eir national ambitions and interests, and, of
course, if these clashed with ours, they would go off on their
own. I blame them not at all. It is as well, however, to be
prepared for contingencies. For example, four or five sparrows
will combine to attack a larger bird which has a piece of bread.
As soon as they get the bread the sparrows themselves begin to
squabble for its possession; and perhaps two or three will set on
the one that has hold of it and force him to give it up. Such is
Nature--a theatre of vast, unceasing conflict. Men and nations
all come under the great immutable law.

_July 19th, 1915._

This coal strike in South Wales is a baffling business. As usual,
English lack of system is to blame. The Government ought to have
taken over all the mines, as they did the railways, right at the
start of the war. But _laissez-faire_ said "No." Now see the
result. Undoubtedly men, employers and Government are all to
blame--the Government for not organising the system and failing
to stop the increased profits of the owners due to the rise in
prices; the owners for taking those profits and making all sorts
of unkept promises during the past year about meeting the men to
discuss what should be done with war profits; and the men because
they are imperilling the whole fate of the Navy for the sake of a
few more pence a day, and for failing to show that generosity of
spirit which they ought to exhibit in a national crisis like
this. What gives the lie to those critics who denounce the
unpatriotic conduct of the miners is the astounding proportion of
recruits from the affected areas, and the fact that thousands of
strikers have sons, brothers and other relatives in the trenches.
The whole thing is almost a judgment on English haphazard
methods, though I know those methods are only the product of our
insular position. After all, we fought Napoleon with almost a
revolution going on in Ireland. And do you remember the Six Acts?
So history repeats itself.

The Germans are still astounding the world. This move on Russia
will, I think, be ranked by military historians in the future as
one of the most immense things in the story of the war--a
parallel, but on a far larger scale, with the French and our own