readily and valiantly than immediately after the close of a war in which it was involved. In proof of this I would call your attention to the fact that the North showed no signs of being exhausted by the Civil War in the sense of being unready for further military effort. On the contrary, it was the possession of a great army of well-trained and veteran soldiers, amply equipped and provided with all the munitions of war, that enabled her to assume an uncompromising attitude to France over the Mexican difficulty. So far from exhausting Russia, the unsuccessful war which that country waged against Japan redounded greatly to her benefit; so much so, that when the recent war opened, the morale of her army was higher than ever before, and in equipment, arms, and organization she proved to be one of the great surprises of that conflict. Even the little kingdom of Servia fought first Turkey, then Bulgaria,
