Nor let us forget that France, the grip of the invader at her throat and her resources in men and money drained all but dry, has never, by word or hint, reminded us of our long-standing obligation. The purposes which prompted the sending of the French Mission are set forth by M. Viviani with a grace and beauty of expression which are peculiarly French. No true American can read his words and not be thrilled by the sincerity and unselfishness breathed in every line:-- “We have come to this land to salute the American people and its government, to call to fresh vigor our life-long friendship, sweet and cordial in the ordinary course of our lives, but which these tragic hours have raised to all the ardor of a brotherly love--a brotherly love which, in these last years of suffering, has multiplied its most touching expressions. You have given help, not only in treasure, in every act of kindness and good-will; but for us your children have shed their blood, and the names of your sacred dead are inscribed forever in our hearts.” One feels, upon reading these words, that the glowing tribute is undeserved. It has taken us three years--three long and bitter years of agony for France--to recognize what she has known from the beginning: that the cause for which she is fighting is our cause, that not merely the future of France but our own future, the future of democracy, is at stake. We are late in acting, and some historians of the future will probably be unkind enough to say that we were almost too late; but let us resolve that we will make up for the tardiness with which we enter the struggle by the fullness of the strength which we put into it; that we will spend, if need be, our last dollar and our last man; and that we will not relax our efforts by a whit until this Prussian horror is no more.