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Show /, 1‘ h N S. CHURCHILL By THE RT. HON. WINSTO er t .0 um try coun r thei ive, capt are s AT this moment when their Citie on 15 nati ian Belg the , CdPlIltO exde yoke, their government and army iOl‘C d beyond xinl manl of and pe Euro or s inie dest exerting an influence upon the perity and power, zinc .from the that of great States in the fullness of pros looks out With certainty to a ium Belg g erin sufl abyss of present grief and ever have planned. could future more brilliant than any which she 4 444/; W! w‘IVVV/M'f'f' . By FREDERIC HARRISON was acknowledged IT was the chief glory of ancient Athens, even when it nce, and grace, eloque art, , poetry in first stand to world ed civilis by the and defeat the and Withst to first the " been that the men of Athens had first to terrible Mede in battle." So, the men of Belgium have been the which thought defy and stem the torrent over France of the German host itself invincible and went forth to domineer in Europe. e History tells us that if the millions of Xerxes could have crushed Greec the higher civilisation of mankind would have been arrested. Just so, modern civilisation would have been set back if the Kaiser's millions had been suffered to make their procession along the Meuse in triumph and could have reached Paris according to the time-table of Potsdam. France, Britain, Europe owe an imperishable debt to Belgium, that her heroic constancy and valour prevented this monstrous catastrophe even at the cost of their lives, their homes, and their children. By‘ THE CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS C'lcST dc toute mon ame que j'offrc mon hommagc a la vaillante nation Helge et a son magnanimc Souverain, Sa Majeste Albert I". l\lis en demeure de fouler aux pieds la foi juree ou de subir une invasion sanglante ct ruineuse, le Roi des Belges et son peuple ont rénondu : " Plutot la mort que la_souillure ! " Pour résister a la Violence inique et barbare dont ils sontIVictimes, ils ont lutte' et luttent encore avec un courage que rieri nI'abat, ils supportent sans de'faillance les pires ealamités. Honneur a eux . Leur liero'i'sme est digne de toute admiration, et leurs souffrances méritent toute sympathie. Soldats tombés en grand nombre sur les champs de bataille, innocents massacres, villes et Villages incendies, monuments detruits, populations exilees: tous les malheurs font de la Belgique une nation martyre, ct excitent la compassion de tous les nobles cmurs. Nulle part cette sympathie ne saurait etre plus Vive qu'en France. ILn se sacrifiant pour d-éfendre son honneur et son independance, la Belgique a barre lechemin a l'envahisseur qui voulait écraser la France. Par la elle s'est achis des droits imperissables a la reconnaissance de tous les Francais. Ceux-ci ne seront point ingrats. Avec les Belges et avec les Anglais, nos glorieux allies, nos armées combattront jusqu'au bout pour chasser l'envahisseur. Nous aurons ‘a coeur de venir largement en aide a nos freres en détresse. Enfin nous supplierons le Dieu des justices de prendre en mains la cause de ce peuple, si fidele au Christ et a son Eglise, et de lui rendre, avec un territoire libe're' et un patrimoine de gloire agrandi, la paix et la prospérité. It is the first duty of the Allies to restore the noble people who sacrificed themselves for us-for peace-for freedom-for humanity. In all modern history there is no example of a martyrdom by a whole nation-so cruel-so generousiso valiant. $74.4 M~%JJL-* When France, Britain, Russia shall have crushed out this conspiracy against humanity, when militarism is extinct in Germany-extinct for ever in the worldfiwhatever may have been the victories and the achievements of the Alliesestill for all time the heroism of the Belgian people who " first bore the brunt of the terrible Mede " (as the orators would say at Athens) will stand highest in the record of valour. gm; ire/14.5%. TRANSLATION by Florence Simmonds From the (ll'Pl/IS of my soul I o/j'er my homage 10 the mliant Belgian nation and to her inzzgrzanirnous Sovereign, Ills .lltn'esty Albert 1. Faced with the altornatit'e of spurning their pledged word or submitting to (1 bloody and ruinous int'asion. the King of the Belgians and his people replied: ‘ Dent/i before dishonmu‘ .' " In their resistante to the iniquitous and barbarous violence of whit/i they are the victims, they have struggled and are still struggling with zmconquerable murqgeithev endure the rcorst calamities without flinching. By VISCOUNT ESHER I SHOULD not have ventured to write in lime ALBERT'S BOOK were It'l'lOt that my father-in-law's name, " Sylvain Van de Weyer," stands With that of Lord Palmerston at the head of the " scrap of paper," so con- temptuously scorned by the German Chancellor. The Belgian patriots of 1830 who ofiered the throne to King Leopold would have gloried in the steadfast valour of his grandson, and in the immortal sufferings of the nation they helped to call into being. i 28 £54: All honour to than .' Their heroism is worthy of the highest admiration and their sufferings claim thc sympathy of the whole world. Soldiers fallen in "cast numbers on the field of_ battle, imiorz'nt creatures massacred, towns and villages hnrnt to the ground, monuments destroyed, populations exiled .' such are the horrors that have matte Belgium the M'artyr Nation, and stirred the compassion of all r-zoblc hearts. In no country is this sympathy deeper than in France. By sacrificing herself in defame of her honour and independence, Belgium blocked the inwdcr's passage when he aimed at trashing Frame. By so doing she has earned 'inzperishablc rights and the gratitude of all Frt'llt/l people They will not be ungratzfnli With the Belgians and the English, our glorious fillies, our armies will fight to the end to drive out the inattdcr. I'Ve shall make it a point of honour to (ante generously to the ussistanre of our brothers in distress. Finally, we shall pray to the God of justire to uphold the muse of (2 people so faithful to Christ and to His Churi‘h, and to grant them peace and prosperity in a free land with an increased patrimony of glogv. |