CECIL SPRING - RICE

IN MEMORIAM

'ALENTINE CHIROL

WITH P OR TRA IT

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ved A ll righ ts reser . CONTENTS

CE CIL SPRING- RICE

POEM B' ALFRED NO'E S

AN APPRE CIATION FROM SECRETAR' STATE FOREIGN AFFAIRS

TWO IDEALS ' AN ADDRE SS B' SIR CECIL S PRIN G-RICE D ELI'E RE D B E FORE THE CANADIAN CLUB AT OTTAWA 37

AN ETON MEMORIAL

TE E CE CIL S PRING-RICE MEMORIAL FUND

AN AMBASSADOR ' W HO HAS NE'ER SPARED HIMSELF

A RT HUR 'AM ES BA LFOUR I vow — ll ar t hin s t o thee , my country a e thly g abo ve E n and n s c of tire Whole a d perfect, the ervi e my love The love tha t asks no question the love that stands

the test, That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best ' a n a a a The love th t ever f lters, the love th t p ys the n c p e, a c fic The love th t makes undaunted the final sa ri e .

’ ’ And an c n I ve a n a o there s other ou try , he rd of lo g g M a a lov e a ost de r to them th t her, most gre t to them a n th t k ow. We may not c ount her armies we may not see her

Her a a ar uff n fortress is f ithful he t , her pride is s eri g An d and n n n n soul by soul sile tly, her shi i g bou ds n c a i re se , And her ways are ways of gentlen ess an d all her ” s are P path eace .

C. A . S . R .

S WA HINGTON ,

'an. 12 , 1918 . CECIL S PRIN G - R IC E

THE foregoing lines were written by Sir Ce cil ’ - Arthur Spring Rice, His Majesty s Ambassa

on of dor to the United States, the eve his

fi vo nal departure from Washington . The w recorded in them had been kept long before

ds he put it into wor , for he had served his country for a quarter of a century with the ' love that never falters and, though he

n knew it not , he was already a dyi g man . With his singular clarity of vision he had realised from the beginning Of the war that its issue might well depend in the last resort on the attitude of the great American Re public ' and so acute a sense as his of the awful responsibility that rested in such Cir c umst anc e s upon a British Ambassador during the prolonged period of American hesitation l and neutra ity, would have told severely on

a much more robust constitution . If diplo

macy may be compared to active warfare , 4 CECIL SPRING - RICE he had fought for two years in the most dangerous and important salient Of the l — as di l i British ines had fought, p omat sts fi S l l must ever ght, i ent y and patiently but indomitably under the poisoned shell- fire of

German intrigues and when, with the entry of the great American democracy into the

war, he had done his bit and was free to quit the post he had held with unswerving f tenacity through the days o stress and storm,

—or he was , as we now know, doomed should l Z‘ — we say, privi eged to survive but for a short time the hour Of his crowning achieve

ment . It was , at any rate, the end for which he had himself prayed not long before in some verses written on the death of a great friend who had passed away as suddenly as he was fated to do

Ma n o lon a n ' O God ke g t rryi g, my , Ma wn a a y the do w rd p th be swiftly trod , Swiftly the falling feet des cen d d Short the road and soon the en .

- . Psal lxx. r R a eat ead e Cf m 5 . Sp ing ice was gr r r of th e

Psalms . B a cur ous coinciden e Psalm lxx is a ointed y i c . pp to be read at evens ong on th e 13th day of th e month and it was in ' th e ni t of 'anua 13- 14 1918 t at h e died wit no l n gh ry , , h h o g u fe r in r y g. IN MEMORIAM 5

W n n a he the doom is spoke , let it f ll

And n a n a all . whe Thou t kest, the t ke

An d s s n in sea a the un si ks the , Nor nor nor ca dim pale over st, B n o sad c an nor y h ge , slow degree , R adiant and royal to the last

So take the gift Thou gavest me .

Spring - Rice was an admirable product of his race and class and education, yet he had great originality . With Irish blood through of his father, who was the younger son the

fi nh of rst Lord Monteagle, he i erited some ’ the qualities of his mother s North of England ll f family, the Marsha s, and their a fection for the English lakes . At Eton and at Balliol di he not only achieved stinction as a scholar , but acquired a reputation for a ready and whimsical and sometimes rather mordant h is wit which clung to him, not always to i professional advantage, throughout l fe . His first efforts at poetry came out in an Eton ' ” of x book, Out School ' and his O ford

Rhymes are not yet forgotten . But it was in his deep sense of reverence for all that w as l great and noble in the past, and in his ove 6 CECIL SPRING - RICE

of all that is beautiful in nature and literature

fl of and art, that the in uence his early associa tions at school and college and at home was fl most strongly and permanently re ected . If his impatience Of conventions sometimes startled the very conventional world Of di plomacy, he brought into it the qualities of sympathy and imagination which it often

lacks . Whenever the time comes for the rec ord

ofhis lif e to be written, it will show, I believe, in a very striking way, how his whole career seems to have been a preparation for the final struggle at Washington in which he stood immovably for the fin est and most honourable traditions of British diplomacy against the brutal and corrupt methods of old — German statecraft . The gibe that a diplomatist is sent to lie abroad for the good — of his country was as repugnant to his own ’ conception of a diplomatist s duties and functions as to his innate personal rectitude . He believed that the business of a diplomatist fi wh o is in the rst place that of a peacemaker , without ignoring international differences or IN MEMORIAM 7

