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Own Story

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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY

 to-J.~4UL.'fdt.   

CARDINAL MERCIER'S
OWN STORY
by
His Eminence^ D.J. Cardinal Mercier
Archbishop of Malines
INTRODUCTION BY PROFESSOR FERNAND MAYENCE
Prefatory Letter by His Eminence
JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS

NEW XSJr YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, I92O,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1919, 1920, BY PUBLIC LEDGER CO.
COPYRIGHT, CANADA, I919, 1920, BY PUBLIC LEDGER CO.
INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT, I9I9, I92O, BY PUBLIC LEDGER CO.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ARCHEVfeCHE DE MAL1NES

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FOREWORD
Archeveche de Malines.
I think I owe the public a word of explanation as to
how this book has seen the light.
During the war, and more frequently after the armis
tice, I was asked would I write a narrative of my war ex
periences. I had taken many notes of events as they had occurred,
and my memory was full of incidents in which I was con
cerned. Much as I would have wished to write such a story,
from some points of view, if only to vindicate my country
against its detractors, the libels circulated by its enemies, yet
I felt, more and more inevitably as the weeks rolled by, that
I would never have time to write this book.
I then thought of my correspondence with the German
authorities right through the war.
Here are my war experiences in their most tense and
vivid reality; all the issues I fought with the occupying
power, their methods and mine clearly defined, undeniably
fixed in black and white.
So I asked a friend of mine, Professor Mayence, of
Louvain University, to take my notes and material, and to
edit my correspondence with short explanatory remarks
about the letters and the events they referred or led up to.
I also gave him some personal reminiscences for this pur
pose, and with him revised the whole book.
I could not let his work go to press without publicly
thanking him for having helped me as he has done.
D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
7th ist '19

4ft* ft titles $t.

September 16, 1919.
I am very happy to be able to
reoommend to the American reading publio
this authorized, offioial and authentic
story of my beloved and esteemed brother,
Cardinal Mercier' s experience daring the
Great War. In it the reader will realize the
full meaning of the Cardinal's attitude
daring the war, and possess a true historioal
account of the great moral figb,t whioh was
carried on by him as Belgium's spiritual
leader.

PREFACE
By Professor Fernand Mayence,
of Louvain University, Louvain, Belgium
m From all parts of the world, but especially from Amer
ica, His Eminence Cardinal Mercier was requested to write
his experiences during the German occupation of Belgium.
The magnificent role which he had played during the
war was universally known. His pastoral letters with which
he confronted the power in occupation and in which he
publicly proclaimed the rights of truth and justice had been
read in every corner of the world. Some of the powerful
letters addressed by him to the German Governor General
as a protest against the odious regime imposed upon Bel
gium had already been published even during the occupa
tion. The knowledge of certain episodes of the duel which
had been going on between the Cardinal and the German
Governor General roused a good deal of curiosity.
What people wanted was to have in detail from him
who had been during the occupation of Belgium the "soul
of resistance" all the varying phases of the conflict which,
without a moment's respite or any signs of wavering, he
waged against the tyranny of the oppressor.
The many and unceasing labors of his episcopal office
hindered the Cardinal from yielding to these pressing re
quests; but his experiences, had they not already been em
bodied during the war in the voluminous correspondence
he had exchanged with the representatives of the Imperial
Government ?
To satisfy those who wanted a book on his encounters
with the Germans, the Cardinal consented to the publication
of these documents and conferred upon us a great honor in
choosing us to edit them.

viii PREFACE
During the occupation, certain portions of the archi
episcopal archives — among other the Cardinal's correspond
ence with the German Governor General — underwent the
fate of all the "verboten." To avoid perquisitions and to
guard against their being seized, they had to be hidden away
in dark corners which, today appearing to afford security,
tomorrow ceasing to do so, eventually were in all haste
changed for others.
Unfortunately, in the course of these repeated and hur
ried removals from one place to another, some of the docu
ments^ — happily of small importance, so it seems* — went
astray. We have called attention to these lacunae in the
course of our work each time that we were able to certify
the fact.
We have here reproduced all the documents that have
been preserved. We have only left out a few letters of
little importance, as, for instance, the sending of a passport
to travel by motor or those only containing requests in favor
of political prisoners, and for that reason presenting no
point of general interest.
In the arrangement of the documents the method
adopted is not a strictly chronological one. At the risk of
not respecting the order in which they were written we
thought it useful, at the same time as we have endeavored
to follow as closely as possible the sequence of events, to
group the letters according to the principal objects for which
they were written.
Cardinal Mercier's correspondence with the German
Governor General is, in brief, an expose of the hateful
regime to which Belgium was subjected during the fifty long
months of the German domination. There is, in fact, not
a single crime of the occupying power which this courageous
pastor has not stigmatized, not a single one of its snares
which he has not exposed, not a single one of its hypocritical
acts which he has not laid bare, not one single act of abuse
of its governing power against which he has not raised his
voice in angry protest.

PREFACE ix
Scorning all danger,* listening only to the voice of his
conscience, he constantly kept to the fore against the abuse
of "might," the imprescribable rights of truth and justice.
By his uniform behavior, by the calmness and nobleness
of his attitude, whether in the face of threats or of concilia
tory proposals of the occupying power, he upset the calcula
tions of a government which labored under the conviction
that a systematic organization placed at the service of
"might" ought eventually to triumph over all resistance.
From the time he took office as Governor General,
Baron von Bissing, using the Cardinal of Cologne as an
intermediary, endeavored to enter into personal relations
with the primate of Belgium. He gave him to understand
that he was disposed to give entire satisfaction to the Catho
lic Church and to assuage the wounds already inflicted on
the occupied country by the war.
In his first letter to Baron von Bissing, while thanking
him in a very courteous manner for the good feelings shown
by him, His Eminence made a point of clearing away from
the beginning any possible misunderstanding. "Whatever
may be His Excellency Baron von Bissing's personal incli
nations," he wrote, "the Governor General is the represen
tative among us of a usurping and openly hostile nation,
in the presence of which we boldly affirm our rights to our
independence and to have our neutrality respected." "If,
for the time being, we bow to a stronger power than our
own," wrote he at the same time to Cardinal von Hart-
mann, "we proudly cherish our rights, and entertain our
unshaken confidence in the future!"
Submission to the regulations imposed by the occupying
power so long as they did not wound either our conscience
or the dignity of our feeling as patriots; repeated protests
against acts of violence and injustice; unfailing fidelity to
our king and to the legitimate authority of our country;
and unconquerable trust in the future — all these are the
•Note — It has been established by convincing evidence that on several
occasions the Cardinal's arrest had been decided upon, but the German
authorities each time held back in view of the consequences of this step
and their decision was never put into force.

x PREFACE
principal points of the program sketched out by the Car
dinal from the very beginning of the occupation and to
which he faithfully adhered up to the hour of deliverance.
The letters exchanged between the Cardinal and Baron
von Bissing are very numerous and touch on very varied
topics. The Governor General shows himself alternately
conciliatory and quarrelsome, menacing and argumentative.
But unfailingly he finds himself up against the calm and
sereneness of a man strongly convinced of his rights and
thoroughly confident in the justice and holiness of his cause.
Baron von Falkenhausen, Baron von Bissing's successor
in the office of Governor General, stands out as the type
of an autocratic and brutal officer. He declared on his
arrival in Belgium that he declined to discuss with the Car
dinal questions which had no direct connection with religious
matters. This implied prohibition did not restrain His Eminence
from sending with his usual frankness and vigor protests
to the Governor against the breaches of law committed
by him or his officers, and notably against the arrest of state
officials who had been charged with having refused to col
laborate with the enemy administration and against meas
ures taken by the occupying power to despoil the Belgians
of the produce of the soil.
From the very beginning of the occupation, without
allowing himself to be repelled by the successive refusals
with which his requests had been met, His Eminence had
constantly asked for sanction to send to the prisoner camps
in Germany priests of Belgian nationality who could speak
both native tongues. As the new Governor General had
declared that in religious matters he would readily welcome
any demands that came from the Belgian episcopacy, the
Cardinal again returned to the charge, but his persistei^e
had no greater success than before.
The same happened with several other requests made
by him in which he pleaded for measures to be taken to fur
ther the religious welfare of the railway men and of those
persons who had been arrested and were awaiting their
trial in Belgian prisons. If Baron von Falkenhausen ever

PREFACE

xi

consented to take notice of any demands that were in any
way connected with religious affairs, it was only to reply
that he was not in a position to grant them.
The one who corresponded at great length with the Car
dinal was Baron von der Lancken, head of the political
department at government headquarters. At the very be
ginning of the occupation he came into touch with His
Eminence. For all that, his first letters to the Cardinal date
only from the commencement of 191 6.
After this he intervenes in all the important matters
which became the object of discussion between the Cardinal
and the Germans ; namely, deportations, the patriotic action
of the priests, church demonstrations, the severance of ad
ministrative powers, the disastrous policy of the "Cen
trales," etc.
His letters betray the cold reserve of a diplomat. Con
trary to his chiefs, he never loses his temper. If, very often
at the request of the Governor General, he undertakes to
take up and plead the bad cases brought forward by the
representatives of the empire, he acts for them without en
thusiasm, without conviction, almost in dilettante fashion.
He takes delight in these epistolary jousts, and at cer
tain moments his correspondence with the Cardinal assumes
the glamour of an academic discussion in the course of
which the opponents argue out questions of right, of gen
eral policy, even those of philosophy. On the other hand,
•it seems that occasionally Baron von der Lancken did ear
nestly endeavor to soften the rigor of measures imposed by
the military authorities.
During the four years of occupation, the Governor Gen
eral, and following his example the whole of Germany, had
constantly reproached the Cardinal with having overstepped
his role of bishop. When at the beginning of the invasion
he condemned the crimes committed by the German troops ;
when he rose in anger against the deportation of workmen ;
when he declared that it was every one's duty to love his
country and to remain faithful to it even under oppression ;
when he sought to uplift the fainting heart of the Belgian
population with the hope of a better future, he was accused

xii PREFACE
of having misused his pastoral functions and of having pur
sued political ends.
Over and over again the Cardinal gloriously defeated
his accusers. He had the satisfaction of seeing his conduct
justified by the Imperial Government itself.
On October 17th, 191 8, Baron von der Lancken pre
sented himself at Archbishop's House. In the name of the
Governor General and of the Berlin government, he an
nounced to His Eminence the approaching release of all
political prisoners and handed to him a note which com
mences with words vindicating the policy pursued by the
Cardinal: "You are in our estimation the incarnation of
occupied Belgium of which you are the venerated and
trusted pastor. For this reason, it is to you that the Gov-»
ernor General and my government also have commissioned
me to come and to announce that when we evacuate your
soil we wish to hand over to you unasked and of our own
free-will the political prisoners serving their time either in
Belgium or in Germany."
This was an avowal of defeat. At the close of the
struggle, which he had waged for four years against the
Cardinal, the German Governor General acknowledged
himself beaten. All his policy of coercion as well as his
diplomatic subterfuges had broken down before the strong
and unbending will of a man who, in everything and at all
times had this one thing alone in view — to do his duty.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
The translators by way of preface have only this to
remark: That the work undertaken by them to give an
English rendering to the present correspondence has been a
real labor of love.
Near spectators of the events which took place in Bel
gium during the occupation, the news of which leaked out
at odd times in spite of the German censorship, we came
to entertain for His Eminence, who largely loomed in these
events, great admiration and sympathy, so that when the
work of translating a series of letters which reflected the
sturdiness, stanchness and unflagging courage of this stout
champion of Belgian rights was offered to us, we gladly
and lovingly accepted the honorable task.
If our humble collaboration is to result, as we hope it
will, in making still better known the saintly virtues of a
Prince of the Church who, like St. Thomas of Canterbury
and many other churchmen in history, was prepared to give
up even his life for his flock and their rights, we shall be
more than proud in having had some small share in bring
ing this about, while at the same time we beg the reading
public, in view of the many difficulties with which a work
of this kind is hedged, to condone any discrepancies or other
faults that may have crept in in the course of our endeavor
to reveal to them the minds of the several writers.

Xlll

CONTENTS
CHATTER PAGE
I First Relations of the Cardinal with von Bissing . 23
II The Cardinal asks von Bissing Authority to Send Belgian
Priests into Prisoners' Camps in Germany .... 34
III Salaries of the Clergy  35
IV Von Bissing Complains to the Cardinal About the Manner
in which the French Treat German Officer Prisoners 43
V The Pastoral Letter. Patriotism and Endurance . . 45
VI Proposal for an Inquiry into the Murder by German
Troops of Priests Belonging to the Diocese of Malines 65
VII Release of the Belgian Doctors and Chemists Confined
at Heidelberg  71
VIII The Cardinal's Protest Against the Behaviour of a
German Military Chaplain  100
IX The Cardinal Intercedes on Behalf of F. von Bambeke,
S. J., and of the Abbe Cuylits; von Bissing Complains of
the Patriotic Attitude Taken up by the Clergy . . . 103
X Scheme for an Inquiry on the Subject of Assaults Com
mitted by German Soldiers upon Nuns  106
XI The Muster-roll of Young Men Clashing with Religious
Services on Sundays  110
XII Von Bissing Complains of a Discourse of Mgr. De Wach-
ter's  112
XIII The Cardinal's Interview with Mgr. Wittendorf . . 114
XIV The Cardinal asks von Bissing to Authorize the Sending
of Chaplains to the Belgian Army and Presses for
Religious Ministrations to Political Prisoners to be
Entrusted to Belgian Priests. The Governor General
Refuses  118
xv

xvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XV The Governor General Authorizes the Corpus Christi
Procession  127
XVI Von Bissing Refuses to Allow Belgian Counsel to Defend
Fathers De Bruyne and Bonne, S. J., Arraigned Before
the Military Tribunal of Antwerp  128
XVII Interview Between Cardinal Mercier and Baron von der
Lancken Regarding the Pastoral Letter, "A Call to
Prayer"  131
XVIII Treatment of Religious Awaiting Trial in the Military
Prisons at Malines and at Louvain  148
XIX Sermons Preached by the Clergy  168
XX Guarding of the Telephone Line at Vilvorde . . . 179
XXI Before Leaving for Rome, the Cardinal again Recommends
to von Bissing the Moral and Religious Interests of
Political Prisoners  182
XXII Renewed Complaints of Baron von Bissing Concerning
the Preaching of the Clergy  185
XXIII The Pastoral Letter "On my Return from Rome" . . . 188
XXIV Patriotic Action of the Priests  207
XXV Protests of the Bishops Against the Enrollment in the
German Army of Young Belgians of German Parentage 230
XXVI The Cardinal's Public Address in the Church of St.
Gudule, July 21, 1916  232
XXVII The Rights of the Occupying Power  250
XXVIII Fresh Arrests of Priests  288
XXIX Interference of the Occupying Power with the Teaching
of the Normal Schools  296
XXX Interview Between the Cardinal and Baron von der
Lancken Regarding the Pastoral Letter, "The Voice
of God"  j00
XXXI The Deportation of the Unemployed  308
XXXII Baron von der Lancken again Accuses Certain Priests of
Having Misused Their Office of Preaching . 35!

CONTENTS xvii
CHAPTER PAGE
XXXIII National Celebrations in the Churches  354
XXXIV Removal of Certain Apparatus from the St. Lambert's
Technical School  361
XXXV Requisition of Copper  364
XXXVI The Governor General Requests the Cardinal to Restrict
the Consumption of Coal in the Churches . . . 366
XXXVII The Cardinal's Pastoral Letter "Courage, Brethren" 367
XXXVIII Condemnation of Mgr. Legraive, Auxiliary Bishop of
Malines, and of M. L'Abbe Allaer  375
XXXIX Death of Baron von Bissing  379
XL Baron von Falkenhausen Succeeds Baron von Bissing —
First Relations of the Cardinal with the Governor
General  380
XLI The Cardinal Recommends to Baron von Falkenhausen
the Religious Interests of Workmen at the Malines
Arsenal and of Persons Detained on Suspicion . . 382
XLII The Cardinal's Attitude Toward Partition of Adminis
tration  385
XLHI Arrest of Canon Vrancken, the Cardinal's Private
Secretary  398
XLIV The Cardinal Accuses the Occupying Power of Ignoring
Religious Authority — He Again Insists on Obtaining
Permission to Send Belgian Priests to Interment Camps
in Germany  400
XLV The Governor General Threatens to Seize the Church
Bells  4°8
XLVI The Cardinal Proves that the Scarcity of Agricultural
Products in Occupied Belgium is Due to the Action of
the German "Centrals." He Denounces Certain
Serious Outrages Committed by German Soldiers in
Churches and Complains of the Support Given by the
German Authorities to a Campaign Directed Against
Himself by the "Activists"  416
XLVII The Cardinal Requests Baron von der Lancken Not to
Convert the Church of St. Roch, at Hal, into a Hospital 428

xviii CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XLVIII The Religious Interests of Prisoners Detained in the
Citadel of Diest  429
XLIX The Commandeering of Mattresses in the Homes for the
Aged of the Little Sisters of the Poor — Divine Service
inthe Prison Attached to the Kommandatur at Brussels 431
L The Belgian Bishops Formally Protest Against the Im
perial Government's Project to Utilize Certain Catho
lic Churches for Protestant Worship  434
LI Release of Political Prisoners and of the Deported . 437
LII Protest of the Cardinal Against the Behavior of
German Troops During their Retreat .... 440

CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY

CARDINAL MERCIER'S
OWN STORY
CHAPTER I
FIRST RELATIONS OF THE CARDINAL WITH VON BISSING
Under the government of Von der Goltz (September
3rd-December 3rd, 1914), there was no interchange of cor
respondence between the Cardinal and the Governor Gen
eral. Their relations were limited to an exchange of mu
tual visits.
Shortly after the arrival at Brussels of the first German
Governor, the Cardinal called upon him and asked him to
intercede with the Imperial Government for the repatria
tion, as soon as possible, of the priests and teachers who
had been deported at the time of the invasion. He drew
his attention to the fears of the Belgians remaining in the
country, and of the refugees wishing to return to Belgium,
who dreaded seeing their young men deported to Germany
for the purpose, presumably, of being incorporated in the
ranks of the German army. The Cardinal had already
started negotiations on this subject with the Governor of
Antwerp, General von Huene. As a result of these, Von
Huene had entered into an agreement, applicable to the
province of Antwerp, according to which, (1) the civic
guards having laid down their arms would not be molested,
(2) young men would neither be deported to Germany nor
in any way pressed into the service of the German army.
The Cardinal, during the course of his visit, requested Von
23

24 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
der Goltz to ratify this agreement, to extend its application
to the whole country and to guarantee its observance by
whoever might be his successor. The Governor promised
to give the Cardinal's wishes his favorable consideration.
The very next day the Governor General in person went
to Malines with his reply. He promised to use all the in
fluence he could to obtain the repatriation of deported
priests and teachers. As regards Von Huene's agreement,
he did not hesitate to ratify it and extend it to the whole
of Belgium. He was much less explicit about binding his
successor to any course of action. "We have no use," he
added, "for young Belgians; their presence in our ranks
would be a danger to us." The Governor expressed his
wish to see normal life restored at an early date. The
Cardinal answered that it was his wish also, but that the
people were too deeply impressed by the tragic events which
had marked the beginning of hostilities to allow them to
feel any confidence. He insisted particularly on the arbi
trary proceedings which were responsible for the massacre
of one hundred and forty victims at Aerschot. This threw
the General into an embarrassment which he altogether
failed to disguise. The interview ended with the mutually
expressed wish to see the schools soon reopened.
On December 3rd, 19 14, Von der Goltz's place was
taken by Von Bissing. Hardly had the new Governor been
appointed, when he realized that the task he had under
taken, and which he knew to be a hard one, would be made
much easier for him if he succeeded in checking the growth
of any hostility on the part of the Belgian clergy and their
superiors. But he was wary. He knew how unanimous was
the feeling of Belgian priests and bishops in face of the in
vader ; so to obtain his end he took a roundabout way. In
stead of addressing Mgr. Mercier directly, he wrote to
Cardinal von Hartmann, Archbishop of Cologne, whom he
had known for a long time, and asked him to intervene in
his favor with the Belgian primate.
The following is the letter which he sent to him on the
day after he took up his new duties :

RELATIONS WITH VON BISSING 25
The Governor General of Belgium,
Brussels, December 4th, 19 14.
To His Eminence Cardinal von Hartmann, Cologne :
Your Eminence will have heard, no doubt, of my nomi
nation to the post of Governor General of Belgium. It is
a mission by which I am much honored, but the task which
I have undertaken by accepting it is in every respect a diffi
cult one; it is only natural then that I should try to find
influential persons who, though they may not be able to sup
port me in the fulfillment of this duty, yet will be anxious
not to increase the difficulties of it. In a large part of
Belgium the Catholic clergy represent a force whose impor
tance cannot be overrated; therefore, I should not wish,
to ignore negotiating with them and their heads, not only
in the interests of my mission, but likewise in the interest
of the country and of the Catholic population. In order to
pave the way for these relations, I address your Eminence,
asking you to be so kind as to inform the Cardinal of
Malines that I should be very pleased to enter into per
sonal relations with him, whether it be that he give me an
opportunity to have an interview with him at Malines, for
so long as the time at my disposal allows, or that he will
have the kindness to pay me a visit at Brussels.
I hope to convince him during our interview that I am
determined to do all in my power to satisfy the claims of
the Catholic Church; but, on the other hand, I expect him
to recognize the earnest wish which inspires me to attach
supreme importance to alleviating the misery which present
circumstances have created in Belgium, though, of course,
safeguarding at the same time our military interests. I take
the liberty to inform your Eminence that the head chaplain,
Doctor Mittendorf, came yesterday; his mission is to super
vise and extend the work of the Catholic chaplains and to
see to it that the spiritual wants of the numerous troops of
occupation and of the wounded be in no wise neglected.
The Chaplain General has received the needful instructions
from the Catholic "Feldprobst" ; I have supplemented them
and, in agreement with his superior, I have recommended

26 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
him to get into touch with the bishops as soon as possible
in the course of his tour through Belgium.
I expect from this line of conduct a twofold result: I
hope that my intentions and my actions will be in accord
with the wishes of your Eminence and also promote the
general weal.
Wishing to convey to your Eminence my profoundest
respect, I have the honor to be your Eminence's most de
voted servant, The Governor General of Belgium,
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Cavalry General.
Cardinal von Hartmann hastened to forward to Mgr.
Mercier the letter of Von Bissing, to which he gave his
warm support: Cologne, December 6th, 1 9 14.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Ma
lines:
I take the liberty to forward to your Eminence the letter
which has been sent to me by the new Governor General
of Belgium, in which he expresses his wish to have an inter
view with your Eminence. I desire to second his request
as warmly as possible. This interview will assuredly be
of great use, for the General, whom I have had the honor of
knowing for a long time, is an intelligent, discreet, just and
benevolent man, who sincerely feels all he has written in
his letter, and whose heart's desire will be to respond to
the wishes of the bishops.
On my part, I have begged him earnestly to lay to heart
the following points :
( 1 ) To allow the Belgian priests who have been found
innocent and who are now prisoners in German camps to
return to Belgium.
(2) To allow the Nunciature free communication with
the Holy See and with the bishops, likewise free intercourse
between the latter and Rome.
(3) To facilitate the immediate publication in Belgium
of the Encyclical of November 1st.

RELATIONS WITH VON BISSING 27
I have acquainted the competent "Armee Bischof" with
the desires of your Eminence, which I have most earnestly
indorsed, concerning the spiritual interests of Flemish pris
oners. I hope he will manage to satisfy claims which are so
justifiable.* If I can still be of any use to your Eminence in this mat
ter, it goes without saying that I am at your service; I am
also ready to do all in my power to lighten your cares.
Respectfully kissing your Eminence's hand, I have the
honor to be your Eminence's devoted servant in the Lord,
(Signed) Felix Cardinal von Hartmann,
Archbishop of Cologne.
The Cardinal did not reply till December 28th to the
letters of the Governor General and of Cardinal von Hart
mann. Von Bissing did not wait for his answer before he
acquainted him with the fact that the priests who had been
deported to Germany were to be set at liberty at an early
date: General Government of Belgium Offices,
Sekt. Ic. No. 456. Brussels, December 9th, 1914.
To Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, at Malines:
Following on the note which has been forwarded to me
by the head of the civil administration, I have the honor
to make to your Eminence the following communication:
The ministry of war at Berlin has given orders to set
at liberty all priests detained in Germany, provided no
charge has been made against them; so that I have every
reason to believe that priests who have duties as teachers
will return without further delay.
As regards Count Cornet d'Elzius, I have taken the
necessary steps with the competent German authorities. I
shall not fail to let you know the result, t
The Governor General,
(Signed) Von Bissing.
Cavalry General.
•Note — From the very beginning of the occupation Mgr. Mercier had
begged Cardinal von Hartmann to use his influence that such prisoners
might have priests knowing Flemish put at their disposal.
t Note — The Count Cornet d'Elzius had been arrested for taking up in
his motorcar an Englishman suspected of spying.

28 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
In reply to this communication the Cardinal's secretary,
Very Rev. Canon Vrancken, sent to the Governor General
a note to call his attention to the fact that his Eminence
was also interested in lay teachers.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December 16th, 1914.
By dispatch dated December 9th, 19 14, Sekt. Ic. No.
456, His Excellency the Baron von Bissing, Governor Gen
eral of Belgium, has been pleased to inform His Eminence
the Cardinal Archbishop of Malines that by a decisionof
the ministry of war at Berlin the members of the Belgian
clergy detained in Germany will be set at liberty at an early
date, on condition that no charge has been made against
them. In consequence, His Excellency expresses the hope that
ecclesiastics engaged in the duties of teaching will be soon
set at liberty.
But it is not in these alone that the Cardinal is inter
ested. His Excellency had asked, besides this, for the liberation
of lay teachers in primary schools, whom Belgian military
law puts on the same footing as members of the clergy.
The absence of these teachers from the country is caus
ing great difficulties in the organization of the people's edu
cation. On December 16th the Cardinal had at Brussels an in
terview with Von Bissing. On the following day the latter
repaired to Malines, where he was received at the Arch
bishop's house. In the course of these two interviews the
Governor General reiterated the sentiments he had already
manifested in his letter to Cardinal von Hartmann. He in
sisted especially on the desire he entertained to guard the re
ligious interests of Belgium, but he expected in return that
the Belgian clergy and their head on their part would assume
an attitude, if not friendly, at least conciliatory. He had
already, he said, obtained the liberation of guiltless priests
deported to Germany; he now intended to solicit the Im-

RELATIONS WITH VON BISSING 29
perial Government for the speedy release of lay teachers.
In order to show his good-will toward the ecclesiastical
authorities, he gave the Cardinal every facility to commu
nicate with the Belgian suffragan bishops.
The Cardinal thanked Von Bissing for his benevolent
attitude, but called his attention to the fact that the Bel
gians, whatever might be the feelings of the Governor Gen
eral toward them, would not forget the horrors which
had marked the beginning of the invasion.
Von Bissing cut him short. He said that he could not
discuss the conduct of the German army, which, he main
tained, was fully justified by the attitude of the Belgian
people. There was discussed also a report of the commander
at Heidelberg complaining of bad treatment by the Belgians
of German doctors who were prisoners, and threatening
reprisals on the Belgian doctors and dispensers, numbering
about thirty, interned in that town. Von Bissing asked
the Cardinal to intervene with the Belgian Government to
put an end to this abuse.
Lastly, he offered to forward to Cardinal von Hart
mann the answer which His Eminence would be pleased to
give to the letter written by the former on December 6th.
As a result of these interviews, the Cardinal sent to Von
Bissing the following letter :
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
December z%th, 19 14.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels :
Sir — I have delayed for some time my reply to Cardinal
von Hartmann's letter under date of December 6th, in
which my most Eminent colleague conveyed to me the ex
pression of your good-will toward Belgium. Your Excel
lency has kindly offered to forward my reply, herewith in
closed, to its destination.
Since the above date I have had the honor of entering
into personal communication with your Excellency, and, as
the Cardinal of Cologne led me to expect, I can only express

30 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
myself as satisfied with the dispositions made by your Excel
lency in regard to myself and in regard to the matters I had
the opportunity and the honor to commend to your notice.
In particular, I thank your Excellency for having noti
fied me of the release from imprisonment of the guiltless
priests deported to Germany, and I trust you will continue
your efforts to bring about also the release of our school
masters, who, as I have had the honor of pointing out to
your Excellency, cannot be put in the same category as pris
oners of war.
I am thankful to your Excellency for having granted me
authority to communicate with the suffragan bishops of Bel
gium whenever I may judge it useful, and I am gratified
also to know that you have consented to take steps on be
half of Count Cornet d'Elzius, although these steps have so
far been without result.
On my own side, I am still desirous of negotiating with
my Government in order to satisfy the Commandant of
Heidelberg, who complains of cruelties inflicted on certain
German doctors and who threatens reprisals, as your Excel
lency will remember, on the thirty Belgian doctors and dis
pensers interned at Heidelberg. But to render any steps
of mine effective, I ought to know who these German doc
tors are that underwent these indignities and when and
where they underwent them.*
Your Excellency has made it your business to assure me
of the sincerity of your good-will toward Belgium. As a
soldier, you will understand how anxious I am to give ex
pression in my own turn to the feelings with which I am
animated toward yourself. My esteem for your Excel
lency's person, my gratefulness for the care which you
manifest for the religious interests of the country, are
deeply sincere, as also is my desire, as far as in me lies, to
lighten and in no way to aggravate the burden of your
charge and its responsibilities. Nevertheless, I regard it
as my strict duty in the interests of truth to add that, no
matter what the personal dispositions of Baron von Bissing
may be, the Governor General represents amongst us here a
* Editor's Note — The Governor General never furnished any details.

RELATIONS WITH VON BISSING 31
usurping and hostile nation, in whose presence we assert our
right to independence and respect for our neutrality. Fur
ther, as guardian of the moral and religious interests of
Belgium, I protest against the acts of injustice and violence
of which my compatriots have been the innocent victims.
In the letter to Cardinal von Hartmann, herewith in
closed and which I invite your Excellency to read, I, as a
Belgian citizen and a bishop of the Belgian Church, give
free rein to the indignation aroused in me by the words
spoken by the Imperial Chancellor and by his travesty of
the truth. Kindly accept, Governor General, the expression of my
respect. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The following is Cardinal Mercier's letter to Cardinal
von Hartmann inclosed with the foregoing:
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December zftth, 19 14.
To His Eminence Cardinal von Hartmann, Archbishop of
Cologne.
Most Eminent Lord — The very kind letter dated De
cember 6th, with which your Eminence honored me, gave
me lively pleasure and most sincerely do I thank you for
the same.
I greatly appreciated at the time the steps taken by your
Eminence to secure for the Belgian and French priests im
prisoned in Germany the same treatment as is accorded to
officers. Your Eminence's intervention on behalf of the guilt
less ecclesiastics imprisoned at Munsterlager and at Celle
has been successful. All the priests belonging to a religious
order, except two, have been set free. I have not yet been
authorized to send priests to minister to our compatriots
imprisoned in Germany, but your letter to the "Armee
Bischof" gives me every confidence that on this point also
we shall at length obtain satisfaction.

32 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I had the honor of interviewing at Brussels and of re
ceiving later at Malines his Excellency the Governor Gen
eral, Baron von Bissing.
He appeared to me to be all that your Eminence had
described and such as he represented himself in the letter
you had the goodness to acquaint me of. I mean that he is
a man both just and prudent, and truly anxious as well to
further rather than obstruct the interests of religion in
Catholic Belgium. He himself has had the kindness to
inform me of the release of our imprisoned priests, and he
gives me grounds for expecting the speedy return to free
dom of our lay schoolmasters. Further, he has accorded
me every facility for seeing my fellow bishops.
In my view, he has accurately defined the terms upon
which the relations between Belgians and himself become
possible and desirable. Without expecting to be welcomed
as a friend, he requests all, more especially the religious
authorities, not to render his task heavier than it is. On
this point I am in full accord with the Governor General.
As in the first days of the war we counseled our faithful
to refrain from all hostile acts against the enemy's army,
so now at this moment we recommend them to abide by
the military regulations in so far as these wound neither
our consciences as Christians nor our feelings as patriots.
Nevertheless, it must be clearly understood that, though
for the moment we thus bend to the yoke of a power which
is stronger than ourselves, we proudly decline to waive our
rights or our unshakable confidence in the future.
It must be stated, furthermore, that the comparative
good-will shown to us at present in no wise atones for the
outrages to which Belgians have been so cruelly subjected.
When the Imperial Chancellor in his speech on December
2d dared to say, "We shall remember after the war the
wrongs done to our defenseless compatriots in enemy lands,
wrongs which clash with all the laws of civilization," he
went beyond all bounds ; and in so far as these words were
aimed at Belgium he uttered a monstrous lie.
I am personally acquainted with hundreds who have
been the victims of wrongs contrary to all the laws of civili-

RELATIONS WITH VON BISSING 33
zation and I am in possession of details which would make
any fair-minded man shudder — horrors indeed which recall
the pagan persecutions of the three first centuries of the
Church. I was loath to believe these stories before I per
sonally had made an unbiased and now completed investiga
tion of them.
The evidence has been overwhelming; and on my oath
I affirm that up to the present hour I have been unable
to establish one single act of savagery inflicted by a Belgian
civilian on a German soldier, while, on the other hand, I
am aware of hundreds of acts of cruelty "clashing with all
the laws of civilization" committed by German soldiers on
innocent Belgians. Your Eminence will understand that
patriotism and justice impose upon me the duty to go on
protesting against these crimes until they have been pun
ished; and I will add that if you were in possession of all
the evidence that I have gathered, your own sense of
righteousness would compel you to unite your protest to
ours. Accept, Most Eminent Lord, with the expression of my
thanks, the homage of respect and religious devotedness.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Editor's Note — Von Bissing refused to forward this letter to its destina
tion. He openly admits this in a letter to the Cardinal dated December 31st,
¦which is given in full in the chapter dealing with the pastoral "Patriotism
and Endurance."

CHAPTER II
THE CARDINAL ASKS VON BISSING's AUTHORITY TO SEND
BELGIAN PRIESTS INTO PRISONERS' CAMPS
IN GERMANY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December i6th, 19 14.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General
of Belgium.
Your Excellency — The numerous Belgian prisoners of
war in Germany, notwithstanding the priestly care which
the German clergy may be lavishing on them, are, on ac
count of their ignorance of the language, deprived of re
ligious succor.
A sound organization of the care of souls would re
quire the sending to Germany, for the term of hostilities,
of a few Belgian priests conversant with both our national
languages. As your Excellency is concerned about the religious in
terests of our people, would you not consent to take steps
with the Imperial Government to obtain for some of our
priests authorization to attend to our prisoners?
For this I should be extremely obliged to you.
Kindly accept, your Excellency, the expression of my
highest esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Editor's Note — This letter remained without an answer. Later von
Bissing informed the Cardinal that the steps which he had taken at head
quarters to comply with His Eminence's request had not been successful.

34

CHAPTER III
SALARIES OF THE CLERGY
In order to obtain their salaries, the officials of the
Belgian state who remained at their posts under the German
occupation had to sign a declaration by which they pledged
themselves not to undertake or omit anything which could
embarrass the German administration in occupied Belgian
territory. The Governor General wanted to subject priests
to the same formality. The Cardinal fought against this
energetically; he drew attention to the fact that ministers
of worship in Belgium are not officials and that their salaries
were paid them by way of compensation. Von Bissing re
plied that he did not share in this view, but that he would
nevertheless be satisfied with a declaration from the Car
dinal that the Belgian bishops had no intention of disturb
ing public order. He would consider this pledge as bind
ing the whole body of the Belgian clergy.
The following are the letters exchanged on this subject
between the Cardinal and the German administration :
Brussels, December 2%th, 19 14.
The Chief Administrator Attached to the Governor Gen
eral of Belgium.
Order No. 11a 1057.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Malines.
I inclose for your Eminence's perusal a copy of a com
munication made to the ministry of justice. I would re
quest your Eminence to take all the necessary steps to make
the members of the Catholic clergy sign the declarations
which are the subject of the inclosed communication. If
35

36 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
your Eminence will consent to sign this declaration, I would
ask you to send it on to me and immediately to notify the
official whose duty it is to pay you your salary. I, likewise,
would ask you to carry out these same instructions in the
case of the higher clergy.
The declarations of the other ecclesiastics are to be col
lected and sent to the competent agent of the treasury and
to the official in charge of the payment of salaries.
A list of the names of such ecclesiastics as have signed
the declaration must be drawn up in the same order as ap
pears on the pay list. This list must be sent to me. Your
Eminence will also be kind enough to compile and forward
me a list of the ecclesiastics whose salaries are not to be
paid. Concerning the drawing up of the pay lists, I would ask
your Eminence to come to an understanding with the provin
cial presidents of those German civil administrations who
exercise their functions in your diocese.
For the Governor General,
(Signature illegible).
The following communication was inclosed with the
preceding letter: Brussels, December 2%th, 19 14.
In view of the fact that ecclesiastical salaries are rela
tively small and that, in consequence of the war, a great
many ministers of worship have had every other source of
income considerably diminished, I consent to the priests be
ing paid their salaries in full, so long as they have not been
paid from other sources, viz. : in the provinces of Brabant,
Hainault, Namur, Limbourg, Liege and Luxemburg, from
September 1st, 19 14, and in the provinces of the two Flan
ders and of Antwerp from October 1st. The proposal to
pay ecclesiastics their salaries even in part from July 1st,
1 9 14, cannot be entertained, as by this arrangement they
are already privileged in comparison with all those who are
ordinarily receiving remuneration from the state; for the
German Government has only taken in hand the adminis-

SALARIES OF THE CLERGY 37
tration of the state revenue of Belgium since September
1st, for a part of Belgium, and from October 1st for the
other part. In consequence, it is impossible for it to pay
the salaries of the preceding months.
To receive their salaries, ecclesiastics must sign the fol
lowing formal pledge :
"Not to undertake anything against the German admin
istration in the occupied Belgian territories and to avoid
anything that could in any way prejudice its interests."
Those ecclesiastics who have resigned or who have
abandoned their posts, or who through force of circum
stances are hindered from filling them, shall not receive
their salaries. The same applies to those who have received
their salaries from other sources. The ecclesiastics must give
the agent of the treasury, or the official in charge, a written
declaration testifying that they have not yet been paid.
Those ecclesiastics who shall act contrary to their
pledges will be punished according to the laws of war and
will be deprived of all further salary.
I have communicated the present order to His Emi
nence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, to the
bishops of Bruges, Ghent, Liege, Namur and Tournay, to
the presidents of the synods of the Protestant churches, to
the council of administration of the Free Protestant Church,
to the central committee of the Anglican Church and the
chief rabbi of Brussels. I have asked them to take the
necessary steps to collect the declarations of the ministers
of worship and to hand them over to the officers whose
duty it is to pay the salaries.
I inclose with this communication the pay lists of the
clergy of East Flanders, requesting that the order may be
carried out. For the other provinces, I have given orders
to the various presidents of the German civil administration
to arrange with the ecclesiastical authorities about drawing
up the pay lists. As soon as these reach me, I will hand
them over to the minister of justice.
For the Governor General,
(Signature illegible).

38 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
January 17th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — A communication from your administration in
forms us that the German Government of the occupied part
of the country offers to arrange for the payment of the
clergy's salaries from September 1st or October 1st, 19 14,
but on condition that the various members of the clergy
sign a declaration by which they pledge themselves not to
undertake anything and to refrain from everything which
might be prejudicial to the German administration.
Certain considerations which have, I believe, escaped
the civil administrator's notice will make the juridical and
legal status of the Belgian clergy clear, and will, I feel sure,
receive your Excellency's attention.
First. Ministers of worship are not state functionaries.
Second. Their salaries are paid them as an indem
nity in compensation for confiscated ecclesiastical prop
erty. The members, therefore, of the clergy neither take an
oath nor give even a pledge to the Belgian Government,
but are merely subject, like ordinary citizens, to the gen
eral laws of the country.
First. I said, your Excellency, that ministers of wor
ship in Belgium are not public functionaries.
Our Court of Appeal has explicitly recognized this in
its decree of March 4th, 1847, in which it affirms that by
virtue of their office ministers of worship have no execu
tive authority, nor do they exercise any. In fact, only those
can be regarded as such, says the decree, who either directly
or indirectly are delegated by the law or by the Govern
ment to exercise any kind of authority; and ministers of
religion have certainly no function of this nature.
Second. I added that the salaries are paid to ministers
on the ground of indemnity. In the terms of Article 117
of the Belgian Constitution, "salaries and pensions of min
isters of worship are charged to the State; the neces-

SALARIES OF THE CLERGY 39
sary sums to meet these are included in each vear's
budget." y
The discussions preceding the framing of this article
show that the Congress looked upon salaries and pensions
for the clergy as a compensation on the grounds of in
demnity for the ancient privileges of which the Catholic
Church was deprived at the time of the confiscation of
ecclesiastical property.
From the very beginning of our national independence,
His Highness the Prince de Mean, Archbishop of Malines,
anxious to guarantee to the Catholic religion that full and
entire liberty which alone can secure for it peace and pros
perity, wrote to the National Congress as follows: "The
State has appropriated ecclesiastical property only with the
obligation of providing adequately for the cost of public
worship and the maintenance of its ministers; as witness
the first article of the French law of November 2d, 1789.
The Holy See on its side only ratified the alienation in
the interests of peace, expressly stipulating that the Gov
ernment should undertake to provide the clergy with a
competent salary, as evidenced both by the 13th and 14th
articles of the Concordat of 1801, as also by the Bulls
referring to these. In order to provide against unjust
preferences and on the plea of these salaries, to prevent
any agent of the executive power from interfering with
the free exercise of public worship by bringing to bear
any illegitimate influence on the opinions and conduct of
ecclesiastics, it would be needful that the apportionment
of these subsidies be fixed by law." *
In fact, the legal Government has never exacted from
the clergy a declaration antecedent to any payment of sala
ries. If the German Government were to exact it, it would
impose on the clergy a status inferior to that guaranteed
them by the Belgian Constitution.
I firmly trust that the Governor General will give his
fair-minded attention to the views herewith exposed and
will admit their soundness.
* See the discussions of the National Congress, by Huyttens, Vol. i, p.
525.

40 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I beg your Excellency to receive the expression of my
greatest esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
February gth, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — Since I have the opportunity,* may I remind your
Excellency of my letter of January 27th relative to the
salaries of the clergy? My colleagues in the episcopate,
whose ideas as well as my own I gave expression to, are as
anxious as myself to find a solution. When I say my col
leagues, I must make a reservation in the case of the
Bishop of Tournay, who finds it materially impossible to
communicate his views to us.
Believe me, your Excellency, I feel sure it is superfluous
for me to make this declaration that the Belgian bishops
have no designs against public order. If ever a member
of the clergy forgot his duty on this point, or if the German
authorities were to consider him as having done so, we only
make one request, viz., that the case be brought to the
notice of the bishop of the diocese to which such a one
may happen to belong.
Receive, my dear Governor General, the assurance of
my very high esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Governor General of Belgium's Office.
Brussels, February 17th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Malines.
I have the honor to acknowledge your Eminence's es
teemed letters of January 28th and February 9th.
I cannot entertain the views which your Eminence puts
forward in your first letter. It is a question of a measure
arising out of the war. This measure in no wise affects the
* Note — His Eminence at the same time was writing to the Governor
General to intercede on behalf of the cure of Forrieres. (See below.)

SALARIES OF THE CLERGY 41
position of the clergy in regard to the State as laid down
by the Belgian Constitution and Legislature. Moreover,
it in no wise constitutes a precedent. On the conclusion of
the war it loses all its force.
To prove that I was within my rights in subordinating
the payment of salaries to the signing of the proposed decla
ration, I might adduce the fact that already a number of
the clergy, among them a bishop with all his chapter, have
professed themselves in agreement with my way of thinking.
In your very esteemed letter of the 9th instant, your
Eminence has declared that the Belgian hierarchy disclaims
any intention of disturbing public order. The maintenance
of public order constitutes my duty. Since, in view of the
position of the episcopate in the Catholic Church, I am
enabled to look upon the declaration of your Eminence as
binding the whole clergy, I have great pleasure in inform
ing you that I waive all claims to a personal declaration
from each member of the clergy.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my highest
esteem, and I have the honor to be your Eminence's most
devoted servant.
(Signed) Freiherr von Bissing,
Governor General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
February igth, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
I have received the letter with which your Excellency
honored me on February 17th in answer to my communi
cations of January 28th and February 9th.
Yesterday I had the opportunity of meeting my revered
colleagues of the Belgian hierarchy at Tournay. They have
begged me to become their spokesman with your Excellency
and to express to you our lively satisfaction and our heart
felt gratitude.
Kindly accept the expression of my very high esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

42 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
March ist, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
It has come to my knowledge that your Excellency has
not received the letter which I had the honor to address
to you on February 19th. It was, however, sent to you by
registered post as is proved by the inclosed receipt.
The following is the text of what I then wrote.
(Here follows text of the preceding letter.)
I present again to your Excellency the expression of
my very high esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General of Belgium,
Brussels, March ^rd, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
In reply to the esteemed letter of your Eminence dated
the ist of this month, I have the honor to inform you that
your letter of February 19th reached me in a regular man
ner through the post.
If I have delayed answering, it is because I desired to
add to the thanks which I owe your Eminence for your
last letter the announcement that the payment of ecclesiasti
cal salaries is secure. I had given orders to the head of
the administration to advise me of it. It is only today that
he has informed me that it is an accomplished fact.
I rejoice to be able to make this communication to your
Eminence; at the same time I beg you to accept my warm
thanks for your kind letters of February 19th and March
ist, as well as my regret for the delay I have taken in
answering. I offer to your Eminence the expression of my highest
esteem and I have the honor to be your most devoted
servant. (Signed) Freiherr von Bissing,
Generaloberst.

CHAPTER IV
VON BISSING COMPLAINS TO THE CARDINAL ABOUT THE
MANNER IN WHICH THE FRENCH TREAT GERMAN
OFFICER PRISONERS
Office of the Governor General of Belgium.
Brussels, December 31st, 19 14.
Sekt. Ic. No. 1459.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor in reply to the esteemed letter ad
dressed to my predecessor on November 29th * to make to
your Eminence the following communication :
It has often happened that German doctors who have
been made prisoners by the French have reported on their
return from captivity the ignominious treatment which had
been inflicted on German officer prisoners. These reports
have been communicated to all the Belgian and French
officer prisoners in Germany in order that they make take
up the matter with the proper authorities in their respec
tive countries with a view to ameliorating the conditions of
the German officers and thus to avoid eventual reprisals on
the part of the German Government. These reports have
been read at the same time to the Belgian ecclesiastics who
are in the camp at Celle. No measures of reprisals have
so far been taken.
I inclose with my letter a copy of one of these reports
which have arrived here, with the observation that the
bad treatment which is mentioned therein must have been
meanwhile mitigated in consequence of diplomatic repre
sentations. The Governor General.
(Signed) von Bissing,
Cavalry General.
•Note — This letter has never been found.
43

44 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The following note accompanied the Governor's letter :
The head doctor, Ter Peek, who was a prisoner for
some time in the camp at Fougeres and who, since his re
lease, has been doing duty as head doctor with the regiment
of the Landwehr, No. 74, reports as follows about the in
stallations in that camp and the manner in which German
officer prisoners are treated there:
"During their removal from the camp they were exposed
to the insults of the mob, measures for their protection were
altogether inadequate. Their military equipment has been
taken from them — their caps, gaiters, etc. — and instead of
these they have been given nightcaps and very shabby civil
ian clothes."Again, in the camp they were exposed to the jeers
of the mob ; the commandant at the camp is unable to pro
tect them. The accommodation leaves much to be desired.
The rooms cannot be warmed and the officers have to clean
them out themselves. For beds they have only sacks of straw
to lie on without any bedclothes. There are no sanitary
arrangements. Their food is insufficient and of inferior
quality and yet the officers only receive eighty centimes of
their pay on the plea that the rest is kept for their main
tenance." These reports show that it is very urgent that steps
should be taken to put a stop to this infamous treatment.
In reply to this letter, the Cardinal asked for details
which were never forthcoming.

CHAPTER V
THE PASTORAL LETTER
PATRIOTISM AND ENDURANCE
The sentiments which the Cardinal showed toward Von
Bissing in his letter of December 28th, 19 14, were ex
pressed publicly by him in the pastoral letter of January
ist, 1 9 15, entitled "Patriotism and Endurance." He rec
ommended the faithful to abstain from hostile acts against
the enemy army, to have that regard for the occupying
power which the common weal demanded and to respect
the regulations imposed so long as they did not interfere
either with liberty of conscience or offend their patriotic
feelings. But, on the other hand, he solemnly affirmed
that this power had no legitimate authority and that con
sequently they were not bound in their inmost souls to
show such a power esteem, loyalty or obedience. "The
only legitimate power in Belgium," he added, "is that which
belongs to our king, his government and the representatives
of the nations He alone has a right to the affection of our
hearts and to our submission; for us, he alone represents
authority." Copies of this letter, issuing from the press of Mons.
Dessain, the archbishop's printer, were taken to the various
deaneries of the diocese by the seminarists leaving Malines
for the Christmas holidays. A note accompanying the
pastoral enjoined the priests to read the whole of it to
the faithful "without omitting or erasing any part of it in
spite of any orders to the contrary that might be issued by
any other power."
In many churches the first part of the letter was read
on Friday, January ist. 45

46 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The Cardinal's words, so courageous and so comfort
ing, had a tremendous effect, so that the German authori
ties intervened without delay. On January 2d, at 6:15
a. m., three envoys of the Governor General, among them
Baron von der Lancken, head of the political department,
presented themselves at the Archbishop's House and asked
to speak to the Cardinal.
His Eminence happened to be in the chapel preparing
to celebrate high mass. They called for him and he went
to the parlor where the visitors were waiting.
Von der Lancken began the interview. "Your Emi
nence," said he, "we come on behalf of the Governor Gen
eral to tell you of his surprise at the pastoral which you
have issued to the clergy and to the faithful. His Ex
cellency thought he had reason to expect from your Emi
nence, if not sympathy, at least co-operation in appeasing the
people. Your Eminence had led him to believe that such
were your dispositions."
The Cardinal answered: "You tell me that his Excel
lency is astonished. Astonished at what?"
"At certain passages where your Eminence excites the
people against Germany."
"Gentlemen," replied the Cardinal, "you are very much
mistaken. If you have read my letter, you must agree that
it is of a pacifying character. But you cannot ignore the
fact that our people have undergone great sufferings; and
when our people and our clergy suffer I suffer as much as
they and it is my duty to tell them so."
"But there are words which have a tendency to excite
the people." "Have you read the letter?"
"Yes; you say that one owes neither loyalty nor sub
mission to authority."
"I beg your pardon; I say, on the contrary, that one
owes loyalty and attachment to legitimate authority. But
I say that an occupying power is not a legitimate authority;
to such a power one owes respect and abstention from every
act of hostility. Moreover, I have not waited for your
visit to enjoin the faithful to abstain from all hostile acts,

THE PASTORAL LETTER 47
for as far back as the month of August I gave instructions to
this effect and recommended respect for the military
authorities." "Still, there are in the letter words which tend to ex
cite them against the German authorities."
"You must take the letter as a whole and not pick it
to pieces. Taken as a whole, the letter preaches patience
and submission so long as the present sufferings last."
"The Governor wishes to have an explanation."
"I will give the Governor the explanation he wants.
Besides I have already written to him. I had reason to
fear that mutual courtesy between individuals might give
rise to misunderstandings. I have therefore written to
him: 'Dear Governor General, I have for you personally
a profound and sincere esteem. But it must be understood
that these feelings do not imply the submission of my soul
to a hostile nation which has invaded our territory.' "
"As regards this letter, the Governor will not be able
to let it 'pass.' "
"It is written and it will remain."
"But why — " broke in an officer who till then had kept
silent, "why remind the faithful in your letter of bygone
events?" "Because the conditions under which we live to-day can
not make us forget the atrocities which our people have
endured. And when I preach to them today patience and
resignation, I cannot affect ignorance of these atrocities."
"Your Eminence will give the Governor General an
explanation."
"When?""We will let you know on your return to Brussels."
"All right, but I must tell you that tomorrow I shall
not be free."
"Your Eminence must hold yourself at the disposal of
his Excellency the Governor General at whatever day and
hour he may choose."
"Gentlemen, I must repeat that tomorrow I am not
free ; I have to preside at a religious function at Antwerp."
"Has your Eminence already sent out the letter?"

48 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
"All the cures have received it."
"Your Eminence has therefore broken the regulation
which forbids the publication of anything which has not
been passed by the German censor."
"I know nothing of this regulation. It might well have
been made known to me. As I knew nothing about it, I
have not broken it."
"Has the letter been read?"
"It was read yesterday, January ist, in many places;
in any case, it will be read everywhere tomorrow."
"In that case," exclaimed Von der Lancken, with a
look of despair, "we are too late !"
The visitors withdrew to report to their head, excusing
themselves for having come at so early an hour. They
begged his Eminence to hold himself at the Governor's
disposal. In the evening the following telegram came to the
Archbishop's House :
Cardinal Mercier, Malines.
The Governor General begs your Eminence to renounce the journey •which
you intended to make to Antwerp to-morrow. The Governor General.
On Saturday evening emissaries of the German Gov
ernment called on a large number of cures and forbade
them to continue reading the letter. In a great many pres
byteries they got possession of the pastoral by means of
threats. An official search was made at Mons. Dessain's in
Malines ; all copies of the letter found on the premises were
confiscated. Later Mons. Dessain was fined 500 marks.
On Sunday, January 3rd, in the evening, a German offi
cer, accompanied by a soldier, came to obtain information
from members of the archbishop's household as to whether
his Eminence had not left the town of Malines that same
day. The concierge's statement "was not enough. He
wanted, he said, the testimony of his Eminence's secretary
or of some one immediately attached to his person. Brother
Egidius, superintendent of the household, came and re
assured the officer that his Eminence had not left the city.
The officer and soldier left without insisting any further.
On Monday, January 4th, about 7 a. m., one of Von

THE PASTORAL LETTER 49
Bissing's adjutants, Captain von Strempel, came to the
Archbishop's House and handed to the Cardinal the fol
lowing letter from the Governor General with a request
for an immediate reply: Office of the Governor General,
Brussels, December 31st, 19 14.
January yd, 19 15.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor to acknowledge the letter which you
addressed to me on December 28th. I have noted that your
Eminence appreciates the spirit with which I am animated
in the discharge of my duties toward the Belgian people
and especially in regard to the spiritual and moral inter
ests represented by your Eminence. On my side, I appre
ciate the sentiments manifested toward myself by your
Eminence. But I have been painfully surprised by the
concluding portion of your Eminence's letter, as also by
the letter addressed by you to Cardinal von Hartmann.
I have noted that even at this hour your Eminence adopts
toward the German Government an attitude quite incom
patible with the efforts which you are making in helping
to heal your country's wounds. In the course of our inter
view I made it clear to your Eminence that events arising
out of the necessities of the war and the behavior of the
Belgian population could form no subject for discussion be
tween us. To my great regret, your Eminence finds occasion
in the letter you addressed to me, as well as in that to Car
dinal von Hartmann, to go back to these events. I draw
your Eminence's attention to the fact that the German
Government is in possession of a number of proofs justify
ing completely the measures taken by the German troops
against the Belgian people who have acted contrary to all
international law. Hence I must protest most energetically
when your Eminence accuses the responsible political au
thorities in Germany of lying and when you attack the
honor of the German army, which has only acted in legiti
mate self-defense. Your Eminence must recognize with me

50 CARDINAL" MERCIER'S OWN STORY
that so long as you believe yourself justified in expressing
such ideas and sentiments, and even in maintaining them
after my explanation, it is quite impossible for me to grant
you the facilities for traveling which you request; for now,
I cannot see any common ground on which we can work to
gether with mutual confidence in the interests of the Belgian
people. Neither can I transmit to its destination the letter
which your Eminence has handed to me for Cardinal von
Hartmann. It is impossible for me to forward a criticism
so unjustifiable and so offensive to the higher authorities,
both of the German Empire and of the German army. I
return this letter to your Eminence.
At the moment of dispatching this letter your Emi
nence's pastoral has been brought to my notice. It has
caused me a most disagreeable surprise. I must decline to
make a detailed pronouncement on its contents, for no one
can measure the results of the action taken by your Emi
nence, nor do I believe myself authorized alone to take
the measures necessary to repair the harm done by this
letter and at the same time to safeguard the rights and
dignity of the German Government. First of all, in the
interests of preserving good relations with the Belgian
clergy, so sincerely desired by myself, I have waived my
right to proceed against the priests, who, in circulating and
in reading the pastoral, have merely obeyed the instruc
tions of their archbishop. On the other hand, I have or
dered the confiscation of copies of the letter which were
found at the printing works, and I have decreed penalties
against any one circulating them. It is clear that the read
ing of the letter has already provoked an agitation among
the Belgian people. If graver events should result there
from, your Eminence alone would have to bear all the
responsibility. I am obliged to request your Eminence to
at once forbid your clergy to read and to circulate your
pastoral. I beg your Eminence to answer by return of post the
following questions :
(i) What relations has your Eminence had after the
occupation of the country by German troops with the King

THE PASTORAL LETTER 5i
of the Belgians, and in particular with the King of Eng
land? (2) Through what channel have these communications
been maintained?
(3) What are the legal grounds on which your Emi
nence rests to ordain days of penance in accordance with
a desire manifested by the King of England? (See the
communication in Latin to the clergy, Vol. 113, part 3,
dated Malines, Christmas, 19 14.)
The bearer of this letter has orders to await your Emi
nence's reply and to bring it back to me.
I offer your Eminence the expression of my very high
esteem and I have the honor to be your Eminence's devoted
servant. (Signed) Freiherr von Bissing,
Governor General.
The Cardinal observed to Von Strempel that an answer
to such a document required reflection and this he could
not give immediately; he begged him to return the same
evening. The captain answered that his orders were not
to leave the Archbishop's House without a reply. The
Cardinal fruitlessly insisted that he should have time given
him to work out his reply. The officer again and again re
joined: "I am in no hurry; I will wait." At a certain
moment, as he seemed loath to let the Cardinal out of his
sight, the latter said, "Use your liberty; I give you my word
of honor that I shall not run away. Do you take me for
a brigand?" Finally, about 11 o'clock, his Eminence handed to Von
Strempel the subjoined letter, begging him instantly to re
quest the Governor's permission by telephone to return to
Brussels and come again for the answer about 6 p. m.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
January ^th, 1915, 11 o'clock a. m.
To His Excellency the Governor General Baron von Biss
ing, Brussels.
Your Excellency — I am in receipt of the letter your ad
jutant, Captain von Strempel, did me the honor to deliver

52 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
from your Excellency and I am anxious to reply to it as
soon as possible. Your Excellency must, however, allow me
time for reflection before doing so. The greater part of
the morning has been spent by your obliging delegate in
copying the document. I shall have to study it at my leisure.
I expect, however, to complete the required reply this eve
ning. With your Excellency's approval, your adjutant might
return for it this evening at 6.*
Accept, Excellency, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
At this point some of his friends near him pressed the
Cardinal to parry the blows that threatened him. He was
advised, if not to withdraw the pastoral, at least to tone
down some of its directness. Had the Cardinal the right
to expose his priests to all the perils of a violent repression?
In the general interests, would it not be better to give proof
of a conciliatory spirit? Was it not sheer rashness to ex
pose his own person to imprisonment, exile, or even a
worse penalty? The severance of the pastor from his
flock, would it not lay the diocese and the whole country
open to perils of the gravest kind?
This was a critical hour.
After taking counsel of his immediate entourage, the
Cardinal took time to reflect alone. He went to his private
oratory to meditate and pray; then came back and drew
up the following letter in which he declares that his act
was fully deliberate and that he refuses either to disown
or withdraw it: Archbishop's House, Malines,
January 4th, 19 15, 6 p. m.
To Baron von Bissing, Governor General, Brussels.
Your Excellency — The letters with which your Excel
lency has honored me dated December 31st, 19 14. and
January 3rd, 1915, embrace three parts.
The first part refers to my correspondence of December
•Note — The Governor General's answer was negative. Von Strem
pel was to await the Cardinal's answer at Malines itself.

