[Footnote 1: Translated by Alfred Sutro.]

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KING ALBERT




II

KING ALBERT


1

Of all the heroes of this stupendous war, heroes who will live in the
memory of man, one assuredly of the most unsullied, one of those whom
we can never love enough, is the great young king of my little
country.

He was indeed at the critical hour the appointed man, the man for whom
every heart was waiting. With sudden beauty he embodied the mighty
voice of his people. He stood, upon the moment, for Belgium, revealed
unto herself and unto others. He had the wonderful good fortune to
realize and bestow a conscience in one of those dread hours of tragedy
and perplexity when the best of consciences waver.