BELGIUM'S GRATITUDE

Waikato Times, Volume 93, Issue 14536, 7 December 1920, Page 2

BELGIUM'S GRATITUDE

GIFT OF A MONUMENT. (From a Correspondent.) LONDON, October 14. Belgium's gift to Great Britain for sheltering so many Belgians during the war takes the shape of a dignified and beautiful monument, the work of one of he'r own sculptors, M. Rousseau. It was unveiled in the autumn sunshine on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Nurse Cavell. The scene on the Embankment was full of memories, for all who endured tiie terror of war. In the crowd which gathered round the veiled monument in the Victoria. Embankment Gardens Were many of those who were driven from their homes by the enemy. From the ashes of war anew Belgium has risen, and all these people were there to thank England for thu care she gave them when it must have been difficult indeed to have faith in the end. The bronze memorial is set in a curved stone wall, which bears in bas relief the armorial shields of the provinces of Belgium. On one side is the word "Justice," on the other "Honour," while the monufent itself shows a llgurc of Belgium the Mother, gathering her children round her, and bidding them to remember the days of their exile. M. Leon Delacroix, the Belgian Prime Minister, offered the memorial to our country, and spoke in touching words of the soil of Belgium made holy by the blood of Englishmen and Belgians fightin gside by side for freedom.

Princess Clementine of Belgium then pulled the cord, and the draperies fell fro mtlie monument, showing its beauty to all who had gathered round. The Grenadier Guards presented arms In salute, and there followed the National Anthems of the two countries.,

Lord Curzon then accepted the monument. "Let it stand there for ever," he said, "not only as a monument of gratitude, but as a sign that the, two nations which joined hands in 1914 mean to remain perpetually united."

After the ceremony was over everyone pressed round to see this beautiful work of art, and among many who expressed their admiration was outown sculptor, Sir George Frampton.