Essentially, however, this remarkable revival is due to the character
of the Belgian people. To their immense vitality in the first place ; to their sense of unity in the second, which, although disturbed by the old linguistic divisions and by the unhappy conflict regarding the crown, is not as confused as it is in other countries by class animosity or dogmatic conflict. And above all, I believe, because the Belgian proletariat has the intelligence to understand that " wealth " is not some transferable commodity possessed by the rich, but the product of national and individual effort.
It may seem astonishing that a people who during four hard years have suffered such repression and restriction should deploy such sudden and universal energy ; it is the intense individualism of the Belgian people which, while it renders them ill-disciplined and unpunctual, gives to every man and woman an acute sense of personal responsibility for their country's reconstruction.
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