Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XI. To Belgium
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
TO BELGIUM 213
lodestar ever since the time of William of Orange. All that
can jeopardise England’s supremacy on the high seas must
be crushed—if possible by foreign arms. When the powers
of the Continent have weakened one another with war, England
has stepped in and reaped the harvest. Her position in the
world has been gained more through felicitous combinations
of circumstances than through any efforts and sacrifices of
her own. It is only when Belgium has seemed near to falling
into the hands of some strong continental power that England
has felt obliged to put her hand to the plough, for her own skin
has then been threatened. But the intervention has then been
effected under the cloak of the plea of defending the minor
states against the enemy’s violation of the rights of nations.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century France was too
great and powerful for England. Its Emperor must therefore
be crushed for all time. Hence the vanquished monarch was
placed in a cage on a crag in the ocean, and his gaoler obeyed
but too promptly the orders he received from London. Now
the centenary is to be celebrated with the crushing of Germany.
But the success of a hundred years ago is not being repeated.
Hush, is not that the thunder of the guns of Antwerp ?
We listen. No, all is still. My chauffeurs, still with the poor
captive lion, cannot understand what has happened. Daily
for the past two weeks they assure me they have heard the
guns, and now all is suddenly still. We do not even see the
glare of burning houses northward. Perhaps it is the wind
and fog. My companions have been told that during the
previous night 1500 shells had been flung into the unhappy
city, where the destruction must have been appalling. How-
ever, I say to myself, even the German artillery will need
some time to take a place like Antwerp, which, according to
English and French sources, is the world’s strongest fortress
and absolutely impregnable.
We jumped into the car once more and quickly covered
the remaining eleven English miles to Brussels. The road
is paved with stone, and seems one long street lined with
continuous rows of houses. The electric tramways are running
and entire trains pass us filled with Germans and Belgians.
Villages and suburbs here follow one another in endless succes-
sion, and the traffic becomes livelier. Grey-clad sentries with
fixed bayonets are everywhere to be seen, but all is quiet and
peaceful. Yet we almost feel the covert hatred in the glances
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