n l of fl bei g blind to possibi ities open con ict , should labour unceasingly to mitigate and avert them within the limits compatible with national interests and national dignity that in the second place it is the duty of a diplo mat ist not only to maintain friendly and close relations with the rulers and governing circles f O the country to which he is accredited, but to familiarise himself as far as possible with all the great currents of public opinion and all the great movements , social, religious and l political, which in the ong run determine the policy of autocracies that mould them to their purpose as well as of democracies that merely reflect them ' and thirdl y that in his own personal attitude and mode of life the diplomatist shoul d seek a golden mean be tween the reserve and reticence which may be easily misconstrued into aloofness and

l o u distrust, and the faci e appeals to a p p larity wider than he c an properly aspire to in a foreign country without suspicion of overstepping the limits Of a position n e ces sarily circumscribed by the privileges it t For carries wi h it . the outer trappings and B 8 CECIL SPRING- RICE

the ceremonial side of his profession he had

perhaps an excessive contempt . He pre ferred to rely on the more human qualities of l simp icity, directness and transparent honesty in association with great power Of

fin e work and a intellect .

More fortunate than most young diplo mat ist s , who often have to serve an inter minable apprenticeship of mere routine work

dr - and somewhat frivolous udgery , Spring Rice , ffi 1882 after entering the Foreign O ce in , was

fir soon brought into intimate contact, st as assistant private secretary to Lord Granville

' - o and then as pr cis writer to L rd Rosebery, with the whole range of world- wide affairs which come within the purview of a British

fir a as Foreign Secretary . His st post abro d, ll l n we as his ast, was Washi gton , where he spent with brief intervals all the earlier part of his career, gaining that thorough and sympathetic insight into American life and ki American character, and ma ng the many t o enduring friendships, which were serve him in such excellent stead when he returned

10 CECIL SPRING - RICE Sultan foreshadowed the price he was prepared to pay for the use of Turkey as his bridge ” - 1898 head to world dominion . In he watched, with an interest rendered keener by the intimate correspondence he kept up with fl s many in uential friend in Washington, the abortive efforts of the Wilh elmstrasse to

on of persuade Great Britain , the plea

European solidarity, into acting as the spear head Oi at least a diplomatic Offensive against the United States at the beginning of the

- Spanish American war . But Spring - Rice had not been content merely to study these outward manifestations ’ ” of hi Germany s gher policy . While he was in Berlin he did what few diplomatists

cared or were encouraged to do . He explored , so far as the restraints Of his official position

fi of l f allowed, the whole eld German i e, the

of n character the people, the i genious consti t ut ional machinery which Bismarck had so carefully devised for securing the supremacy of us l Pr sia within a Federa Empire, and for combining the autocracy ofthe Hohenz ollerns

ll of with the i usion parliamentary institutions , IN MEMORIAM 1 the vigorous development of commercial and industrial activity, promoted and controlled

t of by and for the State, the grow h a new will to power nurtured in the schools and

- colleges as well as in the barrack room, and equipped with all the resources of modern science for economic as well as military c on

- li quest . Spring Rice was a di gent student f o . Of history, but he was also a student men

It was in Berlin , where I was then Corre s on dent of Th e Times p , that we became close friends ' and I remember well how he used to envy me my opportunities of meeting the leaders of the Socialist and other political di parties , whose acquaintance no plomatist could venture to cultivate without giving

- dire Offence in all highest circles . But he l was quick to realise that German po iticians , however large they might bulk in the press l and in Reichstag debates , and German politica parties , however formidable the numbers ll they might po at general elections, were little more than simulacm and that the whole power was concentrated in a masterful ruling caste , itself dominated by a masterful 12 CECIL SPRING- RICE

young sovereign, whose genius was a strange but vital blend of medieval mysticism a nd modern materialism fired by overweening

ambition . And the whole nation, even those l who protested most loud y, were ready to

- respond to his call . Spring Rice saw all this and the menace there was in it for the future

of the world These Germans , he once said to me, are a tremendous and terrible nation . They are going to laugh to scorn

' the Old French saying Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait They have got all the

Old cunning Of wicked age , and all the force ” ul of f ness lustful youth . Out of the striving pushfulness of modern Germany Spring - Rice passed to the slowly fir moving East, st to Constantinople and

t o Teheran and then Cairo , where , as he put ” it , he went back to school under Lord

Cromer, being temporarily seconded from his own service to act as British Commissioner Of the Egyptian Debt nor were they un profit

- able school days under such a master . From 1903 Cairo he was promoted, in , to be Secre tary of Embassy at St Petersburg during the IN MEMORIAM 13 stormy years of the Russo -Japanese war and the first revolutionary movements which followed the reverses of the Russian armies 1906 in Manchuria . In he returned to Persia , wi this time as British Minister, to tness the ’ further stages of that ancient kingdom s decline Then followed three years ofrelative rest and ease in Sweden, for the British Lega tion at Stockholm was mainly an Observa ” tion post . Sweden, though determined to keep away , so far as possible , from the cross

- currents Of world politics , stood very near in l — some respects perilous y near to them.

