first instance to the leaders of Irish parties only, and then, if they
please, to the Press, and finally, perhaps, to the House of Commons.

_Wednesday, May 16th_.--We all want to help the new Russian Government
in its difficult task, but I doubt if Mr. SNOWDEN and his pacifist
friends have contributed to that end by inviting the House of Commons
to endorse forthwith the "no annexation, no indemnities" declaration
of a section of the Revolutionaries, and by supporting their proposal
in a series of speeches which might be summed up in the words "Peace
at any Price." Even the German CHANCELLOR will not be wholly pleased,
for the debate revealed that, apart from the seven or eight gentlemen
who follow the white flag of the Member for Blackburn, the House is
absolutely fixed in its determination to defeat German militarism
before talking of peace.

After the searching analysis to which the hon. Member's confident
statements were subjected by Lord ROBERT CECIL and Mr. A.F. WHYTE
there was nothing left of them but a trace of acid.

So far as I am aware the Member for Blackburn has never endangered the
integrity of his principles by helping his country in any way to win
the War. In this respect Mr. LEES SMITH, who seconded the motion, has
a less consistent record, for he has worn khaki as an orderly of the
R.A.M.C. But in his case service abroad seems only to have confirmed
his peculiar principles, for he thinks that we ought to return the
German colonies, and enable the natives to enjoy once again the
blessings of _Kultur_. If he ever saw the Hun while he was in France
it must have been through a pair of rose-tinted binoculars.

_Thursday, May 17th_.--We are all agog to know whether the PRIME