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To begin with, Sir Edward Grey lent his ear to Paul Cambon who suggested the famous conference proposal in the followingform: The English Cabinet was to demand of the German Government the initiative of a proposal at Vienna offering amediation in the Austro -Servian question of the four Powersnot directly interested. (".... de prendre l'initiative d'une"démarche à Vienne pour offrir une médiation, entre l'Autriche"et la Serbie, des quatre Puissances non directement intéressées"(Yellow Book No. 32). The proposal was from the outset doomedto failure. For, apart from burdening Germany with a pressure onher ally which France at the same time strictly declined to makevis à vis of Russia, the well-known Austro-Hungarian point ofview was, that an intervention or mediation by third parties wouldbe unacceptable in an Austro-Hungarian -Servian-conflict.Moreover, Austria-Hungary would have eo ipso acknowledged,by accepting the Grey-Cambon proposal, that Russia was a "Power"directly interested" in the Austro- Hungarian -Servian conflict.A construction which would have been in direct contradiction toAustro-Hungarian views and intentions. But while Sir EdwardGrey was thus let astray, Paul Cambon succeeded in spoilingconsiderably England's relations to Germany, as Germany 's refusalcould be confidently expected.
Simultaneously there were certain indications of encouragementbeing held out to France and Russia in English Government circles.This under-current appears from comparison of two telegrams(Yellow Book No. 63 and 66) which the French Chargé d'Affaires in London sent to his Government on the 27 th of July, and whichmay be literally quoted here.