The sun., 1919-09-14
How Cardinal Mercier eroism Fits With American Ideal

bier draped in a pail Of blue or white,
silk, these children go to the housa ~
mourning-the girls fetch their p,S.
dead sisters, the boys their bshv
brothers. They take the little oofa,,
and, replacing each other by grouns ~
four, they respectfully carry It on tbej,
shoulders to the chuEch, the sorrowino
parents following.
When the bodies of all the childron
who have died within the last forty-
eight hours are gathered round tho
altar the priest performs the funeral
rites7by order of the Cardinal-pra.
tuitously The bodies Of children who
have died of a contagious disease or
who come from an infected house ara
not approached by these little burial
clubs. other measures being taken for
their Christian burial Admission IN
these groups is reward for studious.
ness and good behavior, as a punish.
ment only is it withdrawn. The par.
ents of these children almost inya-
risbly consider the being chosen for So
beautiful an act of brotherly love an
honor for their boys and girls.
One of the Cardinals objects in es-
tablishing this practice was to draw
the social ranks still closer together.
for he Is quite as democratic as the
King himself. Indeed, it is safe to saw
he is all democratic. Though this adj
rlirable practice came into existence
only a few months before the war the
Cardinals object seemed to be on the
high road to attainment The children
who visited the home of the poor man
in his hour of sorrow are generally
anxious to return there. In many
cases, as I have been assured, the link
forged at the bedside of a dead child
was ripened early into friendship.
Gift of an Automobile.
Before the Germans came and took
from the Belgians everything worth
taking Cardinal Mercier had an auto
mobile. a present given him by a
wealthy friend This was a source Of
great saving to him, both in time and
money. In Belgium a Cardinal takes
rank as a. Prince of Blood Royal; he
stands next to the King. But honors
are sometimes costly. Etiquette I'm
poses upon him many obligations, For
instance, when travelling he is sup
posed to be alone with his suite In a
railway coach; consequently he has to
pay for all the seats, even when he
may have with him only his private
secretary. Then at the stations where
he enters and leaves the train he is ex-
pected to tip each employee with
franc piece. OF course. they spring
up like mushrooms an over the place.
The station master and each Of his as
sistants must have a franc piece.
When he uses the royal state coach,
always at his disposal, all Of the tips
have to be in gold.
These details not being generally
known, the tender souls of the anti
clerical Socialists We're deeply dissat-
fsfied when the Cardinal accepted
motor car. The Cardinal taking his
ease in an automobile instead Of
trudging about ON foot like the work
ing folk! The sinful luxury of mo-
tor for n man who was supposed to
sympathize with the poor! 1t was
oilothHlS SSIldiil P1ptio "SiO hiiNu
with lessons of the Christian virtues
of humility and charity<as they ought
to be praetised by a man of God. For
a while the Cardinal let them howl
then startled them into good behavior
by an open letter so powerful, 50 thor
oughly to the point, SO witty and with
al so dignified that-well, if the stories
I heard at the time are true, it looked
as II they all wanted to kiss him!
So the CARDINAL kept his motor car,
thus saving for his beloved poor over
one thousand a year. Moreover, by re-
tanning the sinful luxury, he was en-
abled to call on any of his priests
when he had a moment of leisure,