The Queen's Flower

On July 25, 1918, nearly every person in Washington, the capital of the

United States, was asked to buy a bunch of forget-me-nots; and nearly

every one responded, so that almost $7000 worth was sold in about an

hour. In many other cities sales were held, and for many years to come

such sales will be held all over the civilized world, for the

forget-me-not is the Queen's flower, chosen by Elizabeth, Queen of

Belgium, to be sold on her birthday, July 25, to raise money for the

children of Belgium. She is a lover of flowers as are all the people of

her country. Many parts of Belgium were before the war, like Holland,

devoted to raising flowers for bulbs and seeds. It is said that the

garden at the Belgian Royal Palace was the most beautiful garden in the

world.



For many years it has been the Queen's custom to name a flower to be

sold on her birthday for the benefit of some good cause. In 1910 she

named the La France rose to be sold for the benefit of sufferers from

tuberculosis in Belgium. Nearly $100,000 was raised on this one day.



The war has not done away with the beautiful custom, and on the

Queen's birthday in 1918, she named a flower to be sold to raise money

to help care for the children of Belgium. She chose the forget-me-not,

for the Queen can never forget the terrible sacrifice her country was

called upon to make, nor the brutal manner in which the Huns used their

power.



Those who have carefully studied the facts have concluded that the Huns

coolly and deliberately planned to destroy Belgium as a country and a

people, not only during the war but forever. It was to carry out this

plan that the villages and cities were burned or bombarded until they

were nothing but heaps of stone and ashes; that much of the machinery

was either destroyed or carried into Germany; that the Belgian boys and

men were herded together and deported into Germany to work as slaves;

and that the Belgian babies were neglected, starved, and murdered. If

only the old and feeble were left at the end of the war, there could be

no Belgium to compete with Germany, and Germany desired this whether

she should win or lose.



America has done much to relieve the suffering of the Belgian people.

Germany saw to it, however, that the babies and very young children

were neglected as far as possible, with the exception of healthy

Belgian boy babies, and many of these she snatched from their parents

and carried into Germany to be raised as Huns. It has been said that

no horror of the war equaled the horror of what Germany did to Belgian

childhood.



Queen Elizabeth realized the danger and did everything in her power to

protect and help the babies of Belgium. Although she is by birth a

German princess, she wishes never to forget and that the world may

never forget the great wrong done her country. In naming the

forget-me-not she meant that Belgium's wrong should never be forgotten,

and that the children of Belgium should not be forgotten.



The flower is to be sold for the benefit of Belgian children at all

times and in all countries, for the Queen has said she will never name

another.



The little blue forget-me-not will be sold all over the civilized

world, that means except in Hunland, and wherever it is sold Belgium's

story will be remembered. All that is sweet and beautiful and pure is

connecting itself in the minds and hearts of men with Belgium in her

sacrifice and suffering; and as long as history is recorded and

remembered, the word "Belgium" will awaken these feelings in those who

read. This is a part of her reward, just as the opposite is a part of

the punishment of the Hun.