A TRIED FRIEND.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 May 1922, Page 5

A TRIED FRIEND.

BRITAIN AND FRANCE. THE KING’S TRIBUTE. t LINKED BY THE WAR. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. London, May 14. France is deeply moved by the King s noble words at Terlincthun, especially the following quotation: “Tn this fair land of France, which sustained the utmost fury of the long strife, our brothers are numbered by hundreds and thousands. They lie .in the keeping of a tried and generous friend, a resolute and chivalrous comrade in arms, who, with ready and quick sympathy, has set aside for ever the soil in which they sleep, so that we and our descendants may for all time reverently tend and preserve their resting places. 1 have many times asked myself in the course of my pilgrimage whether there can be more potent advocates for peace upon earth through the years to come, than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war.” The whole Press pays a warm tribute to the King’s speech. Many newspapers pointedly differentiate between the speech and Mr. Lloyd George, who does not represent English feeling. The Figaro states; “There issued from • every sentence of the King's speech a high emotion. He knows tnat the old hatreds which separated France and England lie buried in the graves of our heroes, and that even the monstrous efforts of the politicians will fail to awaken them.” The Republique Francaise states: “The King’s pious pilgrimage comes opportunely to remind the exasperated French nation that Mr. Lloyd George is not England.” The Rappel suggests that some kind friend should translate the King’s speech into English for the benefit of Mr. Lloyd George. M. Millerand, President of France, replying to the King's message on the eve of his departure from Boulogne, in which he expressed the Empires gratitude to France for the generous gift of ground for the cemeteries, which were hallowed by memories of common sorrows and glories, states that France will never forget the sublime sacrifice of the British soldiers who fell side by side with French soldiers in the course of the terrible and glorious struggle against unjust aggression. The memory of the heroes of the British Army will for ever remain piously honored in the land where they fought so magnificently together with the French nation. The President concluded: “The Government and I join in the homage your Majesty has just done to the glorious British* and French soldiers, for ever united in the gratitude and admiration of the two countries.”