Often have I sought to discover the essential quality of
this most remarkable man. Is it his abundant energy, his Flinbethan zest of life, his almost fifteenth-century virtil? Is it his versatility and the rapid variety of his many gifts? Is it a combination of will-power and imagination, of vision and tenacity? Or is the quality which has given such consistency and pattern to his adventurous life the simple quality of pro- found patriotism? I turned to a speech which he had made in April, 1933 : — " We ought, as a nation and Empire, to weather any storm that
blows at least as well as any other system of human government. We are at once more experienced and more truly united than any people in the world. It may well be that the most glorious chapters of our history have yet to be written. Indeed, the very problems and dangers that encompass us and our country ought to make English men and women of this generation glad to be here at such a time. We ought to rejoice at the responsibilities with which destiny has honoured us, and be proud that we are guardians of our ccuntry in an age when her life is at stake."
It is indeed a privilege to fight under such leadership and in such a cause.
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