extent upon common interests. We are entering upon the most portentous half century the world has ever seen. You will end this war, and you may end it speedily or within six months, or a year, or two years. But what lies beyond? Over ravaged homes, desolated fields, and new-made graves, men will gaze at each other for possibly fifty years with irreconcilable hatred. This world will be a seething caldron of international hatred in my judgment for the next half-a-century.

In this portentous and critical time to come, the United States will need you, and England will need the United States.

May this possible interdependence in vital interests lead us to a practical recognition that these two great divisions of our race form a spiritual Empire of the English-speaking peoples, not made by constitutions, written documents or formal alliances, but constituting, as Proudhon said in 1845 of Society in general, a "living being, endowed with an intelligence and activity of its own, and as such, a (spiritual) organic unit." This great Empire of the English-speaking race must stand united in spirit, though not organically, for unless it stands together, there is little hope that in these dreadful years to come there will be the maintenance of any permanent peace in the only way that peace can be maintained, namely, through the vindication of justice. [Cheers.]

I have taken far too long [cries of "No! No!"], but I may add that in order to develop this sympathetic understanding we must fully appreciate the difficulties of each nation and "bear and forbear."

For example, we have learned to appreciate that which your Empire has done. But, if you will pardon me, I do not think you quite appreciate the great difficulty of the United States in this crisis, a difficulty which would have been great if we had only to contend with our heterogeneous population. Has it ever occurred to you that we have in the United States of Teutonic origin, counting birth or immediate percentage, a population equal to one-third of all the men, women and children of Great Britain? Then we have, as I have explained, the great difficulty of a persistent tradition, which in all generations has powerfully influenced the American mind and has been hitherto vindicated by its results. Can you not see that you

must not misinterpret a nation which cannot in a day abandon a cherished tradition, even if it be conceded that the interests of civilization required it?

Then there is a disposition on this side among some men to misinterpret what we have tried to do as a people to help you. Some of the very things for which we have been most criticized are those that seem to me to redound to our credit.

Take for example the sale of munitions. It is believed by many here that we have in a sordid and mercenary way deliberately profited by this world tragedy; that while civilization was bleeding on the Cross we have been, as the Roman soldiers, parting the raiment of the crucified.

Only an infinitesimal portion of the American people directly profited by this traffic. Indirectly it is true Americans generally have profited by the immense prosperity thereby stimulated, but have you thought of the other side?

In thus serving you, we have abandoned not only an unbroken friendship with the first military power of the world to give you munitions; but we have incurred an obligation that will weigh heavily upon us in future years far beyond any possible economic profits that our industries may temporarily gain by furnishing the Allies with munitions. To have placed an embargo on the export of these munitions to safeguard our internal peace and outward safety would not have violated neutrality in a legal sense. Sweden and Holland have forbidden many exports to protect their vital interests. We refused to do so because the American people believed that in the earlier stages of the war, you needed our aid and were determined that at any cost you should have it.

We fully realized that in doing so we exposed ourselves to a great and continuing peril. Why did 145,000,000 men recently parade the streets of New York from early dawn to night? Why did 130,000 men parade in Chicago? Why did 60,000 men parade in Boston?

Was it Mexico? We care no more about a possible war with Mexico than a St. Bernard dog cares for a black and tan terrier.

What was the meaning of this outpouring of all classes? We know that we have incurred the undying enmity of Germany by doing you a service. We know that if she wins this

war or even makes it a draw, as sure as political events can ever be prognosticated, Germany will settle its accounts with the United States, for there is no country in the world next to the British Empire that Germany to-day hates as she does the United States. To avoid this very danger, which will burden us for generations to come, cautious politicians attempted to put an embargo on the export of munitions, but public opinion said "No," and our President made our Congressmen stand up and be counted, and thereafter there was no threatened interruption to the flow of munitions of war to the Allies. [Cheers.] As a result, we are now doubling our army and largely increasing our navy, and future generations will bear the burden.

Do you realize that not only have we contributed by the sacrificing labors of men, women and children, at least 10 millions of pounds to relieve suffering in this war [Cheers]; but that over 4,000 of our boys are fighting under the Maple Leaf for the Union Jack [Cheers]; and 10,000 more are serving under the tricolor of France? [Cheers.]

