13 NOVEMBER 1915, Page 3

The speeches at the Lord Mayor's Banquet on Tuesday were

marked by optimism and unwavering firmness. After Sir John Simon had proposed the toast of " Our Allies " in excellent terms, and M. Paul Cambon had replied with the stately eloquence of which cultivated Frenchmen bold the secret, Mr. Balfour, who responded to the toast of the Imperial Forces, ended by saying " When I see how the forces of the Allies are becoming stronger, and how those of the enemy are being subjected to a greater strain, I look forward with serene confidence." Mr. Balfour has a right to speak thus. He never faltered in his confidence during the Boer War, when many others had lost all their sense of proportion. Events justified him then, and, however far off the end may be, they will justify him again.