THE PASTORAL LETTER 53
28th last, both with your Excellency and his Eminence
Cardinal von Hartmann. Your Excellency was kind
enough to appreciate the mark of esteem which I had
the opportunity of showing you. You remind me that you
had expressed a desire to further the religious and moral
interest with which I have been intrusted, also to relieve
the sufferings of our people; and yet your Excellency seems
persuaded that instead of falling in with your views I have,
taken up an attitude toward the German Government which
to you is incompatible with this praiseworthy ideal.
Your Excellency is of the opinion that past events with
their sad echoes still resounding within the soul of Belgium
ought not to form the subject of either oral or written com
munications between us, and it seems you are surprised that
even in private letters I have recalled these events and
have also passed judgment upon them.
I appreciate fully your Excellency's anxiety to ward
off further strife from our country, already so sorely tried,
and no one acquiesces in this wish of yours more heartily
than myself. Still, if by mutual co-operation we desire our
work to have a durable character, our joint efforts must
not rest on an equivocal basis. Duly impressed by the need
of candor, I made a point of drawing a distinction between
the personal relations of courtesy and mutual good-will I
had the honor of cultivating with Baron von Bissing and
those other relations which were demanded by my position
toward the representative of a nation with whom we have
the misfortune to be at war. I was encouraged by the hope
that the clearness of my words would be welcomed, and
I was certainly far from anticipating that it would involve
the withdrawal of the general pass you granted me.
Nevertheless, I bow to your decision. Hitherto, as a mat
ter of fact, I have not gone beyond the limits of my dio
cese ; nor shall I go beyond them in future.
The second part of your Excellency's dispatch refers
to my pastoral letter. First of all, I am grateful to your
Excellency for your decision to withdraw the prosecution
of those priests who have read my letter from the pulpit
as they were instructed to do. In doing this they acted in

54 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
obedience to their bishop. He alone is responsible for the
orders he gives to his clergy. You seem, sir, apprehensive
of a possible disturbance resulting from the public reading
of my pastoral and you draw my attention to possible un
pleasant consequences among the people. Allow me to
inform you that you little understand the devotedness of
my people. If in addressing them I had in any way con
cealed my views or had tried to force them into submission,
they might have kicked against my orders. But my words
to them were those of a father who trusts his children.
I told them that I realized their sufferings and by virtue
of this very knowledge was able to sympathize with them.
I expounded to them in its entirety the gospel teaching on
their relations with that power which for the time being
was in occupation of a part of their country. I told them
this: "Whatever feelings you may harbor within your in
most souls, you are bound, as far as your conscience and
noble patriotism will allow, to comply in your external con
duct with the regulations of the Government in occupation.
Outwardly you are to obey the aforementioned decrees;
nay more, it is the legitimate authority of your own gov
ernment, in tacitly approving of them out of regard it has
for the interests of public order, that obliges you to respect
them." As a Belgian, I understand my fellow-countrymen; and
as a bishop I am well acquainted with my children; and
I can therefore guarantee, Sir, that the public peace will
not be disturbed if you forbid your subordinates to indulge
in any further noisy demonstrations such as occurred in a
considerable number of peaceful villages during the night
of January 3rd.
If, on the other hand, you cannot see your way to allow
me full freedom to influence my clergy and people by moral
suasion alone ; if, yielding to your personal fears, you have
recourse to methods of intimidation, I shall no longer be
able to answer, with the same assurance, for the main
tenance of public order, and in that case I shall not require
my clergy to resume the reading and the dissemination of
my pastoral in defiance of your interdiction.

THE PASTORAD LETTER 55
Lastly, in the third part of your letter, your Excellency
asks me about my relations with my own king and the King
of England, and desires to be informed why, in conformity
with the wish expressed by the King of England, I should
have exhorted the faithful of my diocese to make January
3rd a special day of prayer. Frankly, your Excellency,
these questions astonish me. The acts of one's private life,
unless I am mistaken, are outside the jurisdiction of all
governments, and consequently I feel justified in requesting
your Excellency to assure me of the exact purport of your
question. Does your Excellency claim the right to inter
fere with my private intercourse with my own sovereign, or
with foreign rulers? This is not the first time I have or
dered a day of prayer. My venerable episcopal colleagues
in Austria, France and Germany have all acted in like man
ner. We have each and all been fired by the same desire
to call down the blessing of God on our countries. This
also I may add: That I have had no difficulty in becoming
acquainted with the King of England's wish in this matter.
A circular published by his Eminence Cardinal Bourne,
Archbishop of Westminster, was sent to thousands of our
Belgian refugees living at present in the United Kingdom.
Many copies have reached me, but at the present moment
I cannot put my hand on one of these circulars. I hope
shortly to be able to find one and to forward it to your
Excellency. Accept, Excellency, the expression of my high esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The next day, January 5th, the Cardinal sent to Von
Bissing the following supplementary note :
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
January $th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Your Excellency — I have the honor to inclose the
pamphlet to which I referred in my letter of yesterday
evening.

56 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
An error of date has crept into my letter. You must
read, "During the night of January 2d-January 3rd."
I said yesterday that I could hardly see the drift of
the question your Excellency put me in the third part of
your letter. I think, on reflection, that your Excellency
wished to know whether or not I had been influenced by
considerations outside my pastoral office. I insist that my
pastoral, both in letter and in spirit, is exclusively my work.
I have taken the whole responsibility on myself.
I deeply regret having left the letter of Cardinal von
Hartmann, dated December 6th, without a reply; and at
present I find myself deprived of any direct means of com
municating with him. Perhaps your Excellency will see your
way to dispatch the subjoined letter after perusal. If you
should find any difficulty, I beg you to take no notice of my
request. Receive, Excellency, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
With this letter was inclosed the printed notice in which
Cardinal Bourne announced that January 3rd should be
observed as a day of penance.
Archbishop' s House, Westminster, S. W.
December \$th, 19 14.
Day of Humble Prayer and Intercession
You know already that, by the desire of His Majesty
the King, the first Sunday of the New Year, January 3rd,
which is also the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus,
will be kept throughout the country as a day of humble
prayer and intercession to beg God's blessing upon the
empire and the allied nations in these days of terrible con
flict with our enemies, and to implore His divine consolation
for those who thereby are exposed to anxiety, suffering and
sorrow. Those who have already given their lives in the
struggle will have their own special place in our supplica
tion. The bishops, clergy and faithful of the Church in
France will be united with us in this great public and in-

THE PASTORAL LETTER 57
ternational act of intercession, and we know that our breth
ren in Belgium will be joined with us in heart and intention.
The following letter was at the same time handed to
Von Bissing, with a request to forward it to its destination.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
January $th, 19 15
To His Eminence, the Right Reverend von Hartmann,
Archbishop of Cologne.
Most Eminent Lord — Tardily, yet very sincerely, I
thank your Eminence for your letter of December 6th last
and for the very kind steps which you had the goodness
to take on behalf of our priests and of our prisoners.
The special circumstances on which I prefer not to dwell
do not allow me to say any more to your Eminence today.
United in prayer that in all things and in every way
the will of God may be accomplished, I remain your Emi
nence's humble and devoted servant.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General confined himself to replying by
a simple acknowledgment. Governor General's Office, Brussels,
January 6th, 19 15.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor to acknowledge the esteemed letter of
your Eminence, dated yesterday, together with the pamph
let which you had the kindness to inclose with it and the
letter which you have addressed to my very esteemed friend,
Cardinal von Hartmann. It will be a great pleasure to me
to forward the letter to its destination.
I avail myself of the occasion to forward to your Emi
nence a letter which Cardinal von Hartmann has asked me
to transmit to you.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem, and have the honor to be your very devoted servant,
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Governor General.

58 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
On January 7th the Governor General addressed a
printed circular to all the priests of the diocese of Malines,
of which the following is a translation :
Governor General's Office,
Brussels, January 7th, 19 15.
To the Clergy of the Diocese of Malines :
Following upon representations which I addressed to
him on the subject of his pastoral letter, the effect of which
in my opinion is of a nature to disturb and excite the public
mind, Cardinal Mercier has declared to me by word of
mouth and in writing that such had never been his inten
tion and that he had never expected his letter to produce
such an effect. He says he has above all in view to show
the people the necessity of submission to the power of
occupation, even in the case where a Belgian, animated by
his deep-rooted patriotic feelings, might feel inclined to
oppose the German administration.
The Cardinal has added that in case I feared his pas
toral might disturb the public mind, he would not insist
on forcing his priests, as he does at the end of his letter,
to continue the reading of it on the following Sundays and
to distribute it from house to house as well.
I have some fear of this kind.
I, therefore, renew my prohibition of January 2d to
read and to distribute his pastoral. I would observe to
the clergy that in the case of infringement of this order
they will be opposing the Cardinal's intentions as expressed
to me in writing.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Governor General.
At the same time the Governor General published
through the Censored Press the following note:
Brussels, January $th.
"His Eminence Mgr. Mercier, in accordance with an
ancient custom, addressed to the faithful of his diocese for
the feast of Christmas a pastoral letter in which he partly
treats of the great political events of recent date. The
foreign press has given inaccurate accounts of it and among

THE PASTORAL LETTER 59
other things has alleged that in consequence of this pastoral
the Cardinal has been imprisoned in his place at Malines
by German officers and even that he has been already ar
rested. The Governor General declared officially that both
these reports are devoid of all foundation. He has never
dreamt of interfering with the liberties of the Prince of the
Church in the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions. The
pastoral, however, contained passages offensive to Ger
many, and though it was impossible for the German authori
ties to ignore them, yet, out of regard for the sacredness
of the place and to avoid wounding the feelings of the faith
ful, the reading of the pastoral has not been prevented by
force. The Governor General, in virtue of his decree of
October 13th, 1914, which formally subjects all printed mat
ter to the censorship of the Governor General, has confined
himself to disciplinary measures demanded by the situation.
The printer entrusted with the printing and distribution of
the pastoral has accordingly been proceeded against for his
infraction of the forementioned decree, and the copies
found at his establishment have been sequestrated.
"In the course of correspondence with the Governor
General the Cardinal has declared that, having regard to the
opinion of the Governor General on the probable effect of
its reading, he abstained from compelling the clergy to
read the pastoral and to distribute it from house to house."
(Extract from the newspaper La Belgique, No. 64,
January 9th, 19 15.)
This communication of Von Bissing to the clergy of
the diocese and to the censored press is a masterpiece of
hypocrisy. While the Cardinal, trusting in the patriotic ini
tiative of his clergy, had only declared that he would not
renew the order intimated above, the Governor General
leads one to understand that the Cardinal, in order to avoid
all difficulty, desires that the clergy should refrain from
the public reading and distribution of the pastoral.
This clever maneuver had not the result expected of
it by Von Bissing. On Saturday, January 9th, Mgr. Ever-
ard. dean of St. Gudule, went to the Cardinal and soon

60 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
found out the snare which had been laid for the clergy of
the diocese. Of this he forthwith by letter informed the
cures of the deanery of St. Gudule and all the deans of
the Brussels district. The report of this letter spread
everywhere like wildfire, and in all the churches the reading
of the letter was continued on Sunday, January ioth.
The following is the letter which Mgr. Everard ad
dressed to the Cardinal a few days later :
Eminence — On Saturday, January 9th, I wrote to all
my parish priests and to the rural deans of the district :
"I have just returned from Malines.
"Notwithstanding the written prohibition circulated last
evening, his Eminence the Cardinal wishes his letter to be
read. This written prohibition is deceptive and false.
" 'Neither by word nor in writing have I withdrawn
anything, and at this moment I withdraw nothing of my
previous instructions, and I protest against the violence
which is done to the freedom of my pastoral office.'
"Such are the words dictated to me by the Cardinal.
"He added furthermore : 'Everything has been done to
make me sign some modification of my letter. I have not
signed them. Now it is sought to separate the clergy from
me by preventing them from reading the letter. I have
done my duty: my clergy will know how to do theirs.'
"Receive, my dear cure, the testimony of my respect."
Both in the town and in the outskirts on Sunday, Janu
ary ioth, the pastoral was read at all masses and produced
an excellent effect.
The reading took place without incident, opposition or
protest. Only at Sublant, after the reading of the letter
by the cure, M. Richard, did two officers accompany him
to the sacristy and there tell him it had been forbidden to
read the letter. His reply that he had only obeyed the
order of his superior closed the incident.
There was naturally some excitement for the moment,
but this disappeared almost immediately.
Up to now, nobody has interfered with us.

THE PASTORAL LETTER 61
Will your Eminence accept the expression of my pro
found esteem?
(Signed) Edward Everard.
On January i ith, the Cardinal addressed to his clergy
a letter in Latin of which the following is a translation:
Malines, Sunday Within the Octave of the Epiphany, 19 15.
Very Reverend Fathers and Most Dear Fellow Workers :
You are acquainted, I believe, with a notice of the Gov
ernor General of Belgium published in the papers stating
that the Cardinal Archbishop of Malines has in no wise
been hampered in the free discharge of his ecclesiastical
office. The facts themselves disprove the truth of this
assertion. As a matter of fact, on the evening of January ist and
throughout the whole of the following night, German offi
cers entered the presbyteries and carried off or tried vainly
to wrench from the priests' hands the pastoral, and in de
fiance of episcopal authority forbade you to read it to your
congregations, threatening you or your parish with the
direst penalties.
Even our dignity was not respected, for on January
2d, before daybreak at 6 o'clock, I received the order to
go immediately that same morning and explain to the Gov
ernor General my letter to the clergy and the people. The
following day I was forbidden to give benediction in the
Cathedral at Antwerp. I have been forbidden to visit the
other Belgian bishops.
As a citizen, as a shepherd of souls, and as a member
of the sacred college of Cardinals, I protest, my dear fellow
workers, that your rights as well as mine have been violated.
Whatever may be alleged to the contrary, experience
has proved that this pastoral letter has provoked no occa
sion for sedition, but, on the contrary, it has contributed
largely to the appeasing of the people's minds and to public
tranquillity. I congratulate you on having fulfilled your duty with
firmness and moderation. Continue faithful, keeping up a
stout yet pacific heart, remembering the words in which

62 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I have already explained to you my mind clearly and en
tirely: "Be at the same time the best guardians of patriot
ism and the supporters of public order."
As for the rest, be "in spirit fervent, serving the Lord,
rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, instant in prayer,
communicating to the necessities of the saints." (Romans
xii, n-13.)
I beg you, do not forget me in your prayers; on my
part, I shall not forget you in mine. Altogether, united
by the close ties of brotherhood, let us commend to the
Lord, the bishops, the clergy and the faithful "that they
may see their duty and may have the strength to fulfill it." *
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The deans are requested to give an account of all that
has taken place in the parishes of their deaneries.
N. B. — For some time some ecclesiastics have affected
lay attire; they are requested to resume from now on ec
clesiastical dress.
The incidents provoked by the reading of the pastoral
became known in other countries. Mr. Schreiner, the cor
respondent of the Associated Press of America, sent a tele
gram to the Cardinal, through the German authorities, re
questing detailed information of his treatment by the
German authorities. This telegram was delivered by the
Kreischef of Malines: The Kreischef Office, Malines,
January qth, 1915-
To the Cardinal Archbishop of Malines.
By order of the Governor General I have the honor to
forward to your Eminence the following telegram which
was received by the Governor General with the request to
communicate it to you.
•Collect for the Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany.

THE PASTORAL LETTER 63
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier.
It has been rumored that your Eminence has been ar
rested, together with certain other persons who have co
operated in the dissemination of the pastoral letter. This
report has produced a deep impression throughout America.
For this reason I have been charged by the managers of the
Associated Press to get into personal communication with
your Eminence and to receive from you details of the alleged
bad treatment to which you have been subjected. If your
Eminence be agreeable, I beg you to inform me at the Amer
ican Embassy at The Hague what can be published of your
present position.
With kindest regards.
(Signed) George Schreiner,
Correspondent of the Associated Press of America.
In case your Eminence deems it expedient to reply to
this telegram, I place myself at your disposal to transmit
your reply. The Kreischef,
(Signed) G. von Wengersky, Colonel.
The Cardinal sent the following note to the Kreischef
with his answer to Mr. Schreiner's telegram :
Cardinal Mercier presents to the Count Wengersky the
expression of his high esteem and begs him to be good
enough to forward the inclosed answer to the correspondent
of the Associated Press of America :
George Schreiner,
Correspondent of the Associated Press of America,
American Legation, The Hague.
In reply to your telegram I regret to have to declare
that a number of priests have had to submit to the viola
tions of their homes, threats of fines or imprisonment and
arrest. The printer of the pastoral letter was condemned
to a fine of 500 marks. M^^self received January 2d 6

64 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
o'clock morning three officers who brought me an order
to remain at the disposal of Governor General; Sunday,
January 3rd, received by telegram Governor General's pro
hibition to go to Antwerp to preside at religious ceremony.
Shall be obliged to you for acknowledging receipt of
my wire. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General refused to send the Cardinal's
wire. He sent one of his emissaries to invite his Emi
nence to tone down the text of his answer to the correspon
dent of the Associated Press. The Cardinal refused ener
getically, declaring that what he affirmed expressed the
bare truth. As he was not allowed to answer explicitly
the questions asked of him by Mr. Schreiner, his Emi
nence confined himself to sending him, through the chan
nel of the Kreischef of Malines and of the Governor Gen
eral, the following answer:
George Schreiner,
Correspondent of the Associated Press of America,
American Legation, The Hague.
I quite understand the sympathy you wish to manifest
toward me and I thank you for it; but I prefer for the pres
ent not to dwell on the vexatious proceedings to which you
refer and to continue to confine myself to my duties as a
bishop. I repeat, however, that I have withdrawn and shall
withdraw nothing of my pastoral letter.
(Signed) Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER VI
PROPOSAL FOR AN INQUIRY ABOUT PRIESTS IN THE DIOCESE
OF MALINES PUT TO DEATH BY GERMANS
Toward the end of 19 14 and at the beginning of 1915
the German Government established in Belgium various
commissions of inquiry, composed entirely of imperial offi
cials, whose object was to proclaim to the whole world that
the German army was innocent of the crimes of which it
had been accused by its enemies, and if now and then severe
measures of repression had to be taken they must be ascribed
solely to the brutal and savage conduct of the Belgian folk.
The result of these one-sided inquiries appeared in a White
Book, which will remain for future generations one of the
most convincing witnesses of the duplicity, insolence and also
of the folly of Prussian militarism.
The Kreischef of Malines proved himself a worthy rep
resentative of his Government. Pretending that he had
learned from a newspaper article that priests of the diocese
of Malines had been killed, though he knew by the Christ
mas pastoral letter the assertion of the Cardinal that thir
teen members of the clergy had perished as victims of Ger
man barbarity, he communicates to his Eminence his scheme
for an inquiry in the following terms :
The Kreischef, Malines,
No. 268/11. January 20th, 1915.
To His Eminence the Cardinal, Archbishop of Malines.
According to a newspaper article, several guiltless priests
have been killed in the diocese of Malines.
In order to be able to start an inquiry, I beg your Emi
nence to be so kind as to let me know if this information
be correct, and if the answer is in the affirmative to supply
me with the names of the victims. 65

66 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I should very much like to know under what circum
stances these priests have been killed and which troops in
curred the guilt of these crimes and on what date these
events came to pass. The Kreischef,
(Signed) G. von Wengersky, Colonel.
The Cardinal answered without delay:
Archbishop's House, Malines,
January 24th,' 191 5.
To the Count von1 Wengersky, Kreischef, Malines.
Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the letter. 268/1 1,
bearing date January 20th, which you have had the kindness
to send me.
The names of the priests and religious of Malines dio
cese who to my knowledge have been put to death by Ger
man troops are the following: Dupierreux, of the Society
of Jesus; the Brothers Sebastian and Allard, of the Con
gregation of Josephites ; Brother Candide, of the Congre
gation of Our Lady of Mercy; Father Maximin, a Capu
chin; Father Vincent, a minor conventual; Carette, a
teacher; Lombaerts, Goris, De Clerck, Dergent, Wouters,
Van Blaedl, parish priests.
On Christmas Day, when I published my pastoral let
ter, I did not yet know with certainty what had been the
fate of the cure of Herent; since then his body has been
found at Louvain and identified.
Other figures quoted by me in my pastoral letter ought
now to be added. For instance, for Aerschot I gave the
number of victims as ninety-one, but the total of Aerschotois
dug up now reaches 143. However, the time has not yet
come to insist on these detailed facts. Their enumeration
will come to light in the inquiry which you lead me to expect.
It will be a consolation to me to see full light thrown
upon events which I had to recall in my pastoral letter and
on others of the same kind.
But it is indispensable that the results of the inquiry
should appear to all with an authority beyond dispute.
With this end in view, I have the honor to propose to

PRIESTS PUT TO DEATH BY GERMANS 67
you, my dear Count, and to the German authorities through
your kind intervention, that the Commission of Inquiry be
composed equally of German delegates and Belgian magis
trates to be appointed by our Chief Justice, the whole to
be presided over by the representative of a neutral country.
I cherish the hope that his Excellency the Minister of the
United States would not refuse to preside either himself or
through a delegate of his own choice.
Accept, I beg you, dear Kreischef, the assurance of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
On February 2d the Kreischef summoned one of the
Vicars General. Mgr. Van Roey went to the Komman-
dantur at 1 1 a. m. He found himself in the presence of
an adjutant, who asked him the following questions : At what
place had priests been killed ? What day ? By what troops ?
Do you aver that they were innocent ?
Mgr. Van Roey replied that he had not been directly
concerned in the project for an inquiry, but that, as far
as he knew, his Eminence had corresponded about this mat
ter with the Governor General or with the Kreischef.
"Yes," replied the adjutant, "we have here his Emi
nence's letter. The Governor General has taken cognizance
of it and has sent it to us with annotations. We do not
wish to disturb his Eminence again ; we had hoped that you
could provide the information we desire."
The interview ended by Mgr. Van Roey's declaring that
all he could do was to submit to the Cardinal the Kreischef's
wishes. The very next day the latter addressed to Mgr. Van
Roey the following letter: The Kreischef, Malines,
February yd, 1915.
To Mgr. the Vicar General of His Eminence the Cardinal,
Malines.
Monsignor — I should be obliged if you would fix some
precise date on which I may expect an answer to the ques-

68 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
tions I put you concerning the priests shot in the diocese of
Malines. The Kreischef,
(Signed) G. von Wengersky.
Mgr. Van Roey replied immediately:
Archbishop's House, Malines,
February 4th, 1915.
To Count von Wengersky, Kreischef, Malines.
Sir — I had the honor to hand to his Eminence the Car
dinal Archbishop the demand for information which the
adjutant has made regarding the priests shot in the diocese
of Malines. His Eminence tells me that to an identical inquiry which
was addressed to himself personally he replied in his letter
of January 24th last. I deem, therefore, that it is no
business of mine to meddle in a matter which the Cardinal
has already taken in hand himself.
Please accept, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Ern. Van Roey.
Following on this declaration of Mgr. Van Roey's, the
Kreischef addressed another letter to the Cardinal himself.
The Kreischef of Malines,
February Sth, 19 15.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Malines.
I should be much obliged if your Eminence would fix a
date for receiving my adjutant. He is commissioned to ask
your Eminence for precise details regarding the priests of
the diocese of Malines who were shot.
I beg your Eminence to acept the expression of my deep
respect and I have the honor to be your devoted servant,
(Signed) G. Von Wengersky,
Colonel and Kreischef.
The Cardinal replied, fixing the interview for February
9th, but his letter was delivered to the Kreischef after some
delay so that the adjutant was unable to present himself
at the Archbishop's House on the appointed day. Von
Wengersky told the Cardinal of it:

PRIESTS PUT TO DEATH BY GERMANS 69
The Kreischef of Malines,
February gth, 19 15.
To His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Malines.
To my great regret, I have to inform your Eminence
that, as the result of a mistake, your letter was not deliv
ered to me till 2 o'clock this afternoon. My adjutant has
therefore been unable to proceed to your palace at the time
mentioned. If convenient to your Eminence, he will present himself
tomorrow at the same hour.
I beg your Eminence to excuse this mistake and to ac
cept the expression of my profound esteem.
(Signed) G. Von Wengersky,
Colonel and Kreischef.
This letter from the Kreischef crossed the following
from the Cardinal : Archbishop's House, Malines,
February gth, 19 15.
To the Count Wengersky, Kreischef, Malines.
Dear Count — I am afraid you did not receive my letter
this morning in time to enable you to see your adjutant.
I hasten therefore to inform you that I shall be delighted
to receive your delegate tomorrow, Wednesday, at 4 p. m.
(5I1. German time) . However, to prevent his taking a step
which he might believe fruitless, I think it my duty to warn
you that as regards the priests of my diocese shot by Ger
man troops, I refer to my letter of January 24th, last.
Accept, my dear Count, the assurance of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
On February ioth, at the appointed hour, the adjutant,
Von Fleming, presented himself at the Archbishop's House
and renewed the questions already put to him by the Kreis
chef. His Eminence answered them in writing. The fol
lowing is the text of his reply signed by himself and the
adjutant :

70 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The adjutant, Von Fleming, asks me in the name of the
Governor General:
(i) In what parishes priests have been shot?
(2) What troops put them to death and on what date?
(3) Is the bishop of the diocese ready to declare posi
tively that his priests were innocent?
The names of the parishes have already been printed
in my Christmas pastoral, 1914, on page 65.
The German headquarters staff is better informed than
any one else as to what troops were occupying a parish on
any particular day. While the population easily recognize
the German uniform, they are for the most part unable to
distinguish the regiments of which the army is composed.
I have good reasons for my personal conviction that the
priests whose names I have cited were innocent; but in jus
tice it is not for us to prove their innocence : it is for the
military authorities who have proceeded against them to
establish their guilt.
Witnesses called to give evidence before a biased com
mission will in general be afraid to tell the truth. This can
only be obtained fully and be universally accepted as such
on condition that a mixed commission be formed to investi
gate it and to guarantee an impartial and exact inquiry.
And, therefore, I cannot but renew for the third time
my proposal to confide to a mixed commission made up
partly of German magistrates and partly of Belgian magis
trates the task of throwing full light on facts about which
the Governor General has had the happy idea to institute an
inquiry. In order that the results of the inquiry may have
all desirable weight, it were well that the tribunal should be
presided over by some delegate from a neutral state.
Malines, February ioth, 19 15.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
(Signed) Von Fleming,
Major and Adjutant of the Kreischef of Malines.
The proposals of the Cardinal achieved no result what
ever.

CHAPTER VII
RELEASE OF THE BELGIAN DOCTORS AND CHEMISTS CON
FINED AT HEIDELBERG
Reference has already been made in a preceding letter
to a group of Belgian army doctors and pharmaceutical
chemists confined at Heidelberg and threatened by the camp
commandant with reprisals, to be undertaken as a sort of
protest against the supposed bad treatment to which it was
falsely alleged the German officer prisoners in France and
Belgium had been subjected. The Cardinal, who had in
terceded with Von Bissing on his compatriots' behalf, re
ceived the following reply: Governor General, Brussels,
January 30th, 19 15.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
The letter which your Eminence wrote me on December
17th, 1914,* led me to obtain precise particulars about the
twenty-three doctors and twelve pharmaceutical chemists
who have been deported to Heidelberg.
The result of the inquiries I have made is that the com
petent authorities had at first the intention of attaching
them to the Belgian Medical Service quartered in Germany,
but that this plan was never put into execution, in the same
way as it was not found possible at the beginning to send
them into Switzerland.
Under these circumstances, it was found necessary to
intern them provisionally in the officers' camp at Heidelberg.
Already on January 3rd orders were sent to conduct
them to Switzerland: they will have by now reached the
place which they themselves chose for their residence.
* A copy of this letter has never been found.
71

72 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Governor General.
The Cardinal thanked Von Bissing for his intervention :
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
February 6th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — In reply to the letter I had the honor of addressing
you on December 17th last, your Excellency has been so
kind as to inform me that twenty-three doctors and twelve
dispensers, prisoners at Heidelberg, have been released.
I rejoice at the result of the steps taken by your Excel
lency and think it my duty to express my gratitude.
Please accept, dear Governor General, the assurance of
my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Among the many libels on Belgium spread broadcast
by the Germans in the course of their world-wide propa
ganda during the War, the Kaiser's telegram to President
Wilson in September, 1914, and the book bearing the title
of "The German War and Catholicism. A German Reply
to French Attacks, Edited by German Catholics," were un
surpassed for cynical mendacity in the one case and in utter
unscrupulousness in the other.
Given to the public in 19 15, the aim of this book was to
remove the slur which had been cast on the German troops
by their conduct in Belgium and in the North of France,
where countless massacres, atrocities and wanton destruc
tion of every kind marked their trail.
The main purport of the book was to show that the
German Army was forced to the prosecution of this cam
paign of ruthlessness by the hostile and treacherous atti
tude taken up by the Belgian people — a proposition which

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 73
inevitably involved the fabrication of charges of unheard-
of cruelty against the Belgians.
To effect this purpose a very simple procedure was
adopted. The German Staff simply accused the Belgians of
the very crimes which their own soldiers had committed,
and this they did without bringing forward the slightest
evidence or proof to substantiate their appalling accusa
tions. A more cold-blooded, deliberate, collective, national
lie has probably never been heard of before and what makes
it the more outrageous is that the Kaiser himself and the
leaders of public opinion in Germany who merely echoed
his words, endorsed and disseminated these charges without
making the least attempt to enquire into their truth or
falsity. Twice did Cardinal Mercier, shocked and righteously
indignant at this monstrous injustice, appeal to the Occupy
ing Power to hold an impartial inquiry, but no answer was
vouchsafed. Then as a last resort he called upon the Epis
copates of Germany and Austria-Hungary to at least afford
Belgium an opportunity to vindicate her honor.
The following letter, drafted by Cardinal Mercier, was
signed by all the Belgian Bishops with whom he could com
municate at the time:
November 24th, 1915.
To their Eminences the Cardinals and their Lordships, the
Bishops of Germany, Bavaria and Austria-Hungary.
Venerable Brethren — For over a year now, we Catholic
Bishops, you of Germany and we of Belgium, have appeared
to the world in a very uncertain light.
The German Armies had hardly set foot on our soil
when a rumor was circulated in all your country that our
civilians were taking an active part in military operations,
that women had actually gouged out the eyes of your sol
diers at Vise and Liege and that the property of Germans
expelled from Antwerp had been looted by the populace.*
• Note  An important section of German Catholics with the ostensible
view of replying to a French work entitled "The German War and Cathol
icism" heaped calumnies on tbe heads of the Belgian people and a Pader-
born schoolmaster named Rosenberg, assuming the character of mouth
piece for his compatriots, grossly insulted Belgian honor in his "The Ger-

74 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
In the early days of August, Dom Ildephonsus Her-
wegen, Abbot of Maria-Laach, telegraphed Cardinal Mer
cier imploring him for the love of God to protect German
soldiers against the serious ill-treatment they were alleged
to be subjected to by our compatriots. Now it was well
known that our Government had left no stone unturned to
instruct our people in the laws of warfare. In every town,
village or hamlet the inhabitants were ordered to surrender
whatever firearms they had in their possession to the local
authorities, and, in addition, bills were posted up informing
them that those citizens alone who were properly enlisted
were authorized to bear arms, and the clergy, in their eager
ness to back up the State, gave publicity to the Government
decrees, both by word of mouth and by issuing them in
their parish magazines and affixing them to their church
doors. We, who have been accustomed to a peaceful rule dur
ing the last hundred years, were unable to realize that any
one in good faith could credit us with instincts of aggression
and knowing that right was on our side and that our pacific
intentions were genuine, we merely answered the calum
nious accusation of gouging out eyes and waging a guerilla
warfare against the Germans with a shrug of the shoulders,
being convinced that sooner or later — probably sooner —
the truth would itself, and of itself, eventually come to
light. The Belgian Episcopate and clergy used to enter into
personal relations with numerous German and Austrian
Bishops, Religious and priests, the Eucharistic Congresses
held at Cologne in 1909 'and Vienna in 1912 giving them
abundant opportunity of getting to know each other more
intimately, in this way fostering mutual esteem. Again, we
were confident that we should not be judged rashly by Cath-
man War and Catholicism. A German Reply to French Attacks, Edited by
German Catholics" — a book which is all the more insidious because its
tone is apparently restrained.
The Cardinal and the Bishops of Namur, Liege and Tournai replied
to this book, French and Flemish translations of which were distributed
broadcast in Belgium, in a letter to their German and Austrian colleagues
on the Episcopal Bench proposing an open enquiry into Rosenberg's allega
tions.

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 75
olics belonging to countries at war with us, so that without
allowing the contents of Dom Ildephonsus' telegram to un
duly perturb him, the Cardinal was satisfied with inviting
him to unite with the Belgians in preaching the Gospel of
meekness, for, added he, we hear that German soldiers are
shooting down innocent Belgian priests.
Dating from the very beginning of August, outrages
were perpetrated at Battice, Vise, Berneau, Herve and else
where, and we earnestly hoped that they would prove to be
isolated instances and, with the knowledge we had that Dom
Ildephonsus was an influential man, we gave credence to the
following declaration he kindly made to us on August 1 ith :
"I have first-hand information to the effect that the mili
tary authorities issued formal orders to the German troops
to spare the innocent. As to the deplorable fact that cer
tain priests have laid down their lives may I point out to
your Eminence that the ecclesiastical soutane and monastic
habit have become objects of suspicion and scandal owing
to French spies having recently disguised themselves as
priests and monks, the better to hide their nefarious pur
pose." Notwithstanding this, outrages against innocent people
continued apace.
On August 1 8th, 19 14, the Bishop of Liege wrote to
Commandant Bayer, who was acting as Governor of Liege :
"Many of our villages have been razed to the ground one
after the other, and influential men, among them certain
Rectors of parishes, shot down, others again have been
placed under arrest, all, however, loudly protesting their
innocence. "I know my diocesan clergy too well to believe any one
of them guilty of hostile acts against the Germans. In the
course of my visits to different hospitals, I have found Ger
man wounded receiving the same careful treatment as the
Belgians — a fact even your own soldiers admit." *
* Note — This protest was renewed on August 22nd, when General
Kolewe became Military Governor of Liege, and again on August 29th,
when it was forwarded to Baron von der Goltz, Governor General of the
Occupied Provinces of Belgium, whose Headquarters were at that time in
Bishop's House, Liege.

76 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
No reply was returned to this letter.
In the beginning of September the Kaiser cast the man
tle of his authority over the calumnies uttered against our
innocent people, when he dispatched his telegram to Presi
dent Wilson, the contents of which have not been with
drawn, to the best of our knowledge, even to this day:
"The Belgian Government has publicly encouraged ci
vilians to take part in a War, for which they have made
long and careful preparations. In the course of this guerilla
warfare, such cruel outrages have been committed on doc
tors and nurses by women and even priests that my Gen
erals have at last been compelled to take the most stringent
measures to punish the guilty and put a stop to these odious
and abominable 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
bleeds when I see that this destruction was inevitable for
defensive reasons and in order to protect our armies, and
again when I think of the innumerable innocent people who
have lost their homes and goods and chattels as the result
of the criminal acts in question."
This telegram of the Kaiser's was posted up in Belgium
by order of the Governor General on September nth, and
on the following day the Bishop of Namur demanded audi
ence of the Military Governor of that Province to protest
against the stigma the Kaiser attempted to cast on the
Belgian clergy. He maintained that every priest shot down
or subjected to ill-treatment was innocent of the charge pre
ferred against him and expressed himself as ready to de
nounce publicly of his own accord any crimes that could suc
cessfully be laid at the door of the clergy.
The Bishop of Namur's offer was not accepted nor did
his protest have any tangible result. Thus a free rein was
given to the libel, the German Press exerting itself to the
utmost to spread it rather than stay its course.
The Catholic Centre Party paper, the "Cologne Peo
ple's Gazette," in particular, rivaled the Lutheran Press
in its exaggerated and unreasoning patriotism, and when

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 77
thousands of our fellow citizens, ecclesiastical as well as
laymen, as guiltless of war-like acts or cruelties as you
yourselves or we are, were led into captivity from Vise,
Aerschot, Wesemael, Berent, Louvain and twenty other
places, and passed through Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne
stations, where for several hours, which must have seemed
to them an eternity, they were handed over to the inhabi
tants of the capital of Rhineland as objects of a morbid
curiosity, our poor people were sorrow-stricken at finding
their fellow Catholics as insulting and abusive as any Lu
theran sectarian at Celle, Soltau or Magdeburg. Not a
voice was uplifted in Germany in defence of these poor
victims. In this way, the fairy-tale, whereby innocent men were
transformed into guilty ones — this flagrant violation of jus
tice received its sanction, and on May ioth, 19 15, it was
cynically reiterated in the German "White Book," the offi
cial organ of the Empire, and the following offensive, cow
ardly, lying statement went the round of neutral countries :
"It cannot be doubted but that German wounded have
been robbed and then killed in cold blood or shockingly mu
tilated by the Belgian people, even women and children co
operating in these outrages. German wounded have had
their eyes gouged out, their eyes, noses, fingers and genital
organs lopped off or have been disemboweled. Again Ger
man soldiers have been poisoned, hung from branches of
trees, and have had boiling liquids poured over them and
sometimes even been burnt alive, succumbing eventually
under excruciating sufferings. This inhuman conduct of the
Belgians not only violates the explicit provisions of the
Geneva Convention as to the consideration to be shown and
treatment to be meted out to enemy wounded, but also con
travenes the fundamental principles and laws of Hu
manity." *
Venerable Brethren in the Faith and priesthood, put
yourselves for a moment in our place.
We know that these accusations of the Imperial Gov-
•Note — Die Volkerrechtswidrige Fuhrung des Belgischen Volkskriegs.
Denkschrift, S. 4.

78 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
ernment are false from beginning to end, yea, not only do
we know it, we even swear they are.
Now, your Government, in order to justify itself, calls
on witnesses who have never been subjected to the test of
cross-examination before any inquiry. Is it not your duty,
not merely in charity but in strict justice, to seek enlighten
ment and bring the truth home to your flocks? — to give us
an opportunity to prove our innocence by legal methods ?
In the name of Christian charity, whereby national con
flicts are ruled, you should make this act of reparation, and
you owe it to us today in strict justice, because a Commit
tee, composed of Germans of eminence in Science, Politics
or Religion enjoying at least your tacit approval, took these
official libels under its wing and entrusted a Catholic priest
and Professor of Paderborn, Herr A. T. Rosenberg, with
the task of tabulating them in his book, "The False Accu
sations of French Catholics against Germany," thereby
making Catholic Germany responsible for actively and pub
licly spreading these calumnies broadcast to the detriment
of the fair name of Belgium.
When the French book, against which the German
Catholics brought out their own, made its first appearance,
their Eminences Cardinal von Hartmann, Archbishop of
Cologne, and Cardinal von Bettinger, Archbishop of Mu
nich, felt themselves called upon to send the Kaiser a tele
gram couched in these terms :
"Disgusted with the falsehoods uttered against the
Fatherland and its glorious Army in the 'German War and
Catholicism,' we feel we must, in the name of the German
Episcopate, express to your Majesty our sorrowful indigna
tion. We shall not fail to lay our complaint at the feet of
the Sovereign Pontiff."
We, too, Venerable Brethren of the German Episco
pate, are disgusted in our turn with the falsehoods uttered
against our beloved country and its glorious Army in the
German "White Book" and reiterated by the German Cath
olics in their reply to this French Catholic work, and in or
der that our protest may not prove ineffective in the face of

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 79
yours, we request you to lend us your aid in setting up a
commission of inquiry where these charges can be sifted
and disproved. You may, in virtue of your official position,
nominate as many members as you please, and we will ap
point an equal number ourselves, for example, three on each
side. Then together we will approach the Bishops of some
neutral country, either Holland, Spain, Switzerland or the
United States, and ask them to appoint one of their number
to act as referee and preside over the business of the In
quiry. You have laid your complaints before the supreme head
of the Church : it would be unjust if he were to hear no other
voice but yours. Both Episcopates have an identical duty,
which is to lay before his Holiness duly authenticated docu
ments to enable him to form and give a considered judg
ment. You can hardly be unaware of our repeated attempts
to induce the Occupying Power in Belgium to set up this
Commission of Inquiry. Cardinal Mercier applied in writ
ing on two different occasions, the one on January 24th,
19 1 5, the other on February ioth of the same year, and
the Bishop of Namur in his letter to the Military Governor
of that Province under date of April 12th, 191 5, called for
the formation of a tribunal consisting of Belgian and Ger
man members in equal numbers under the presidency of a
delegate from a neutral country, but these pressing appeals
met with nothing but an obstinate refusal. All the same
the German authorities were very anxious to set up some
kind of tribunal, but they insisted on its being one-sided and
consequently of no value from a judicial point of view.
After refusing Cardinal Mercier's request, they paid
a visit to the different localities where priests had been shot
down and peaceable citizens massacred or imprisoned and
there on the testimony of certain witnesses whom they called
before them haphazard or chose with careful discrimination,
in some cases in the presence of a representative of the local
authorities who had no knowledge of German, and conse
quently had no alternative but to accept and append his sig
nature to a document, the contents of which he could only

80 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
take on trust, they considered themselves able to base conclu
sions to be afterwards given to the world as the findings of
an impartial Commission.
This was the method adopted at the German inquiry
at Louvain in 19 14, which was in consequence devoid of all
authority, and so we naturally turn to you. You will be
good enough to grant us the tribunal refused to us by the
Occupying Power and we trust you will obtain for us from
your Government a public declaration enabling your wit-
nesses and ours to appear and give full and complete evi
dence without any fear of reprisals. They will have a
greater sense of security in your presence and will receive
every encouragement to testify to what they have seen and
heard. The world, too, will have every confidence in the
united Episcopate of the two countries. Our joint exami
nation of whatever evidence may be laid before us will give
it the stamp of authority and effectively guarantee the trust
worthiness of the official reports of the tribunal. An in
quiry conducted on these lines will enable us to establish the
real truth, and we ask for it, Venerable Brethren, in order
to vindicate the honor of the Belgian people and remove
the slur certain sections of your countrymen, including
the more important among your leading men, have cast
upon the fair name of Belgium. And you are as well ac
quainted as ourselves with an axiom of Moral, Human,
Christian and Catholic Theology: "No pardon without
restitution." Non remittitur peccatum, nisi restituatur abla-
tum. Your people, speaking through the mouthpiece of
their highest political and moral authorities, have accused
our citizens of perpetrating atrocities and horrors on Ger
man wounded, as set forth in detail in the above quotation
from the "White Book" and the German Catholics' mani
festo. These charges we formally deny and all we ask for
is to be allowed to furnish proof positive that our disavowal
of them is well founded.
On the other hand, to justify the atrocities committed
by German troops in Belgium, your Government, as shown
by the very title of the "White Book" : Die V olkerrechtswi-
drige Fuhrung des Belgischen Volkskriegs (The violation

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 81
of International Law in the Belgian method of warfare),
and the hundred Catholic signatories to "The German War
and Catholicism. A German Reply to French Attacks,"
both maintain that the German Army in Belgium is acting
on the defensive against a treacherous organization of
francs-tireurs. We on the contrary affirm that no such or
ganization has ever existed anywhere in Belgium and in the
name of our national honor defamed by these libels, we
claim the right to prove absolute truth of this assertion.
You may summon whom you like before this commission
of inquiry, indeed we invite you to order the appearance of
the Rector of any Parish where civilians, priests, religious
or laymen have been massacred or threatened with death to
the cry of, "man hat geschossen" (somebody has fired).
We will, if you wish, give all these, the priests, the option of
signing their statements on oath, and at the price of hold
ing up the whole Belgian clergy to obloquy as perjupous,
you will have to accept the findings of this solemn and de
cisive inquiry in common with the rest of the civilized world.
We would add, Veneral Brethren, that the setting up of this
Court of Honor is as vital to your interests as it is to ours,
for we know by personal experience and affirm that in a
hundred different places in Belgium the German Army has
given itself up to pillage, arson, massacres, imprisonings and
sacrileges in direct violation of all the laws of justice and
humanity, notably in those communes mentioned by name in
our Pastor Letters and in two notes sent by the Bishops of
Liege and Namur on October 31st and November ist,
19 1 5, respectively, to his Holiness, Pope Benedict XV, the
Papal Nuncio at Brussels and the Ambassadors and repre
sentatives of neutral countries accredited to the Court of
Brussels and resident in that city.
Fifty priests and thousands of the Faithful, all of them
absolutely innocent of the crimes for which they paid the
extreme penalty, were executed, whilst hundreds of others
who owed their lives to a chain of circumstances beyond
the control of their persecutors were in imminent peril.
Some thousands of guiltless citizens were arrested and sent
to prison without previous trial or conviction, and on their

82 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
release it was found that the most minute cross-examination
had failed to elicit any evidence against them.
These outrages cry to Heaven for vengeance.
If, in laying this information against the German
Army, we have been guilty of calumny, or in case the mili
tary authorities had good and just reasons for ordering
or permitting what we cannot but style criminal conduct,
the Germans will, if they retain any sense of national honor,
or have the true interest of their country at heart, refute
us. But so long as German justice shirks the ordeal, we
shall hold fast to our rights and fulfill our duty of denounc
ing what we conscientiously consider to be a grave perver
sion of justice and a slur on our national honor.
During the session of the Reichstag on August 4th the
Chancellor of the German Empire declared that the inva
sion of Luxemburg and Belgium was "contrary to the pro
visions of International Law." He admitted that "in cross
ing the frontiers in spite of the justifiable protests of the
Luxemburg and Belgian Governments, he had committed
an injustice for which he promised reparation," and the
Sovereign Pontiff, too, not only purposely alluded to Bel
gium in a letter he deigned to write to a member of the
Government, M. Van den Heuvel, through his Secretary of
State, Cardinal Gasparri, but also delivered this unalterable
judgment in his consistorial address: "The duty of pro
claiming above everything else that no one may, for any rea
son whatsoever, commit a breach of justice devolves on the
Roman Pontiff, who has been constituted by Almighty God
the supreme interpreter and upholder of the Eternal Law."
Nevertheless, from that time onwards politicians and
casuists have attempted to evade or water down these de
cisive words of the Holy Father, and the German Catholics,
who in their reply to the French "German War and Cathol
icism" have recourse to the same empty quibbles, would, if
they could, bolster them up with an alleged fact.
They have at their disposal two affidavits. One of these
is anonymous and its author alleges that he saw French
officers in conversation with Belgian officers on the Boule
vard Anspach at Brussels on July 26th, whilst in the sec-

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 83
ond, made by a certain Gustave Lochard of Rimogne, it is
alleged that two regiments of French Dragoons, the 28th
and 30th, and a battery of French Artillery crossed the Bel
gian frontier in the evening of July 31st, 19 14, and were
quartered exclusively on Belgian territory during the whole
of the following week.
Now the Belgian Government declares that "no body of
French troops, however small, penetrated into Belgium be
fore the declaration of war," and adds : "No reliable wit
ness can be found to refute this solemn assertion." There
fore it casts back in their teeth as false the allegation made
by the German Catholics and from this arises a primary
question, at once political and moral, about which we must
enlighten the public mind. In case, however, you decline
to undertake the investigation of this question we would ask
you to be good enough to sift all the evidence the German
Catholics have relied on, even if it only serves, to settle the
case against us. Gustave Lochard's evidence can easily be
verified. Besides, the German Catholics will be anxious to
rid themselves of the stigma of untruthfulness and will make
it their bounden duty to retract in case they have allowed
themselves to be misled to our detriment.
We are well aware that you decline to believe that regi
ments whose discipline, honesty and deep religious faith you
profess to know so well could possibly give themselves over
to such atrocities as we allege against them. Do you wish
to deceive yourselves into believing that they did not do so
because they are incapable of it? And we, on our side, are
compelled to retort that the evidence in our possession
proves to demonstration that they are capable for the simple
reason that they have committed them. No presumption
can hold its own against a fact, and there remains but one
issue before us both, viz., the verifying of this fact by a
commission whose impartiality is so obvious as to be recog
nized by everybody as unquestionable.
We have no difficulty in understanding your frame of
mind. We, too, have a great regard, if you will be good
enough to believe it, for the spirit of discipline, industry and
religious faith by which your compatriots are animated. We

84 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
have often seen this with our own eyes, and have reliable
information to the same effect, but, alas, there are many Bel
gians today who, in the light of the terrible experiences
through which they passed during the months of August and
September, own that they have been bitterly deceived. Truth
has conquered their strongest preconceived notions of the
Germans. The fact is now beyond the shadow of doubt.
Belgium has suffered martyrdom.
When foreigners from neutral countries, Americans,
Dutch, Swiss, and Spaniards, ask us how Germany carried
on this war, and we picture to them certain scenes, the hor
ror of which were so realistically brought home to us in
spite of ourselves, we have had to weaken the impression
our recital would of itself tend to create, so imbued are we
with the idea that the truth, shorn of all adornment, exceeds
the bounds of all probability. Yet when once you have been
face to face with realities in their entirety and have been
able to analyze both the proximate and remote causes of
what one of your generals, reviewing the ruins of the little
village of Schaffen-lez-Diest and the martyrdom of its Par
ish Priest, styled "a tragic blunder," when you have realized
the various influences under which your soldiers labored at
the moment of their entry into Belgium and the elation they
experienced as the result of their early victories, the unlikeli
hood of the truth will appear to you, as it did to us, less
disconcerting. But above all, Venerable Brethren, do not let yourselves
be held back on the empty plea that an immediate inquiry
would be premature. Strictly speaking, we alone might be
justified in urging this excuse, since if the inquiry were
opened now, the conditions surrounding it would not be at
all in our favor. Our people have indeed been terrorized
to such an extent and the prospect of reprisals is still so
appalling that the witnesses we should have to summon be
fore a tribunal composed partly of Germans would hardly
have enough courage to tell the whole truth. Even so, we
have cogent reasons for not brooking any delay. The first
which will go the straightest to your heart is that we are
weak whilst you are strong. You would not care to take

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 85
an unfair advantage of us by abusing your power. Public
opinion generally favors him who is first in the field with
his story. Now, whilst you are free to flood neutral coun
tries with your propaganda literature, we, on the contrary,
are hedged in on all sides and reduced to silence. We are
scarcely allowed to make our voices heard even inside our
own churches. Sermons are practically censored, that is to
say, they are distorted by spies in your pay, and any pro
test we may make in conscience is termed an act of sedition
against public authority. Again our writings are stopped
at the frontier and treated as so much contraband. You
alone enjoy full liberty of speech and pen, and if in the
spirit of charity and fair play you obtain a small portion of
this for accused Belgians, thereby enabling them to defend
their cause, it will then be your duty to become their imme
diate protectors.
The old legal axiom, Audiatur et altera pars, is, they
say, inscribed over the portals of many German Courts of
Justice. In any case, in all proceedings in the Ecclesiastical
Courts, both here and in Germany, judgment is always
founded on this primary adage. Then again you doubtless
have in common with us a popular proverb, metaphorically
expressed thus: "He who hears only one bell hears but
one sound."
You will perhaps say that all this is ancient history. Let
the dead bury its dead. Instead of fanning the smoldering
embers into a blaze, rather be forgiving and make common
cause with the occupying power in their efforts to heal the
wounds the unfortunate Belgian people have received. Ven
erable Brethren, do not add irony to injustice. Have we
not suffered enough? Have we not been on the rack long
enough yet? Must we still be subjected to cruel tortures?
All that is now over, we hear you saying. Accept it with
resignation and forget. Past! Why, our wounds are still
bleeding! There is no man with any sense of honor who
does not swell with indignation. When we hear our Gov
ernment declaim in the teeth of the whole world: "He is
doubly guilty who, having infringed the rights of another,
attempts with cold cynicism to justify himself by imputing

86 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
to his victim crimes he has never committed," violence alone
silences the curses that rise to the lips of our people. Only
yesterday one of the inhabitants of a Mechlin suburb learned
that his son had fallen on the field of battle and the brave
father answered the priest who conveyed the sad news to
him and offered words of consolation and comfort, "Oh,
that one. I gave him freely to his Fatherland, but my eldest
son, those  cruelly murdered him and flung his body
into a ditch."
Tell us, how could we possibly elicit a sincere expres
sion of forgiveness and resignation from an unhappy people
who have experienced such anguish so long as those who
have brought this suffering into their lives refuse to utter
one word in acknowledgment of their wrongdoing, one
word of repentance or one word promising reparation?
Germany cannot give us back the blood she has shed or
the innocent lives her Army has destroyed, but it is in her
power to restore the good name of Belgium on which she
has herself cast a slur or allowed others to do so, and in your
capacity of foremost representatives of Christian morality
in the German Church we demand this restitution of you.
There is indeed something much more deplorable than
mere political divisions or material calamities, viz., the spirit
of hatred, fostered by real or presumed injustice, seething
and growing in intensity the while in hearts made rather for
love. Is it not our duty as Pastors of our people to make it
easier for them to unburden their souls of these evil emo
tions, and strengthen the now shaken foundations of true
justice and union in charity which should reign uppermost
in the hearts of all children of the great Catholic family?
The Occupying Power has, both verbally and in writing,
expressed its intention to heal our wounds. But in foro
externo, intention is judged by action. Now the only thing
we poor Belgians, temporarily under the heel of the German
Empire, know is that a power which gave its word of honor
to govern us according to International Law as laid down
in the Hague Convention, has repudiated its solemn engage
ment. What we have in mind now is not so much isolated
abuses of power from which certain individuals or districts

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 87
have suffered. These can only be proved by a thorough in
vestigation to be made when War is over, but rather those
specific acts of the Government which were drawn up in the
form of proclamations and notices and posted up by its or
der on walls and hoardings in our towns. Their authenticity
and consequently your Government's direct responsibility
for them cannot therefore be called into question.
Now the breaches of the Hague Convention committed
by the Germans from the first days of the occupation until
the present time are many and flagrant. We merely give
you here certain headings as it were and would refer you to
an appendix for proofs of our allegations.*
The principal infringements are as follows : —
Collective punishments inflicted on account of the mis
demeanors of individuals contrary to Art. 52.
Forced labor contrary to Art. 52.
New taxation contrary to Arts. 48, 49, and 52.
Abuse of requisitions in kind contrary to Art. 52.
Systematic ignoring of the laws in force in the country
contrary to Art. 43.
These violations of International Law which serve only
to aggravate our unhappy lot and swell the leaven of hatred
and revolt in hearts normally peaceable and charitable,
would never be persisted in if those who commit them did
not feel they were upheld, if not by the positive approval
of the leaders of public opinion in their own country, at all
events by their tacit consent. Therefore with every confi
dence that it will reach your charitable hearts, we again
make our appeal. We are, as we said once before, the
weak, while you are the strong. Come and see for your
selves if it is still right for you to withhold your assistance.
Besides the particular reasons why this commission of
enquiry, composed of Catholic Bishops, should be set up,
there are others of a more general nature, passing reference
to which we have already made. Amongst these is the
danger of scandal for those people who own that they are
not edified at seeing us divided among ourselves. We must
then be on our guard against provoking them to blasphemy
• Note — See p. 90 of the text.

88 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
in thought. Our own people fail to understand how you
can possibly be blind to the flagrant dual injustice inflicted on
Belgium — -the violation of our neutrality and the inhuman
conduct of your troops, and, moreover, why in the light of
this knowledge you do not make your voices heard on all
sides in condemnation of these wrongs, and repudiate your
connection with them.
On the other hand, your own countrymen, Catholics and
Protestants alike, cannot but be scandalized at the character
your press attributes to both clergy and people belonging to
a country the Government of which has been Catholic for
thirty years. On September 21st, 19 14, the Bishop of Hil-
desheim, addressing his clergy, said: "Take care that the
airing of these grievances against priests, religious, monks
of Catholic nations in the columns of the press does not
drive a wedge between German Catholics and Protestants
and imperil the future of Religion in the Empire."
But the campaign of falsehood and calumny directed
against our clergy and people shows no sign of abating. On
the contrary, Herr Erzberger, a member of the Centre, ap
pears to have taken it upon himself to add fuel to the flame,
while even in Belgium itself one of your priests, Heinrich
Mohr by name, preaching to the German troops in Antwerp
Cathedral on the 16th Sunday after Pentecost, actually
dared to say from the pulpit: "Official documents tell us
how the Belgians have hanged German soldiers from trees,
poured boiling liquids over them and burnt them alive." *
There is only one way of putting an end to these scan
dals and that is for the religious authorities to bring the
whole truth to light and publicly and officially denounce the
guilty parties.
Another cause of scandal for any straightforward man,
whether he be a believer or not, lies in this mania for bring
ing to the fore and weighing in the balance the advantages
* Note — Man hat in den Amtlichten Berichten entsetzliche Dinge gejesen.
Wie die Belgier deutsche Soldaten an die Baumen aufhangten, mit heizem-
Teer verbriinten und lebendig anzundeten. Feldpredigt auf.den 16 sontag
nach Pfingstern, von Heinrich Mohr. The sermon was published in Die
Stimmen der Heimat No. 34, a periodical issued by Herder in 1915 from
Freiburg in Br.

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 89
or disadvantages that would accrue to the Catholic religion
according as the Triple Alliance or the Quadruple Entente
were victorious.
Professor Schrors of Bonn University * was the first, so
far as we are aware, to devote his leisure hours to this vex
atious species of Mathematics.
The result the War will have on Religion is God's own
secret and not one of us is in his confidence.
But there is a question of moral right and honor far
more important than that one : "Seek ye first the Kingdom
of God and his justice," said our Saviour, "and all the rest
will be added unto you." Do your duty, come what may.
We Bishops also have a moral and, consequently, a religious
duty to perform at the present time — one that claims prece
dence over all the rest, viz., to seek out and proclaim the
truth. Did not Jesus Christ, who has conferred on us the
signal favor of being at once his disciples and ministers, say
that His mission to society was to witness to the truth? "For
this I came into the world that I should give testimony to
the truth." (John 18, v. 37.)
On the solemn occasion of our episcopal consecration, we
all vowed to Almighty God and the Catholic Church never
to desert the Truth, never to allow ourselves to be led away
by ambition or fear whenever we should be called upon to
supply some proof of our love for the truth, "Veritatem
diligat, neque earn unquam deserat, aut laudibus aut timore
superMus." We have, therefore, by virtue of our very vocation, a
common role and ground on which to base an understand
ing. Confusion reigns in every mind; light for some is
darkness for others and so it is with good and evil. We
cherish the hope that the commission of Inquiry to be formed
with a view to setting aside these charges, to which we have
the honor to convene your delegates, will contribute towards
removing more than one misconception, "Non ponat lucem
• Note  Der Krieg und der Katholizimus, von Dr. Heinrich Schrors,
Prof. d. Teologie an der Universitat in Bonn.

90 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
tenebras, nee tenebras lucem, non dicat malum bonum, nee
bonum malum." *
Our Holy Father the Pope ardently expressed his desire
for peace and appealed for its conclusion in a letter he
deigned to send you during your last meeting at Fulda. He
urged you, as he does us all, to unite with him in this desire,
but he would have peace based on respect for the rights and
dignity of nations. "Dum votis omnibus pacem expetimus,
atque earn quidem pacem qua et justitia sit opus et popu-
lorum congruat dignit<ati." f
Our most fitting answer, therefore, to the Holy Father's
wish is to collaborate with you in making the Truth shine
forth in all its splendor and triumph over error, since upon
it rest justice, honor and lastly, peace.
Receive, Venerable Brethren, the expression of our sin
cere esteem and fraternal devotion.

APPENDIX
BREACHES OF THE HAGUE CONVENTION
Germany was one of the signatories to the Hague Con
vention. As early as November 12 th, 19 14, the Governor Gen
eral, Baron von der Goltz, referred to the Hague Conven
tion in a notice issued by him.
His successor, Baron von Bissing, issued a proclama
tion on July 1 8th, 19 15, affirming that his intention was "to
govern Belgium in accordance with the provisions of the
Hague Convention as to the laws and customs of land war
fare," and added:
"His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, after the Occu
pation of the Kingdom of Belgium by our victorious troops,
entrusted me with the administration of this country and
commissioned me to carry out the obligations arising out of
the Hague Convention."
So much for the law. Now for the facts.
* Note — Pontificate Romanum. de consecratione electi in episcopum.
t Note— Acta Apostolicae Sedis. Vol. 7, die 6 Octobris, 191 5.

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 91

I. Collective Penalties
Art. 40 of the Convention provides that "No pecuniary
or other collective penalty may be inflicted on the popula
tions on account of the actions of individuals, for which the
community could not be held to be collectively responsible."
Now the history of the occupation is divided into three
periods: the invasion itself, the period of Baron von der
Goltz's administration and that of Baron von Bissing's.
During the first of these three collective penalties of
every kind were systematically inflicted and there are abun
dant proofs for this assertion. The following alone is suf
ficient: —
In proportion as the invading army made headway, the
Commander-in-Chief had a proclamation posted up printed
in three languages on red paper, wherein it was laid down
that: "Any village in which hostile acts are committed against
our troops by the inhabitants will be burned down.
"In cases where roads, railways or bridges are de
stroyed, the villages nearest to the points where destruction
has taken place will be held responsible.
"The above-mentioned penalties will be carried out with
severity and no favor will be shown. The whole body will
be held responsible. Heavy war levies will be inflicted, and
hostages seized in large numbers."
During the Governorship of Marshal von der Goltz a
proclamation affecting the whole of the occupied territory
was issued over his signature on September 2d, 19 14. It
expressly lays down that, "One of the inevitable hardships
of war is that the innocent as well as the guilty have to suffer
punishment for hostile acts."
Consequently collective punishment was unsparingly re
sorted to.
Thus to take a typical example: The city of Brussels
was mulcted in a fine of 5,000,000 marks because a police
man, without the knowledge of the local authorities, treated
an official of the German administration disrespectfully.

92 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
A notice signed "Baron von der Goltz," posted up on
October 7th, 19 14, applied collective penalties to the whole
family. It ran: —
"The Belgian Government has issued calling-up notices
to several military groups. All those receiving such notices
are strictly forbidden to obey them. In cases of infringe
ment, the soldier's family will be held equally responsible."
With Baron von Bissing as Governor General, that is to
say, beginning with October 3rd, 19 14, collective punish
ment was constantly inflicted contrary to Art. 50.
The following are a few typical instances : —
On December 23rd, 19 14, it was stated in a notice pla
carded all over Brussels that in the event of soldiers' graves
being tampered with or desecrated, not only the perpetra
tors of such desecration will be punished, but responsibility
will also fall on the whole commune.
A decree of the Governor General under date January
26th makes an entire family responsible for the fact that a
Belgian of military age, that is, between 16 and 40, crossed
over into Holland. In fact, the communes are mulcted in
huge fines on the flimsiest pretexts. Thus Puers must pay
3,000 mks. because a telegraph wire was broken, although
it was proved in the course of a subsequent enquiry that it
was simply worn out.
Mechlin, a working-class town without funds, was fined
20,000 mks. because the mayor did not advise the military
authorities of a journey the Cardinal was obliged to make
on foot, owing to his having been deprived of the use of his
Motor-car. II. Forced Labor for the Enemy
According to the terms of Art. 52 of the Hague Conven
tion, "Requisitions in kind and personal service can only
be exacted from communes or the inhabitants thereof on
three conditions: —
"1. Provided that they do not involve any obligation on
the part of the population to participate in warlike opera
tions against their country.

