The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-04-16
CARDINAL MERGER REBUkES
 BELGIAN TRAITORS AND MEN WHOPREYON COMPATRIOTS
Cardinal Exhorts Troops to Remain Faithful - Likens Belgians Stand to T hat of Leonidas at
 Pass of hermopylae.

The complete text of Cardinal Mer
 ciers pastoral of Feb. Il, fragmentar
 parts of which were cabled to thi
 country a few weeks ago, was receiv
 ed in New York In the address tn ! Cardinal speaks his mind regardin the acts of the Germans in Belgium
 and denounces the deportation of Bel /; gian workmen into Germany.
 Likewise the Caridanl sorrowfull
 refers to that small number of Bel : gians flor whose weaknesses we mus 1 blush," among them ''the handful 0 i worken" who. because of hunger ant ] cold and blows, were forced to 'g1v' I utterance to- word of submission, 1 and to "the few indicators who lent
 themselves to the lucrative parts O 1 informers,'' and who are tnot asham ed to trade on the poverty of theil compatriots."
 On the other hand, Cardinal Mer l cier lauds the men who fight for. Bel gium, and refers affectionately to 2 1, modest man of Mechlin whose si1 sons are at the front.' The King and all the loyal. people of Belgium. al home and in exile, are also remember ed and exhorted to remain true te their faith and to the country. In part the pastoral reads:
 "Archbishop's Palace, <> 'Malines, Feb. 1E. 1917.
 Feast of the Apparition of Oul Lady of Lourdes.
 My Beloved Brethern:
 "Is it indeed 1ecessary to preach courage to you? And when I say you I am thinking more immediately o1 the faithful companions of our mis- fortunes, but my thoughts go out also beyond our occupied provinces to oul refugees, our prisoners, our deported felloW-countrymen, and our soldiers Purfeyors of Energy.
 "Brethern of our armies of Liege Haelen, Antwerp, the Yser, and Ypres the Cameroons, and East Africa, it is you who sare our foremost purveyors of energy. On Aug. 2, 1914, you sprang up from the bosom of all the families of our national aristocracy with splendid ardor, attesting to the world at large, that the nobility has preserved its traditional significance in Belgium; fhe middle classes, the bulwarks of the nation, ranged them selves beside you; a modest employe of our City of Mechlin has six sons at the front; the working classes, too. furnished their contingent of volun- tary recruits, all the more praisewor- thy, since their departure made a painful void in the home; military chaplains and stretcher bearers have gladly offered and layished their de- votion; the government, after two years and six months of trial, is still in harness, with a. courage that noth- ing can weaken. Our good wishes follow in. the wake, oT these valiant men; all form a guard ofhonor, proud and faithful, for ours magnanim ous sovereign, who, from the sand bank which is now all his kingdom, gives a prefect example of endurance and of faith, in the future.
 Those men who are fighting for the liberty of the Belgian flag are brave men, Those informed in Holland and Germany who raise their letter. ed hands to heaven on behalf of their country, are brave men. Our exi1ed scompatriots, who bear in silence the weight of their isolation! also. serve their Belgian 1atherland to the best of their ability, as do also those souls, who, either behind the cloister walls or in the retirement of their own homes, pray, toll, and weep, awaiting the return of their absent ones and our, common deliverance.
 We have listened to the mighty voices of wives and mothers; through their tears they have prayed God to sustain the courage and fidelity to honor of their husbands and sons, car rie1 off by force to the enemy's fac- tories. These gallant men have been heard. at the hour of departure, ra1- lying their energy to instf11 courage in to their comrades, or by supreme effort to chant the national hymn; we have seen some of/fhem on their return, pale. haggard, human wrecks; as our fearful eyes sought their dim eyes,, we bowed reverent1y before them. for all unconscipusly they were revealing to us new and unexpected aspect of national heroisn.
 Shadows in the Picture
 "After this, can, it be necessary to preach courage to you?
 True, there are some shadows in the picture have sketched for you; there have been weakness for which we must blush here and there among our people; l am not referring, be 1t clearly understood, to the handful of workmen, exhausted by privation, stiff with cold, or crushed by blows, who at last gave utterance to aNWord Of submission-there are limits to human energy. I refer, with deep regret, to the few indicators who lend them selves to the lucrative parts of infor- mer, courier or spy, and to those misguided individuals who are not ashamed to trade upon the poverty of their compatriots.
 Happily, when future generations look back from the more distant standpoint of history, these plots will die out, and all that will remain for their edification will be the splendid spectacle of a nation of seven millions, who, on the evening of Aug. 2, with one accord, ont only refused to allow it's honor to be held in question for a moment. but who, throughout over thirty months of ever increasing nfor- al and physical suffering, on battle fields, fin military exile. under an iron domination, has remained imperturb- able in it's self-control and has never once, so far, yielded as to cry, This is too much! This Is enoughp
 'rIn our young days our professors of history rightly held up to our ad- nafration Leonidas and the 300 Spar tans who, instead of seeking safety in