25 MARCH 1905, Page 2

The Emperor ended his speech as follows:—" We are the

salt of the earth, but we must also prove ourselves worthy of this high calling." That is a proud saying, but the worst of Biblical quotations is that every one knows the context, and the passage as to the salt of the earth instantly recalls the tremendous warning: "If the salt have lost his savour, where- with shall it be salted P " The speech has, of course, given rise to furious comment, and in some quarters has been described as a kind of defiance launched at Europe before the Emperor's Mediterranean voyage. Unless we are mistaken, there is, however, nothing dangerous in it. If it is a defiance, it is only a defiance like that of the immortal Mr. Jefferson Brick, which defied everybody and yet hurt nobody.