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ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR

''We have material proof that our self-govemixi^
Colonies beyond the seas are with us heart and soul
in this matter. (Loud cheers.) Is it to be believed
that if we were engag^ in some piratical transaction
against the liberties of other people that these Colonies,
the very breath of whose nostrils is self-government
and liberty, would throw themselves into our cause
and offer us armed assistance ?**

In an eloquent peroration, he said': ^ We have be^i
the butt of much ill-informed and malicious criticism
on the part of foreign nations, but we have with us
th^ conscience of the Empire (cheers) ; and having with
us the conscience of the Empire and the material
resources of the Empire, surely we may look forward
with no undue misgiving to the result of a contest
which was none of our seeking, and which we would
have given anything consistent with the honour of
the country to avoid, but which, as it has been
forced upon us, will ^undoubtedly be carried through
to its final, honourable, and, I hope, not remote con-
clusion."

The war aroused the greatest enthusiasm throughout
the country, and its discussion and defence formed
the chief topic at public meetings and conferences.
Mr Balfour delivered a series of speeches in which
he fiirmly upheld the Government's policy. On 28th
November 1899 he addressed a great meeting of the
National Union of Conservative Associations at Dews-
bury. Printed in large white letters on a crimson cloth
stretching across the platform were the names of the
three most prominent statesmen of the hour, Salisbury,
Balfour, and Chamberlain.
