Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-03-08
By the Assoeiotsd Pres,


RICHMOND, Va, Mar. g.
The teri OF Winston ChurchiUs
address today before a joint ses-
sion OF the Virginia Legislature.
was deeply moved by the glowing
terms of the joint resolution of both
branches of the Legislature inviting
me to address the General Assembly
OF Virginia. I take it as a high
honor to be present here this morn
ing to discharge that task.
always value being asked to ad-
dress parliament. I have already
on two occasions been asked to ad-
dress the Congress of the United
States. have addressed a joint
session of the Belgian Legislature,
and there is place across the ocean
called the House of Commons, to
which, invited or unlimited, / have,
from time to time, had things to say.
I have also had invitations,
couched in terms for which 1 am
most grateful, from the State Legis-
latures of South Carolina, Kentucky
and Mississippi, which it would have
given me the very greatest pleasure
to accept and fulfill. But as I have
not the life and strength to repay
all the kindness which is offered to
me, I felt that these other States
would be willing to accept the pri-
macy of the Virginia Assembly, as
the most ancient law-making body
on the mainland of the Western
Hemisphere.
Praises Virginians.
And thus I find myself here be-
fore you in Richmond, in the his
toric capitol of world famous Vir-
ginia. I hope 1 shall acquit my
self to your satisfaction, but the
responsibility for what may happen
is yours. Do you not think you
are running some risk in inviting
me to give you my faithful coun-
sci on this occasion? You have
not asked to see beforehand what
am going to say.
I might easily, for instance, burt
out lot of things, people know
in their hearts are true, but are
a bit shy of saying in public, and
this might cause a regular COM
motion and get you all into trouble.
However the people of Virginia,
and, above all, the people of Rich
mond have proved that they have
strong nerves and that they can
face not only facts, but fate with
fortitude and pride.
OF course my mind goes back into
the past, so much of which we have
in common. The light of the Elig-
abethan age. with Shakespeare,
Raleigh and Grenville, casts its I'M
fading luster upon our scene here
and in Williamsburg nearby, which
am now to visit.
This was the cradle of the great
republic in which more than $50
years afterwards the strong cham
pions of freedom were found to have
been nursed With what care did
those early fathers of our modern
inspiration preserve the title deeds
of freedom in parliamentary priv
ilege, in trial by jury. in the habeas
corpus, in Magma Carta and in the
English common law!
English Theme Upheld.
With what vigilance did Thomas
Jefferson, Patrick Henry and Rob-
ert E. Lee defend them in later,
unhappy but pregnant times! The
theme so painfully evolved across
the centuries in England was up
held through every stress and con-
fusion by Virginia and lights the
English-speaking world today.
1t lights our world and is also
a beacon shining through the mists
and storms to many lands where
the rights of man, his honor. his
happiness and his freedom are
yearned for or are so far enjoyed
precariously. I salute you as the
guardians of the sacred flame.
Another century passes across our
minds and we see Virginia and
Richmond the center of a tragedy
which. however agonizing at the
time. is now forever illumined by
drama and romance. I have visit
ed most of your battlefields on the
Peninsula, on the Rappahannock, in
the Wilderness and was guided
there by your distinguished histori-
an, DR.. Freeman. who is here today
and whose works are a solid contri-
button, not only to the fame of the
South, but to the whole strength
of the indissoluble American Union.
0nOfoS RritiSh Corar,I
Yet it is the words OF an English
general officer which I shall repeat
to you this morning, Gen. Hender-
son, the author of The Life of
Stonewall Jackson" and of THE
Campaign of Fredericksburg" whom
I knew nearly 40 years ago:
Far and wide between the noun
tains and the sea, stretches the fair
Virginia for which Lee and jackson