Abstract
THE visit of Mr. Wilson to Europe, and to England especially, is an event of the highest moment, not merely because it is the first time that a President of the United States has left the shores of his great and powerful country, but also because he has come upon a mission of grave consequence—so grave, indeed, that he has deliberately set aside all precedent—to the civilisation of the world, and to help in the settlement of the public affairs of a continent plunged into a welter of confusion unparalleled in the history of man. He comes, though a participator, and in large measure a determining factor, in the victorious issue of the colossal efforts made to meet the imposing onslaught on men's liberties on the part of a great autocracy backed by all the immense resources of modern science, with a message of reconciliation and goodwill to the nations concerned in the dreadful struggle of the last four and a half years. We are all now confronted with the arduous dufy of laying the foundations of a new polity which shall assure the means, through long years of tribulation it may be, of a progressive, contented life in harmony with the well-being of humanity. Mr. Wilson comes armed with the spirit of right and justice; he will maintain the one and demand the other, and he trusts to the essential power of these two great principles to ensure the conditions of a firm, just, and lasting peace. He has shown himself, from the time he led his nation into the struggle, to be a man of high courage, with a real grasp of affairs, and of unwavering loyalty to high ideals and to the truth; and his visit here has been hailed with delight by all men of goodwill.
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The Visit of President Wilson . Nature 102, 349–350 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/102349a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/102349a0