The stay in Madrid having made me lose the few illusions I still had about the Philippines affair, I asked and already obtained, several months ago, … - Jules Greindl

Whatever my desire to acquire a colony for Belgium, I hardly regret the impossibility in which I am to act. I do find that our position is only getting worse.

There is no such thing as exclusively national thinking. The work intended to benefit science and humanity necessarily interests everyone, but Belgium and its Sovereign will indirectly derive honor and great moral benefit from it; in this sense, there is a truly and usefully Belgian thought. We do not have a view of colonial acquisition, but over time trade will undoubtedly find its value there as well.

Obviously, we are leaving the humanitarian and scientific plan to risk a business whose commercial aspects seem to lack sufficient bases, and which, on top of that, seems fraught with national and international difficulties.