ur which that people holds and, above all, upon the sacrifices
which it is capable of making for the sake of that honour. We may
differ upon all the other ideas that guide the actions of mankind,
notably upon the religious idea; but those who do not agree on this
one point are unworthy of the name of man. It represents the purest
flame, the ever more ardent focus of all human dignity and virtue.

You have sacrificed yourselves wholly to this idea; and, in the name
of this idea, which is as vital and as powerful in your souls as in
ours, you came to our aid, as we knew that you would come, for we
counted on you as surely as you counted on us. You are ready to make
the same sacrifices; and already you are proudly supporting the
heaviest of sacrifices. Thus, in this stupendous struggle, we are
united by bonds even more fraternal than those which bind the other
Allies. Our union is more lofty and more generous, for it is based
wholly upon the noblest thoughts and feelings that can inspire the
heart. And this union, which is marked by a mutual confidence and
affection that grow hourly deeper and wider, is helping us both to go
even beyond our duty.

For we have gone beyond it; and we are exceeding it daily. We have
done and are doing far more than we were bound to do. It was for us
Belgians to resist, loyally, vigorously, to the utmost of our
strength, as we had promised. But the most sensitive honour would have
allowed us to lay down our arms after the immense and heroic effort of
the first few days and to trust to the victor's clemency when he
recognized that we were beaten. Nothing compelled us to immolate
ourselves entirely, to surrender, in succession, as a burnt-offering
to our ideals, all that we possessed on earth and to continue the
struggle after we were crushed, even in the last torments of
starvation, which to-day holds three millions of us in its grip.
Nothing compelled us to this course, other than the increasingly lofty
ideal of duty held by those who began by putting it into practice and
are now living in its fulfilment.

As for you English, you had to come to our assistance, that is to say,
to send us the troops which you had ready under arms; but nothing
compelled you either, after the first useless engagements, to devote
yourselves with unparalleled ardour and self-sacrifice, to hurl into
the mortal and stupendous battle the whole of your youth, the fairest
upon earth, and all your riches, the most prod