The best blood of our youth from our Colleges and Universities are serving with the Ambulances, and doing the arduous and often dangerous work of taking the wounded from the trenches. If the bones of your sons are now buried in France there are the bones of many a brave American boy who, without the protection of his flag, and with only the impulse of race patriotism, with the sympathy which the majority of the American people feel for the cause of the Allies in this crisis, has gone and given his young life as a willing sacrifice.

Therefore, I say to you, men of England, if there are pinpricks, do not misjudge the American people, who have done what they did under the most trying and delicate circumstances, and whose loyalty to the Empire of the English-speaking race has been demonstrated in this crisis of history.

I am reminded of a scene I once saw in Switzerland, in Lauterbrunnen, that most beautiful valley in all the world. There are the three crowning peaks of the Bernese Oberland, the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau. They are apparently separate, and yet all three are based upon the common granite

foundation of the same range of the eternal Alps. So I like to think of the three great democracies of civilization-Great Britain, France and the United States-that while they are separate peaks in a purely political sense, yet they too stand upon a common foundation of justice and liberty.

Our affection and admiration for France passes description. We think of France in this crisis as brave as Hector and yet like Andromache "smiling through her tears" and offering up the sacrifice of her noble youth for the principles of liberty and justice, to which Great Britain and the United States have always been dedicated.

I remember once when I was in this Valley of Lauterbrunnen that the Swiss guide asked me if he could sound for me the echo of an Alpine horn. He played the four notes of the common chord, and as they reverberated back across the valley they were merged into the most gracious and beautiful harmonies that the mind of man could conceive. It sounded in that Cathedral of Nature as a divinely majestic organ. May not these four notes thus mingled typify the common traditions of these three great democracies and create a lasting harmony, which will contribute to the symphony of universal progress?

The Swiss guide also asked me to hear the echo of a little brass cannon, and as he fired it the effect was almost bewildering. It seemed to me as if the very mountains had toppled from their bases. The smoke of the cannon drifted across my eyes, and for a moment obliterated the majestic range of the Bernese Alps. Finally the smoke cleared from my eyes, and the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau were again revealed in their undiminished beauty. May not that little cannon well typify Prussian militarism?

When the smoke of this Titanic conflict passes from our eyes and the echoes of this portentous war shall die away into the terrible past, we shall-please God-see outlined against the infinite blue of His future the three democracies of civilization-Great Britain, France, and the United States. [Cheers.]

CARDINAL MERCIER

CORONATION DAY SERMON

Address given by His Eminence Cardinal Mercier on the day of the National Fête, July 21, 1916, at Sainte Gudule, Brussels.

This sermon was given under extraordinary circumstances. The German Governor of Brussels had forbidden, under a penalty of fine and imprisonment, any demonstration on the Belgian National Day, July 21. The result of this prohibition was to stimulate the inhabitants of Brussels to efforts for the manifestation of their patriotism. In most churches a dirge was substituted for the customary Te Deum. Cardinal Mercier appeared at the church of Sainte Gudule which was crowded by an audience that overflowed into the adjoining square. In spite of the German prohibition, the Cardinal found a way in his opening words to stir the patriotism of the people to the highest.

At the close of the service, the organ played the national hymn. Up to this time the audience had heeded the recommendation of the Cardinal to restrain their emotions, but now broke forth into cries of "Long live Belgium," "Long live the King." The crowd pressed upon the Cardinal as he left the church, crying "Long live the Cardinal," "Long live Liberty." In the evening the Cardinal's motor car was recognized in the streets and he was acclaimed with great enthusiasm. As a result of this demonstration, the German Governor of Brussels inflicted a fine of 1,000,000 marks upon the City. The Cardinal's sermon also brought a sharp protest from the Governor General.

Cardinal Mercier was born in 1851 and was created Cardinal in 1907, and died in 1926. His great services for Belgium during the War may perhaps be best stated in the words of the German Officials. Just before the Germans evacuated Belgium, Baron Von der Lancken called at the Archbishop's house and presented him with a note beginning, "You are in our estimation the incarnation of occupied Belgium, of which you are the venerated and trusted pastor. For this reason, it is to you that the Governor General and my Government also have commissioned me to come and to announce that when we evacuate your soil, we wish to hand over to