§ His Majesty's Reply, delivered to the Members of both Houses of Parliament [here inserted for convenience of reference] was as follows:
§ "I thank you for your loyal Addresses of congratulations on the signature of an Armistice and on the prospect of a victorious peace.
§ "At this moment, without parallel in our history and in the history of the world, I am glad to meet you and the representatives of India and the Dominions beyond the seas, that we may render thanks to Almighty God for the promise of a peace now near at hand, and that I may express to you, and through you to the peoples whom you represent, the thoughts that rise in my mind at a time so solemn.
§ "I do this with a heart full of grateful recognition of the spontaneous and enthusiastic expressions of loyalty and affection which I have been privileged to receive both personally here and in the metropolis, and, by messages from all parts of these islands, as well as from every quarter of the Empire. During the past four years of national stress and anxiety, my support has been faith in God and confidence in my people. In the days to come, days of uncertainly 3318 and of trial, strengthened by the same help, I shall strive to the utmost of my power to discharge the responsibilities laid upon rue, to uphold, the honour of the Umpire, and to promote the well-being of the peoples over whom I am called to reign.
§ "After a struggle longer and far more terrible than any one could, have foretold, the soil of Britain remains inviolate. Our Navy has everywhere held the seas, and wherever the enemy could be brought to battle it has renewed the glories of Brake and Nelson. The incessant work it has accomplished in overcoming the hidden menace of the enemy submarines and guarding the ships that have brought food and munitions to our shores, has been less conspicuous but equally essential to success. Without that work, Britain might have starved and those valiant soldiers of America who have so much contributed to our victory could not have found their way hither across the foam of perilous seas.
§ "The Fleet has enabled us to win the war. In fact, without the Fleet, the struggle could not have been maintained, for upon the command of the sea the very existence and maintenance of our Land Forces have from the first depended.
§ "That we should have to wage this War on land had scarcely entered our thoughts until the storm actually broke upon us. But Belgium and France were suddenly invaded and the nation rose to the emergency. Within a year an Army more than ten times the strength of that which was ready for action in August, 1914, was raised by voluntary enlistment, largely owing to the organising genius and personal influence of Lord Kitchener, and the number of that Army was afterwards far more than doubled.
§ "These new soldiers, drawn from the civil population, have displayed a valour equal to that of their ancestors, who have carried the flag of Britain to victory in so many lands in bygone times Short as was their training, they have imitated and rivalled the prowess 3319 of the small but ever famous force which, in the early weeks of the War, from Mons to the Marne, fought its magnificent retreat against vastly superior numbers. Not less prompt was the response, not less admirable the devotion to the common cause, of those splendid troops which eagerly hastened to us from the Dominions overseas, men who showed themselves more than ever to be bone of our bone, inheriting all the courage and tenacity that have made Britain great. A hundred battlefields in all parts of the world have witnessed their heroism, have been soaked with their blood, and are for ever hallowed by their graves.
§ "I shall ever remember how the Princes of India rallied to the cause, and with what ardour her soldiers sustained in many theatres of War and tinder conditions the most diverse and exacting, the martial traditions of their race. Neither can I forget how the men from the Crown Colonies and Protectorates of Great Britain, also fighting amid novel and perilous scenes, exhibited a constancy and devotion second to none.
§ "To all these and to their Commanders who, in fields so scattered and against enemies so different in Europe, Asia, and Africa have for four years confronted the hazards, overcome the perils, and finally decided the issues of War, our gratitude is most justly due. They have combined the highest military skill with unsurpassed resolution; and amid the heat of the battlefield have never been deaf to the calls of chivalry and humanity.
§ "Particularly would I mention the names of Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, whose patient and indomitable leadership, ably seconded by his fellow Commanders, has been rewarded by the final rout of the enemy on the field of so much sacrifice and glory; of General Sir Edmund Allenby who, in a campaign unique in military history, has won back for Christendom the spoil for which centuries had fought and bled in vain; and of General Sir Stanley Maude and 3320 his successor who gained, in a scene of no less romance, the first resounding victory of the War for the Allied cause.
§ "While I mention those who have served their country till the end of the struggle, let us not for yet the incomparable services of the leaders who, in the early days of the War, before Fortune had begun to smile, upheld the best traditions of British Arms by land and sea; of Field-Marshal Lord French of Ypres, whose title recalls the scene of his undying renown, and of Admirals Lord Jellicoe and Sir David Beatty, who have for four years been the spirit and soul, as they were the successive Commanders, of the fighting Fleet of the Empire.
§ "Let us remember also those who belong to the most recent military arm, the keen-eyed and swift-winged knights of the air, who have given to the world a new type of daring and, resourceful heroism.
§ "So must we further acknowledge the dauntless spirit of the men of the Mercantile Marine and the fishermen who patrolled our coasts, braving all the dangers of mine and torpedo in the discharge of duty.
