In the most difficult situations, when the enemy was at the _Model Speeches for Practise

Paris, I said to those governing: "Your discussions are shameful, I can

see but the enemy. You tire me by squabbling in place of occupying

yourselves with the safety of the Republic! I repudiate you all as

traitors to our country! I place you all in the same line!" I said to

them: "What care I for my reputation! Let France be free, tho my name

were accurst! What care I that I am called 'a blood-drinker!'" Well, let

us drink the blood of the enemies of humanity, if needful; but let us

struggle, let us achieve freedom. Some fear the departure of the

commissioners may weaken one or the other section of this Convention.

Vain fears! Carry your energy everywhere. The pleasantest declaration

will be to announce to the people that the terrible debt weighing upon

them will be wrested from their enemies or that the rich will shortly

have to pay it. The national situation is cruel. The representatives of

value are no longer in equilibrium in the circulation. The day of the

workingman is lengthened beyond necessity. A great corrective measure is

necessary! Conquerors of Holland reanimate in England the Republican

party; let us advance, France, and we shall go glorified to posterity.

Achieve these grand destinies; no more debates, no more quarrels, and

the fatherland is saved.

FOOTNOTE:

[9] On the disasters on the frontier--delivered in convention, March 10,

1793.

SONS OF HARVARD[10]

BY CHARLES DEVENS

The sons of Harvard who have served their country on field and flood, in

deep thankfulness to Almighty God, who has covered their heads in the

day of battle and permitted them to stand again in these ancient halls

and under these leafy groves, sacred to so many memories of youth and

learning, and in yet deeper thankfulness for the crowning mercy which

has been vouchsafed in the complete triumph of our arms over rebellion,

return home to-day. Educated only in the arts of peace, unlearned in all

that pertained especially to the science of war, the emergency of the

hour threw upon them the necessity of grasping the sword.

Claiming only that they have striven to do their duty they come only to

ask their share in the common joy and happiness which our victory has

diffused and meet this imposing reception. When they remember in whose

presence they stand; that of all the great crowd of the sons of Harvard

who are here to-day there is not one who has not contributed his utmost

to the glorious consummation; that those who have been blessed with

opulence have expended with the largest and most lavish hand in

supplying the government with the sinews of war and sustaining

everywhere the distrest upon whom the woes of war fell; that those less

large in means altho not in heart have not failed to pour out most

tenderly of time and care, of affection and love, in the thousand

channels that have been opened; that the statesmen and legislators

whose wise counsels and determined spirit have brought us thus far in

safety and honor are here,--would that their task were as completely

done as ours!--yet sure I am that in their hands "the pen will not lose

by writing what the sword has won by fighting;" that the poets whose

fiery lyrics roused us as when

"Tyrtæus called aloud to arms,"

and who have animated the living and celebrated the dead in the noblest

strains are here; that our orators whose burning words have so cheered

the gloom of the long controversy are here, altho withal we lament that

one voice so often heard through the long night of gloom was not

permitted to greet with us the morning. Surrounded by memories such as

his, surrounded by men such as these, we may well feel at receiving this

noble testimonial of your regard that it is rather you who are generous

in bestowing than we who are rich in deserving. Nor do we forget the

guests who honor us by their presence to-day, chief among whom we

recognize his Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, who altho he

wears the civilian's coat bears as stout a heart as beats under any

soldier's jacket, and who has sent his men by the thousands and tens of

thousands to fight in this great battle; and the late commanding general

of the Army of the Potomac under whom so many of us have fought. If the

whole and comprehensive plans of our great lieutenant-general have

marked him as the Ulysses of a holier and mightier epic than Homer ever

dreamed, in the presence of the great captain who fairly turned the tide

of the rebellion on the hills above Gettysburg, we shall not have to

look far for its Achilles.

Yet, sir, speaking always of others as you have called on me to speak

for them, it seems to me that the record of the sons of the university

who have served in the war is not unworthy of her. In any capacity where

service was honorable or useful they have rendered it. In the

departments of science they have been conspicuous and the skill of the

engineer upon whom we so often depended was not seldom derived from the

schools of this university. In surgery they have by learning and

judgment alleviated the woes of thousands. And in the ministration of

that religion in whose name this university was founded they have not

been less devoted; not only have cheering words gone forth from their

pulpits, but they have sought the hospitals where the wounded were

dying, or like Fuller at Fredericksburg, have laid down their lives on

the field where armed hosts were contending. All these were applying the

principles of their former education to new sets of circumstances; but,

as you will remember, by far the larger portion of our number were of

the combatants of the army, and the facility they displayed in adopting

the profession of arms affords an admirable addition to the argument by

which it has been heretofore maintained that the general education of

our college was best for all who could obtain it, as affording a basis

upon which any superstructure of usefulness might be raised. Readily

mastering the tactics and detail of the profession, proving themselves

able to grapple with its highest problems, their courage and gallantry

were proverbial.

