A first time, at Liege, they saved France; a second time, in Flanders,
they arrested the advance of the enemy upon Calais. France and England
know it; and Belgium stands before them both, and before the entire
world, as a nation of heroes.
Never before in my whole life did I feel so proud to be a Belgian as
when, on the platforms of French stations, and halting a while in Paris,
and visiting London, I was witness of the enthusiastic admiration our
allies feel for the heroism of our army. Our King is, in the esteem of
all, at the very summit of the moral scale. He is doubtless the only man
who does not recognize that fact, as, simple as the simplest of his
soldiers, he stands in the trenches and puts new courage, by the
serenity of his face, into the hearts of those of whom he requires that
they shall not doubt of their country. The foremost duty of every
Belgian citizen at this hour is gratitude to the army.
If any man had rescued you from shipwreck or from a fire, you would
assuredly hold yourselves bound to him by a debt of everlasting
thankfulness. But it is not one man, it is 250,000 men who fought, who
suffered, who fell for you so that you might be free, so that Belgium
might keep her independence, her dynasty, her patriotic unity; so that
after the vicissitudes of battle she might rise nobler, purer, more
erect, and more glorious than before.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139