- Spring Rice was a keen observer, and all that he saw and heard in Stockholm fortified the conviction, which had steadily gathered strength in him from his experiences in the dl Near and the Mid e East and in Russia , that

- of - the war cry Pan Germanism, Delenda est ” n Britannia , was merely an i discreet echo of the higher policy to which the rulers of Germany were definitely committing them

selves . In Turkey he had seen Austria and

Russia, instigated by Germany, blocking the 14 CECIL SPRING RICE endeavours of the Western Powers t o abate the Ottoman regime of misrul e and massacre Ar l ll in menia and Macedonia , whi e Wi iam II . was consolidating his hold upon the Red Sultan by encouraging his Pan- Islamic schemes

and pointing always to England as the enemy . In Egypt he had seen Germans striving desperately to keep alive the embers Of An glo -French quarrels over the valley of the l Ni e . In Russia, even more clearly than in

Persia, he had seen Germany steadily elbow ing Russian expans ion away from Europe towards more distant fields of As iatic adven of nfli ture, where the seeds co ct between the Russian and British Empires were then still l dangerous y abundant and, when the results of the Russo - Japanese War defeated Ger ’ l l s x many s ca cu ation , he saw her e ploiting ’ Russia s internal troubles and pressing on the bewildered Russian autocracy the Old Bismarckian arguments for dynastic solidarity in the presence of revolutionary force s that were alleged by the Germans to draw their m l chief inspiration fro Eng and. Spring - Rice had heartily welcomed the IN MEMORIAM 15

- for Anglo French Agreement, which, since his Berlin days, he had done useful spade work wherever he went ' and he recognised the paramount importance of the Anglo Russian Agreement as a guarantee against ’ the revival of the Old Three Emperors ll A iance under German hegemony . But he was in Persia when it was concluded, and he knew the price we should have to pay for it in the loss of our slender remnant of

t hin influence with the Persians . Any g that

of rea l- olitilc savoured p was abhorrent to him . Its great apostle allowed himself only one — luxury ofemotion to hate whereas Spring Rice could not refuse himself the luxury of sympathising even with the feeble gropings towards liberty of the unfortunate Persian people, who used to take sanctuary in thousands within the grounds of the British

Legation in Teheran . Nor had he much faith in the stability of the Russian auto cracy or its permanent divorce from the fl l more congenial in uence Of Ber in , though he never questioned the personal loyalty of the Tsar . 16 CECIL SPRING- RICE

his In private letters, and even, I believe,

fi di - was in his of cial spatches, Spring Rice so intent on counteracting the easy optimism l n which prevai ed in most quarters in E gland,

our t o l as we know to cost, right up Ju y, 19 14 n of , that he Often got the reputatio e being a hopel ss pessimist . He was never his r that ' for, if faith in human prog ess , and in a divine providence that shapes all hi t ngs towards higher ends , had ever wavered, he would have been preserved from mere pessimism by his keen sense of humour hi l w ch , un ike most people, he exercised upon — hims elf as Often as upon others as well as by his intens e love of nature and by his

afl ecti strong family ons . He had lost his father and mother when ll he was sti young , but he had brothers and sisters to whom he was devoted ' and his marriage in 1904 to the only d aughter Of his hi l former c ef, Sir Frank Lascel es, brought l him unc ouded happiness . Besides the loving care and soothing influence she constantly brought to bear on his high- strung and some x l what e citab e temperament, Lady Spring

18 CECIL SPRING- RICE if possible before the sun gets hot the burst of on golden light the rocky crest, and at last the view of the other side b ill after hill with Demavend behind . Then the awful descent ' the poor pony struggling behind, looking appealingly at you as you t ry and l him ul pu l down some partic arly bad drop , and his sad grunt as he steps down all four feet at once . Then the valley and a long delicious canter between the rocky hill sides till springs appear and the green patch in di the stance means the camping ground . I got so tired of seeing Demavend look down at me wherever I was that at last I persuaded a Persian servant to go up with me . I spent two nights on the mountain and got up without difficulty except getting very giddy from the thin air .

No wonder, for Demavend is about of feet high, and the ascent the great snow clad cone is a steady grind, that tests endur ance rather than mountaineering skill . It was as much his sense of public duty as his legitimate ambition to reach the t op of his profession that made Spring - Rice stick

of di l to the often disheartening road p omacy . l He was impu sive and sometimes impatient, and in smaller matters inclined to rush t o IN MEMORIAM 19 premature conclusions and even to act s hastily . But on the greater issue with hi w ch he was confronted his judgment , based on l carefu study and genuine knowledge , was

ul l one seldom at fa t . I wou d quote from ofhis w other letters to me , ritten from Stock holm in 19 11

At the end Of the 18t h century it was the revolution which was dominant an d t o seemed the greater danger Europe . No w — it is the counter- revolution State organisa — tion incarnate in Prussia . I wonder whether h we shall have to go t rough a similar crisis . l ac Wil Power after Power, with sombre ’ is i quiescence, accept what they think n fi t h e evitable and, rather than ght, take consequences of defeat without the perils of war ' That is what the small Powers I w are doing . wonder if England ill prove r stubborn o not . The main thing is that fi we must ght in a good cause .

