39$ War with Germany Discussed [ x 9 12 



now but either to treat Ireland exactly as so many English counties, or 

 give Home Rule on the model of Canada. 



" igth Oct. — This has been a great day. Mark arrived at ten in 

 glorious sunshine, and we made a long beat for deer in the upper 

 Forest without result, however, as far as getting a buck was concerned, 

 though we flushed several woodcocks. Clementine joined us at one, 

 and walked with us in the afternoon's shooting, but Winston not till 

 tea-time. Then he at once began a political discussion with George 

 which was both amusing and enlightening, and went on with occasional 

 breaks through dinner and till midnight. It was a fine night, and we 

 dined in the bungalow, dressed in gorgeous Oriental garments, Clem- 

 entine in a suit of embroidered silk, purchased last year in Smyrna, 

 Winston in one of my Bagdad robes, George in a blue dressing gown, 

 and I in my Bedouin clothes, Mark adorned only with his wit, but that 

 was of the best. It recalled the most glorious night's entertainments 

 of the Crabbet Club, a true feast of reason and flow of bowl. The 

 secrets of the Cabinet were gloriously divulged, and those of the Oppo- 

 sition front benches no less, from Home Rule to a reconstruction of 

 the House of Lords by common accord after George Curzon and 

 Asquith had been got rid of, while George Wyndham declared with 

 great oaths that he would rather go to hell than see the British Con- 

 stitution made ridiculous by single Chamber Government, at which 

 point I left them for my bed. Winston was very brilliant in all this, 

 as though he kept on at the Madeira he also kept his head, and played 

 with George's wild rushes like a skilled fencer with a greatly super- 

 ior fence. He is certainly an astonishing young man, and has gained 

 immensely within the last two years in character and intellectual grip ; 

 also he is in more vigorous health now that he has left the Home 

 Office for the Admiralty, where he is able to spend most of his time 

 on board the Enchantress, the Admiralty 3,000 ton yacht, which he 

 makes his home. 



" Among the many things discussed was that of the coming Euro- 

 pean war and the chances of a German invasion. This, Winston de- 

 clared, could be easily effected on the east coast where it would cer- 

 tainly be the German game to land 20,000 men so as to make a 

 diversion and prevent our helping the French with an English contin- 

 gent. He said the idea of the Fleet being a sufficient safeguard was 

 entirely out of date, and without a strong army there was no safety. 

 He also believed in the coming of a war in which we shall be involved 

 in order to prevent France being overpowered by Germany, and forced 

 into an alliance against us. He has a great belief in submarine war- 

 fare as the weapon of the future and is pushing that branch of the 

 service on all he can. He is to go on Monday to Sheerness to witness 

 trials of artillery and he described the prodigious effect of the new 



