The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-10-17
KINGS WITHOUT
COUNTRIES
KING ALBERT-THE BELGIAN.

A~S6 atBElSl--ihE bfLNsIaN.
There is a portion of the allied line
of battle that is sacred Consecrated
by the hot blood of suffering Belgian
infantry Is that tiny strip of Flemish
soil between Ypres and the sea- 1t
is here. on a barren strip of sand, that
a stern wall of Belgian steel mothers
the last pitfful remnant of the ward
OF the Christian nations"--brave Bel
rum.
The sinister Hun saps and surges
ever against last desperate indomi-
table defense, A defense: a living.
puising, vibrant protection that eats.
absorhs and welcomes the German
steel that the remorseless enemy may
not desecrate the last brave galaxy of
Belgian homes.
Somewhere in Flanders, lost In that
heroic line of life. the king of all the
Belgians is fighting, With the cour-
age of Roland the brave blond king
Keeps his face toward the enemy in
the defense of this, the last of his
kingdom Sad blue eyes, striking
blond hair and six feet of solid muscle
distinguish the man from his officers.
No regatta, no display, but the domi-
mating magnetism Of this romantic
king mark him out as man. "a COM
plete man--and every inch a king,
Through every heart-rending, spirit
King Alber, suffered with his men.
II was the unconquerable spirit and
unquenchable fire In the rulers brill
liant mind that enspirited the as
founding defense Of the royal fort
resses OF Liege. Namur and Antwerp.
Twice did the cold gray Belgian tur-
rets sweep back the Huns massed at
facks while all Belgium, indeed. the
nations of the world, felt the roper
cussion OF a patriotism so sublime
and wonderful that we wondered If
those Belgian regiments were formed
OF demi- gods.
And then came the hour when the
unreachable Teuton engines destroyed
from a distance the Belgian defense.
Great tons of Hun explosives blew
the cement cones bodily from their
emplacements and the sulien gray
backs prepared to- advance AS the
Hun rolled on to the forts Of Namur,
Albert of the Belgians was found one
night by his staff In a small thicket
by the side of a military road Tor
rents of rain were falling and the
heavens were splitting in anguish.
The king was on his knees. praying
to his God. The intermittent flashes
OF the lightning illuminated a scene
OF wraith-like splendor From that
night on the Belgian king has not
been seen to smile
Every foot Of the grand army's re-
treat cost Albert unutterable anguish
As tho months Of hell flashed past
and Britannia struck like a falcon at
the German flank on the Marine, the
king decided to stand at ypres There
Were only sand dunes. but it was holy
Belgium, and the army prepared to
cast It's last measure OF devotion 10
Albert and the motherland. They
stood.
with the king, the kind OF king
who could bend an inch bar of iron.
Il little lady always journeyed, When
att hts world was converted to liv-
ing inferno, It was his queen who
comforted him. She had been the
Princess Elizabeth of the royal house
of Bavaria, of pure Teuton blood.
Their marriage. in 1900. has always
been reckoned as the most successful
love match among the royal houses
of Europe. 1t would, indeed, be diff
cult to imagine the young King AL
bert accepting the dictates OF state
counselors In an afTatre d'amour.
After Nieuport- Dixmude, the Bel
gian armies were YEARLY STUN bling
along battered military road 1t
was midday and the sun glinted on
the royal standard on one side of the
road. In the grass q man. caked with
mud and CRIME. was dead in the sleep
OF exhaustion It was tho King Al
bertrand his men. suffering as they
ware, wept as they saw their king
lying thus They made laundering
attempts to keep their equipment
from rafting and endeavored to pre-
serve silence so as not to awake
him.
The king has been twice wounded.
Americas generous response to Bel
sfum S need touched him deeply and
his letter Of thanks to the American
people came from grateful heart.
Their els character in the king of
all the Bolgians. His kingdom con-
sists Of an ineffable love from every
Belgian subject and a dreary strip of
land between Ypres and the sea-