Lord FISHER was in his customary place over the Clock—­his friends all tell us that he is superior to Time; Lord BERESFORD was at a suitable—­I had almost said respectful—­distance from him in the Peers’ Gallery; and conspicuous among the Distinguished Strangers was Sir JOHN JELLICOE.  They and all of us listened intently while for over an hour Sir EDWARD CARSON, now as much at home on the quarter-deck as ever he was at quarter sessions, discoursed eloquently and frankly on the wonderful and never-ending work of the Senior Service.

He did not underestimate the danger of the submarines, or pretend that the Admiralty had yet discovered any sovran remedy for their attacks.  Nor could he say—­for reasons which seemed to satisfy the House—­how many of them had already been captured or sunk.  But he told us enough to convict Admiral VON CAPELLE, who was at that moment declaring that not a single U-boat had been lost since the opening of the new campaign, of being either singularly misinformed or highly imaginative.

Thursday, February 22nd.—­A strange sympathy seems to exist between the SPEAKER and Mr. GINNELL.  Each, I fancy, has a soft spot somewhere.  Mr. LOWTHER’S is in his heart, and makes him go out of his way to help the wayward Member for North Westmeath.  Mr. GINNELL, whose soft spot seems to be higher up, wanted to show that he did not approve of Mr. MACPHERSON, and called him an impertinent Minister.  Ordered to withdraw the expression, he substituted “impudent.”  That would not do either, and there seemed danger of a deadlock and another expulsion until Mr. LOWTHER suggested that “incorrect” was a Parliamentary epithet which might suit the hon.  Member’s purpose.  Mr. GINNELL handsomely accepted this variation in the spirit in which it was offered.

Sir GEORGE CAVE is the Ministerial maid-of-all-work.  Whenever there is a disagreeable or awkward measure to introduce it falls to the Quite-at-Home Secretary, if I may borrow an expression coined by my friend, TOBY, M.P., for one of Sir GEORGE’S predecessors.  So judiciously did he accentuate the good points and soften the possible asperities of the National Service Bill that even Sir CHARLES HOBHOUSE, who had come to condemn, remained to bless.

Friday, February 23rd.—­Owing to a variety of causes, we are short of tonnage, and unless we manage to grow more and consume less we shall before very long be within reach of the gaunt finger of Famine.  That was the burden of the PRIME MINISTER’S appeal to the Nation.  The farmer is to have a guaranteed minimum price for his produce, the agricultural labourer is to be raised to comparative affluence by a minimum wage of 25_s._ a week, and the rest of us are to go without most of our imported luxuries and a good many necessities.  So impressed were Members by the gloominess of the prospect that the moment the speech was over they rushed out to secure what they felt might be their last really substantial luncheon, and Mr. DAVID MASON, who had nobly essayed to fill the breach caused by Mr. ASQUITH’S absence, was soon talking to empty benches.