Very full and very convincing was Mr. Asquith's defence of
Lord Kitchener, who, he declares, was by no means " the solitary and taciturn autocrat " represented by the Commissioners. (4n this point Mr. Asquith let us into en important piece of secret history. The only person, he tells us, whom .he ever •thought of for the War Office was Lord Kitchener, who happened, by a stroke of good fortune, to be at that moment in this country. He mentioned the suggestion to one or two of his colleagues, the principal of whom was the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Haldane. It was he indeed who most strongly urged the appointment. The appointment, added Mr. Asquith, was received with universal acclamation. It was represented " as having been forced upon a reluctant Cabinet by the overwhelming pressure of an intelligent and prescient Press."
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