The sun., 1916-02-13
(, CARDINAL MERCER
THE HERO OF
BELGIUM

t....GG .. d ndmc 80 con-
Nj .u.. NtN tr-day I'm belgium.
lIom un. ,urncr &c that lit
81, ,our.r, 20 the other men
,-d vuir. % who had only known Of
s..r p.l RI, the war as one OF the cml-
r...t r...1soph-rs IN the Church now
i,oh no spirit toward Malincs. wherc
10 a., 90 4 ruined home. the fnrcmos,
,..lI .s ,a" realm next tu his King.
.l;,.-.um vii he restored" he told
hen, y' December :. 1914. ard the
words -. wrote tor his own afflicted
uc.,.r ttyt urcn read all over the
" -. y, ecclesiastical letter Of re-
90. tut.r- has echoed a morc vlhran;
-n,..agr 500 far or So wide
H. was in Rome when the ucws Of
.rs INVASION O; Belgium reached him.
md every blow at his country. every
.anron shot hattering down the uni
y,rstv wh.rc he had lpen a student
md later professor and every shock
y the conflict witch was then begin
lrc reached his great heart and
aroused IN HIM what we who knew
N'm well both as professor and az Car
llril seemed To be the very opposite
Z hi, ,hafa, ,ter---a lion OF the tribe of
JUDAH He. who passed along the
streets of Louvain in the days nf
peace \ prince Of the church. so meek
and gentle. SO studcntike still In his
'.;wurd domeanor. was now like a lion
A. lay batting FOR tho lives II is
Young.
disasic, had visited the world. he
t'd them. and their beloved little Bel
gum a nation 50 faithful in the great
mass ~ her population to- God. so up
ght N her patriotism and SO noble in
sr King and her Government. was the
ars' 70 suffer in the catastrophe. Sh,
vIs bleeding to death from a wound
.ruck deep INTO her very heart. Her
sons wero being moved down like
wheat N the defence of her rights and
.sr territory The war had not en-
5Hr"d very .onE before all Belgium
vas m mourning. hut from his coign
= vantige AT Malln-s he wrote the
-r'lteN; epitaph his nation can ever
claim. "A first time at Liege We saved
france a second time in Flanders we
crested the advance of the enemy
Npon Calais. France and England
k00N i. and Belgium stands before
the ontir" world n nation OF heroes"
W matter how one judges The dues-
'or of right or wrong In the present
wa nj. must admit that Belgium has
nrored herself 10 be In reality a nation
a. heroes. and that he. the cardinal
po.ni n It's spiritual force. stands SUI
preme as the noblest hero OF them all.
lie WIS az the mercy of his enemies.
Ne was a prisoner with the terrible
r'-lster of the wars savagery known
10 hIm-and he stood before the world
and proclaimed in the very teeth Of
de'eat the independence Of his country.
IN this totally unparalleled war. az
u has been called, in this horrible up
N'"' ., Wa.,h has thrown whol.
na;.HuN NJ" the EXTREMIST agony. and
IN "E.cH B''sium, the cockpit Of the
world. a. sh" has been since Caesars
d. haS suffct"d more than them al.
~ figure " Cardinal Mcrcicr Stands
"I' al"cc With a courage not born ~
,hs Garth he held himself fearless and
unafra!l as Archbishop Darboy did on
n" ramiartS of Paris IN 1870.
II" knew that the children Of the
: '"Ir'h Zoo Belgium and 10 say that
IT n't's practically the entire popula-
t'r u"r'l - him for their inspira-
''H and guidance. Ills pusit.oC was "A
la.Hlu' on" for ir.S than any other
n"o b"...Jm had he been spared