It was with such forebodings of an impending cataclysm that he proceeded in 19 12 to Washington to take up the appoint ment of Ambassador to the United States t-h e appointment which above all others he 20 CECIL S PRING- RICE had always hoped for as the crown Of his

e fi t car er, because he felt con dent that, wi h

of for his knowledge , and genuine liking , the l American people, he cou d render better service in the democratic atmosphere of the great western Republic than at any European

court . He found many Old friends and made

many new ones , but his health was growing more and more precarious ' and he had n ot quite recovered from a very serious illnes s when he came home on leave S hortly before the great European crisis of 19 14 On arriving in London he spent ten days with ’ Sir Edward Grey and shared his Chief s increasing apprehensions of the storm that

on z was gathering the international hori on . During the last week of deadly suspense he never had any doubt that the day for which Germany had been preparing for years was at hand, and that there could be but on e

of course open to us , that duty and honour

- as well as Of national self preservation . As soon as the die was cast he prepared to return to America, whither his wife and h c ildren followed him shortly afterwards . IN MEMORIAM 2 1

e u s His ship was pursued by a G rman cr i er, but he perhaps ran less personal danger then than he was exposed to later from Ge rman

' condottzeri b e in America . Many people lie v e d that the murderous aflray in Mr Jack Morgan’ s house in Washington in the summer of 19 15 was part of a plot against the life Of the British Ambassador, who was staying for with him at the time . He was prepared every form Of Ge rman frightfulnes s ' he was prepared for the bitter hostility of many alien and anti - British elements in America ' he was prepared for the deep - rooted pre judices ofa large volume of genuinely American opinion . What he was not prepared for was the mischievous activity of some of our own ” ac ifist s p , who did not hesitate to palliate the crimes of Germany and to distort our war aims in order to embitter American feeling

own against their country , and to deter the American democracy from converting its instinctive sympathies with the Allied cause

c - into active o operation . It is too early yet to attempt to appraise ’ exactly Spring - Rice s share in bringing about 22 CECIL SPRING RICE

ni e the entry Of the U ted Stat s into the war . Some of his critics on this side have been inclin ed to rate it far less high than the

Americans themselves , who must after all be

the better judges . He had little faith in the

of coarser methods propaganda, in which he knew we could never compete succ essfully

c with the Germans . Indeed he was on

c e d his of vin , from knowledge the American as character, that such a tremendous issue that which then confronted the American people would not be determined by any

or l sensational emotional appeal, and sti l

less by any attempt to drive them . Only the stern logic Of events would persuade them to turn their b acks on their century - Old i di un trad tions and preju ces , and pl ge into the unknown vortex of a great European fli of con ct . From his knowledge Germany, fi on the other hand, he relied con dently upon the Germans to provide the events required for the conversion of the American de

mocrac y . That conversion the British l ul l Embassy, he be ieved, co d do ittle to

hasten , but might easily , through sheer IN MEMORIAM 23

of z l or excess ea , do a vast deal to delay

even to prevent . ffi l Di cu t and delicate questions arose , and

out of were bound to arise, the most legitimate

of our l exercise nava power, between the

British and American Governments, so long as America remained neutral and constituted herself the z ealous champion of neutral

interests . On two occasions , namely when

n x Great Britai e tended contraband to cotton , and when she blacklisted a number of

fi of n rms suspected tradi g with the enemy , the situation was seriously strained . Any

of slight error judgment, any indiscreet move or word that could give a handl e to the enemy or an occasion for unfriendly elements in im America to blaspheme , might have had

mediately disastrous consequences . Spring

df of Rice , min ul what had happened to some l of his predecessors in far ess stormy times , never stumbled once , though many were the ffi traps laid for him . In his O cial notes and conversations with the State Department , he upheld the British point Of view in tem perate and closely reasoned argument , but C 24 CECIL SPRING- RICE he never departed in public from the reserve which he knew to be his on e safe shield mi against srepresentation and calumny . Our friends in America, who saw the German Embassy become the headquarters of a great anti - British organisation all over l the United States , cou d not at times quite understand why he woul d not allow the British Embassy to identify itself closely with their well - meant and much more legit i mate activities . He valued their enthusiastic

f of support O the British cause . Many them were his own Oldest friends ' but for that

very reason, and because some were known to be political opponents of the existing mi American ad nistration, he felt, and often kl fran y told them, that the less intimate wi their association th the British Embassy, f l the more effective their e forts wou d be . He believed in the high purpose of the President ' he knew himself to possess the confidence and respect of the United States

an d Government ' he felt that, whenever the time arrived for Mr Wilson to carry the

American people with him into the war, the

26 CECIL SPRING- RICE he never spoke in public except once at 1917 t Harvard in June, , o return thanks in a few stirring words for the honorary degree of a Doctor of Law conferred upon him by that famous American University ' It was only after he had left Washington that he ventured to reveal his innermost soul in a speech to the Canadian Club at Ottawa l which deserves to be quoted in ful , as it llu nl his i strates not o y great oratorical gifts , but the nobility of the faith that was in him .

fin e fl of In a ight eloquence , he described the

z on our Cross, which is embla oned national ' S of ensign, as a ign patience under suffer ” of ing , but not patience under wrong , and ' as the immortal symbol of the spirit of ” s acrifice .

ni - About a fort ght later, Spring Rice, who was waiting at Ottawa for the steamer that was to carry him home to England, went out ldr skiing with his chi en, and spent the evening as usual, and in very good spirits, with his w ife and his kindly hosts at Government n t House . He had o long retired to bed when IN MEMORIAM 27

l his brave heart suddenly fai ed, and he passed away without a struggle to the res t

s he had well earned . The following line , though written by an English poet, Alfred

fi N ew Noyes, were rst published in the

'ark Times w re , and afterwards so idely produced all over America that they may stand for the epitaph placed by the American people themselves upon the grave of on e who had held the banner of England high amongst them at the most solemn hour of their national fortunes and our own .