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 93
"2. Provided that they be in proportion to the resources
of the country or people on whom they are imposed.
"3. Provided that they be limited to the needs of the
Army of Occupation."
It is interesting to notice that Art. 23 contains a con
cluding paragraph proposed by the German delegates to the
2nd Hague Conference held in 1907 as follows:
"No belligerent is allowed to compel enemy nationals to
take part in military operations against their country."
1. From the moment of the invasion Belgian civilian
citizens were forced to take part in warlike operations and
this in twenty different places.
At Lebbeke, Termonde, Dinant and in many other
towns, peaceable citizens, women and children were com
pelled to march at the head of German regiments or to
form a screen around them.
At Liege and Namur civilians were forced to dig
trenches and were also employed in the work of repairing
fortifications. The frenzied seizure of hostages proceeded with vigor.
The proclamation of August 4th, already referred to,
declared without a quibble "Hostages will be seized in large
numbers." An official proclamation placarded all over Liege in the
early days of August read as follows : —
"Acts of aggression committed on German troops by
others than soldiers in uniform not only expose the guilty
parties to summary execution but will entail the severest re
prisals on all the inhabitants, especially on the citizens of
Liege seized as hostages and lodged in the citadel by order
of the Commander of the German Army."
These hostages were Mgr. Rutten, Bishop of Liege, M.
Kleyer the Mayor, and the senators and representatives, the
permanent deputy and the Sheriff of Liege.
2. Under the Government of Marshal von der Goltz,
every kind of requisition of services exacted during the
month of August continued to be enforced. Trenches were
dug, men were engaged on fortifications, roads, railways and
in transport work.

94 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The Governor General promulgated the following de
cree on November 19th:
"Whosoever by constraint, threats, persuasion or other
means shall attempt to hinder the execution of work for the
German authorities by persons capable of performing the
task required of them or contractors entrusted with such
work by the Germans will render themselves liable to im
prisonment." The decree does not specify for what term — a case of
unrestrained despotism. The system of taking hostages was
continued in all its rigor.
A monstrous specimen of high-handedness and cruelty
is the proclamation issued on September 8th, 19 14, by Ma
jor Commandant Dieckman in the communes of Baine-Heu-
say, Grivignee and Bois-de-Breux of which the following is
an extract: "From September 7th onwards I am willing to allow the
inhabitants of the above mentioned communes to return to
their homes. To obviate any abuse of this permission, the
mayors of Baine-Heusay and Grivignee must immediately
draw up a list of those who will be kept back and held as
hostages in Fort Fleron.
"The lives of these hostages depend on the inhabitants
of the said communes keeping the peace in all circumstances.
"I shall specify the individuals who are to be held as hos
tages from noon on one day until noon on the next. If a
hostage detained in the fort is not changed at the proper
time, he shall remain there for a further space of 24 hours.
When this new period of 24 hours has expired, the hostage
will incur the penalty of death if no change has been made.
"Priests, mayors and other municipal officials are to head
the lists of hostages."
3. Under the Government of Baron von Bissing, there
were some flagrant violations of Art. 52 and revolting inci
dents occurred at the Mechlin Railway Works, at Luttre
and also in several communes in West Flanders. We leave
you to judge for yourselves.
The German authorities issued an order on March 23rd
for the resumption of work at Luttre and on April 21st they

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 95
called for 200 workmen. On April 27th they made domi
ciliary visits with a view to pressing the workmen into serv
ice and conducted those they found at home to the works.
Each time a man was discovered to be absent, they arrested
a member of his family.
However, the men remained firm in their refusal to
work "because they were unwilling to cooperate in acts of
war against their country."
On April 30th the workmen thus pressed into service
were not released any more, but were shut up in railway
carriages. On May 24th 24 workmen detained in prison at Ni-
velles were tried before a Council of War at Mons "on a
charge of being members of a secret society, the end of
which was to frustrate the execution of German military
measures." They were sent to prison.
On May 14th 45 workmen were deported into Ger
many. On May 18th a new proclamation announced that the
prisoners' diet would consist of dry bread and water, with
only one hot meal every four days.
On May 22nd 3 trucks containing 104 workmen were
dispatched to Charleroy.
In spite of all this, the national spirit of the workmen
rose in proportion as pressure was brought to bear upon
them. The same state of affairs prevailed in Mechlin where
by resorting to different methods of intimidation the Ger
man authorities tried to force men to work on railway ma
terial as though it were not perfectly clear that sooner or
later it would become war material.
On May 30th, 1915, the Governor General announced
that he would have no alternative but to punish the town
of Mechlin and suburbs by bringing all commercial traffic
to a standstill unless 500 artisans signed on for work at
the Arsenal by 10 a. m. on Wednesday, June 2nd. Not a
single workman put in an appearance, with the result that
vehicular traffic within a radius of several miles of the town
was completely stopped. It was at this period that Cardinal

96 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Mercier went on foot from Mechlin to Eppeghem^-a walk
which brought in its wake a fine of 20,000 mks. for the
town. Several workmen were forcibly seized and detained in
the shops for two or three days.
Traffic was suspended for ten days. In June the
commune of Sweveghem in West Flanders was punished
because 350 workmen engaged in a private factory belong
ing to a certain M. Bekaert refused to make barbed wire for
the German Army.
The following order was posted up in Menin in July and
August, 19 1 5 : —
"From to-day onwards no more relief of any kind what
ever can be afforded by the town even to families, women
and children, except to those men who do regular military
work and perform other tasks imposed upon them. All
other workmen and their families will henceforth be unable
to receive any kind of relief."
Is this not disgraceful enough?
Similar treatment was meted out to Harlebeke-lez-Cour-
trai, Bissighem, Lokeren and Mons. At Harlebeke 29
inhabitants were deported to Germany, while at Mons man
agers, foremen and 81 hands employed in M. Lenoir's fac
tory were sent to prison for refusing to work for the Ger
man Army. M. Lenoir himself was sentenced to five years,
5 managers to one year, 6 foremen to 6 months, and 81
hands to eight weeks' imprisonment.
The Governor General also availed himself of a round
about means of constraint. He laid hands on the Belgian
Red Cross Society, confiscated its supplies and arbitrarily di
verted it from its original purpose. He tried to assume the
mastery over the Bienfaisance publique and exercise control
over the National Committee for Relief and Food Supply.
If we were to give in full the Governor General's de
cree dated August 15th, 1915, "as to the measures to be
adopted to guarantee the execution of work in the public
interest," as well as that of August 15th, "as to unemployed,
who, out of laziness, keep away from work," anyone would
at once perceive the indirect methods the occupying power

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 97
used to get both masters and men under their thumb simul
taneously. But it was in the War Areas (Etapes) that this contempt
for the Hague Convention reached its zenith.
On October 12th, 19 15, an order was published in the
"Official Gazette" of Decrees applicable to War Areas,
the most illuminating passages of which are these : —
Art. 1. Whosoever when ordered to do so by the mili
tary commanders refuses without good reason to undertake
or continue work adapted to his calling and in the execution
of which the military authorities are interested will be liable
to correctional imprisonment for one year or more. He is
also liable to be deported into Germany.
In no case may an appeal to contrary Belgian laws or
even International Conventions be made in justification of a
refusal to work.
The right of deciding as to the lawfulness of work be
longs exclusively to the military commander.
Art. 2. Whosoever, by coercion, threats, persuasion or
other means, induces anyone to refuse work as provided for
in Art. 1 renders himself liable to imprisonment for a term
of five years or more.
Art. 3. Whosoever knowingly encourages this punish
able refusal to work by granting relief or by any other
means is liable to a fine which may amount to 10,000 marks.
He may likewise be condemned to one year's imprisonment.
In cases where communes or societies are found guilty
of such crimes, the penalty will be inflicted on the heads
thereof. Art. 4. Apart from the penalties laid down in Arts. 1
and 3 the German authorities may, where needful, exact a
contribution or adopt other coercive police measures in
Communes where the carrying out of work has been re
fused without adequate reasons.
This present decree will come into force at once.
(Signed) von Huger,
Lieutenant General.
Inspector of Military Areas.
Ghent, October 12th, 1915.

98 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The injustice and highhandedness of this decree are be
yond imagination. Forced labor, collective punishment, in
definite penalties — everything is there. It is slavery, neither
more nor less. III. New Taxes
We will limit ourselves to detailing in a few words two
instances of taxation contrary to Arts. 48, 49, 51, and 52
of the Hague Convention.
The first was ordered by Baron von Bissing in a decree
dated January 16th, 191 5, and consisted in penalizing Bel
gians who had taken refuge in foreign countries, by impos
ing a huge additional tax at the rate of ten times the amount
of their personal contribution. This tax does not find a
place in any existing category, and affected solely a class of
citizens who made lawful use of their right to quit the coun
try before it was occupied. It is therefore contrary to Arts.
48 and 51 of the Convention.
The second infringement of the Convention is the well-
known contribution of 480,000,000 marks levied on the nine
Provinces on December 18th, 19 14.
An essential condition for the lawfulness of this kind of
contribution, according to the Hague Convention, is that it
be apportioned according to the resources of the country
(Art. 52). But Belgium was devastated in 1914 — contri
butions for war purposes were levied on towns, innumer
able requisitions in kind drained the resources of the coun
try, workshops and factories were for the most part closed
down, whilst in the case of the few where work still con
tinued, the Germans did not fail to commandeer raw ma
terials contrary to all law. And on this poverty-stricken
Belgium, dependent as it was on outside charity, they levied
a contribution of nearly 500,000,000 marks.
A decree of December ioth, 19 14, reads: —
"A monthly war contribution of 40,000,000 francs pay
able during the space of one year is hereby levied on the
Belgian people."
We have at length reached the end of that year and

RELEASE OF BELGIAN DOCTORS 99
now, at the time of writing, the occupying power intends to
replace "the space of one year" by "for the duration of the
War." Poor little Belgium! What has she done to rich and
powerful Germany, her neighbor, to be thus trodden under
foot, calumniated and oppressed?
If we had to compile a complete list of decrees and acts,
in which the occupying power has to our knowledge placed
itself in open contradiction with the Hague Convention, we
should have to add "the abuse of requisitions in kind"
against Art. 52, the seizure of funds belonging to private so
cieties, the commandeering of some hundreds of miles of
steel rails and of weapons stored in communal houses by
order of the Belgian Government contrary to Art. 53, the
disregard for the laws of the country, especially of the penal
code, contrary to Art. 43. But we cannot say everything
here nor bring everything forward. Should, however, those
to whom our correspondence is directed wish for proofs of
the allegations we have merely indicated in this final para
graph, we shall be only too glad to supply them. Neither in
our letter nor in these four appendices have we made one
charge which we cannot substantiate from documents in our
possession.

CHAPTER VIII
THE CARDINAL'S PROTEST AGAINST THE BEHAVIOR OF A
GERMAN MILITARY CHAPLAIN
Archbishop's House, Malines,
February gth, 191 5.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Dear Governor General — An incident has taken place
at Forrieres, in the province of Luxemburg, to which I
would call your kind attention. In conjunction with my
venerable colleague, Mgr. Heylen, Bishop of Namur, I
should like, in addressing your Excellency, to forestall any
painful controversy.
At Forrieres on Thursday, January 7th, the Cure Tag-
non had a conversation in the sacristy with the chaplain of
Arlon which can be more or less summed up in these
terms :
"Many innocent priests in the diocese of Namur have
been shot."
"Pardon me," answered the chaplain, "our staff head
quarters is in possession of proofs that many civilians were
francs-tireurs and that the clergy incited them to fire on
the German troops."
"You must not believe all these tales ; if one were to pin
one's faith to all one hears, I should also believe that the
Germans have attempted to violate our nuns."
That very same day the chaplain, in company with a
German doctor, paid a visit to the presbytery in order to
induce the cure to repeat the statement he had made that
morning in the sacristy.
The cure acknowledged that, materially, he had made
the statement, but in a vague manner: "people say," "there

PROTEST AGAINST CHAPLAIN 101
is a rumor that" and conditionally, "Germans may have
violated our nuns."
Nevertheless, the chaplain made a categorical and de
tailed accusation against the cure, the net result of which
was the imprisonment of the cure and his condemnation to
either a hundred days in gaol or a thousand francs fine.
M. Misson, a public notary, accused of having in the
course of familiar conversation with his friend, M. Tagnon,
made the same statement, was condemned to undergo the
same penalty.
I am convinced, dear Governor General, that the Cure
Tagnon has not made the damning accusation against the
German army which the chaplain has put into his mouth.
But it is not my intention to lay stress on the accusation
itself. It is the behavior of the chaplain that I find odious.
A conversation held in the afternoon by two brother priests
cannot be the subject for a summons to court. The afore
thought behavior of the accuser who tries to impose on the
good faith of his brother priest, airily accepts a cigar which
he smokes in his company, enjoys the hospitality of his table,
in order to extort from him a confidence with which to trump
up a case against him — this premeditation aggravates the
guilt of the accuser and the odious character of his accusa
tion. The military tribunal of Arlon must have been badly
informed of the case to have accepted such an accusation
and not to have proceeded against the accuser, rather than
the acused.
We, Mgr. the Bishop of Namur and myself, deem that
our respect for the dignity of the priesthood and our solici
tude for the maintenance of good fellowship, which ought
to reign among priests to whatsoever nationality they be
long, will not allow us to let pass without censure the un-
gentlemanly behavior of the Rector of the Dominican Pri
ory at Dusseldorf. We are minded therefore to refer the
case to the Reverend Father General of the Dominican Or
der and to the Holy See at Rome.
Nevertheless, if the chaplain will consent to withdraw

102 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
his accusation and if your Excellency will condescend to re
mit the penalty inflicted on the Cure Tagnon and on his
parishioner, M. Misson, we shall be pleased to consider the
incident as closed.
Kindly receive, Governor General, the assurance of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
I join with His Eminence in begging the Governor to
take in hand the cause of my diocesans.
(Signed) Th. Louis Heylen,
Bishop of Namur.
Following this intervention, the punishment inflicted on
the cure Tagnon and on M. Misson was reduced by one-
half.

CHAPTER IX
THE CARDINAL INTERCEDES ON BEHALF OF F. VAN BAM-
BEKE, S. J., AND OF THE ABBE CUYLITS. VON
BISSING COMPLAINS OF THE PATRIOTIC ATTI
TUDE TAKEN UP BY THE CLERGY
F. Van Bambeke, S. J., and the Abbe Cuylits had been
condemned by the German military tribunals for having
helped Belgian youths to cross the frontier. As a result of
the Cardinal's intervention, the Governor General con
sented to set the Abbe Cuylits at liberty and gave permis
sion to F. Van Bambeke to undergo his punishment in a Bel
gian prison.
In communicating to the Cardinal this act of clemency,
Von Bissing complains for the first time of the patriotic
attitude assumed by the clergy. This theme of discussion,
which is here only hinted at, will later on form the object
of extensive correspondence between his Eminence and the
German authorities. Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 27th, 1915.
To His Excellency, Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The Reverend Father Van Bambeke, S. J., pre
fect of the Central Art and Mechanical School, rue d'Alle-
magne, Brussels, has been condemned to two years and a
half penal servitude for having provided facilities to two or
three young men to pass the frontier, and the Abbe Cuylits,
cure of N. D., at Cureghem, has to undergo one year of
the same penalty for a similar offense.
The two ecclesiastics are in poor health, which would
be shattered for good and all by residence in a foreign land.
For this reason I appeal with confidence to your Excel-
103

104 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
lency's humane sentiments and ask you to arrange that both
the religious and the secular priest may undergo their pun
ishment in our own country.
I would be extremely obliged to you were you to comply
with my request, and I beg you to accept, sir, the expression
of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Governor General's Office, Brussels,
III b. T.L.No. 1422. April 4th, 1 9 1 5 .
DECREE
Grant of Pardon to the Abbe Cuylits and F. Bambeke, S. J.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Malines.
To my deep regret I have often been forced latterly
to take a decision about appeals for reprieve in the case
of ecclesiastics who have been punished for having behaved
toward the German authorities in a manner unworthy of
their state.
If I again adopt great clemency in the case of the Cure
Cuylits, of Cureghem, and of F. Van Bambeke, S. J., it can
only be an exception ; I have only decided to do so in con
sideration of the pressing recommendations I have received
on behalf of the Cure Cuylits, who is indispensable to his
parish, and in view of F. Van Bambeke's poor state of
health. I would observe that in future, if priests are again found
guilty of offenses against the German authorities, I shall not
avail myself of my prerogative. The Governor General,
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieut. General.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
April 16 th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I have had to be away from Malines these last
few days and have been unable to reply as soon as I should

PATRIOTIC ATTITUDE OF CLERGY 105
have liked to letter No. 1422, which your Excellency did
me the honor of addressing to me.
In allowing F. Van Bambeke to undergo his penalty in
a Belgian prison your Excellency has done a very kind act
for which the prisoner's friends will be grateful ; and in au
thorizing the Cure Cuylits to re-enter his parish at Cureg
hem, you have done a good service to the religious and
moral interests of our diocese. We thank you in all sin
cerity and beg you to consider this letter as an expression
of our gratitude.
Your Excellency is afraid that you will not in future be
able to see your way to show leniency to the clergy, and you
warn me of the necessity in which you might find yourself
to meet me with a refusal if I should again have recourse
to your right to grant a reprieve. I hope there will no
longer be any occasion for it.
Your Excellency can hardly forbid me from thinking
that, should recourse to your prerogative be eventually jus
tified, you should again see your way to taking such steps
as equity demands.
Accept, sir, the expression of my feelings of gratitude
and sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER X
SCHEME FOR AN INQUIRY ON THE SUBJECT OF ASSAULTS
COMMITTED BY GERMAN SOLDIERS UPON NUNS
We have seen how the Kreischef of Malines had com
municated to the Cardinal a scheme for an inquiry about
priests put to death by German troops during the first weeks
of invasion. The Cardinal, having in his letter of January
24th replied that he would lend his aid only to an interna
tional committee of inquiry, which alone could offer guaran
tees of impartiality, remained unanswered. The scheme
for an inquiry was shelved.
Von Bissing raised the point once again. Only, without
trying to throw light on all the horrors which had marked
the entry of the Germans into Belgium, he would have liked
to limit his inquiry to a single point, viz., the outrages com
mitted against nuns by German soldiers. The Cardinal,
while he hinted that accusations of this character were not
so void of foundation as the Governor General seemed to
imagine, declared that he could take no part in an inquiry
about facts of so delicate a nature. Von Bissing made a
pretext of this refusal to declare that his Eminence thus
recognized the falsity of the accusations brought against the
German troops; once again he distorted his correspondent's
views : Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
I. No. 1243. March 30th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
The foreign press, in addition to a whole series of crim
inal charges which, for the most part, have been recognized
as false, has put forward lately at various times the follow
ing grave accusation. German soldiers passing through
Belgium have gone so far as to outrage Belgian nuns.
106

ASSAULTS BY GERMAN SOLDIERS 107
It is enough to remark that such crimes, if they can be
proved, would certainly incur my severe condemnation, as
well as that of the German Government; but, on the other
hand, justice requires that every care should be taken to set
aside accusations recognized as false.
I venture to think that the sentiments of justice and the
interests of the Church will derive equal advantage from
a full establishment of the truth. For this reason, I believe
I can rely on your Eminence's willing support to second my
efforts in thoroughly sifting the facts.
If your Eminence would be so kind as to forward me
the documents which you may possibly have dealing with
the cases of violation of nuns in your diocese, I shall then
be in a position to take whatever further steps the situation
may demand.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and remain your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Governor General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
April 16th, 191 5.
To His Excellency, Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I have duly received the letter No. 1243 witn
which your Excellency has honored me and I am sorry I
was prevented from answering it earlier.
Rumors are indeed being bruited by certain newspapers,
and denied by others, about outrages alleged to have been
committed by German soldiers upon Belgian nuns, and in
agreement with your Excellency I protest against those who
thus in a light-hearted way and without proof spread
broadcast among the people or entertain such odious accu
sations. But when your Excellency asks me to help you in throw
ing light on the grounds, whether true or false, of these
imputations, I find it necessary to ask you a preliminary
question :

108 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Has civil authority the right to institute an inquiry about
so delicate a matter?
Whom would one question?
The confessor? The doctor? They are bound by pro
fessional secrecy.
Should it be the superiors? Do they always know the
whole truth? And if they do know it, through having
learned it under the seal of secrecy, have they the right to
speak about it?
Would any one venture to interrogate the offended par
ties? Would not this be cruel? Would any one attempt
to induce the witnesses to speak at the risk of making known
the hapless victims of a violence which would, in the opinion
of the public, bring upon them the stain of dishonor?
So far as I am concerned, I would not dare to submit
anybody to an interrogatory on so delicate a subject, and
any confidences which have already been extended to me
spontaneously, or in the future will be made to me on this
subject, my conscience forbids me to reveal to others.
Our duty, your Excellency, is to prevent by every means
in our power the public from indulging in such wanton and
immoral allegations ; and I shall approve with all my heart
any effort at repression which justice chooses to adopt with
those who either of set purpose or through an unpardon
able levity invent these tales or spread them broadcast. But
I think we cannot proceed any further without encroaching
upon the rights of conscience and without also exposing
them to violation.
Accept, dear Governor General, a renewed assurance of
my deep esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. J. No. 1877. April 20th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor of expressing to your Eminence my
hearty thanks for your letter of the 16th instant.
I perfectly understand the feelings which hindered your

ASSAULTS BY GERMAN SOLDIERS 109
Eminence from undertaking any painful inquiry in order
to answer the questions which I had addressed to you. I
had indeed no intention of exacting such an inquiry. I had
reason rather to believe that if, after all, these reports had
any solid foundation, the ecclesiastical authorities would,
in one way or another, have had cognizance of them. It is
enough now to state that neither your Eminence nor the
other bishops can furnish any proof based on facts of these
reports, and I feel bound again to declare indignantly that
they are purposely propagated and with malicious intent.
I willingly agree that an inquiry, having for its object,
the refutation of these lying accusations, would be of a na
ture to wound the modesty of nuns. Nevertheless, I can
not refrain from pointing out to your Eminence that in
presence of such allegations I myself and all who have at
heart the honor and good name of the German soldiers
experience like sentiments. It is in the name of these same
feelings which your Eminence finds justifiable, while inter
vening on behalf of the nuns confined to your care, that I
claim the right to check with every means at my command
the slanders that are leveled at our troops.
It is with all the more gratitude, then, that I acknowl
edge that your Eminence, in the most peremptory way, dis
approves of the propagation of such lies in the press, and
that I venture to count on your benevolent co-operation in
defeating these malicious machinations.
Allow me to offer to your Eminence the expression of
my sincere esteem, and I have the honor to be your devoted
servant, (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.

CHAPTER XI
THE MUSTER-ROLL OF YOUNG MEN CLASHING WITH RE
LIGIOUS SERVICES ON SUNDAYS
In certain communes the muster-roll of young men of
military age took place at the same time as divine service
on Sundays. The Cardinal had complained of this to the
German authorities. Von Bissing informed him that he
had just published an order commanding his subordinates
to take care that the young men liable to roll-call should
be able to fulfill their religious obligations. The Cardinal
thanked him for this measure.
Governor General's Office, Brussels,
April ist, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Malines.
I have the honor of informing your Eminence that in
consequence of the complaints which have been brought to
my notice regarding the clashing of the young men's muster-
roll with the church services, I have published an order
of which I inclose a copy. The Governor General.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
Governor General's Office, Brussels,
Sect. Ic. No. 2564. April ist, 1915.
Whenever the day appointed for the muster-roll falls
on a Sunday or feast day the authorities of the several dis
tricts are requested to take care that those who have to
present themselves shall be able to fulfill their religious
duties. To effect this, it will be sufficient in most cases to
advance or delay the opening of the muster parade by one
or two hours. The Governor General.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
no

RELIGIOUS SERVICES m
Archbishop's House, Malines,
April 6th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — Your Excellency has been so kind as to let me know
that, in deference to an expressed wish of mine, you have
been willing to fix the rollcall of young men of military age
at hours which do not coincide with those for religious wor
ship. I deem it my duty to express to you my thankfulness for
this benevolent action and would ask you to accept the assur
ance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XII
von bissing complains of a discourse of mgr. de
wachter's
Governor General's Office, Brussels,
April 14th, 191 5.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
According to the newspaper "The Courier," of Dundee,
of February 15th, Mgr. de Wachter, of Malines, delivered
a discourse on February 14th at Willesden, in which he is
stated to have said that four ecclesiastics who had the pre
ceding week returned from Germany, declared that they
had there been compelled to perform the vilest tasks and
had suffered every kind of outrage. One day they had been
placed against the wall at the same time as the English
and French prisoners and informed that they were about
to be shot and rifles had then been levelled at them. After
the lapse of an hour they were told that their execution had
been deferred. These scenes had been repeated for several
days in succession. Among those who had been subjected
to these frightful torments, many had completely lost their
reason. I ask your Eminence to inform me where Mgr. De
Wachter now resides in order that he may be heard in re
gard to these monstrous accusations. The Governor General.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
112

DISCOURSE OF MGR. WACHTER 113
Archbishop's House, Malines,
April 18th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I hasten to give your Excellency the address of
Mgr. De Wachter, auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Ma
lines. For over six months he has been residing in London
with Mgr. Amigo, Bishop of Southwark. His address is:
Bishop's House, St. George's Road, Southwark, S. E.
London. I am ignorant alike of the subject matter of this dis
course and its delivery, of which your Excellency speaks on
the authority of the "Courier," of Dundee.
Accept, dear Governor General, the assurance of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XIII
THE CARDINAL'S INTERVIEW WITH MGR. MITTENDORF
On April 14th, 1915, Mgr. Mittendorf, Catholic Chap
lain-General of the German armies of the West, presented
himself at the Archiepiscopal Palace. Admitted to the Car
dinal's presence, he declared that he was charged with a
mission from the Governor General; he took a letter from
his pocket and proceeded to read it. When he had finished,
the Cardinal, with a natural gesture, put out his hand to
receive the letter, imagining that it was meant for him. But
Mgr. Mittendorf was unwilling to give it up. He even
went so far as to refuse, no one knows for what reason,
to allow the Cardinal to glance at the document which he
had just read.
Here, in substance, is the communication from Von
Bissing: The newspapers have published a letter from your Emi
nence to Cardinal Amette. Now there is a regulation which
forbids any Belgian to correspond with any one whatever
without first submitting his letter to the German censor
ship. Moreover, your Eminence has recognized in your
Christmas pastoral the necessity of obedience to the authori
ties in occupation.
If any other citizen whatever had committed the breach
of which your Eminence has rendered yourself guilty, we
should have to punish him. But out of love of peace and
through respect for the Holy See and the sacred purple
which your Eminence wears, we are unwilling to inflict pun
ishment on you. We should prefer, should your Eminence
force us to take such a step, to lay the matter before the
Holy See. 114

INTERVIEW WITH MGR. MITTENDORF 115
The Cardinal did not hesitate to acknowledge that he
had written to the Archbishop of Paris.
"And even," he added, "I received yesterday a French
newspaper, the 'Matin,' which publishes extracts of my let-
ter" ^s PUD"cation is preceded by some lines of intro
duction in which it is stated that this letter is private, and
the paper puts some extracts only before its readers."
"Private or not, it is none the less the revelation of a
fact, namely, that your Eminence has set at nought the regu
lation which obliges every Belgian in the occupied territory
to submit his correspondence to the German censorship."
"I am aware of this regulation, and the Governor Gen
eral will recollect that it has already been the subject of an
exchange of views between us. Indeed, in answer to the
question which he addressed to me in his letter of January
3rd, regarding the means by which I learned that the King
of England had ordered a day of intercession, I replied that
even a lawful government would not consider itself entitled
to set on foot an inquiry regarding my private intercourse,
and I could not therefore believe that it could enter into
the plans of the Governor General to ask me how I had
been able to correspond either with my own sovereign or
with the King of England. This regulation does indeed
exist, but it must be interpreted according to the rules of
common sense. The Governor General has himself placed
in my hands a letter which Cardinal von Hartmann had
written to him in which he asked permission for the Belgian
bishops to correspond freely with the Holy See. I thought
I might count on the tacit consent of the German authorities
for acts rendered necessary by my situation. You are a
priest, Monsignor; you should inform the Governor Gen
eral regarding the working of a diocesan administration."
"I do not speak as a priest," brusquely interrupted Mgr.
Mittendorf, "I am here only as the envoy of his Excellency
Von Bissing."
"Quite so, I am aware of it; but I know also that you
are a Catholic priest, and as such, in a position to enlighten
your government regarding Catholic life. Now, can any
one who has the least idea of the needs of Catholic diocesan

n6 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
administration imagine that I could remain for whole
months without intercourse with Rome? I have written,
and that, too, several times, to the Holy See, to the Roman
congregations, to my colleagues of the Sacred College in
Italy, England, the United States and elsewhere: the obli
gations of my pastoral charge render it a duty for me to
declare that I could not refrain in the future also from cor
responding with those abroad. It is useless to inquire by
what means I correspond. Have we not every day friends
from the United States, from Italy, from Holland, who
come to see me and offer their services? Do not the United
States legation, the Spanish legation, the Nunciature cor
respond freely with those abroad? I do not, mark well,
indicate any of these ways to insinuate that I have actually
availed myself of any of them, but I wish to prove that to
put myself in communication, when needful, with other
countries, suitable means are never lacking."
"What especially annoys the Governor General is the
fact that your Eminence's letter to Cardinal Amette has
been made public."
"Oh, but many of my letters sent abroad have likewise
become public, among others the letter of thanks addressed
to the United States, to Canada, to England, to Ireland,
in return for the generous acts of those nations toward the
Belgian people, on which occasions no complaint was made
to me. Be sure of this ; no Belgian will take advantage of
my correspondence with foreign nations to maintain that
every one has the right to the same freedom as I lay claim
to. The Belgians are endowed with good sense."
"Could not your Eminence have submitted your letter
to Cardinal Amette to censorship?"
"This letter conveyed my thanks to the French bishops
for the sympathy which they kindly wished to testify when
I published my Christmas pastoral. I waited two months
before showing my gratitude, a proof that I was no agitator.
I had to answer under penalty of passing for a man without
manners. Now suppose, Monsignor, that I had submitted
to the Governor General a letter of thanks to those who
publicly took my side at the moment of the controversy

INTERVIEW WITH MGR. MITTENDORF 117
which had arisen between him and me, what would his Ex
cellency have said? What could he have said? That I
was ridiculing him. Very well, I did not wish to ridicule
his Excellency. Behold the whole of my wrong-doing, if
wrong-doing there was. Our interview is coming to an end,
Monsignor; let me draw from it one conclusion. You Ger
mans, after many months of occupation, have not yet got
to know the Belgians. Among you a general commands and
automatically every one obeys. Here with us, good sense,
regard for higher interests, interprets the order and dic
tates our conduct. External regulations are meant, no
doubt, for every one; and it is in this sense that I have ac
knowledged them as the Governor General reminds me in
his letter. But every one applies them with a due regard
for different contingencies and the obligations which they
entail." At the end of the conversation Mgr. Mittendorf seemed
to wish the Cardinal to state what his future attitude would
be. To this request the Cardinal made no reply, and after
a few minutes' silence bade his visitor a kindly adieu.

CHAPTER XIV
THE CARDINAL ASKS VON BISSING TO AUTHORIZE THE SEND
ING OF CHAPLAINS TO THE BELGIAN ARMY, AND
PRESSES FOR RELIGIOUS MINISTRATIONS TO
POLITICAL PRISONERS TO BE ENTRUSTED
TO BELGIAN PRIESTS. THE GOVERNOR
GENERAL REFUSES
Archbishop's House, Malines,
April iSth, 19 1 5.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I take the opportunity which your Excellency offers
me to explain to you a situation in religious matters which
gives me great anxiety.
I know that your Excellency has taken steps with Head
quarters in Berlin, unfortunately without success, to obtain
for Belgian priests, or at least Hollander priests, an au
thorization to go and exercise their ministry among our
countrymen interned in Germany. It only remains for us
to await patiently the result of this request, which is made
solely from a sense of religious feeling and which ought,
one would think, appear to all as quite disinterested.
What at present worries me is the organization of the
chaplaincies in the Belgian army.
Since the beginning of the war several chaplains have
died or have been brought to the hospitals wounded; others
have been recalled to Belgium by us because they were
wanted by their parishes or for teaching. The need of
their being replaced in the army is urgent.
Will your Excellency allow me to propose to you the
names of four priests to whom you might grant a passport?
I should be pleased to add to them the name of a priest who
is asked for by the refugee Belgians at Uden in Holland.
118

CHAPLAINS REFUSED FOR ARMY 119
Again, it is exclusively the interests of religion which
are at stake here ; and I forward my request with all candor
and confidence to the General Government.
Accept, sir, the renewed expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
April 22d, 19 1 5.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
On the 1 8th of this month your Eminence asked me to
grant a passport to five Belgian ecclesiastics in order to
allow them to go and exercise their priestly ministry in the
Belgian army and among a number of refugees.
I regret to be unable to comply with your Eminence's
request. Among other reasons which dictate my decision
is the consideration that in the occupied part of Belgium the
need of priests begins to make itself felt, and I feel I can
attach all the more weight to this circumstance, inasmuch
as the Belgian army can have recourse to French priests.
I offer your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and I have the honor to be your very devoted
servant. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
April 24th, 1 9 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The motives which could even for an instant re
strain your Excellency from granting the request I made
of you with confidence for a passport for priests destined
to rejoin the Belgian army and our refugees at Uden, will
quite naturally come to the mind of any one who is not
acquainted with the special conditions attached to the ad
ministration of spiritual help to our countrymen.
It is quite true, your Excellency, that there, is a dearth
of priests in Belgium also. In all the colleges staffs are

120 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
reduced to a third; a number of parishes are without one
or several curates. But it is true, on the other hand, that
in Belgium the population of the parishes and the pupils
in schools are reduced in number ; it is also true that indus
tries, for instance economic and social industries, have
greatly slackened their activities.
On the other hand, in the army the presence of a priest
in each battalion is indispensable and this is an immediate
and every-day necessity. Moreover, it is out of the question
to appeal to the co-operation of the French clergy, for the
regiments of the Belgian army being all bilingual, it is ab
solutely needful that the chaplain should know both French
and Flemish.
In case there be any suspicion at the back of your Ex
cellency's mind to deter you this reminds me of the expres
sion "unter anderem" of the dispatch No. 1883 * — I give
you my word of honor that the priests in whose favor I ask
for a passport will be chaplains and have no other purpose
in view than to act as such.
A distressing situation, your Excellency, to which I
would respectfully draw your attention, has been brought to
my notice. When priests happen to be in solitary confine
ment in St. Giles they are forbidden to celebrate or even
to hear mass. On Easter Sunday F. Van Bambeke and the
Cure Cuylits were deprived of this consolation, of which
a Catholic and a priest alone can, in my opinion, estimate
the value. Nevertheless, the service of our prison cells is
organized in such a manner that it is materially impossible
for the inmates to communicate with one another in the
chapel. Is it permissible to hope that Catholic prisoners may
have facilities for attending mass at least on Sundays ; that
priests may be able to celebrate mass daily, and that all may
have the consolation of a visit from the prison chaplain?
I hope that your Excellency will not consider out of
•Note — The German text to which reference is made runs as follows:
"Wenn ich mich zu meinem Bedauern nicht bereit erklaren kann, den
Wunsch Euerer Eminenz zu erfullen, so leitet mich dabei unter anderem
der Gesichtspunkt, dass auch hier in Belgien sich schon einiget Mangel an
Geistlichen fuehlbar gemacht hat."

CHAPLAINS REFUSED FOR ARMY 121
place the earnestness with which I plead for the religious
interests of my fellow countrymen. I do so to quiet my own
conscience, for in the spiritual realm I am responsible for
their direction.
Please accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
S. No. P. A. I. 2130. May ist, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
Your Eminence has again asked permission for certain
priests to cross the frontier in order to go and serve as
chaplains in the Belgian army. I regret to be unable to rec
ommend this request to the competent authorities. The
state of war in which we find ourselves renders it altogether
impossible. Regarding the second request contained in your Emi
nence's letter, I am quite ready to intrust the rector of
the German mission at Brussels, Father Leyendecker, with
the spiritual interests of the Belgian ecclesiastics interned
at St. Giles. Father Leyendecker is known to your Emi
nence ; he speaks French and Flemish. I must also say that
I am of opinion that these priests should have facilities to
say mass.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and I have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
May 14th, 191 5.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The letter dated May ist (No. 2130) with which
your Excellency has honored me and which unavoidable cir
cumstances have prevented my answering earlier has
brought about in my mind, I must say, an unpleasant disil
lusionment.

122 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
If I have insisted on obtaining a passport for four chap
lains destined to fill the gaps which have taken place in our
chaplaincies, it is because I could not succeed in fathoming
the reason for the first refusal I met with. Relying on the
candor of my two requests, I expected marks of particular
benevolence. All I can do, therefore, is to record a new check to re
ligion in Belgium.
Several representatives of German authority do not, I
fear, appreciate at its full value the importance attached by
the Catholic conscience to confession. Otherwise they would
not obstinately refuse us the sanction solicited by us already
so often, both by word of mouth and in writing, to send to
our prisoners detained in Germany a few priests speaking
their language and to whom they could with full freedom
open their consciences.
Will you kindly reflect a moment, sir, that for eight
months thousands of Belgians, solely because they have
served their country with honor, are confronted with the
moral impossibility of setting their consciences at rest?
Catholic confession reaches the inmost recesses of the soul,
and the German authorities wish the avowal it exacts, hu<-
miliating enough as it is, involuntarily or not, to be made
to a man who reminds his penitent of the power of the op
pressor, the responsible author of his captivity.
Is that humane ? Is that Christian?
What then has poor Belgium done to Germany to be
tortured on its own soil, to have its property destroyed,
and the lives of its most inoffensive sons cruelly sacrificed;
and now finally to be tortured in the consciences of those
whose patriotism has borne them into exile and imprison
ment? And yet the general headquarters cannot allege any
"necessity of war" for refusing our prisoners the free exer
cise of their religion.
If it exacts that the German chaplains should be replaced
by priests from a neutral country, Holland has promised
to supply them.
Even if it exacts that these priests should have no com-

CHAPLAINS REFUSED FOR ARMY 123
munication with the outer world, Belgian priests will carry
charity to the point of heroism, and declare that they are
ready to share the internment of their fellow countrymen
till the day of general liberation comes.
Can one reasonably ask for more?
To my last request in favor of those detained in the
St. Giles prison, your Excellency answers that you agree
to it, provided the ministry be carried on by Father Leyen
decker, of German nationality.
I am personally acquainted with Father Leyendecker
and hold him in high esteem. But why inflict on Belgian
chaplains an unmerited privation?
The Catholic mass, composed as it is of ceremonies and
of Latin words, gives no room for any direct communica
tion between the priest and the faithful ; and hence provides
the celebrant with no opportunity for taking an unfair ad
vantage of his ministry.
For the practice of sacramental confession, a German
chaplain, whatever may be his personal merits, incurs the
objection which I have noted above. I know the priestly
zeal of Father Leyendecker and his experience of men
too well to suspect that he cannot understand the disquietude
of my countrymen's souls and will not help me to plead with
you for their liberty of conscience.
Will your Excellency kindly make a new endeavor to
obtain for prisoners of war in Germany the liberty of prac
ticing their religious faith without superhuman efforts ?
Your Excellency has had the kindness to allow the im
prisoned priests to celebrate mass; this is a mark of signal
benevolence on your part for which I am exceedingly grate
ful and a thing which all the priests interested will highly
value. Lastly, will your Excellency please consider that the
Belgians arrested in Belgium by the German authorities are
not "ordinary criminals," but for the most part citizens be
yond reproach — victims of what by the prisoner is called
"patriotism" and by the detaining power "the inevitable
laws of war"? Will you spare them, in the name of hu
manity, all unnecessary severity, and authorize the accused,

124 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
after they have been examined, to receive a visit from a
chaplain who possesses their confidence and, with that, the
means of consoling them, of upholding their moral strength,
and every time the prisoners express the wish, of hearing
their confessions?
Accept, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
May igth, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I am in receipt of your Eminence's letter of the 14th
instant. Relative to the decisions which on two different occa
sions I have been led to take regarding the desires mani
fested by your Eminence concerning the religious interests
of your diocese, you have risen up in wrath again'st me, em
ploying offensive expressions in my regard and accusations
which I resent as unjustified. It has thus been impossible
for me to offer any definite defense. I shall at last find my
self compelled to refuse to have for the future written or
unwritten relations with your Eminence or to take into con
sideration requests possibly justifiable unless your Eminence
employs toward me in the language used the courtesy which
I have the right to exact.
Up to the present I have forced myself, in ample meas
ure, to make allowance in religious matters, as in others,
for the situation created by the particular circumstances
in which we find ourselves. But I must protest against the
way in which your Eminence finds pretexts to enter into con
flict with me in my character of representative of his
Majesty the Emperor, my supreme chief.
I offer to your Eminence the assurance of my sincere
esteem, and I have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.

CHAPLAINS REFUSED FOR ARMY 125
Archbishop's House, Malines,
May 29th, 19 1 5.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The letter No. 2722, dated May 19th, with which
your Excellency has honored me, has come duly to hand and
I wish to acknowledge it.
In order to conform with your Excellency's desire, I
shall refrain from treating directly with you the question
of the performance of their religious duties by Belgian
prisoners in Germany or by those confined in the prison of
St. Giles. But truth compels me to point out that in my preceding
correspondence I have never been impelled by my solicitude
for any other feeling than the moral and religious interests
of my countrymen. For these interests I am responsible.
I am aware that I have shown a certain amount of vehe
mence in supporting the cause I had to defend. I beg your
Excellency to recognize in my language only the expression
of deep convictions. In the course of my career, already
long, I have been engaged in numerous discussions, some
times with friends, at other times with adversaries ; I never
remember having been charged with want of courtesy to
ward the people with whom I have been in controversy.
The fact that my thoughts are centered on truth as it stands
might sometimes suggest the idea that my judgment of
facts aims at persons and their intentions ; but may I say that
that is a result for which in justice I alone cannot be held
responsible ?
Your Excellency is kind enough to end your letter by
declaring your good-will to take a generous view of our
religious welfare. This emboldens me to bring two facts
to your notice. It is for you to consider them and to judge
whether they call for your intervention. I think it my duty
to make them known to you.
The Baron von Baudenhausen, military commander at
Antwerp, in a letter addressed to the dean of Antwerp,
makes certain complaints against the clergy of which one
is quoted in these terms : "Audi ein Fall der Verweigerung

126 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
der Absolution, weil das Beichtkind sich nicht verpflichtete,
seine deutsche Dienstherrschaft zu verlassen, ist gemel-
det." *
What goes on in the secrecy of the confessional box is
free from all exterior jurisdiction, whether civil, military, or
even religious.
On Monday, May 24th, in Whitsun Week — at 10 a. m.
— in accordance with an old standing tradition, a procession
took place at Malines. The procession had been authorized
by the Kreischef of Malines, M. Jochmus. At the moment
when this procession of devout faithful, which was in every
sense of a religious nature and was presided over by his
Lordship Mgr. Legraive, Auxiliary Bishop of the diocese,
was making its way round the Grand Place, a German mili
tary band broke through the procession and created a great
din as they passed by the side of the bishop who was carry
ing the Blessed Sacrament.
Happily, the clergy and the crowd were able to restrain
their indignation. Nevertheless, their innermost feelings
were deeply pained.
Please accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
• Note — "Another case is reported of a denial of absolution because the
penitent refused to leave his service in the German army."

CHAPTER XV
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL AUTHORIZES THE CORPUS CHRISTI
PROCESSION
Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
Sekt. lib. No. 5392. May i%th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor to inform your Eminence that I have
given instructions to all the governors, military and civil,
who are under my orders, to permit this year, on request,
the customary processions of Corpus Christi. But I trust
these processions will preserve their strictly religious char
acter and that no advantage will be taken of them to make
them serve political ends. Only religious hymns and ban
ners will be permitted; national anthems (the Brabanconne,
etc.) and national flags are forbidden. If it is usual for
bands to take part in the procession, they are forbidden to
play the national anthem and must confine themselves to
playing an accompaniment to the religious chants. It is
forbidden to fire off guns or maroons.
I trust that your Eminence's good sense and influence
will succeed in hindering any abuse of the liberty which I
willingly grant in consideration of the interests of religion.
The Governor General.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.

127

CHAPTER XVI
VON BISSING REFUSES TO ALLOW BELGIAN COUNSEL TO DE
FEND FATHERS DE BRUYNE AND BOONE, S. J., AR
RAIGNED BEFORE THE MILITARY TRIBUNAL
OF ANTWERP
Fathers de Bruyne and Boone, S. J., were arrested on
June 12, 1915, on the charge of having helped young men
desirous of joining the Belgian army to cross the frontier.
After having been kept in the most rigorous solitary con
finement for more than five weeks, they were to appear on
July 27th before a court-martial to be held at Antwerp.
The barristers, M. Franck and M. Vaes, had offered to
defend the accused. The military court rejected this prof
fered legal assistance and claimed the right to nominate
its own official counsel. The Cardinal, having learned these
facts, intervened for the recognition of the rights claimed by
the defendants. The Governor General agreed to defer the
matter for further inquiry, but absolutely refused to grant
the defendants Belgian counsel. The former appeared be
fore the tribunal on August 12th, 1915. Fr. Boone was
condemned to twelve years' penal servitude ; Fr. de Bruyne
was acquitted. Archbishop's House, Malines,
July 26th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — Fathers de Bruyne and Boone have to appear be
fore the Government "Gericht" at Antwerp on Tuesday,
July 27th.
If I am not mistaken, the ninth paragraph of the "Kai-
serliche * Verordnung ueber das ausserordentliche Kriegs-
• Note— -Imperial ordinance defining the extraordinary measures to be
taken in rime of war against foreigners. 128

NO COUNSEL FOR BELGIAN FATHERS 129
gerechtliche Verfahren gegen Auslaender" recognizes the
right of the accused to be defended before courts-martial.
The court-martial at Antwerp refuses the offer made by
the two barristers, M. Franck and M. Vaes, to defend the
prisoners, whom the accused themselves had chosen, and
claims the exclusive rights of naming an official pleader for
the defense.
The barristers likewise claim, the right to examine col
laterally with the official counsel the charges which have
been made against the accused and the right of providing
their clients with the means of defense. This demand has
just been formally rejected.
It isxlear then, sir, that the rights of defense guaranteed
by the law of the Empire are not recognized here.
As the interests of priests belonging to my diocese are
at stake, I deem it my duty to report this unfortunate inci
dent to your Excellency and beg you to give an urgent order
for the postponement of the suit that it may be possible for
the defendants to prepare their defense in co-operation with
counsel of their own choice.
Please accept, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
Sect. Ib. No. 6953. August 3rd, 19 15.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
In answer to your Eminence's esteemed letter of July
26th, I have the honor to inform you that immediately after
receiving it I gave orders to defer to a later date the depo
sitions of the trial set on foot against the priests de Bruyne,
and Boone. I have submitted the whole of this affair to a
minute inquiry.
I regret nevertheless to be unable to give effect to your
Eminence's request; the necessities of war do not allow
strangers to become advocates for the defense in a trial for
treasonable acts. I have the honor to communicate here
with to your Eminence the certified copy of the regulation
which I have sent on this subject to the competent authority.

130 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and I have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing.
Governor General's Office, Brussels,
ii A. T. L. No. 4403. August 2d, 1915.
To the Tribunal of the Fortress of Antwerp
Regulation
The refusal to allow the priests de Bruyne and Boone
Belgian advocates in the trial of the charge of high treason
brought against them is justified ; it is quite lawful to forbid
all intercourse between the advocates chosen by the accused
and the official advocate assigned.
The right of defense, which, according to the ninth para
graph of the imperial decree of December 28th, 1899, be
longs to foreign enemies, must be limited by the exigencies
of war; these do not permit strangers to be put in possession
of the evidence in a charge of high treason, and this could
not be avoided if they were permitted to act as advocates
for the defense in trials of this nature.
In consequence, Cardinal Mercier's objection of July
28th, 19 15, must be considered as unfounded and must be
rejected. The Governor General.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.

CHAPTER XVII
INTERVIEW BETWEEN CARDINAL MERCIER AND BARON VON
DER LANCKEN REGARDING THE PASTORAL LETTER,
"A CALL TO prayer"
On Sunday, September 26th, 19 15, the clergy in all the
churches of the diocese read another pastoral letter of his
Eminence entitled "A Call to Prayer." Therein the Car
dinal lavished on his flock once more words of encourage
ment and counsel. "Our trials," he says, "are protracted;
do not yield, I beg, to weariness; let us not cease to pray
and do good; the sower must wait for the harvest; in its
own good time it will come and will not fail us."
After showing that the conflict between good and evil
dates from the beginning of the world and that the combat
of Lucifer and the holy angels is being renewed unceasingly
during the ages, the Cardinal recommends the people of his
diocese to take advantage of the Feast of St. Michael, Sep
tember 29th, and the first days of the rosary month, to re
double the ardor of their prayers for the early deliverance
of their Belgian fatherland. He asks them to recite for the
future with attention the prayer which is said after mass :
"And thou, Prince of the Heavenly Host, we beg thee, cast
down into hell Satan and the other wicked spirits who wan
der through the world for the ruin of souls." The letter
concluded with an invitation to communicate once at least
in the interval between September 29th and Friday, October
ist, or on Sunday, October 3rd, and while they invoked
the Sacred Heart and our Blessed Lady, to place the com
batants under the shield of St. Michael.
The Germans recognized themselves under the designa
tion of "Satan and the other wicked spirits"; thus the letter
let loose in the press beyond the Rhine a veritable torrent
131

1 32 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
of invectives and menaces against the Cardinal. Despite
this outburst, the Governor General did not act with the
same precipitation in demanding explanations from his Emi
nence as he manifested on the occasion of the pastoral let
ter, "Patriotisrrf and Endurance." For ten days he gave
no sign of life. It was only on Tuesday, October 7th, that
Baron von der Lancken telephoned to Canon Loncin, sec
retary of the archdiocese, saying that he desired to visit the
Cardinal the following day for the purpose of making a
communication to him on behalf of the Governor General.
An appointment was made for his reception by the Cardinal
at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
The following day Von der Lancken presented himself
at the Archbishop's House three-quarters of an hour late,
pleading a breakdown of his motor as the cause of the delay.
He was conducted to the Cardinal.
The interview lasted about two hours, and the follow
ing is a faithful account from notes made by the Cardinal
himself immediately after the Baron's departure.
As soon as they were seated the Baron, after informing
the Cardinal that the document he was about to read had
been drawn up by himself at the instance of his Excellency
von Bissing and had afterward been approved by him, began
the reading of four or five foolscap pages. The reading
being ended, the Cardinal asked if he might have the docu
ment. The answer was in the negative : "No, I have my
instructions not to give up the manuscript."
"In that case, it will not be possible for me to reply as
adequately as I could wish to each of the complaints tabu
lated in the Governor General's dispatch."
"Oh, my mission is not to discuss, but to communicate
to your Eminence the Governor General's views."
"Still, it is needful that I should thoroughly understand
his views. In a word, I presume the Governor General
wishes to know whether or not I embrace his way of re
garding things."
"Probably." "I believe I can recapitulate as follows, Baron, the com
munication which you have just read to me :

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 133
1. Your pastoral, "Call to Prayer," which was read in
all the churches, accompanied at times by commentaries
which emphasize still more its trend, is an incitement of a
political nature : it is bound to produce among the masses a
political ferment, and, in fact, we have noted in more than
one place, foresigns of a seditious outbreak.
2. Your Eminence's attitude is so much the less justifi
able in that you have given the Governor General reason to
hope that in the general interests of the country you would
co-operate with him in pacifying the people and also in that
you are well acquainted with the benevolent dispositions
entertained by his Excellency Baron von Bissing.
3. This attitude is with difficulty reconciled with your
Eminence's frequent appeals to the Governor General for
the granting of favors to your fellow countrymen.
4. Lastly, the fact that your Eminence's letter, which
was contemporaneous with the German troops' temporary
setback of some kilometers on the line of battle, is so strik
ing that it is not susceptible of explanation save as the out
come of a preconcerted understanding of the Primate of
Belgium with the allied armies ; and this serves to prove up
to the hilt the political character of the pastoral letter.
"To these four complaints, which I believe epitomize
your communication, I desire to make at once a comprehen
sive reply."
The Baron's silence confirmed the Cardinal in thinking
that his recapitulation was accurate.
"1. You say, Sir Baron, that my letter is seditious; that
it inflames the people against the occupying authority, and
that you perceive already here and there traces of popular
excitement. "This is the third time that you have ventured to ad
dress me in language such as this. The first time was last
January, when my letter on 'Patriotism and Endurance'
appeared; the second time in June, when, deprived of my
motorcar, I was compelled to walk on foot to Vilvorde in
order to reach Brussels, and this is now the third time that
you renew such language.
"Has experience, then, not opened your eyes?

134 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
"Despite your pessimistic anticipations, has not the coun
try continued calm? Is there a single Belgian during the
year that you have been treading our soil under circum
stances known to you ; is there, I say, a single Belgian that
has touched a hair of a single German head? Has a shot
been fired at any of your men?"
"No; because we hold a firm hand and keep a sharp
lookout." "Not at all, sir; it is not because you hold a firm hand
and keep a sharp lookout. You would certainly admit that
if political passions, as you affirm, were inflamed against
you, there would be found here and there behind a wall or
from the security of an upper story a hand armed with a
revolver to fire on you. And among the thousands of our
men who risk their lives endeavoring to join our army some
few would be found perchance to do you an evil turn in the
dark. You, on the contrary, have used every expedient to
provoke a rising of the people, but the obstinate calmness
of our men has thwarted you."
"So it is we who have provoked you? We are the pro
vokers?" "Yes, sir: you are the provokers; and I will immediately
furnish the proof.
"At the time my first pastoral was published, what did
you do? You sent soldiers in the morning and night on
bicycles and motorcycles and also in noisy motorcars through
all the peaceful villages of Campine and Wallon district;
you suddenly awakened out of their sleep the clergy, sacris
tans, servants in presbyteries, with threats on your lips and
sometimes with a revolver in your hand; you made them
open the churches and sacristies, the drawers of desks, in the
hope of laying hands on my pastoral and this fine game
lasted several days, and while in his letter of January 3rd
the Governor General foretold, just as you do today, a
rising of the people, the people remained calm in obedience
to the counsels of long-suffering preached by us. Then as
now, today, the Belgian people continued submissive, not
because of you, but in spite of you.

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 135
"And when I went to Brussels to sing a mass at St.
Gudule, do you not recollect how you treated me?
"In imagination, I can still see the rough fellow, who
barred my way on the canal bridge at the city gate inso
lently demanding my identity papers."
"Oh! all our soldiers have not been brought up in draw
ing-rooms." "Nor ours either. Accordingly, it is not on this inten
tional insult that I wish to base my contention. If I have
recalled this fact, it is to emphasize another, namely, that
when several eye-witnesses, exasperated at this spectacle of
impertinence, had respectfully applauded the Cardinal for
having answered the demand addressed to him with an act
of docility, one of your officers ordered a bayonet charge
to be made on women and children, who, without uttering
a word, had lavished upon me marks of respect. Was this,
or was it not, calculated to provoke the people?
"And the next day, and the next, how did you treat me?
"After singing mass at St. Gudule I betook myself to
the Institute of St. Louis, and at 6 o'clock in the evening I
took my departure for a small country house I possessed
at l'Hermite sous Braine-l'Alleud. Already in the boule
vard of the Botanical Garden in front of St. Louis, two
spies on bicycles awaited me and they followed my carriage
all the way."
"Perhaps some police officer had on his own initiative
taken this step, but the authorities are not responsible."
"Pardon me, sir, the authorities are responsible."
"The Governor General?"
"At any rate a high authority and here is the proof.
The spies escorted my carriage, halting when we slackened
our pace, quickening again when we descended an incline.
Arrived at Alsemberg, three kilometers from l'Hermite, as
night was falling, I went to the cure's residence and slept
at the presbytery. The following day at 5 o'clock in the
morning I set out on foot in the direction of l'Hermite.
Scarcely had I left the village when I encountered three
German soldiers on horseback coming toward me from the
direction of Braine-l'Alleud. The moment they had passed

136 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
me they turned bridle to accompany me to my destination.
I learned later that the spies had gone during the early
hours into the churches of Braine-l'Alleud and Alsemberg
to see if the priest at the altar was not the Cardinal. There
fore, Baron, the spying was organized by some one who held
authority both at Brussels and in the district of Nivelles,
where Braine-l'Alleud is situated; it was therefore a high
authority — a very high authority."
After these words his Eminence made a slight pause to
see what impression he had made on his interlocutor; the
Baron remained confused. The Cardinal continued:
"And during the four days I passed in the country I
had two sentinels who ostensibly guarded my little prop
erty, questioned the visitors, followed them when they left
to ascertain the object of their visit: in fine, you assumed the
air of people watching a criminal and trying to stifle a con
spiracy. "And if I were a sedition monger, Baron, what a splen
did game I might have played ! What a lovely subject for
a sensational pamphlet to appear at Paris or in London!
In it I might have narrated the antics at Malines and your
preposterous repression of the episcopal blessing and the
mild gesture of my private secretary. But I refrained; and
just as you found me unbending in carrying out my pastoral
duties, so did I desire to pass over merely personal inci
dents. I deemed it prudent to retire for some days to
l'Hermite in order to withdraw from any likely manifesta
tions of public sympathy. With your preconceived ideas
regarding me, you imagined my retreat could have no other
motive than revolutionary projects."
"Oh! revolutionary, no."
"Substitute seditious. See, then, Baron, how the alleged
manipulation of the Belgian people's ill-will toward you
existed only in your imagination, and the indications of fer
ment are merely the intrigues of your spies and the fuss
made by your inquisitors.
"The Belgian people are calm and patient, abiding their
time. There were no francs-tireurs when your armies in
vaded our territory. I trust there will be none when you

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 137
beat your retreat. Only lately I had occasion to address all
the clergy of my diocese assembled at Malines for the clergy
retreat, and I urged them to say to the people : 'The de
fense of our country must be left to our army; it is not your
task to make irregular assaults on the enemy. Do not by
your rashness justify the reproach that slanderous tongues
brought against you at the outbreak of hostilities.'
"Why, Baron, as to the heart of the Belgian people,
know that you have not captured it, nor will you ever do so*
Let me say with all freedom, and be not ruffled by the appar
ent rudeness of my words, the Belgians do you no evil and
never will ; but in their hearts they hold your rule in detes
tation. That is the truth, and after a whole year's experi
ence, strange to say, you do not seem to grasp it.
"Not rarely strangers, neutrals, Americans, Swiss, pass
through here, and then naturally the war and the German
occupation become the topic of discourse. Would you like
to know the unanimous opinion of foreigners regarding
you? The Germans, they say, have their points assuredly,
but they lack psychology.
"Is that the case ? You believe the world to be governed
by abstract formulas?
"You imagine that your method of ruling, successful as
it may be in Germany, must needs succeed here. You grossly
deceive yourselves. I have spent my life in teaching. In
so doing I have learned that in a young man's education you
must first learn to know him before applying formulas. To
make laws and to apply them are two different matters.
You seem to be ignorant of these primary truths; hence
your mistake. We keep our hearts unsubdued, but we are
patient. And what I said in the month of January to those
who came to complain in the Governor General's name of
my first pastoral, I repeat to you today. It is by giving
our people the assurance that Belgium is and will remain
a free country that we are able to preach patience and to see
that it is practiced in spite of you.
"I believe I have thus met the first complaint drawn up
against me by the Governor General and I have at the same
time implicitly furnished an answer to the second.

