have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the common settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall count upon your friendly countenance and encouragement. I shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless will render me available for any counsel or service you may desire of me, and I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shall have to deal. I shall make my absence as brief as possible and shall hope to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven. [President Wilson sailed for Europe two days after delivering his annual address to the legislative branch. Congress remained in session for three months, expiring on March 4, 1919. Of all the measures urged by the President, the only one passed was the Revenue bill-which had been the subject of a special message as early as May, 1918 (see page 492). The other measures, including annual appropriation bills, failed of passage chiefly because of protracted discussion in the Senate over the proposal of a League of Nations, at the Peace Conference in Paris.] ADDRESSES OF PRESIDENT WILSON ON HIS FIRST TRIP TO EUROPE DECEMBER 21, 1918, TO FEBRUARY 14, 1919 [The President sailed for Europe on December 4, "to join in Paris the representatives of the Governments with which we have been associated in the war against the Central Empires, for the purpose of discussing with them the main features of the treaty of peace." The Allied Governments and the enemy powers had accepted the President's bases of peace as outlined to Congress on January 8, 1918, and the Allies desired his personal counsel in their interpretation. On this first trip, the President remained in France with a brief visit to England and one to Italy-from December 13 until February 14, returning to the United States to be present during the closing days of the session of Congress.] AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS (THE SORBONNE), RECEIVING Mr. President, Mr. Recteur: I feel very keenly the distinguished honor which has been conferred upon me by the great University of Paris, and it is very delightful to me also to have the honor of being inducted into the great company of scholars whose life and fame have made the history of the University of Paris a thing admired among men of cultivation in all parts of the world. By what you have said, sir, of the theory of education which has been followed in France, and which I have tried to promote in the United States, I am tempted to venture upon a favorite theme. I have always thought, sir, that the chief object of education was to awaken the spirit, and that inasmuch as literature whenever it touched its great and higher notes was an expression of the spirit of mankind, the best induction into education was to feel the pulses of humanity which had beaten from age to age through the utterances of men who had penetrated to the secrets of the human spirit. And I agree with the intimation which has been conveyed to-day that the terrible war through which we have just passed has not been only a war between nations, but that it has been also a war between systems of culture the one system, the aggressive system, using science without conscience, stripping learning of its moral restraints, and using every faculty of the human mind to do wrong to the whole race; the other system reminiscent of the high traditions of men, reminiscent of all those struggles, some of them obscure but others clearly revealed to the historian, of men of indomitable spirit everywhere struggling toward the right and seeking above all things else to be free. The triumph of freedom in this war means that spirits of that sort now dominate the world. There is a great wind of moral force moving through the world, and every man who opposes himself to that wind will go down in disgrace. The task of those who are gathered here, or will presently be gathered here, to make the settlements of this peace is greatly simplified by the fact that they are masters of no one; they are the servants of mankind, and if we do not heed the mandates of mankind we shall make ourselves the most conspicuous and deserved failures in the history of the world. My conception of the League of Nations is just this, that it shall operate as the organized moral force of men throughout the world, and that whenever or wherever wrong and aggression are planned or contemplated, this searching light of conscience will be turned upon them and men everywhere will ask, "What are the purposes that you hold in your heart against the fortunes of the world?" Just a little exposure will settle most questions. If the Central Powers had dared to discuss the purposes of this war for a single fortnight, it never would have happened, and if, as should be, they were forced to discuss it for a year, war would have been inconceivable. So I feel that this war is, as has been said more than once to-day, intimately related with the university spirit. The university spirit is intolerant of all the things that put the human mind under restraint. It is intolerant of everything that seeks to retard the advancement of ideals, the acceptance of the truth, the purification of life; and every university man can ally himself with the forces of the present time with the feeling that now at last the spirit of truth, the spirit to which universities have devoted themselves, has prevailed and is triumphant. If there is one point of pride that I venture to entertain, it is that it has been my privilege in some measure to interpret the university spirit in the public life of a great nation, and. I feel that in honoring me to-day in this unusual and conspicuous manner you have first of all honored the people whom I represent. The spirit that I try to express I know to be their spirit, and in proportion as I serve them I believe that I advance the cause of freedom. I, therefore, wish to thank you, sir, from the bottom of my heart for a distinction which has in a singular way crowned my academic career. TO UNITED STATES SOLDIERS AT HUMES, FRANCE, ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1918 General Pershing and Fellow Countrymen: I wish that I could give to each one of you the message that I know you are longing to receive from those at home who love you. I can not do that, but I can tell you how everybody at home is proud of you; how everybody at home has followed every movement of this great army with confidence and affection; and how the whole people of the United States are now waiting to welcome you home with an acclaim which probably has never greeted any other army. Because this is a war into which our country, like these countries we have been so proud to stand by, has put its whole heart, and the reason that we are proud of you is that you have put your heart into it; you have done your duty, and something more, you have done your duty and done it with a spirit which gave it distinction and glory. And now we are to have the fruits of victory. You knew when you came over what you came over for, and you have done what it was appointed you to do. I know what you expect of me. Some time ago a gentleman from one of the countries with which we are associated was discussing with me the moral aspects of this war, and I said that if we did not insist upon the high purposes for which this war was entered by the United States I could never look those gallant fellows across the seas in the face again. You knew what we expected of you and you did it. I know what you and the people at home expect of me; and I am happy to say, my fellow countrymen, that I do not find in the hearts of the great leaders with whom it is my privilege now to cooperate any difference of principle or of fundamental purpose. It happened that it was the privilege of America to present the chart for peace, and now the process of settlement has been rendered comparatively simple by the fact that all the nations concerned have accepted that chart and that the application of those principles laid down there will be their explication. The world will now know that the nations that fought this war, as well as the soldiers who represented them, are ready to make good-make good not merely in the assertion of their own interests, but make good in the establishment of peace upon the permanent foundations of right and of justice. Because this is not a war in which the soldiers of the free nations have obeyed masters. You have commanders, but you have no masters. Your very commanders represent you in representing the |