THE OUTSPEAKING OF A GREAT DEMOCRACY 



367 



infancy and we should still be slaves. 

 After material victory we will win this 

 moral victory. 



We will shatter the ponderous sword 

 of militarism; we will establish guaran- 



ties for peace ; and then we can disappear 

 from the world's stage, since we shall 

 leave at the cost of our common immola- 

 tion the noblest heritage future genera- 

 tions can possess. 



THEIR MONUMENT IS IN OUR HEARTS 



Address by M. Viviani Before the Tomb of Washington, at Mount Vernon. 



April 29, 191/ 



WE COULD not remain longer 

 in Washington without accom- 

 plishing this pious pilgrimage. 

 In this spot lies all that is mortal of a 

 great hero. Close by this spot is the 

 modest abode where Washington rested 

 after the tremendous labor of achieving 

 for a nation its emancipation. 



In this spot meet the admiration of the 

 whole world and the veneration of the 

 American people. In this spot rise be- 

 fore us the glorious memories left by the 

 soldiers of France led by Rochambeau 

 and Lafayette ; a descendant of the latter, 

 my friend, M. de Chambrun, accompanies 

 us. 



And I esteem it a supreme honor, as 

 well as a satisfaction for my conscience, 

 to be entitled to render this homage to 

 our ancestors in the presence of my col- 

 league and friend, Mr. Balfour, who so 

 nobly represents his great nation. By 

 thus coming to lay here the respectful 

 tribute of every English mind he shows, 

 in this historic moment of communion 

 which France has willed, what nations 

 that live for liberty can do. 



When we contemplate in the distant 

 past the luminous presence of Washing- 

 ton, in nearer times the majestic figure of 

 Abraham Lincoln ; when we respectfully 

 salute President Wilson, the worthy heir 

 of these great memories, we at one glance 

 measure the vast career of the American 

 people. 



It is because the American people pro- 

 claimed and won for the nation the right 

 to govern itself, it is because it proclaimed 

 and won the equality of all men, that the 

 free American people at the hour marked 

 by fate has been enabled with command- 

 ing force to carry its action beyond the 



seas ; it is because it was resolved to ex- 

 tend its action still further that Congress 

 was enabled to obtain within the space of 

 a few days the vote of conscription and 

 to proclaim the necessity for a national 

 army in the full splendor of civil peace. 

 In the name of France, I salute the 

 young army which will share in our com- 

 mon glory. 



FIGHTING FOR WASHINGTON'S IDEALS 



While paying this supreme tribute to 

 the memory of Washington, I do not 

 diminish the effect of my words when I 

 turn my thought to the memory of so 

 many unnamed heroes. I ask you before 

 this tomb to bow in earnest meditation 

 and all the fervor of piety before all the 

 soldiers of the allied nations who for 

 nearly three years have been fighting 

 under different flags for some ideal. 



I beg you to address the homage of 

 your hearts and souls to all the heroes, 

 born to live in happiness, in the tranquil 

 pursuit of their labors, in the enjoyment 

 of all human affections, who went into 

 battle with virile cheerfulness and gave 

 themselves up, not to death alone, but to 

 the eternal silence that closes over those 

 whose sacrifice remains unnamed, in the 

 full knowledge that, save for those who 

 loved them, their names would disappear 

 with their bodies. 



Their monument is in our hearts. Not 

 the living alone greet us here ; the ranks 

 of the dead themselves rise to surround 

 the soldiers of liberty. 



At this solemn hour in the history of 

 the world, while saluting from this sacred 

 mound the final victory of justice, I send 

 to the Republic of the United States the 

 greetings of the French Republic. 