138 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
"2. The Governor finds there is a lack of agreement be
tween the language of my pastorals and the kindly disposi
tion of which I gave him an assurance when he promised
on his part to do all in his power to heal all our wounds."
"Yes; the Governor General complains of your pas
torals, also of the commentaries, still more unrestrained,
which certain members of the clergy made upon it."
"I am pleased, Baron, that you call attention to the com
mentaries which you say the clergy has made on my pastoral
letters. I am aware that in different circumstances you have
repeated this assertion that the clergy talks politics in the
pulpit, and you are wont to add: 'It is evident that in so
doing the clergy obey an inspiration of the Cardinal's, since
the same phrase, one of the Cardinal's phrases, is repeated
by all the preachers.' Well, Baron, I should be delighted to
learn what this celebrated phrase is. One day my secretary,
M. Loncin, asked you for it in my name and you are said
to have answered: 'Oh! that is an ancient story, I should
have to refresh my memory to satisfy you.' Today, when I
have the opportunity of seeing you in person, I ask you
again, What is this oft-repeated phrase?"
After a pause the Baron answered: "Oh! that is past;
I speak now of commentaries on your last pastoral."
"Be it so; I do not mind discussing them, but I would
like to know all the same in what I have so gravely sinned
in the past."
A fresh pause, and the Baron uttered never a word.
"I imagined it was understood that the Governor Gen
eral would point out to the bishops the complaints he had
against the clergy.
"Be good enough then to tell me who the priests of my
diocese are that have made operations of a seditious na
ture; where, when, and in what terms did they make them?"
"I thought of bringing with me the 'dossiers' which we
have at the Governor General's office incriminating several
priests, but at the last moment we thought it more advisable
not to discuss them."
"You will pardon me, sir, for regarding this proceed
ing as strange. You incriminate the clergy in my presence,

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 139
you come here for that purpose, and when I request you
to bring forward definite charges you reply: 'I am not
bringing forward these charges in detail, as I do not wish
to discuss them.'
"In that case, all that remains for me to do is to talk
about myself, of my feelings toward the Governor General,
and what I think of his attitude in dealing with our coun
try. "My feelings have never varied, but you misunderstand
them. "Of course, I desire to spare my country fresh suffer
ings; and when the Governor General declares to me that
it is his ambition to heal our wounds rather than to embitter
them, of course I am ready to second him.
"But the Governor General's mistake, and yours too, be
gins the moment you imagine that you can treat us as
submissive children. This you cannot do ; Belgium is not a
conquered country which you have the right to treat as your
own: it is a belligerent nation which has preserved and hopes
still to preserve her independence and her king.
"What you would like to say is: 'Put aside for the
moment all the past and let us unite to work for the resur
rection of the occupied country.' I know you have often
used such language.
"But how can we forget the past, which is only of
yesterday? The ruins of our towns and villages are still
smoking, our churches have been gutted, our families are
in mourning, our children in misery. But the present, in
which we live, on account of which we suffer, springs from
this past which your troops have created for us.
"I know, Baron, that in an interview with my secretary,
Canon Loncin, you were good enough to acknowledge that
not one of the priests shot by your armies at the time of
invasion had been proved guilty. I am pleased with this
overdue recognition of our innocence. But what has been
proved in the case of our priests will be proved tomorrow,
if you allow it, in the case of our massacred and imprisoned
civilians. It is just this investigation we demand; and so
long as our rights and the sincerity of our attitude have

140 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
not had due recognition, between you and us no understand
ing is possible."
"You would be quite wrong to doubt of the Governor
General's kindly intentions. I, who am always near him
and know him, I can assure you that he has the sincerest
desire to do all he can for the Belgians."
"I do not doubt the Governor General's sincerity. When
I had the honor of seeing him, he spoke with an accent of
sincerity which I believed then and believe still. But be
tween him and us there is a fundamental misunderstanding.
He would wish to see us submissive, and we claim the right
to remain interiorly, in heart and soul, unconquered. We
respect your external regulations in so far as they are requi
site for the maintenance of public order; but our allegiance
goes elsewhere.
"Moreover, Baron, there is a wide margin between in
tention and action. Facts badly correspond with the friend
ly sentiments of which you give us the assurance."
"I assure you, you misunderstand Baron von Biss-
ing-" "But come; these condemnations, one after the other,
of young men, of priests who have tried to cross the frontier
or have assisted others in the attempt, these condemnations
to death, these shootings, etc. . . . are these proofs of kind
liness?" "Oh! it must be so; we cannot tolerate any breach of
military regulations."
"Be it so; it is necessary to a certain extent, in a sense.
That I understand and I do not blame you for it. But good
will, or mere equity, would demand a milder application of
your regulations.
"This is how we understand your position: You are
a mighty power confronted with a very small country. You
have trampled our soil under foot without any invitation
from us; and your own heads have acted as spokesmen in
declaring that you were sorry to have to invade our terri
tory against your will, from necessity, and that you were
desirous to repair as soon as possible the wrong done us.
"Remembering the conditions under which you have

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 141
taken possession of the greater part of our soil, you ought
logically to have said to yourselves: 'We will make Bel
gium suffer as little as we can; we will show her all such
consideration as is consistent with the needs entailed by our
occupation of the country; for when we come to think of
it, she was not our enemy, and after all it is we who have
brought upon her the necessity of opposing our passage
across her territory.'
"Why then bar the road so roughly against a few young
men who are burning with a desire to fulfill their patriotic
duty at their comrades' side?"
"But they would all go !"
"And if they did all go, where is the great evil? You
boast of having 8,000,000 soldiers! What can a few
hundreds, or let us say a few thousands, more or less, do
against you?"
"It is not that; believe me, we are not afraid of them."
"Very well, then, we are agreed. You need not be afraid
of them. In that case let them pass. They will be prac
ticing a virtue which you Germans prize above all others,
namely, military patriotism. It will, therefore, be a good
thing. Then you will rid Belgium of youths disgruntled,
humbled and without work, who at a given moment — I look
at it from your own point of view — may become turbulent
and dangerous to public order, which you wish and ought
to preserve. Look, for example, at those young men from
our universities who are champing the bit in forced inaction.
Would it not be a thousand times better for them to be at
the front? Or at least, if you will not let them go, if you
think you ought to apply your military regulations in their
case, let it be so; arrest all you may succeed in catching;
prevent them from beginning their pranks again, but I beg
you not to treat them as criminals.
"And if a brave priest gives these dear young fellows,
of whom, after all, Belgium is legitimately proud, some
friendly advice, or puts them on their road, or in general
affords them help, is this sufficient reason to imprison him,
consign him to a dungeon, or deport him?"

142 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
"You admit yourself, then, that the clergy is in favor of
stirring up the young people."
"No, I do not admit that; but I praise the clergy for
keeping the flame of patriotism alive and for not refusing
paternal assistance to a parishioner, a university man, or a.
workman who has the courage to risk his life to go and
join our army. And, as we happen to be talking about the
clergy, will you allow me to speak to you in confidence?"
"Yes, I am listening to you."
"I could be more precise in what I am about to say by
mentioning names, but discretion will not allow me to reveal
them to you. I refer to a personage, and no one less than
a member of your own entourage. To a priest who ex
pressed himself surprised at the frequency of arrests among
priests and religious, this politician answered: 'They are
revenging themselves on the priests for the attitude taken up
by the Cardinal.' Is that good-will? Is that justice?"
"Dear me ; who can have said that?"
"You may ignore my confidence if you like; I have no
wish to impose on your credulity. But I assert that I know
the person we are talking about, and that the priest to
whom he spoke, and who himself related this to me is abso
lutely a trustworthy witness."*
"3. You were saying, Baron, that his Excellency the
Governor General finds it difficult to reconcile my habitual
attitude with my frequent appeals to him in favor of my
countrymen. You have not, I believe, uttered the word
ingratitude, but it is the one which would sum up this
fresh complaint. Well, I am going to astonish you and,
I fear, hurt your feelings."
* Note — The personage referred to here is Trimborn, a Deputy of the
Centre; and the priest he spoke to is the Superior of the "Aumoniers du
Travail"— the Abbe Reyn.
In a note signed with his own hand, the Abbe Reyn asserts that in
the course of a conversation he had with Trimborn, he heard the latter
declare that the heavy penalties inflicted on Belgian priests were the
German Government's reply to the Cardinal's activities.
To the Superior of the "Aumoniers du Travail," who asked for a
reprieve for one of his priests who was ill and half blind and who had been
condemned to three years' imprisonment, Trimborn replied that the Cardinal
could easily obtain this favor, besides many others, if he would only go
to Canossa and promise for the future to act differently vis-a-vis of the
German Government.

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 143
"Not at all; say what you think."
"Well, Baron, I tell you frankly and beg you to repeat
it to the Governor General. I have no gratitude toward
you on the score you mention, because I owe you none."
"Oh! Oh!"
"Have a little patience; I will explain myself. There
is a personal concession which you are willing to make me,
and I am grateful for it. I mean the right to use a motor
car. "But in regard to requests, rather frequent, addressed
to the Governor General, I admit the only things I have
met with have been refusals. I am quite accustomed to
reading in the first sentence of the answer: 'Ich bedauere'
(I regret). Things have come to such a pass, that when
appeals are made for my intervention with the Governor
General, I am obliged to answer, and as a rule I do answer :
'Dear Sir, or Madam, I should like to be of service to you,
but I fear that I might do you more harm than good.' "
"But I still assert that his Excellency the Governor Gen
eral is very well disposed."
"The matter is very simple. On your return to Brus
sels, refer to your records ; and, if you can, confute me by
telling me when and in what my requests have been acceded
to. "I remember a case which was particularly painful to
me. A seminarist, the Abbe G. Van der Elst, in whom I
took an affectionate interest, was threatened with condemna
tion for having helped some young men to pass the frontiers
of Holland." "Yes, I am acquainted with Abbe Van der Elst's case."
"They even dared to suggest the death penalty for acts
which every patriot must in his heart admire.
"I was expecting, therefore, that the young seminarist
would be condemned to prison, and in a pressing letter,*
which I tried to make as respectful as possible, I had begged
Baron von Bissing to declare that in case the young student
were condemned, he might undergo the penalty in a Belgian
*Note — This intervention in favor of Abbe Van der Elst took place
on July 4, 1915.

144 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
prison so that he might have help in the pursuit of his
studies." "But what happened then?"
"As if they were anxious to give me proof of wishing
to lacerate my heart, G. Van der Elst was deported to
Germany immediately after his condemnation ; and to a lady
who was weeping and pleading for a delay, saying: 'We
know that the Cardinal of Malines has asked the Governor
General to allow the condemned to do his sentence in St.
Giles prison,' they answered: 'Nonsense; when he is in
Germany he can always be sent back.'
"You see, Baron, that my debt of gratitude is not heavy.
"Only yesterday, I again addressed to the Governor
General an appeal in favor of prisoners awaiting trial,
especially the case of two religious, Fathers Quevit and Van
Nylen, who are here in a dungeon at Malines, treated more
harshly than those who are doing their sentence. I ask
that they be allowed to say mass and to be looked upon only
as accused men. I am curious to see what will be the upshot
of my appeal."
"You are right in drawing my attention to these re
ligious. I will look into your Eminence's appeal on my return
to Brussels." "I thank you."
4. The conversation about the bad treatment meted
out to prisoners awaiting trial had taken a serious turn.
When he came to the fourth point, the Cardinal smiled.
"Baron," said he, "let us go through a little history.
My pastoral letter is dated, if I remember right, the Feast
of St. Matthew, that is to say, September 21st. You will
admit, no doubt, that to arrange it, to have it printed, and
to issue it to the clergy, a whole week was necessary. This
brings us back to the ioth or 12th of September. At that
date, the retreat of your troops had not yet taken place and,
if I am well informed, our allies' offensive had not yet be
gun." *
"But you might have known it was coming."
"No, Baron, I did not know it. You are greatly mis-
• Note — The Anglo-French offensive opened on September 24.

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 145
taken about me. I am only a bishop and not more than a
bishop; I am not in the secrets of our general headquar
ters. "You do not understand me; you judge me falsely. I
hope that till the end I shall have the courage to do my
duty — the whole of my duty as pastor of souls ; but I do not
meddle with military affairs."
"Then your Eminence does not disown your resistance
to the occupying power?"
"What resistance?"
"Notably that which you reveal in your last pastoral."
"Tell me, pray, where in it is resistance to the German
authorities advocated? The Germans are not even once
mentioned there."
"Not mentioned, no. But one can read between the
lines." "Oh! indeed, Baron; I am responsible for what I have
written and signed, not, as you will admit, for what it
pleases you to ascribe to me as the outcome of your sus
picions." "Nevertheless, we find that, taking their sermons as a
whole, the clergy is more and more advocating resistance
and meddling in politics."
"I hav» already asked more than once to be kindly told
who, where, when and how."
"But your letter is itself an incentive to resistance."
"This, Baron, brings us back to our starting point; and
I believe I have proved to you by facts that experience is
against your unfair accusations.
"These words, politics, resistance, are vague; you should
be more precise. If by 'resistance' you mean armed rebel
lion, recourse to violent measures, or inciting others to have
recourse to them, then you are within your rights in for
bidding us to resist; and we assert on our side, that in this
sense we abstain from resistance.
"But if by resistance you understand the assertion of
our rights, recourse to prayer, whether public or private, to
obtain God's protection on our country and for the triumph
of the sacred rights of patriotism — then, Baron, I am

146 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
obliged in conscience to tell you that I will continue to resist
you without flinching."
"But, then?"
"Then? — you can do anything you please."
At these words Baron von der Lancken got up. "I shall
leave," said he, "to make my report to the Governor Gen
eral." Before he went out of the parlor, he turned to the Car
dinal. "I should like also to say a word to you about a con
versation which I have had with Canon Loncin, the diocesan
secretary. "One day a minister of the Imperial Government, pass
ing by Malines, visited the Cathedral and asked if there
were no way of concealing * or rather repairing the huge
hole in the side wall and of making urgent repairs to pre
vent more serious dilapidations. I told M. Loncin that the
German Government was ready to grant a subsidy for this
purpose. I do not know whether M. Loncin told you the
answer he brought me, but I was astounded. He told me
that he did not believe that the 'conseil de fabrique' — I be
lieve that is what you call the commission which deals with
the temporalities of the church — was prepared to accept this
offer. Nevertheless, I assure your Eminence that I had no
afterthought. My intention was solely to manifest my in
terest in a work of art, a cathedral. I might have said to
M. Loncin that if the Belgians did not want a subsidy be
cause it came from German hands, then it is not the Ger
mans who are acting as barbarians."
"Baron," replied the Cardinal, "I am not ignorant of
the gracious offer which you made to my secretary in your
Government's name, and we do not know how to thank
you enough for it. But surely you see that the question of
the restoration of our churches is somewhat premature.
Malines Cathedral has suffered, no doubt, and I know it
better than anybody, since every Sunday I am present at
functions, no longer in the majestic building of yore, but in
* Note — The Baron seemed very concerned at having let escape the
word "conceal," which badly disguised his thoughts.

INTERVIEW WITH VON DER LANCKEN 147
a large hall closed in as a makeshift with boards. But
there are some people who have been more sorely tried than
those of Malines. There are many parishes which have no
longer a church, where worship is performed in an impro
vised hall, in a school, or clubrooms. That is where help is
needed first and foremost."
"Yes; but I do not speak of a new building. I know
well that the subsidy we can offer you would not be suf
ficient for that; but we were thinking of the most urgent
repairs necessary to a monument of art such as is your
Cathedral." "The exact estimate has not been made — it is impos
sible to make it now — as to what the repairs of our metro
politan church would cost; but I am assured that the work
would cost over a million francs; in which case, what do
you expect to do toward it with a few thousand marks?
The work in view is a considerable one which must be done
according to plan and not piecemeal. It would be premature
to set about the work at once.
"M. Loncin must have told you that the 'conseil de
fabrique,' of which I am president in my own right, is made
up of seven members ; and he added, as he told me, that if I
were to vote for the subsidy you have been kind enough to
offer us the other members would vote against it. To be
frank with you, I believe that M. Loncin has spoken the
truth. We Belgians are indeed fastidious; we claim our
rights, but we do not like favors."
The interview ended with this statement, made with a
smile, but in a firm, decided tone.

CHAPTER XVIII
TREATMENT OF RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL IN THE MILI
TARY PRISONS AT MALINES AND AT LOUVAIN
Several religious prosecuted for having abetted recruit
ing for the Belgian army in occupied territory had been, in
consequence of the prisons being full, thrown into mili
tary cells at Malines and Louvain. Kept in the most rigor
ous seclusions; deprived, in spite of Von Bissing's promise,
of the consolation of saying mass, the prioners had to pass
the whole day long in a wretched narrow cell without win
dows and into which air and light could only enter through
chinks left between planks forming the ceiling.
The Cardinal, being informed of this severe treatment,
asked Von Bissing to mitigate in some way this cruel state
of affairs. He interceded on behalf of Fathers Quevit,
O. P., and Van Nylen, S. J., Devroye, S. J., Mertens, S. J.
In each case the Governor General showed himself ready
to meet the Cardinal's appeal. He even went so far as
to answer him by wire that his wishes would be acceded to.
But his good intentions, real or apparent, had no effect.
The Kreischefs of Malines and Louvain, on being re
quested by the Governor General to give him some infor
mation about the religious in question, sent back lying re
ports affirming that the prisoners had made no complaint.
Von Bissing, on the strength of these reports, told the Car
dinal that he had been making groundless complaints and
he even reproached him with being ill-informed of what
went on in the prisons. The Cardinal refused to be dis
comfited. In his letters of November 6th and 12th he re
turned to the charge and proved without doubt that the
Kreischefs reports were inaccurate.
The conditions of the prisoners continued unchanged in
148

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 149
spite of the Cardinal's pressing and repeated endeavors.
On one point alone did he obtain satisfaction. After nego
tiations, which went on for more than three weeks, arrange
ments were made by the German military administration
for priests and religious detained under suspicion to say mass
in prison. Archbishop' s House, Malines,
October 7th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I consider it my duty to call your kind attention to
a state of affairs existing at Malines and about which I
feel sure you have no knowledge.
Two priests, both of them religious, Father Quevit, a
Dominican, and Father Van Nylen, a Jesuit, are being de
tained on suspicion, the latter during the last few days, the
former for seven weeks, in a dungeon of the Malines prison.
They are deprived of holy mass, are condemned to a life of
complete idleness, and altogether pass their days in de
moralizing surroundings.
That needful measures should be taken to prevent the
escape of the prisoners, one can understand ; but surely your;
Excellency does not wish to impose upon them worse pun
ishment than what condemned criminals have to suffer.
I put the situation before your Excellency with confi
dence, and I beg you to accept the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. No. 18495. October 13th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
In reply to your Eminence's esteemed letter dated 7th
instant, I have the honor to inform you that I have given
immediate orders for Father Quevit and Father Van Nylen
to be treated in accordance with their rank. I have, there
fore, arranged for them to be able to say mass during the

i $o CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
time their case is being judicially investigated, also for them
to be treated in all things in a manner becoming their sta
tion and to be given all such freedom as is compatible with
their position as prisoners awaiting trial.
I offer your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and I have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.

Archbishop's House, Malines,
October 15th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I thank your Excellency for the kind feelings shown
in the letter with which you honored me under date 13th
instant. — P. No. 18495.
Since the day on which I intervened with your Excel
lency on behalf of the Rev. Fathers Quevit and Van Nylen,
the former has been condemned to be deported to Germany.
The latter is detained in the Lancers' barracks at Malines
and is being forced, I am assured, to follow the common life
of a prisoner; and that yesterday, Friday, he had not as yet
obtained the authorization which your Excellency was kind.
enough to lead him to expect; that, namely, to say mass.
I have no doubt that your Excellency's instructions in
this respect will be promptly carried out.
Accept, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Governor General's Office, Brussels,
P- 20001. October 30th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
Your Eminence's last letter dated October 15th, 1915,,
greatly astonished me, for it has been proved that my or
ders have been carried out without the least hitch.
The necessary steps were taken immediately for impris
oned priests to say mass. Exceptions to the prison routine

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 151
had already been made previously in favor of ecclesiastics,
in the sense that they were treated in a way worthy of their
rank; quite a number of exceptional permissions had already
been granted them. The priests we are speaking of have
never made a request nor offered any complaint, but to
the questions put them they replied that they desired noth
ing. Your Eminence must have received information of an
altogether false character to think yourself justified in re
proaching me for the manner in which ecclesiastics are being
treated. I inclose with my letter a copy of a report which
the Kreischef of Malines made in obedience to my order;
your Eminence will find therein a proof of my contention.
I beg your Eminence to confirm my statement that you
have been misinformed regarding the treatment hitherto
meted out to ecclesiastics.
I offer your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and I have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
COPY
The Imperial Kreischef, Brussels,
Tgb. No. 97. October 27th, 19 15.
To the Military Government of Antwerp.
In reply to the order received by telephone today, fol
lowing on the telephonic order of the 19th instant and
the written order of the nth instant, relative to the manner
in which ecclesiastics awaiting trial a're treated, I make the
following declaration:
Among those incarcerated at the Malines prison, there
were to be found on the ioth of this month two ecclesias
tics, Fathers Quevit and Van Nylen. Father Quevit, sen
tenced to two and one-half years' penal servitude for at
tempted military treason, was, following on the order of the
nth inst, which I have mentioned above, deported to Ger
many. Father Van Nylen, who is likewise under strong
suspicion of military treason and who is still for the present
detained on suspicion under guard of the military police, has

152 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
had during his sojourn here a room to himself. He is
treated with all the deference due to his rank; every possible
facility — long walks, permission to write, to receive and pay
visits, good food, etc. — has been given him. The facts have
been corroborated by the Kreisant and the military police.
.We have always tried to avoid bringing ecclesiastics into
contact with common prisoners. At the Lancers' barracks
there are practically none but political prisoners; they are
watched only to prevent their communication with one an
other. Thus Father Van Nylen, in reply to all the questions
put him by the head of the police as to any complaints he
might have to make, has always declared that he desired
nothing more than what he already had.
He has never made any request to say mass, nor has
Father Quevit during the whole of his stay ever manifested
this desire. The Father Provincial and prior of all the
Dominican monasteries in Belgium in the course of his
numerous visits to the police station has never mentioned the
matter. That is the reason why no steps have ever been taken to
fit up a room for the celebration of holy mass.
The execution of the order of October nth, 1915, was
fraught with certain difficulties, for we had no suitable or
appropriate place at our disposal. We had also to meet
the difficulty of surveillance. We had to take into account
the scarcity of guards and the fact also that five prisoners
had already succeeded in escaping from the barracks.
After frequent negotiations with the Catholic chaplain
Gierlichs, a room possessing all the requirements for a
chapel has been fitted up at the Lancers' barracks. We have
considered the requests made me by the chaplain during
a conversation I had with him; we have obtained for him
thirty chairs, four benches, a chandelier and a big stove.
For the time being, the question of servers at mass is
still in suspense. The priest wanted to have as server a
prisoner who is detained on suspicion after trying to pass
the frontier. For easily understood reasons, this permis-

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 153
sion cannot be granted. A Catholic soldier has been ap
pointed to fulfill this office. The Kreischef.
(Signed) Jochmus, Colonel.
The report of the Kreischef is full of inaccuracies and
errors. Father Van Nylen, he says, had a room all to him
self : that is to say, he was lodged in a filthy military dun
geon like all the others. At broad noon one could not see
inside of it; the only light there was came in through crev
ices in the iron beams supporting the ceiling.
The prisoners' walks took place in a little back yard
fifteen yards in length. They lasted at first half an hour,
later on an hour. When the time for a walk came the
father had to repair to the yard, no matter what the weather
might be.
He never asked to say mass, affirms the report. That
is false. At the German chaplain's first visit, Father Van
Nylen put his painful case before him, insisting especially
on his privation of holy mass. The chaplain went to the
Kommandantur; but there he was told that they could not
grant imprisoned priests facilities for saying mass. Only
after three weeks, following a visit from the Governor Gen
eral's chaplain, did Father Van Nylen receive the much-
desired permission.
One day the Kreischef himself went to the prisoner's cell
and asked if he had any complaints to make. The father
told him that it was against all law to keep any one in
prison on suspicion for three months in a dungeon where
only young soldiers were confined and that for only a few
days. The only answer he had was the Kreischefs asser
tion that it was Belgians who had built this dungeon and that
there were no other places at his disposal.
The Kreischef excels in audacity when he asserts in his
report that Father Van Nylen "has always declared that
he desired nothing more than what he already had."
The Cardinal, in his letter of November 6th, puts
things in their true perspective and cleared himself of von

154 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Bissing's allegation that he was misinformed regarding what
took place in the prisons alluded to.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 6th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — On November ist I received the letter P. 20001
with which your Excellency honored me dated October 30th.
In it you express the opinion that the information contained
in my letters of October 7th and 16th about the conditions
under which Fathers Quevit and Van Nylen are imprisoned
is without foundation.
I cannot do better than put the facts before your Excel
lency and give you the precise dates. Then you yourself
will see that it is the unvarnished truth.
My first letter is dated October 7th. In it I told your
Excellency that Fathers Quevit and Van Nylen, though
merely under suspicion, were being kept in a dungeon. I
asked for a mitigation of their lot and facilities for saying
mass. Very kindly on October 13th your Excellency wrote to
me that as the result of orders given immediately by you,
the priests' accommodation would without delay be altered
to suit their dignity and that steps would be taken to enable
them to say mass so long as the judicial investigation of
their case lasted.
I had all the more reason to hope that the two religious
would not have to wait long before enjoying the improve
ment asked for, because, on the occasion of a visit he paid
me on October 8th, the Baron von der Lancken seemed dis
posed to second my request to your Excellency.
This is what actually took place: On Saturday, Oc
tober 9th, in any case, so I am assured, certainly before
October 13th, Father Quevit was taken out of his dungeon
to be tried, was found guilty and immediately deported
to Germany. Therefore, neither did he know anything
about a mitigation of his sentence nor had he the satisfaction
of saying mass.

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 155
As regards Father Van Nylen, after having been shut
up on July 31st in a dungeon at the barracks in Louvain
and then transferred to the jail of the same town, he was
imprisoned in a dungeon at the Lancers' barracks in Malines
on October 2d. On October 26th he was still there and
had not as yet obtained leave to say mass.
It was only on Monday the 25th that the provincial mili
tary chaplain, Father Gierlichs, came to me with the news
that leave was going to be given to Father Van Nylen to
say mass, but that the requisites for this purpose did not
exist at the barracks. Immediately a secretary from the
Archbishop's House, Canon Van Olmen, was commissioned
to procure all the necessary requisites; a building was pre
pared on the 26th and on the 27th the father had the
consolation of saying his first mass in prison. Since the
27th your Excellency's orders concerning the celebration of
mass have been carried out.
Relying on a report dated October 27th of the Kreis
chef M. Jochmus, your Excellency reproaches me with
having complained without reason of the treatment meted
out to religious detained in prison. Your Excellency ex
presses yourself as follows : "Your Eminence must there
fore have been quite misinformed when you think it right
to reproach me with the way in which the clergy is ,being
treated." Nevertheless, truth compels me to uphold the correct
ness of my communications.
I have questioned several witnesses whose good faith is
beyond all cavil, who have themselves gone through life in
the dungeon here or have been allowed to enter one on the
occasion of a visit to the prisoners.
This is substantially what they declare: The room
which the prisoners are shut up in is very narrow and badly
ventilated; there is neither table nor chair to be found in it;
in general, there is not the cleanliness there should be ; there
is hardly any light; a witness who occupied the cell in the
middle of summer asserts that then he could hardly read
between 10 a. m. and 2 p. m. ; Father Van Nylen has, dur
ing the few weeks of his detention, used as a makeshift at

156 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
least two dozen candles. Under these circumstances the
prisoners find themselves condemned to a sort of stagna
tion, to enforced idleness and to an oppressive boredom;
and from 3 or 4 p. m. till the next morning they remain per
force reclining on a mattress, if a friend has been good
enough to supply them with one, otherwise on a bed of
straw. Every one must admit that such a regime is demor
alizing. And when one considers that several of those who are
enduring for weeks or even for months at a time these
mental tortures and these privations have not been tried
and have not been declared guilty, but are merely awaiting
trial; when one knows that the accusations brought against
them relate to acts which the Government no doubt has a
strict right to prevent, but which are none the less required
by a patriotism which calls for respect, one cannot help
thinking that your Excellency must be ignorant of the abuses
which are committed under cover of your authority; and
one cannot give up hoping that, when better informed, you
will no longer tolerate such things.
It is possible that Father Van Nylen's fate will soon
be decided. But, if I have intervened in the case of two
religious who had a special claim to my protection, never
theless I should like your Excellency to extend your benev
olence to all prisoners not yet found guilty.
Please accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Hardly had the preceding letter been dispatched when
the Cardinal learned of the arrest of Fathers Devroye and
Mertens, S. J. He immediately intervened on their behalf
to obtain favorable conditions for their internment.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 7th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — At the risk of importuning your Excellency, I find
myself obliged to supplement my letter of yesterday. I

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 157
have just had news of the condemnation of the Rev. Father
Van Nylen and also of the internment of Father Devroye
in a dungeon at Malines barracks. This excellent man,
Father Devroye, is a friend and cousin of mine. It is pain
ful for me to think that he had to pass Saturday night last
on straw in an unhealthy cell such as I described to your
Excellency yesterday.
I learn on good authority that Father Mertens, of Brus
sels, has been put into a cell at Louvain under the same
conditions. Again I appeal to your Excellency's humane and just
feelings. Father Devroye suffers from very poor health ; I beg of
your Excellency to send a doctor to him as soon as possible
to examine him. He could not bear up long under the
treatment he is undergoing.
Accept, your Excellency, the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Two days after, von Bissing sent the Cardinal from his
residence at Trois Fontaines the following telegram :
Trois Fontaines,
November gth, 19 15.
Cardinal Mercier, Malines.
In accordance with your Eminence's wish, I have given
orders by telephone for an improvement to be carried out
in the treatment of the imprisoned priests referred to in
your letter. The Governor General.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
The Cardinal hastened to thank von Bissing for the
kindness shown by him to the religious in prison awaiting
trial :

158 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November ioth, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — Your Excellency has been kind enough to assure
me by wire last night that religious imprisoned under sus
picion would for the future have better accommodations.
I am very grateful to you for this assurance, and I take
the liberty to insist that all suspected prisoners should be
treated with the same fairness.
This very evening the news has reached me that a
civilian prisoner in poor health, M. Wasnair, whom I had
the honor to recommend to your Excellency, has been re
stored to his family.
For this I am grateful to your Excellency, and beg
you to accept the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General forwarded to his Eminence a
copy of the Kreischef of Malines's report on the conditions
of Father Devroye's internment.
Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
November ioth, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
As a sequel to my wire of yesterday, I have the honor
to inclose herewith the copy of a report from the Kreischef
of Malines and a bulletin of the army medical service about
Father Devroye, who is detained under suspicion in the
prison of this town. From these documents it is clear
that the priest interested has no ground of complaint against
the treatment to which he is subjected, that he is well and
quite capable of undergoing the prison regime.
About Father Mertens, imprisoned at Louvain, notice
has been given me through the telephone that he was in
the same condition as Father Devroye. I have not yet re
ceived the written report. I intend to pass it on to you
immediately when I receive it.

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 159
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and have the honor to be your very devoted ser
vant. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
Copy of the Kreischefs report inclosed with the preced
ing letter : Kreischefs Office, Malines,
No. 7049 77. November ioth, 1915.
To the General Government of Belgium, Brussels.
In execution of the order communicated to me by tele
phone on November 9th, 19 15, I forward herewith a medi
cal report on the state of health of Father Devroye interned
in the military prison at Malines.
At the time the doctor was drawing up his report, an
officer of the "Kreisamt" visited the cell in which Father
Devroye was lodged.
The cell is 3.20 meters long, 1.95 meters broad and 4
meters high. The walls are whitewashed with lime. Father
Devroye is not obliged to sleep, as has been said, on straw
placed immediately on the floor, but he has at his disposal
a camp bedstead furnished with a straw mattress. He has
only slept one night on this mattress. The day following
his arrival at the prison, the 7th instant, he received a hair
mattress which he uses still. A sufficient number of clean
woolen blankets have been given him, as is proved by the
fact that he has sent one back.
The warming of the cell is secured by a stove placed
in the corridor of the prison. At the time of the visit to the
prisoner the temperature there was sufficient. A warmer
cell nearer to the stove was offered to Father Devroye.
He refused it, saying that his was sufficiently heated. The
lighting at night comes from a lamp attached to the wall.
The inquiry has proved that Father Devroye is treated
with the deference due to his rank. The head of the local
military police asked him whether there was anything he
wanted done. The father answered that he was content,

160 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
had no complaints to make about the food and was satisfied
with his state of health. That his health is excellent is
proved by the fact that during his interview with the Car
dinal he remained standing for three-quarters of an hour
before an open window, and on a remark being made about
this, he said he was well and had no need for a scarf.
I would also remark that the prison where those de
tained on suspicion are confined formerly served as a jail for
Belgian soldiers. The fitting up of the cells dates only a
few years back. It answers to all hygienic requirements.
(Signed) Jochmus,
Colonel and Kreischef.
The medical bulletin signed by Doctor Groos affirmed
that Father Devroye was in good health and capable of
enduring prison life.
This report of the Kreischefs is just as inaccurate as
that which the Governor General sent previously about the
conditions under which Father Van Nylen was interned.
The Cardinal was authorized to visit Father Devroye.
They were ashamed to take him to the prisoner's cell, as
had nevertheless been done a few days previously for Father
Thibaut, provincial of the Society of Jesus. The interview
took place in a hall of the barracks which served as a
chapel. Father Devroye did not remain standing for three-
quarters of«an hour before an open window, as the Kreischef
asserted; but the prisoner and his visitor sat on a common
bench without a back which happened to be near at hand.
Far from refusing a scarf, Father Devroye accepted
eagerly everything that could protect him from the cold,
for the fire in the corridor only served to warm the sentry.
It is ironical to say that the father sent back a blanket
because he had too many. The Kreischef, no doubt, means
the filthy rag which the father was obliged to make the best
of for the first night and which was replaced subsequently
with blankets sent to him from the residency.
As regards the lamp, it never existed save in the imagina
tion of the Kreischef. Father Devroye had to find the light
himself with a few candles he had managed to procure.

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 161
The walls of the cell, says the report, were whitewashed
with lime. It would have been more exact to say that they
"had been whitewashed with lime," for the white color was
entirely hidden by dust and spiders' webs.
The Cardinal, in acknowledging the report, set it down
at its true value: Archbishop' s House, Malines,
November 12th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — Yesterday afternoon I received the letter dated
November ioth in which your Excellency tries to reassure
me about the health of Father Devroye and the conditions
under which he is imprisoned.
The Kreischef Jochmus's report, inclosed with your Ex
cellency's letter, contains several points which call for re
mark. I noted at the first time of reading certain inac
curacies on which I have on other occasions passed com
ment. Would your Excellency like a specimen?
It is said that during our interview, lasting three-quar
ters of an hour, which your Excellency was kind enough to
grant me with Father Devroye, the latter was standing in
front of an open window: "dass er bei mit dem Kardinal
gefuehrten Unterredung ^ Std. lang am offenen Fenster
gestanden hat" (during his interview with the Cardinal, he
remained standing for three-quarters hour before an open
window) .
In this case, at all events, I can speak from personal
knowledge. During that three-quarters of an hour Father
Devroye was seated on my left in a closed room.
Father Van Duerm, who accompanied me on this visit,
is ready to confirm my statement.
The room where we held our meeting was that in which
the father had been able to say mass that morning. The
windows of this room look on to a public square, and we
were able as we went in and out to perceive five or six sol
diers conversing together.

162 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Is it for a moment to be admitted that in an intimate
conversation with a relative and a friend we should have
exchanged confidences near an open window within earshot
of an undiscerning and profane audience?
I thank your Excellency for the relaxation you have
granted in the treatment of Fathers Devroye and Mertens
and beg you to accept the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
After the condemnation of Fathers Devroye and Van
Nylen, von Bissing told his Eminence that he could not
make use of his right of reprieve in the case of Father
Van Nylen, but that he granted to Father Devroye a partial
reprieve : Governor General's Office, Brussels,
Hlb. T. L. No. 7465. November 13th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
As regards the sentences passed in due legal manner on
Father Rector Devroye and Father Van Nylen, I have the
honor to communicate the following:
Father Devroye has been sentenced in the first place to
a year's imprisonment for having abetted the escape from
Belgium, without the necessary authorization, of a young
Belgian, George Wahis, aged seventeen, and, secondly, to
three months' imprisonment for having, as director of an
educational establishment, organized in his classes during
the occupation anti-German propaganda. Considering, how
ever, that in the Wahis affair the accusation was grounded
on the assertions of a young man, and that the latter, in
the course of the various judicial examinations he had to
undergo, made statements somewhat vague and of a contra
dictory character, and that in consequence the guilt of Father
Devroye cannot be proved with any certitude, I agree on
this ground to remit the penalty to which the accused has
been sentenced. On the other hand, it has been proved be
yond doubt that Father Devroye organized in the educa
tional establishment confided to his care anti-German propa-

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 163
ganda.* Similar acts within the reach of a professor who
can exercise influence over youths appear to me altogether
of a nature to favor the spread of views which, in the inter
ests of the defense of the realm, cannot be tolerated in
occupied territory. To my great regret, I cannot alter the
penalty inflicted on Father Devroye under this head.
Again, as regards Father Van Nylen, the facts of which
he is accused were fully established during the trial and his
guilt proved to a certainty. I am sorry not to have been
able up to now to make use of my right of granting him
a reprieve. Your devoted servant,
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General and Governor General.
The Cardinal thanked von Bissing as follows :
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 17 th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The letter with which your Excellency has honored
me dated November 13th brings me the news that Father
Devroye has been granted a partial reprieve. I am glad
of this good news and am deeply grateful to your Excel
lency for it.
At the end of your letter, your Excellency says that
you have not as yet been able to make use of your preroga
tive in favor of Father Van Nylen. The remark "not as
yet" leaves room for hope.
Please accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Cardinal had already intervened in favor of Father
Mertens, S; J., arrested on the charge of having abetted
* Note — The pretext for bringing this accusation against Fr. Devroye
was that the German detectives, during their official visit of the premises
of St. Michael's College, came upon some exercises done by the pupils,
which they had illustrated with French and English flags.

1 64 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Belgians of military age in passing the frontier. Von Biss
ing, according to the promise he made in his letter of
November ioth, communicated to his Eminence the report
of Luebbert, Kreischef of Louvain, on the conditions of the
said prisoner's internment:
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. N. 21726. November 24th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor to send your Eminence herewith a copy
of the Kreischef of Louvain's report regarding the condi
tion of Father Mertens's internment, who is detained on
suspicion in the prison of this town. I am also sending
you under the same cover a copy of the result of a medical
examination of his state of health.
At the same time, I take the liberty of informing you
that I have drawn up the scheme of an order whose pur
pose is to secure for priests detained on suspicion conditions
consonant with their rank. Nevertheless, I would observe
that in small places we often lack for prisoners awaiting
trial such suitable quarters as I certainly desire and as I shall
do my best to secure.
I should be exceedingly glad if in future I were spared
the duty of having to arrest priests on the charge of hav
ing infringed existing laws and my decrees.
I offer your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
Copy of the Kreischef of Louvain's report inclosed with
the preceding letter : NOTICE Kreisamt of Louvain,
Louvain, 9th November, 191 5.
The priest Mertens has been arrested at the request of
the criminal police and is detained on suspicion since the

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 165
3rd instant in a dungeon at the infantry barracks. He is
under grave suspicion of having obtained recruits for the
enemy army among Belgians of military age.
He is lodged in a cell that no one can complain of. He
has a woolen mattress, blankets and a pillow. He enjoys
all the liberty allowed prisoners awaiting trial. He has
leave to order his own meals, to read and to write ; he may
walk in the yard for an hour in the morning and an hour
in the afternoon; his cell is lighted, and he has a table
and a chair at his disposal.
To my question whether he had any complaints to make
or whether he was ill, he answered me "No." He has never
complained of ill-usage.
The medical certificate regarding Father Mertens's state
of health is inclosed with this letter.
(Signed) Luebbert,
Colonel and Kreischef.
The medical certificate testified that Father Mertens's
health was good enough to allow him to undergo prison
regime. The report signed by the Kreischef from the point of
view of inaccuracy yields in nothing to the report addressed
to the Governor General by the Kreischef of Malines and
which we have treated of above.
The cell, "which no one could complain of," as Father
Mertens tells us, was in reality a dungeon reserved for
drunkards and insubordinate soldiers. A Belgian soldier
could not lodge there for more than three days without
special permission from superior authority. Father Mer
tens stayed there thirty days. The dungeon had become a
veritable dog-hole. It reeked with a nauseous smell, and
the floor was so dirty that it was impossible to make out
the color of the flags. No means of heating; no windows,
not even bull's-eyes. The air and light only penetrated this
hovel through cracks in the ceilings made of iron beams.
The so-called woolen mattress was a finger's breadth in
thickness and as hard as the plank on which it rested. For
covering a filthy, stained rag; for pillow a beam. For

1 66 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
nourishment the prisoner received three times a day some
bad bread and a kind of black broth as little appetizing as
possible. Luebbert, the Kreischef, paid a visit to Father Mer
tens. He was indignant at the way the prisoner was treated,
saying that it was not right to subject a priest to so humiliat
ing a regime. He allowed a pillow to be brought him, a
traveling rug and to receive regularly the food supplied by
the College of Louvain. Luebbert always showed himself
well disposed toward Father Mertens. He was, more
over, according to all the Belgians who had any dealings
with him, a just and a loyal man. For this reason Father
Mertens thinks that the report addressed to the Governor
General was drawn up by the police and that the Kreischef
must have signed it without even taking the trouble to read
it. The Cardinal, always hoping that the good intentions
which von Bissing seemed to show would end by having
some good effect, thanked him for the steps he had taken
to better the treatment of priests detained in prison:
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
November 28th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge your Excellency's
letter No. 21726 concerning Father Mertens's detention.
I am particularly obliged to your Excellency for the
arrangements you have ordered to be made so that ecclesias
tics imprisoned under suspicion may receive the treatment
due to their dignity. May I express the wish that all per
sons under suspicion, lay as well as ecclesiastic, should reap
the benefit of your good will? From the judicial stand
point, indeed, the situation is exactly the same. They have
not been found guilty and therefore should not be treated
as such. Accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

RELIGIOUS AWAITING TRIAL 167
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December gth, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I thank your Excellency with all my heart for the
promise you made me in your letter of December 4th — No.
22489* — that in future imprisoned priests either awaiting
their trial or actually interned shall be treated as becomes
their dignity.
If I have pressed your Excellency to obtain for laymen
also during the period of investigation prior to their trial
the benefit of a milder regime, it is not because I want to
enter upon a discussion of this matter with your Excellency,
but simply for the reason that equity and charity urge me
to make an appeal to the prerogative, which I should like
to share with your Excellency, of being able to alleviate
my brethren's sufferings.
Accept, my dear Governor General, the expression of
my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
•NOTE — This letter was never found.

CHAPTER XIX
SERMONS preached by the clergy
In his interview with the Cardinal concerning the pas
toral "An Appeal to Prayer," Baron von der Lancken had
already complained in the Governor General's name of the
abuse which, according to him, priests made of the liberty
of speech granted them. The Cardinal having asked for
precise details, the Baron answered that he did not wish
to bring about a discussion on this subject, as he had not
brought with him the documents in possession of the General
Government incriminating a number of priests.
Time and again Von Bissing returned to this subject.
Setting aside the generalities to which he had confined him
self hitherto, he accused by name certain priests of giving
vent in their sermons to strong feelings of a political char
acter : Governor General's Office, Brussels,
November 6th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.*
In consequence of verbal representations made recently
by the head of the political department, I take the liberty
to point out to your Eminence that priests continue, when
preaching, to abuse the liberty given them as ministers of
worship. Among the numerous cases which have been
brought to my notice I will only put forward the follow
ing: At the Lourdes grotto, at Laeken, preachers are con
tinually uttering political manifestoes. On October 14th
•Note — The original of this letter has not been found. There only exists
one translation of it in the archives of the Archbishop's house.
168

SERMONS BY THE CLERGY 169
one of them went so far as to touch openly and directly
on the recruiting of the Belgian army. His words must
have been understood by young Belgians as an invitation
to disobey my orders, about the sense of which there could
be no doubt. The preacher gave it out as certain that 12
per cent only of the Brussels people fit for military service
had rejoined the army, while 80 per cent of the province
had passed over the frontier and had enlisted. The preacher
knew what he was doing, for he knew of young people who
had been punished for violating my decrees.
As I have declared several times to your Eminence, I
think that the guilt of these priests deserves some extenua
tion from the fact that they feel themselves encouraged
by the formal or tacit consent of their ecclesiastical superiors.
Nevertheless, I shall be forced to make the preacher of the
Laeken sermon responsible if a stop is not put to those
inconsiderate proceedings in some other way. Consequently,
I beg your Eminence to let me know whether I may count
on some disciplinary measure being taken by ecclesiastical
authority. I believe I have this right. I have waived my
claim to exact from each member of the clergy a declaration
of loyalty, confiding as I did in the pledge given by your
Eminence and on your guaranteeing the peaceful attitude of
the clergy.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
His Eminence replied to the Governor General's remon
strances in his letter of November 27th.
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. I. 9529. November ioth, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
Your Eminence will not be surprised if I raise a violent
protest against the sermon which the Rev. Cardyn preached
at Brussels in St. Gudule on the occasion of the service for

170 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Belgian soldiers killed in the war. In the Flemish text
especially, this sermon shows an abuse of the liberty granted
to the ministers of worship.
As your Eminence assisted at this service, I can dispense
myself from giving precise details about the matter of this
sermon; but I must nevertheless express my surprise that
such language was used in your presence. I venture to
hope that the preacher Cardyn will have to give an account
of his action to the ecclesiastical authorities and that a
guarantee will be given me that such an abuse will not be
repeated. I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Major General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 12th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General
of Belgium.
Sir — Your Excellency's dispatch, dated November ioth,
No. 9529, was delivered to me yesterday and I hasten to
send you an acknowledgment of it.
It is no longer possible for me to send for the Abbe
Cardyn at the Archbishop^s House before I leave for
Rome,* but I will ask my administrator to act as an inter
preter of my wishes in this regard, and on my return to
Belgium I shall deem it my duty to give him detailed in
structions. Accept, your Excellency, the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed)1 D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
* Note — The Cardinal meant to go a few days later to Rome whither
he had just been called by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XV. But when
he discovered that the passport given him by the German authorities said
nothing about his return, he put off his journey and before answering the
call of the Holy Father he desired to secure guaranties that would allow
him to return to Belgium with as much ease as he had been allowed to leave
it. He did not start for Rome till January 12, 1916.

SERMONS BY THE CLERGY 171
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 27th, 1915.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I have just this moment received your Excellency's
dispatch, No. 9742, dated November 24th, and I hasten to
answer it.*
I have made inquiries about the sermon preached at the
Lourdes Grotto at Jette St. Pierre on October 14th. The
preacher inveighed against the frivolous spirit which draws
to the cinema and worldly pleasures young men whose right
place was elsewhere, viz., at the service of their country.
He did, in fact, at this part of his sermon give some statis
tics. He said that at the time of the enrollment of volun
teers in our army 1 2 per cent of the young men of Brussels
had enlisted, while there were 80 per cent who came from
the country. The very precision of the figures shows that
the orator had in view the enrollment of young men before
the German occupation, for on what source would he have
relied for giving figures of recruiting at the present time ?
I will look into the case of the Rev. Mr. Swalus, al
though the accusation brought against him by your Excel
lency is exceedingly vague; also the case of the Rev. Wit
temberg. But I am now in a position to assert that the Vicaire
Mussche did not preach in the church in the Chaussee de
Waterloo on October 24th and that there is no such priest
as Carpentier attached to that church.
Accept, dear Governor General, the assurance of my sin
cere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

•Note— This dispatch has not been found. As can be gathered from
the Cardinal's letter of December 3rd, the Governor General came back
on the complaints which he had already stated in his dispatches of Novem
ber 6th and ioth and brought up fresh accusations against the Reverends
Swalus, Carpentier, Mussche and Wittemberg.

172 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December 3rd, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I am now in a position to complete the information
I had the honor of addressing your Excellency on November
27th in answer to your letter, No. 9742, dated November
24th. In that letter your Excellency mentioned the sermons
preached on October 14th by the Rev. Swalus at Laeken
(Jette St. Pierre), and by the Rev. Cardyn at Ste. Gudule
on November 8th. You there censured the sermons
preached October 31st by the Cure Swalus at Laeken and
October 24th by the Revs. Carpentier and Mussche in the
Church of Ste. Alice at Schaerbeek.
The explanations I had the honor to give your Excel
lency in my letter of November 27th regarding the sermon
of October 24th ought to have satisfied your Excellency;
this same letter put the case of the Revs. Carpentier and
Mussche out of question, as they did not preach on October
24th. There remain the cases of the Rev. Swalus (October
31st), the Rev. Cardyn (November 8th) and the Rev. Wit
temberg. The Cure Swalus, whom I questioned yesterday at
Brussels, tells me that he has been summoned several times
to the Kommandantur during the last few days and that
he has in vain demanded to be brought face to face with
his accusers. He wished the grievances articled against him
to be drawn up in detail, in order that he might give a
straightforward explanation. He was answered that his
accusers are no longer here. In reality, it was not he, but
Pere Melet who preached on October 31st in the Church of
the Chaussee de Waterloo. As a matter of fact, the Rev.
Father's sermon had for its sole subject a theme which was
as far removed as it could be from our earthly conflicts, viz.,
"The Beatific Vision." Not one word passed the lips of
the Rev. Father which could give offense to the most sus
ceptible of his hearers. As a guarantee of this statement

SERMONS BY THE CLERGY 173
I have several witnesses altogether worthy of belief, who
were present at the sermon and were capable of thoroughly
understanding it.
It is less easy to answer the scruples of your Excel
lency about the preaching of the Revs. Cardyn and Wittem
berg, because neither your dispatch of the 6th nor that of
the 24th brings forward any definite complaint.
The dispatch of November 4th says that some Catholics,
offended in their religious sentiments by a sermon of the
Vicaire Wittemberg at Ste. Alice, left the church before the
end of the sermon. I had an opportunity of seeing Mr.
Wittemberg but was unable to get at the bottom of the mat
ter for want of anything definite which the German au
thorities think they can bring against him. If these Cath
olics hesitate, which I can understand, to tell a lay power
what it was that troubled their conscience, would they be
unwilling to come forward and confide it to their bishop ?
They know that they have no reprisals to fear on our
part and that we have no interest in abusing their confi
dence. As regards the sermon of November 8th at Ste. Gudule,
I believe I can put my finger on what gave your Excellency
cause for anxiety. A German of high standing said to a
trustworthy person, who repeated it to me, that the Abbe
Cardyn had compared Germany to a prostitute. As a mat
ter of fact, this person was led into error by a spy who
heard the word "prostitution," and applied it in a distorted
sense. I heard the preacher myself. He denounced a few
wretched wights who, instead of joining in the general
mourning of the country, unmindful of their brothers, father
or husband fighting for them, hand themselves over shame
fully to the enemy.
I do not wish to end this letter without thanking your
Excellency for being so good as to accede to my desire, ex
pressed at sundry times, of seeing myself intrusted with
the control of priests suspected of having lacked in respect
for the dignity of their ministry.

174 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Accept, dear Governor General, the expression of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December nth, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I do not know whether your Excellency thinks your
letter No. 10182 still requires an answer from me.*
As far as I am concerned, I have only one word to add,
by way of conclusion, to my preceding letters.
Your Excellency has written me that I have passed over
in silence the Abbe Cardyn's sermon at Ste. Gudule. If your
Excellency will take the trouble to reread my last letter, you
will discover your error. The only objection which the Ger
man authorities have, to my knowledge, brought forward
against this sermon is grounded on an equivocation which I
have laid bare.
I have summoned the priests whose names were men
tioned in your Excellency's letter; I have listened to their
versions, and I have let them know what my views were,
and consequently what their own views must be about their
ministry. I pledge myself, therefore, for the correctness
of their behavior: "Burgschaft fur korrektes Verhalten der
Geistlichkeit" (Surely guarantee for the behavior of the
clergy) .
Your Excellency can rest assured that the clergy is not
inciting the people to sedition. One year's experience must
have convinced you that not one of the ugly prophecies put
forward so often by those round you has been realized.
Since the time our provinces have been occupied is there a
single Belgian who has played a low trick on a German
soldier? Belgian folk are steadfast, but self-respecting in their
patriotism, and the Belgian clergy is no stranger to this calm
and noble attitude.
* This letter has not been found.

SERMONS BY THE CLERGY 175
Accept, dear Governor General, the expression of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. I. No. 10637. December 15th, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
Your Eminence's esteemed letter of December 3rd
crossed that which I sent you the following day. I have
duly received your correspondence of the nth. I have no
intention to enter into detailed discussions of the sermons
censured, though, e. g., in the summing up of Cardyn's case
I cannot altogether see eye to eye with your Eminence. I
insist above all on putting an end to all future abuses of
liberty of worship.
It was a pleasure to me to hear that your Eminence sent
instructions in this sense to certain ecclesiastics and that you
pledge your word anew for the behavior of all the clergy.
I rejoice thereat and hope that in this way priests will for,
the future confine themselves within the bounds of their
religious mission, without my having to take steps, which,
in the interest of the Church, I would rather avoid.
At the same time, I deem it my duty to make some
observations on some of the propositions which have es
caped your Eminence. I cannot share your way of think
ing when you assert that the behavior adopted hitherto by
the clergy during the occupation is not fraught with any
danger. If during the year that has elapsed we have had
no trouble to deplore, that does not mean that I must not be
very wary about the future.
I am answerable for the tranquillity of the country and
to uphold it I have at my disposal measures adapted to
meet all emergencies. But I count especially on preventive
measures. I wish to avoid new trials for the population,
which might be caused by the passion or foolishness
of a few. As matters stand, provocative sermons
are having an evil influence, for they are awakening among

176 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
their hearers consequences outside the churches, especially
in times of military and political stress, as was the case
about the time of last Michaelmas. This opinion, which
I have held from the beginning of my entry into office, is
shared by a number of witnesses to whom your Eminence
can hardly take exception. The excerpts from a Brussels
newspaper, the "Vingtieme Siecle," which I inclose with my
letter show clearly that even prudent addresses by preachers
can be understood by the faithful as incitements to effective
revolt. Such manifestoes, were they tolerated, would by
the very nature of things end by creating little by little
a permanent danger.
From another point of view, also, these sermons which
I cannot tolerate exercise a more inciting influence than
your Eminence appears to think.
The people believe that these verbal excesses issuing
from the eminence of the pulpit have the sanction of eccle
siastical authority behind them.
Thus Catholics who have in my offices expressed their
disapproval of the theme of several sermons have said
explicitly that they did not expect that, after your Eminence's
pastoral letter, there would be any intervention on the part
of ecclesiastical authorities.
In the report quoted from the "Vingtieme Siecle" the
same thought comes to the surface. The pastoral letter of
last Christmas appears to embody a program and to act as
an encouragement to the faint-hearted. I venture to think
that this straightforward language has cleared up the situa
tion, and I have a right to hope that the country which I
have administered since the time of the war and on which
I have not ceased to bestow my utmost care will enjoy tran
quillity for its own greater advantage.
Accept, your Eminence, the wishes of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
The following extracts of a correspondence from Brus
sels in the "Vingtieme Siecle" of December 2d, 19 15, were
inclosed with the preceding letter :

SERMONS BY THE CLERGY 177
How the Belgian people gave expression to their re
ligious feelings.
IMPRESSIVE DEMONSTRATIONS IN THE CHURCHES
For the house of God is the only place where one is still
allowed to publicly proclaim the ardor of one's feelings as
a citizen, where the national colors float freely, exposed to
every eye, where resound, sustained by the peals of the
organ, the hymns dear to our patriotic hearts, where from
the pulpit words — noble and manly — are heard, by which
our energies are fed and nourished.
The Belgian clergy, regular and secular, is equal to its
task in these days of public mourning. The example given
to them by the head of the episcopate and the program he
has drawn up for them in the famous pastoral letter have
stimulated the zeal of the most faint-hearted.
THE PATRIOTIC APOSTOLATE OF PREACHERS
. . . There are times . . . when the public, spell
bound and electrified by the proud words emanating
from the pulpit, feels an irresistible desire to give full vent
to the surging emotions by which they are agitated. They
forget the majesty of the place and abandon themselves to
the joy of breaking forth into raptures of delight.
On the evening of All Souls' Day in a Brussels church,
where hundreds of spectators were squatting even on the
steps of the altar, the advertised preacher, who wore the
gown of the disciples of St. Dominic, gave out to his audi
ence, with a bluntness excusable under the circumstances,
that they must restrain themselves from any demonstra
tion out of place in such a spot. . . . The orator had taken
as a theme for his sermon, "Patriotism." He spoke of the
war, the country, its glories past, present and future, with an
enthusiasm and an earnestness calculated to send a thrill
through every one. His language was quivering, clear and
inflamed. One felt that he was inspired with an ardent
Note— The passages printed in italic type were underlined by von
Bissing.

178 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
conviction which he was desirous of sharing with others.
His eloquence set forth in bold relief the heroic deeds he
called to mind, as well as memories from the past, put to
gether in such a way as to make a picture which epitomized
these events in a striking manner. Moreover, his language
was so bold that his audience, panting for breath, was really
intoxicated by hearing him express with a freedom scorn
ful of possible reprisals, ideas and sentiments wlufih har
monized so well with theirs.
Such harangues have a salutary effect on the crowd. We
are comforted, braced up, electrified. If after that the
national anthem, "Vers I'Avenir," resounds stentoriously
through the vaulting, sung with full voices, then immediately
patriotism raises its head, our lips quiver. . . . It is at times
like these that we do realize how dear our country is to us,
and what sacrifices we are prepared to make to save her.
The Cardinal, looking upon the discussion as closed, left
von Bissing's last letter unanswered; nevertheless in the
appeal which he addressed to him before going to Rome in
favor of political prisoners, he corrected the erroneous inter
pretation which the Governor General had made of cer
tain passages in the article in the "Vingtieme Siecle."

CHAPTER XX
GUARDING OF THE TELEPHONE LINE AT VILVORDE
An accident had happened in the district of Vilvorde
to the telephone wires. What was the cause nobody knew.
No matter, the town was made responsible and by way of
punishment the magnates of Vilvorde were ordered by the
German Commandant to secure the guarding of the line.
Several priests and religious having been summoned to act
as sentries, the Cardinal sent von Bissing a letter of pro
test: Archbishop's House, Malines,
December 18th, 19 15.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The Kreischef has passed the order to the com
mercial authorities of Vilvorde to have the telephone lines
guarded by the magnates of the commune.
In his proclamation of December nth, 19 15, the im
perial representative himself says explicitly: "It is doubtful
whether the line broke down." The immediate consequence
is that no "misdeed" has been proved, and that therefore
there is no case for repression.
Nevertheless the claim is made to impose on the paro
chial clergy of Vilvorde, on the director and professors, on
the priests of the College of Notre Dame, on the Christian
brothers, the guarding for twelve consecutive hours of a
telephone line.
The clergy has declared their inability to take up this
task and I have approved their decision.
I feel sure, sir, that it will be enough to draw your kind
attention to this incident to have an end put to this persecu
tion and in anticipation I express my gratitude to your Ex-
179

180 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
cellency, and at the same time beg you to accept the expres
sion of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General replied, throwing the responsi
bility of summoning priests and clerics on the communal
authorities :
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
December 2id, 19 15.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor to inform your Eminence in reply to
your letter of the 1 8th inst. that the appointment of priests
for guarding the telephone line of Vilvorde is not due to
my administration but to the Belgian communal authorities.
I share your Eminence's view entirely that priests should
not be constrained for this service. I have given orders
to my subordinates to see to it that for the future the
Belgian communal authorities do not commit such excesses
in exercising their power.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and have the honor to be your devoted servant,
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
The truth of the matter is this :
A vicar of the town, the superior of the Christian broth
ers, and several reverend professors of the college had been
summoned by the communal authorities for sentry duty dur
ing the night. At this news the Dean Van Reeth went at
once to the town hall. In the absence of the burgomaster
he was received "by an official, who told him that the orders
had been given by the Germans. With a view of finding
out for himself the exact meaning of these orders, the dean
went to see the Commandant; the latter declared that he
had indeed given orders that the telephone wires should be
guarded by the magnates of the town, but that he had not
specified any particular class of persons.

TELEPHONE LINE AT VILVORDE 181
The dean hastened to write to the burgomaster the fol
lowing letter :
Sir — I forbid all priests and religious of my district to
act as sentries to guard the telephone line, and I assume
myself the responsibility for this refusal . . .
In spite of the entreaties addressed to him, the dean re
fused to withdraw his prohibition. The communal authori
ties summoned civilians to take the place of the recalcitrant
priests and the incident was closed.

