that in the pursuit and the maintenance of that cause the Government have behind them without distinction of race, of party, or of class the whole moral and material support of the British Empire. [Renewed cheers.]
Let me take the opportunity to acknowledge and to welcome the calm, reasoned, and dignified statement of our case which the Christian Churches of the United Kingdom—[hear, hear]—through some of their most distinguished leaders and ministers have this week presented to the world. I will not repeat, and I certainly could not improve upon, their presentation of the matter. And, indeed, my Lord Mayor, I am not here to-night to argue out propositions which British citizens in every part of the world to-day regard as beyond the reach of controversy. [Hear, hear.] I do not suppose that in the history of mankind there has ever been in such a vast and diverse community agreement so unanimous, purpose so concentrated, a corporate conscience so clear and so convinced, co-operation so spontaneous, so ardent, and so resolute. [Cheers.] Just consider what it means. How is it, in this United Kingdom, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales speak with one plain, harmonious, united voice. Over the sea in our great Dominions—[applause]—Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, our Crown Colonies, swell the chorus. [Hear, hear]. In India—[cheers]—where whatever we won by the sword we hold and we retain by the more splendid title of just and disinterested rule, by the authority not of a despot, but of a trustee—in India the response to our common appeal has moved our feelings to their profoundest depths, and has been such as to shiver and to shatter to pieces the vain and ignorant imaginings of our enemies. [Applause.] That, my Lord Mayor, is a remarkable and, indeed, a unique spectacle.
What is it? What is it that has stirred the imagination, aroused the conscience, enlisted the manhood, welded into one compact and irresistible force the energies and the will of the greatest Imperial structure that the world has ever known? That is a question which for the moment, at any rate, is well worth asking and answering. Let me say then, first, negatively that we are not impelled, any of us, by some of the motives which have occasioned the bloody struggles of the past. In this case, so far as we are concerned, ambition and aggression play no part. [Cheers.] What do we want? What do we aim at? What have we to gain? We are a great world-wide peace-loving partnership. We have, by the wisdom and
