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Show invincible au service d'une pensée juste, connaisseZ-vous un spectaclgqui éveille dans l'éme un plus méle sursaut de respect ct, s'll est posmble, d'émulation P Michelet disait de Kléber qu'il avait " une figure si militaire que l'on devenait brave en le regardant." Du Roi Albert, 011 pourrait dire que l'on deviant plus honnéte homme, rien qu'en pensant i1 lui. TRANSL/i TION (abridged) War, in the midst of its Il'itftll and manifold trials, bet/ores at Ieart one benefit on the nations and in» dit‘iduals who accept its tragic neeessit'v in a manly spirit : that of education by endut'anee, which may malee this formidable element of dzstruetion a fertile element of reronstrueti/m. War has yet another benefit to offer to " men offload will " .‘ that (If the example to be giz‘en and remit ed, by means of which this bloody artifirer of distort] beenmes also an agent of union It binds the ratio] sheaf more (lose/y together, at the i'ery moment when it seems about to scatter it. Example, when it is the example of duty on the bat/le-field, rallies all energies round the standard with extraordinary "your l The superior models the interior upon himself, (outage rtanzmatts despair, strength beeomes the rule for weakness. the stunt of heurl is a living sermon. lie shores what man can do tfhe will, what you, his comrade, could do if you \muld, And you will,7 To brazre danger, to suffer, to dieAto you, fortunate heir of a happy age, tluse words had surh a remote signifieanrel In a fear days rear made them a terrible rrality. ll'ou/d you hat"! strength to [are it? You doubted ll. llut another, (love to you, showed this strength, ((1/71th and quutlv. [In atttttah eras eotttagious. What he can do, you trill do. l on go out to "Ht! dunner, you arr willing to suffer, you mll be abh to die. [I Is the mime/1‘ of sat'rt/tt‘e tltat it multiplies in all who witness ll. "'1‘ have bun seeing this mitazh Merv day. ererv hour [or thz last thne months. This propagation o/ the saered flame is nallv the handing on ol the ton/i at which l.unrttus speaks: lit quasi cursm‘cs i'ntutis lumptulJ ltndunl. I would r't‘nture to sav, teplaring the vuau' ol the text by that 74 or d to u'hu'h those born soldiers, the Romans, pan suth deep "Martin‘s : \irtus ! :lmong thrst bearers of the heron tutrh, no flour! is to me so tour/1mg; as that of the l'rlttu to u'hom my countrv, l-‘tam'e. (an newr be too passionately grateful. I ~i/u ah of that King :llbert {1-hour splendid pusonality has {run the hie/ast meaning to this stun uvar. Il'ithout him, and without the litlgian people. it would have been bul a universal rutaelvsm o/ no «:‘ery dtfinite significauz‘e, ' . ll ‘ ‘ King; Albeit has dam more. The First if Englishmen 184 has recognised this in one of those speeches British orators make when they are mating on the great lines of their history. Europe was formerlyY a collection of small States, the fragmentary nature of which made the monstrous onslaught of immense human masses sueh as that we are witnessing to-day t'ery difiieult. Prince Bismarek was the sinister geniux echo destroyed this prudently arranged Europe. Belgium is one of the few small states that survit'ed. If when the storm is over we wish to establish a lasting peaee, we must return to this policy of small States. One of the Sovereigns of the Coalition wisely said to one of our best Ambassadors .‘ " The task of the zlllies is to bring Europe bath to the ante-Bismarehian period." The cure lies in this direction not in inefleetual and chimerieal proclamations of definitive pram, nor in the redoubtahle project of a greater unifieanon of Germany under a reptthliran label. It is essential to the future of the ri'z‘ilisrd 'world that there should be no longer a Germany, but several Germanys, a mosaic of small Sta/ex, instead of the hlorh amalgamated by the mighty hand of the Iron Chancellor. lint to ensure the exis/ence of surh a Europe, it ts a \lllC qufi non that thefirst article of its code should/1e the independence of small States. ll teas this printiple. the basis and the guarantee of fulutr international equilibrium, that the Belgians called upon the lznglish and the l-"rench to defend with them, thus bringing us too barh to the [great tradition of our historvt The old French monarthv was faithful to this principle, and palitieal truth recognised social truth in the King's aetion. This action he [informed u'ith the gnatest simplirit}: Throughout the long, hard meles in TL'llifll he has seen his tou'ns bombarded. his banks rubbed, his subjects massat‘nd, his filinisttrs compelled to seek asylum in Frana, he has not Illlt'lt d a single (omplaint, and sueh has been the sublime svmpathv between the heart of the Prime and the heart of hrs people. that not a {turd of regret has been heald rec‘ealingj the despondenev of an int-ruled prop/er xln invincible will, serving a true rorzctptionieuuld any Iflt't‘ldflt‘ stir the soul to more i'irile respect and, it possible, mutilation? .Uirhelet tells us' Kle'tur had such a martial air that those who saw him herame brain. 07' King :llbert it may be said that even thinking of him makes one a bitter man. By T. P. O'CONNOR "YOU have saved Europe," were the words that came instinctivelv to mv l1ps when I met my friend, M. Edmond dc Prellc, 0f the Belgian licgution, for the first t1me after the opening of the War ; and these words still shin up my feelmg and the feeling of millions of the peoples of our Empire with regard to the part which Belgium has played in this grcat tragcdv of a European War. Give due praise to thc gallant entry of thc l'rcuch ~Armv, to the dcuthless story of French's retreat ; and still you have to comc back to the polnt that it was Belgium that met and held back thc first onrush of the Germans in their invasion of Western Europe. The hcroic dcfcucc 0f L1ége, followed by" similar heroism, obstinate bruvcrv, tcnzlciuus dcfcucc. in other parts of the Belgians' native land, had thc inculculublc results on all the future of staying the progrcss of the war of thc (lcrmans ; of turning topsy-turvy their ambitious and wcll-armngcd 'l‘ichl‘ublc; and thus of giving to both France and England thc full time and opportunity to bc ready for the invaders on their belated arrival (m the soil of liruhcc. lf Paris be safe to-day, if the French and British troops are now stcndilv throwing back the invader, if, in short, the whole tide, of thc fm‘tuncs of battle have turned, it is Belgium that must always have thc glory of striking the first and decisive blow which led iucvitably to those splcndid rcsults. The heroism of this resistance is made all the grcutcr by thc gigantic inequality bctwecn the forces of Belgium and thnsc of hcr pmvcrful cncmy ; the greater the disproportion the grcntcr thc hcroism. It is comparatively easy for one brave army to face another which is about its equal in strcngth ; WWW but for an army infinitesimal in point of numbers to facc thc gigantic army of Germany to go into battle was what soldicrs call :1 forlorn lmpc itlmt is to say, an enterprise for which only the. bratvcst cvcn among the brow volunteer to undertake. And to Bclgium, us to (Ircccc in thc days of hcr ancient struggle against thc hordes of Asia, civilisation will always give her infinite gratitude, and Liégc will takc its place in the sunn- culcndur :15 Thermopylzc. This resistance then to Germany has put Europe and civilisation uudcr this great debt to Belgium; but I cam add that future gem-rations of Belgians will bless the generation of to-duy who by their hcruic I'csistutlcc have placed the liberty and thc indcpcndcncc of Belgium on an imprcguublc rock. Never again will any Power, howcvcr powerful, unscrupulmm, or cruel, dare to violate the soil or attempt to destroy the national and independent cxistcncc of Belgium. Thu mcnithc women and the children also-0f Belgium who have died, have scaled with their blood tlu: dtvmc right of Belgium for all time to own and rule their own country. Mll‘d'l'l |