evered by every expedient that diplomacy could
suggest, straining almost to the breaking point our most cherished
friendships and obligations, even to the last making effort upon effort,
and hoping against hope. Then, and only then, when we were at last
compelled to realize that the choice lay between honor and dishonor,
between treachery and good faith, when at last we reached the dividing
line which makes or mars a nation worthy of the name, it was then, and
then only, that we declared for war. [Cheers.] Is there any one in this
hall or in this United Kingdom or in the vast empire of which we here
stand in the capital and centre who blames or repents our decision?
[Cries of "No!"] For these reasons, as I believe, we must steel
ourselves to the task, and in the spirit which animated our forefathers
in their struggle against the domination of Napoleon we must and we
shall persevere to the end. [Cheers.]

Memorable and Glorious Example of Belgium.

It would be a criminal mistake to underestimate either the magnitude,
the fighting quality, or the staying power of the forces which are
arrayed against us. But it would be equally foolish and equally
indefensible to belittle our own resources, whether for resistance or
attack. [Cheers.] Belgium has shown us by a memorable and a glorious
example what can be done by a relatively small State when its citizens
are animated and fired by the spirit of patriotism. In France and Russia
we have as allies two of the greatest powers of the world engaged with
us in a common cause, who do not mean to separate themselves from us any
more than we mean to separate ourselves from them. [Cheers.] We have
upon the seas the strongest and most magnificent fleet that has ever
been seen. The expeditionary force which left our shores less than a
month ago has never been surpassed, as its glorious achievements in the
field have already made clear, not only in material and equipment but in
the physical and the moral quality of its constituents. [Cheers.]

Work of the Navy.

As regards the navy, I am sure my right honorable friend (Mr. Winston
Churchill) will tell you there is happily little more to be done. I do
not flatter it when I say that its superiority is equally marked in
every department and sphere of its activity. [Cheers.] We rely on it
with the most absolute confidence, not only to guard our shores against
the possibility of invasion, not only to seal up the gigantic
battleships of the