Read it through once

It is sometimes forgotten that the King not only embodies the authority of his vast realm in his position, but must concentrate in his own person a natural strength of pride in his Empire so great as to be far beyond the possibility of a reflection upon its patriotism. He would hardly be human in his qualities if the most intense patriotic pride in the unity and power of his realms was not the first and strongest instinct of his nature. But this in passing. Lord Salisbury illustrated the attitude of both the Sovereign and his Ministers when speaking at the Albert Hall, London, on May 7th, during the pending negotiations: "I only wish to guard against misapprehension which I think I have seen, to the effect that the willingness we have shown to listen to all that may be said to us is a proof that we have retreated or receded from our former position and are willing to recognize that the rights we claimed are no longer valid. There is no ground for such an assertion. We cannot afford after such terrible sacrifice, not only of treasure but of men, after the exertions, unexampled in our history, that we have made--we cannot afford to submit to the idea that we are to allow things to slide back into a position where it will be in the power of our enemy again, when the opportunity suits him and the chance is favourable to him, to renew again the issue that we have fought this last three years."