POEM

B ' ALFR E D NO' E S

I

STE AD FA S T as any soldier ofthe lin e

He E n an n n served his gl d , with the immi e t death Poised at his hea rt n or did the world divin e h T e c on stant peril O f e ac h burden ed breath .

E n an an f En n gl d , d the hon ou r o gla d , he still

served ,

Wa n c a lki g the stri t p th , with the old high pride Of those in vinc ible kn ights who n ever swerved ’ - On e hair s breadth from the way u ntil they died .

u e ne a nd o and t h ra ' i t ss he loved , bo ks , e g ve beauty ’ Of E n an H c n na gl d s eli o , whose eter l light S n a an n o n a a o f hi es like l ter th t ro d duty ,

Disc e m e d offe w in c a c n , this h oti ight .

An d Own en f n a his p , oretelli g his rele se ,

Told us that he foreknew the e n d wa s peac e . 30 CECIL SPRING- RICE

II

S er of En an h e s a e ns ee n oldi gl d , h ll liv , u l pi g, on f en s t h e Old o fla Am g his ri d , with pr ud g ab ove '

F or n t o - da h er o o is in h is e e in , eve y, h n ur k p g He h as 'oin e d t h e hosts that guard h er with

their love .

T S n e e s a nn b ere a hey hi lik t rs , u um d , h ppy on legi s , In tho se high realm s where all our darkne s s die s '

e m e ono r in o e of e r r s H ov s , with h u , th s l ti egion , ’ b e or o f ass on an f s A ov this w ld p i d o lie .

For so h e a e e e n his own ass c ll d it, k pi g high p ion, A sil ent flam e b efore t h e true an d go od ’ N t fa n n on t h e ron in or fa h on o w i g th g this w ld s s i , To c ome and see a all m se e wh o o wh t ight w uld .

r f E n an e rf c en e n S oldie o gl d , p e t, g tl k ight ,

f S ne e omes ou t o - Th e s oul O id y w lc y night . A N APPRECIATION FRO M TH E SECRE TAR' O F STATE FO R FOREIGN AFFAIRS

34 CECIL SPRING - RICE

States at the outbreak Of war was one of ext reme fi c con on s ca a n dif ulty, fr ted a you were by a mp ig of n n u n a an d e emy i trig e, desig ed to imp ir your prestige t o destroy your influenc e with the Government to o It was a a which y u were accredited . inevitable th t certain transient measure of success should att end

achina n . c n a n these m tio s Some se tio s of the popul tio , n n ac of e emy origi , were tively hostile, some were

n f n - n An d a i dif ere t, some were ill i formed . though great body of opin ion understood an d sympathised r n A with the wa aims of Great Brita in a d her llies , yet this would not have suffic ed to protect you from the c onsequences which a single false step might have brought upon you and upo n the c ause you represented . W n a n n an n a i a anc ith u f ili g 'udgme t, d u we r ed forbe r e , you steered your c ourse succ essfully through those days of difficulty ' and it is in no small measure due to your exertions that the suspic ion s whi ch so easily embittered the relation s between the two great — English - speaking peoples were dissipated I tru st for n P ever. The decisio of the resident to advise his count rya to dec lare war on Germ an y was on e Of n ' ou ma the turning poi ts of history . y well be proud to remembe r that at this great moment you were A a a t W n n an d c n mb ss dor a ashi gto , that your o duct in that post largely contribut ed to prevent any trac e of inte rnational friction which might have impeded ’ or impaired the President s policy . In c onclusion my thanks are due to 'our Ex cellen cy for your great ability in administerin g the on erous affairs of your Embassy during the past four years . Durin g that period it h as been c ompelled to AN APPRECIATION 35

an - w n n u undertake ever gro i g mber of duties , by their nature far removed from those performed by diplo matist s in n ormal times . All these have been c arried in a c d nc a out by your subord tes , heerfully an pu tu lly, ’ to the c omplete satisfaction of His Ma'esty s Govern — ment a c on summation due in n o small degree to the inspiring example Of an Ambassador who h as n ever I ask spared himself. would you to take an early opportunity of c onveyin g this appreciation of their serv ic es to those who durin g these memorable years worked un der you at Washin gton with suc h z eal an d suc h succ ess . I am r a c , with g e t truth an d respe t, Sir, ’ ' E xc n c n r an our elle y s most obedie t , humble se v t ,

ARTHUR 'AME S BA LF OUR.

llenc His Exce y, Th e Righ t Honourable - IN RI e tc . etc . e tc . P G C . S IR C S R E , , ,

