The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-10
CARDINAL MERGER
GREETED WARMLY
Continued from First Page.

him when he rides by. Yet as Cardi-
nal Mercier passed swiftly by the
people stood at the curns and bowed
and waved to him and there were
heads and small flags waved at half
the windows.
AZ Archbishop's Residence.
In the parlor of Archbishop Hayess
house the Cardinal talked to inter-
viewers for al hour, standing the
whole while and looming in his scarlet
cap above the group about him as
though he stood on a dais. He Is all
OF two inches taller than the six feet
which Is so ample a height for some
men. He speaks English with fiuency
that falters only rarely and then only
so that by an exact shade OF express
sion he may convey his meaning abb
solutely. His face Is outstanding for
Its gentleness and its animation, and
one gets. of course, even without re-
memberlng Cardinal Mercier's famous
deeds and history. the effect Of an out
right and indomitable spirit and a mind
| with an edge to It like blade
| He asked the first question himself
What" he inquired. 'is there for me
to say to you except that 1 am over
joyed to be in this great country where
number my friends by the hundreds
L
try and they are principally your SOL
der lads, whose characters are so bright
and pleasing and whose deeds will live
always.
my mission to this country is what
accounts for my visit. 1t is to carry
the expression of gratitude due from
the Belgian people to the American
people to all the American land. What
have i come here principally to seer
cd
! to know you well and I would know
you better"
And he went on, telling in one apt
phrase upon another how the United
States had entered the war at a moment
which. he was certain. had peen ordained
, or God. How when he heard that Con-
gress had declared war, he knew the
war must end quickly and in inevitable
victory. How the people of Belgium re-
I joiced and her statesmen and patriots
lifted their heads in hope again; how
her priests and their fiocks gave thanks
giving in the churches.
Kept Belgium From Starving.
| The American Commission OF Relief
In Belgium and Herbert Hoover. who
was at the head Of 1t, he spoke of as
the one barrier which standing between
the Germans and their captives had kept
Belgium from starvation. The Germans
he said. had taken everything and were
demanding more. Without the Ameri-
can food the nation could not have
gone on.
None of those who talked with him
yesterday was able TO get him to talk Of
himself at any length or pin him down
on his own part in the war. Upon the sub
| tect of his famous encyclical letter he was
I deprecating. saying that its great effect
was derived from the steadfast courage
| of the parish priesthood, who affixed
| copies of II on their church doors at the
peril of their lives so that all the Bel
| gian people might read It, He depre-
| Gated as a thing any man would have
done his silken defiance of Won der Goltz
VIXEN the German General was ap-
iSointed Governor and Cardinal MERCER
visited him and demanded the liberation
| of priests deported to Germany and that
the holding OF whole communities re-
! sponsible for the acts of single ind.vid-
uals must cease.
Cardinal Mercier denied that he was
ever prisoner, distinguishing the phrase
prisoner like churchman and dialecti-
| clan, and pointing out that whereas his
/ movements from the German occupation
to the armistice had been somewhat
hampered by surveillance" he had been
, no kings or plain mans prisoner for
4
any part of that time.
1.-THE first time" he said. that I was
ever admonished as to the Germans'
| right-as they considered ito inter-
fere with me was when upon a Saturday
| two officers waited upon me in my pal
| ace and said that their commanding gem
erai would like to see me that day, which
was a Saturday, or the following Nom
day The inference was that l was to
call upon him and that on the interview
ing Sunday he would be too busy to re-
| ceive me.
THAT will make little difference I
said, because on Sunday 1 will be in
Antwerp"
"The officers gazed in alarm at me
and then at each other. and said again
that It would be impossible for their
commander to see me on Sunday, but
that he would not approve of my going
to Antwerp. The words themselves were
courteous, but have been using words
myself With care for many years and
the threat was perfectly clear. Never
theless / went to Antwerp, and when
later I saw the commanding General
my disobedience was not mentioned.
"And 1t was 30 always in my dealings
with them. l came and went my way
with little regard for their orders and
sSilful threats. l had my work to do
1t was urgent always and could not al
low them to interfere with It,"
Cardinal Mercler made another point
clear. That he has no faith in a re-
pertsnt Germany. This came out when
ZONE one asked II he believed that