The Days of a Man 



some length, and Lord Welby could have retained 

 control of the British government, the unholy rivalry 

 aroused by German militarism and German efficiency 

 might never have ended in war. I used sometimes^to 

 say that the British should have early allowed the 

 Germans to take possession of the Mesopotamian 

 valley and more of equatorial Africa. This would have 

 given play to German ambition, and the multitude 

 of young officers would then not have been compelled 

 "to stew in their own fat/' as it were, in the aimless 

 and unwholesome life of the garrisons. 



On a trip to Cambridge I spent part of a day with 

 Henry Noel Brailsford at his residence, Harmer Green 

 near Welwyn in Hertford. Brailsford, personally a 

 very interesting man, has an unrivaled acquaintance 

 with the world politics of Europe, on which he is one 

 of the most voluminous as well as most consistent 

 and accurate writers. Having as a youth served in the 

 Greek army in the war against Turkey, he re- 

 lated some of his military experiences in "The War 

 of Steel and Gold," a prophetic and enlightening 

 volume. 



As we sat together in his beautiful garden, a merle 

 (blackbird) hopped into view, and the family cat be- 

 gan to watch it keenly. Said I to Brailsford: "Your 

 cat will certainly get that bird/' "No," he replied; 

 "my cat never touches birds." But in about three 

 minutes feathers were scattered over the lawn. 

 Prophets, it seems, are not infallible ! 



Another of the liberal thinkers whom I occasion- 

 ally met is Charles Roden Buxton, a man of large 

 experience in the Near East, and like Brailsford 

 though unlike most of the British Cabinet at that 

 time well informed in Balkan matters. George 



