The English Speaking Union entertained Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler and
a delegation from the State of Virginia, who have come here to present statues of George Washington to St. Paul's Cathedral and to Sulgrave Manor, to luncheon on Tuesday. Mr. Winston Churchill presided, and said that the 4th of July, 1918, when "British, Australian, and American soldiers advanced together in a single line against a common foe for a common purpose," was "a starting-point incomparably superior to any other point which could be desired in the history of the English-speaking communities of the world. On that date there was not a declaration of independence but a declaration of interdependence." This was Mr. Churchill's main theme— that since the War Anglo-American relations had fundamentally changed to something more intimate, more important, and that the task of the English Speaking Union—namely, to facilitate and promote that intimacy of common objects and common methods—was the most important task in the world. There was only one great obstacle to its attainment—the tragic state of Ireland. But here there was hope. Once again we were at one of those points in history at which a settlement might be reached. Unreason might once again dash away the cup. But at any rate the Irish question was no longer one which concerned England and Ireland alone, but was inextricably
bound up with world-wide problems. Mr. Churchill's was a most impressive oratorical effort.
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