TW O IDEALS

'This address was delivered at Ottawa a few days before the sudden and lamented death of Sir Cec il n -R c an d an a n in his a Spri g i e , m y h ve fou d words an n d n n en d c str ge a movi g premo ition of the , whi h was n c a n a in so soo to ome to life , si gul r its simple an d F ew a a beautiful Christian spirit . diplom ts h ve n n d c in ca bee more disti guished an suc essful their reers , and perhaps n on e h as been more beloved by all a c sso iates . '

e r n ed b k nd erm ss on o th e Canad an Club o Ottawa 'R p i t y i p i i f i f , om th e olume o Add resses 19 17 fr ' f ,

TW O IDEALS

1918 . 'anuary 19 ,

' OU could not say anything , Mr President , which would be more welcome to me than your last words , when you said you welcomed e me as on of yourselves . For thirty years , since I first had that experience of a gang

nf — plough, which was pai ul to my employers

— I of hope I have been one you . My family

has been and I have been Canadian . At the

present moment, to revert to the gang

plough, I feel exactly as if I were operating it in the presence Of Mr Crerar here when I speak before these great and famous orators

sitting around me . I , a simple amateur,

ignorant, unversed in oratory, have come to

a s spe k before you . Remember this, plea e one Of l s i I am yourse ve . Be kind, be n ul ent d g . 40 CECIL SPRING- RICE

This is the first speech that I have had the honour of delivering before the Canadian l Club . It is a so the last speech which I shall deliver as British Ambassador . I suppose I ought to explain those two facts .

The reason why, although you have been very kind in asking me to speak before did the reason why I not, was that I thought on the whole it was better to leave the task of the oral education of the American c on t in ent G a to my erman colleague . 'L ughter ' and applause . ' ou all agree that I was right . 'Laughter . ' Some people were Of a diff erent opinion . Although I have learned in my history books that the Roman Capitol on an important occasion was saved by the

of t o cackling geese, I have preferred leave the defence of my country to other and less t vocal means . That is why I have n o had the honour Of addressing you before . The reason why I am not to have the honour of addressing you again in the capacity of British Ambassador is very plain

all ou to Of y , I am sure . The moment has come when the War Cabinet must have its

42 CECIL SPRING- RICE

Mr of said, President, that the great event our s of time , modern times , was that the two great branches of the Anglo - Saxon race were

fi ofl hand in hand ghting for the cause iberty . ll l We , that is a truth which we all acknow edge,

of and I am a witness what happened, to some extent . I wish I could tell you, as you have t been kind enough to ask, every hing I know about it . My only Obj ection to that is that

u a if I did I sho ld lose my pension . 'L ughter and applause . ' But I will tell you very briefly on e or two things out of my own personal experience as a diplomat of nearly ’ - fiv e of thirty years standing , what I know about this great event .

I think anybody who came , as I did, to

fiv e the United States years ago , would have agreed in what everybody told me there , that the characteristic of that country was its intense desire for peace, its intense delight

of in all the arts peace . There were other

r characte istics . The Democratic Party had always been opposed to the interference Ofthe National Government in the State govern ls ments . The Democratic Party was a o TWO IDEALS 43 pledged to put an end to the operations of the great combines . There was another l pecu iarity about which everybody talked .

I have no doubt you, knowing the country as well as you do , must have heard it that was the operations Of the various foreign organisations with the purpose of dividing the allegiance ofgreat masses ofUnited States

z citi ens . It was said that the United States

n of America were becomi g disunited peoples . That was the great danger which was present ’ in everybody s mind . That is a picture , an

of outline, the general features of the situation

ou as it was laid before me then , and before y . What is the situation now ' The most peaceful of all countries has gone to war . The Government which was opposed to national interference has taken hold Of the national railways , is operating all the indus tries . The Government which was opposed to trusts and commercial and financial organi sat ions is itself forming the greatest financial and commercial organisation in the world . I do not allude to the immense votes made by

Congress without question, and the fact th at 44 CECIL SPRING- RICE the draft was voted in a few weeks and carried

out without any opposition, but what is a

ni further fact, the salient fact in the U ted w l States now, and everybody i l agree with

— Mr s - e ur me Con ul G neral, I am s e you will — agree is this ' there c an no longer be any talk about the disunited peoples of the

of United States . The people the United

ni States are practically una mous . 'Applause . ' There is no doubt whatever about that ' they are practically unanimous in carrying ou on the war . Can y imagine any change ' hi so great as that Look upon t s picture , and then think of what happened o nly fiv e

hi k of years ago . T n what is happening now .

How has that enormous , gigantic , in cre d ible change taken place Was it my diplo ' macy I am afraid not . Was it the diplomacy of my dear friend and colleague, all M . Jusserand, who put the energy , eloquence and tact ofthe great French nation into his magnificent task and performed it in a mann er worthy of the best and noblest

‘ n 2 French traditio s It was not he . Was it fl of the in uence money combinations , bribed TWO IDEALS 45

or papers , , as many people said, the money

‘ of ni 2 the great munitions orga sations Why , ' no . Nobody believes that . What was it

on e — One thing , and thing alone Germany .

'Hear, hear . ' I shall never forget a rainy evening in

April when I drove down to the Capitol . The Capitol was illuminated from below

n white against a black sky . U ited States

troops were collected round it, not fo r — parade, but for defence and necessary too

— on and the President came down . I sat f the floor o Congress . The President came l in , and in a perfectly ca m, quiet, deliberate

voice he recited word by word, deed by deed,

what Germany had said and done . At the

' end he said I have told you the facts . l We have severa courses to take . One course ”

of s . we will not take , the course submi sion I shall never forget the cheer I heard at those

words . The die was cast it was that there

on e was but course to be taken with honour,

and that course was taken .

