THE YPRES TIMES
67
THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND QUEEN OF THE BELGIANS.
served the nation well. Leopold I. strove hard to consolidate his little kingdom
Leopold II. transformed the little kingdom to which he succeeded into a wide empire
Albert I. prepared his country for peace as well as for war. He girt his sword about him
fearlessly, but he also opened books and taught the Belgian world to admire the works
of the Belgian poets and novelists in the same way that they had long admired those
of Belgian scientists and historians. It is for Leopold III. to aim at embodying in him
self the virtues of his three illustrious predecessors, and the whole world will applaud
his efforts. At present, of course, he cannot be expected always to exhibit that sure
touch which only follows in the wake of long experience. On the other hand, nothing
else seems lacking to his equipment as a powerful factor in international affairs. That
his reign may be happy, peaceful and prosperous is the wish of all men of goodwill. H.B.
her baby brother, Prince Baudouin, is the outcome of the young Queen's belief in freedom
from restraint. Their brightness, rosy health and obvious happiness are the finest
tributes to the wisdom of her theories of upbringing, which offset the brain-tax that is
bound to attach to children of royal birth in a bi-lingual country. From babyhood these
children have been taught to lisp French and Flemish with equal facility, and naturally
they have picked up their mother's Swedish as well. The birth of a second son, Prince
Albert (named after his late grandfather) last month, was hailed with acclamation
throughout the length and breadth of Belgium.
Three Far-seeing Monarchs.
The reign of King Leopold III. has opened auspiciously amid remarkable mani
festations of loyalty and goodwill on the part of all sections of the community. Belgians
recall with pride that throughout the past hundred years each of their three Sovereigns
