2110-19-1-15

In reply to an address from the St. George's Society.

Gentlemen,, I offer you my sincerest gratitude for your welcome to-day. I have often heard of your famous Society, which is now not far from celebrating its hundredth birthday. You have graciously invited me to become an honorary member, and I gladly accept the honour. I have been, and am, a member of many St. Andrew's Societies, but this is the first time that I have been enrolled under the banner of St. George.

Your Society has been established upon the principle to which our Empire owed its foundation, and which alone can preserve it - the equal balance of liberty and discipline. That principle is at the heart of civilisation, and it is also the essential spirit of the Christian faith. To it is joined loyalty to the Sovereign who is the supreme bond of union. I shall have pleasure in reporting to His Majesty the felicitous words in which to-day you have given expression to that faith. It is my own creed, as it is yours, and it is my earnest prayer that during my term of office I shall not fall short in the trust which has been bestowed upon me by my King and by this great Dominion.