From a speech delivered before the two Houses of the Canadian Parliament，May 28，1917.
Mr.Speaker of the Commons，Mr.Speaker of the Senate，Honourable Gentlemen：I turn to a language which I do not admire more than the one I have been somewhat imperfectly speaking，but one with which I am very much more familiar.Perhaps you will allow me to make the rest of my speech in accents that come more familiarly to my tongue.
Ladies and gentlemen，it is with the profoundest emotion that I enjoy this opportunity of meeting the two Houses of the Canadian Parliament in joint session.Many of your most distinguished members are，I think I may venture to say，personal friends of my own；I have seen them and have enjoyed their company in the Homeland，and now that I have come here and have again the opportunity of renewing my friendship with them，it is not merely a personal pleasure to interchange ideas and to come in contact with them as those responsible for the government of this great community，but there is a special emotion in feeling that I come at one of the greatest crises，not merely in the Imperial history of Great Britain，but in the world history of civilization.
Gentlemen，I do not believe that anything moreunexpected to the outside world has ever occurred than the enthusiastic selfsacrifice with which the great selfgoverning Dominions of the British Empire have thrown themselves into this great contest.The calculation of the ordinary foreign politician and especially of the German politician，was that the British Empire was but a fairweather edifice，very imposing in its sheer magnitude，and in the vast surface of the globe which it occupied，but quite unfitted to deal with the storm and stress of war；destined to crumble at the first attack，and，like a house built on the sand，to fall to a great ruin.On the face of it，to those who are ignorant of the inner spirit which animates the British Empire from one end to the other，it would be impossible to conceive of a great State which apparently was less well fitted to deal with the terrible stress of war.Take up the map，and you see large tracts of the world coloured red.They are separated by vast oceans；they encircle the globe；and while the fact that the sun never sets upon the British Empire may be proof of its magnitude，it is no evidence of its strength.Moreover，remember what the foreign speculators about the British Empire must have thought before the war began.They said to themselves：This loosely constructed State resembles nothing that has ever existed in history before；it is held together by no coercive power；the Government of the Mother Country can not raise a corporal’s guard in Canada，Australia，New Zealand，or wherever you will；she can not raise a shilling of taxation；she has no power.But they forgot that power which a certain class of politician ne ver remembersthe moral power of affection，sentiment，common aims and common ideals.Even those of us who most firmly believed that the British Empire，a new experiment in the long history of the world，was going to succeed；even those who，like myself，took a sanguine view of the future of our great Empire，must have feltso loosely was it knit，so vast was the areas that it covered，so improbable that this immense body should be animated by one soul，or that the indirect thrill of a common necessity should go from end to end，as it were，from pole to pole and everywhere meet with a responsethat such a dream was difficult，and such an ideal hard to carry into effect.When，unexpectedly，without giving an opportunity for preparation，or discussion，or propaganda，war burst upon the world，even those animated by such a feeling might well have doubted whether this great Empireeach unit of which had it in its power to hold aloof had it so desired might act as one organization，animated by one soul，moved by one purpose，and driving towards one end.It seems to me almost a political miracle，but the miracle has occurred，and no greater event in my opinion has ever happened in the history of civilization than the way in which all the coordinated democracies，each one conscious of its separate life，each one not less conscious of its common life，worked together with a uniform spirit of selfsacrifice in the cause in which they believed that not merely their own individual security，but the safety of the Empire，and the progress of civilization，and liberty itself were at stake.
Ever more clearly as the months go on，it becomes evident that this is becoming a world war between thepowers of democracy on the one side and the powers of autocracy on the other side.We in this room，whatever shades of differences may separate us，can，in such a contest，take only one side.We can only be on the side of democracy.
We are convinced that for every human combination who have reached the degree of civilization and development that has been reached by all the great western communities，there is but one form of government，under whatever name it may be called，and that is the government in which the ultimate control lies with the people.We have staked our last dollar upon democracy，and if democracy fail us we are bankrupt indeed.But I know that democracy will not fail us.
