12 JULY 1940, Page 5

The club-member who had been scanning the tape-messages on Wednesday

brought the results of his study to the smoking- room. " Bad news," he said. " The British fleet has been sighted off Beachy Head with the Italian fleet in hot pursuit," which, after all, differs in only a few unimportant details—not in the general impression created—from the first Italian version. The Italians have been well schooled by their masters and allies in the all-important art of mendacity. But one defect they share in common. They seldom make the lie moderate enough to give it a semblance of credibility. jANUS.