naval victory has proved that our officers and men have lost none of the old sea skill and dash. Unfortunately, it has not whetted the appetite of the German Fleet, in their safe seclusion, to try conclusions with us on the sea. [Laughter.] The German mercantile marine is either captured or lying useless in neutral ports. Our food supply continues uninterrupted. Our merchant ships and those of our allies are passing to and fro on the great trade routes with a minimum of risk. Only by sowing mines in the North Sea and by warring on fishing-boats has the enemy been able to do us damage. Our Army has proved its splendid quality against heavy odds, and carried out operations requiring the highest skill, courage, and endurance; and it is an Army that will not diminish but increase as the war goes on. New forces from Great Britain, our Dominions, and India steadily continue to pour in with fresh power and vigour. Time is on our side, and I see every ground for courage and for hope. The country has read the dispatch from Sir John French this morning, and the later news from France of the driving back of the Germans, and the grateful message of the French Commander-in-Chief to the British Army with just feelings of deep pride. [Applause.] We appreciate the awful strain of the battle, which lasted almost without interruption for eighteen days, often against odds of two and even three to one and the exhibition of valour, military skill, and stern endurance not surpassed in the annals of British arms. [Applause.] Our recruits are called to join an Army whose regiments—English, Irish, and Scottish—have added lustre even to the glorious records of their past, and our young men in hundreds of thousands are now showing how they appreciate the honour. [Applause.] One service to the State we who remain at home can all perform, nor is it an unimportant service. We can resist and discourage panic, keep cool heads, neither over-elated by success, nor over-depressed by reverse. We can exhibit the phlegm and doggedness which are regarded as our national characteristics by our friends across the Channel. When reverses come we must just set our teeth harder and fight on with grimmer determination; when successes come we shall still fight on to ultimate triumph. [Applause.]
I saw several French papers at the time of our fateful decision, and I was deeply stirred by the chief reason which they gave for welcoming our alliance. It was not even chiefly because our paramount Navy would be, as it has proved to
