THE BATTLE OF FRANCE
by others in a scouts5 camp, by others in the slums
of some great city, would bring back to all of them
the pictures that hang on the walls of every farm and
cottage, and awaken the poetry of the old country
they love so well.
It is a feeling that has nothing in common with
the mixture of terror and devotion with which their
strange master inspires our enemies. This young
man, so unassuming, so pleasant and yet so dignified,
personifies a long lineage and a noble history.
Twenty-five years ago, his father before him visited
the fathers of the men who are welcoming him
to-day. The affection which binds the British soldier
to his sovereign is, in all its aspects, the affection of
a family—a family which has grown into an Empire.
In the old days of December, 1914, I saw a soldier
without a relative in the world receive a Christmas
card signed by King George and Queen Mary. 'You
see that?' he said, 1 thought there was nobody. But
I had my King/
That is why the Royal Visit is an important event.
It quickens pulses and reawakens energies. For a
week the whole army had been giving a more
especial attention to its uniform, its arms, its drill.
The few careless ones who, in the face of strict
orders, sometimes forgot their gas-masks, saw and
remembered the King's example of obedience. As
for the French villagers, they listened to the cheering
of the soldiers, saw the steel helmets and forage-caps