New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-04-04
T IS dificult to exaggerats the
splendor and the significance of
IL the historical role played by

opAcuOOE duu mo S!SHiICduCo u
"A the historical role played by
Cardinal MERCER. Under the very
guns and bayonets of the German in
vaders he never ceased TO denounce the
moral iniquity Of the German attack,
to assert his country's inalienable
right to independence, and to prophesy
the ultimate triumph o: right and Jus
tlce. His fearless pastoral Letters shot
through with faith and patriotism,
strengthened the hearts OF his people
in the darkest hours Of the war. More
than any other man he embodied and
crystallized the moral Righteousness. Of
The Allied cause
Cardinal Merciers Own Story"
tDoran) is full and ably edited
record of the Cardinals correspondence
with the German occupying authori-
ties. There is remarkably dramatic
quality about this CORES ondence ::
the Cardinals courage I'D frank
ness and nobility stand out in
relief against the arrogance
and bullying and duplicity of ION
Kissing and Won Der Lancken. The
tiermans hated and feared MERCER
rom the bottom Of their hearts; they
would have liked to visit eondign pun
ishment upon him. But they were
afraid of the bad effect which an open
attack upon 80 venerable and highly
esteemed a prelats would have pro.
duced in Catholic circles everywhere
So, with the ingenuity Of mean and
petty minds, they sought to wound him
through his humber friends and sup
porterA They instituted systematic
persecution Of the patriotic Belgian
priests; aud they invariably arrested
and punished tina zen who printed
ais pastoral lette4s
Even this peculiarly vexatiou'
method of attack fa.,ed to shake tn,
Cardinals high serenity. He ALWAYS
firmly rejected airy agreement with tn
German authorizes which would h.v
compromised his principles or hi
patriotism. Az thu Same tina hs di
not hesitate to sink parely persona
ccns'de- atio7s when he felt that. b,
doing so, he might alleviate the fit
Of The unfortunate victims OF Gern,a,
tyranny.
Patriotic Appeals
Cardinal MERCER was no ,,acihst. 7,
spite Of the repeated protests OF Vo
Kissing he consistently praised the Bel
gan young men who slipped throug
the German guards and joined thei
national army. With what trumpe
tomas he could appeal to the pstriotisr
Of his people is we'll illustrated in tn
Following passage from speech de-
livered In the Church Of St. Gudule. i
Brussels:
There may be certain cffemn~ I
souls in whose eyes war is merely tn
exploding Of mines, the bursting o
shells, the butchery of men, the shed
ding Of blood and the piing up o
corpses. Short-sighted politicians ma
still be found with low views. for whor
the stakes Of battle are but a psseir
interest, the seizure or reconque.t G
ground or of q province
"No. II, In spite Of its horrors. wa
understand just war-possesse
such stern attra ct!ons, it 8 simply bt
cause Il is the disinterested act of
people that yields up or is disposed t
yield up its most precious possession
its life in defense and in vindicatio
Of something that cannot bo weighed
or counted, or purchased - justice
} honor, peace and liberty"
This stirring address was delvere
on the Belgian National Day. July 2
1916. and it is not surprising to 10
that the "Brsbanconne," the lrta
, national anthem, was played with trt
mendous spirit at the conclusion Of tn
service. This Is only typical instsnc