CHAPTER XXI
BEFORE LEAVING FOR ROME THE CARDINAL AGAIN RECOM
MENDS TO VON BISSING THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS
INTERESTS OF THE POLITICAL PRISONERS
Archbishop's House, Malines,
January nth, 1916.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — At the time of leaving Belgium,* for a few days,
I take the liberty of calling your attention once again to
the religious and moral interests which are suffering a severe
check in the prisons and rooms of the Kommandantur.
Nearly all those detained, and their number has always
been increasing, are put into solitary confinement from the
time of their arrest and remain there till their trial. The
German authorities have made it a rule to forbid prisoners
in solitary confinement to assist at religious services. The
upshot of this is that these victims of the great misfortune
which Belgium is undergoing, though they have for the most
part done nothing with which their conscience reproaches
them, are, in fact, robbed of all comfort for their souls and
exposed to the dangers of moral depression.
This kind of life, sir, is unbearable, and I shall deem it
my duty to notify it to my Supreme Chief, the Sovereign
Pontiff. The German authorities have no valid grounds for up
holding such a regime.
In fact, the arrangements of the prison are such that
each prisoner is in a different pew, whence he can neither
see his neighbor nor communicate with him. The war-
* Note — The Cardinal left Belgium for Rome on January 12 and re
turned February 27. 182

RELIGIOUS INTERESTS OF PRISONERS 183
den, stationed at the center of the semicircle, can see all
the pews.
Besides this, the priest who says the mass and who
preaches is a German. Your Excellency will call to mind
that, having in view the keen patriotic feelings of the pris
oners, I had asked that a Belgian priest might administer
to the wants of religion, in regard to Belgian prisoners,
under the guardianship of the German administration, and
that this request has been shelved. The German chaplain
alone therefore is able to influence the prisoners by word
or deed. For the last time, I beg your Excellency to have
pity on so many souls ; there are more than 400 prisoners at
this moment untried at Brussels, suffering from the stunting
of their moral and religious instincts.
I beg of you more earnestly than ever no longer to
refuse prisoners and condemned men facilities for confess
ing to a priest, to whom it is humanly possible to open
their minds with full confidence. They have gone so far
as to refuse a Belgian priest to men sentenced to death.
Your Excellency, who has a pious soul, will understand
that these facts rouse the indignation of a believing people
and are for us pastors a real torture. Surely at the mo
ment of death has not the condemned man wishes and de
sires to express which can only be told to one in whom he
has full confidence ?
I have left unanswered till now the letter No. 10637
which your Excellency addressed me dated December 15,
19 15, because I had looked upon this letter as a conclusion
to a correspondence, already long-drawn-out, about the min
istry and preaching of our clergy.
But your Excellency has inclosed with this letter an ex
tract from the "Vingtieme Siecle," which might give room
for a misunderstanding. Your Excellency underlines in a
correspondence alleged to have been sent from Brussels to
Havre a passage where it is said: "The example which has
been given to the Belgian clergy by the head of the episco
pate and the program he has drawn up for them in his fa
mous pastoral letter, have fired the zeal of the most faint
hearted." I conjecture that the intention of your Excel-

1 84 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
lency in calling my attention to these two lines is to insinuate
that if unguarded words be spoken in church the author of
the pastoral letter of November, 19 14, would be respon
sible. In the early days of January, 19 15, I had the honor of
writing to your Excellency that my letter would keep up
the courage of our people and would prevent the seditious
uproar which the German authorities, in their alarm, ex
pected. Sure as I was of my ground, I refused to with
draw my letter and gave orders to the clergy to read it.
A whole year's experience must have proved to the most
pessimistic minds that my forecasts were correct and that
therefore we ought to be of one mind in wishing to harmon
ize the regulations and disciplinary measures of the occupy
ing power with the respect due to the patriotism and the
national dignity of the Belgian people. In substance, this
is what the article in the "Vingtieme Siecle" means and in
that sense I can only agree with it.
Kindly accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXII
RENEWED COMPLAINTS OF BARON VON BISSING CONCERNING
THE PREACHING OF THE CLERGY
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. I. 2031. February 29th, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I write to inform your Eminence that on the 13th of
February inst. the Vicar Wittemberg, in the course of a ser
mon preached in the Church of St. Alice, expressed himself
as follows: "The German people is a lying people. Till
now the Pope has only heard the German version, now he
hears the Belgian version. The Cardinal of Malines was
received by the Pope at the same time as another Belgian
priest; he will be back in a few days with very good news
for the Belgians. The Germans will be made responsible
for all that has taken place in Belgium; the Belgians will
get a slice of Germany."
The Vicar Wittemberg has already given cause for
complaint. Your Eminence, in your letter of December 3rd,
191 5, had answered that you had not been able to carry
through the investigation you had begun in his regard.
I now beg your Eminence to tell me how you will
call this priest to account for his misbehavior, and what
steps you are thinking of taking to prevent preachers in the
future from making in the pulpit statements which, first,
are slanders of the German nation and therefore of the
army of occupation ; second, are of a nature to disturb and
rouse the Belgian people to revolt, and, third, are quite for
eign to the preacher's office.
Accept, your Eminence, the wishes of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
185

1 86 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 6, 191 6.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — Having returned a few days ago to Belgium, I
deem it a duty to thank your Excellency with all sincerity
for the facilities you granted me for accomplishing my
journey to Rome. I could only congratulate myself, both in
going and coming back, on the courteous attentions which
were shown me throughout my journey and at the frontier.
Your Excellency's dispatch No. 2031, February 29,
reminds me that on the date, December 3rd, I said I had not
been able to carry through an investigation which had then
been requested of me about the sermons of the Rev. Wit
temberg, vicar of St. Alice. As a matter of fact I did not
know up to now and I still do not know what are the exact
grievances about which I ought to institute an investiga
tion. But this time your Excellency calls my attention to a
sermon preached by the same Mr. Wittemberg on February
13th, and you give details of the theme for which the preach
er is held blameworthy. I forthwith summoned the vicar to
the archbishop's house and this is in substance the explana
tion he has given me : "The gist of my sermon," said he,
"was to comment on the parable of the grain of mustard
seed and the leaven. I expatiated on the wondrous growth
of the church from its very beginning and the transforma
tion effected in the world by the preaching of the gospel.
In my peroration, I spoke of the prestige of the papacy at
the present time. All eyes are turned on Benedict XV.
All nations vie with one another for his sympathy. Till now
Belgium had had no opportunity to make the voice of her
bishops heard, but our archbishop and another member of
the Belgian hierarchy are in Rome. We must all have con
fidence in them. It is, of course, difficult for the Holy
Father to see the truth in the midst of different and often
opposite versions, which come to him from every side. But
let us be of good hope; already there is a rumor afloat
that his Holiness has told the bishop of Namur that if he
were one day invited to the peace negotiations, he would

COMPLAINTS OF PREACHING 187
put down as a first condition the liberation of Belgium."
The vicar protests that he has not accused the German
nation of lying and that he has said nothing to suggest the
idea of territorial conquest.
There have probably been two misunderstandings. The
first passage gave rise to the first, and the second passage
to the second.
The vicar offered to give me, if I wanted, the notes
which he made use of in preaching. I deemed it superfluous
to ask him for them, but if your Excellency desires supple
mentary explanations, I shall think it my duty to accept the
offer which has been made to me.
Accept, dear Governor General, the expression of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. J. 2339. March 9, 1915.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
As a sequel to my letter P. A. I. 2031, of February 29,
I bring this to your Eminence's notice that the Vicar Wit
temberg, of the Church of St. Alice, in Brussels, has been
guilty of a new misdemeanor by making in his sermon of
February 27th statements of a political nature. Consequent
ly I beg your Eminence to let me know at once whether I
may rest quite assured that the Vicar Wittemberg will be
compelled by ecclesiastical authority to confine himself with
in the limits of his ministerial office.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
This letter remained for the time being unanswered.
The controversy about patriotic acts was not, however,
ended. It will again be the subject of long discussions
between the Cardinal, the Governor General and the head
of his political department, Baron von der Lancken.

CHAPTER XXIII
THE PASTORAL LETTER, "ON MY RETURN FROM ROME"
On October 15th, 1915, the Cardinal had written a pas
toral entitled, "For the Feast of All Saints and All Souls'
Day." It had been read in all the churches in three sec
tions on Sunday, October 31st, on All Saints' Day and on
Sunday, November 6th. In answer to the dispatch of four
copies the Governor General sent the following acknowledg
ment to his Eminence : Brussels, November 11, 19 1 5.
I have the honor to thank your Eminence for sending
me four copies of your pastoral of October 15th. Although
I do not share your views on all points, yet I note with
pleasure that this new manifesto of your Eminence is a
great improvement on those which have preceded it.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing.;
As you see, von Bissing, pleased with the letter, did not
even blame the Cardinal for having it printed without sub
mitting it to the censor. Did he perchance hope that he
had tamed his patriotism and had succeeded in making him
change his attitude toward the power in occupation? If so,
his illusion must have been short-lived ; for the dispute was
about to be reopened as closely contested as ever, about a
new pastoral dated March 7th, 1916, and beginning, "On
my return from Rome."
During the whole of his journey through Switzerland
and Italy, the Cardinal had received enthusiastic ovations,
which were meant both for the courageous pastor and the
heroic country he represented. The German press had
taken umbrage at these manifestations of warm sympathy;
188

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 189
it had accused the Cardinal of having lent himself to politi
cal demonstrations and it had urged the power of occupa
tion to proceed against him with severity immediately on
his return.
Undaunted by threats, the Cardinal communicated to
his flock the comforting impressions he had gleaned during
his journey. On Sunday, March 12, the clergy read in all the churches
of the diocese the letter, "On Our Return from Rome."
The Cardinal, after expressing the joy he felt at finding
himself again in the midst of the faithful of his diocese,
said that his journey had been blessed in a special manner
and that he came back happy, most happy. He had been
received with fatherly kindness by the Pope, who told him
that the cause of Belgium was his cause; he had satisfied
himself that everywhere the moral triumph of Belgium had
been definitely won, and lastly the assurances, which several
disinterested and attentive observers of the general situation
had given him, had fixed in his heart, more deep-rooted than
ever, this conviction of final victory.
"Keep an absolute faith in Providence," he added; "are
we not all of us always in the hands of the Almighty, more
so, indeed, than the lilies of the fields or the birds of the
air which flutter about the trees? . . . Make your plans,
set up your batteries, order your movements, it remains
for man to propose and God to dispose. . . . Imagine a
belligerent nation sure of its army corps, its ammunitions, its
command, on the point of gaining a triumph; should God
allow the germs of an epidemic to break out in their ranks,
there and then are ruined the expectations of the most op
timistic. "Therefore, above all, have confidence in God . . ."
The letter ended with an earnest appeal for prayer and
sacrifice. The Governor General was not long in showing his
anger. The very next morning, before even writing to his
Eminence, he put M. Charles Dessain, Burgomaster of
Malines and printer to the archbishop, under arrest, as well
as four printers engaged at his works. The Cardinal, hav-

190 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
ing learned the news at the Abbey of Mont-Cesar, where he
had retired to make a retreat, hastened to address the fol
lowing letter to von Bissing:

Abbaye du Mont-Cesar, Louvain,
March 15, 1916.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The news has reached me here that M. Charles
Dessain, Burgomaster of the town of Malines, and four
workmen printers of his works, have been placed under
arrest, the former for having had printed, the latter for
printing, my pastoral dated March 7.
I presume that the intention of those who have arrested
them is merely to have them examined.
But if your Excellency is of opinion that the arrest
is the forerunner of a trial, perhaps of a condemnation, I
would earnestly beg of you to consider that justice demands
that the consequences of an act must be made to fall upon
him who bears the responsibility. The printing of the pas
toral is my act, rather than that of the printer and his
workmen. If objection were made to your Excellency, or your Ex
cellency yourself were to make it, that you are not qualified
to judge and proceed against a bishop and a prince of the
Church exercising his pastoral office, I would take the lib
erty to call to your notice that in the present instance it is
neither a bishop nor a member of the Sacred College against
whom you would proceed, but a private individual, who, of
his own accord, undertakes to be the spokesman of upright
and faithful fathers of families, whom, through his loyalty
and affection for them, he of his own responsibility takes
under his shelter.
Accept, dear Governor General, the expression of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 191
Von Bissing refused to comply with the demands of
the Cardinal. Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
March 18, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I beg to inform your Eminence, in reply to your letter
of the 15th inst., that it is solely on the ground of my
decree on the censorship of printed matters that the Printer
Dessain and his workmen have been prosecuted. Your
Eminence may feel yourself morally responsible for the mis
demeanor committed, which thus exposes fathers of families
to prosecution at law; but that can have no influence on the
legal procedure now going on. The result of this procedure
is beyond my province.
Moreover, I cannot at all understand how your Emi
nence imagines that I can act toward you, as I would toward
a private individual, without any regard for your ecclesias
tical dignity.
I offer your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
M. Charles Dessain, Burgomaster of Malines, was con
demned and deported to' Germany on the charge of printing
the pastoral.
Three days after the reading of the letter in the
churches, von Bissing addressed to the Cardinal a long list
of charges, which he took care to have published in the
Belgian censored press.
Governor General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. I. 2606. March 15, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I bring the following facts to your Eminence's notice.
He who is placed in the highest position to watch over

192 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
and safeguard the interests of the Catholic Church has
assured me on several occasions and in the most formal
manner that at your return from Rome your Eminence.
would observe an attitude full of moderation. I could ex
pect then that your Eminence would abstain from manifes
toes which continue to upset the easily excited minds of
the Belgian people. For this reason I refrained from dis
cussing with your Eminence the incidents connected with
your journey and more particularly the collective letter of
the Belgian bishops * and the political misuse which your
Eminence made of the passport obtained by the Holy Father
to allow you to go to Rome for purposes, entirely ecclesias
tical. By your new pastoral your Eminence not only has not
behaved conformably to the assurances given me by him
who was best qualified to do so, but you have acted in such
wise that relations between yourself and the power of occu
pation are again strained. Of course there can be no pos
sible doubt whatever that I will never hinder your Eminence
from transmitting to the faithful communications which the
Holy See may wish to make to them through you. But
your Eminence in your pastoral does not stop here. You
give vent to remarks which are purely political. I protest
vigorously against this way of acting.
The behavior of your Eminence is inexcusable, when in
talking of the result of the war you raise hopes which are
ill-grounded and obviously out of keeping with real facts.
For instance, your Eminence, to strengthen your assertions,
quotes vague statements coming from people who are quite
outsiders in regard to events and whom it is impossible to
look upon as good authorities. In another place, you try
to make an impression by saying that the issue you desire
might come about through the spreading of epidemic dis
eases. •Note — On November 24, 1915, the Belgian hierarchy addressed a col
lective letter to the episcopate of Germany and Austro-Hungary to protest
against the calumnies launched against the Belgians by the German Govern
ment and to call for an impartial inquiry about the atrocities committed by
German troops at the beginning of the war. This letter remained un
answered.

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 193
By this arbitrary method of arguing, your Eminence
can only provoke a mischievous excitement among an over-
credulous people, which may drive it into an active or pas
sive resistance to the occupying power.
I have to mark as particularly intolerable the allusion
which your Eminence makes in your pastoral to an en
croachment on the religious liberties of the people in the oc
cupied territory. Your Eminence knows better than any
one that this insinuation is perfectly unjustified.
Under these circumstances, contrary to the spirit of
forbearance which I have shown till now, I am determined
to suppress without delay every kind of political propaganda
spread under the cloak of liberty of worship and every act
tending to foster sentiments of hostility toward the legiti
mate authority of the power in occupation, an authority
recognized by international law. It is my duty to do so in
conformity with my decrees and the fulfillment of my mis
sion. If, till now, I have notified to your Eminence the trans
gressions of which your priests have been guilty in order
that they might be punished according to ecclesiastical dis
cipline, I am determined to dispense with this in the future.
In fact, your Eminence yourself has set the example of
insubordination. As a consequence of this, your influence
is now without weight. I must, moreover, more and more,
make your Eminence morally responsible for the regrettable
acts into which a great number of priests allow themselves
to be drawn and which bring severe penalties upon some
of them. Your Eminence will again retort that I have misunder
stood certain passages of your pastoral and I have given
them a sense never meant by you. All discussion about
this must prove futile, and I have no intention to start a
fresh one. On the contrary, I have firmly made up my
mind for the future not to allow your Eminence, misusing
your high position and the respect due to your cloth, to
indulge in a political propaganda calculated to turn the
heads of the mob, a delinquency which in the case of a
simple citizen would result in penal consequences. I warn

194 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
your Eminence, therefore, to abstain henceforth from any
political kind of activity.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
The Cardinal merely acknowledged von Bissing's letter,
intending to answer it later in detail. A month afterward
he told the Governor General that he had drawn up a docu
ment of justification. He offered to send it to him, with a
request to communicate the same to the bishops of Germany
and Austria-Hungary. Archbishop's House, Malines,
April 26, 19 16.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — When on the 20th of last March I acknowledged
your letter of March 15, I told you that journeys necessi
tated by my pastoral duties prevented me from replying at
once. Since then I have prepared an answer.
In this document I deal with each of the grievances
which your Excellency has drawn up and suddenly and pub
licly launched at me and at my pastoral office.
The sending of the joint letter of the Belgian hierarchy
to the German episcopate is the first grievance ; it is, how
ever, merely mentioned.
According to your second complaint, I am supposed to
have misused the passport which I obtained through your
Excellency's kindness for my journey to Rome.
The third grievance, the chief one, is that in my pas
toral of March 7 I have indulged in remarks of a purely
political character.
In proof of this third complaint, your accusation of
March 15 bases itself on three different facts.
"I have tried," you say, "in talking about the issue of
the war, to raise hopes which were ill-grounded and out of

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 195
keeping with real facts" ; to bolster up these hopes, "I have
quoted vague statements emanating from irresponsible per
sons" ; lastly I said that "the decision I hope for might be
brought about ,by the spreading of epidemic diseases."
Against each of these accusations I set down the facts
as they really are.
Then as the allegation talks very often about "politics"
without defining this abstract word, I have thought that to
clear the air of equivocations or to forestall them, it would
be '. . .essary to define the dispositions of canon law and con-
?tl'i-.tional law about the liberty of preaching.
Lastly, your Excellency has shown that you especially
1 3ok to heart an allusion which I made about an encroach
ment on the religious liberty of the people dwelling in oc
cupied territory. I have made it my duty to declare that
I am ready to lay bare in detail my grievances under this
head. Only I ask as a proviso that guarantees of im
munity from punishment be granted me for the persons
whose names and testimony I may have to quote.
My reply to the address on each of these points is there
fore drawn up. It is at your Excellency's disposal. I am
sincerely desirous of sending it to you.
But I cannot make up my mind to send it to you spon
taneously. In fact, I ask myself what useful purpose would
be served were I to do so.
Would it be to convince your Excellency?
Why, you have warned me that all my explanations
would be shelved; you have made up your mind that all
discussion should be useless.
Would it be to enlighten the Belgian people?
In the first place I could not do so without exposing my
printer to the risk of a year's imprisonment.
Moreover, I have confidence in my countrymen, just as
they have confidence in their archbishop and bishops.
Your Excellency thinks the Belgians credulous; how mis
taken you are ! Our little Belgian people is wonderful for
its coolness and common sense.
Accustomed to think for themselves, they place no re
liance on opinions which people try to impose on them with-

196 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
out discussion. For twenty months they have not been
spared either alarming news, grief of separations, anxiety
for the morrow, or intimidating procedures ; yet is not your
Excellency struck by the unshakable confidence which they
hold in the future ?
Would it be to justify myself that I ought to send my
answer to your Excellency?
But my conscience does not reproach me for anything
in which I have gone beyond the boundary marked out for
me by my episcopal prerogative. Moreover, in the carry
ing out of my pastoral office, I depend on the jurisdiction of
the Holy See, and my last pastoral tells clearly enough what
reception the sovereign pontiff was pleased to grant me.
Nevertheless, I should like, sir, to be able to send you
my pamphlet, because there is a fraction of the public to
whose esteem and affection I am attached and with which
you alone can put me in touch; I mean my brethren, the
faithful, the clergy and the Catholic bishops of Germany
and Austria-Hungary.
If one may judge by the language of the press, Catholic
and non-Catholic, of these two countries our brethren must
know and judge very ill of us. They know not what we
are. In every case, where we have been put on our trial
since the war began, they have only heard witnesses for the
prosecution. You have published broadcast among them
your own accusations. They know nothing of the point of
my offense, my pastoral.
Could I only hope that as a loyal soldier and just
judge you would consent to put before them my pastoral,
your allegation and my justifying rejoinder, with what joy
would I not send you, by return of post, this last document
dealing with my case ?
Not only would I congratulate myself on knowing my
honor was safeguarded, but I would above all see in this
communication to my brethren, whom I believe to be in
good faith, yet in error, a means of paving the way for the
time when peace is proclaimed, for preparing a reconcilia
tion, in Catholic charity, of souls which suffer in feeling
that they are so violently estranged from one another.

)

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 197
Accept, dear Governor General, the expression of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General von Bissing met the Cardinal's
desire with a curt refusal.
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. I. No. 4063. April 20, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
In your esteemed letter of the 26th inst., your Eminence
asks whether I am inclined to accept and hand over to the
German bishops a detailed document to justify your be
havior. The reasons which, after ripe consideration, have
determined me to say in my letter of March 15th that I
could not allow new discussions about this matter still hold
good. I regret that I cannot accede to your Eminence's
wish. I am all the more inclined to hold fast to my opinion
because from the hints which your Eminence gives about the
contents of your document of justification I believe that fur
ther discussion would be useless.
The public and particularly the German bishops have
been able to form their own judgment from the writings
which have reached them. The last pastoral of your Emi
nence was published in extenso in the press. If discussion
on this matter were reopened, only trouble could come from
it, most especially among the Belgian people. It is pre
cisely because I recognize that the great majority of the Bel
gian people behave correctly that I wish to avoid everything
which might provoke a fresh agitation. Basing my judg
ment on the same grounds, I venture to think the best jus
tification for your Eminence is to let bygones be bygones and
to take account of circumstances and needs arising from our
occupation of the country.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. The Governor General.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.

198 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The following is the justification which von Bissing
refused to accept:
Archbishop's House, Malines,
April 24, 19 16.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — A full month has elapsed since your Excellency
thought fit to appeal to public opinion to bear witness that
your behavior toward the Belgian people and myself has
been beyond reproach, whereas mine has been blameworthy
and seditious.
The procedure is assuredly a strange one. Neverthe
less, I would not complain of it, if it had pleased your Ex
cellency to join to your accusation the text of the pastoral
which you indicted.
But, on the contrary, I have been accused and judged
without a hearing. I have been condemned by a verdict
which, it is declared, is irrevocable.
I have been made a defenseless butt for the comments
of hate, the slanders and the ribaldry of the German press.
Your government has forced the Belgian press to publish
your accusations. It has allowed the free circulation of car
toons which insulted me,* and had I, in self-defense, pub
lished two lines of protest, my printer would have paid the
service rendered me with one year's imprisonment.
In the letter which I had the honor to write to your
Excellency under date March 20, I gave hopes of an early
answer, which I intended to make to your letter No. 2606,
dated March 15. But I preferred to put off my reply for
two reasons.
In the first place, time soothes one's mind and allows
one to reflect.
Secondly, it is well that your Excellency should have a
fresh proof that you were mistaken when you believe the
Belgians to be excitable and always threatening to disturb
public order. Belgian patriotism is unconquerable and
•Note — One of these cartoons depicted the Cardinal under the shape
of a parrot on its perch. Von Bissing standing up on his side with up
lifted finger was telling him to hold his tongue.

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 199
proud, but it is, and remains, dignified; it does not yield,
but it retains its self-possession.
Already for twenty months, notwithstanding the dark
memories which float about our atmosphere, in spite of
annoyances, regulations without stint, requisitions and
searches, condemnations to fine, imprisonment, deportation,
death, which fall thick upon us like hail itself, this fair little
people of Belgium keeps within bounds. It neither bows its
head nor does it cast down its eyes before any one, and it
has not committed a single revolutionary act.
Its only crime is that it will not die. The only crime
ascribable to us — public administration, magistrates, clergy,
hierarchy — is that we persist in thinking and saying: "Bel
gian people in the indissoluble union of your two races —
Walloon and Flemish — you shall not die, you cannot die."
I have carefully read your accusation of March 15. I
think I can sum up in a few words the charges against me
which it contains.
Your Excellency says you were deceived at the time of
my coming back from Rome. You expected from me, you
say, an attitude full of moderation.
Incidentally, the letter of March 15 mentions the col
lective letter of the Belgian hierarchy to the German
bishops. Then it finds fault with me for my having misused the
passport which allowed me to carry out my journey to
Rome. Lastly and above all, you find fault with me for having
indulged in my last pastoral in "remarks of a purely political
nature." Your Excellency expected then from me, as you say,
"an attitude of moderation" at the time of my return to
Belgium. You wish, no doubt, to give me thus to understand that
on your side you intended to act toward me with peculiar
kindness. To tell the truth, I have not been aware of it. When
on Tuesday, February 29, at 6 a. m. I was entering Brus
sels I went at once to St. Louis's Institute. I there said

20o CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
mass and peacefully spent some hours of the morning.
Meanwhile five spies kept watch on the institute, and when
I proceeded to return to my cathedral at Malines at 1 1, two
policemen in plain clothes, placing themselves at my side,
escorted me to within a few yards of my archiepiscopal pal
ace. Indeed, they were so very pressing in their attentions
that they could have overheard a private conversation had
I not warned my friend to lower his voice.
And your Excellency will not have forgotten that on
March 6, a few days after my return and therefore before
the publication of my pastoral, which was not read in the
churches until the 12th of that month, the newspapers in
the service of the German Government announced to the
country nine fresh condemnations to death, six of which
were followed by instant executions at Mons, for acts
which were branded as political crimes. These condemned
men were denied the consolation of making their last con
fession and final confidences to a Belgian priest.
Your Excellency knew of the collective letter of the
Belgian episcopate to the bishops of Germany at the moment
when you were kind enough to grant me a passport for
Rome. Besides, I have still to learn that a brotherly ex
change of letters between members of the Catholic epis
copacy falls under the provisions of the penal code, or is
forbidden by international law. On the other hand, it har
monizes entirely with the spirit and traditions of the
Church. I am well aware that toward the end of my stay in
Rome the German press exerted itself to bring about the
withdrawal of my passport and tried to turn to my disad
vantage the collective letter of the Belgian episcopate to the
bishops of Germany and my interview with M. Briand.
But the collective letter which had not hindered my de
parture from Belgium could not consistently hinder my re
turn. As to my interview with M. Briand, no one had any
inkling of what took place at it, and could not therefore be
justified in claiming that it served political ends.
The truth is that during the whole of my journey I prac
ticed a reserve to an extent such as many thought excessive.

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 201
I remember hearing a diplomat exclaim, "Can it be then that
this poor Cardinal Mercier even during his stay here in Italy
is still a prisoner of the Germans?" I granted no interview,
delivered no speech, did not depart a single mile from my
itinerary. I was too anxious to furnish no pretext for a
fresh incident such as might be put forward as a plea to bar
my return. I foresaw the danger and was forearmed.
The German press, nevertheless, has discovered, so it
seems, a political discourse which I am believed to have de
livered at Florence, "eine politische Rede in einer Nonnen-
schule." The fact is that I paid a visit to the Sisters of
Providence at Badia di Ropoli, in the suburbs of Florence;
they conduct a boarding school for young girls. When I
entered the playroom, the "Brabanconne" was played, one
of the girls read me an address which I answered with a
sympathetic reference to our absent country, but without ut
tering a word that could wound any one. Nothing more.
There, as elsewhere, I preserved the reserve which my dig
nity and my own interest demanded.
The third complaint in your allegation of March 15, the
chief one and the one most enlarged upon, is also the most
vague and intangible.
I am accused of "indulging in purely political criticisms,"
of "having given an example of insubordination," of "hav
ing pursued an unbridled political propaganda," but no care
is taken to define the meaning of the abstract term "politi
cal-" The specimens they bring forward of such propaganda
enable one nevertheless to conjecture the sense of the accu
sation. It seems that I have acted politically when "in contem
plating the- result of the war I have sought to raise un
founded hopes contrary to the stern reality of facts" ; when
in order to find ground for these hopes "I have quoted in
accurate statements emanating from incompetent persons" ;
finally when I said that "the decision I looked for might be
brought about by the spread of epidemic diseases."
But what evil is there, pray, in encouraging a suffering
people? Should I better second the policy of the occupying

202 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
power if I drove the Belgians into a state of discourage
ment and despair?
Deep in my breast I confidently look for the success of
our cause. This confidence is based on motives of the
natural order, which in my pastoral I refrained from devel
oping precisely to avoid the semblance of meddling with the
calculations of politicians or the plans of headquarters. It
is based besides on supernatural motives of which my con-.
science is the sole judge. I cherish this confidence. It sus
tains my courage, and because I love my faithful flock I
desire to impart it to them.
Once again where is the evil ? I do not claim to hinder
you from indulging opposite hopes, and when I read the pas
torals and discourses of German and Austrian cardinals and
bishops it never occurred to me to impute as a crime to them
their exhortations to patience and hope addressed to their
flocks and your soldiers. Why is it that what is religion
beyond the Rhine is on this side political meddling?
But, say they, you deceive your hearers ; "you quote the
inaccurate statements of incompetent persons."
Incompetent? Is this quite certain? Suppose I had
quoted diplomats, statesmen, military authorities? Why
then, indeed, I should be justly accused of speaking politics.
Besides, if the words quoted are inaccurate, why are you
so disturbed? If I had quoted the evidence in detail, had
brought forward the names of persons who had been mixed
up with the events alluded to, I could understand your fears
of an agitation. But what reason is there to fear conse
quences from an anonymous report, which for that reason
is considered worthless?
According to the German newspapers my crime is espe
cially this, that I called down on our enemies the chastise
ment of an epidemic. I said simply in general terms that
human means are not enough to secure success, for man,
however resourceful he may be or however great his efforts,
remains dependent on Divine Omnipotence. Man proposes,
I said, quoting a proverb known to every one and which in
every-day languages embodies a thought inscribed on every
page of Holy Writ — man proposes and God disposes.

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 203
No nation, whether friendly or unfriendly, was expressly
aimed at in my pastoral, but the first to whom the logical
context points the application of this scriptural saying and
of the homely Christian proverb derived from it is the
nation to which my words were directly addressed, the Bel
gian nation, her army and together with her the armies of
the Allies.
Just before the phrase to which exception is taken I had
written, "For us the future is not doubtful, but we must pre
pare for it, and to prepare for it we must foster within our
selves the virtue of patience and the spirit of sacrifice."
And immediately after the offending phrase I said,
"Purify your consciences ; let purity, modesty, Christian sim
plicity, reign in your homes; prepare yourselves by contri
tion, etc."
Between these two ideas they wish to insert a desire of
vengeance, a prayer that a miraculous epidemic should fall
on the enemy's army. Thus the logical connection of
thought is broken, and to break it it was needful to do vio
lence to the context and to truth.
"I must point out as particularly intolerable," your
Excellency declares, "the allusion you make in your pastoral
to an infringement of the religious liberty of the population
in the occupied territory. Your Eminence knows better than
any one how unjust this insinuation is."
I am quite willing to furnish the proof of my assertion;
but with this stipulation, that I am given an understanding
that no harsh proceedings shall be taken against the persons
whose testimony I have to produce.
Meanwhile I notice in the allegations of March 15 an
undoubted trespass on the liberty of my ministry. Your
Excellency there reminds me that you have remitted to
my tribunal for punishment, according to canonical disci
pline, certain ecclesiastics whose preaching had given um
brage to the occupying power. You add that for the fu
ture you will not act with like forbearance; the reason as
signed for your change of attitude is the example of my own
insubordination. Your Excellency concludes that you have a duty to hold

204 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
me morally responsible for the acts of the clergy and for
the severe chastisements which they draw down on them
selves ; and you claim for so doing "the legitimate authority
recognized in you by the law of nations."
Now if there is one matter which canon law and the
law of nations withdraw from the purview of the civil
power, it is the exercise of preaching. One of the most
inviolable features of religious liberty is the prerogative of
the apostolic word. In the Church of Jesus Christ the
right of preaching is so sacred that it belongs de jure only
to the Pope and the bishops. Priests speak only in the
name of their bishop and under his control. You are quite
right in holding me responsible for the preaching of my
clergy, but my responsibility is not to the civil power, but
to the Church and the Sovereign Pontiff.
Religious authority belongs of right divine exclusively
to the Pope and to the bishops in union with him. The
Church has at all times resisted the claim of the civil power
that all her acts of jurisdiction should be submitted to its
approval. It is evident then that, if even the lawfully established
authority of a state had the right to subordinate to its good
pleasure the promulgation of papal or episcopal acts, the
supreme prerogative of church government would belong
not to the Church, but to the secular power. Every legisla
tor is the born interpreter of his own laws.
Your Excellency is quite willing, so you say, to authorize
me to transmit to the faithful communications which the
Holy Father would desire to make known to them through
me. That is something, sir, but it is not enough. The
bishop is not only the mouthpiece of papal instructions ; he is
himself a teacher by divine right.
I have the right to teach, to instruct, to guide my faith
ful people. I have that right, inasmuch as by the divine
constitution of the Church I have that duty.
And in carrying out that duty I have no other respon
sibility except to my conscience and to my hierarchical chief,
our Holy Father the Pope.
The law of nations codified in The Hague convention

"ON MY RETURN FROM ROME" 205
does not weaken, but rather strengthens, the prerogative
which I claim for the episcopate.
^ Under the rule of the Belgian constitution, the Church
enjoys complete freedom. Article XIV of the constitution
proclaims liberty of worship and its public exercise. Article
XVI declares that the state has not the right to forbid to
the ministers of any form of worship the publication of their
acts. Now The Hague convention (Article XLIII) imposes
on the occupying power the obligation to respect the con
stitution and the laws of the country occupied.
When your Excellency brings before my tribunal priests
whom you believe guilty of abuse in the exercise of their
religious ministry, it is not merely an act of simple courtesy
that you are performing, still less voluntary concession of a
superior to an inferior. You are showing respect for a
prerogative acknowledged to belong to the religious author
ity by canon law and also by the constitutional law of Bel
gium, which international law forbids you, as the occupying
power, to violate.
And when the Feldgericht of the province of Antwerp
condemned to deportation and imprisonment the noble and
courageous Chevalier Charles Dessain, on the charge of
having published my last pastoral letter, it violated at once
canon law, and, through the violation of the Belgian con
stitution, international law.
As to these provisions of ecclesiastical law and of the
Belgian constitution, one can understand that a foreign mili
tary court may not have fully grasped them, but it would
not be easy to understand how the immediate representative
of the imperial power, whose foresight and sincerity may
not be called in question, should consent to allow them for
a long time to be set aside.
Each time that my attention has been called to an out
burst into which an ecclesiastic may have been betrayed
while preaching, I have at once held an inquiry and have
informed your Excellency of the result and in no single case
has your Excellency persisted in the charge. It does not
then appear that you have any reason to depart from your

206 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
present method of procedure. In agreement with your Ex
cellency's views I hold myself responsible for the preaching
and the attitude of my clergy ; but it is needful that I should
be informed of blameworthy acts laid to their charge, if my
responsibility is to be effective.
I am still anxious to believe that the words "severe chas
tisement" that slipped from your Excellency's pen do not
convey your fixed and final purpose. You will have the
goodness to leave nothing undone to spare our priests,
whose self-respect you may have admired, penalties which
they do not deserve. You would not wish to deprive me of
their assistance at a moment when more than ever it is
necessary. It would be just, sir, that the public which has learned
of your complaint against the archbishop of Malines should
also be informed of his reply.
Taking your stand on considerations which in your mind
justified your conduct, you have not hesitated to inflict on
me what you must regard as a stigma. Your letter ends
with this stern conclusion: "You have misused your high
functions and the respect due to your cloth, pursued an un
bridled political propaganda, which would entail upon any
ordinary citizen penal responsibilities."
It would be difficult for any one to find words of a more
infamous character than those you have used in my regard.
My conscience protests against this language and hurls back
the stigma. This document contains my justification.
Trusting the chivalrous feelings of him whom I am
addressing, trusting to the spirit of justice of him who has
constituted himself my judge, I respectfully beg him to
make known my defense to those before whom he has
flaunted his accusations against me.
Receive, I pray, Mr. Governor General, the assurance
of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXIV
PATRIOTIC ACTION OF THE PRIESTS
In consequence of the polemic raised by the Cardinal's
journey and the publication of his letter, "On My Return
from Rome," the occupying power redoubled the rigor of
its measures affecting the clergy. In close succession several
priests and clerics were arrested. The fury of the German
police was let loose especially against the great educational
establishments at Brussels. On March 19 a search, accom
panied by a good deal of uproar, was made at the College of
St. Michael. At half-past five in the morning a hundred policemen
and soldiers made a raid on the establishment. In spite
of the most minute search, lasting till midday, they only
succeeded in discovering and carrying off as booty some
copies of the newspaper "Libre Belgique." Nevertheless
Frere Devroye, rector of the college, who had just come out
of prison, was again arrested.
On April 14 it was the turn of St. Louis's Institute to
receive a visit from the German police. They were looking
for a student of philosophy, whom they succeeded in finding.
That evening Canon Cocheteux, the director of the insti
tute, and the Abbe Truyens were taken to the Komman-
dantur. The Governor General, in order to show plainly that in
pursuing the clergy he had chiefly the Cardinal in view,
inserted an official notice in the German press and the cen
sored press of Belgium, that arrests had been made in an
ecclesiastical establishment where the Cardinal had apart
ments and where he stayed whenever he came to Brussels.
On May 22 the military prosecutor asked for Canon
Cocheteux a sentence of a year and three months' imprison-
207

208 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
ment for having advised pupils of his establishment to join
the Belgian army, and that the Abbe Truyens should be
sentenced to ten years' penal servitude for having given the
lads the necessary instructions for crossing the frontier.^
His Eminence wrote to Baron von der Lancken point
ing out the serious consequences that would result to scholas
tic institutions from the arrest of their directors and pro
fessors. There followed between the Cardinal and the chief
of the political department a correspondence relative to the
attitude of the occupying power toward the clergy.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
May 23, 1916.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Governor General, Brussels.
My dear Baron: As a result of the confidential con
versation that his Excellency the Nuncio of Brussels has
had the honor to have with you and of which he was good
enough to inform me, I have personally supported Madame
Wibin's * request to his Excellency the Governor General,
Baron von Bissing. I am confident that this request will
be favorably received and I thank you beforehand for the
kindness with which you have promised to support it.
But I beg for more than this. I ask for your support
on behalf of other matters affecting public order and which
deeply concern me. Numerous priests engaged in teaching,
notably the rector and prefect of studies of St. Michael's
College, the director and several professors of St. Louis's
Institute at Brussels, are already in prison or threatened
with imprisonment. You are aware that our teaching staff is
already greatly reduced, as several of our professors,, are in
the army engaged as ambulance-bearers or chaplains. If
the military authorities continue to persecute our clergy, we
shall be compelled to face the painful contingency of hav
ing to close our ecclesiastical colleges.
I particularly call your attention and the clemency of
the Governor General to this situation at the moment when
* Note — Madame Wibin was asking for a passport to Switzerland.

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 209
the military prosecutor is asking for years of imprisonment
against the director and teachers of St. Louis's Institute.
Receive, Baron, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Chief of the Political Department of the Government
General of Belgium. Brussels, May 31st, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
In answer to your Eminence's esteemed letter of the
23rd inst., I have the honor to inform you that I have
given my support to Madame Wibin's request to the Gov
ernor General and also that this will be granted.
The incidents that took place at St. Louis's Institute are
seized by your Eminence as an occasion for reopening the
question of putting the clergy under arrest. If your Emi
nence will allow me to speak frankly, a fresh exchange of
views is in no way unacceptable to me. In fact, ever since
the beginning of the occupation this question has interested
the German, quite as keenly as it has the ecclesiastical, au
thorities. It appears to me, nevertheless, that up to the
present your Eminence has not grasped quite accurately
the point of view from which the occupying power regards
the matter. Even in your last letter you make use of the ex
pression, "persecution of the clergy."
In no case can it be a question of persecution. When
clergymen are condemned this is in virtue of the enforcement
of laws and decrees before which everybody stands on an
equality. The military courts take cognizance of wrong
doing, no matter who the culprit may be. It would be a
flagrant injustice for us to accord special privileges to the
clergy. To grant them after conviction, systematically, so
to say, the remission of their punishment would be to ride
straight toward the overthrow of justice.
Naturally your Eminence draws attention to the injury
caused to ecclesiastical education, and you find therein an
adequate reason for claiming exceptions in favor of the
clergy. The gravity of this reason must not be disregarded.

210 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
But it is precisely for that reason that, according to my
view, priests should, first and foremost, attend to the per
formance of their duties and not to run the risk of condem
nation. I think I am all the better authorized to speak in
this way, seeing that their crimes, all things considered, bear
forsooth the character of political demonstration.
In taking severe steps against clergymen who are guilty
of any infringement of the law, the judicial authorities of
the occupying power do not apply any principle which is not
in keeping with Belgian legislation. The penal code ex
pressly punishes attacks made in the course of religious serv
ices, either against the government or against an act of pub
lic authority. I need hardly tell your Eminence that no one more than
the Governor General deplores the necessity of enforcing
the code against priests. He regrets to see the clergy
thus losing the respect and sullying the dignity appertaining
to the ecclesiastical state. For this reason it is most desir
able that for the future priests should not commit any breach
of the law and that thus the occupying power should not be
constrained to inflict punishment on them. As justice must
pursue its course with impartiality, it is only by preventing
measures that it is possible to avoid the consequences re
sulting from the political action of the clergy, and to gain
that end there is only one means, namely, that ecclesiastical
authority should see to it that the clergy confine themselves
to their religious duties.
The Governor General has previously tried to gain some
co-operation toward this end. I may inform your Eminence
that he is inclined to give it another trial. With this end
in view, he is about to address a letter to the bishops. He
will explain the situation to them and will entreat them to
influence their inferiors, in order to bring crimes and con
demnations to an end.
I should be content could I hope that my frank and
straightforward explanation might contribute to dissipate all
evident misunderstandings. The occupying power, I per
mit myself to repeat, much regrets being obliged to condemn
guilty priests chiefly because it sees in the clergy representa-

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 211
tives of the social order, the moral authority of which should
remain unimpaired.
As, on the other hand, the ecclesiastical authorities real
ize that these convictions entail grave inconveniences, I can
not help openly stating to your Eminence that in all this I
would like to keep in view our common interests. I also
think that my straightforward language cannot but favor
mutual understanding and perhaps promote a collaboration
in which neither party would sacrifice anything to the other.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my dis
tinguished consideration and have the honor to be yours
very devotedly,
(Signed) Lancken.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium. Brussels, June 3, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor to inform your Eminence that at the
moment of forwarding you my letter of May 31,1 had not
then learned of the following case ; that is the only reason
why I did not mention it. Last Sunday a solemn religious
ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Antwerp in the
presence of your Eminence.
The sermon which was preached on the occasion by
Frere Pauwels turned in great part on purely political topics.
I do not wish to enter into details, but simply to state the
fact that the preacher departed manifestly from his religious
functions, and that the presence of your Eminence lent to
this manifestation a special significance. It will be difficult
for other priests not to perceive in this sermon an encour
aging example. Accordingly the occupying power cannot
allow this incident to pass unnoticed, and it should at any
rate have the assurance that Frere Pauwels has been in
vited by his ecclesiastical superiors to limit his activity to his
religious duties.
Up to now I have mentioned this incident to no one. In
the general interest I should be glad to learn that your Emi-

212 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
nence has taken care to restrain Frere Pauwels from indulg
ing for the future in like manifestations.
(Signed) Lancken.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
June 8, 1916.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Government General, Brussels.
My dear Baron — I am very grateful to you for having
seconded my request in favor of Madame Wibin and her
children and I shall be pleased if you kindly convey my
thanks to the Governor General.
I was given permission some months ago to visit two
priests imprisoned at St. Gilles. At this moment several
priests of my diocese are detained in the same prison, nota
bly* unless I am mistaken, Frere Devroye, Canon Cocheteux,
the Curates Wittemberg and Van Houdt, perhaps others
whose names have not reached me.
I shall have several hours of leisure at Brussels on Wed
nesday, June 21. You would greatly oblige me if you
could authorize me to visit on that day at 4 p. m. (German
time) the priests of my diocese detained in the prison of
St. Gilles.I shall have the honor of answering separately the
questions of general interest which your despatches No.
5035 and No. 5920 treat of.
Accept, Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
June 24th, 19 16.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Government General, Brussels.
My dear Baron — The letter I. 5035, which you did me
the honor to write on May 31st, answers very courteously
the considerations contained in my letter of May 23 rela
tive to the severe treatment meted out, especially of late, to
the clergy.

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 213
It never once entered my head to beg privileges for the
clergy, nor the systematic exercise, on your part, of the pre
rogative of pardon. When a punishment is justified and
deserved priests courageously submit to it without mur
muring. If, indeed, the military tribunals confine themselves
to enforcing, as regards the clergy, the provisions of the
Belgian code, to which your esteemed letter alludes, we
should not think of complaining.
The letter of May 23rd has in view a complex situation
where many surprising incidents synchronize. Thus at cer
tain epochs, following upon events that have no connection
with anything criminal, justice suddenly redoubles alike its
zeal in seeking for real or imaginary infringements of regu
lations and its severity in repressing them. We find our
selves during these last months in the presence of an acute
crisis of judicial activity. Perquisitions, preventive arrests,
convictions have kept increasing, while the clergy has made
no change in its previous attitude.
Then there are certain proceedings of which I submit
two specimens to your consideration. A seminlarist on
Easter Monday was going on his holiday. At the railway
station of Enghien his luggage was examined; he was then
taken to Braine-le-Comte and from there to Mons, where
he was condemned and imprisoned for several days, merely
for taking with him some photographs of his Cardinal-Arch
bishop. M. Van Houdt, curate at Tervueren, had already under
gone a year's imprisonment at St. Gilles on the charge of
having furnished a young man, who wished to join our
army, with information about the route. His detention hav
ing come to an end, the good priest had just^ peacefully re
sumed his ministry. But the German authorities, recollect
ing that he had formerly in January, 19 15, refused to give
an undertaking not to read from the pulpit the Pastoral
entitled "Patriotism and Endurance," did not hesitate to
make him face a second time the alternative of paying a fine
of 100 marks or undergoing a week's imprisonment. ^ At
the present moment the worthy curate of Tervueren is in
prison.

214 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I thank you, Baron, for having been so good as to in
trust to me by your esteemed letter of June 3rd (No. 5020) ,
the duty of looking into the case of Frere Pauwels. As I
was present at Frere Pauwels's sermon, I am in a position
to speak to you of it with complete knowledge of the sub
ject. The Rev. Frere did not attack the occupying power.
On the contrary, he expressly declared that he would re
frain from uttering one single offensive word and make it
his duty, if overcome by emotion, to restrain the ardor of
his patriotism. He had taken for the subject of his discourse an explana
tion of the encyclical "Rerum novarum" of Leo XIII on
the condition of the working classes. The gathering, in
deed, had been called to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniver
sary of the promulgation of this pontifical encyclical.
The preacher had chosen for his text these words of
the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst after justice." That was his exordium. Then
at once, directing his thoughts toward the Socialists, he af
firmed and established the natural necessity of social in
equality, and with some warmth demanded that it should be
respected by all, as the expression of the order established
by Providence. He traced out for masters and workmen
their mutual duties in the interest of social peace.
It is not difficult to understand that chance hearers,
ignorant of the purpose of the meeting and ignorant in con
sequence of the social aims which actuated the audience,
might have misunderstood and applied to the international
struggles what the preacher said of the struggles of classes ;
but the faithful carefully following the speaker could not
fall into that mistake.
I did, nevertheless, fear the confusion of thought, which,
according to the report with which you were furnished, did
actually arise. I therefore requested Frere Pauwels to
come and see me, and I recommended him for the future to
give his thoughts and his language greater precision, for
the subjective dispositions and susceptibilities of the present

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 215
hour are also facts which a prudent preacher should con
sider. I have received, my dear Baron, the letter you spoke
of from the Governor General.* I shall do well, I think,
in deferring my answer to his Excellency, to reserve till
then the examination of the questions which your corre
spondence only touches incidentally.
Receive, dear sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium. Brussels, June 16th, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor in answer to your Eminence's two
esteemed letters, dated the 8th inst., to make the following
communication. The Governor General gives you the permission which
you ask for, to visit the prison of St. Gilles, where the
priests Devroye, Cocheteux and Wittemberg are detained.
As Frere Devroye has been summoned to appear before the
tribunal of Charleroi for a suit fixed for June 19th, it
will depend on the length of the pleadings whether or not
he will be back by the 21st. I cannot be quite sure that the
Curate Wittemberg will be in prison on that day. The
Curate Van Houdt has been at liberty since June 6th. He
had been arrested to undergo punishment to which he was
sentenced in January, 19 15.
I ask your Eminence to note that only prisoners who
have already been convicted can receive visits. This per
mission is not granted to those who are awaiting trial.
Your Eminence speaks of a seminarist of Malines. Ac
cording to precise information, I can certify that you have
been totally misinformed. How could difficulties be created
for a seminarist on the plea of his carrying on his person
the photograph of his Cardinal at a time when this por-
•Note — This letter is reproduced later on.

216 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
trait is exposed for sale at all the bookstalls without the
slightest opposition from the Governor General?
If the seminarist was arrested, it was not on account
of portraits which he had, but because his identity papers
were not in order. When the competent authorities had
ascertained his identity he was set at liberty. He was not
compelled to appear before any tribunal.
I ask myself if, in certain reports furnished to your
Eminence regarding various incidents, it is not needful to
take account of "subjective dispositions" or personal ties
of which your Eminence speaks in regard to Frere Pau
wels. At any rate, it appears that the objective reasons
of the occupying power's procedure are seldom regarded
from a wholly impartial standpoint.
Concerning the sermon complained of, which was
preached by Frere Pauwels, the Governor General, to whom
I have made a report, has learned with satisfaction of your
Eminence's speedy intervention. He hopes the results of
this intervention will continue to make themselves felt.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. Yours devotedly,
(Signed) Lancken.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
June 25th, 1916.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Government General, Brussels.
My dear Baron — I am very grateful for the permission
you obtained for me to visit MM. Cocheteux and Wittem
berg detained at the prison of St. Gilles. It was a consola
tion to see them again. As you had conjectured, Frere
Devroye was still at Charleroi. I presume that the permis
sion already granted me is available for the next occasion
I may have to see him.
Would you be kind enough to say to the Governor Gen
eral for me that I am pleased he did not pursue Frere
Pauwels' case any further.
Let me assure you, Baron, that you have received a mis
leading report of the incident mentioned in my letter of the

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 217
8th, regarding the seminarist, Emile Mertens. It may be
that the ultimate finding of the court in the case of this sem
inarist does not mention the circumstance that he carried
portraits of his archbishop ; but the examination at Enghien
and Braine-le-Comte dwelt long and pointedly on this fact.
The student was arrested April 24th at Enghien, detained
at Braine-le-Comte the 25th, taken to prison at Mons the
26th and before being set at liberty, which was on the 28th,
he had to undergo a fresh examination, which had nothing
whatever to do with the previous examination. It is very
likely that you have received only information regarding this
last. You are quite right in pointing out that my portrait is
on sale in the shops, but you seem to be unaware that this
sale was more than once forbidden, especially during a
definite period at Namur and Dinant. But this is very
unimportant and I have never complained of it to any one,
my sole object being to call your attention to certain vexa
tions and petty doings of underlings.
Receive, Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
While this correspondence was taking place between
the Cardinal and Baron von der Lancken relative to the
attitude of the occupying power toward priests, the Gov
ernor General, on his part, began a correspondence on the
same subject. If any of the clergy are prosecuted and con
victed, it is due, he maintains, to their transgressing the
German decrees and taking advantage of their priestly min
istry to trespass on the domain of politics. To this charge
the Cardinal replies by proving that the clergy does not step
outside its province while maintaining the patriotism of the
people and preaching love of country and Belgian lib
erty. As it progressed, the debate widened and extended to
the rights of the occupying power, a question which was the
subject of the long controversy between the Cardinal and
Baron von der Lancken related in the preceding chapter.

218 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
June 4th, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
Your Eminence will agree with me in regretting the
breaches committed by priests against the occupying power
and the convictions that have been the inevitable result.
From the petitions for pardon addressed to me I am bound
to infer that a multitude of hardships arise from the fact
that priests have to be torn from their ministry to go and
suffer the penalties incurred. These convictions must be
yond measure be regretted, since the respect and dignity
belonging to the priestly state are thereby impaired. Yet
the people do not cease repeating that the fire of patriotism
is a valid excuse for these priests. On the other hand, they
try to find extenuating circumstances for them by saying
that they are constrained to respond to the patriotic spirit of
the population, even though they are aware that by acting
in this manner they are transgressing my regulations.
I must declare that this opinion misconstrues completely
the juridical position of the population in the occupied ter
ritory toward the occupying power. For The Hague con
vention (Article XLIII), which imposes on me the duty of
watching over the good order and well-being of the country,
was ratified in 19 10 by the representatives of Belgium.
It has thus the binding force of a law of the land,
to which all the population, the clergy included, are bound
to submit. I should have to reproach myself with breaking the
law if for special reasons I agree to make an exception in
favor of the clergy. In the administration of justice, the
law does not allow any distinction of persons. I should
place myself in conflict with the prerogative of pardon if
I consented to remit altogether in favor of the condemned
the punishment inflicted on them, without, at the same time,
taking into account that the case of certain culpable priests,
who have been brought to trial, exclude every act of par
don. There is but one way for priests to avoid these con
demnations; they must observe a calm attitude and not

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 219
meddle in politics. And it is on that account that I appeal
to your Eminence and beg of you to prevail on your sub
ordinates, in the exercise of their ministry and in their gen
eral conduct, to abstain from all political activity, and still
more not to render themselves guilty of grave breaches of
regulations. I attach the utmost importance to this, that
they keep from circulating clandestine publications, an of
fense of which latterly they have often been guilty.
May I implore your Eminence to inform me if I can
count on your co-operation for this object? Moreover, I
only ask for the observance of the pledges which the bishops
have given for the correctness of the clergy's attitude.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
June 23d, 19 1 6.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Your Excellency kindly writes in your esteemed letter
of June 4th (No. 5139) that you deplore the penalties
inflicted on our priests by the military tribunals. But, as
to these penalties, you regard them as fully justified, because
necessary for the maintenance of public order, of which The
Hague convention intrusts to you the keeping.
The clergy, moreover, can lay no claim to a privilege
that would withdraw them from justice, nor to a continu
ous application of a right to pardon. There is only one
method by which the clergy can escape judicial penalties,
namely, to abstain from political action. Your Excellency
begs my co-operation for the attainment of this result; and
you appeal to the understanding come to by the Belgian
bishops, in the name of the clergy, with the occupying
power. Such is, I believe, a faithful summary of the dispatch
of June 4th to which my ministerial engagements have to
my regret hindered me from replying sooner.

220 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Your Excellency has good reason to deplore the severe
treatment which our priests have to suffer. I also render
homage to the loftiness of this sentiment and I share it
with you very heartily.
With you I am concerned for the public order, but
I do not agree with you as to the means of safeguarding it.
The bishops and the clergy have a duty to be the foremost
upholders of order. They know it, but they know also that
Belgium, their country, is still, thank God, independent and
that it would be iniquitous and rash to treat it like a con
quered country.
Germany, which today occupies a very great portion of
our provinces, but which the fortune of war may tomorrow
drive back across our borders, is a belligerent nation. Bel
gium is also a belligerent nation. Neither of the two is
victorious ; neither has the right to enslave the other.
In spite of the military occupation of a great part of
her provinces, our Belgian fatherland has not ceased to be
of right an autonomous sovereign nation. Our respect and
love for the soil and for our Belgian liberties are then for
all of us an honor and a duty. To realize this honor and
to preach this duty forms part of the clergy's social mis
sion. In these troubled times in which we live each soul has
the right to ask of his pastor: What is my duty? Who
represents in my case authority? What have I to do to
render to God the things that are of God and to Caesar the
things that are Cssar's?
Well, sir, apart from some heated expressions which
escape at times from even the most cautious, in the heat of
delivery and which cannot be taken literally when it is a
question of estimating the general spirit of a social class,
the preaching of the clergy has not overstepped, in safe
guarding patriotism, the limits which I have just defined. A
score of times I have personally examined the sermons that
have been denounced by the civil authority or by the mili
tary courts. I have always found that the accused preacher
had simply affirmed, without affront to the occupying power,
that the Belgian fatherland is whole and united, that the

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 221
sole legitimate authority for the Belgian conscience is King
Albert, his government,' his magistracy and his army.
Were you willing, Excellency, to grasp this elementary
truth of jurisprudence, the conflicts between us would come
to an end.
Your predecessor, the late Baron von der Goltz, had
understood it. It is a rash thing for you to wish to do
violence to the noblest feeling of a people's conscience. "I
ask of no one," he said in a proclamation issued at Brus
sels, September 2d, 1914, "I ask of no one to renounce
his patriotic sentiments."
Your Excellency has not disavowed this noble procla
mation. It is in showing respect for our patriotic feelings that
the occupying power will find the most solid guarantee for
public order. The Belgian bishops anticipated this respect
when, on February 5th, 1915, in the agreement to which
your letter alludes, they wrote: "The bishops have no in
tention to strike a blow at public order ; and if ever a mem
ber of the clergy were in this regard forgetful of his duty,
or if the German authorities regarded him as such, we ask
but one thing, namely, that the case be brought before the
bishop of the diocese to which this member of the clergy
is found to belong."
Your Excellency appeals to Article XLIII of The
Hague convention and reminds us that Belgium was a
party thereto. We are aware of it. We make all the
articles of the convention our own and earnestly demand
their application. But this Article XLIII precisely requires
the occupying power to insure as far as possible public order
"by respecting, except in the case of absolute necessity, the
laws in force in the country occupied."
Apply to us the Belgian constitution wherever it refers
to the liberty of religious preaching, bring before our ec
clesiastical court doubtful cases. In this way you will do
what is most prudent and most just to insure the order of
public life, "by respecting, save in absolute necessity, the
laws in force in the country."
Has not the method adopted by the Belgian episcopate

222 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
and followed by the clergy established its reputation? Very
soon two years will have elapsed since our people have had
to put up with the foreigner, his requisitions, his domiciliary
visits, his threats, his condemnations ; but not a single revo
lutionary blow has been struck. Not one of your soldiers
has been molested.
In my own turn, Baron, I confidently state my con
clusions. We are bound both of us, one in the civil and
military order, the other in the religious and moral order,
to work together for the public welfare. As our point of
departure let us take the law, I mean the law both natural
and international, which recognizes the moral sovereignty of
Belgium as a country. Without attacking the occupying
power and beyond any danger of revolt, let this Christian
patriotism be maintained which, in a pastoral letter long
before the war, I did not hesitate to call a religious virtue,
i. e., "the piety of patriotism."
I do not deny that you have your part to play when
you close all avenues leading abroad, and you arrest those
of our fellow countrymen who attempt to cross the fron
tiers ; but do not treat as traitors these heroic young fellows
who, at the risk of their liberty and their life, have the
ambition to go and enroll themselves in our armies. Toler
ate no longer the military courts that regard the purest civic
virtue as treason.
No longer condemn the teachers of youth for having
approved, or for not having disapproved, a legitimate de
sire for the exercise of valor; do not inflict imprisonment
or fine for their failing to denounce to the vengeance of
your tribunals a pupil, perhaps a spiritual son.
No longer make it a crime for generous souls to refuse
a morsel of bread, an alms, a temporary shelter to the
man of the people who tears himself away from his fire
side to fly to the defense of his fatherland. Do not punish
charity. Do not set traps for noble young fellows by inviting
them to furnish or transmit correspondence or uncensored
documents to keep recruits and to betray companions in
misfortune.

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 223
When a wretched young fellow is arrested, do not use
lessly prolong his preventive detention. Grant him counsel
to sustain him and to defend him before his judges. He
has that right; see to it that there is . some proportion
between the crime and the penalty. Stop the promiscuous
awarding of penal servitude, the pain of death, as deterrent
to breaches of the law.
We claim for the clergy neither exceptional regulations
nor a systematic application of the right of pardon. We
only want a genuine interpretation of the law.
Is it not astounding, in truth, that Belgians are reduced
to ask for strict justice?
When the German army invaded our territory, the
Chancellor of the empire avowed in the face of the world
that Germany was violating our rights ; he promised to leave
nothing undone to repair our wrongs. It is not then the
simple respect for justice that we ought tx> look for at her
hands but earnest good-will, a spirit of reparation, an ef
ficacious desire to reduce for us to a minimum all the dis
agreeable consequences of an occupation unjustifiable from
its very inception.
Receive, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. I. 5898. June 28th, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I acknowledge receipt of your Eminence's esteemed let
ter of the 23 rd inst. First of all, to avoid all confusion,
I ask you to note that in my letter of June 4th (No. 5193)
I did not deplore the severe and deserved condemnations
incurred by priests before military courts; I simply mani
fested my lively regret to discover that in certain dioceses,
in spite of all my efforts to get superior ecclesiastics to in
fluence the priests subject to them, the number of breaches
against my regulations committed by members of the clergy
had not diminished.

224 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Even lately ecclesiastics have not hesitated to profane
the sacred character of their churches by poisoning therein
the spirit of the Belgian people and inspiring it with hatred.
From the pulpit they have hurled against my country and
the occupying power insults and baseless accusations. They
ought to be punished for having been, if not the authors,
at least the propagators of publications vilely insulting.
We could not tolerate the assistance given by priests
to secret organizations having for their object to injure
Germany and increase the forces of our enemies already
so considerable, by permitting Belgians of military age to
cross the frontier.
Although I do not indulge the hope that these fresh
declarations will result in changing your Eminence's opinion
on the grave breaches of which members of the clergy
never cease to render themselves guilty, yet I cannot omit a
refutation of the mistaken notions which seem to form the
basis of your judgment.
I regard it as my chief duty to protect most energetic
ally, in the part of Belgium which we occupy, the German
interests of which his Majesty the Emperor has made me
the guardian. I should fail in this duty if in compliance
with your Eminence's wishes I refrained from prosecuting
those who commit acts that endanger the security of the
empire and those who urge the people to commit them.
Be also impartial enough, my Lord Cardinal, to respect
our patriotic feelings, you who not only pay homage to
the patriotic demonstrations of the clergy and people of
Belgium in general, but encourage them in circumstances
which are of a nature to create intolerable situations. As
to the rest of my letter, I feel bound, in order to avoid mis
understandings which might easily have unpleasant conse
quence for those concerned, to make the following state
ment: During the occupation the only legal political power
in the occupied territory is what I exercise. To this power
alone is obedience due and not to the king of the Belgians
and his government, whose power in the occupied ter
ritory is in fact and in law extinct. Should this obedience

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 225
be not willingly given, I am then compelled to exact it by
the enforcement of the German penal laws.
These laws are applicable to all the inhabitants of the
occupied territory without any exception as to persons. The
courts only do their duty when they enforce these laws
justly and without consideration of the person arraigned.
According to the principles of German jurisprudence, they
must not yield to any influence nor permit themselves to be
enticed to deliver judgment according to instructions.
On myself alone rests the responsibility for the main
tenance of order and the welfare of the population, and it
belongs to me alone to judge of the fitness of the steps
that must be taken for its preservation. I have never
ceased to appreciate the Belgians' patriotism nor have I
forbidden its legitimate display.
It is now two years since I accepted the office of Gov
ernor General. If during that time in spite of the incessant
instigation to hatred and passive resistance against the state
of things caused by the occupation the Belgian people have
remained calm, and, as I acknowledge, given proof of being
better disposed toward us, it must surely be ascribed to the
steps I have taken, steps that are just but which necessity
at times renders severe. In so doing I am conscientiously
performing a duty, which is to watch over the welfare of
the land intrusted to my care and the fulfillment of which I
have much at heart.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. Yours devotedly,
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
July 12th, 191 6.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General
of Belgium, Brussels.
Baron — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your Excellency's letter of June 28th. In the mind of the
writer perhaps that letter required no reply; but considered
from my point of view it demands some explanations.

