Abstract
These words, a recasting of the memorable expression of George Canning--nineteenth century British Foreign Secretary—were employed by Winston Churchill on June 4, 1940, speaking to the British Parliament. The occasion was the frenzied evacuation of the allied troops at Dunkerque, completed on the previous day. The fortunes of England—long mistress of the seas and guarantor of the European balance--seemed ebbing. Churchill's words, at once an exhortation and a prayer, were not only for British ears. They were also intended for another audience—larger, more distant-- an American audience.