At a banquet given last Saturday by the American Society
in London in honour of Independence Day, Lord Lansdowne and Mr. Whitelaw Reid made excellent speeches. Lord Lansdowne put neatly the attitude of the two nations by saying that just as the health of King Edward is drunk with enthusiasm in any American gathering, so the health of President Roosevelt is received by Englishmen with the special acclamation given only to those who have captured the national fancy. The two peoples had managed to get rid of almost all points of difference between them, and to provide an amicable means of settling the rest. Of the late Mr. Hay be spoke with a feeling and a grace which it would be difficult to overpraise. The new American Ambassador in replying to the toast of his health gave an interesting sketch of the cosmopolitan character of the United States, and its consequent ties to the whole civilised world. He paid a high tribute to the work of King Edward for the maintenance of the world's peace, and he spoke of Independence Day as marking the end of a struggle in which both sides, though they did not know it, gained a great and enduring victory.
Previous page
