[Cheers.] My Lord Mayor, it is no part of my mission
tonight, it is indeed at this time of day wholly unnecessary, to
justify, still less to excuse, the part which the Government of the
United Kingdom has taken in this supreme crisis in our national
affairs. There have been wars in the past in regard to which there has
been among us diversity of opinion, uneasiness as to the wisdom of our
diplomacy, anxiety as to the expediency of our policy, doubts as to the
essential righteousness of our cause.
Unity of the Empire.
That, my Lord Mayor, as you said, is not the case today. [Cheers.] Even
in the memorable struggle which we waged a hundred years ago against the
domination of Napoleon there was always a minority, respectable not
merely in number, but in the sincerity and in the eminence of its
adherents, which broke the front of our national unity. Again I say that
is not the case today. We feel as a nation--or rather I ought to say,
speaking here and looking round upon our vast empire in every quarter of
the globe--as a family of nations, [prolonged cheers,] without
distinction of creed or party, of race or climate, class or section,
that we are united in defending principles and in maintaining interests
which are vital, not only to the British Empire, but to all that is
worth having in our common civilization, [cheers,] and all that is worth
hoping for in the future progress of mankind.
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