There is no
doubt they are a punctual crowd, over there beyond in
the Unthinkable.
I gathered them all in and talked to them, all and
severally, the payment, a merely nominal matter, being
made, _pro forma_, in advance.
I have in front of me in my rough notes the result of
their advice. When properly drafted it will be, I feel
sure, one of the most important state documents produced
in the war.
In the personal sense--I have to admit it--I found them
just a trifle disappointing. Franklin, poor fellow, has
apparently lost his wit. The spirit of Lincoln seemed to
me to have none of that homely wisdom that he used to
have. And it appears that we were quite mistaken in
thinking Disraeli a brilliant man; it is clear to me now
that he was dull--just about as dull as Great-grandfather,
I should say. Washington, too, is not at all the kind of
man we thought him.
Still, these are only personal impressions. They detract
nothing from the extraordinary value of the advice given,
which seems to me to settle once and for ever any lingering
doubt about the value of communications with the Other Side.
My draft of their advice runs in part as follows:
The Spirit of Nelson, on being questioned on the submarine
problem, holds that if all the men on the submarines were
where he is everything would be bright and happy.
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