The versatility and inventive genius of the Prime Minister provoke mingled comment.  An old Parliamentarian, when asked to what party Mr. Lloyd George now belonged, recently answered:  “He used to be a Radical; he will some day be a Conservative; and at present he is the leader of the Improvisatories.”

December, 1917.

It seems useless to attempt to cope with the staggering multiplicity of events crowded into the last few weeks.  Jerusalem captured in this last crusade, which realises the dream of Coeur de Lion; Russia “down and out” as a result of the armistice and the Brest-Litovsk Conference; Germany’s last colony conquered in East Africa; Lord Lansdowne’s letter; the retirement of Lord Jellicoe; while in one single week Cuba has declared war on Austria, the Kaiser has threatened to make a Christmas peace offer, and Mr. Bernard Shaw has described himself as “a mere individual.”  We have traversed the whole gamut of sensation from the sublime and tragic to the ridiculous; and Armageddon, vulgarised by the vulgar repetition of the journalist, has redeemed its significance in the dispatches from our Palestine front.  The simplicity and dignity of General Allenby’s entry into the Syrian town—­

  Where on His grave with shining eyes
  The Syrian stars look down—­

afford a happy contrast to the boastful pagentry of the Kaiser’s visit in 1898.  Meanwhile it has not yet been decided in Berlin what the Sultan of Turkey thinks of the capture of Jerusalem.

[ILLUSTRATION:  BETRAYED

THE PANDER:  “Come on; come and be kissed by him.”]

Where Russia is concerned Mr. Balfour wisely declines to be included among the prophets; all he knows is that she has not yet evolved a Government with which we can negotiate.

There is a Government in Germany, but neither Government nor people afford excuse for the negotiations which Lord Lansdowne, in a fit of war-weariness, has advocated in his letter to the Daily Telegraph.  His unfortunate intervention, playing into the hands of Pacificists and Pro-Boches, is all the more to be deplored in a public servant who has crowned a long, disinterested and distinguished career by an act of grievous disservice to his country.  British grit will win, declares Sir William Robertson; but our elderly statesmen must refrain from dropping theirs into the machinery.  Happily the Government are determined to give no more publicity to the letter than they can help.  On the Vote of Credit for 550 millions the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been invited by Mr. Dillon to make a survey of the military situation, and has replied that all the relevant facts are known already.  “The War is going on; the Government and the country intend it shall go on; and money is necessary to make it go on.”  That was a good answer to a member who has certainly done little to receive special consideration.  Not only do we need money; we need men to supply the gaps caused by our withdrawal of troops to Italy and the constant wastage on all fronts.