I trust that Mr. Tom Harrisson, or some other Gustave
Le Bon, is keeping a careful chart of public credulity and noting the life-story of the several rumours which arise. It is com- forting to feel that the British public have a solid background of scepticism and that it is not possible to fool all of them all the time. They are not subject to the nervous intellectual distortions which afflict the French nor is their judgement bemused by the eternal self-mistrust of the Germans or their tendency to believe the runes and incantations of their shamans. One can observe none the less the swift foot of rumour scudding like a squall across the sea. When such rumours attribute false motives to men who require our trust theft they\ are not irritat- ing merely but also dangerous. Yet in fact in this war the malicious rumour has been curiously rare. Most of our rumours are happy little fairy stories which should be encouraged since they give both pleasure and hope.
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