BELGIANS' KING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21758, 24 March 1934, Page 8

BELGIANS' KING

' MOVING TRIBUTES SYMPATHY OF BRITAIN * 0 PRIME MINISTER'S ORATION [from our own correspondent] LONDON, Feb. 23 The British Parliament joined on Tuesday of this week in the universal tribute to the life and character of Albert, King of the Belgians. In a united House and in the presence of the Belgian Ambassador, the Prime Minister rose to submit the following motion: —" That an humble address be presented to His Majesty to convey to His Majesty the expression of the deep regret with which this House has learned the news of the death of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, and to pray His Majesty that he will be graciously pleased to express to His Royal Highness the Duke of Brabant, the heir to the throne of Belgium, the profound sympathy of this House with Her Majesty, the Queen of the Belgians and the Royal Family, and with the and people of Belgium." " The late King," said Mr. MacDonald, " held a unique place among the rulers of Europe. No envy shadowed him, and none of the pride and circumstances of Imperial splendour kept him in the glare of the light. " Suddenly Europe was maddened by blaring trumpets, war was loosed, and, like a rock in the river, Belgium stood right in the middle of the torrent of marching feet, and at the head of them was the King. From that day this quiet;, unostentatious man, tmshakable in his devotion to national liberty and his I'oyalty to obligations, became the embodiment of his people, and one of the most powerful personal factors in the conduct of the war. As the months passed he grew in stature in the eyes of all who had dealings with His Majesty. '< At Home In Britain "At first valued mainly perhaps as an ally, he came to be regarded as a friend richly endowed with the qualities which surely may be set amid the most kingly of all human qualities. He was gracious, he was reliable, he. was patient in suffering, and he was restrained in triumph. Through the whole of that terrible time he was faithful to the charge of his kingship. In him the virtues of the man became the honours of the King. He carried his dignities in such a way as to increase the genial intimacy of his friendship. " He loved to be here in England. He was at home with us. Nothing gave him more pleasure and contentment than those almost casual calls when, everyone at ease, he held converse on politics, its far-away dreams, its hardwon achievements, its difficult roads; on science, on art, and occasionally on the solemn concerns of life and death." Those qualities, Mr. Mac Donald said, he shared with the Queen, who shared his life, his work, and his aims. He concluded with an eloquent passage in which he described King Albert's fidelity /to his declared ideal of' a Sovereign as one who must be unceasingly attentive to the voice of the country'and watch with sympathy over the fate of the humble, and he bade farewell to ""'a fine man, a great King, a noble citizen." 41 Courage in Adversity " Mr. Attlee, Deputy Leader of the • Labour Opposition, joined in the eulogy of a man who filled greatly a great position, who displayed hign courage and constancy in adversity and war, and in the difficult times of peace wisdom >and understanding. It was fitting that the representatives of the Commons of England should extend sympathy to the Belgian people, Britain's old friends and allies, and trust that the! ijew ruler and his people might be " spared v any return of the dark shadows against 'which the late King's liigh qualities shone out so brightly. In the House of Lords, where an Address in identical terms was voted, I/ord Hailsham described King Albert as a king in every sense of the word, vhose heroism in the dark days of 1914 could not be easily matched in history. " Alike in physical perfection and intellectual ability and in greatness of character," said Lord Hailsham, "he. was a pre-eminent figure in Europe. For nearly a quarter of a - century he ruled in Belgium. Throughout that time, in pe&ce and in war, in happiness and in adversity, he never failed to show a simplicity of character and a a devotion to duty which earned for him the esteem of the world and the love and affection of his own people." Earl Granville, who was British* Ambassador in Brussels, referred to his personal acquaintance with King Albert. "We all know," he said,

"he was a great King and a great man. I saw a good deal of him, and got to know him. He was a man whom if he had not been a King, but had been a lesser person, one would have described colloquially as 'a thoroughly good fellow.' Good he was in every sense of the word—intrinsically good. I do not think I ever met a man. who gave one such a. strong impression of absolute straightness. He was simple and he was utterly and completely straight. He dfivoted his life to his wife, his children 'and his country."