The Washington times., 1918-08-15
ing of his first fright In battle, IN
vivid impressions of shell-hre:

ing OF MS nrSS fright In DaItlep IN
vivid impressions of shell-flre:
But I recovered my sang froid,
Had not promised to be brave?"
Such utter simplicity! 1t leaves
one speechless. He goes on to tell OF
how his little companion" who had
volunteered with him, fell dead at
his side-"with q cry that tore my
heart-MamanP Was he not = hero
But without name, there are SO many
such"
Halt there, Kaiser: one does not
pass.
king Albert has said So"
Amelia Defries tells of the attitude
OF the Belgian people In the follow
ing episode:
"STiens, the Kingr We saluted.
and the King smiled at us and replied
] to our gesture with . slow salute.
Glued to the spot, we looked at him
as he went his way in the rain. sle-
be also was padding in the bad roads
OF the front, accompanied only by his
"Quel typer Yet the King had only
smiled and passed on, commented
Miss Defries.
This soul, this soul Of Flanders,
which dies over this farm" writes
another great spirit, "this soul which
lives, nobler and more beautiful. IL
stronger than ever and will live for
ever; twenty Teuton races would be
impotent to bring It to the ground"
And In what one might call the
stoicism of other days, we have from
q poet-soldier:
"we had. little by little. taken the
gentle habit
OF counting upon one Rnothsr-and
Of mutual aid"-and then.
I'VE spoke of the future, Of glad
ness and OF sorrow,
knocked him out;
But we had understood that our
And that Man IL nothing but . pas
senger."
Again the spiritual In . "taIk with
God" The writer says he had been
questioning why he had to endure so
much. The Christ speaks to him. tell
ing him that even A. He suffered, 20
must they suffer.
'seigneur, here Is the whole Of my
SOUL
'Then bueklsd on my sack and I
retook my road
Il had said, rssignsur, here is the
whole Of my SOUL"
These and countless others Of their
sort in all tongues, save one" said
Miss Defries, must surely md .
place beside the Psalms Of the an
cient soldier-king, In the churches Of
the future"
In potent words that strike straight
to the heart OF her subject, and in .
-
brings out q remarkable poet-lore,
some Of Il rugged and graphic as
Walt Whitman in q recital of the
scenes, the moods, the aspirations and
sorrows OF this people; some simple,
sincere and full OF faith: one, n Da-
vignon says, the great Verhaeren
would have delighted in All Of
them breathe what Is put forth in
another paper, the Resurrection
dune Armee," which closes with "a
unique impulse, inspired BY its Roi
chevslier, penetrates this renewed
army-the impulse TO conquer"
'Tt is real literature" adds Miss
Defries, a. simply a. the poet-soldiers
themselves
To disproVe many Of the tales we
tude of the Belgian refugees, Miss
Defries related an incident in her
personal experience. In 1913, during
a year spent in Belgium. she chanced
to meet the chief justice of Bruges
and his family. At parting she gave
them her card.
In August, 1914, when At her home
in England, she was summoned by q
maid to the corridor Of the house to
greet some callers, q number of them |
They presented the card she had
given them They were the chief JUS |
tices of Bruges, his wife, his sons and
dauRhter-come as Belgian refugees
to claim the hospitality she had Of
fered..
nothing but the clothing they had on,
''and this" said one Of the party.
holding up q small bag.
They entered the home as guests,
welcome guests. "Also," said Miss
Defries, leach one of them found an
occupation for himself And they
were cheerful! They did not bring
their burden into our home.
"TWhere I sit, there is Belgium"
had been the FIRST remark of the
mother OF this family. 1t is the ever
strengthening spirit Of Belgium to-
day"
These "verses from the field of
battle" are veritable soul mon !
ographs. The Belgian who sends ,
them ends with these words: THE /,
first essential is. that Belgium-the /.
Belgium OF tomorrow-shall be as
sured of independent existence, inde- !
pendent and happy for sure. but
above all united and strong"
Amelia Defries asks: "AIlies. IL
this assured?"
America might answer for her