the making of a new Europe,
a new world. I can see signs of its coming in the glare of the
battlefield. The people will gain more by this struggle in all lands
than they comprehend at the present moment. It is true they will be
rid of the menace to their freedom. But that is not all. There is
something infinitely greater and more enduring which is emerging
already out of this great conflict; a new patriotism, richer, nobler,
more exalted than the old. I see a new recognition amongst all
classes, high and low, shedding themselves of selfishness; a new
recognition that the honour of a country does not depend merely on the
maintenance of its glory in the stricken field, but in protecting its
homes from distress as well. It is a new patriotism, it is bringing
a new outlook for all classes. A great flood of luxury and of sloth
which had submerged the land is receding, and a new Britain is
appearing. We can see for the first time the fundamental things that
matter in life and that have been obscured from our vision by the
tropical growth of prosperity.

May I tell you, in a simple parable, what I think this war is doing
for us? I know a valley in North Wales, between the mountains and
the sea--a beautiful valley, snug, comfortable, sheltered by the
mountains from all the bitter blasts. It was very enervating, and I
remember how the boys were in the habit of climbing the hills above
the village to have a glimpse of the great mountains in the distance,
and to be stimulated and freshened by the breezes which, came from the
hill-tops, and by the great spectacle of that great valley.

We have been living in a sheltered valley for generations. We have
been too comfortable, too indulgent, many, perhaps, too selfish. And
the stern hand of fate has scourged us to an elevation where we can
see the great everlasting things that matter for a nation; the
great peaks of honour we had forgotten--duty and patriotism clad in
glittering white: the great pinnacle of sacrifice pointing like a
rugged finger to Heaven. We shall descend into the valleys again, but
as long as the men and women of this generation last they will carry
in their hearts the image of these great mountain peaks, whose
foundations are unshaken though Europe rock and sway in the
convulsions of a great war.

[Footnote 1: 'The Men of Harlech.']

[Footnote 2: 'Glamorgan has raised 20,000 men.']

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELECTED SPEECHES ON BRITISH FOREIG