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2.

German thrust can go on much longer at the same pace. The old
Russians are doing wonders. It looks as if they were going to
repeat Mackensen's performance last year on their own account.
If they could put Austria out of action the whole situation would
change at once.

I dined with Winston the other night. He was asking a lot
about you. He says he is very sorry to come back from the front,
but that there was no chance for him there, and he didn't want a
Brigade. I wish I could make him see that his presence at home
just now is ruinous to his reputation. He is a good fellow, and
I don't want him to run amuck. At this moment he is one of the
most discredited people in Britain.

Being at Rosyth you will be in the thick of the stories of
the naval fight. It was a marvellous performance, and David
Beatty's reputation, when the despatches come out, will go to the
top. I regard it as a great victory in every sense, and especi-
ally in the moral sense. The spirit of our naval offensive, which
has had no chance for a hundred years, has shown itself quite un-
blunted.

The Foreign Office have collared me for good now, and are
giving me a department. I think I can manage it, but the volumes
of my History may be slow in appearing.

I am very glad you had a week's holiday in Peebles, and I
hope you are quite fit. The children are always talking about you,
and longing to see you again.

With much love from us all.

Yours ever affectionately

John