It would be a great mistake to suppose that all that was added to our

army by such men as these was merely what it gained in physical force

and manly prowess. Our neighbors on the other side of the water, whose

attachment to monarchy is so strong that it sometimes makes them unjust

to republics, have sometimes attacked the character and discipline of

our army. Nothing could be more unjust. The federal army was noble,

self-sacrificing, devoted always, and to the discipline of that army no

men contributed more than the members of this university and men such as

they. They bore always with them the loftiest principle in the contest

and the highest honor in all their personal relations. Disorder in camp,

pillage and plunder, found in them stern and unrelenting foes. They

fought in a cause too sacred, they wore a robe too white, to be willing

to stain or sully it with such corruption.

Mr. President I should ill do the duty you have called on me to perform

if I forgot that this ceremonial is not only a reception of those who

return, but a commemoration of those who have laid down their lives for

the service of the country. He who should have properly spoken for us,

the oldest of our graduates, altho not of our members who have fought in

this war,--Webster of the class of 1833, sealed his faith with his life

on the bloody field of the second Manassas, dying for the constitution

of which his great father was the noblest expounder. For those of us who

return to-day, whatever our perils and dangers may have been, we can not

feel that we have done enough to merit what you so generously bestow;

but for those with whom the work of this life is finished and yet who

live forever inseparably linked with the great names of the founders of

the Republic, and not them alone, but the heroes and martyrs of liberty

everywhere, we know that no honor can be too much. The voices which rang

out so loud and clear upon the charging cheer that heralded the final

assault in the hour of victory, that in the hour of disaster were so

calm and resolute as they sternly struggled to stay the slow retreat are

not silent yet. To us and to those who will come after us, they will

speak of comfort and home relinquished, of toil nobly borne, of danger

manfully encountered, of life generously surrendered and this not for

pelf or ambition, but in the spirit of the noblest self-devotion and the

most exalted patriotism. Proud as we who are here to-day have a right to

be that we are the sons of this university, and not deemed unworthy of

her when these are remembered, we may well say, "Sparta had many a

worthier son than we."

FOOTNOTE:

[10] Speech at Commemoration Exercises held at Cambridge, July 21,

1865.

WAKE UP, ENGLAND![11]

BY KING GEORGE

In the name of the Queen and the other members of my family, on behalf

of the Princess and for myself, I thank you most sincerely for your

enthusiastic reception of this toast, proposed by you, my Lord Mayor, in

such kind and generous terms. Your feeling allusion to our recent long

absence from our happy family circle gives expression to that sympathy

which has been so universally extended to my dear parents, whether in

times of joy or sorrow, by the people of this country, and upon which my

dear mother felt she could ever reckon from the first days of her life

here amongst them. As to ourselves, we are deeply sensible of the great

honor done us on this occasion, and our hearts are moved by the splendid

reception which to-day has been accorded us by the authorities and

inhabitants of the City of London. And I desire to take this opportunity

to express our deepest gratitude for the sympathetic interest with which

our journey was followed by our fellow countrymen at home, and for the

warm welcome with which we were greeted on our return. You were good

enough, my Lord Mayor, to refer to his Majesty having marked our

home-coming by creating me Prince of Wales. I only hope that I may be

worthy to hold that ancient and historic title, which was borne by my

dear father for upward of fifty-nine years.

My Lord Mayor, you have attributed to us more credit than I think we

deserve. For I feel that the debt of gratitude is not the nation's to

us, but ours to the King and Government for having made it possible for

us to carry out, with every consideration for our comfort and

convenience, a voyage unique in its character, rich in the experience

gained and in memories of warm and affectionate greetings from the many

races of his Majesty's subjects in his great dominions beyond the seas.

And here in the capital of our great Empire I would repeat how

profoundly touched and gratified we have been by the loyalty, affection

and enthusiasm which invariably characterized the welcome extended to us

throughout our long and memorable tour. It may interest you to know

that we travelled over 45,000 miles, of which 33,000 were by sea, and I

think it is a matter of which all may feel proud that, with the

exception of Port Said, we never set foot on any land where the Union

Jack did not fly. Leaving England in the middle of March, we first

touched at Gibraltar and Malta, where, as a sailor, I was proud to meet

the two great fleets of the Channel and Mediterranean. Passing through

the Suez Canal--a monument of the genius and courage of a gifted son of

the great friendly nation across the Channel--we entered at Aden the

gateway of the East. We stayed for a short time to enjoy the unrivaled

scenery of Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula, the gorgeous displays of

their native races, and to see in what happy contentment these various

peoples live and prosper under British rule. Perhaps there was something

still more striking in the fact that the Government, the commerce, and

every form of enterprise in these countries are under the leadership and

direction of but a handful of our countrymen, and to realize the high

qualities of the men who have won and kept for us that splendid

condition. Australia saw the consummation of the great mission which was

the more immediate object of our journey, and you can imagine the

feelings of pride with which I presided over the inauguration of the

first representative Assembly of the new-born Australian Commonwealth,

in whose hands are placed the destinies of the great island continent.

