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Show gar Mmh'm .. ‘ By CARDINAL GIBBONS I GLADLY subscribe my name to KING ALBERT's BOOK. fl («444.er By WILLIAM ]. LOCKE . To His Heroic Majesty the King of the Belgians, SIRE, One Fifth of November more worthy to live in the shuddering memory of man than the anniversary which we English celebrate-one Fifth of November, three hundred and thirty-eight years ago, the wintry dawn broke upon Antwerp burned and butchered by a soldiery " who," as the great American historian says, " seemed to have cast off even the vizard of humanity. Hell," he adds, " seemed emptied of its fiends." To-day a soldiery as ruthless and as bestial has entered the gates of Antwerp after spreading a desolation through your fair land such as Alva and his followers, supreme products of a race then braggart too of its " culture," had neither the wit to devise nor the ferocity to execute. More than three hundred years ago your country fought for everything that man holds dear, everything that man holds sacred. Against fearful odds she fought the greatest fight for Liberty that the world till then had seen. In that stupendous struggle, " women, old men, and children had all been combatants, and all therefore incurred the vengeance of the conquerors." To-day, Sire, your foes, molested by naught but the chivalrous resistance of your armies, have wreaked a vengeance thrice more damnable. Three hundred years ago your country, with unparalleled heroism, triumphed over the powers of darkness and established herself in Europe as one of the centres of inspiration in all that matters to the soul of mankind. She now, once more, has fought even a more glorious battle for Liberty than in those far-off days. She has struck an immortal chord that vibrates and shall vibrate through the united heart of the Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Slav races-races who, in that sublimated expression of Life to which we give the name of Art, a term embracing all manifestations of spiritual discovery from a song to a cathedral, have abhorred Teutonic ideals. And as in those ' - .i. "7.3. a" "1‘." .. (.‘hnndmrL'fiw: w" um, I -a ONTHEZ FIELD far-off days, your noble country, secure in her own integrity, and, now, inspired by the wondering admiration of the civilised world, once more shall triumph and once more shall play a prouder part than ever among the nations of the earth. For yourself, Sire, what more fitting tribute can a humble writer lay at your feet than the words of the Anglo-Saxon historian regarding your predecessor and exemplar, the great saviour of your country three hundred years ago : " He went through life bearing the load of a people's sorrows upon his shoulders, With a smiling face. He was the guiding star of a great nation." a 47% again-war; ,5 b Irv H. CH.\NDI m CHRM‘Y I |