226 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
First. Your Excellency reverts once more to the ser
mons of the clergy and censures them in terms which I
prefer not to repeat. But why has your Excellency so
brusquely cut short a correspondence which we were carrying
on in regard to that very subject and which you yourself had
invited ?
You have, indeed, at various times brought ill-defined
charges against the sermons of our priests; I ventured to
ask of you more precise accusations and in several cases you
did not refuse. In each of these I forthwith held an in
quiry and laid the results before you. In every case the"
charges were proved unfounded. This rebutting method of
inquiry — the only means of shedding light on the cases
under consideration — happily stopped several hasty con
demnations. Would it then be equitable or wise to abandon
now this mode of procedure and fall back upon accusations
which cannot be investigated?
Second. Another complaint. Certain members of the
clergy assist lads to join the Belgian army. But your Ex
cellency surely is not unaware that Belgium and Germany,
through no fault of ours, are two enemy belligerent na
tions? These noble souls that run the risk of the most
severe punishments, even electrocution, to go and defend
their country, can you impute it as a crime to a priest that
he should share this admiration? Some of these brave
youths fall by the way victims of their patriotic bravery.
Are they not more than a sufficient ransom for your mili
tary regulations?
Others reach their goal and add a few units to the
handful of soldiers of the Yser, but can they cause dis
quietude to an army of eight and a half million? This
last remark is not mine, but it was flung at us months ago
by one of your most prominent chiefs. It was not the
time then to take it up.
Third. Your Excellency has, you say, to guard German
security, "die deutsche Sicherheit," and must therefore take
account of every act likely to bring about unendurable situa
tions, "unhaltbaren Zustanden."
Such indefinite expressions are not of a kind to promote

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 227
the understanding for which your Excellency had craved
my co-operation. Certainly the Governor General's vigi
lance should include the whole army of occupation; but
should it sacrifice thereto the Belgian people? Your Ex
cellency is kind enough to repeat that you have at heart
the welfare of the country intrusted to your administration.
A country's chief blessing is its liberty. Treat, I pray you,
the Belgians as a nation not yet conquered. Do not exas
perate them by claiming to stifle in their breasts their hopes
of a better time to come. Your vigilance will be thereby
less frequently demanded.
We too are concerned to reconcile the welfare of the
Belgians with the security of the Germans, for we aim
at respecting the rights of nations. Thus whatever turn
military operations may one day take, we shall preach to
our people what we have preached to them long before your
regiments ever trod the Belgian soil, namely, that we must
commit to our army and to our loyal allies the defense of
our liberty.
Your Excellency sees but one danger to the public order,
the extolling of the virtue of patriotism. I see another,
the exasperation of a people unjustly oppressed.
Your Excellency sees but one remedy for the evil that
you fear, Might. I see another and a better one, respect
for civic dignity.
I believe I understand better than any foreigner the
Belgian people's soul.
Fourth. Anxious to obviate misunderstandings, your
Excellency devotes the second part of your letter to a state
ment of principles on the situation of the occupying power,
on the responsibilities which weigh upon you, on the method
by which you intend to govern us.
On this point, Baron, there is between us a fundamental
and irreducible divergence.
A nation has only one legitimate supreme authority;
two are quite inconceivable.
As long as Belgium is not recognized by international
law as a constituent part of the German Empire, the occu-

228 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
pied provinces legally and morally depend on their legiti
mate government and on it alone.
The occupying power possesses an authority de facto,
but can claim no "right" to such possession.
The occupied country has to submit to the "de facto"
authority. Obedience, as a moral obligation, is due only to the
authority of the legitimate government, which, despite the
momentary obstacles limiting its sovereign prerogative, is
and remains the government of the country.
I am quite aware this legitimate government requires us
to accept, without any signs of external disaffection, the
regulations of the occupying power, so long as these violate
neither international law nor our dignity as patriots. I am
aware also that, with these limitations, the above-mentioned
government expects us to observe these regulations in order
thus to spare Belgium falling into a condition worse than
that which has been imposed on it by force.
It is for these reasons we respect these regulations our
selves and enjoin others to do the same.
But when the occupying power violates The Hague con
vention or does violence to our dignity as men or as citizens
of the Belgian nation, we must raise our voice in protest.
Your Excellency attempts to stifle this protest and reserves
to yourself the right to speak, saying that, "You alone are
qualified to judge of what the public order and the welfare
of our population demand."
Excuse me, your Excellency. The Hague convention is
not a decree of an occupying power, but an international
contract. This contract Germany has signed in the same way
as Belgium. We are powerless to restrain the power of
your military arm, but we have the right, and at the same
time the duty, of satisfying our conscience in reminding
you that an account will be exacted from you one day before
the international tribunal of The Hague and also before
history of the use or misuse you have made of the weapons
of power. The empire that you represent has pledged itself at The
Hague never to misuse this power, if ever it came into pos-

PATRIOTIC ACTION OF PRIESTS 229
session of it. You are bound in conscience by this pledge.
Kant, to whom must be attributed the perversion of all
German philosophical speculation and against whose in
fluence I am proud to have struggled throughout my
career, divorces right from morality. Hence the notion
which identifies right with an authority devoid of aught save,
the simple power of coercion. Against this arbitrary mental
identification, justifying as it does despotism, the conscience
of humanity protests.
I fear that your Excellency, in spite of your natural up
rightness and religious sentiments and the promise made to
us, in writing or in conversation, to alleviate our misfortunes
and to heal our wounds, is dominated unconsciously by this
false notion of government. Thus it is that today you
declare you expect from stern severity alone the consolida
tion of your power of occupation.
Receive, dear Governor General, the expression of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXV
PROTEST OF THE BISHOPS AGAINST THE ENROLLMENT IN
THE GERMAN ARMY OF YOUNG BELGIANS OF
GERMAN PARENTAGE
The Imperial Government declared its intention of forc
ing into the rank of the German army all young men of
German parentage born in Belgium, but who had become
legally naturalized Belgians through having publicly de
clared in favor of the country of their birth. At various
places, notably at Brussels, Verviers and Nivelles, a number
of young men in this category were summoned to appear
before the military authorities. After undergoing a medical
examination they were given a temporary holiday to await
being drafted.
The Cardinal, together with the Bishops of Liege,
Namur and Tournai, protested against this open violation
of The Hague convention. Archbishop' s House, Malines,
July 3d, 19 1 6.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Your Excellency — The whole Belgian nation is deeply
moved at the news that young men of German extraction,
who have declared for Belgian nationality, are threatened
with enrollment in the German army. Such a measure is
opposed to The Hague convention, to which Germany has
put her signature. It does violence to the deepest senti
ments of our Belgian fatherland by dragging away from
it its adopted children. It outrages the conscience of many
young men, who, already saddened by their present inability
230

YOUNG BELGIANS IN GERMAN ARMY 231
to serve their country, see themselves compelled to take
arms against her.
For these reasons the bishops of Belgium in the interest
of morality, with the guardianship of which they have been
intrusted, have recourse to your Excellency. They venture
to express their confidence that you will spare no effort
to prevent the authorities of the empire from committing
such a flagrant infringement both of the international law
and the rights of conscience, and further that your Excel
lency will make an effort to spare our country, already so
sorely tried, the infliction of so cruel a humiliation.
Kindly accept in anticipation the expression of our
thanks for the intervention we solicit and feel sure you
will not refuse, as also the assurance of our sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
(Signed) Th. Louis Heylen,
Bishop of Namur,
(Signed) M. H. Rutten,
Bishop of Liege,
(Signed) Am. M. Crooy,
Bishop of Tournai.
The Governor General replied neither to the bishops'
letter nor to a petition on the same subject addressed to
him, about the same time, by a number of notabilities of the
legal and political world dwelling in occupied parts of Bel
gium. Nevertheless, these decrees which had begun to be
put into force were allowed to lapse and the plan of forcible
enrollment in the German army of young Belgians of Ger
man parentage was not carried out.

CHAPTER XXVI
THE CARDINAL'S PUBLIC ADDRESS IN THE CHURCH OF STE.
GUDULE, JULY 21, 1916
The Governor of Brussels, Lieutenant General Hurt,
forbade the celebration of the National Day, July 21. In
a manifesto published as early as the 17th, he prohibited
under a penalty of six months and a fine of 20,000 marks
any "demonstration on the occasion; such as public meet
ings, processions, speeches, addresses, school treats, the
floral decoration of certain statues, beflagging of buildings,
public or private, early closing of shops, restaurants, etc."
On the eve of the celebration appeared a further warn
ing of the Governor, in which the public was advised to have
nothing to do with a certain section of irresponsible people
who, it was rumored, were endeavoring to influence the
population against the observance of the decree and that
penalties for infraction of the order would be applied ruth
lessly and without mercy.
These threats were followed by the appearance in the
streets of patrols of armored cars, destined to instill fear
into the people's minds. The only result of these measures
was to stimulate further the desire of the inhabitants of
Brussels to manifest their patriotic ardor. Hence, while re
specting the letter of the decree, they had recourse to numer
ous devices, each more ingenious than the other, in celebrat
ing the National Day. In most churches a dirge was sub
stituted for the customary Te Deum. The ceremony in
the Church of St. Gudule was graced by the presence of
the Cardinal. The great church on the occasion was filled
to overflowing; hundreds of people, unable to obtain access
to it, stationed themselves in the adjoining square.
After the gospel the Cardinal ascended the pulpit in
232

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 233
vestments and miter and pronounced the following allocu
tion :
"Before beginning I want you to do an act of self-
restraint; should any of you feel overcome by strong emo
tion, kindly refrain from showing it. The hour for ex
pressing adequately the intensity of your feelings has not
yet struck. " 'Jerusalem facta est habitatio exterorum ; dies festi
ejus conversi sunt in luctum.' (Jerusalem was made the
habitation of strangers; her festival days were turned into
mourning.) — Machabees, Book I, chapter I, verses 40-41.
"My dearest Brethren — We were to have gathered here
together to celebrate the eighty-fifth anniversary of our
national independence.
"Fourteen years hence on this very day our cathedrals
restored and our churches rebuilt will open wide their doors.
The people will crowd them, our King Albert, standing on
his throne, will freely bow his unconquered head before his
Majesty, the King of Kings. The Queen and the royal
princes will form a group around him. We ourselves shall
hear the joyous pealing of our bells and throughout the
entire country, under the vaults of our temples, we Belgians,
hand in hand, will renew our oaths to God, to our sovereign,
to our liberties, while our bishops and priests, true inter
preters of the soul of the nation, shall intone in the enthusi
asm of their gratitude a triumphal Te Deum.
"Today the hymn of joy dies on our lips.
"The Jewish people in captivity in Babylon sat and wept
on the banks of the Euphrates and watched the waters of
the river as they flowed, while their harps hung silent amidst
the skirting willows. Who would have the courage to sing
the song of Jehovah in a strange land? 'O Jerusalem, our
fatherland,' cried the psalmist, 'if I forget thee, let my
right hand be forgotten ! Let my tongue cleave to my jaws,
if I do not remember thee, if I make not thee the beginning
of my joy.'
"The concluding words of the psalm, embodying a kind
of curse, we pass over in stern silence. We are not of the
Old Testament that sanctioned the law of retaliation, 'Eye

234 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
for an eye, tooth for a tooth.' No words of hatred shall
sully our lips, cleansed as they are by the fire of Christian
love. "To hate is to aim at doing ill and to take pleasure in it.
Whatever may be our sorrows, we will not pursue with
hatred those that inflict them on us.
"National union of hearts is linked among us to world
wide brotherhood.
"But above this sentiment of world-wide brotherhood
we place respect for absolute right, without which inter
course either between individual or between nations is im
possible. "Hence with the greatest authority in Christian theology,
St. Thomas Aquinas, we declare the prosecution of crime by
competent authority is a virtue. Crime, injustice, disturb
ances of the public peace, whether by individuals or by
bodies of men, must be repressed. Conscience is disturbed,
troubled and harassed so long as the guilty, according to the
common expression, so true and at once so expressive, has
not been put in his place. To put things and men in their
proper place is to re-establish order, restore equilibrium,
to reintroduce peace on a basis of justice. Public vengeance
understood in this way may offend the susceptibility of
feeble minds. It is, nevertheless, according to St. Thomas
Aquinas, the expression, the law, of charity and of its
flame, which is zeal. The consequent suffering inflicted on
people is a weapon for vindicating outraged right, not an
aim in itself.
"How otherwise love order without detesting disorder?
How wish for peace intelligently without eliminating what
ever undermines it? How, lastly, love one's own brother —
that is, wish him well — without at the same time desiring to
see his mind willingly or by compulsion conform to the im
mutable dictates of justice and truth?
"It is from such high standpoints that war must be
viewed in order to understand its grandeur. Once more I
repeat there may be certain effeminate souls, in whose eyes
war is merely the exploding of mines, the bursting of shells,
the butchery of men, the shedding of blood and the piling

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 235
up of corpses. Short-sighted politicians may still be found
with low views, for whom the stakes of battle are but a
passing interest, the seizure or reconquest of ground or of a
province. "No. If, in spite of its horrors, war — understand a
just war — possesses such stern attractions, it is simply be
cause it is the disinterested act of a people that yield up, or
is disposed to yield up, its most precious possessions, its
life, in defense and in vindication of something that cannot
be weighed, or counted, or purchased — justice, honor, peace
and liberty.
"Have you not felt during the last two years that the
war, the keen sustained attention you bestow upon it (even
from here), purifies you, delivers you from dross, calms
you, makes you look up to something better than yourself?
It is toward the ideal of justice and honor that you rise.
Its charm lifts you up.
"And because this idea — if it is not a vain delusion,
which takes flight like the unsubstantial figment of a dream
— ought to have its seat in a living, subsisting subject, I
am never tired of asserting this truth which keeps us under
its yoke, viz., that God reveals Himself as the Master over
ruling events and the wills of men, the Sacred Master of the
Universal Conscience.
"Oh, if we were able to clasp in our arms our heroes,
who at the front are fighting for us or, in their underground
shelters, impatiently await their turn to advance to the
firing line ; if we were allowed to catch and understand the
beatings of their hearts, is it not this they would say to us:
'I am doing my duty, I am offering myself a victim of jus
tice.' And you wives and mothers, relate to me in your
turn the beauty of these tragic years; wives whose every
thought, sad but at the same time resigned, goes out to the
absent one, telling him of your longings, your long waiting
and your prayers; mothers whose hearts are rent by the
anguish of every minute, you who have given up your sons
and will not take them back, as we contemplate you, our
admiration for you at every moment holds us breathless.
"The head of one of our noblest families wrote to me :

236 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
'Our son of the Seventh Regiment of the Line has fallen ;
my wife and I feel our hearts broken, but if need be we
would gladly give him again.'
"A curate of the capital has just been condemned to
twelve years' penal servitude. I was allowed to go in his
cell to embrace and bless him. 'I have,' said he, 'three
brothers at the front. I believe I am here for aiding my
youngest brother, a lad of seventeen, to join his elder broth
ers; one of my sisters is here in a neighboring cell; but,
thanks be to God, my mother is not alone; she has told
us so; besides she does not weep.'
"Do not our mothers make us think of the mother
of the Machabees? What lessons of moral grandeur!
Both here and on the roads leading to exile in the prisons
and concentration camps in Holland and Germany.
"Do we reflect sufficiently how much those brave men
must suffer, who from the very beginning of the war, from
the day after the defense of Liege and Namur, or the
retreat from Antwerp, have seen their military career de
stroyed and now chafe under their inability to bear arms;
those guardians of our rights and our commercial freedom,
who, by their bravery, have been reduced to inactivity?
There is courage in leaping to the attack; there is no less
in holding back from it ; there is even more virtue at times
in suffering than in action. And these two years of the
Belgian people's calm submission to the inevitable, this en
during tenacity which made a humble woman, before whom
the possibilities of an early peace were discussed, to exclaim :
'Oh! for us there is no haste; we can still wait.' How
beautiful and full of instruction for the coming generations !
This is what we must consider, my brethren, namely, the
magnanimity of the nation in sacrifice, our universal and
persevering brotherhood in afflictions, in mourning and in
the same invincible hope ; that is what we must bear in mind
in order to estimate our Belgian fatherland at its true
worth. "Now, the first authors of this moral greatness are our
soldiers. "While waiting until they return, when grateful Bel-

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 237
gium will acclaim the living and crown the memory of the
fallen, let us raise up in our souls an imperishable monu
ment of religious gratitude. Let us pray for those who are
no more and exclude no one from our compassion.
"The blood of Christ has flown for all. It is probable
that they are expiating in purgatory the last traces of human
frailty. It belongs to you to hasten their entrance into
paradise. Succor the distress of the poor man who is
known to you, of the poor man who is bashful. Give your
superfluity to those who lack the needful. Assist at the
mass which is celebrated each week in your parish church
for our departed soldiers, take with you your children, get
them to communicate and communicate with them.
"Pray also for those who stand ever in the line of fire !
At the moment I am speaking to you, say to yourselves:
Some are now in their agony, the vision of eternity has
risen up before them. Let us think of them and obtain for
them a holy death.
" 'Our soldiers are our masters,' wrote recently a French
academician ; 'they are our teachers, our leaders, our judges,
our supporters, our true friends; let us be worthy of them
and imitate them. To induce us not to do less than our
duty, they are invariably disposed to do more than theirs.'
"The hour of our deliverance draws near, but has not
yet struck. Let us remain patient. Let not our courage
falter. Let us leave to divine Providence the care of per
fecting our national education.
"Young women and young girls, let me ask if you re
gard with sufficient gravity the present hour. Pray, do not
show yourselves strangers to your country's mourning; there
are fashions and attitudes insulting to sorrow. Modesty is
for you a halo and a virtue ; it is, moreover, today a patriotic
duty. You also should think of the privations and endur
ance of our soldiers.
"Let our minds be permeated with the great law of the
austerity of life. 'How much ought we not,' continues the
patriot I have just quoted, 'how much ought we not, in the
relatively easy conditions and in the less exposed regions
which are ours and which do not merit the name of war

238 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
zone, to apply our efforts to practice self-restraint, to be
more simple in our life and ways, and, like our soldiers, but
in our own way, to brace ourselves up to exercise more
effective energy? Let us not squander a moment of our
lives in amusement or relaxation. Let us not spend a
minute of our lives, save for the splendid gain for which
our brothers sacrifice so lovingly their own.'
"And just as at the front our heroes offer us the mar
velous and consoling spectacle of an inseparable union, of a
military brotherhood which nothing can impair; thus in our
ranks, less serried and with a more elastic discipline, we
shall aim, none the less, at preserving the same cohesion,
the same patriotic concord. We shall respect the truce im
posed on our disputes by the great cause which alone should
employ and absorb all our means of attack and fighting;
and if wicked and wretched men do not understand the
urgency or the beauty of this national harmony and still
determine in spite of everything to foment the passions
which at other times divide us, we will turn away and con
tinue, without deigning to reply, to remain faithful to the
pact of union, friendship, loyal and sincere confidence, which,
in spite of them, we have made with them, under the grand
inspiration of the war.
"The approaching date of the first centenary of our in
dependence should find us stronger, more courageous, more
united than ever. Let us prepare for it by work, by pa
tience, by brotherhood. When in 1930 we remember the
dark years of 19 14-19 16, they will appear to us brighter,
more majestic and, provided today we know how to make
up our mind, they will prove the happiest and most fruitful
of our national history. 'Per crucem ad lucem.' Light
springs from sacrifice."
At the end of the service the organ played the "Braban-
conne." Up to that point the congregation, obedient to the
recommendations of the Cardinal, had restrained their emo
tion, but scarcely had the last note of the national hymn
died away than spontaneously a cry burst forth from every
breast: "Long live Belgium! Long live the King!"
At the termination of the ceremony the Cardinal, ac-

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 239
cording to custom, was conducted processionally to the
deanery situated close to the church. The crowd pressed
up to the door of the sacristy and met him with the cry:
"Long live the Cardinal! Long live liberty!"
In the evening about 8 o'clock passers-by recognized
the Cardinal's motorcar waiting at the gate of St. Louis's
Institute. A crowd at once collected and the instant the
Cardinal entered his carriage to return to Malines he was
acclaimed with enthusiastic shouts by a crowd that every
moment grew denser. A German officer appeared on the
scene, accompanied by a detachment of soldiers, and brutally
ordered a bayonet charge and several persons were
wounded. The Cardinal's motorcar rapidly disappeared in
the direction of Malines. The following day Lieutenant
General Hurt sent a letter to the Burgomaster of Brussels
from which we extract the following passages :*
"When the Cardinal in the evening passed through the
city in his motorcar, a demonstration hostile to the German
authorities took place of such a nature as to rouse the popu
lation to resistance and ill-considered acts. You must agree,
sir, that no occupying power in the world could tamely sub
mit to such provocation.
"In consequence I have suggested to the Governor Gen
eral that he should inflict a fine upon the entire population
of Brussels. The Governor General has agreed to my pro
posal and has inflicted a fine of a million marks."
The incidents that marked that day, July 24th, occa
sioned an exchange of letters between his Eminence and the
Governor General. Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
July 24th, 191 6.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
Throughout the country generally July 24th passed
without incident. It was only at Brussels that a demonstra
tion took place incompatible with the regime of occupa
tion. * Note — This letter was published by the censored press. The above text
is taken from "La Belgique" of July 24.

240 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
This demonstration started with your Eminence your
self. The reports which have reached me inform me that
during the address you delivered at St. Gudule's you ex
pressed yourself as follows: "The houi; of deliverance
draws near, but has not yet struck. He who bears the re
sponsibility of this frightful war should receive its deserts.
He that" let loose this storm upon Belgium must be pun
ished. "My dear brethren, pray for the martyrs of liberty,
remain firm and unshaken in your hope, your deliverance
is at hand.
"A curate of our diocese has been sentenced to twelve
years' penal servitude, a nun in our holy church to six years'
imprisonment. Pray for these martyrs who languish in a
prison cell for having served their king and country.
"1830 ... an historic date, when the people of Bel
gium wrung their liberty from their oppressors . . . after
fourteen years and a few days all the churches of Belgium
will resound with the Belgian people's shouts of joy and
gladness." Before coming to a decision respecting this incident, I
pray your Eminence to vouchsafe me, as early as possible,.
an explanation of this affair and inform me if the extracts
quoted above reproduce exactly the words uttered by you.
Misunderstandings have been caused in similar cases. Ac
cordingly, I deem it important for your Eminence to com
municate to me this part of your address. It would interest
me especially to learn if your Eminence spoke with such
certainty of the approaching hour of deliverance.
If this is so, you will kindly inform me of the grounds
on which you base your assertions. Because of the impor
tance which I attach to this fact, I should be grateful to
your Eminence if you would give me a detailed account.
This incident dispenses me from answering your
esteemed letter of the 12th inst. As I cannot admit the
view there expressed, even if purely theoretical, I have re
quested the chief of my political department to reply to your
Eminence.

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 241
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron VON Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
July 25th, 1916.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General
of Belgium.
I am making it a duty to reply by return of post, as
your Excellency desired in the letter No. 6713, you did me
the honor to address to me on July 24th and which I re
ceived this morning. It is fortunate that your Excellency
had the good inspiration to submit to me the report made
to you of the discourse which I preached at St. Gudule on
the 2 ist inst. Nothing is more fitting than that I should
go straight to the point. This method, had it been always
followed, would have spared us in the past the misunder
standings, the recurrence of which we are today both
equally anxious to prevent.
Desirous of removing, as adequately as may be, your
Excellency's anxiety, I will give in parallel columns the
charges made against me in your report and the text of my
sermon. This report, containing twenty-four lines within quota
tion marks, puts into my mouth nine propositions. Of these
nine, four are absolute fiction, one reproduces faithfully a
line of my discourse, the remaining four were indeed spoken
by me, but neither in the sense nor in the context given in
the report.
1. My dear brethren, pray 1. I have nowhere spoken
for the martyrs of liberty, of the martyrs of liberty.
remain firm and unshaken in
your hope; deliverance is at
hand. 2. A nun of Holy Church 2. I have nowhere men-
has been sentenced to six tioned a nun, or our Holy
years' imprisonment. Church, or any woman sen
tenced.

242 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY

3. Pray for the martyrs
who languish in a prison cell
for having served their king
and country.

4. 1830 ... a historic
date, when the Belgian peo
ple wrung their freedom
from their oppressors. . . .
Our brave king and queen
. . . will be carried in
triumph. . . .
5. A curate of our dio
cese has been sentenced to
twelve years' penal servi
tude.

3. I have nowhere spoken
of martyrs, or of prisoners
languishing in prison for
having served their king and
country. 4. I have nowhere spoken
of the king and queen or the
royal princes who would be
carried in triumph through
the ranks of the heroic Bel
gian army.

5. This text is correct. I
said, in fact: "A curate of
the capital has just been sen
tenced to twelve years' penal
servitude."

6. The hour of deliver
ance is near, but has not yet
struck.

Your Excellency does me
the honor of putting to me
the following question: "I
should be very interested to
know if it is a fact that your
Eminence has spoken with
such certainty of the ap
proaching hour of the liber
ation of Belgium. If so,
would you be good enough
to inform me what are the
grounds on which this state
ment is based.

6. This I said. In fact, I
said: "The hour of deliver
ance draws near, but has not
yet struck."
I keenly regret that I can
not fix more precisely the
date of our deliverance, and
I suspect that if the Gover
nor General gave me access
to my King, or allowed me to
visit Joffre, or Robertson,
Von Falkenhayn or Von
Hindenburg, we should not
learn much more. Hence,
after the phrase with which
you find fault, I added im
mediately: "Let us continue
to be patient and not allow

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE

243

our courage to falter. Let
us leave to Providence the
care of completing our na
tional education." I ex
horted my hearers "to en
durance and to patience,"
and I mentioned the exam
ple of "a poor woman who,
hearing the possibility of an
early peace discussed, said:
'Oh, for us there is no hurry;
we can still wait.' "

7-8. He who bears the re
sponsibility of this frightful
war ought to receive his
deserts. He that has let loose this
catastrophe on poor Bel
gium should be punished.

7-8. I did not speak
specifically either of the per
son who let loose the scourge
of actual war or the authors
of the catastrophe with
which Belgium has been vis
ited. I translated into
French the teaching of the
great theologian, St. Thom
as Aquinas. I expounded
principles the application of
which each one must make
for himself. This theolog
ical doctrine formulates the
necessary claims of recog
nized justice. The author of
the report only heard that
and he has distorted it; but
it enunciates the prohibition
of hatred and the law of uni
versal brotherhood. Thus I
said: "Our lips purified by
the fire of Christian charity
do not give utterance to
words of hatred. To hate is
to make another's misfor-

244 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
tune our object and to gloat
over it. Whatever be our
sorrows, we do not enter
tain hatred toward those
who inflicted them. Nation
al concord among us co
exists with universal broth
erhood, but higher than the
sentiment of universal broth
erhood we place respect for
absolute right, without which
there can be no possible in
tercourse either among indi
viduals or nations.

9. In fourteen years and
some days all the churches
of Belgium will vibrate with
shouts of "Hoch," cries of
joy will be raised by the
whole Belgian population.

9. I have not made any
church in Belgium vibrate
with sounds of cheering —
neither have I spoken of
"Hochs," nor of cries of joy,
but of a triumphal Te Deum.
Even so, these are only tri
fling variations of style. But
the report is captious when
you translate the words in
fourteen years on such a day
by "in fourteen years and
some days." This last
touch proves how needful it
is to mistrust spies who un
derstand imperfectly the lan
guage in which our preach
ers express themselves, and
with the hope of profitably
flattering German patriot
ism, use every expedient to
catch or put in default the
honest folk on whom they
spy.

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 245
In a word, sir, about half the report is fiction. Of the
rest scarcely a fifth part is correct. The other four-fifths
mutilates the meaning and changes the order of my
thoughts. Furthermore, I hold at your Excellency's disposition, if
you wish to see it, the complete text of my sermon as it
was read (for I took the precaution of writing and reading
it) from the pulpit of St. Gudule.
Your Excellency is pleased to attribute to me a demon
stration incompatible with the conditions of occupation.
Much might be said about this demonstration, which con
sisted of certain shouts of joy and gratitude, with which the
Belgian authorities were received, but the hour is not yet
come to express on this subject all I have in my mind.
I reject the insinuation implied in this phrase, taken
from your manifesto dated July 22d: "In the evening Car
dinal Mercier motored through the city." I invite your
Excellency to compare your accusation of: "Diese Kundge-
bung ist von Eurer Eminenz selbst ausgegangen" — "This
demonstration originated with your Eminence himself," —
with the repeated declarations of Lieutenant General Hurt,
Governor of Brussels and Brabant: "My prohibition to
celebrate the national festival has induced a small number
of thoughtless persons to invite the public to disobey my
order. I put the inhabitants formally on their guard against
instigations to effect this object." (Notice dated July 20th,
19 1 6.) "The reckless portion of the population has invited
the public, by a liberal distribution of handbills, not to obey
my orders." (Notice under date July 22d, 1916.)
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Brussels, July 28th, 1916.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium.
The Governor General commissions me to convey his
thanks to your Eminence in reply to your esteemed letter of
the 25th inst. for the care and the promptness which you
took to clear up all misunderstandings. The Governor Gen-

246 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
eral recognizes with pleasure that your Eminence had no
intention to add to the agitation discernible among the Bel
gian population.
Nevertheless, his Excellency must protest against your
Eminence's insinuation that the reports of the sermon
preached at St. Gudule are the handiwork of spies. Not
one of these reports comes from any one in our service.
All come from believing Catholics, who had noted with
painful surprise the impression it made on the audience.
Even Belgians disapproved of your Eminence's words, for
they said they must undoubtedly have excited men's minds
and exercised an influence on their conduct outside the
church. Without doubt your Eminence wishes now to foster the
belief that the words which you employed have been mis
understood. But simple people noticed in a special manner
such phrases as "The hour of deliverance approaches, but
has not yet struck." In spite of all the subtle qualifications
with which your Eminence enveloped them, these phrases
stick in the memory. The fact that the words spoken by
your Eminence have been misconstrued is at any rate a
proof that you did not clearly take into account the possible
effect of your discourse.
In spite of all your good intentions, your Eminence
hinders people from forming a true idea of the actual
situation. Your Eminence wrote that not one of the com
manders-in-chief of the armies in the field could predict the
end of hostilities. Accordingly, the Governor General is at
a loss to understand how your Eminence can on your own
account foretell the issue of the war. In any case, the Gov
ernor General earnestly entreats your Eminence to be on
your guard for the future and to avoid all misunderstand
ings and for this purpose to refrain from uttering in public
statements liable to mislead the people. Your Eminence
has declared over and over again that you knew quite well
the temper of the Belgian people, but you must not lose
sight of the fact that declarations made by an orator easily
and very often produce effects quite opposite to those in
tended.

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 247
In conclusion I should like to rectify a mistake made by
your Eminence. In his letter of July 24th the Governor
General says : "This demonstration began with your Emi
nence." The words "this demonstration" referred solely
to the sermon preached at St. Gudule. The Governor Gen
eral had no intention of discussing with your Eminence the
incidents which took place during the evening. These have
already been examined by another authority. Hence the
consequences which your Eminence deduces from this mis
understanding fall to the ground.
I shall shortly have the honor of answering in detail the
letter which your Eminence has addressed to the Governor
General dated July 12th, and shall have an opportunity
also of touching on another question, which, because of the
agitation that it constantly keeps alive among the Belgian
people, calls for a definitive solution.
Please accept the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Lancken.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
July 30th, 1916.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your
Excellency's letter No. 6827, which you commissioned
Baron von der Lancken to write in your name.
In its general purport it recognizes — and I am glad of
it — that my discourse of July 21st had been wrongly de
nounced. The report made to your Excellency was incor
rect, and thus the fundamental misunderstanding is re
moved. Yet, on two points of detail, the author of the letter de
clares that he is not satisfied. He finds that I have assumed
the role of prophet because I have said, "The house of de
liverance draws nigh." Next, that I falsely boast of know
ing the temper of the Belgian people ; the demonstration of
the 2 ist proves me lacking in foresight.
But I did not say, "The hour of deliverance draws
nigh" but, "The hour of deliverance draws nigh, but has not

248 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
struck. Let us persevere in patience. Do not let our cour
age falter. Let us commit to Divine Providence the care of
perfecting our national education." The first clause taken
by itself is as vague as its meaning is clear when read
joined to its context. This proves once more that any two
lines taken from an author are enough to hang him.
Imagine you have before you a prisoner sentenced to a
year's imprisonment. After eight months of durance you
say to him, "Courage, my friend, the hour of deliverance
draws nigh." Do you think he does not understand? The
prisoner is Belgium — she, too, understands.
But, you say, if she understands, how is it that she
revolts despite your discourse, which you pretend to be
soothing and comforting words? Either your words are
not soothing or you do not understand the Belgian men
tality. First of all, I reply : Is this real or apparent agitation
the direct effect of my sermon? Did you not acknowledge
that on the 20th — that is before my sermon of the 21st was
preached — signs of this agitation were already visible ? If
instead of threatening with six months' imprisonment or a
fine of 20,000 marks any one laying a flower at the foot
of a national monument, or being so bold as to close their
cafe or shop on Independence Day, you had shown defer
ence, even only by silence, to our national feelings, the
people would not have been driven to defiance.
This is what I hinted at when I concluded my letter
on the 25th with these words, which, out of respect for my
correspondent, I left somewhat vague: "I did but utter
words of charity and comfort; provocation must be sought
elsewhere." What is gravest in the eyes of the occupying power
in the demonstration of the 21st is evidently the incident
that took place, "in the evening when the Cardinal passed
through the streets in his motorcar," it being understood
that this demonstration brought about the sentence of con
demnation pronounced by the Governor of Brussels and
Brabant: "Therefore I have suggested to the Governor
General that he should inflict a fine on the entire popula-

ADDRESS AT STE. GUDULE 249
tion of Brussels. The Governor General has agreed to my
suggestion and inflicted a fine of a million marks."
What was the extent of this demonstration, of which I
can speak with knowledge, having myself been a witness
of the event? The drive which the German Governor of
Brussels and Brabant describes me as making in a motorcar
through the streets of the city was one of a good hundred
yards, namely from St. Louis's Institute to the point on the
boulevard immediately opposite Rue de Brabant.
I took my place as quietly as possible in a closed car,
the windows of which were hermetically shut. A few per
sons accompanied me on this short journey and cheered but
without uttering a single sound that could give offense to
the German authorities. The police, who had allowed the
people to assemble freely near St. Louis's Institute, then or
dered quite unnecessarily a bayonet charge while my car was
taking the most direct route toward Malines — that is Rue
de Brabant. Once the hundred yards of the boulevard were
passed nobody at all followed my car. These are the facts
in all their simplicity.
Frankly, is there here matter for a fine of a million
two hundred and fifty thousand francs? Moreover, since
your Excellency is quite willing to say that my sermon at
St. Gudule was not seditious, would it not be consistent
and just to remit a punishment which was justified in the
eyes of the occupying power only by this alleged act of
sedition? Receive, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
For his part, the pro-burgomaster of Brussels, M. Le
monnier, in the name of the communal administration of the
whole of Brussels, addressed a request to the Governor
General to revise his decision. Baron von Bissing remained
inflexible and the penalty was exacted.

CHAPTER XXVII
THE RIGHTS OF THE OCCUPYING POWER
In his letter of June 28th, 1916, Baron von Bissing
had explained what he considered to be his role as Governor
General and subsequently had laid down certain principles
as to the position of the occupying power. The Cardinal
had answered defending the theory which he had upheld
in his first letter to the Governor General and which he had
laid before his people in his pastoral, "Patriotism and En
durance": "The occupying power is not a lawful power;
it is a power de facto; the only power de jure in Belgium is
that of the King and his Government."
The Governor General never returned to the charge.
It was Baron von der Lancken who resumed the discussion.
The controversy between the Cardinal and the chief of the
Political Department respecting the rights of the occupying
power called forth an exchange of long letters, having the
form of pamphlets at once political and philosophical.
Political Department of the Governor General of Belgium,
Brussels, August ist, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
In your letter addressed to the Governor General dated
July 1 2th, your Eminence made several reflections on prin
ciples respecting the right of occupation. I have the honor
to make the following observations to your Eminence on
this subject.
First, I would have you take notice that it is only an
exchange of theoretical views. Your Eminence expresses
ideas which go far beyond the purely juridical scope of the
Hague Convention. The text of the Hague Convention
to which the force of an international contract has been
250

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 251
given (the question, in so far as it concerns us now, is
chiefly treated in Chapter IV) contains not a single word
relative to the question touched upon by your Eminence.
On the other hand, the positive provisions laid down in
regard to occupation in this chapter are clear and precise.
The exchange of views between your Eminence and myself
leads us therefore into a research, which would have more
than anything the character of a study preparatory to a fu
ture Hague Conference. As regards myself personally, I
eagerly embrace this opportunity of expounding my views on
this subject.
In the first place, I recognize that the Hague Conference
contains serious gaps. From the standpoint of occupation
it expressly defines the duties of the occupying power, but it
is silent regarding the duties of the population of the occu
pied territory. In the case of a prolonged occupation, these
provisions are inadequate, for the population should not
be content calmly to await the decision of arms; it should
also take part in the work of administration, undertaken
chiefly in its interest by the occupying power. Your Emi
nence will grant me that some positive provisions of this
kind, inserted in the Hague Convention, would have assisted
the population to triumph over many scruples. At the same
time, I only give this as my personal opinion.
I come now to the letter of July 12th last. Your Emi
nence there puts forth once more the view that the occupy
ing power has no legitimate rights, but only power de facto.
I should like to remind your Eminence of the provisions of
articles 42 and 43 of Chapter IV. There the transfer
of power de facto to the occupant is quite "legitimate."
According to an international contract, which is in keeping
with all the rules and has been ratified by the contracting
parties, this transfer flows automatically from an actual state
of occupation. It appears to me that your Eminence in your
character of moralist and philosopher, in making use of
the expression de jure, conceived an idea which the jurists
of the Hague purposely set aside. For a division of legis
lative power is impossible and therefore what is de facto
must be also de jure. What, after all, really matters is

252 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
merely the exercise of legislative authority and its docile
acceptance by the population.
Let your Eminence then imagine what would happen
if the Belgian people received at the same time contra
dictory orders from its former Government on the one
hand, and from the occupying power on the other. On this
point your Eminence does not agree with the Havre Gov
ernment. Thus, for instance, in the question of military service,
the Belgian Government recognizes the lawfulness of the
German regulations forbidding the crossing of the frontier.
The new military laws which it has promulgated are en
forceable only on Belgians living abroad. They do not men
tion Belgians living in the occupied territory; therefore they
exclude them from the operations of the laws, and neither
consider them blameworthy nor bad patriots.
In distinguishing power de jure and power de facto, in
upholding the existence of a special lawful authority, your
Eminence appears to me to fall into the same mistake with
which, from a purely philosophical standpoint, you reproach
Kant. Your Eminence, in a word, separates morality and
right. We may consider the occupation as a provisional state.
It is nevertheless a juridical state, the consequences of which
must be borne by all who are subject thereto. Of course
each one has also the right to enter a protest against even
tual infringements of the Hague Convention.
May I remind your Eminence that the Belgian courts
of law in every appeal have been engaged in the question
whether or no the German decrees were in conformity with
the Hague Convention? It is therefore useless to require
for that act of theirs a special lawful authority. This in
practice has the inconvenience of appearing as a purely
moral authority above the law in vigor of, and therefore in
opposition to, the Hague Convention, which is the only
source of right in this matter. Thus in your first Pastoral,
your Eminence gave in truth an instruction which tended to
obstruct the work of organization of the occupying power,
by holding back the population from taking part therein.

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 253
As to myself I consider that this way of acting entails
important consequences. When for instance the occupation
is protracted, it may become more dangerous than a direct
violation of public order, which should be repelled by armed
force. The population chiefly is interested in the smooth
working of affairs and each citizen should consider it his
duty to co-operate therein, just as public servants do by con
tinuing to serve their country in the exercise of their func
tions under the direction of the German authorities.
In this connection, I might recall the conduct of many
ecclesiastics of which the Governor General complained in
his letter to the Bishops. I should like your Eminence to
draw a clear distinction between patriotism and the stirring
up of the people against the occupying power. Would your
Eminence defend the spreading of writings insulting to Ger
many or indeed approve of sermons in which our army is
held up to scorn?
We have had the recent case of a priest who, though
not a Belgian, was prosecuted for an offence of this nature.
To my way of thinking a loyal patriot in the occupied ter
ritory should hold aloof from every demonstration. He
would thus enjoy everybody's esteem and his attitude would
be thus quite compatible with a docile acceptance of the
regime of occupation.
The Governor General, acting in harmony with the ec
clesiastical authorities, endeavored to shield priests from
conviction. On that occasion your Eminence expressed to
him your gratitude. The reasons for which, in order to
hinder these abuses, the Governor General gave up having
recourse to ecclesiastical discipline have been stated to
your Eminence by him personally.
But it can never be feasible, according to the views ex
pressed by your Eminence in your letter of June 23rd, to
subject ecclesiastics accused of any offence to a special form
of jurisdiction. Nor can it be a question of enforcing in their regard the
Belgian criminal legislation. Your Eminence here falls
into some confusion. The penal Belgian laws are made for
the Belgian State and it is in accordance with these laws

254 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
that judgments are delivered in the Belgian courts of justice.
The occupying power protects its own interests by means
of its own regulations and penal laws. This is also the
case when a foreign territory is occupied, as, for instance,
Greece. Your Eminence will admit that a state in occupa
tion cannot be content with the less severe laws prevailing in
peace time.
Your Eminence finds inexact the phrase "an unendurable
situation" (unhaltbare Zustande). The reason for this is
that if trivial misdemeanors were tolerated, political agita
tion would quickly assume such proportions that it could not
be kept under, save by measures of extraordinary severity.
And this is the case when exaggerated demonstrations of
patriotism take place from the pulpit. Your Eminence, be
ing a learned psychologist, will not deny that it is violently
inconsistent to rouse the feelings of an audience and then
to ask it to remain perfectly calm. If men continue to rouse
patriotic feelings an "unendurable situation" will be brought
about, which, in the interest of the general public, we must
avoid. I take advantage of this opportunity to draw your Emi
nence's attention to what continually happens in the Grotto
of Lourdes at Laeken. I believe that if you would give
these priests a general warning to confine themselves to
their religious ministry, you would put an end to a movement
which, if it grew, would necessitate the intervention of the
German authorities.
I know well that your Eminence in your Pastoral entitled
"Patriotism and Endurance" declared after St. Thomas
Aquinas that patriotism is a Christian virtue. You hold
therefore that it should be upheld in the churches. But it is
needful that this should be done in a just measure, I would
willingly say in a liturgical measure, and no one should
transform a demonstration of patriotism into a violent po
litical outburst, little in keeping with divine worship.
Your Eminence will permit me to recall here the words
which you uttered before the representatives of the civil
power, at the moment when you took possession of your high
ecclesiastical office: "We shall not interfere in politics.

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 255
The day that any one of us should forget the respect due to
civil power enjoying legal independence, remind him, M.
Minister, of this word which is sacred to us, because it
fell from the divine lips of Christ: 'Render to God the
things that are God's and to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's.' "
Your Eminence at the end of your letter speaks of the
influence of Kant. I do not feel called upon to begin a
scientific discussion with a philosopher of such great repute.
I must nevertheless remark that your Eminence does Kant
an injustice when you declare that he has distorted the notion
of right in the mind of the German people. His chief moral
principle was this: "Act in such a wise that the maxim
of thy will may serve at the same time as a principle of
general legislation."
It is in this that we must seek the German conception
of duty, of right and liberty, independently of all theory
of knowledge. While admitting that Kant's philosophy is
theoretically dangerous, it would be necessary to prove that
it has penetrated into the minds of the German people. I
here again permit myself to appeal to your Eminence's tes
timony. In a controversy with the Belgian atheists you
pointed out that the great Protestant nations of Germany
and the United States make it their glory to proclaim offi
cially the sovereign rights of God over humanity.
I have done my best to follow step by step the allega
tions of your Eminence and I should be pleased to feel that
I had thus contributed to remove misunderstandings.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem and have the honor to be.
Yours sincerely,
Lancken.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
August 1 6th, 19 1 6.
To the Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political De
partment of the General Government, Brussels.
Dear Baron — The letter J. N. 6766, with which you
honor me at the request and on behalf of His Excellency

256 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Baron von Bissing, insists on certain general questions previ
ously raised in the despatch of the Governor General under
date of the twenty-eighth of June and on which I have in a
letter of July 1 2 already delivered my opinion.
Your letter dated August ist opens with a preliminary
summary on the "gaps" in the Hague convention which,
as you say, while defining the duties of the occupying power,
does not specify those of the occupied country.
The main part of the letter comprises two sections, one
treating of the occupying power, the other of patriotism
and its display.
In conclusion you break a lance in favor of the moral
teaching of Kant and the religious spirit of the Germans.
A few lines here will suffice to dispose of both the con
cluding portion of your letter as also its main section, stig
matizing once more the patriotism at once so calm and so
patient of the Belgian people.
Clearly it is the first of these two subjects you deem the
more interesting and on which consequently you dwell with
greater zest.
In your view, by condemning the severance of law
from morality, as effected by his philosophy, I have misrep
resented Kant and his influence over the minds of your coun
trymen. You remind me, in this connection, of the funda
mental precept of Kantian ethics and are of opinion
that therein, independently of any theory about the source of
knowledge, must be sought the "German Ideal" of duty, law
and freedom.
Believe me, my dear Baron, it was far from my mind
to deny the existence of ethical teaching — of a high, nay an
excessively high character — in the Kantian Philosophy. I
plainly asumed that in this philosophy there were two terms,
viz., "right and morality," inasmuch as I find fault with
Kant for having sundered them.
You are pleased to ignore this separation and to declare
that "the German idea of things" subordinates legal matters
to a precept of morality. So much the better for you and
those who think as you do ! It proves that nature is often
worth more than systems of philosophy. But bear in mind

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 257
that when you separate yourself from Kant's separatist
theory, you implicitly own that I was right when I found
fault with him.
Not everyone, unluckily, can so readily and lightly
shake himself free from any false theories he may have
cherished. These violent distinctions which Kant draws between
"right" and "morality" ; between morality as the object
of a wholly subjective faith, and the objective knowledge
of morality; between science, as the object of hurried re
flection, and metaphysics, as the object of a more prolonged
and penetrating reflection — these violent sunderings, I re
peat, break up the unity of the inner man, shake the firmness
of moral consciousness, and, as a result, favor selfish com
promises, and, at time of great crisis, even surrender of prin
ciples. How otherwise can we explain the disconcerting spec
tacle of a great and noble nation, which, forgetful of its
pledges, its political aims, even of its deepest convictions,
those, namely, of the Christian and Catholic faith, witnesses
without protests, nay, I should say with cheerfulness, an out
rage — a public, iniquitous, sacrilegious outrage — which a
mighty empire avows itself ready to commit, with full knowl
edge of its deed, on a friendly, innocent and disarmed state ?
I can see only one solution to this riddle. A mental at
mosphere has been produced in Germany, in which legal
matters are divorced from moral right. Kant, Hegel,
Nietzsche have spread this through all ranks of society. In
this atmosphere a militarist idea of things has been formed,
has grown, has gathered strength, according to which the
nation has a right to live and to develop its life to any ex
tent, without being answerable for its doings before that
moral tribunal of conscience which judges our every-day
actions. Imperceptibly, armed force has ceased to seem
what in truth it is — the safeguard of a right based on duty —
and has become, according to public opinion, an end in itself,
an end which bears its own absolute value, set outside of and
above current moral principles, justifying at the same time
all sacrifices and all outrages capable of bearing fruit.

258 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The Grand Chancellor of the Empire had become im
bued with these ideas — corollaries of the initial conception
of a public right different from private right — to such an
extent as to dare to offer Belgium a bargain of which a
felony would have been the reward.
You remind me, Baron, that I have not always judged
Germany so severely, for I formerly held it up as an exam
ple to those among ourselves who blushed to utter the thrice-
holy name of God in public in our legislative assemblies.
To these slaves to human respect I said in fact: "Look at
the great Protestant nations, Germany and the United
States, who glory in officially proclaiming the sovereign
rights of God towards mankind, and on a pre-announced
day offer to Divine Providence the solemn tribute of their
thanksgivings." I did say this, nay, and I will say it again.
But if our public men have sometimes sinned by defect,
others may sin by excess. The Gospel says it is not enough
to cry "Lord, Lord!" to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Religion degenerates into superstition when it does not per
meate our consciences, and morality misses its mark, par
tially at least, when it does not stretch its dominion over all
actions, social as much as individual ones, of the human
personality. I have read and re-read the second part of your letter,
but I dare not flatter myself that I have wholly grasped its
shades of meaning.
To most of the considerations which you there put for
ward, I could willingly answer: Yes and no: yes, we are
in agreement, in one sense; but in another sense, we are by
no means so.
I have not demanded any specially favorable treatment
for our ecclesiastics : but, remembering that the Hague con
vention (Art. 43) makes it the duty of the occupying power
"to respect, unless absolutely unable to do so, the laws in
force in the occupied country," I have put the freedom of
preaching under the protection of the Belgian Constitution,
and consequently I have also put it under the shelter of in
ternational law.

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 259
I do not confuse patriotism with incitement to revolt
any more than you, Baron. With you I recognize that
heated words do not, as a rule, leave the hearers unaffected,
but the thing which matters is to know the object of such
heated words, and what kind of sentiments they are likely
to give birth to and to nourish in the hearts of the hearers.
To preach rebellion against necessary arrests, to drive
suffering hearts to despair, or even simply to allow them to
renounce all hope, is a bad thing. To warmly urge on them
endurance, dignity, confidence, is a great thing.
Like all the moral virtues, patriotism keeps mid-way
between excess and defect. To go beyond one's measure
is an evil ; to stop short of it is also an evil. The sole ques
tion to be defined is then to know at what moment encour
agement to "devotion to one's country" runs to excess, be
comes blameworthy and dangerous.
It is impossible to contain in one single formula all things
appropriate to the coming time. Hence I have offered the
Governor General my help in examining into these special
cases where, according to him, the clergy have misused their
ministry of the word. I seize the opportunity to thank
you for having called my attention to sermons which are
preached at the Grotto of Lourdes ; I will not fail to enquire
into this subject.
You fear, Baron, lest we should unduly enlarge the idea
of a lawful patriotism, but are you not yourself inclined to
restrict it unduly?
You seem practically to identify the ministry of the
priesthood with public worship. But we hold that religion,
and the sermons that extol it, ought to take in the whole life,
and — consequently — ought to rule not only the direct deal
ings of the soul with God in the intimacy of the conscience or
in the expression of solemn prayer, but also the whole of
our moral conduct, in all its manifold manifestations, both
private and public.
New circumstances give rise to new duties. The preacher
of God's word would fail in his task if he did not under
stand that, in the tragic time in which we are, consciences
cry out for light : must they accept the German occupation,

260 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
or merely submit to it? must they love or hate the occupier?
Has an invasion, unjust at the outset, become a lawful
authority, and — if that be so — how are we to bring due
respect for the occupier's orders into harmony with loyalty
to our King? Which is it that comes first, the fact of occu
pation or the right? All these questions, and many others
which are linked with them, cannot be stifled without danger.
They have a moral, a religious, bearing. The clergy are
thoroughly within their own province in setting themselves
to solve these problems.
You remind me of something I said at a banquet, where
the national Government and the Belgian Episcopate joined
hands for the realizing of the motto of our Constitution:
"Freedom for every one." No intrusion of the civil power
into the domain of religion, no meddling by the religious
authorities with political matters. To God the things which
are God's, to Caesar the things which are Caesar's.
Alas, times have changed ! It would be bold, to say the
least, — own this — to compare you to a national Govern
ment. When the relations between the two authorities, secular
and religious, have been restored to what they were in 1907,
I shall be delighted to say once more : Let there be agree
ment between the two authorities on the basis of our consti
tutional liberties. To God the things which are God's, to
Caesar the things which are Caesar's.
I come thus to the main object of our correspondence :
what is the nature of the occupying power, according to the
principles of international right, as codified by the Hague
Conventions? You, Baron, hold that that convention
leaves some gaps, inasmuch as it does not lay down any
duty for the occupied country. You seem not to have
grasped that these gaps were left on purpose.
The law-makers of the Hague Convention had no inten
tion of doing philosophical work; they acted and spoke as
lawyers, as statesmen.
It is amusing enough — now own it — that you should
reproach me — most good-naturedly so far as that goes —
with having read the Hague Convention from the stand-

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 261
point of a "philosopher" strange to the realities of our
earthly life; this reproach falls back straight down upon the
acute diplomat who propounded it.
If the authors of the Hague Convention have not as
signed to the occupied folk any duties with regard to the
occupying power, is it not because they were obedient, on
the whole, to the feeling that there could be no legal duties
— the only ones which come into the question — without cor
responding rights? An occupied country, not having any
longer rights which it could oblige — by physical force —
the occupier to respect, has likewise no duties towards the
same. This thought deserves to have light thrown on it, and I
thank you for giving me the opportunity of studying for a
moment this interesting problem with you.
The most approved speakers of the Hague Congress
said definitely that their aim was, not to give "rights" to
the occupying power and "duties" to the occupied, but to
limit the authority of the occupying power. This is what
M. Rolin, the authorized spokesman of the sub-commission
No. 2 of the first Hague Conference (1899), said: "It has
been formally laid down that none of the proposed articles
can be held as entailing on behalf of those States which
accept them the recognition of any right whatever which
might clash with their respective sovereign rights, and that
the acceptance of these laws implies solely, for each state,
in that which concerns it, the acceptation of a group of
legal rules limiting the outward acts of the de facto author
ity, which the fortunes of war may put into their hands
with regard to any territory or to foreign subjects."
These conclusions of M. Rolin's report, which were ac
cepted and unanimously voted for by the Hague Conference
in a full sitting of July 5th, 1899, renewed the debates on
principles which M. Bernaert had raised. Coming back to
the Brussels proposal, M. Bernaert said: "According to
the Brussels proposal, the conquered, the invaded, country
recognizes beforehand the invader's rights over the for
mer's territory. The invader will either preserve the exist
ing laws, or will change them, and will apply them accord-

262 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
ingly. The officials of the invaded country are authorized
to put themselves at the conqueror's service, if it suit them
to do so. ... A like formal pledge does not seem to me
really admissible. . . . What I have just said holds good
even for the great Powers. Could any man understand that,
beforehand and in the case of war, the beaten side should
confer rights on its own conqueror over its own land and
thus provide its own ruin? . . .
"It does not seem to me that one can concede beforehand
as a right something which necessarily belongs to the domain
of 'fact' and might. And that will seem still more obvious
when it applies to small countries which cannot — in the
nature of things — be invaders, but are exposed to the risk
of being invaded. Here there is not even that uncertainty,
of those material risks, which I described just now. Bel
gium, as you know, is in a peculiar position. It is neutral;
and the neutrality is guaranteed by the great Powers, and
notably by our most powerful neighbors.
"Then we cannot be invaded ; how then could the Belgian
Government submit to the approval of our legislature a
convention in which is anticipated that the big states would
break their pledges to us and which sanctioned in advance
deeds which could only be reckoned as an indisputable mis
use of force? ... In my opinion, we could only adopt
such arrangements as, while admitting the actual fact, with
out recognizing any right on the conqueror's part, would
bind the latter to exercise his power with moderation."
(Hague C. 1899. 2d Sub-C.)
The authorized report of M. Rolin contains the answer
of the Conference to M. Bernaert's speech. "No member
of the Sub-Committee," we there read, "ever had, more
over, any idea that the legal authority of the invaded coun
try might give a kind of sanction beforehand to the de facto
power exercised by an army which invades or occupies a
territory. But the adoption of exact rules, tending to limit
the exercise of that power, did seem a still more evident
necessity, conformable besides to the interests of all the na
tions which in turn the fortunes of war may betray." (Peace
Conference, 1899.)

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 263
Thus appears in its proper light the first article of the
Hague Convention, which governs the whole. "The con
tracting powers — Belgium as much as Germany — shall give
instructions to their land forces in conformity with the regu
lations with regard to the laws and customs of land war
fare annexed to this present Convention."
These declarations are an expression of the philosophy
of right. Every right is a moral power of holding, or of acting,
but not every moral power is a right, in the full sense of that
word. "Right" adds to moral power, which latter implies the
existence of a duty, the outward means of performing the
duty required towards the one who has that right.
In other words, "right" is a moral power, the exercise
of which "force" sanctions and guarantees.
International right regulates the legal relations of one
nation to another.
In the normal course of national life each folk has, with
regard to other nations, its own rights, which it means to
insure respect for by every means in its power, even to, and
including, the use of armed force. But when the normal
course of international life is interrupted, when a nation is
momentarily unable, through weakness, to enforce respect
for its rights, what happens then?
Assuredly, its rights, so far as moral power goes, remain
whole, sacred, morally inviolable, but the holder of those
rights, for lack of effective means to enforce its rights and
make itself sure they are respected, is at the mercy of the
conqueror or of the pro-tem. oppressor.
It is this violent state of things with which the protectors
of international law are dealing.
The Hague Convention comes to the help of the con
quered or the oppressed, and says accordingly to the con
queror, i. e., to the occupying power: You have before
you a folk unable for the moment to resist any misuse of
force, to which you can possibly let yourselves go ; moderate
yourself, control yourself, do not misuse your power.
Should the folk of the occupied territory, exasperated

264 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
by an injustice against which they are defenseless, give way
to a desperate impulse, you would be drawn into bloody acts
of repression, without honor to yourselves or profit to the
victims. Be brave enough then to be just and humane.
The easier it is for you to misuse your strength, the
more your self-respect bids you not to misuse it. The more
the conquered are without means of defence, the more you
owe it to yourself to respect their rights. Indeed, to attack
a strong but guiltless adversary, to overcome his resistance,
is an injustice. To knock that adversary down, to finish
him off after having disarmed him, is monstrous.
A people subjected to an occupation is this disarmed ad
versary. Its rights, because deprived of their natural sanc
tion, intrenched in the inviolable sanctuary of the conscience,
are doubly worthy of respect. Firstly, because they remain
"rights" in themselves, further, because they borrow from
their outward helplessness a majesty to which every well-
bred man cannot but bow.
Therefore the Hague Conference summons the occupy
ing power to its bar to tell him : This folk, whose territory
you occupy, cannot be ruled on a basis of natural rights and
duties, which include the normal legal relations, as a whole,
between nations, but you are not the less bound to respect
their rights — morally inalienable — which we ourselves take
under our protection. Should you happen to violate them,
it is before our tribunal that you will have one day to give
an account for your injustice. Hence we now put before
you the charter of your duties.
Such a situation is plainly precarious. Wherefore the
authors of the Hague Convention take care to emphasize
the idea that the "occupier" has a "de facto power, an au
thority de facto" such as may "belong to a hostile army,"
and where, in the same art. 43, they say that "the authority
of the lawful power has, as a matter of fact, passed into the
occupier's hands," they immediately take the precaution of
adding that the said power "must respect the laws in force in
the occupied country, unless absolutely barred from so
doing."

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 265
As month after month goes by, the occupying adminis
tration does not lose its provisional character.
Undoubtedly, the prolonged duration of occupation in
creases the number of administrative measures, and may
enlarge their field, but the occupying power remains with
out "rights" over a folk which has no duty towards that
power. It is lacking in moral and legal authority, that is in
the moral right to demand from its temporary subjects a
submission which wears the character of a duty, as viewed
by the conscience and the law of nations.
Thus, as you will fully recognize, we cannot conceive
a country having two governments over itself. If Belgium
have the happiness of keeping its King, its Government and
its army, we cannot conceive that it could have over it an
other legal authority than that of its own King and Gov
ernment. In the social order, as in nature, a two-headed
organism is a monstrosity.
But then, say you, you will thus create inevitable and in
extricable complications. What will the occupied folk do
when it finds itself faced with contradictory orders, coming
respectively from its own government and from the occupy
ing power?
What will it do ? It will not hesitate between a power
without authority and an authority without power. It is
to the legitimate authority that its choice will turn. It will
put "right" above "fact." "Fact" is not the same thing
as "right." A fact has happened, you say, proving that those who
attribute to themselves a moral right of control over the
acts of the occupying power have not been able to agree
among themselves and so are likely to throw the people into
disorder. I do not know whether I thoroughly understand you, but
this is the meaning which I believe your argument to bear.
You say that the new military Belgian law does not "call
up" young men dwelling in the occupied parts of Belgium;
and from that you infer — it seems — that the Havre govern
ment approves your police-proceedings against such young
men as have tried to join our army.

