h was delivered by himself in the Chamber of
Deputies on Dec. 22, while on the same day the speech was read in the
Senate by M. Briand, Minister of Justice. It is as follows:_

Gentlemen: This is not the usual communication in which a Government
presenting itself for the first time before Parliament sets forth its
policy. Just now there is only one policy--a relentless fight until we
attain definite freedom for Europe by gaining a victory which shall
guarantee peace.

Gentlemen, that was the cry uttered by all when, in the sitting of
Aug. 4, a sacred union arose, as the President of the Republic has so
well said, which will throughout history remain an honor to the
country. It is the cry which all Frenchmen will repeat after having
put an end to the disagreements that have so often embittered our
hearts and which a blind enemy took for irremediable division. It is
the cry that rises from the glorious trenches into which France has
thrown all her youth, all her manhood.

Before this unexpected uprising of national feeling, Germany has been
troubled in the intoxication of her dream of victory. On the first day
of the conflict she denied right, appealed to force, flouted history,
and, in order to violate the neutrality of Belgium and to invade
France, invoked the law of self-interest alone.

Since then her Government, learning that it had to reckon with the
opinion of the world, has recently attempted to put her conduct in a
better light by trying to throw the responsibility for the war upon
the Allies. But through all the gross falsehoods, which fail to
deceive even the most credulous, the truth has become apparent.

All the documents published by the nations interested, and the
remarkable speech made the other day at Rome by one of the most
illustrious representatives of the noble Italian Nation, demonstrate
that for a long time our enemy has intended a coup de force. If it
were necessary, a single one of these documents would suffice to
enlighten the world.

When, on July 31, 1914, at the suggestion of the English Government
all the nations concerned were asked to suspend their military
preparations and enter into negotiations in London, France and Russia
adhered to this proposal. But Germany precipitated matters. She
declared war on Russia on Aug. 1, and made an appeal to arms
inevitable. And if Germany by her diplomacy killed the germ of peace
it is because for more than forty years she had untiringly pursued h