The sun., 1919-10-08
MERCIER'S CHEESE
!. BEAT GERMAN WITS
Cardinal Tells Merchants AS
ISOLATION of Sending Note
by Ruse.
CLERGY BRAvED ENEMY
Columbia Confers Doctor Of
Laws Degree on Belgian
Prelate.

"I appreciate" said Cardinal Mercier
bringing his speech to a close. your very
great kindness to me. You have en-
croached upon your valuable time to
come here. You are all very busy. and It
must be n sacrifice for you to come here
and give me your attention"
At which the more. than two thousand
hard headedsmsn of affairs who made up
the major part of his audience yesterday
at luncheon rendered him by the Mer-
charts Association at the Hotel Astor
arose aDl accla med him with long.
cheers Of appreciation and pleasure.
For in two ways quite unrelated TO
each other he had contrived to make
them forget all about their business
desks and their multitudinous concerns
up and downtown. He had taken them
with him into the realm of the purely
spiritual, telling them of his travail Of
heart and soul when the German inva-
sion was upon Belgium and 1t became
necessary for him to decide upon his
, whole duty and then go about 1t un-
| linchingly, All this he explained with
out any touch OF reticence. recltlng the
facts freely. And then, giving for the
| hrst time a detail about his famous
encyclical letter of Christmas, 1914. he
told them a story of a round Dutch
cheese that as an instance of top grade
business acumen and efficiency set every
practical man of them rubbing his han Is
| with a relish that none tried to contr''
"I had, of course. roreseen." he said,
| "that my letter would dlsplease our oc-
| cupyine friends, the Germans, 50 de-
cided it would be well to arrange for its
publication out of the country at the
same time It was published in Belgium.
So six days before the printing OF the
letter sent 1t ahead to Holland.
Letter sent Into Holland.
"T had in Holland a very good priest
who was my representative among our
refugees there. / first despatched copy
to him by q young man. very cour-
| ageous, who tried to get into Holland.
| never learned whether he was able to
pass second way of sending my let
| ter was by little boat which was
! about to sail down the Scheldt That
way also employed. But l had a
| third one. more sure than either, and
| this succeeded surely.
AT the frontier between Holland and
| Belgium we have a seminary with seven
or eight hundred students in 1t. and for
| their living they receive very frequently
, a number of Dutch cheeses In boxes
| Many of the boxes come to Belgium
from Holland for commerce. And as the
! Germans liked the cheese they allowed
1t to pass into our country. @
| well. thought l could send my let
1 ter In q very sure way this way. When
the cheeses came to our Belgium semi
nary from Holland they arrived wrapped
| In papers which were afterward care
fully sent back. BY then, of course
they were old and stained. So l wrote
my letter on paper which / had care
fully made old and filthy and soilet
looking and my friend in due time re
ceived it. He took it and published /
and had It sent TO France and England
and you in America got it from Engl an,
and 1t was published here on the sam
morning that German officers were up
braidiny me for il at home"
Previously Cardinal Mercier had toll
his hearers Of his spiritual trial o-
hearing that Belgium was invaded. Th
news had come to him in the garden o
the Vatican at Rome, to which city h
had gone to attend the election by whicl
Benedict XIV. was chosen Pope.
at was as you can fancy a frightfu
moment But thea Almighty God &C
corded me another moment. a moment o
calm reflection. and as in a vision
! saw that II would be impossible tina
Justice would allow to live without pun
ishment those guilty Of invading the sol
OF a weak and innocent people, and tha
it would be equally impossible that God
our Father. would not look with mere.
on a nation which tar sacrificed every
; thing It had for the aim OF keeping fait
: and honesty alive.
when l remembered that I under
stood that Il Was my duty to be Tn
: spokesmen Of my people, and God CAV
me the necessary grace. But all tina