GRATITUDE OF BELGIAN REFUGEES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1389, 22 November 1918, Page 5

GRATITUDE OF BELGIAN REFUGEES.

MONUMENT TO GREAT BRITAIN.

The Belgian refugees in England, together with their compatriots, who though no longer residing there, had been welcomed in that country during some period of the hostilities, have decided to give to tho people of Great Britain a tangible testimonial of their gratitude for the brother';; reception granted them on British soil and for tho attentions incessantly lavished upon them during their stay therein. Upon one of London’s public squares there is to be erected a splendid monument, the work of an eminent Belgian sculptor. It will lastingly proclaim to every passer-by that, if they remember with horror • the tyranny of the foes who sullied their territory, tho Belgians, on the other hand, shall never forget the favours and services they received from the grand and generous nation

that remained so nobly faithful and true to tho pledges of honour. fPi)e work has been entrusted to Mr Victor Rousseau, tho famous sculptor. Tho monument, of a circular form in tho groundwork, extends to 16 metres in length ; its central height is of six metres. On either side of the hcmicycle are outlined tho two figures of Justice and Honour. To the right, an iron clad and barded knight offers his sword to Belgium. He incarnates tho British warrior whose blade is put in tho service of Right. Tho main group, all in bronze, whilst tho hcmicycle and its “reliefs" will bo of Portland silver-placet stone, comprises three figures: Belgium, draped in mourning, hovering in the sky of exile, in a tragic attitude, comments with a pathetic gesture tho full kindness of tho British nation. She bends over two children, a lad, tlie coining generation, and a lass, future’s dawning grace, facing Germanic brutality. This group is of an actual lyric conception. Entirely covered with wreaths of roses, it renders most expressively the Belgian nation’s tokens of gratitude to Great Britain. The work of tho eminent Belgian artist is really as potent as it is beautiful.