Why that happened, how that happened,

of ou s course y all know in its recent detail , 46 CECIL SPRING- RICE

but as a long - standing diplomat I hope you

c an will allow me, as shortly as I , to go through mi on e or two Of the preli nary stages . We

were confronted, as the President said, with a thing that had never been kn own in the — history of the world something that woul d

end us unl ess we ended it . Now I want to

ou - tell y about that thing , that thought, that hi system, that organism which has done t s

t o ll fearful work in the world . I want te did you how it began , what it , when it came

into power, and why it must remain in

power .

. fi First Of all, how it began When I rst

- fiv e knew Germany, thirty years ago , I knew the Ge rmany that you have all heard Of

e r gentle , kind, sympathetic . I had many G

man friends . My German colleagues were

my best and most trusted colleagues . Well , did . ' all that is changed Now, how it Change

on e ll The history is a very simple , rea y . The

ni great German people wished to be u ted,

they wished to be strong . There were t wo ff sets of people, who told them di erent ways l e of in which they cou d be unit d. One them TWO IDEALS 47

l c o said, by thought, by iberty, by the

Of operation the German people . The other said, no , by blood and iron alone ' and it

was not by thought and not by liberty, but

it was by blood and iron, the blood and iron of Prussia, that Germany became united and f strong . The men o blood and iron pointed to the men of thought and liberty and said l We have succeeded and you have fai ed . on of And , acting that, they took possession

n l the thought , feeli g , life, heart and sou Of the German people . They put the soul of the German people in chains , and they have remained there since . That was how it

began .

Now that they were in power, let us hear l how they used it . We l, I think you have met a good many people who have seen the

St ob art way they used it . Mrs was here the other day . I do not know whether you heard her speak. She and an army of about l twenty thousand men, women and chi dren

fle d for weeks across the mountains of Serbia . Every now and then refugees were coming in with the news that such and such a village 48 CECIL SPRING - RICE had b een burned an d e v ery living soul in it

a mass cred . That was what she saw and what she heard . I have spoken with a man who saw a moving army Of many thousand i Armen ans , men, women and children, dying one w O fi after the other, ith a German f cer in charge of the Turkish troops to see that

on e of not those people escaped . I have spoken with a man who had driven 120 miles along the road in Poland and seen on each hi side the rags w ch covered the corp ses , the very bones of which had been removed in order to be turned into ammonia ' nothing left but the small bones of the hands and the hi feet, w ch were not worth burning . He had spoken to German officers who told him ' This is a necessary cons equence of war that it was a duty to Germany to do such things as that .

As for Belgium, here are the latest facts m about what has been done in Belgiu . I will read them to you without comment except the comment of your thoughts and your hearts . The population of Belgium is about

50 CECIL SPRING- RICE — of the United States Minist er s h e said ' I ”

n o . am spy I am a nurse . What does ” ' ffi that matter said the German o cer . Don’ t you know that this is a war — of destruction vem ichtungskrieg P Th at —a was his answer . That is what it means

of ru n war dest ction . It mea s what has happened in Serbia, in Armenia , in Poland, l in France, in Belgium . Destroy the peop e

r one or o destroy the country , the other, and that as part of a system ' not as part of of l s some isolated wickedness a particu ar cla s, c an a low Class, that we forgive, but the

- thought out, elaborated system, and that is fi n the system we are ghti g . Now I want to tell you— I do not want to detain you—I am afraid I have passed already

of l the limit my talk, but if you wil excuse

on e me, I want to say for moment why this particular system in the interest Of the people

on themselves who are running it must go . Just before the war there w as the Z abern

is fi . r incident That , an Of cer st uck down an un oflendin l —I do n ot g tai or, I think know for — l what reason with his sabre , and kil ed TWO IDEALS 5 1

of him . There was an outburst feeling all — over the country through Germany too . It was perfectly evident that the Germans

re ime would not longer stand the militarist g .

That was just before the war . Also the

Reichstag elections were imminent, and the strong probability was that the Socialists would get the upper hand and that the war votes would no longer be voted . Therefore the war was an absolute necessity for that military party , who were holding the people

down . The war took place . See what the

consequence is . The moment war is declared

krie s e r cht. there comes the war law, g That means nobody has a right so much as to think for himself . The moment anything is done l of which the mi itary authorities disapprove , the perpetrator is sent to the front -line

s l trenche . Every man, woman and Chi d, di every industry, all property, are the rect

of 'ou personal possession the War Lord . mi see what that means The litarist party , l as long as war asts, have complete control . e They have no longer any f ar Of Socialists , l Reichstag , anything . They have comp ete, 52 CECIL SPRING- RICE

absolute control ' and that lasts as long as

on e . the war lasts , and not minute longer How they have exercised that control is a matter which is pretty well known to most

Of us . They have been cruel to us , but they

have been very very cruel, almost as cruel,

own to their people, and after the war the

reckoning will come . i To go to another minor deta l, but a very — import ant on e the military people depend almost entirely upon the product Of their

farms, their landed property . Their great struggle has been always to heighten the price

o fi our Of food for their wn pro t . Owing to

of fi on mi blockade, course, the pro ts far ng

out Of all have increased measure, partly because of the dearness of provisions and e l partly b cause they. have been ab e to use