266 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I do not possess the official text of this new Belgian law;
I doubt whether you have allowed it to come into Belgium.
But if the government at Havre abstains from again "call
ing up" the young men whom you keep here by force, it is
not because they approve of your police-proceedings; it is
quite simply that they submit to them.
The German military force has put so many obstacles in
the way of our brave fellows that it has been practically im
possible for them to perform their duty to their country.
None the less, the Belgian Government always has in ad
miration — do not doubt that — as much as any of the pa
triots of the occupied territory — the volunteers who try to
put themselves at their country's service, at the peril of
their freedom and their life. But one can admire heroism
without making a duty of it.
The people understand that and keep their conscience
in peace. You also think, Baron, that it is useless to appeal to a
legitimate authority which has power to compare the "Ger
man Orders" with the Hague Convention. Practically,
what you say is : the Belgian Courts remain open and keep
this power. It would be interesting to get two1 exact state
ments on this subject : one of the de facto position, the other
on the de jure.
The Belgian administration of justice remains still in
action, you say. But has the occupying power always ac
knowledged its jurisdiction? Has it not, under circum
stances on which I will not dwell, put something in its stead?
And the sentences of the Belgian courts — has the occupy
ing power held them to be, by right, irref ormable ? If you
answer Yes, I think with you that a second authority is
superfluous in all judicial matters. But then, what hinders
you from recognizing occupied Belgium's other sovereign
prerogatives ? If you feel bound to answer No, will not our
claim for the sovereignty of the Belgian Fatherland (under
shelter of international law) remain justified? I have let
myself be drawn into developments beyond what I foresaw,

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 267
but if therein I have done wrong it is from yielding to a wish
which your friendly letter seemed to suggest.
Accept, Baron, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Political Department, Governor General of Belgium,
I. 7889. Brussels, September 15th, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
Your Eminence was kind enough to give my letter of
August ist an exceedingly detailed answer. You defend
your point of view with wonderful subtlety, as one might ex
pect from a dialectician well versed in scientific controversy.
Nevertheless, I should like to sum up the impressions made
on me by your esteemed letter of August 16th in your words :
"We agree in one sense; and in another we do not."
I will only speak of the "legitimacy_of the occupation"
in so far as your Eminence has brought forward a new ar
gument. In the main, our points of view do not differ much
from one another, for, as I have said before, we are deal
ing merely with the exercise of legislative power. This be
longs to those in occupation, and one cannot encroach upon
it. According to the Hague Convention, those who occupy
territory come into possession of this power by the establish
ment of an effective military occupation, and from that in
stant the inhabitants are subject to it. According to this
international contract, the "fact" becomes a "right."
Your Eminence does not dispute the right of the occu
pier to exercise public authority, nor does the Belgian Gov
ernment, inasmuch as since August 20th, 19 14, it publishes
all its orders in a formal manner for those who dwell in
non-occupied territory. Disputes about the lawful exer
cise of authority must then rest solely and merely on the
grounds of right established by the Hague Convention. In
no case can the Power of Occupation tolerate or admit that
the former government, as your Eminence would have it,
retains a kind of suzerainty over the occupied territory.
I quite understand what your Eminence is aiming at

268 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
when you say explicitly that you wish to put the authority
of the former government above that of those in occupation.
Are you not thinking about objects which one can only ex
pect to be realized after the occupation is over? I shall
return to this later on. Meanwhile I intend to dwell on
questions of right and their relation to occupation.
In your esteemed letter of August 1 6th last, your Emi
nence raises a new objection. You speak of the provisional
character of occupation, and you thence deduce a lack of
legal power.
I did not know that such an interpretation was allowable
at law. A provisional measure resting on an ordinary con
tract has, while the contract lasts, the same legal validity
as any permanent measure. The Hague Convention says
nothing about the length of the occupation. So long as the
condition necessary for its legality exists, i. e., the state of
effective military occupation, this condition produces results,
which are quite legal.
The orders published by the Governor General will
even hold good after the occupation, because they have
been published by a lawful government. To lose their force,
they must be repealed by a formal legislative act of its suc
cessor in the exercise of public authority.
It is enough to quote one example to show that the
international condition of the occupied country has not
changed during the occupation. Relatively to Germany,
Belgium is a foreign country. It has its post, its budget,
its customs. Belgian judges administer justice in the name
of the king, and the inhabitants, in order to show their na
tionality, wear the Belgian national colors.
I have thus answered the exact question put to me by
your Eminence. The exercise of sovereign rights in occu
pied territory belongs legitimately to the Governor General
appointed by the occupying Power. The ancient holders
of these rights are placed neither above nor below him.
Within the confines of the occupied territory, they have lost
all legislative power.
If there be any restrictions to the exercise of the occu
pant's rights, these are settled by the Hague Convention.

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 269
It is the peace treaty which will determine how the occu
pation is to end. In no wise does it depend for its legality
on the causes of the war. The only condition preliminarily
required to establish this legality is a state of effective mili
tary occupation.
In my letter of August ist I spoke of important omis
sions in the Hague Convention. I mentioned especially the
absence from it of any provision for participation by the
people in the administrative organization of their country.
Your Eminence answers by a reference to the deliberations
of the Committees of the Conference that in this wise they
aimed at the protection of the weak. I know it and I wil
lingly admit as much. But my argument went further. I
deplored the fact that, owing to the lack of directions as to
the position of the population living in occupied territory,
the same population were afraid to lend a hand in the work
of administration, believing that by this co-operation they
were compromising their political honor. These directions
would have precluded the possibility of much useless uncer
tainty such as has been shown in Belgium among employees
of the post office.
It is self-evident that in the course of this discussion we
must never lose sight of the fact that not only is the Gov
ernor General invested with the Belgian public authority,
but that his mission is also to protect Germany's interests
and above all her military interests. Obviously, he cannot
make use for this purpose either of the tribunals or the
Belgian penal code. Your Eminence would not expect any
Belgian judge to pass sentence upon one of your countrymen
who had offended against German interests. For the same
reason, the Belgian tribunals cannot act as judges in a court
of final appeal, and thus be called upon to decide upon the
legitimacy of German decrees.
I come now to a point mentioned above. If I may sum
up the utterances of your Eminence during the time of
occupation, I take it that the following is your point of
view: A Belgian patriot cannot bring himself to observe sim
ply in their "objective judicial form the regulations imposed

270 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
by international conditions imposed on an occupied territory.
Nor can he resign himself to wait patiently for the course
of events although he can have no influence on the results
of military operations. What he wants is, first, to hear
words of comfort and hope, and secondly, to give full and
effective vent to his feelings."
To reach this goal, your Eminence would like to give the
clergy an important role.
To this I would answer first, by repeating what I have
said before : that the clergy have never been hindered from
ministering to the faithful the religious consolations of
which they may stand in need at the present hour. More
over, Belgians have never been forbidden to show their
patriotism in a seemly manner, either inside or outside the
church. To my mind, the best way of showing one's patriot
ism is to be reasonable and bow to the necessities brought
about by a state of war, and during the occupation to take
one's share loyally in the work of administration. Civilians
— and that is the obvious meaning of the Hague Conven
tion — must not take part in military operations. It follows
that the administration of a country ought to be looked
upon from a purely objective point of view and that every
step taken by the occupying Power should not be consid
ered as proceeding from a hostile intention. One often
hears words like this in the mouths of intelligent Belgians :
"This Order is a good one, but we cannot acknowledge this
in public for we do not want to be looked upon as lacking
in patriotism." From this standpoint, publications injurious to the Power
in occupation and exaggerated outbursts of patriotism are
doing a great deal of harm. ' They are hindering the people
from regaining their composure. There is only one ex
planation. Some far-off political goal is being aimed at
which has nothing to do with the calm which ought to reign
during the occupation and which is even incompatible there
with. One is tempted to infer that the entertaining of hos
tile feelings either secret or public against the occupying
Power is used as a means for reaching this goal.
I will not say anything about the political activities mani-

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 271
fested by priests engaged in preaching so as not to repeat
anything I have said before. In my last letter I took the
liberty to remind your Eminence that you yourself in quot
ing the words of Christ had renounced all meddling with
politics. Your Eminence answers that this was good enough
for times of peace but not for the time of war. Without
wishing to criticize the facts, I should like, however, to be
allowed to refer to your Eminence's pastoral activities be
fore the war. On going through the collection of your pas
toral letters, I have more than once come across utterances
which belong beyond all doubt to the political realm. I
find it hard to remove the impression that your Eminence's
study of St. Thomas Aquinas furnished you with reasons
for justifying on theological and philosophical grounds the
intrusion of politics into your episcopal ministry and at the
same time for defending yourself against any exception
which may be taken against your line of conduct. But again
I beg your Eminence not to look upon any remarks of mine
as criticism, for I want to confine myself to reviewing your
behavior during the occupation. Under present circum
stances, I think that liberty of worship essentially implies
a duty on the part of the clergy to waive all claim to meddle
in politics. The decrees of the occupying Power would be
of no avail if there were places where they had no force
whatever and where they could be broken with impunity.
On sundry occasions our attention has been called to the
fact that, by allowing during the occupation a certain amount
of political activity in the churches, we were favoring the
Catholic party. For this party can make use of the churches
in order to perform certain acts that redound to their own
advantage, while other parties, being unable to hold meet
ings, are forced to remain inactive.
I come to your Eminence's philosophical disquisitions.
Allow me to repeat once more that I do not take up this
discussion as a professional philosopher of great repute such
as your Eminence is. I am a practical man. That is why
I give my attention less to philosophical abstractions than
I do to the stern realities of life and men in general. When
I call your Eminence a professional philosopher, I do not

272 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
at all mean to say that your Eminence is a "stranger to the
world." I only mean that you have a tendency to look at
everything through a philosopher's spectacles.
As regards Kant, it never entered my head to attack
him. In my last letter I merely observed without touching
any question of fact that even if Kant's theories were as
dangerous as your Eminence makes out, we ought first of
all to find out whether they have really filtered their way
into the minds of the German people.
I now come to the fact; I must be brief.
Your Eminence leaves altogether out of count the posi
tive moral teachings of Kant. I do not believethat from
the Catholic standpoint you can have any objections to
raise against any of the principles themselves contained
therein, no matter how much you lament that this morality
is independent of the faith. If Kant, while adopting the
separation, alleged to be dangerous, of morality and right,
was not prevented in spite of this from teaching a lofty ideal
morality, why should his followers forget this teaching and
fall into a brutal subjectivism? I cannot see the necessity
of this ; and I hold the morality taught by Kant to be a pow
erful bulwark for protecting the sense of right.
I should like to recall in a few words my argument of
August ist. Your Eminence, a few years before the war,
did not question the existence in Protestant Germany of a
deep religious feeling. At Aix-la-Chapelle you loaded the
German Catholics with praises. Can this truly religious
spirit have suddenly disappeared from our people? Yet
the evil influence of Kant ought to have made itself felt long
ago. Your Eminence connects the teachings of Kant, Hegel
and Nietzsche with the behavior of Germany and her chiefs
at the time of the declaration of war. You must then of
necessity explain the coming of England on the scene in fa
vor of Belgium by the utilitarian philosophy represented by
the English school. I think that it is precisely on account
of its idealistic tendencies that German philosophy is so ill
suited for application to the ends of real practical life.
There is no other philosophy which aims so earnestly at

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 273
freeing its teaching from all conditions and therefore to at
tain pure knowledge such as is independent of every prac
tical purpose. For this reason it has often been blamed
for losing itself in the clouds.
In the course of your arguments, your Eminence touches
also on what is called "militarism." Assuredly, there is
something of Kant's categorical imperative in the spirit of
severe discipline reigning in our army. But in Germany
we have always held that a good army, ready for war, was a
guarantee of the people's prosperity. At times of political
conflict, when the military situation was much better for
us than in August, 19 14, the knowledge that we had a
strong army did not hinder us from pursuing a peaceful
policy. Did not your Eminence yourself clamor for a strong
army for Belgium, and on this occasion did you not quiet
the minds of soldiers' parents about the alleged dangers of
barrack life?
I do not think myself qualified to talk about the beha
vior of Germany at the moment when war was declared; but
for my own personal edification I should like to address
your Eminence the following question: "Cannot this way
of acting be defended, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, by
the right of legitimate self-defence?" I am not an expert in
Thomistic philosophy. The idea crosses my mind because
your Eminence in your last address at St. Gudule, while
treating of another topic, refers to this "vindicatio." (I
would, by the way, call your Eminence's attention to the fact
that the press uses the word "vindicta" instead of "vindi
catio" in reporting your Eminence's speech.) If your Emi
nence would let the philosophy of St. Thomas alone and
believe that Germany has acted in legitimate self-defence,
then we thoroughly understand each other.
My letter has unfortunately been drawn out to some
length. But I could not let the occasion pass of expressing
as well as I could my objections to your Eminence's remarks.
I offer your Eminence the expression of my sincere es
teem and I have the honor to be your devoted servant.
(Signed) Lancken.

274 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
September 25 th, 1916.
To Baron von der Lancken, Head of the Political Depart
ment of the Governor General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I have taken advantage of my first free
hours to read attentively the considerations you unfold in
your honored letter of September 15th (No. 7889), and I
rise from that perusal with the impression that you do not
look for an answer from me. I think that the estimates
and the conclusions come to in my letter of August 16th
stand practically established, and I believe that I am not
going beyond your own opinion when I take your silence on
this subject as a sign of acquiescence. Still the new points
which you put forward show some misconceptions or keep
up some complaints of yours which seem to call still for a
short explanation.
I will go through your letter step by step, and will en
deavor, as I go along, to deal with the points about which
our views differ.
1. To put the Occupying Power in the right, you say
that the Hague Convention "has turned a 'fact' into a
'right.' "
No human authority has power to do that. When an
occupation is unjust, it remains so, despite all conventions.
The supreme resource of the oppressed is the power of pro
claiming that a "fact" does not establish a "right."
Nevertheless the "occupation," even without "right" or
contrary to right, is a "fact" to which the folk of the "occu
pied" country have to submit themselves. The rule of the
occupiers is a fact; the regulations put forth by them are
facts. None the less these facts do not make a right. And
that is why the following question arises. Do the regula
tions put forth by the authors of an "occupation" which is
without right or dead against right call for submission
from the citizens of the occupied country? Do they allow
of it? For, in short, it seems that in the face of injustice
and its consequences the sole attitude allowed and bidden is
that of revolt.
There is the question of principle — question of morality

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 275
and of right — which is raised by the issue of regulations by
a Power lacking from the outset in moral and judicial au
thority. I have given an answer to this question as far back as my
first Pastoral of Xmas, 1914: No, in and by themselves
these regulations do not bind the conscience. Looked at
wholly in themselves, they even call for non-submission.
But, between two evils, we must choose the lesser. To
avoid worse wrongs than those of being ruled by the occu
pying power, it is allowable to submit to certain regula
tions which in themselves have little force. It is morally
decent to conform to them. The citizens of the occupied
country have grounds for supposing that the sole sovereign
authority they recognize approves of their peaceful beha
vior, reasonably and within the limits I have just laid down.
Failing this submission, it is true that the occupying power
is destitute of the prerogatives of sovereignty. Hence the
Hague Convention imposes on them an obligation to admin
ister the occupied country according to the laws of that coun
try. If they violate these laws they add a further injustice
to their original one.
2. You are astonished at my speaking of "the provi
sional nature of the occupation," and you credit me with
deducing from that provisional nature the unlawfulness of
the "occupation" itself. Further, in developing your ar
gument, you make me speak as if I had held the two expres
sions "provisional" and "for a short time" meaning the
same thing.
Be kind enough to read my words again. You will then
see that I have written exactly: "Though month after month
goes by, the occupation does not lose its 'provisional' char
acter. However long the occupation may last, the occupy
ing Power remains without rights over a folk which has no
duties towards the occupier."
"Provisional" means something which happens while
one waits for something else. A provisional government is
one which is got up during a revolution, or during a war,
whilst awaiting the establishing of a constitution or the re
turn of the settled government. It is not because it lasts

276 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
only for a short time that the provisional government is
"unlawful;" it is because it presents itself to the occupied
country with no credentials. It is a "Power" without title-
deeds. Its existence remains precarious, however long it
may last. Its regulations have only a borrowed validity.
You tell me that the regime of occupation will end only
when the military occupation ends, and that power will not
pass into the hands of another Government until after Peace
is concluded : alas ! I know that, but, once again, that is only
how things stand, and the "ipso facto" is not, and does not
create, "right."
3. I gladly own with you that the Hague Conference
will have some criticisms to make on the way the occupied
countries were "administered," notably on the functions
and the lot of those in the administration staff.
4. I was expecting your answer: "The General Gov--
ernment cannot concede the right of giving final decisions
to the Belgian judges."
But, if so, accept our conclusion as well: i. e., that we
cannot say we are satisfied, when, teaching our appeal to a
moral authority which confronts the German decrees with
the articles of the Hague Convention, you say to us, "But
this appeal is useless; have you not the Belgian courts of
justice always in operation?"
5. Your respected letter then passes back to the way of
thinking about and upholding patriotism under "occupation"
conditions, and specially as to the part played by the clergy
and by myself in this respect.
A little while ago we were discussing the nature of the
occupying Power. Against the claims of "right" you brought
forward the "fact." To the title of that authority you op
posed the Power in "actual practice." In turn I set "right"
against "the fact," theory against practice.
You outlined to us a delightful form of occupation, a
"paternal" government which had at heart, above all, the
general interests of the occupied country, and you asked
me if the wisest and at the same time the most useful attitude
on our part would not be to co-operate with this regime of
occupation, while keeping ourselves free to cherish in our in-

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 277
most hearts distant hopes of a still better future. It would
be painful to me, Baron, to answer your most pleasant letter
by a judicial demand. That would be, besides, quite need
less. But can you forget the conditions under which the in
vasion of Belgium took place? The calumnies, the vexa
tious proceedings, fines, imprisonments, tortures, deporta
tions, death sentences, bloody executions, requisition in
money and in kind, the refusals to do justice, which our
hapless country (the Catholic clergy first and foremost)
has had to undergo during these two long years of the "oc
cupation"? Do not the latest acts of compulsion date
from yesterday?
We have protested sometimes against these proceedings,
we have — to the best of our power — kept our folk quiet by
instilling into their hearts an unshakable trust in the Al
mighty and in the strength of our allies; but not even to
protect ourselves have we resorted to direct reprisals, nor to
incitements to active resistance.
The fact that — in what relates to me personally — my
teaching has been (as you aver) a reproduction of the
theology and the philosophy of a Doctor of the 13th cen
tury, St. Thomas Aquinas, — does not this fact afford a pal
pable proof that (far from sacrificing principle to a pass
ing phase of politics) I remained the humble and faithful
servant of eternal and impersonal truth?
Even the words which you remember, "To God the
things of God, to Caesar the things which are Caesar's," I
am ready to say them again, in time of war as in time of
peace. But in order to make them applicable to the delimi
tation of the two authorities, religious and civil, it should
be understood that these two authorities are in lawful oppo
sition to each other.
6. The letter of August 16th expressed my view on the
dangers to the unity and firmness of the conscience brought
about by those manifold water-tight partitions which Kant
puts between metaphysics and science, between knowledge
and "will," between morality and "right." I need not go
back to that worn-out subject.

278; CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Does it follow from this that I deem the German nation
to be without religion or morals, and that hence I must
disown the homage I have lately paid to that nation? By
no means. The correspondence in which I denounce the infiltra
tions of "Kantian" ideas into the minds of the German Em
pire bears witness still to my admiration for "that great
and fine folk," which took part without protest in the viola
tion of Belgian neutrality; and since doing so, strives^ by
the most wretched expedients of casuistry at bay to jus
tify the perjury.
The spectacle of this general throwing-over of right
and truth baffles me. I seek a benevolent explanation of it
in the intellectual environment of the nation. If you can
find as charitable and more plausible a solution to the
enigma, then, Baron, give it to me.
You raise the objection, it is true, that logically I ought
to attribute the intervention of England on behalf of Bel
gium to the English "utilitarian" philosophy, just as I
make the German philosophy responsible for the invasion
of our country. It is not my place, Baron, to look closely
into other people's intentions. I stick to the facts : Germany
has done us harm, to assure her own welfare. England did
herself harm to do us good. Germany attacked us when she
was ready. England did not wait for that before defending
us. Among the English folk natural uprightness triumphed
over the localized surface influence of a school of thought.
Among the German folk the age-long, widespread, deep
influence of Kant and his disciples has warped public feel
ing, and an inflaming of the sentiment of national strength
consumed the barriers of righteousness in an hour of crisis.
7. Rightly or wrongly, it is to this inflamed sentiment
that I attribute the origin of Prussian militarism.
St. Thomas, into whose teachings 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 it
makes us put our private interests below the interest of the
community. Armed force is, in civilized life, the necessary

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 279
helper of "right." The army, when used in the service of
"right," is eminently worthy of every one's respect, esteem
and gratitude.
Pacifism, which means the suppression 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 to a
like disregard, to a like surrender of right and the viola
tion of right, of justice and injustice. It would be at the
same time both a social mistake and an act of cowardice.
But militarism, which wishes the army to exist for itself,
and does not subordinate it to the safeguarding and de
fence of right, of order and of peace ; which hails the letting
loose of military force as glorious manifestation of national
power, bearing in itself its own justification, — this kind of
militarism is another social aberration which identifies honor
with pride.
You say that "Notwehr" — the need of defending one
self, if I rightly understand you — justifies the declaration
of war by the German Empire.
Assuredly, "Notwehr" does not justify the invasion of
Belgium. This invasion, from our point of view, was and
will ever remain an injustice ; from the point of view of the
(German) Empire, the breach of an oath.
Germany's existence was not threatened, nor were its
rights attacked. "Notwehr," the need of defending oneself,
of which it seeks to take advantage, has, so it seems to me,
but one intelligible meaning, namely, that it thought the time
was favorable for asserting its superiority, for the exalta
tion of its natural strength. "Notwehr" thus understood
is a corollary of Militarism.
Once again I have let myself be drawn into a lengthy
discussion which has gone beyond my reckoning. I have
not succeeded in stating clearly my ideas with greater con
ciseness. Accept, Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

280 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Political Department of the Governor General,
I. 9181. Brussels, October 6th, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
Your Eminence — In replying ,to your Eminence's es
teemed letter of September 25th, I feel I must deal, and
point by point, with the questions therein raised. I am
obliged to take this course as I should be loth to approve
by my silence certain views of yours.
The first question is that of the legality of the occupa
tion, a point which you again call into question not only
against my opinion, but also against that of the Hague Con
ference. To my way of thinking your Eminence does not
sufficiently take into account that herein is a question of
international contract drawn up in accordance with ordinary
regulations and freely agreed to by the contracting parties.
This contract within certain fixed limits establishes a fully
defined Right. The judicial obligation is linked with a de
facto state of things: it disappears when this comes to an
end. However this may be, I would refer your Eminence
to the members of the Conference themselves, when you
expressly refuse to accord to the contract concluded by them
the character of a work of right — une ceuvre de droit, be
cause, as you say, no human power can change a "fact" into
a "right." Moreover, there is another altogether essential
point which we should not lose sight of in our discussion —
it is that the Hague Convention treats of the Right of War.
It regulates the way in which War should be carried on. In
a particular manner, the arrangements it lays down on the
subject of occupation are destined to create in the occupied
territory a state of order which will allow the civil popu
lation to follow their ordinary manner of life to the end of
the War. The lawfulness of the occupation, within the bounds,
fixed by law, cannot depend, as I said before, on the causes
of the War. The question whether we should take any ac
count of these and confront them with the result of the
discussion — I am speaking in quite a general way — is a mat
ter reserved for peace negotiations. Because the population
of occupied territory have certain natural aspirations, or

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 281
have certain ends in view, that is no reason for raising
doubts about the legality of the occupation itself.
Your Eminence must allow me to observe, that you ex
plicitly admit I am right when you say : "The occupation even
whether outside the law or contrary to it is a fact to which
the dwellers in occupied territory have to submit. It is
obvious that bounds have been set by the Hague Conference
to the exercise of legal authority by the occupying power.
In cases unforeseen by the Hague Conference the occu
pier, relying on his own sense of justice, imposes certain
restrictions on the exercise of his power, having at the same
time regard for the aspirations of the people. He only
asks the inhabitants of the occupied territory to accept with
docility and sweet reasonableness the steps taken by him in
his capacity of trustee of the legal power in the country
undergoing occupation."
I agree with your Eminence's definition of the word
provisional. "Provisional means what one does while wait
ing for something else." Indeed, the occupation will come
to an end in one way or another, and will be replaced by
some other juridical state.
As regards the competency of Belgian tribunals, I would
only remark that in no case must we confuse juridical with
legal power.
I would also like to touch briefly on national demonstra
tions during the occupation. Your Eminence avers that
you are doing your best to keep the people quiet by uphold
ing their patriotic spirit. But in addressing the public prob
ably nothing is harder than to harmonize one's intentions
with the actual effect one produces. One of the most
brilliant speakers in the French Parliament, one of the lead
ers of the Catholic party, told me once, that when he made
one of his sensational speeches he was oftener than not
misunderstood by the very members of his party. As I have
said already the main issue in the present case is not merely
to keep before our eyes the maintenance of public order, the
disturbance of which would entail needless sacrifices, but
also what attitude the people are led to adopt in regard to

282 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
the essentially pacific administrative work of the occupying
power. Just one word about Kant. I know well enough what
your Eminence was aiming at the very first time you men
tioned Kant's philosophy. But your attempt to give it a
favorable interpretation was not a sufficient motive for me
to say that I appreciated it, when, in fact, I did not share
your opinion. Regarding my remarks about the "notwehr"
it seems to me that your Eminence has not quite grasped
the meaning which I gave that word. "Notwehr" connotes
"the act of defending oneself in the case of necessity." In
that case many things are allowed which are forbidden in
normal times. The idea of necessity is not unknown in
Theology, as in the case of urgent baptism. It allows the
deviation from rules laid down for ordinary baptisms. If
your Eminence will review in this light the events which
occurred in Germany at the end of July, 19 14, you will
be satisfied that very little could be laid at the door of Kant,
A young German philosopher, with whom I was coil-
versing lately, spoke highly of the wonderful fairness and
clearness with which your Eminence, in your work, "The
sources of contemporary philosophy," lays bare and criti
cally examines the doctrines of your adversaries. If you
would apply the same calm and unruffled method in review
ing the events which occurred at the outset of the war, you
would probably no longer defend the ideas expressed in your
letter of September 25th. I do not. believe I can convince
your Eminence by a mere unpretentious letter. I would,
however, call your attention to the following facts: Your
Eminence asserts that there was no "notwehr" in the case
of Germany, because her existence was not threatened. I
answer that her existence was seriously threatened from the
moment the Russians mobilized. For, in examining this ques
tion, a decisive factor is to be found in the conditions of
modern warfare, rather than in some diplomatic scheme
evolved at the eleventh hour, the sole purpose of which is
to gain time. If we keep before our eyes the huge number
of men bearing arms, the difficulties of setting these enor
mous masses of men in motion, also the extreme importance,

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 283
from the point of view of the military advantage to be
gained by the saving of a single day, mobilization is tanta
mount to war. By this hasty mobilization the Russians neces
sarily brought into play a system of alliances which for ten
years had been directed against us. That the annihilation of
Germany was contemplated must often enough have been
apparent to your Eminence from the speeches of Entente
statesmen. We must also bear in mind that a military offensive
can very well be the beginning of a defensive war, just as
on the other hand, an aggressive war may begin with opera
tions of a purely defensive character, in all which, geographi
cal conditions, fortifications, etc., . . . are very important
factors to be reckoned with. We must also take into ac
count the interests which the several combatants have in
carrying the war into enemy territory.
If we examine the remote causes of the War, the pretext
upon which England has justified her entry into the arena
vanishes into thin air. I am avowedly opposed to rash gen
eralizations. True, I admit that many Englishmen have a
deeply rooted sense of righteousness. But England as a
State has always acted in her own interests without the least
scruple. So staunch a friend of England's as Georges Cle-
menceau has reproached her with this tendency throughout
the course of the war. If your Eminence follows attentively
the drama of which Greece is the theater, you will no longer
be able to boast of the British Government's righteousness.
You will arrive at the same conclusion if you go back in
mind to the scandalous overthrow of the Boer republic.
Now, as then, the English people follow in the wake of
their government with enthusiasm. Without raising a single
protest, not only did they allow a small people to be dragged
into the war, but also compelled it to wage, in the capacity
of an ally, a war against its own interests. I am aware that
all kinds of subterfuges are being resorted to in order to
prove that Greece is acting of her own free will; this only
makes England's attitude more reprehensible than ever. It
is quite certain that there is no case for "notwehr" here.
I would not like to end this letter, although it is already

284 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
long enough, without touching upon the question of the
so-called "militarism." I am quite willing to concede to
your Eminence that your ideas are founded on the doctrine
of the great mediaeval philosopher. But precisely on ac
count of the depth of that doctrine, I am astonished to see
your Eminence attribute the most formidable war in the his
tory of the world to external and, so to say, accidental
causes. Germany, which economically was on the eve of
the most prodigious development, had everything to gain by
the maintenance of peace. The true cause of the war was
England's traditional hostility to every rival she encoun
tered in the world's market or who threatened her sover
eignty of the seas. The position of the German army in
1 9 14 was less favorable than before, for the steps taken
to strengthen it in face of the recent increases in the Russian
and French armies had not yet had time to bear fruit.
Moreover, it is only a central power that feels the need of
completing her military preparations : in fact, she has always
to count on the possibility of having war on two fronts,
and she must seek to compensate by the rapidity of her op
erations the numerical and strategical superiority of her
foes. England never felt the necessity of warlike prepara
tions; she has lived by herself in her own island and had
allies on the continent always ready. Yet she kept her fleet
which forms her most important arm always ready for
battle ; she often showed this by trial mobilizations or naval
reviews which were like threats directed against possible
enemies. England is, besides, interested in a protracted war
between continental powers. A hundred years ago, when
Europe was engaged in its struggle against France, she
quietly built up her colonial empire.
To-day the blockade which excludes Germany from com
mercial rivalry secures for England enormous advantages,
for during this time she sells coal, munitions and arms to her
allies at prices never reached before. There we have an
example of what it is to use, with as little hesitation as scru
ple, one's material pre-eminence. German militarism, such
as your Eminence conceives it, namely as a product of the
sentiment of force, has no existence, because our army is the

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 285
best school where the strict sentiment of duty and the spirit
which subordinates particular to general interests is able to
develop. I take this opportunity to forward herewith a letter
which has reached me through the official agency of a neu
tral state. I hope shortly to answer your Eminence's letter
of the 5th instant.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere es
teem, and I have the honor to be,
Yours devotedly,
^(Signed) Lancken.
Archbishop's House, Louvain,
October ioth, 19 16.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Governor General, Brussels.
Baron — Your esteemed letter I. 91 81 dated October
6th has just reached me and I hasten to answer it by return
of post. It seems to me indeed that I have only to acknowl
edge the receipt of it.
The distinction between fact and right in a regime
of occupation; the original flaw of the occupation, which
by the avowal of the occupant, as well as according to the
opinion of the occupied, violates the right of nations; the
respect due to patriotic sentiments; the theory of right dis
tinguished from the morality and influence on German
thought of the philosophy of Kant; the German conception
of militarism : these various topics, which have formed the
subject of our previous correspondence, appear to be ex
hausted. Regarding the occupation, I should like nevertheless to
add one word. You enunciate the theory that we must
consider the occupation in itself independently of the condi
tions under which it was brought about. But what would
you say if it occurred to a man to come and install himself
in your house under the pretext that he had a quarrel with
his neighbors, and if in answer to your protests he con
tented himself with saying, "I am now in occupation. Here
I am and here I stay" ?

286 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Your correspondence touches on a fresh topic, or rather
it puts forward fresh developments, an idea which entered
only incidentally into our discussion. Regarding the ' not
wehr," which may have caused the declaration of war, you
examine to-day the general situation of Europe with the
view, in Germany's name, of reaching this conclusion: "I
attack but it is only to defend myself." This is a vast sub
ject, and to treat it correctly it would be needful to review
the series of events which immediately preceded the war, to
examine the books of different colors published by the Gov
ernments of the belligerent nations — the Germano-Austrian
correspondence is unfortunately missing from the collection
— it would be necessary, in order to follow you step by step,
to explore the history of English policy and the trend of
its diplomacy up to the present hour. So wide a discussion
has no chance of finality. Moreover, my means of informa
tion and reference are to-day too scanty to allow me to
engage with prudence in such delicate questions.
To the names mentioned in my letter of the 5 th instant *
I take the liberty to add those of two "aumoniers du
travail" who now for several months have been detained in
Germany, M. Houet, prisoner at Anrath, and M. Lesire,
prisoner at Munster in Westphalia.
Receive, Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Political Department of the Governor General of Belgium,
S. No. I. 9632. Brussels, October 14th, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
Eminence's esteemed letter of the ioth instant. I am also
of opinion that our exchange of views regarding the right
of occupation and the questions bearing on it has been
exhausted: all further discussion would be superfluous. I
do not wish to revert to it save to reply to the last remark
made by your Eminence.
Your Eminence compares the occupation of a country to
* In a letter addressed to Baron von der Lancken and dated October 5th
the Cardinal interceded in favor of several persons convicted.

RIGHTS OF OCCUPYING POWER 287
the violation of a particular abode. I think this comparison
is far from solving the question in discussion. In the case
which concerns us, we should not try to seek arguments in
lame comparisons when all the elements for the solution
may be found in the question itself. A man thrusts himself
into another man's house with the plea that he has a quarrel
with his neighbor: that has nothing in common with legiti
mate defence (notwehr) . Besides, I only spoke of the gen
eral political situation and the conditions of modern warfare
because it was essential to do so to explain Germany's legiti
mate defence.
I avail myself of this opportunity to inform you that
Viaene, Director of the Brothers' school at Malines, has
obtained from the Governor General the remission of the
rest of his sentence and will shortly be set at liberty. Nev
ertheless I must ask of your Eminence to be good enough
to give me some assurance that Viaene will not for the future
commit fresh infringements of orders issued by the occupy
ing power. I have also the pleasure to acquaint your Eminence that
Mademoiselle Marie Vergote, in whom your Eminence is
interested, will soon be brought back from Germany and
allowed to visit her mother in her own home.
(Signed) Lancken.

CHAPTER XXVIII
FRESH ARRESTS OF PRIESTS
AGAIN and again the Cardinal had complained to the
Governor General of the harsh measures taken against the
clergy by the occupying power. He had made it clear that
besides many other drawbacks that had resulted from the
arrest of priests and religious the exercise of divine worship
and the maintenance of classes in the colleges had been seri
ously interfered with. The only remedy that Baron von
Bissing could find to meet this inconvenience was to order
that for the future each bishop should be notified as early
as possible of the repressive measures taken against any
of the priests of his diocese. But this decision was carried
into effect only during the months of~ August and September,
1916. Brussels, August 8th, 19 16.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium.
In the organization of divine worship, with a view to
prevent disturbances arising from breaches of order by
priests and the penalties inevitably resulting from them, the
Governor General has decided to bring each case as early
as possible to the cognizance of their lordships the bishops.
Agreeably to this decision I have the honor to inform your
Eminence of the following cases :
An inquiry has been set on foot against Canon Alfred
Kips, director of St. Mary's Institute at Brussels, for having
retained and propagated forbidden publications. The Abbe
Bernaerts, parish priest of St. Charles's at Antwerp, has
likewise been arrested for breaking the regulations of the
censorship. Brother Viaene, of Malines, also has been
288

FRESH ARRESTS OF PRIESTS 289
put under arrest. He is found to have taken a part in clan
destine correspondence.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem, ad interim.
(Signed) Graf. Harrack.
P. S. — The Rev. Daumont, an assistant priest of Brus
sels, has been sentenced for various misdemeanors to one
year and six months' imprisonment.
Brussels, August 16th, 191 6.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
In accordance with the Governor General's decision,
which has already been made known to your Eminence, I
have the honor to make the following communication :
Dean Cooreman, of Overyssche, induced the parish
priests Van den Eynde, of Neeryssche, Covens, of Loom-
beck, and the Curate Busseen, of Huldenberg, to hold the
Corpus Christi procession without the sanction of the mili
tary authorities. The Curate Michiels, of Neeryssche, lent
assistance during the procession. On these different ecclesi
astics fines have been inflicted.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. Per interim.
(Signed) Graf. Harrack.
Brussels, August 24th, 19 16.
1 Rue Lambemont.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
Putting into execution the decision come to by the Gov
ernor General, I have the honor to make the following
announcement to your Eminence: F. Schmitz, S. J., of
Louvain, has been arrested for assisting Belgians of military
age to cross the frontier. An inquiry has been set on foot

290 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
regarding the priests Van Linden and Peter Duwez, of St.
Mary's Institute, at Brussels, for having evaded the orders
of the censorship.
I take advantage of this opportunity to acknowledge
with thanks the receipt of your Eminence's letter of August
1 6th. I have read it with interest and I shall do myself the
pleasure of replying to it in detail.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.
Brussels, September nth, 191 6.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
Pursuant to the orders of the Governor General, I have
the honor of informing your Eminence that the parish priest
Swalus of Laeken has been condemned to a year and two
months' imprisonment and in addition to a fine of 200
marks. He will undergo his imprisonment in Germany.
The Curate Pittoors, of Kessel-Loo, has been arrested
for plying the trade of a spy.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. Yours devotedly,
(Signed) Lancken.

Archbishop' s House, Malines,
September i$th, 19 16.
To the Baron von der Lancken, Head of the Political
Department of the General Government, Brus
sels.
Dear Baron — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter dated the 24th of August, but which, owing to cir
cumstances outside my control or yours, was only delivered
to me on the 6th of September. There you tell me that
Father Schmitz has been arrested, and that proceedings

FRESH ARRESTS OF PRIESTS 291'
are being taken against two professors of St. Mary's In
stitute : Mr. Van Linden and Mr. Duwez.
Some days ago I learned that M. Le Cure Bernaerts, of
Antwerp, had been condemned to a year's imprisonment and
sent away into Germany. He was guilty of keeping in his
possession his own bishop's pastorals, and of having had a
list drawn up of those of his parishioners who were in the
army. Canon Kips, director of St. Mary's Institute, at Schaer-
beek (Brussels), has just been sentenced to three months'
imprisonment and a fine for having been found in pos
session of two patriotic songs and two of his bishop's pas
torals. If I were to make use of the words "to punish severely"
with regard to these vexatious measures, which for two
years have been inflicted on our beloved and noble clergy
(blow after blow), you would cry out in protest, my dear
Baron. In your inmost heart, however, you may well think
that I am speaking euphemistically. For, after all, I take
it that only soldiers by profession, whose horizon does not
extend beyond the barrack walls, suppose that momentary
success justifies the misuse of force; but that men put in
charge of the civil administration of an unjustly occupied
country, that professional diplomats can approve of pro
ceedings at once useless and vexatious, that passes my un
derstanding. Unhappily, whether you submit to the orders
of the military or whether you make your own, the out
come is the same for our poor country and our splendid
clergy. It is and will remain the same for the great fame
of the German empire. When the victims are able to speak
freely, it will not be those who sat in judgment on them who
will cut a good figure at the bar of impartial history.
Do you wish for another specimen of which you seem
not to be aware of German justice?
Two pupils of the Malines Grand Seminaire — MM.
Willems and Malve — are among the ecclesiastical criminals
of recent date. <
Mr. Willems has been in prison for six weeks, no one
knows why. I presume that he is suspected of having sent

292 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
a letter of encouragement to his brother at the front. ^ And
the "preventive detention" still goes on. I say nothing as
to the hateful kind of questioning which he and one of his
companions, the Rev. Mr. Soille, had to undergo. Their
case has become known to every one.
It is on this case of Mr. Malve that I wish to fix your
attention for a moment, especially as you are not, I under
stand, altogether unacquainted with it.
The young cleric, Mr. Malve, in a private room of a
private house — the seminary, to wit, was enjoying his play
time with two of his fellow students. He had sung sundry
tunest some religious, some secular ones. It came into his
head to strike up the "Marseillaise," without thinking that
outside in the street a German was listening. The next day
the police thrust their way into the seminary and threat
ened all there with a penalty — always the same respect for
The Hague convention ! — if the author of the mischief did
not make himself known.
The generous-minded student, not personally known to
me — I am anxious to emphasize that fact — hurried before
his judges, anxious above all to shelter his fellow students.
A man of good sense, I do not say one of warm heart,
would have pardoned him, would he not? or else have con
gratulated the brave young man on his act?
By no means. Mr. Malve was condemned to three
months' imprisonment. More than that, the rector of the
seminary, deemed answerable for a bit of fun of which he
could not have been aware, was also condemned to a fine
of 300 marks.
Nor is this all. After a whole month's detention your
political department makes it known to the heads of the
seminary that if a petition for pardon is presented Mr.
Malve would be set free. The petition was duly drawn
up. It was put into your own hands, Baron. You re
ceived it. But at that moment it seemed to you that Ger
man justice could only stoop to mercy after fresh inquiries
and new reports, which amounts in plain words to waiting
until the prisoner had undergone his full sentence.
In face of facts so edifying — and there are plenty of

FRESH ARRESTS OF PRIESTS 293
others we could cite — one hardly knows whether to be angry
or to smile when a good man writes in the "Monthly Cor
respondence," published by the committee for the defense of
German and Catholic interests (much more German than
Catholic) during the war (issue of July, 1916, P. 82) that
the Belgian clergy ought in justice to appreciate "the frank
benevolence of the foreign holders of power" (in Bel
gium)^ It is true that the esteemed Mr. Krebs, professor at
Friburg in Breisgau — for it is to him that this matter re
lates — asserts that he keeps himself "au courant" of the
newspapers and has made a journey through Belgium to
study things there.
He does not like inquiries in which the voices of oppos
ing sides are given. He deems it surer to hold them by
himself alone.
But how is it that this good gentleman does not feel
how . . . well, unchivalrous it is to attack under the pro
tection of German bayonets a body of clergy which he knows
to be gagged?
When your newspapers bounded on my letter, "On
My Return from Rome," as if on some prey, and put into
my mouth a prayer that an epidemic might break out among
your troops, I asked his Excellency the Governor General
if he would loyally transmit to my German and Austrian
brethren in the Catholic episcopate a letter, in which I
showed that my accusers make me talk nonsense. It will
be enough for you to read page 5 of the accompanying
document * to become quite aware yourself that this is
really so. The context of my pastoral shuts out any logical
possibility of this hateful interpretation.
The Governor General refused to agree to my request,
alleging that my pastoral had been published in Germany,
and that those who read it were in a position to make cor
rection, which I urged, for themselves.^
But my pastoral had not been published in Germany. I
•With this letter, addressed to Baron von der Lancken, was also sent a
copy of my letter of August 24, which his Excellency Baron von Bissing
had refused to forward to the German bishops.

294 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
should be very anxious to learn in what paper, in yhat
magazine, its authorized text has been given. Thus calumny
runs its course.
An article, the source of which is not known to you, in
the "Frankfurter Zeitung," of Monday, August 7th, has
picked it up and set it again in circulation.
Is it too much to ask you, Baron, to deny this untruth or
to obtain for me the means of denying it?
Perhaps, therefore, you will consent to inform the
"Monthly Catholic Correspondence" more accurately upon
"the frank benevolence of the foreign holders of power (in
Belgium) ."
The foreign holders of power solemnly bound them
selves, by the Governor General's circular dated April 22d,
to make requisitions upon me "in kind." And our provinces
here paid forty millions as the price of this undertaking.
But the monopolizing of vegetables, potatoes, flour, eggs
and butter, the requisitioning of horses go on as cruelly as
ever. Is this freedom ? Is this benevolence ?
The foreign holders of power, who have already ex
torted forty million (francs) a month * soon to amount to a
thousand million (francs), are at this moment forcing the
doors of the National Bank and despoiling us of six hundred
and twenty-five million marks, which are on their way
through the channel of the German banks, to swell the Ger
man Imperial Loan, i. e., to furnish our enemies with muni
tions of war to be used against us.f Is this freedom? Is
this benevolence?
These deeds of violence, whether they originate in the
"military justice" or in the "political administration," re
press patriotism also in stifling its expression ; but do not be
lieve, I beg of you, that silence (as to this) indicates peace.
Think on the words of Tacitus: "They enforce silence and
call it peace." Let us not pile up inextinguishable hatred in
•By an order dated December io, 1914, the Belgian people had to pay
a monthly contribution to the war of forty million francs during a year.
By a new order, November 10, 1915, this monthly contribution had to be
paid until further orders.
t On September 12 the German Government had taken by violence all
the_ money in German marks existing in the National Bank and in the
Societe Generate.

FRESH ARRESTS OF PRIESTS 295
the Belgian heart. War and its doings are only to be jus
tified in so far as they are helps toward peace.
Accept, Baron, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXIX
INTERFERENCE OF THE OCCUPYING POWER WITH THE
TEACHING OF THE NORMAL SCHOOLS
Beginning with the month of February, 191 6, the Gov
ernor General, on the pretense of doing justice to the Flem
ish claims, in reality to prepare for the administrative sepa
ration which later on he intended to bring about, published
a long series of orders concerning the use of Flemish in
the primary schools. Certain provisions of these orders
were at variance with Belgian legislation. Accordingly, M.
de la Vallee Poussin, Secretary General of the Ministry of
Sciences and Arts, in a note addressed to the Governor Gen
eral, declared that he could not become an accomplice in
the execution of illegal decrees. The only answer vouch
safed to him by the Governor General was an intimation
that he was forbidden for the future the exercise of his
functions as well as all access to the office of his ministry.
On the 2d of August Baron von Bissing published a
fresh order "relative to the teaching staff in primary and
infant schools, also concerning the granting of certificates
to qualified teachers."
This order, upsetting the whole teaching of the normal
schools in the Flemish provinces, was in flagrant opposition
to the Belgian law. In Article 3, paragraph 2, he ven
tured even to fix the language in which communications to
parents should be drawn up. M. Corman, director of pri
mary education, having officially informed the Cardinal of
the publication of this order, received this reply:
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
October 13th, 1916.
To M. Corman, Director of Primary Education, Brussels.
Sir — You have been kind enough to convey to me, on be
half of the Minister of Sciences and Arts, an order of
296

INTERFERENCE WITH SCHOOLS 297
August 2d, 1916, concerning the use of languages in the
teaching at the normal schools. This order, I grieve to say,
ignores The Hague convention and the Belgian constitu
tion. It transgresses the limits fixed by Article 43 to the
acts of the occupying power. In virtue of this Article 43,
indeed, the steps which the occupying power is authorized
to take have exclusively for their object the re-establishment
and maintenance of public life and order, by respecting,
save where quite impossible, the laws already in force in
the country.
The regulation on a novel basis of the use of lan
guages in normal education has no relation whatever to the
public life and order of the country. The occupying power
by interfering in this matter goes beyond the role which
is recognized as belonging to it by the law of nations. Fur
thermore, the provisions contained in Article 3, paragraph
2, is tainted with unconstitutionalism. In virtue of the con
stitution, Article 23, the use of languages employed in Bel
gium is optional. It can only be regulated by the legislature,
and this regulation can only be enforced in administrative
and judicial acts. Our free schools enjoy in this respect
the same privileges as private individuals. The correspond
ence with pupils' parents is on all fours with a correspond
ence between private persons; no legal enactment fixes the
language to be employed nor can any member of the legis
lature seek to fix it without a direct infringement of Article
23 of the constitution.
Thus the law of 1878, which prescribes the languages
to be used in administrative correspondence, only concerns
state functionaries. Communes and private individuals
make use of what language they choose.
The limitation which the constitution imposes on the
legislature is imposed a fortiori on the executive. Regard
for the law of nations and the Belgian constitution forbids
me then to take any part in the enforcement of the order
of August 2d on the free normal schools of the diocese of
Malines.

298 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Receive, Mr. Director, the assurance of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Though there was no need for them, the Governor
General opened two new Flemish normal schools at Laeken
and at Uccle. M. Corman, director of primary education,
officially informed the Cardinal of this and requested him
to appoint for each of these schools an ecclesiastic to whom
instruction in religion and morals could be intrusted. The
Cardinal refused his assistance to the establishment of these
needless schools, designed as they were to exercise a Ger
manizing influence on the Belgians. The number of his
priests had, moreover, been considerably reduced, a good
number of them being with the army in Holland or in Eng
land, or in the prisons of Belgium or Germany.
This is the reply he addressed to M. Corman :
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November ist, 19 16.
To the Director General of Primary Education.
Sir — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of 3 ist October, in which you inform me that on 6th Novem
ber next two training colleges for teachers will be opened,
one at Laeken, the other at Uccle.
You request me to appoint an ecclesiastic to each of
these schools to give instruction in religion and morals or
in the event of my considering such nominations unneces
sary for the time being, to examine the feasibility of in
trusting such instructions to curates.
I regret I see no means of complying with your request
owing to the scarcity of priests from which we are suf
fering. A good number of our clergy are serving as chap
lains or stretcher-bearers at the front, and one after an
other our zealous priests have been sent to prison in Bel
gium or deported into Germany. Hence the number of
priests employed in active work, either in parochial duties
or in teaching, is daily growing less; they are overbur-

INTERFERENCE WITH SCHOOLS 299
dened with work, and I shrink from rendering their task
still heavier.
Accept the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXX
INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE CARDINAL AND BARON VON DER
LANCKEN REGARDING THE PASTORAL LETTER
"THE VOICE OF GOD"
Another pastoral letter of the Cardinal, dated Rosary
Sunday (October ist, 1916), entitled "The Voice of God,"
was the cause of a fresh conflict between the Cardinal and
the Governor General.
The first part of the letter was read in all the churches
of the diocese on Sunday, October 15th, of the same year.
After speaking of the protracted trial to which Belgium
had been subjected, the Cardinal exhorted his flock to pause
and consider and endeavor to realize the deep meaning of
the circumstances of the times, and fixing their eyes on
eternity to listen to the voice of God. "Christ," said he,
"gives to us through the mystery of His death and resur
rection the key to these events. Life springs from death."
The letter concluded with an exhortation to prayer. "Let
us be grateful to God. The independence of our country
is today no longer subject to doubt; let us bless God for
having assured its preservation. Let us pray for those of
our dear country who are present and those who are away,
our brave prisoners and our dear refugees ... we must
not exclude any one from our prayers, not even our enemies,
but Christian theology teaches us to regulate our affections.
'Love with predilection,' says St. Thomas, 'those who do
good to you.' Let us then above all pray for our dear sol
diers whom we hold so dear, not only on account of the
close and intimate ties of blood and patriotism, but also for
their whole-Jiearted devotedness to their country and to us.
Let us pray also for their wives and mothers, silent heroines
of the great European drama, and finally for the armies
of our allies, who, in the east, west and south, fight so
300

"THE VOICE OF GOD" 301
bravely and with such stubbornness for the common cause."
The Cardinal furthermore asked for prayers for stricken
Poland and the poor Armenian people.
"And let us continue to the end," he concludes, "pa
tiently, perseveringly. 'Sursum corda.' Lift up your hearts.
Let us hasten our deliverance. Let us implore God in the
words of the holy liturgy, 'Come to my aid, O God, O
Lord, make haste to help me.' ( Deus in adjutorium meum
intende, Domine ad adjuvandum me festina.) Meanwhile
be calm, be courageous, do not murmur. Let us apply to
our sufferings as patriots what our Saviour said of our eter
nal salvation, 'He that shall persevere to the end shall be
saved.' (Qui perseveraverit usque in finem hie salvus
erit.)" On October 9th the printers of the pastoral letter —
MM. Smeesters, father and son — were arrested. In the
course of a domiciliary visit made at their printing works,
250 copies of the letter were seized by the police.
On Sunday, October 5th, the very day on which the
first part of the pastoral was read from the pulpit, the
Kreischef of Malines asked the Cardinal if he could re
ceive the chief of the diplomatic department, Baron von der
Lancken, at 7 p. m. To this the Cardinal agreed.
At the appointed hour the Baron presented himself at
the Archbishop's house and was conducted to his Emi
nence. "I am in an extremely difficult position," said he. "I
had hoped that your Eminence would do nothing to provoke
fresh dispute, and had, in fact, communicated my impres
sion to the Governor General. And now he is intensely
annoyed. 'You see,' said he to me, 'the Cardinal has
again published a document, and in spite of my orders ig
nored the censorship and takes advantage of the occasion
to meddle in politics.' "
"I never promised you," answered the Cardinal, "to sub
mit to the censorship. You yourself were one day good
enough to grant that it would be very difficult for me to do
so and suggested many petty expedients for evading it, none
of which satisfied me. The question therefore remained un-

302 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
solved, and I informed you that I was preparing a letter
for publication. You will recall our conversation and ac
knowledge that none of your suggested expedients appeared
to me desirable. You particularly requested me to send you
personally the first copy, not in manuscript but in proof. I
replied, 'I am quite willing to send you a copy at the same
time that I send the letter to my clergy, but on no account
in advance. That would be tantamount to a tacit acknowl
edgment that I submit my letter to your good pleasure.
That I cannot do.' "
"But after all," replied the Baron, "could you not con
trive to let a proof copy be left behind on the table in one or
other of the houses I am accustomed to visit in Brussels?"
"No, I do not particularly care for these paltry expedi
ents which do not solve the problem. You would always
have the right to say that I had in a covert manner recog
nized your right to censor a document essential to the exer
cise of my ministry. That is a matter of principle on which
I cannot yield."
"Yet we must find some means of coming to an under
standing." "For myself I see but one," answered the Cardinal,
"that you affect not to notice what is going on and leave
me with a free hand. I had understood, or, if you like that
better, conjectured that such was your intention. Accords
ingly I was not a little surprised to learn that the works of
my printer had been raided by the German police."
"It was not with the intention of seizing your letter;
Smeesters was implicated in another affair."
"As I was unaware of that, I was greatly surprised. I
had intended to send you a copy of my letter as soon as
it was in the hands of the various deans in Brussels, and I
considered I had a right to expect from you its circulation
without let or hindrance, for, after all, there is absolutely
nothing in the letter to which you could take exception."
"Nothing to offend me, perhaps, but the Governor Gen
eral, a soldier among soldiers, who, being obliged to con
sider the effect your writings may produce in Germany,
thinks otherwise. He knows I have come to Malines; in

"THE VOICE OF GOD" 303
fact, we had a twenty minutes' conversation about this very
letter and I can assure you he is greatly displeased."
"But what has he to complain of?"
"First of all, he takes exception to the phrase in which
you affirm that 'nobody today calls the independence of Bel
gium into question.' "
"But there is nothing mysterious in this assertion. Only
this morning I read in the 'Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant'
a declaration made by the Socialist deputy Haase to Chan
cellor von Bethmann-Hollweg. 'You speak of peace in
vague terms which fall upon deaf ears. Begin by declaring
that you agree to the autonomy of small states, such as Bel
gium and Serbia, and then your words will be listened to.'
I do not take my stand on your feelings nor on those of the
German empire when asserting my belief in the independ
ence of my country. My words were based principally on
the solemn undertaking repeated over and over again by our
allies that they will not consent to discuss peace until Bel
gium has been liberated. The Holy Father, whose name I
mention with reluctance, said the same thing to me in Rome
last January."
"Again," replied the Baron, "you say at the end of your
letter: 'Let us hasten the hour of our deliverance.' It is
this last phrase especially that irritated the Governor Gen
eral." "Well, then, Baron, the Governor General does not un
derstand French. It lies with you, who understand and
speak it, to explain fully to him the meaning this fragment
of a phrase has when read in connection with its context.
You have only to read the whole paragraph to perceive
its real sense."
"Oh, I have perused the letter four times."
"Then read the paragraph again. Do you not see that
these words were inserted therein to introduce the liturgical
invocation, 'O Lord, make haste to help us' ? They merely
imply that by means of prayer and penance we are to
merit the help and deliverance of Almighty God. Are my
words susceptible of any other interpretation?"
"When I had read it over again I saw that the phrase

304 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
could be understood in the sense your Eminence attaches to
it, but the Governor General placed quite a different con
struction upon it."
"For example?"
"He took it to mean, 'Let us hasten to expel the Ger
mans.' "
"Well," replied the Cardinal, "what is one to do? It
is not my fault if he is not sensitive to the delicate shades
of meaning in our language. And what else was there?"
"Several allusions to current politics."
"As for instance?"
"First of all a reference to Poland, which in the eyes
of the Governor General is political, though, personally,
I must confess that this particular passage appeared to me
quite inoffensive."
"Obviously if Poland is to recover her independence just
as many concessions must be made by Russia as by Ger
many. Then I say distinctly that the country has been laid
waste by the advance or retirement of the armies."
"What about the attack you made on the Turks?"
"Pardon me," replied the Cardinal, "I did not attack
the Turks, but I take up the cudgels for the Armenians. I
have great compassion for their suffering, and as I am suf
fering with my fellow countrymen, I can sympathize with
others in their trials. Is it not natural?"
"But in your letter, your Eminence inveighs against the
allies of Germany, and it is this which displeases the Gov
ernor General. Moreover, in a subsequent passage your
Eminence asks prayers for your allies. Doubtless you refer
to the British?"
"The British, the French and all those who defend the
same cause as ourselves. Can you imagine that there is a
single Belgian Catholic who does not pray for them? But
we pray also, I say, for our enemies. Do you wish that I
should say for: 'Our armies on the western front'?"
"Yes, that would do excellently."
"Frankly, that borders on sophistry. If I did not fear
to wound you, Baron, I should say that you wish to pick a
quarrel with me (une querelle d'Allemand).

"THE VOICE OF GOD" 305
"But, come, tell me what your intention was in paying
me this visit."
"Oh, above all, to explain to your Eminence the dif
ficult position I am in."
"Did you come on behalf of the Governor General with
some order in your pocket or merely to ask me for an
explanation?" "I have come with no order whatever. I fear compli
cations and that Smeesters will be punished for printing your
pastoral." "But that disgusts me ! If my letter is criminal, I am
the first person who should be punished. And if you do
not punish me, it is unreasonable to punish an inferior,
who has merely executed my orders. But since you leave
me free to say what I think, I am quite willing to tell you
that I do not consider the passage, which you condemn, of
sufficient importance to provoke a public dispute and it
would be painful to me to expose my printer to additional
punishment. The game is not worth the candle. Let me
consider the changes I can make. In a word, it is enough
to cut out the words: 'the independence of Belgium is not
doubted by any one' and 'let us hasten our deliverance' and
substitute for: 'the armies of our allies' 'our armies.' I
could make these alterations and it would cost me nothing,
but then you would claim victory over me in your press."
"Oh, no, certainly not."
"The country clergy could not be warned in time, but I
could inform the deans in the bigger towns, before the
reading of the second part of the letter." *
This question being settled, the Baron asked the Car
dinal to apply to him whenever he had any cause for com
plaint. "Is it not better," he said, "to avoid disagree
ments?" "Doubtless," replied the Cardinal. "I do not want to
* The Cardinal requested Mgr. Evrard, dean of St. Gudule, to give no
tice of these changes before the reading of the second part of the letter,
ordered for the following Sunday, to the deans of Brussels and district,
including Laeken and Uccle, as well as the deans of Wavre, Nivelles,
Braine-l'Alleux, Tubize, Hale and Vilvorde. He also advised the dean of
Antwerp of the alterations and asked him to communicate them to the
neighboring clergy.

306 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
quarrel any more than you, for the mere pleasure of it, but
I believe that in spite of my good-will and yours a dispute
is unavoidable." "Is your Eminence persuaded of that?"
"Yes. Because the military authorities have a natural
tendency to abuse their power against which my conscience
must protest. You place a political construction on all our
protests and so create discord."
"But is it not better, in the interest of your country, to
avoid protests which lead to no result?"
"That is absolutely the fundamental question. You
imagine that in our ministry we have no other ambition than
to spare ourselves momentary worry and anxiety, or to
win some immediate success. A thousand times no ! Utili
tarianism, even socially, is not our ideal. If St. Paul had
spoken like you, we should never have had St. Paul. We
should possess neither his epistles nor his example. If the
theory, 'What is the good of that,' i. e., what practical ad
vantage do you hope to gain by that — if this theory, I say,
had always prevailed we should not have had the Catholic
Church. It required three centuries of martyrs to consoli
date and propagate the idea that there is something higher
than individual and national interests."
"Oh, the martyrs ! that is another matter."
"By no means, fundamentally it is the same thing. A
martyr is not one who gives his life just for the pleasure of
sacrifice; he is one who upholds an incontrovertible truth
and makes himself its bond slave, even to offering his lib
erty and his life in its defense. It would have been easy
for the martyrs to burn perchance secretly a few grains of
incense before an idol. But this act, materially insignificant,
yet for the moment very profitable to the doer, would have
been an avowal that he had no absolute belief in the truth
which he professed and at once the eternal would have been
reduced to the level of the transitory. When the Church
was founded, the truth preached was religious truth: the
Gospel of Christ. Truth, today, is right and the superiority
of its kingdom over passing interests. In either case, there
is antagonism between utilitarianism and the necessary

"THE VOICE OF GOD" 307
triumph of absolute right — of truth. Thus I have nothing
but contempt for those sophisms to which you in your recent
correspondence, and with you certain theologians in their
utterances, have had recourse, sheltering themselves behind
the 'notwehr' for the purpose of justifying the invasion of
our country. It is no use to argue; it is no use to twist
and turn, Germany has violated an oath and it would be
simpler to confess and regret it than to strive by might and
main to hide the truth."
With these words the interview ended. Baron von der
Lancken took his leave, thanking the Cardinal for the
changes he had agreed to make in the text of his pastoral.

