The Washington herald., 1920-04-04

doctors and nurses by women and
even priests that my generals
have At last been compelled ts
take the most stringent measure,
to punish the guilty and put to .
stop these odious and abominabls
crimes committed by bloodthirsty
civilians. We have been obliged
to destroy several villages as also
the town of Louvain, its fine town
hall excepted, and my heart bleed,
when I see that this destruction
was inevitable for defensive rea..
sons and in order to protect our
armies, and again when think
of the innumerable innocent peo-
pie who have lost their homes and
goods and chsttels as the result
of the criminal acts In question:
The governor general had the
Kaiser's telegram posted up In
Belgium. The bishop Of Namur
took up the cudgels for the Bel
gian clergy.
He demanded that the Kaiser,
stigma" be removed from Bel
GUMS hierarchy. In the face OF
the bishops protest many a priest
and layman was led of to cap.
tivity or death.
Meanwhile, in Germany the
Catholic center party and fits pa
pers were using the KaisePs cable
to the President as the basis for
anti-Belgium propaganda In tn.
capital of the RhineIand. BeIeian
captives made "a Roman holiday
. for the morbid curiosity OF Ger
man Lutherans and Catholic,
alike.
Cardinal Mercier eventually felt
called upon to take up the alleged
religious angle Of the war with
the Catholic bishops OF Germany
and Austria Among Austrian aud
German Catholics. there had been
great deal OF propaganda In an
attempt to prove that an allied
victory would be a disaster for
Catholicity. Addressing the epfs.
copacy of Austria and Germany,
Mercier and the Belgian bishops
wrote:
Another cause OF scandal for
any straightforward man, whether
he be a believer or not. lies in his
mania for bringing to the fore and
weighing in the balance the ad-
vantages or disadvantages that
would accrue to the Catholic re-
hgion according as the triple al
lance or the quadruple entente
were victorious.
Professor Schrors, of Bonn
University, was the first, so far a,
We are aware, to devote his leis-
ure hours to this vexatious spe-
cies of mathematics.
The result the war will have on
religion is Gods own secret and
not one OF us is in His confidence"
Cardinal Against Pacff.m.
In one of his letters to Won der
Lancken the cardinal expresses
himself freely upon German mill
tarism. He traces it to an in
hamed sentiment" of national
strength, which consumed the
barriers of righteousness in an
hour of crisis"
At the same time, the church
al
possibility OF war and is himself
no absolute pacifist. The cardi-
nails philosophy on these points
follows:
st. Thomas, into whose teach
ings you bid me search, holds that
justice, which orders respect To be
paid to public right, is the highest
of all the natural virtues, because
1t makes US put our private in
terests below the interest OF the
community. Armed force Is. in
civilized life, the necessary helper
OF right The army, when used
in the service of right is emit
nently worthy Of every ones re-
spect, esteem and gratitude.
Pacffism, which means the sup-
preston Of armies and arms, and
the extolling Of peace at any price.
peace for the sake Of peace, peace
come what may. would doom us 20
ike disregard, to q like surren-
der Of right and the violation OF
right, OF Justice and injustice. It
would be at the same time both
social mistake and an act of
cowardice.
But militarism, which wishes
the army to exist for itself, and
does not subordinate IL to the
safeguarding and the defense of
rlght, OF order and Of peace; which
nails the letting loose Of military
force as glorious manifestation OF
national power. bearing on itself
It's own 5ustification-this kind of
militarfsm Is another social aber-
ration which Identifies honor W ith
pride"
There is the vivifying principle
Of manliness in all Mercier's phil
osophizing. The human side OF
him Is always peering from the
window Of his abstraction.
Mark the 'humanness," the sim
plicity and sincerity with which
he wrote to Won der Lancken
when informed of Won Bissing's
death. The chief of the politica!
department had sent a German
adJutant to the cardinal, official
ly informing him of the governor
generals passing.
am very much affected by
your kind attention and wish to
express my gratitude" the letter
runs. Baron Won Bissing was a
believer; remember he said one
day In unmistakable accents:
in Christ / shall pray to the
Lord In all sincerity for the repose
Of his SOUL"
Only history can give the much
beloved cardinal his proper niche
In the temple Of fame. Months ago