. S O ou slave labour, that is , the prisoners y ’ — I of see won t continue this line argument, but you see that the moment that peace comes the charm is broken ' these people l ose their power absolutely and entirely, and of while they lose their power, the time reckon h ing comes and they cannot stand it . W at TWO IDEALS 53

their record has been we know pretty well, but I rather suspect that the German people know it even better . Their system has been ruin and destruction abroad and enslavement at home . They have used the German people as a means to destroy the liberties of the f o own . world, in order to be defrauded their Are there a people in the world who could

— wh o stand such a thing as that , when the facts are known and clearly before them, will n ot ill demand their reckoning , w not have ' their revenge We know that, and they know that too ' and that is why, as Mr

Lloyd George says , his cheques are not cashed at the Hindenburg Bank, because his cheques

on are a rival institution, which is a bank of

. of peace Theirs is a bank war .

The world has had many ideals . Two of the most prominent are present in the minds f all l f o . We have seen the re ics o Egypt or

Assyria . We have seen the emblem of the l ancient re igions, the ancient monarchies On f the king his throne, the badge o sove re i nt g y in his hand, the scourge . We have read Of the ruins of a palace once decorated 54 CECIL SPRING RICE

s of with pictures Of burning Citie , troops

es . captiv , victims being tortured to death That was the banquet hall of the 'ing Of

on e of il . Assyria . That is type civ isation h of . There is another, the sign w ich is the Cross

I need not tell you what that means, but I must say this the Cross is a sign of patience

under suffering , but not patience under wrong .

on 'Applause . ' The Cross, gentlemen, is the — banner under which we fight the Cross of

of s St George, the Cross St Andrew, the Cros

of di m St Patrick fferent in for , in colour, in es history , y , but the same in spirit, the spirit

fi e f Of sacri ce . We are all subj cts o the Prince

of a of Pe ce, the Prince Peace Who fought the fi greatest ght ever fought upon this earth ,

on Who won the greatest victory , and w it by

His blood . The Cross is the S ign under which we fight against the hideous enemy and by

S l which we hal conquer . 'Loud and prolonged

applause . ' AN ETON M E M ORIAL

58 CECIL SPRING- RICE

of hi He then read a portion a letter, in w ch the warmth of American feeling corrected any coldness shown in this country for so good and loyal a servant and so delightful — a character a sum of having b e en coll ec ted anonymously in the United States

his s hi as a tribute from friend . T s sum will

o eventually g to Balliol College, to form the

n - Cecil Spri g Rice Scholarships Fund, to help students in Diplomacy to learn foreign tongue s abroad .

- l e The stall p ate is copp r, with the family arms emblaz oned in enamel by Mr Al exander

Fisher, and the following inscription

H R PR N - R P T U S . C CECIL AR I G ICE ,

Legatus Brit ann orum plurimas Eu ropae A siae qu e gentes e xpert u s cum d eniqu e Americanos nobis contra Germanos soc iasset felix Obiit MCM' 'III

im e oet ic ae Christ ianae 'ir an a cum p tum , i m i ru n ru amant ssi u s . patr ae, ris , s o m AN ETON MEMORIAL 59 It be remembered that Cecil Spring l ' Rice was in Co lege with J . . Stephen, and perhaps the most brilliant generation of those days .

ot ce f om the Eton Co le e C ronicle Octob 4 'N i r l g h , er 2 ,

THE CE CIL SPRING - RICE M EM ORIA L F UND

THE M E M ORIAL F UND

DE TAILS of the Fund to which Mr Ge rald Balfour alluded in his speech at Eton are 23 given in the following letter, dated , Wall ' 15 19 18 Street, New ork, August , , from

n - Mr J. P. Morga to Lady Spring Rice

It is my privilege to advise you that a large number of American friends of Sir

Cecil, desiring to show their appreciation of the magnificent work done by him as British

Ambassador in this country , have collected a fund to be know n as the Cecil Spring - Rice ” Memorial Fund . The Fund has been invested in of

' 4 . d U . 'Third War Loan' per cent Bon s ,

exempt from British normal income tax . It is the desire Of the donors that the income from the Fund should be paid to you 64 CECIL SPRING- RICE

if r during your l e , and to the two child en, in

h - fiv e s equal shares , until they are t irty year

ul Old, sho d you not live so long , thus providing for their education and maintenance until

ms they are able to support the elves . The Fund eventually will be transferred li ' l to Bal ol College Oxford, as the Ceci

- of Spring Rice Memorial Fund, the income which will be used by Balliol for travelling scholarships for young men entering the diplomatic service who have to travel to ac quire the necessary foreign langu ages for i that career, thus mak ng a permanent me ’ morial to Sir C e cil s great work I feel that it is a great privilege to make this communication to you on behalf Of a

of very large number donors, whose desire

it is to remain anonymous .

PRINTE D B' WM . E S S E A D BE S ENGLAND CLOW AND ONS, LIMIT D , LONDON N CCLE ,

PLEASE DO NOT REMO'E CARDS O R SLIPS FROM THIS POC'ET

UNI'ERSIT' O F TORONTO LIBRAR'

i r o l r Ch , 'Si ''a l e n t i n e Ce c i l Spr i n g - Ri c e