have endured such a spectacle at their doors as that? We should have gone in at once, gone in too late; we should only have had the remorse of our first hesitation. [Cheers.]
And now I shall not detain you long. [Cries of "Go on."] I want now to say a word as to how this crisis comes home to ourselves. This is the greatest war that the world has ever seen; beyond all comparison the greatest war that the world has ever seen. The Battle of Leipzig, in which Russia, Austria, and Prussia fought against the Emperor Napoleon and crushed him was called "The Battle of the Nations." But it was not the battle of the nations; it was the battle of great armies. It was reserved for this war to be the battle of the nations. Every man on the Continent of Europe who can bear arms is under arms at this moment—[cheers]—excepting Spain, and Portugal, and Italy, and the Balkan Peninsula, though there are a good many under arms there. Among all the Great Powers of Europe, except Italy, every man at this moment is under arms. We are not in that position. We have never gone in for conscription; we have never demanded that every man should bear arms for his country, though, remember this, that, by the common law of Great Britain, every man, valid and capable of bearing arms, is bound at the call of his country to do so. [Hear, hear, and cheers]. You may say: "It is all very well; you are an elderly gentleman; you will not be called out; you will sleep in your bed at night; you will have your meals. It is easy for you to come and exhort us, who are younger and are able to fight, to go out to the war." But I do not think, after all, the position of us, the elderly ones, who have to dwell among the sheepfolds and listen to the bleating of the flock, while you go out to war, is so much preferable to your position. It is an indication, at any rate, that we are in the decline of vigour, and in the sere and yellow leaf; and do you suppose there is one single man of my age who would not gladly exchange for one of yours and go out to the front? [Cheers.]
It is a war of nations; and our nation, if it is to uphold itself, will not be able to remain aloof. We are fighting on the Continent, it is true, but we are fighting in defence of Great Britain. [Cheers.] There is one thing that is perfectly clear in all this matter, which is that those who go out to fight, fight in a righteous cause. We are fighting for the independence of Belgium against a Power which guaranteed it and has destroyed it. We are fighting for the freedom of France, a
