The last in a series of four speeches made in the capitals of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales on the origin and objects of the War, delivered in Cardiff on October 2, 1914, by the Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith , Prime Minister, 1908-1916.
As time passes and perspective lengthens, the stature of the landmark formed in all branches of activity by the War becomes increasingly apparent. In literary histories of the future the period 1914-18 will be recognized as a convenient peg upon which to hang the end of a great era in English prose style. Exponents of it survived the War, and of these, the late Lord Oxford and Asquith was one the greatest.
His oratory was formed upon'the finest classical models. It is distinguished for terseness, lucidity, and the gracefulness of conscious mastery of his medium. His speeches at the beginning of the War have been compared with those of William Pitt during the Napoleonic wars. In syntax and idiom there is nothing to differentiate them. They provide perhaps the latest examples of the great tradition of public speaking founded at the end of the eighteenth century; a tradition which is breaking up under the stress of modern methods of communication.
The speech at Cardiff is the last of a series of four speeches, made in the capitals of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, for the purpose of recruiting. They are not the least impressive memorial of a groat crisis in the history of the British Empire.
(For 5.45-6.15 and 8.0-8.45 Pro. grammes see oppo8ite page)