§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (LORD GARDINER)My Lords, I have to inform your Lordships that I have received, on behalf of the House, Messages expressing respect for the late Sir Winston Churchill and sympathy in the loss which the nation has suffered. I should like to express our gratitude for these Messages, and I have arranged for suitable replies to be sent to them. In order that the terms of these Messages should be available to your Lordships, I am arranging for them to be printed in the Official Report.
§ The Messages were as follows:
§ "To the Lord Chancellor, House of Lords, Palace of Westminster.
§ The Netherlands people and States General mourn the death of the man to whose un-flinchable determination and indomitable courage we owe our survival as a free nation. Sir Winston Churchill was a great Parliamentarian, a great war leader and a great statesman. It is perhaps only in England that there exists the constitutional framework required for such a unique combination of greatness to fully reveal itself.
§ We rejoiced on the 9th of May, 1946, to have this illustrious Parliamentarian address both our Chambers sitting together in the Knights' Hall.
§ With deep sorrow we now join his countrymen standing at his bier, and pay our final tribute to him, the memory of whose greatness will be enshrined in our hearts for ever.
§ Jonkman, President of the First Chamber of the States General.
§ Van Thiel, President of the Second Chamber of the States General."
1084§ "KOREAN EMBASSY,
§ 36 Cadogan Square,
§ London, S.W.1.
§ 25 January, 1965
§ My Lord,
§ I have the honour to enclose the following cable message addressed to you and to the whole House of Lords from the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea:
§ 'We are overwhelmed with astonishment and sorrow at the sad news of the passing away of the late Sir Winston S. Churchill, the great hero of the century whom we hold in our highest respect.
§ It is a great sorrow not only to the British Commonwealth but also to the whole world and to the Republic of Korea to lose the great Statesman of the century who has made an unprecedented contribution towards peace and freedom for the whole of mankind.
§ On behalf of the Korean people, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea wishes to express deepest condolences to the House of Lords. In this hour of sorrow, we pray for the late Sir Winston's eternal sweet repose.
§ Hyo Sang Lee, Speaker of the National Assembly, Republic of Korea.'
§ Please accept, my Lord, the assurances of my highest consideration.
§ (General) Honkon Lee,
§ Ambassador.
§ The Rt. Hon. Lord Gardiner,
§ House of Lords,
§ Westminster."
§ From the President of the Belgian Senate. [Translation.]
§ "The Lord Chancellor, Speaker of the House of Lords, London.
§ The death of Sir Winston Churchill has profoundly moved the Belgian Senate, which remembers with undying gratitude the outstanding part played by that illustrious statesman, master of policy and poet of action, during the terrible years of war, in achieving the victory of the peoples who were threatened with servitude and in furthering the liberation of my own country.
§ I pay tribute also to the generosity of Sir Winston, and to the courageous initiatives which since the end of the war he has constantly undertaken for the sake of the union of the peoples of Europe. We shall all cherish the memory of the indomitable pilot who knew how to ride the storm, who ever enjoyed the honour and respect of the British Parliament and was the very image of devotion to democratic institutions.
§ I offer to the House of Lords my most sincere condolences, together with those of the whole Senate.
§ Paul Struye,
§ President of the Senate."