title="[Pg 42]"/> Our own flag, the one flag, it stirred our blood to claim.

(Theodosia Garrison.)

It is for every one of us, if it costs all that we have and all that we are, to see to it that that Flag comes swiftly, with the maximum of power, and that it "does not come in vain."

There is another thing that we can do. We can remember that Loyalty to America to-day means also Loyalty to her allies.

A great propaganda is being waged throughout this country which is intended to arouse suspicion, distrust and antagonism towards England. The Germanic value of that propaganda is obvious. It is dangerous to-day to advocate sympathy for Germany, but if German agents can sow seeds of distrust among the Allies and can divide England, France and America or hinder their perfection of coöperation Germany will be the gainer.

That propaganda may be found in books on the shelves of our libraries; it appears occasionally in the pages of some of our newspapers; it is working among the soldiers in our cantonments. It is playing on the memories of 1776 and of 1861; it is working on all Irish loyalties and sympathies; it is striking every note of passion and of prejudice. In view of this propaganda, it is time for us to review the relations of America with England and to strike a balance.

We have recently celebrated the Centennial Anniversary that commemorated the conclusion of one hundred years of unbroken peace with England. In view of that Centenary, we might consider the books of 1776 as definitely closed, although still we should remember that Burke and Chatham together with a host of English Whigs fought the battle for the American revolutionists no less bravely and staunchly than did the armies of the Americans themselves. We might also recall the words of George III to Mr. Adams, the first Minister of the United States to Great Britain: "Sir," said the King, "I wish you to believe, and that it may be understood in America, that I have done nothing in the late contest but what I thought myself indispensably bound to do by the duty which I owed to my people. I will be very frank with you. I was the last to consent to the separation; but the separation having been made I have always said, as I say to you now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power." That message of friendship surely closes the issues of the Revolution.

In 1861 and throughout the Civil War, it is admitted that the majority of the English aristocracy, the Parliament and the Cabinet were in sympathy with the South. But it is also true that the great mass of the scholars, writers and almost the whole of the English middle class were strong in their sympathies with the Government at Washington. Let me quote passages from Prof. Willis Fletcher Johnston's "American Foreign Relations," "The next step of the British Government was even more marked in its friendship to the United States. This was on June 1st, the issuance of an order forbidding the naval vessels or privateers of either belligerent to carry prizes into any British port or territorial waters. The Confederate Commission in London earnestly protested against the order, but in vain, while Seward remarked that it would probably prove a death blow to Southern privateering. The example set by England was followed by France, Spain, Prussia, Holland, etc." "Adams reported to Seward that he was assured on every hand that sympathy with the Federal Government was universal." "The blockade brought to England the greatest industrial distress the land had ever known, for which at first the North was held responsible. Against this judgment several influences were in time triumphant." "Punch," attacking the attitude of the English Government wrote:

"Battle of Humanity"

"Bright, Forster, the Duke of Argyll and 'Tom' Hughes spoke effectively to convince England that the United States was fighting the great battle of humanity. 'The question of intervention between the Federal and Confederate Governments arose early in the War. It was practically considered only by England and France. The latter was far more inclined to such action; it proposed it earlier, more frequently and in a more extreme form.' When the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation was understood, the heart of the English people responded to it with an impulse no power could withstand and which no Government could defy. A great public meeting was held in London on New Year's Eve which hailed the dawn of an era of universal freedom and of closer friendship between England and America. At the same time a similar gathering in Manchester, stricken as it was with the cotton famine, adopted similar resolutions addressed to the President of the United States. At Sheffield a vast gathering passed resolutions to the effect that it was the duty of England to give her sympathy and moral support to the Northern States. All England took up the cry within the next few weeks. Deputations waited upon the American Minister with addresses of sympathy and encouragement. At least two members of the Cabinet, the Duke of Argyll and Milner Gibson, spoke publicly for the Federal Cause. Vast meetings at Spurgeon's Tabernacle and at Exeter Hall applauded the name of Lincoln and cried down that of Jefferson Davis. In Gloucestershire any apparent complicity of England with the Confederacy in the equipment of warships was condemned and in almost every considerable city or town in England, Scotland or Wales such sentiments were expressed at great popular assemblies. An increasing number of statesmen, including such men as Lord Disraeli and Lord Derby, openly espoused the Federal side."

Since the Civil War, the evidences of England's friendship have been as many as they have been valuable. We have good reason to believe, although it never can be proved as the