Whatever any one may say about her internal Government, Russia was essentially a peaceable nation. The men at the head of her affairs were imbued with the spirit of peace. The head of her army, the Grand Duke Nicholas, [cheers,] is about the best friend of peace in Europe. Never was a nation so bent on preserving peace as Russia was. It is true Germany six or seven years ago had threatened to march her legions across the Vistula and trample down Russia in the mud, and Russia, fearing a repetition of the same threat, was putting herself in a position of defense. But she was not preparing for any aggression, and Germany said, "This won't do. We don't like people who can defend themselves. We are fully prepared. Russia is not. This is the time to plant our dagger of tempered steel in her heart before her breastplates are forged." That is why we are at war. [Cheers.] Germany hurried her preparations, made ready for war. She made a quarrel with the same cool calculation as she had made a new gun. She hurled her warriors across the frontier. Why? Because she wanted to attack somebody, a country that could not defend herself. It was the purest piece of brigandage in history. [Cheers.] All the same there remains the fact that Russia was taken at a disadvantage, and is, therefore, unable to utilize beyond a fraction the enormous resources which she possesses to protect her soil against the invader. France was not expecting war, and she, therefore, was taken unawares. What about Britain? We never contemplated any war of aggression against any of our neighbors, and therefore we never raised an army adequate to such sinister purposes. During the last thirty years the two great political parties in the State have been responsible for the policy of this country at home and abroad. For about the same period we have each been governing this country. For about fifteen years neither one party nor the other ever proposed to raise an army in this country that would enable us to confront on land a great Continental power. What does that mean? We never meant to invade any Continental country. [Cheers.] That is the proof of it. If we had we would have started our great armies years ago. We had a great navy, purely for protection, purely for the defense of our shores, and we had an army which was just enough to deal with any small raid that happened to get through the meshes of our navy, and perhaps to police the empire. That was all, no more. But now we have to assist neighbors becoming the victims of a power with millions of warriors at its command, and we have to improvise a great army, and gallantly have our men flocked to the standard. [Cheers.] We have raised the largest voluntary army that has been enrolled in any country or any century--the largest voluntary army, and it is going to be larger. [Cheers.]