"That true friend of America, the Duke of Argyll, speaking in the Upper House, was equally emphatic. 'The great boon we have secured by this treaty,' he said, 'is this: that for the future the law of nations, as between the two greatest maritime states in the world, is settled in regard to this matter, and that for this great boon we have literally sacrificed nothing except the admission that we are willing to apply to the case of the _Alabama_ and that of other vessels those rules, I do not say of international law, but of international comity, which we have ourselves over and over again admitted.' It is impossible that the duke would have expressed himself in language so hopeful and so contented if behind 'the case of the _Alabama_ and that of other vessels' he had seen looming up the colossal demands which were originally embodied in Senator Sumner's memorable oration. "The views thus put forward sank deep into the public mind, and the treaty was accepted and ratified by popular opinion on this basis. General Schenck, several months after the delivery of the above speeches, in addressing a Lord Mayor's banquet at the Guildhall, bade the English ministry and Lord Ripon 'congratulate themselves upon the success with which they have endeavored to bring about friendly relations between the United States and Great Britain.' "People here ask how he could congratulate the British government if he knew all the while that their construction of the treaty, which was to cement the friendship of the two countries, fatally differed from the construction put upon it by the government at Washington. "I have not given my own but the English view of the matter. When such momentous issues are at stake--when a false move on the diplomatic board may endanger the peace of two kindred nations--it is absolutely necessary that our people should know what is the English side in this controversy. The first duty of a loyal American citizen is to ascertain the whole truth, and not by ignorance or obstinacy to commit himself to a wrong course.