latitudes_, recounts how he was
entertained at a public dinner at Rejkjavik in Iceland by the Danish
Governor.
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