§ "Let our thanks also be given to those who have toiled incessantly at home, women no less than men, in producing munitions of war, and to those who have rendered essential war service in many other ways. There are whole fields of service wherein workers, old and young, have toiled unknown and unrequited, save by the consciousness that they were answering to the call of duty. Notable, too, has been the contribution made to the common welfare by those who volunteered as surgeons, physicians, chaplains, and nurses, fearlessly exposing themselves to danger in their tasks of mercy. While all these have laboured with the same glowing spirit of unselfish service, may we not be proud also of the attitude maintained by the whole people at home? Unwonted privations have been cheerfully borne, and the hearts of those who were facing the stress of battle have been cheered by the stedfast confidence 3321 with which those whom they had left at home awaited the issue, and assured them of their unfaltering devotion to the prosecution of the War.
§ "While we find in these things cause for joy and pride, our hearts go out in sorrowful sympathy to the parents, the wives, and the children who have lost those who were the light and stay of their lives. They gave freely of what was most precious to them. They have borne their griefs with unrepining fortitude, knowing that the sacrifice was made for our dear country and for a righteous cause. May they find consolation in the thought that the sacrifice has not been made in vain. These brave men died for Right and for Humanity. Both have been vindicated.
§ "In all these ways, and through all these years, there has been made manifest the unconquered and unconquerable spirit of our race, nourished on the glorious traditions of many centuries of freedom. This spirit, conscious of its strength, bore the trials and disappointments of these years with a fortitude that was never shaken and a confidence that never failed, It knew its motives to be pure, and it held fast to its faith that Divine Providence would not suffer injustice and oppression to prevail.
§ "In this great struggle, which we hope will determine for good the future of the world, it, is a matter of ceaseless pride to us that we hare been associated with Allies, whose spirit has been identical with our own, and who amid sufferings that have in so many cases greatly exceeded ours, have devoted their united strength to the vindication of righteousness and freedom; France, whose final deliverance, achieved by one of the greatest Commanders, Marshal Foch, has been the reward of a sacrifice and endurance almost beyond compare; Belgium, devastated and held in bondage for nigh on five years, but now restored to her liberty and her King; Italy, whose lofty spirit has at length found its national fulfilment; and our remaining 3322 Allies, upon whose horizon, till lately so dark, the light of emancipation already dawns.
§ "During the last one and a half years we are also proud to have been directly associated with the great sister-Commonwealth across the ocean, the United States of America, whose resources and valour have exercised so powerful an influence in the attainment of those high ideals which were her single aim.
§ "Now that the clouds of war are being swept from the sky, new tasks arise before us. We see more clearly some duties that have been neglected, some weaknesses that may retard our onward march. Liberal provision must be made for those whose exertions by land and see have saved us. We have to create a better Britain, to bestow more care on the health and well-being of the people, and to ameliorate further the conditions of labour.
§ "May not the losses of war be repaired by a better organisation of industry and by avoiding the waste which industrial disputes involve? Cannot a spirit of reciprocal trust and co-ordination of effort be diffused among all classes? May we not, by raising the standard of education, turn to fuller account the natural aptitudes of our people and open wider the sources of intellectual enjoyment?
§ "We have, also, in conjunction with our Allies and other peace-loving States, to devise the machinery by which the risk of International strife shall be averted and the crushing burdens of naval and military armaments be reduced. The doctrine that Force shall rule the world has been disproved and destroyed. Let us enthrone the rule of Justice and International Right.
§ "In what spirit shall we approach these great problems? How shall we seek to achieve the victories of Peace? Can we do better than remember the lessons which the years of war have taught, and retain the spirit which they instilled? In these years Britain, and her traditions have come to mean more to us than they had ever meant 3323 before. It became a privilege to serve her in whatever way we could; and we were all drawn by the sacredness of the cause into a comradeship which fired our zeal and nerved our efforts. This is the spirit we must try to preserve. It is on a sense of brotherhood and mutual good will, on a common devotion to the common interests of the nation as a whole, that its future properity and strength must be built up. The sacrifices made, the sufferings endured, the memory of the heroes who have died that Britain may live, ought surely to ennoble our thoughts and attune our hearts to a higher sense of individual and national duty, and to a fuller realisation of what the English-speaking race, dwelling upon the shores of all the oceans, may yet accomplish for mankind.
§ "For centuries past, Britain has led the world along the path of ordered freedom. Leadership may still be hers among the peoples who are seeking to follow that path. God grant to their efforts such wisdom and perseverance as shall ensure stability for the days to come.
§ "May good will and concord at home strengthen our influence for concord abroad. May the morning star of peace which is now rising over a war-worn world be here and everywhere the herald of a better day, in which the storms of strife shall have died down and the rays of an enduring peace be shed upon all the nations."