the extreme of the _Daily
Gazette's_ policy, which, if it made for anything, made, I suppose, for
anti-nationalism, anti-militarism, anti-Imperialism, anti-loyalty, and
anti-everything else except State aid--by which was meant the
antithesis of aid of the State.

"I've got quite a good job for you this afternoon, Mordan--something
quite in your line," said Mr. Charles N. Pierce one morning. "A lot of
these South African firebrands are having a luncheon at the Westminster
Palace Hotel, and that fellow John Crondall is to give an address
afterwards on 'Imperial Interests and Imperial Duties.' I'll give you
your fling on this up to half a column--three-quarters if it's good
enough; but, be careful. A sort of contemptuous good humour will be the
best line to take. Make 'em ridiculous. And don't forget to convey the
idea of the whole business being plutocratic. You know the sort of
thing: Park Lane Israelites, scooping millions, at the expense of the
overtaxed proletariat in England. Jingoism, a sort of swell bucket-shop
business--you know the tone. None of your heroics, mind you. It's got to
be news; but you can work in the ridicule all right."

I always think of that luncheon as one of the stepping-stones in my
life. However crude and mistaken I had been up till then, I had always
been sincere. My report of that function went against my own
convictions. The writing of it was a painful business; I knew I was
being mean and dishonest. Not that what I heard there changed my views
materially. No; I still clung to my general convictions, which fitted
the policy of the _Daily Gazette_. But the fact remained that in
treating that gathering as I did, on the lines laid down by my
news-editor, I knew that I was being dishonest, that I was conveying an
untrue impression.

In this feeling, as in most of a young man's keen feelings, the personal
element played a considerable part. I was introduced to the speaker,
John Crondall, by a Cambridge man I knew, who came there on behalf of a
Conservative paper, which had recently taken a new lease of life in new
hands, and become the most powerful among the serious organs of the
Empire party. It is a curious thing, by the way, that overwhelming as
was the dominance of the anti-national party in politics, the
Imperialist party could still claim the support of the greatest and most
thoughtfully written newspapers.

John Crondall had no time to spare for more than a very few words with
so o