scalculation is to be found one of the roots, perhaps the main root,
of the present war.

But let us go one step more. It has been said, "By their fruits ye shall
know them," and history will record that when the die was cast and the
struggle began, it was the disciples of that same creed who revived
methods of warfare which have for centuries past been condemned by the
common sense as well as by the humanity of the great mass of the
civilized world. [Cheers.]

Branded on the Brow.

Louvain, Malines, Termonde--these are names which will henceforward be
branded on the brow of German culture. The ruthless sacking of the
ancient and famous towns of Belgium is fitly supplemented by the story
that reaches us only today from our own headquarters in France of the
proclamation issued less than a week ago by the German authorities, who
were for a moment, and happily for little more than a moment, in
occupation of the venerable city of Rheims.

Mr. Asquith then read the concluding paragraph of the proclamation which
appeared in these columns yesterday.

Do not let it be forgotten that it is from a power whose intellectual
leaders are imbued with the idea that I have described, and whose
Generals in the field sanction and even direct those practices--it is
from that power the claim proceeds to impose its culture, its spirit,
which means its domination, upon the rest of Europe. That is a claim, I
say to you, to all my fellow-countrymen, to every citizen and subject of
the British Empire whose ears and eyes my words can reach--that is a
claim that everything that is great in our past and everything that
promises hope or progress in our future summons us to resist to the end.
[Loud cheers.]

The task--do not let us deceive ourselves--will not be a light one. Its
full accomplishment--and nothing short of full accomplishment
[cheers]--is worthy of our traditions or will satisfy our resolve--will
certainly take months. It may even take years.

I have come here tonight not to ask you to count the cost, for no price
can be too high to pay when honor and freedom are at stake, but to put
before you, as I have tried to do, the magnitude of the issue and the
supreme necessity that lies upon us as a nation, nay as a brotherhood
and family of nations, to rise to its height and acquit ourselves of our
duty.

Our Favorable Position.

The war has now lasted more than six weeks. Our supremacy at sea [great
cheers] has not been seriously