d for
twenty-five years.

ADJURATION TO SCHOOL CHUMS.

One of his few published speeches, made to his old school chums, is on
this theme. "To be prepared in our days," he said, "has a meaning which
those who prepared for and fought the wars of other days would have
great difficulty in understanding. It would be a sad mistake to depend
upon a sudden burst of popular enthusiasm, even though it should surpass
in intensity that of the volunteers of the Revolution, if we do not
fortify it by complete preparation.

"To be prepared we must assemble all the resources of the country, all
the intelligence of her children, all their moral energy and direct them
toward a single aim--victory. We must have organized everything,
foreseen everything. Once hostilities have begun no improvisation will
be worth while. Whatever lacks then will be lacking for good and all.
And the slightest lack of preparation will spell disaster."

What Joffre said to his chums he had done for the French army, and
President Poincare, after the Battle of the Marne, summed up his
qualities which made it a French victory in this message to Joffre: "In
the conduct of our armies you have shown a spirit of organization, order
and of method whose beneficent effects have influenced every phase, from
strategy to tactics; a wisdom cold and cautious, which has always
prepared for the unexpected, a powerful soul which nothing has shaken,
a serenity whose salutary example has everywhere inspired confidence and
hope."

These words of the President of the French Republic are an epitome of
the character and the military record of Joffre. He is representative of
the real France, not the France of Paris and scandals. He is of the
peasantry, and he and his kind, men of character, brought about the
glorious France of the war.

Among those who accompanied Joffre on his visit to the United States was
Rene Viviani, ex-Premier of France and Minister of Justice. He was born
in Algeria in 1862, his family being Corsican, and originally of Italian
blood.

VIVIANI A SOCIALIST LEADER.

M. Viviani became a lawyer in Paris and built up a large practice. In
1893 he entered the Chamber of Deputies as a Socialist. Together with
Briand, Jaures and Millerand he was long a leader of the parliamentary
delegation of Socialists. On June 1, 1914, one month before the outbreak
of the war, M. Viviani became Prime Minister. He showed himself a
brilliant leader and tireless worker. His