headquarters, and here I was entertained to lunch. It was a scene that
I shall remember. They drank to England. I raised my glass to Italia
irredenta--might it soon be redenta. They all sprang to their feet and
the circle of dark faces flashed into flame. They keep their souls and
emotions, these people. I trust that ours may not become atrophied by
self-suppression.

The Italians are a quick high-spirited race, and it is very necessary
that we should consider their feelings, and that we should show our
sympathy with what they have done, instead of making querulous and
unreasonable demands of them. In some ways they are in a difficult
position. The war is made by their splendid king--a man of whom every
one speaks with extraordinary reverence and love--and by the people.
The people, with the deep instinct of a very old civilisation,
understand that the liberty of the world and their own national
existence are really at stake. But there are several forces which
divide the strength of the nation. There is the clerical, which
represents the old Guelph or German spirit, looking upon Austria as the
eldest daughter of the Church--a daughter who is little credit to her
mother. Then there is the old nobility. Finally, there are the
commercial people who through the great banks or other similar agencies
have got into the influence and employ of the Germans. When you
consider all this you will appreciate how necessary it is that Britain
should in every possible way, moral and material, sustain the national
party. Should by any evil chance the others gain the upper hand there
might be a very sudden and sinister change in the international
situation. Every man who does, says, or writes a thing which may in any
way alienate the Italians is really, whether he knows it or not,
working for the King of Prussia. They are a grand people, striving most
efficiently for the common cause, with all the dreadful disabilities