During a happy stay of many weeks in the different States, we were able

to gain an insight into the working of the commercial, social and

political institutions of which the country justly boasts, and to see

something of the great progress which it has already made, and of its

great capabilities, while making the acquaintance of the warm-hearted

and large-minded men to whose personality and energy so much of that

progress is due. New Zealand afforded us a striking example of a

vigorous, independent and prosperous people, living in the full

enjoyment of free and liberal institutions, and where many interesting

social experiments are being put to the test of experience. Here we had

the satisfaction of meeting large gatherings of the Maori people--once a

brave and resolute foe, now peaceful and devoted subjects of the King.

Tasmania, which in natural characteristics and climate reminded us of

the old country, was visited when our faces were at length turned

homeward. Mauritius, with its beautiful tropical scenery, its classical,

literary and naval historical associations, and its population gifted

with all the charming characteristics of old France, was our first

halting-place, on our way to receive, in Natal and Cape Colony, a

welcome remarkable in its warmth and enthusiasm, which appeared to be

accentuated by the heavy trial of the long and grievous war under which

they have suffered. To Canada was borne the message--already conveyed to

Australia and New Zealand--of the Motherland's loving appreciation of

the services rendered by her gallant sons. In a journey from ocean to

ocean, marvelous in its comfort and organization, we were enabled to see

something of its matchless scenery, the richness of its soil, the

boundless possibilities of that vast and but partly explored territory.

We saw, too, the success which has crowned the efforts to weld into one

community the peoples of its two great races. Our final halting-place

was, by the express desire of the King, Newfoundland, the oldest of our

colonies and the first visited by his Majesty in 1860. The hearty

seafaring population of this island gave us a reception the cordiality

of which is still fresh in our memories.

If I were asked to specify any particular impressions derived from our

journey, I should unhesitatingly place before all others that of loyalty

to the Crown and of attachment to the country; and it was touching to

hear the invariable reference to home, even from the lips of those who

never had been or were never likely to be in these islands. And with

this loyalty were unmistakable evidences of the consciousness of

strength; of a true and living membership in the Empire, and of power

and readiness to share the burden and responsibility of that membership.

And were I to seek for the causes which have created and fostered this

spirit, I should venture to attribute them, in a very large degree, to

the light and example of our late beloved Sovereign. It would be

difficult to exaggerate the signs of genuine sorrow for her loss and of

love for her memory which we found among all races, even in the most

remote districts which we visited. Besides this, may we not find another

cause--the wise and just policy which in the last half century has been

continuously maintained toward our colonies? As a result of the happy

relations thus created between the mother country and her colonies we

have seen their spontaneous rally round the old flag in defense of the

nation's honor in South Africa. I had ample opportunities to form some

estimate of the military strength of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada,

having reviewed upward of 60,000 troops. Abundant and excellent

material is available, requiring only that molding into shape which can

be readily effected by the hands of capable and experienced officers. I

am anxious to refer to an admirable movement which has taken strong root

in both Australia and New Zealand--and that is the cadet corps. On

several occasions I had the gratification of seeing march past several

thousand cadets, armed and equipped, and who at the expense of their

respective Governments are able to go through a military course, and in

some cases with an annual grant of practise ammunition. I will not

presume, in these days of army reform, to do more than call the

attention of my friend, the Secretary of State for War, to this

interesting fact.

To the distinguished representatives of the commercial interests of the

Empire, whom I have the pleasure of seeing here to-day, I venture to

allude to the impression which seemed generally to prevail among their

brethren across the seas, that _the old country must wake up_ if she

intends to maintain her old position of pre-eminence in her colonial

trade against foreign competitors. No one who had the privilege of

enjoying the experiences which we have had during our tour could fail to

be struck with one all-prevailing and pressing demand: the want of

population. Even in the oldest of our colonies there were abundant signs

of this need. Boundless tracts of country yet unexplored, hidden mineral

wealth calling for development, vast expanses of virgin soil ready to

yield profitable crops to the settlers. And these can be enjoyed under

conditions of healthy living, liberal laws, free institutions, in

exchange for the over-crowded cities and the almost hopeless struggle

for existence which, alas, too often is the lot of many in the old

country. But one condition, and one only, is made by our colonial

brethren, and that is, "Send us suitable emigrants." I would go further,

and appeal to my fellow countrymen at home to prove the strength of the

attachment of the motherland to her children by sending to them only of

her best. By this means we may still further strengthen, or at all

events pass on unimpaired, that pride of race, that unity of sentiment

and purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and obligation which knit

together and alone can maintain the integrity of our Empire.

FOOTNOTE:

[11] A speech delivered by His Majesty King George when Prince of Wales,

at the Guildhall, London, December 5, 1901, on his return from his tour

of the Empire. With the permission of the proprietors of _The Times_ the

report which appeared in that paper has been followed.

In the most difficult situations, when the enemy was at the gates of