CHAPTER XXXI
THE DEPORTATION OF THE UNEMPLOYED
Of all the crimes committed by Germany in the occupied
part of Belgium there is perhaps none more abominable
than the deportation of the unemployed. In the light of the
twentieth century the German Government, scorning all
the laws of civilization, introduces again the slavery of days
gone by. This crime against human liberty, long and cal
lously premeditated and perpetrated with untold cynicism
and brutality, aroused the conscience of the whole world
and drew down upon its authors well-deserved abhorrence.
The Cardinal, as soon as he learned of the iniquitous
steps taken by the Governor General in regard to the unem
ployed, hastened to address to Baron von Bissing an ener
getic protest. Archbishop's House, Malines,
October igth, 191 6.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The day following the capitulation of Antwerp
the distracted population had serious misgivings regarding
the lot of Belgians of military age and of those who would
reach that age before the end of the occupation. The
fathers and mothers of families, by their entreaties, induced
me to put the question to the Governor of Antwerp, Baron
von Huene, who had the kindness to reassure me and au
thorize me to reassure the anxious parents on this point.
Nevertheless the report had spread through Antwerp that
at Liege, at Namur and at Charleroi young men had been
seized and forcibly carried off into Germany. I thereupon
requested the Governor von Huene to be so good as to con-
308

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 309
firm in black and white the guarantee he had given me by
word of mouth, that no action of the kind would be taken
at Antwerp. Without delay he replied that the rumors
relative to deportations were without foundation, and he
immediately sent me in writing, among others, the following
declaration : "Young men need have no fear of being car
ried off into Germany, either for enrollment in the army
or to be there employed at compulsory work."
This declaration, drawn up in writing and duly signed,
was publicly communicated to the clergy and the faithful of
the province of Antwerp, as your Excellency may convince
yourself, by the document herewith inclosed, dated October
1 6th, 1 9 14, and which was read in all the churches.
Immediately on the arrival at Brussels of your predeces
sor, the late Baron von der Goltz, I had the honor of an
interview with' him, and I requested him to be so good as
to ratify in writing for the country at large, and without
any time limit, the guarantee which General von Huene had
given me for the province of Antwerp.
The Governor General retained my petition in his own
hands in order to examine it at his leisure. The following
day he was kind enough to come in person to Malines and
to bring me his approval, and he confirmed in the presence
of two aides-de-camp and my private secretary the promise
that the Belgian citizens' liberties would be respected.
To doubt such a pledge would be to wrong the persons
who had signed it, and I proceeded to dissipate, by every
means of persuasion in my power, the alarm still prevailing
among the families concerned.
Now, heaven save the mark, your government snatches
from their homes workmen, who, without fault of their own,
are out of employment; it forcibly separates them from their
wives and children and deports them into the enemy's coun
try. A host of workmen has already suffered this unhappy
fate ; more still are threatened with the same violent treat
ment. On behalf of the liberty of the home and the liberty of
employment of Belgian citizens, in the name of the inviola
bility of families, on behalf of the moral and religious inter-

310 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
ests gravely compromised by this system of deportation, in
virtue of the pledge given by the Governor of the province
of Antwerp and by the Governor General, the immediate
representative of the highest authority of the German em
pire, I respectfully beg your Excellency to consent to cancel
the regulations for compulsory labor and deportation al
ready communicated to the Belgian workmen and to be good
enough to restore to their homes those already deported.
Your Excellency will understand how heavy a weight of
responsibility I shall be compelled to bear in the eyes of
families if the confidence established through my interven
tion and my request were to be rudely shaken.
I cling to the belief that such will not be the case.
Receive, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
At the same time that he protested to the Governor
General the Cardinal wrote to Baron von der Lancken,
chief of the political department, to entreat him to use all
his influence to prevent the execution of the threatened
measures. Archbishop's House, Malines,
October igth, 191 6.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Brussels.
Dear Sir — I have had the honor of sending to his
Excellency Baron von Bissing a letter of which I herein
inclose a copy.
The Governor General has so often expressed, even pub
licly, his wish to devote a large share of his solicitude to
the interests of the occupied parts of the country, and you
yourself have so often proclaimed, especially of late, the
desire of the German authorities not to perpetuate, under
the regime of occupation, the state of war of the early days,
that I cannot believe the steps with which your government
threatens the workmen, who, without any fault of their
own, have been reduced to a state of unemployment, will be
enforced.

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 311
I trust that you will exert all your influence with the
higher authorities to hinder the commission of such a
crime. Do not allege the necessity of protecting public order or
of lessening the burdens of public charity. Spare us this bit
ter irony. You know quite well that public order is not
threatened and that every civil and moral force would
spontaneously lend its aid were it really menaced. The un
employed are not a burden on any official charitable funds ;
it is not from your finances that they receive assistance.
Kindly read my letter to the Governor General and
consider if it is not as much to Germany's interest as it is
ours to respect agreements entered into by two< high per
sonalities of your empire.
I am confident that my representations to the Governor
General and yourself will be neither misunderstood nor dis
regarded, and I beg you to accept, Baron, the assurance of
my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General answered the Cardinal's protest
with a refusal, while trying to justify the steps taken by the
German Government. Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
October 26th, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
In your esteemed letter of the 19th inst. your Eminence
makes the urgent request that the unemployed Belgian work
men should no longer be deported to Germany. While
appreciating your Eminence's point of view, I feel at the
same time compelled to reply that you have not examined
in all its aspects the difficult problem of Belgian unemploy
ment. First of all, your Eminence does not consider in all
their bearings the extraordinary circumstances arising from
the war, which has now lasted more than two years. The
steps now in progress, which your Eminence would wish

312 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
to see suspended, are nothing but the necessary consequences
of the war, as I hope now to prove.
Your Eminence recalls first the declarations made in
October, 19 14, by my predecessor and by the Governor of
the fortress of Antwerp. These declarations referred to
measures directly bearing on the operations of war, and
they regarded chiefly men of military age, who, according
to the ordinary usage of war, could have been deported
as civil prisoners of war. England and France have seized,
on neutral ships, all Germans between the ages of seventeen
and fifty, and have interned them in concentration camps.
Germany has taken no such steps in Belgium, and the assur
ances given to your Eminence, with a view to calming the
civil population, have been uniformly respected. At any
rate, that was a proof of the benevolent disposition with
which the German Governor General had taken in hand
the administration of the occupied territory. Later on, the
departure in crowds of young men to join the Belgian army
would have fully justified measures similar to those taken by
England and France. And yet nothing was done. The re
moval of Belgian laborers to the German factories, which
is only beginning after two years of war, has no connection
in principle with the deportation and internment of men of
military age. This step does not depend upon the conduct
of the war as such, but it is based on economic and social
grounds. As a result of the economical blockade which England
has established against Germany, Belgium has been forced
to endure more and more the privations which our country
has to suffer. Belgium's economic life, which rests chiefly
on the importation of raw materials and the export of
manufactured goods, has been crushed by the blockade, de
prived as she is of the very basis of her commercial exist
ence. The inevitable result of this situation has been unem
ployment, which has extended to various classes of the
population. The system of relief adopted could be rea
sonably applied to those out of work as long as it was
thought that the war would end quickly, but the long dura
tion of the hostilities has brought about an abuse of this

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 313
relief and has created unendurable social conditions. Far-
seeing Belgians came to me in the spring of 19 15 and drew
my attention to this point. They pointed out that this relief,
no matter what might be the source of the funds placed at
the disposal of the committees, would finally have to be
borne by the Belgian budgets, without taking into account
that these contributions would inevitably create in the work-
ingman a habit of idleness. The result is that the work
men see their physical and moral capacity lessened and
artisans of some ability have lost their technical skill and
will be useless for Belgian industry when peace has been
restored. On this account, and in order to do away with
this prevalent apathy for work, I published with the ap
probation of the competent Belgian ministry my decrees of
August, 1915, which were completed by my order of May
15th, 19 1 6. These decrees do not provide for forced labor,
save in the case where an unemployed workman becomes a
burden to the public relief funds by refusing unreasonably
to do work at his trade when a reasonable wage is of
fered. We have recognized expressly as a lawful reason
for refusal any motive based on international law. Thus
no workman can be compelled to take part in war work.
These orders rest, as your Eminence will acknowledge, on
reasons fully justified in law which subordinate the freedom
of the individual to the interest of the public. Now that
the disadvantages resulting from the situation of 19 15 have
developed to the point of becoming a veritable public calam
ity it is imperative to put these orders into execution.
Your Eminence appeals in your esteemed letter to the
exalted ideal of family life. I can assure you that I recog
nize this ideal just as fully as you do yourself, but I believe
that in consequence of the duration of the war with its in
evitable effects, conditions of life growing daily worse, this
idea runs a great risk of disappearing altogether from the
life of the working classes, for idleness is the most dan
gerous enemy of family life. The workman who toils in
foreign lands to support his wife and family, as was the
case in peace time for many Belgians who quitted their own
land to find work abroad, contributes assuredly more to the

314 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
happiness of his home than the idler who remains in Bel
gium. Besides, workmen who get employment in Germany
may remain in close contact with their families and are
given at regular intervals permission to visit their homes.
They can even take their families with them to Germany,
where they receive every spiritual care in their own tongue.
A large number of Belgian people has, with good sense,
thoroughly grasped the situation. Tens of thousands of
Belgian workmen have quite voluntarily betaken themselves
to Germany, where, placed on the same footing as the Ger
man workmen, they earn much higher wages than they
have ever known in Belgium, and instead of perishing of
want, like their comrades at home, they add to their own
comfort and that of their families. Many others do not
venture to follow their example, being held back by a con
spiracy of evil influences. Unless they free themselves be
times from these influences, they will, in virtue of my order,
be compelled to work. The responsibility for the severe
measures, which the adoption of constraint necessarily en
tails, falls upon those who are dissuading the workers from
seeking employment. Finally, I entreat your Eminence, in
order to realize the situation in all its complexity, to bear
in mind the following important considerations :
The English blockade has forced the occupied territories
into a close economic union with Germany. Germany is
today the only country with which Belgium maintains inter
course. Germany has not taken any steps to hinder payments
being made in Belgium — a measure usually adopted in the
case of enemy countries — and German money continues to
pour into Belgium. This stream of money will be still
more swollen by the workmen's salaries when they are
employed in Germany. In short, the sums of money com
ing into Belgium as a result of the occupation exceed the
war contributions, which — the fact is notorious — are entirely
spent in the country. This community of interests, result
ing from circumstances, necessarily requires for the two
countries an equality of economic factors. As on the one
hand there are in Belgium hundreds of thousands of work-

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 315
ers without employment, and on the other in Germany
work is abundant, the employment in Germany of Belgians
who are out of work becomes a social and economic duty,
imposed by the solidarity of interests in which the two
countries are knit. Any protests which may be raised
against this state of things ought to be addressed to Eng
land, which, by the blockade she has imposed on Germany,
has brought about a constrained situation.
Your Eminence, keeping in mind all that I have said,
will admit that the question of deportations forms a problem
which should be studied from many standpoints. I should
be content if your Eminence, as a result of my summary,
would weigh this question, as is needful, from the social
and economic point of view.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
The rigorous measures, far from being relaxed after
the protestations which arose on all sides, were only ex
tended further. The German authorities, failing to obtain
from the parochial authorities the lists which they had called
for of unemployed, took the opportunity of deporting all
healthy men. In face of these more and more outrageous
proceedings, the Cardinal, in the name of the Belgian
bishops, appealed to the public opinion of the whole world
and drew up the following terrible charge against the
German Government:

CRY OF ALARM RAISED BY BELGIAN BISHOPS AND ADDRESSED
BY THEM TO THE BELGIAN PUBLIC
Malines, Nov. 7th, 19 16.
The military authorities are daily deporting into Ger
many from Belgium thousands of inoffensive citizens to
subject them there to compulsory labor.
As far back as October 19th we sent to the Governor

316 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
General a protest, a copy of which was forwarded to the
Holy See, to Spain, to the United States, to Holland, to
Brussels, but the Governor General answered that he was
debarred from receiving it. At the date of our protest the
government regulations threatened only the unemployed.
Today all able-bodied men are taken indiscriminately,
penned in military wagons and carted off, no one knows
where, like a band of slaves.
The enemy proceeds in his work by districts. Vague
reports have reached us that men had been arrested in
the war zone, at Tournay, Ghent, Alost; but we know not
;n what circumstances. Between October 24th and Novem
ber 2d he operated in the district of Mons, Quievrain, Saint-
Ghislain, Jemappes, making a clean sweep of eight hundred
to twelve hundred men daily. Now he intends to pounce
upon the arrondissement of Nivelles.
Here is a sample of a placard announcing the attempt:
"By order of the Kreischef, all male persons over seven
teen years of age are bound to appear in St. Paul's Square,
Nivelles, on the 8th of November at 8 o'clock (Belgian
time) and 9 o'clock (central time), furnished with their
identity papers and, in case it may be wanted, with their
card from the 'Meldeamt.'
"They must bring with them only a small hand-bag.
"Any one who refuses to present himself will be forcibly
deported to Germany and will also be liable to a heavy fine
and a long term of imprisonment.
"Ecclesiastics, doctors, lawyers and schoolmasters are
exempted. "The burgomasters will be held responsible for the due
execution of this order, which must at once be made known
to the inhabitants.
"An interval of twenty-four hours will be allowed be
tween the posting of the notice and the deportation itself."
On the plea of carrying out public works in Belgium the
authority in occupation had endeavored to obtain from the
communes a list of unemployed workmen. With this order

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 317
the great majority of the communes boldly refused to com
ply. Three decrees of the government gradually prepared us
for the blow that has fallen on us today.
On August 15th, 19 1 5, the first decree came out impos
ing, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, compulsory la
bor on unemployed workmen, declaring, however, that the
work contemplated was to be done in Belgium only and that
breaches of the order would be brought before Belgian law
courts. A second decree of May 2, 19 16, reserves to the Ger
man authorities the right to provide work for the unem
ployed and threatened with a penalty of three years' im
prisonment and a fine of 20,000 marks any one that carries
out work not sanctioned by the Governor General.
A decree dated May 13th, 19 16, authorizes the gover
nors and military commandants and the chiefs of arrondis-
sements to order idle workmen to be forcibly taken to the
place where they have to work. Compulsory work had al-
readysbegun, but in Belgium only.
Today it is no longer a question of compulsory work to
be carried out in Belgium, but in Germany also, for the
benefit of the Germans.
To impart an air of sweet reasonableness to these vio
lent measures the occupying power alleges in the German
press, both of Germany and Belgium, as a pretext for these
measures, chiefly two reasons: Idle workmen constitute a
danger to public order, and they are a charge on the treas
ury. The letter we addressed on October 16th to the Gov
ernor General and to the chief of his political cabinet has
the following: "You know full well that public order is
not menaced, and that were it in danger every influence,
moral and civil, would spontaneously be offered for its
maintenance. Again, the unemployed are not a burden on
the bounty of the state; the assistance they receive comes
from no funds of yours."
In his reply the Governor General no longer insists on
the two previous allegations, but maintains that the sums

318 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
given to the unemployed from whatever source they come
must eventually burden our finances and that it is the task
of a good administrator to lessen such charges, adding that
the prolongation of unemployment would impair our work
men's technical skill and on the return of peace they would
be of no use for any industry whatever. He does not men
tion other means of protecting our finances, for instance, to
spare us the forced contributions which at the present mo
ment reach the sum of £40,000,000 and is continually aug
mented by a monthly increase of 40,000,000 francs. We
might be spared the requisitions in kind which total several
milliards and are exhausting the country.
There were other means, too, for maintaining unim
paired our artisans' technical skill. To leave us, for in
stance, our machines and equipment, as well as our raw
materials and manufactured goods which have left Bel
gium for Germany, and perhaps quarries and limekilns,
where the Germans themselves declare that they intend to
send the unemployed. Are not, after all, these the best
schools for completing the technical education of our skilled
artisans? The unvarnished truth is that every deported workman
is an additional soldier for the German army. He will take
the place of a German workman who will straightway join
the army.
Thus the situation which we denounce to the civilized
world comes to this: Four hundred thousand workmen
find themselves against their will unemployed, chiefly be
cause of the regime put into force by the occupying power.
Sons, husbands, fathers of families, always mindful of pub
lic order, bear their unhappy lot uncomplainingly. The
whole nation united provides for their most pressing needs.
By dint of economy and wholesale privations, they manage
to escape extreme misery and await with self-respect, sprung
from an intimacy which the national mourning has forged
among them, the termination of our common trials.
Bands of soldiers force their way into their peaceful
homes, drag young men from their parents, the husband
from his wife, the father from his children, guard every

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 319
door and avenue by which wives and mothers are able to
issue to bid a last farewell, form their captives into troops
of forty and fifty, thrust them by force into military
wagons; the locomotive has steam up, and as soon as the
train is filled a superior officer gives the signal for depar
ture. Behold another thousand Belgians reduced to slavery
and without trial or sentence condemned to the severest
punishment of the penal code, only second to the penalty
of death, namely, deportation. They know not where they
are going nor for how long; all they know is that their
work is to benefit the enemy. From several, some by cajol
ery and others by threats, they extort an undertaking to
work, which they dare to call voluntary.
There is no doubt they enroll the unemployed; but, on
the other hand, they recruit in great numbers — in the case
of the arrondissement of Mons, quite a fourth — men who
have never been unemployed and belong to trades of very
different categories — butchers, bakers, master tailors, brew
ers, electricians, farmers ; they take even young men, college
and university students, or those attending the higher
schools. Yet two high authorities of the German empire had ex
pressly guaranteed to us the liberty of our fellow coun
trymen. On the day following the capitulation of Antwerp the
distracted population was filled with alarm regarding the lot
of the Belgians of military age or of those who would reach
that age before the end of the occupation. Baron von
Huene, military governor of Antwerp, authorized me to re
assure in his name the distressed parents. Nevertheless,
as a report was circulated at Antwerp that at Liege, at
Namur, at Charleroi, young men had been taken and forci
bly carried off to Germany, I begged the Governor to be so
good as to confirm in writing the verbal pledges he had
given me. He replied that the rumors relative to the depor
tation were void of foundation and he gave me, without
hesitation, this declaration in writing, which was read on
Sunday, October 13th, 19 14. in a^ tne parish churches of
the province of Antwerp: "Young men need have no fear

320 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
of being taken off to Germany either to be enrolled in the
army, or to be there employed in compulsory labor.
Immediately on the arrival of Baron von der Goltz as
Governor General at Brussels, I went to request him to be
so good as to ratify for the country at large without limit
of time the pledges given by Governor von Huene for the
province of Antwerp. The Governor General retained my
petition in his hands to examine it at his leisure. The fol
lowing day he was kind enough to bring to Malines in per
son his approval and renewed in the presence of two aides-
de-camp and my private secretary the promise that Belgian
citizens' liberty would be respected.
In my letter of October ist last to Baron von Bissing,
after recalling the understanding come to by his predeces
sor, I concluded as follows: "Your Excellency will under
stand how painful the burden of my responsibility will be
come in the eyes of Belgian families if the confidence re
posed in you by my intervention and at my instance should
be rudely shaken."
The Governor General answered: "The employment
of Belgians, out of work, in Germany, which has begun
only after two years of warfare, differs essentially from
the internment of men fit to bear arms. The measure has
no relation to the conduct of the war properly so called,
but has been brought about by social and economic causes."
Just as though, forsooth, the engagements of a man of
honor were, like a lease, subject to revision at the end of
one or two years, and as though the declaration issued in
1 9 14 did not expressly exclude alike the operations of war
and forced labor, as though finally every Belgian workman
who takes the place of a German laborer does not con
tribute to replenish the depleted ranks of the German
army. We, shepherds of these sheep snatched from us by
brute force, harassed as we are at the idea of the moral
and religious isolation which they will have to endure, im
potent witnesses of the sorrows and dismay of so many
homes broken up or threatened with this calamity, we turn
toward those souls whether believing or unbelieving, who, in

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 321
the allied or neutral countries, or even in enemy lands, enter
tain respect for the dignity of man.
When Cardinal Lavigerie undertook his campaign
against slavery, Pope Leo XIII, blessing his mission, said
to him : "Opinion is more than ever today the ruling power
of the world; it is upon it you must act. You will conquer
only by force of opinion."
May divine Providence deign to give to some one, to
some authority, a phrase, a pen, to cause men to flock to
our humble Belgian standard for the abolition of European
slavery. "Honor before all things." (Nihil praeferendum
honestati. )
Signed on behalf of the Belgian bishops *
D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General had attempted to justify the con
demnation of the Belgian working classes to penal servitude
and deportation. In his reply the Cardinal refutes all the
arguments brought forward by Baron von Bissing for de
fending the German Government, and proves, in a peremp
tory manner, the anti-juridical and anti-social character of
the deportation of the unemployed. Archbishop's House, Malines,
November ioth, 19 16.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I refrain from expressing to your Excellency the
sentiments awakened in me by your letter (1,100051) in
answer to the letter I addressed to you October 19th regard
ing the deportation of the unemployed.
I have a melancholy recollection of the phrase, which
your Excellency, emphasizing each syllable, pronounced in
my presence on your arrival at Brussels. "I hope our rela
tions will be cordial. ... I have received a mission to heal
the wounds of Belgium,"
My letter of October 19th recalled to your Excellency's
* We were unable to communicate with the Bishop of Brussels.

322 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
memory the undertaking given by Baron von Huene, mili
tary governor of Antwerp, and ratified some days later
by Baron von der Goltz, your predecessor in the General
Government at Brussels.
The undertaking was explicit, unconditional, without
limit of time. "Young men need not fear being carried off
to Germany, either to be enrolled in the army or to be there
employed in compulsory labor."
This understanding has been broken daily and thou
sands of times for more than a fortnight.
Baron von Huene and the late Baron von der Goltz did
not speak with any qualification as your dispatch of October
26th seemed to imply: "If the occupation does not last
more than two years, men fit for military service shall not
be placed in captivity." They stated absolutely: "Young
men, and still more men of riper age, shall not at any time
during the occupation be imprisoned or employed in com
pulsory labor."
To justify yourself your Excellency quotes the conduct
of England and France, who have, you say, taken from neu
tral ships all Germans between seventeen and fifty years
of age and interned them in concentration camps.
If England and France have been guilty of an injus
tice, it is on the English and the French that you should
have inflicted reprisals, not on an innocent and disarmed
people. But has there been any injustice ? Imperfectly informed
as we are of all that takes place outside the walls of our
prison, we are tempted to believe that the Germans taken
and interned belonged to the reserve of the imperial army.
They were therefore soldiers whom England and France
were justified in sending to concentration camps. Belgium
has only recently, that is since August, 1 9 13, had universal
military service; the Belgians, therefore, from seventeen to
fifty years of age residing in the occupied part of Belgium
are civilians and noncombatants. It is a mere play on words
to liken them to German reservists in applying to them the
misleading appellation "men fit for military service."
The orders, public notices, comments in the press de-

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 323
signed to prepare public opinion for the measures being put
at this moment into execution, have placed in the forefront
two considerations. The unemployed, it was said, are a
danger to public security ; they are a burden on the state.
It is not true, as said before in my letter of October
19th, that our workmen have upset or simply threatened
anywhere to disturb public order. Five million Belgians,
hundreds of Americans, are wonder-struck witnesses of the
self-respect and unfailing patience of our working classes.
It is not true that workers deprived of work are a bur
den on the occupying power or on the benevolent funds over
which its administration presides. The national commit
tee to which the occupying power makes no contribution is
the sole means by which victims of enforced idleness are
assisted. These two answers have been left without reply.
The letter of October 26th seeks another method of
justification. It alleges that the measure by which the un
employed have been struck so grievously has been "brought
about by social and economic causes."
"It is because it has at heart more earnestly and more
intelligently than ourselves the interest of the Belgian na
tion that the German Government rescues the laborer from
idleness and saves him from losing his technical skill. Com
pulsory labor is the price to be paid for the economic advan
tages procured by our commercial exchanges with the em
pire. "Moreover, if the Belgian has to complain of this state
of affairs, let him address his complaints to England. She
is the great criminal. She by her policy of isolation has
brought about this restricted measure."
Every Belgian workman sets free a German workman
who will become an additional soldier for the German army.
It is this fact in all its nakedness that dominates the situa
tion. The author of the letter himself feels this glaring
fact, for he writes : "The measure has no connection what
ever with the conduct of the war properly so called." It
has, therefore, a connection with the war improperly so
called. What does this mean except that the Belgian work-

324 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
man does not indeed bear arms, but frees the hands of the
Germans who will take up arms. The Belgian worker is
constrained to co-operate indirectly. This is in palpable
contradiction with the spirit of The Hague convention.
Again the lack of work is not the fault of the Belgian work
man, nor of England; it is an effect of the German occupa
tion and its regime.
The occupying power has taken possession of consider
able supplies of raw materials destined for our national
industry; it has seized and sent off to Germany the tools,
the machines and metals of our workshops and factories.
The very possibility of national work being thus eliminated,
there remained for the workman but one alternative: to
work for the German empire either here or in Germany,
or to remain idle. Some tens of thousands of workmen
under the pressure of fear or famine agreed, under con
straint for the most part, to work for the foreigner : but four
hundred thousand workmen preferred to give themselves
over to idleness with all its attendant privations rather than
to do an ill-service to their country. They lived in poverty
with the help of slender assistance allowed them by the
national committee of help and alimentation, under the con
trol of the protecting ministers of Spain, America and Hol
land. Calm and self-respecting, they bore without a mur
mur their painful lot. Nowhere was there any rising or sign
of rising; master and workmen awaited with patience the
end of our protracted trial.
Nevertheless communal administrations and private in
itiative endeavored to lessen the undeniable inconvenience of
unemployment. But the occupying power paralyzed all
their efforts. The national committee endeavored to organ
ize a course of technical instruction for the benefit of the
unemployed. This scheme of instruction, characterized by a
tender regard for the workman's self-respect, wished to
take him by the hand, to enlarge his capacity for work and
thus prepare the way for the country's resurrection. Who
thwarted this noble enterprise, the plan of which had been
carefully thought out by the great captains of industry?
Who? Why, the power in occupation. Nevertheless the

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 325
communes did their best to initiate works of practical utility
to be carried out by the unemployed. These the Governor
General would not permit without his previous sanction, a
sanction which he generally refused. I am told that the
Governor General in not a few cases graciously gave his
permission for works of this kind with the express stipula
tion that the unemployed should not be engaged on them.
In fact, they wanted unemployment. The German army
indirectly was recruited from the ranks of those out of work.
No, the Belgian workman is far from lazy; nay, he wor
ships labor. In all the economic struggles of modern times
he has proved his worth. When he rejected posts com
manding a big salary offered him by the occupying authority,
he did so from patriotic self-respect. We shepherds of the
people, intimately acquainted with their sorrows and anxie
ties, we know with what great cost they preferred independ
ence coupled with privation to comfort and ease linked with
subjection. The letter of October 29 boldly states that the nation
chiefly to blame for the unemployment of our workmen is
England, because she hinders raw materials from entering
Belgium. England generously allows foodstuffs to enter Belgium
under the control of neutral states — Spain, the United States
and Holland. She would certainly under the same control
permit the entrance of raw materials required by our indus
tries, provided Germany would consent to our retaining
them and did not pounce on our manufactured goods.
But Germany by various methods, notably by the cun
ning organization of her "Centrales," over which no Belgian
or any one of the protecting ministers exercises any offi
cial control, absorbs a considerable quantity of our agri
cultural produce and of the country's manufactured goods.
The result is a disquieting rise in the cost of living, the cause
of painful privations to those who have used up their sav
ings or never had any. The community of interests, the
advantage of which the letter lauds to the skies, is not the
normal equilibrium of commercial exchange, but the pre
dominance of the strong over the weak.

326 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
As to this condition of economic inferiority to which we
are reduced, do not, I pray, represent it to us as a privilege
that justifies forced labor for our enemy's profit, and coun
terbalances the deportation of legions of innocent beings into
a land of exile.
After the penalty of death, slavery — deportation — is the
heaviest punishment known to the penal code.
Belgium, that has never done you any harm, has she
deserved at your hands this treatment calling to heaven for
vengeance ?
Sir, I recalled at the outset your whole utterance: "I
have come to Belgium with a mission to heal the country's
wounds." Two years ago the excuse made for death, pillage and
conflagration was that it was war. Perhaps for one party,
whom charity too kindly excused, it was the intoxication of
opening victories. Today it is war no longer. It is frigid
calculation, deliberate destruction, the empire of force over
right, the abasement of human nature, a challenge to human
ity. It lies with your Excellency to stop these cries of con
science in revolt.
Receive, sir, the homage of our sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The preceding letter having been returned to the arch
bishop's house by the postal authorities because unstamped,
the Cardinal sent it a second time to Baron von Bissing
with the following note :
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 12th, 19 16.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Your Excellency — The inclosed letter, dated November
ioth, will reach your Excellency late, because it has been
returned to me. It had been posted unstamped.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 327
The Governor General shirked the discussion. To the
closely knitted arguments of the Cardinal he merely op
posed his former considerations, as expounded, almost word
for word, in his despatch of October 26th.
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
November 23rd, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your Eminence's es
teemed letter of the ioth inst., also the note which you sent
on the 15th inst. to explain the delay in the arrival of your
letter. My answer is as follows :
Your Eminence wrote to me on the 19th of October last
with the object of putting an end to the deportation of Bel
gian unemployed into Germany. In my reply of October
19th, while fittingly realizing your Eminence's standpoint,
I set forth the reasons which induced the occupying power
to form its decisions respecting the unemployed. These
decisions were not come to arbitrarily, nor without ample
investigation of this difficult problem, but were on the con
trary the result of an exhaustive study of all the aspects of
this question. The necessity of the steps taken was recog
nized as unavoidable. In short, I feel justified in referring
your Eminence to the considerations which I set out in my
letter of October 26th. The reasons you allege for com
bating them rest either on the mistaken interpretation you
give them, or are derived from theories which from their
very nature I cannot admit, for such widespread unemploy
ment in Belgium is a serious sore in the body politic, and
from this point of view a benefit would be conferred on the
unemployed if work were provided for them in Germany.
In this sense the steps taken are by no means contrary to the
desire I expressed to your Eminence the very moment I ar
rived in Belgium, to remedy the evils the war has inflicted
on the Belgian people. I must also maintain that your Emi
nence fails to understand the reality of facts, when you seek
to deny my efforts to restore the economic life of Belgium,
efforts which have often been crowned with success, and also
when you say that, so far from favoring the restoration of

328 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
industry, the occupying power has endeavored to create
an artificial state of unemployment. England has imposed
unacceptable conditions on the importation of raw materials
into Belgium and on the exportation of manufactured goods.
These questions were at the proper moment the subject
of constant negotiations with the competent authorities of
Belgium and neutral countries. I will not enter into details ;
that would take me too far afield. I content myself with
repeating that in their ultimate analysis the deplorable con
ditions that obtain in Belgium are a result of the English
blockade just as the confiscation of raw material was a
measure also dictated by that policy. Again, I am abso
lutely convinced that from the economic point of view the
occupying power guarantees to Belgium all the advantages
which can be secured for her, taking into account the dis
tress caused by England.
In carrying out the steps taken with regard to the un
employed, my officials have met with a long series of diffi
culties entailing annoyances, which have reacted also upon
the whole population. All that could have been avoided,
had the various municipal bodies shown good will and facili
tated the execution of these measures.
In the actual circumstances it was needful to adopt more
general measures, the first result of which was to oblige per
sons other than the unemployed to answer the roll-call. But
arrangements were made to preclude all possibility of error,
but those belonging to certain professions were dispensed
from appearing, while genuine appeals are either heard at
once or passed on for investigation.
From all the above facts, your Eminence will perceive
the impossibility of complying with your desire to put a
stop to the line of action we have decided upon, but, on the
contrary, the execution of these measures, in spite of all the
difficulties we meet with, will be carried out in the best in
terests of all.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 329
In a fresh letter to Baron von Bissing, the Cardinal
maintains that his arguments have been left unanswered; he
protests once more against the brutal way in which the re
cruiting of the so-called unemployed everywhere takes place.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
November 29th, 19 16.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General of
Belgium.
The letter which your Excellency does me the honor
to write me, dated November 23rd, is disappointing. In
several circles, that I had reason to believe well informed,
it was asserted that your Excellency had felt it your duty
to lay a protest before the highest authorities of the empire
against the regulations you were forced to apply to Belgium.
I counted, therefore, on at least some delay in the applica
tion of these measures, pending a fresh examination, and in
a mitigation in the method of executing them.
But lo and behold ! without a word of answer to any one
of the arguments by which I proved in my letters of October
19th and November ioth the illegal and anti-social nature
of the condemnation of the Belgian workingmen to forced
labor and deportation, your Excellency confines yourself to
repeating in your letter of November 23rd the very text of
your letter of October 26th. These two letters are, in fact,
identical both in matter and form.
On the other hand the recruiting of the so-called un
employed is carried out most of the time without any re
gard to the observations of the local authorities. Many
reports I hold in my hands bear witness that the clergy are
brutally kept at a distance, the mayors and local councilors
silenced; the recruiting officers find themselves in the pres
ence of individuals unknown to them and arbitrarily make
their choice from among their number. Instances of this
abound. I will give you two recent examples from a crowd
of others which I hold at your Excellency's service.
On November 21st the recruiting of forced labor took
place in the village of Kersbeek-Miscom. Of the 1,325
inhabitants of the commune, the recruiting officers took away

33o CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
ninety-four in a body without distinction of social status
or profession; farmers' sons, men who have to support aged
and infirm parents, fathers of families who left wife and
children in want; men who were as needful to their families
as their daily bread. Two families, both of them, saw four
sons carried off at the same time. Of the ninety-four thus
deported, only two-were really unemployed.
In the region of Aerschot the recruiting took place on
November 23rd. At Rillaer, Gelrode and Rotselaer young
men who supported their widowed mothers, farmers, the
heads of numerous families — one of them more than fifty
years of age with ten children — cultivating the land and
owning several head of cattle, who had never received a
penny from public charity, were taken away by force in spite
of all their protests. In the little village of Rillaer, as many
as twenty-five young lads of seventeen were taken away.
Your Excellency would have wished that the communal
authorities be accomplices in these odious recruitings ; neither
their legal position nor their conscience would allow them
to do so. But they could have enlightened the "recruiters"
and are specially qualified for that. Priests, who know the
common people better than any one else, could render these
officials valuable help. Why is their assistance refused?
At the end of your letter your Excellency reminds me
that professional men are not molested. If only the unem
ployed were taken away I could understand this exception.
But if the able-bodied are enrolled indiscriminately that
exception is unfair. It would be iniquitous to throw the
whole burden of deportation on the working classes. The
middle classes ought also to share in the sacrifice imposed
on the nation by the occupying power, however cruel this
sacrifice may be, and justly so, because it is cruel. Numbers
of my clergy have entreated me to demand for them a place
in the vanguard of the persecuted. I record this request
and submit it to you with pride.
I still wish to believe that the authorities of the empire
have not said their last word, that they will not be unmind
ful of our undeserved sorrows, of the reprobation of the

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 331
civilized world, of the verdict of history and of the chastise
ment of God.
Accept, Excellency, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General commissioned the chief of the
political department to acknowledge receipt of the Cardi
nal's letter of November 29th, reserving the right of answer
ing it himself later on.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium, Brussels. December c,th, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor to inform your Eminence that the
Governor General has noted with interest the remarks anent
the question of the unemployed, which you made in your
letter of the 29th inst., nevertheless, in consequence of a
brief absence, he will be unable to reply for some days. To
my great regret the pardon of F. Franch,* of Malines, can
not be granted for the present. But when he has served
half his sentence, then, if your Eminence wishes to present
a request in his behalf, I have reason to hope that it will
be crowned with success. I present to your Eminence the
expression of my sincere esteem, and I am yours devotedly,
(Signed) Lancken.
Von Bissing, in spite of his promise, did not answer the
letter of November 29th. He confined himself to inform
ing the Cardinal, through Baron von der Lancken, that he
could not accept the help offered by the priests in the work
of enrolling the unemployed.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium, Brussels. December gth, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
In reply to your esteemed letter of November 27th
* F. Franch, in religion F. Servasius, Superior of the Franciscans at
Malines, had been sentenced to a year's imprisonment on a charge of
having had printed a poem offensive to the Germans. In a letter dated
November n the Cardinal interceded in his favor.

332 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
last, I have the honor to inform your Eminence that the
Governor General, after investigating the case, has been
unable to make use of his right of reprieve in favor of the
Engineer Uytebroek and the Railwayman Mertens, con
demned to death for espionage. In regard to Wanty, no
definite decision can be taken until it has been ascertained
by medical examination whether he is of sound mind and
therefore responsible for his actions.*
The Governor General instructs me to inform your Emi
nence, in reply to your letter of November 29th, that he is
unfortunately unable to grant to priests a kind of official
co-operation in recruiting the unemployed. But, taking into
account the reasons assigned by your Eminence, the Gover
nor General leaves the priests free to attend the offices of the
recruiting authorities and there impart their information
and express their wishes before the enrollment is begun.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.
Several days later the Cardinal sent the parish priests
of his diocese the following instructions :
"In spite of the protests addressed to Germany by the
Sovereign Pontiff and several neutral states, the deportation
of our civil population still continues. It is our duty to les
sen to the best of our ability an evil we are powerless to
prevent. "The moment that notices to assemble are placarded in
your parish, please warn persons who do not depend on pub
lic assistance to provide themselves with a receipt for the
payment of this year's taxes, duly certified by the communal
authorities. The sick and delicate must ask their doctor
for a certificate of ill health; workmen who are employed
must ask their masters for a declaration, countersigned by
the burgomaster, that they are in employment.
"Acting in concert with influential persons of your par
ish, take specially to heart the interests of those parishioners
•The Cardinal interceded on behalf of the condemned men in a letter
addressed to Baron von der Lancken, dated November 27.

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 333
who, according to the instructions of the German authori
ties, are exempt from deportation. Then take joint action
with the communal authorities, the national committee for
relief and food supplies, and your well-to-do and devout
parishioners, in order to provide for the indigent, whose
departure is probable, clothes and other necessaries.
"On the eve of their departure, or the day before, invite
those who are going off to come to confession. Provide an
adequate number of confessors for them, celebrate mass
for their intention, to which you will be careful to summon
their children, grandchildren and interested adults, to the
end that the communion made by them, together with their
whole family, may prove a comfort to them and a memory
which they can carry away with them into exile. In a suit
able instruction, exhort them to remain steadfast in their
faith and their moral and religious practices during the
period of their absence. At home prayers will be recited
for them. Give those who are going away a rosary, a
scapular and a New Testament.
"The day following their departure make an appeal to
the best of your charitable parishioners, both men and
women, get into contact with the St. Vincent de Paul Society,
with the Ladies of Mercy, the Third Order of St. Francis,
the congregations and confraternities, the manifold societies
affiliated with the diocesan Federation of Catholic Women,
of which the Abbe Halflants is the director, and form with
their help and under the direction of the parish priest or
his delegate a committee of moral assistance, who will un
dertake to visit stricken families, to comfort, advise and help
them. Give them moral support and help them materially,
if need be. A Christian parish forms one family. When
in a family one member suffers, all suffer; when it enjoys
prosperity, every one shares therein. And so not one single
home in the parish should be left out, unknown or forgotten.
If this were desirable in normal times, it should be abso
lutely necessary in these distressing days. Those who have
leisure ought to place themselves at the disposal of those
who have none. The superfluity of some ought to minister
to the wants of others. Mutual help so understood and

334 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
practiced is but the fulfillment of the law of Christ. Bear
ye one another's burdens, says the Apostle Paul, and so
you shall fulfill the law of Christ.
"The parish priests who are in need of some help in their
ministry of charity may come or send some one to me for it,
but I should like them to be good enough to fix approxi
mately the amount of help they require. We must leave
no stone unturned to effect the repatriation of those who,
according to the German Government's declarations, ought
to be immune from deportation. To that end, a committee
has been organized in our Episcopal Curia to deal with
cases calling for redress."
From the very beginning of the occupation, the Cardinal
had over and over again begged both the military and eccle
siastical authorities of the empire for permission to send
Belgian priests to prison camps in Germany, but in vain.
Undaunted by the successive rebuffs he met with, he returns
once more to the attack on behalf of the victims of this sys
tem of deportation; he appeals to the German bishops and
entreats them to use their influence to obtain permission for
Belgian priests to go into the land of exile, so as to afford
the unfortunate deported the consolations of religion.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
January 23rd, 1917.
Most Eminent Lords — I pray God to enlighten your
Eminences so that you may recognize the spirit of charity in
which this letter is written and be inspired to read it in the
same light. I cannot forget that my previous correspond
ence was received by you with undeserved distrust, but now
that I have to deal with interests so exclusively religious, my
Christian confidence triumphs over my fears.
Your Eminences are aware that there are some thou
sands of military and civil Belgians — we do not know the
exact number — confined in the German prisons. Informa
tion reaches us from time to time bringing the sad news that
a considerable number of them have 'gradually abandoned
their religious practices. One of the reasons for this pro-

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 335
gressive indifference is the antipathy inspired in them by
chaplains whose language is a constant reminder of a bel
ligerent nation and a sorrowful past. It avails little to say
that the chaplains are charitable and the prisoners in the
wrong. I refrain from passing judgment on this fact, but
none the less it is a fact which we, as shepherds of souls,
cannot but bitterly deplore. Up to quite recently the mili
tary authorities have refused even to those condemned to
death a priest of their own nationality and speaking their
own language. I know of nothing more deplorable than
this. It cannot be denied that faith must be raised to the
level of heroism, if the prisoners are to be inspired with
filial confidence in a priest who, from the human point of
view, appears to them in the light of an envoy from an
enemy power.
The oft-repeated petitions of the Belgian episcopate, to
which I am assured the German bishops have been good
enough to lend support, even the august intervention of his
Holiness himself, have not yet succeeded in bringing about
any improvement in this state of things.
Now, the occupying power has deported and continues
to deport thousands of civilians, Flemings and Walloons,
and sends them we know not where into camps and fac
tories, compelling them to work to the advantage of the
enemy. These wretched men suffer from hunger and cold;
many of them are spat upon and beaten because they refuse
to work "voluntarily." It is easier for you than it is for
us to verify this cruel treatment and have it brought to an
end. We tremble, and the mothers of families tremble, at
the thought of the danger to which the faith and the morals
of these poor, forsaken men are exposed. They feel iso
lated, without home life, far from the sacraments and out
of contact with their parochial Belgian clergy.
I am loath to believe that your Eminences feel no sym
pathy with us in our anxiety and that you will hold your
powerful support from us now.
If the German Empire will not grant the repatriation of
our fellow-citizens, whom, contrary to all truth, it styles
unemployed, a burden on public funds, obtain for us, I en-

336 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
treat you, permission to send them our priests to protect
their morals and safeguard their faith. These priests are
ready to endure every sacrifice. They will agree not to re
turn to Belgium save with those to whom they earnestly
desire to devote themselves.
I intrust with all confidence my petition to your apostolic
hearts, which petition is a joint one from the Belgian clergy
and episcopate, the mothers, wives and children of our
Christian families.
Receive, my Lord Cardinals, the assurance of my re
spectful and religiously devoted sentiments.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Cardinal Archbishop of Cologne and other Ger
man bishops made pressing and repeated attempts, but with
out success, to obtain from the military authorities permis
sion for the Belgian priests to accompany those deported.
The United States protested against the transfer of
Belgian workmen to Germany. The Imperial Government
answered that it would only deport the unemployed who
were in receipt of outside help. Consequently, persons oc
cupying an independent position and men actually in work
would be exempt from deportation.
On the other hand, in reply to a note from the Nether
lands Government, the German Government declared that
it would not deport Belgians who had taken refuge in Hol
land in October, 19 14, and had entered Belgium on the
distinct understanding that they would not be molested.
Being powerless to put an end to the enrollment of men, the
Cardinal was at least desirous of contributing by every
means at his command to the repatriation of these two
classes of the deported. As announced in his instructions
to his priests, he established at the archbishop's house an
office for the reception of appeals. In his first request to
the Governor General he appeals for the repatriation of 698
persons.

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 337
Archbishop's House, Malines,
January 24th, 19 17.
To His Excellency Baron von Huene, Interim Governor
General, Brussels.
In its reply to the protest made by the United States
against the deportation of Belgium citizens into Germanv,
the Imperial Government declared that the transfer should
be limited to those only who were receiving help from pub
lic funds and had no work in Belgium. I have the honor
of inviting your Excellency's attention to the cases of men
belonging to my diocese, the transfer of whom is no doubt
due to mistakes made in recruiting.
As the certificates joined to the petition of repatriation
duly attest, these deported persons held an independent po
sition or were engaged in work remunerative enough to en
able them to provide adequately for their own wants and
those of their dependents. In order to avoid discussion
respecting certain certificates which mention a different trade
from that carried on by the holder before the outbreak of
hostilities, I think it necessary to inform your Excellency
that in consequence of the mobilization of our army, when
war was declared, and the exodus of part of our popula
tion, many workmen have for the time being changed their
trade. Those among our fellow countrymen who fled to Hol
land and only returned on the assurance that they would
not be molested, find themselves in a peculiar position. The
reply of the German Government to the note of the Neth
erlands Government, dated November 29th, 19 16, regard
ing the deportation of Belgians, aims at recognizing the
exceptional position affecting a considerable number of the
people of my diocese. We have, therefore, been satisfied
with proving their presence in Holland in 19 14.
The forms have been filled in by the parochial clergy
themselves, or under their instructions, and countersigned
by the mayors of the communes.
To facilitate the work of your Excellency's officials, we
have forwarded them to you in duplicate, together with
the attestations attached thereto. They are classified ac-

338 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
cording to communes, grouped by deaneries and arranged
in alphabetical order.
Today I am handing your Excellency a first list contain
ing in duplicate 698 forms affecting the inhabitants of the
deaneries of Contich, Diest, Jodoigne and Orp-le-Grand.
I sincerely hope that, as the result of your Excellency's
kind offices, 698 exiles will soon be restored to their af
flicted families.
Accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The petitions on behalf of the unemployed deported to
Germany were sent in rapid succession.. On January 29th,
1917, the Cardinal forwarded to the Governor General 325
petitions for repatriation; on February ist, 530; February
7th, 515; February 15th, 516; February 17th, 593; Febru
ary 26th, 563 ; March 5th, 408, and May 21st and 22d, 65.
The archives of the archbishop's house contain one soli
tary reply from the Governor General to these various let
ters, as follows: Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
February 12th, 19 17.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor to inform your Eminence in reply to
your esteemed letter of the 7th inst., that the petitions ask
ing for the repatriation of Belgians deported to Germany
as unemployed will be submitted to the competent German
authorities. Authority to return to Belgium will be granted to those
who can prove that they have been unjustly deported.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
As the communal authorities declined to hand in the list
of unemployed, the occupying power, to compass its end,
resorted to an indirect expedient. It summoned to the "mei-

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 339
deamt" all persons occupying an independent position as
well as men actually in work. A special stamp had to be
affixed to their identity card, certifying that they were not
unemployed and were exempt from deportation. All those
whose identity card was not furnished with this stamp were
to be regarded as out of work and taken to Germany.
A body of nineteen Malines priests, at the head of which
was Canon Vranken, the Cardinal's secretary, refused to
lend their co-operation to this scheme and addressed the fol
lowing letter to the Kreischef :
Malines, December 24th, 19 16.
To the Colonel Pohlmann, Kreischef of Malines.
We the undersigned members of the Malines clergy
have reason to believe that our summons to the "meldeamt"
on Wednesday next, 27th inst., is occasioned by our non
appearance at the general convocation on Friday, 8th inst.
We have the honor to inform you that our attitude had
been maturely considered and was dictated by conscientious
motives. It is impossible for us to co-operate in a line of
action which is an infringement of the primary rights of
our workingmen and adverse to their best interests.
Receive, sir, the expression of our sincere esteem.
The Governor General inflicted a fine of 100 marks on
each of the signatories of this letter, and Baron von der
Lancken was instructed to advise the Cardinal to that effect.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium, Brussels.
I. 918. January 28th, 1917.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General has directed me to inform your
Eminence of the following facts : To enable him to select
those of the unemployed who are to be deported from Ma
lines and to facilitate the investigation of each individual
case, the Kreischef summoned various classes of persons to
the Meldeamt, each one on a different day during the month
of December, and among these were included ecclesiastics.
Everybody enjoying immunity from deportation was re-

340 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
quired — as has been expressly stated in a public notice — to
have his identity card stamped in a special way at the
Meldeamt. The said notice further stated that any one
hindered from appearing in person could be represented by
another on reasons for his nonappearance being given. The
priests in question could doubtless have availed themselves
of this regulation, but they preferred to absent themselves
from the bureau and did not appear on a second date as
signed to them. These priests afterward sent to the Kreis
chef a letter, in which they declared that their attitude in
not answering the summons had been dictated by their un
willingness to co-operate in the measures adopted against
the unemployed. As, according to the wording of the notice
posted up, the question of the co-operation of priests did
not arise, the motives assigned were not admissible, conse
quently the Kreischef had to acknowledge that the priests
by their nonappearance had contravened his orders, and by
sentence of the Governor General each of them was mulcted
in a fine of ioo marks.
The Governor General deems it fitting to inform your
Eminence of these facts. His Excellency cannot but perceive
an open contradiction between the priests' declaration signed
in the first place by Canon Vranken and the proposal made
by your Eminence to seek the advice of the priests in the
selection of the unemployed. In your letter of November
29th, your Eminence said: "Priests who know the common
people better than any one else would render valuable as
sistance in making these inquiries. Why is this aid re
fused?" Taking into consideration these words of your
Eminence, the Governor General finds their refusal to obey
the Kreischefs formal order altogether inexplicable and
therefore regrets his inability to remit the fine imposed upon
them. I offer your Eminence the expression of my sincere es
teem and I am yours devotedly,
(Signed) Lancken.
The Cardinal merely acknowledged the receipt of this
letter of January 28th from Baron von der Lancken. He

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 341
replied to the interim Governor General of Belgium, Baron
von Huene, upholding the conduct of his priests and point
ing out how odious were the steps taken against them by
the Governor General. Archbishop's House, Malines,
January 31st, 1917.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Governor General of Belgium.
I have received the dispatch of January 28th you were
good enough to send me on behalf of the Governor General.
The answer herewith inclosed which I have the honor
to address to his Excellency deals with such delicate ques
tions that it appears to me more judicious to write to him
directly on the subject.
Receive, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
January 31st, 19 17.
To His Excellency Baron von Huene, interim Governor
General of Belgium, Brussels.
Your Excellency intrusted to the chief of your political
department, Baron von der Lancken, the task of writing me
to the effect that you fail to understand the attitude of the
Malines clergy who deemed it their conscientious duty to
decline the offer of having their identity card stamped.
It seems to you that this attitude is out of harmony with
this passage in my letter of November 29th, 1916 : "Priests
who know the common people better than any one else would
render the recruiters valuable assistance. Why is their aid
refused?" The military government has sentenced each of these
ecclesiastics to a fine of 100 marks, and your Excellency de
clares that to your regret you cannot but ratify the sentence.
The action of the clergy of Malines was taken with full
deliberation just as your Excellency supposes, and their rea
sons for thus acting were given in writing to the Kreischef.
That the intentions of this gentleman were well meaning in

342 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
the case of certain ranks of society, I do not doubt, but his
method of procedure, though welcome to the middle class,
was a menace to the working classes. In order to organize
more methodically and more surely the calling up of a part
of the Belgian people destined to serve by fair means or
foul the economic interests of the enemy, and therefore in
directly military interests, the occupying power ordered the
communal authorities to draw up a list of the unemployed.
Most of the magistrates of Belgian communes, fully realiz
ing that they were intrusted with the duty of safeguarding
national integrity, refused to furnish under the heading
"unemployed" a list of free citizens destined to be trans
formed the next day into a list of prescribed ones.
Checked by this refusal, the military authorities resorted
to a roundabout way. The "unemployed" not being reg
istered, their only remaining resource was to register those
who were "employed." What could not be obtained by
direct means, it was sought to procure by an indirect ma
neuver, viz. : by graciously offering a stamp to those whom
they wanted to spare and thus by a process of subtraction
to secure a list of unemployed who were to be deported.
After the threat addressed to the burgomasters came
the bait offered to the burghers. The two attempts made
by the military authorities had the same end in view: namely,
to bring Belgians to co-operate in organizing the deportation
of their fellow-countrymen. Both were to have the same
result, viz., the snatching from their homes of a class of
citizens as innocent and as free as any other Belgians and
to force them into exile and to work for the enemy. The
fact that all those hoping to reap some advantage from the
possession of a stamped card did not suspect the presence
of a hook concealed in the bait can be readily conceived.
The fact that men of the world with family interests confided
to their charge did not fully realize all that their feelings
of national solidarity demanded is not to be used as a griev
ance against them; but the priest with whom temporal in
terests are as nothing compared with those that are eternal,
the priest who in his capacity of preacher of the gospel and
official representative of the Christian law would blush with

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 343
shame if he failed in his personal conduct to act in con
formity with its loftiest teachings, the priest, protector of
the weakest, has, arising out of his moral obligations, a
keener insight, thus enabling him to realize that he would
be doing less than his duty were he not to push fraternal
devotion beyond the strict requirements of the common law.
These are the lofty ideals by which the clergy of Malines
have been inspired, and of which your Excellency has had
a glimpse in the letter addressed to the Kreischef on De
cember 24th last.
That is why I wrote to Baron von Bissing in my letter
of November 29th: "It would be iniquitous to let deporta
tion press hard on the working classes only. In the sacrifice
imposed by the occupying power — cruel though it be — and
precisely because it is cruel — the middle class ought also to
share. A large number of my clergy have implored me to
claim for them a place in the vanguard of the persecuted.
I wish to place their offer on record and proudly submit it
to you." The lines your Excellency quotes from that same letter
of November 29th are in harmony with the attitude adopted
by the Malines clergy as well as with all my correspondence
dealing with the deportations.
In my letters of October 19th and November ioth and
also in most of mine of November 29th, I made a protest
with all the energy of which I was capable and with which
the love of justive and charity had inspired me, against the
kidnapping of thousands of our countrymen. Nevertheless,
fearing that the military authorities would remain deaf to
these protests, I added to my entreaties this very natural
thought: "If, however, you should prove obstinate in injus
tice, allow at least our priests to lessen the evil your acts
of violence are inflicting on our people ; accept our co-opera
tion to save what, according to your own instructions, iniqui
tous though they be, can still be saved." But this you would
not have. You have withheld your line of action from the
control of those who, by their social vocation and their
daily contact with the lower classes, are best qualified to ex
ercise it. You signified to me personally that I was not to

344 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
offer a single word of comfort to those about to leave.
Forced to submit to your military regulations, I respected
the order.
But there is a barrier before which military force is held
up and behind which is intrenched inviolate right. On this
side of the barrier, it is we, the representatives of moral
authority, who speak as masters. We cannot and will not
let the Word of God be shackled.
The military Governor has had the effrontery to fine
nineteen priests ioo marks each for having declined from
conscientious motives to avail themselves of a privilege ex
tended to them. So be it. They will pay the ioo marks
out of their modest salaries, or if unable to meet this de
mand, they will perhaps satisfy you at the expense of their
liberty. Very well, so be it once more. I know the spirit
of our priests well enough to foresee that they will be pa
tient all the same. They will drink to the dregs the cup of
bitterness held forcibly by you to the lips of a people which
has never wished you anything but good.
We will wait in patience for the day of retaliation, not
retaliation on this earth, however; that we have already,
for the occupation regime you have forced upon us is ab
horred by everybody in the world who has any sense of
honor. I speak of the verdict of history; I speak of the
inevitable judgment of the God of Justice. To yourself,
who are, if I am credibly informed, equally with the hum
blest of our workmen a son of the Church of God, I ven
ture to add you are burdening your conscience with a heavy
weight, in sheltering behind your high authority an act of
martial law which treats as a crime an act of Christian and
pastoral abnegation.
Accept the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Acting on the advice of the Marquis de Villalobar, the
Spanish Minister in Brussels, a number of prominent Bel
gians, animated by a desire to exhaust every possible means
to put an end to the deportations, had recourse to a direct

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 345
appeal to the Emperor. On Sunday, February nth, the
Spanish minister and M. Levie, minister of state, repaired
to the Archbishop's house to acquaint the Cardinal with
their plan and to ask him to join hands with them. The
interview resulted in an agreement that the Cardinal should
draw up the appeal and that M. Levie should be commis
sioned to gather the signatures.
On Wednesday a copy of the document was handed to
the Spanish Minister. He in turn passed it on to Baron von
der Lancken, who at once dispatched it to Berlin. On
Thursday, the 15th, M. Levie, Baron de Favereau, and
Prince de Ligne, on the introduction of the Marquis de
Villalobar, handed the appeal officially to Baron von der
Lancken, who was shortly to leave for Berlin. The chief
of the political department promised his active support, as
well as that of the Governor General, in order to obtain
from the Emperor the favorable answer to the appeal.
The text of the petition runs as follows :
Imperial Majesty.
The signatories of this appeal with heavy hearts have
seen and still see every day thousands of their brethren torn
from their families and dragged forcibly into exile, where
they are compelled to choose between starvation and work
which offends their dignity as patriots. The representatives
of the various public bodies in Belgium, ministers of state,
the hierarchy, members of Parliament, the magistracy and
the bar, commercial and industrial magnates, trade unions
and workmen's societies, have raised their voices on behalf
of their countrymen and have brought to the notice of the
General Government with that candor which is the mark
of a free people, the deep distress of the nation, the causes
that have brought it about, those that foster it and those that
day by day augment it.
If your Majesty has leisure to peruse these documents
and will deign to verify the grounds on which they rest, there
can be no doubt that you will be inclined to do us justice.
You can hardly imagine the wave of indignation which
would pass over your empire if ever your own subjects were

346 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
unreasonably expatriated and coerced into consolidating by
their work a foreign domination.
Your Imperial Majesty prides yourself on your loyalty
to your faith. May we not then be allowed to remind you
of the simple and yet striking words of the Gospel, "Do
unto others that which you would have done to yourself" ?
The Emperor of Germany will understand how repug
nant to our national amour-propre is soliciting as a favor
what in normal times we could justly claim as a right.
But the life and liberty of a great number of our fellow
citizens, whom we love as brethren, is at stake. We have
had the courage to stifle every other feeling in our breasts
but that of brotherhood. We venture to hope that your
Majesty will be guided by but one sentiment — that of hu
manity. The undersigned, representing the religious, political
and judicial, economic and social authorities of the Belgian
people, hope that your Majesty will give the necessary or
ders to cease deporting Belgian workmen and to repatriate
those who have been driven into exile.
They offer to your Majesty their respectful homage.
Brussels, February 14, 1917.
Signatories :
Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines, Primate of Bel
gium.
Ministers of State — Viscount de Lantsheere, Baron de
Favereau, J. Devolder, Count Woeste.
Relief and Victualing Committee — M. Ernest Solway, presi
dent.
Senate — Baron de Favereau, president; Baron d'Huart, sec
retary; Viscount de Jonghe d'Ardoye, quaestor; Alex
ander Braun, Max Hallet, Pnosper Hanrez, Em. Vinck.
Chamber of Representatives — Alphonse Harmignies, vice
president; Mansart, secretary; Xavier de Bue, quaes
tor; Bertrand, Michel, Levie, Paul Van Hoedgarden,
du Bus de Warnaffe, Fulgence Masson Wauters,
Franck, Emile Tibbaut, P. Wauwermans.
Court of Appeal — Eug. Dupont, first president; Georges
Terlinden, procurator general.

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 347
The Bar — Edmond Picard, batonnier de cassation; H.
Botson, batonnier d'appel.
National Bank of Belgium — L. van der Rest, vice governor.
Society General of Belgium — Jean Jadot, governor.
Prince de Ligne.
Count Jean de Merode, Grand Marshal of the Court.
Count John d'Oultremont, Honorary Grand Marshal.
Baron Hermann de Woelmont, Grand Master of the
Household.
Count Leo d'Ursel.
Count Jacques de Liedekerke.
Viscount de Pare.
Baron Goffinet, Grand Master of the Household of Her
Imperial Majesty the Empress Charlotte.
A copy of the appeal to the Emperor, to which was ap
pended certain documentary evidence consisting of reports,
statistics, etc., was handed in to the Governor General, to
gether with the following letter:
Brussels, February 14th, 19 17.
The undersigned have had the honor to address to his
Majesty the Emperor of Germany an appeal, a copy of
which is annexed to the present letter.
They did not deem it necessary to join to this document
the evidence inclosed herewith, which in their opinion sup
ports it. But they desire that this evidence should be in the
hands of your Excellency in order that you may, if you judge
opportune, or if his Majesty expresses the desire to have it
laid before him, to communicate it to him.
Accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(This letter was signed by the same persons as the peti
tion to the Emperor.)
On March 9 Baron von der Lancken transmitted
orally to Baron de Favereau, President of the Senate, the
answer given by the Emperor to the petition of the Belgian
notables. He declared that his Majesty had decided to
have minutely examined the demands contained in the appeal
addressed to him, reserving to himself the giving of a defi«

348 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
nite decision. Meanwhile he had given orders to send back
to Belgium persons deported by mistake as unemployed and
to suspend till further orders the transfer into Germany
of Belgians unemployed.
The deportations ceased after this and little by little the
unhappy men, who had been taken away by force into Ger
many, were able to return to their country. The lamentable
condition in which they were found on their return proved
to the hilt what privations and sufferings they had gone
through. A large number, exhausted by the hardships in
flicted on them in forcing them to work, had to be looked
after in the hospitals. The Cardinal made his voice heard
once again in favor of these victims of German barbarity
in a letter addresed to Baron von der Lancken, in which
he pleaded the cause of various condemned persons.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
April 28th, 1917.
To Baron von der Lancken.
Dear Baron — M. Merjay, residing at 161 Rue de Cul
ture, Brussels, son of Lieutenant General Merjay, has just
been condemned to death by Charleroi tribunal. Since the
war began he had lost his wife, one of his sons had fallen
in battle, another had become prisoner. The Merjay fam
ily is eminently honorable and Christian. The new Gov
ernor General * would bring honor on himself by using clem
ency toward the condemned man.
You will perhaps remember that last January you gave
me hope of the release of the Dean of Orp-le-grand, M.
Herman, who then had undergone half his sentence. The
month of May will soon be here and the poor dean t is
still in his cell at Siegburg. He has already completed
nearly a year and a half of his sentence. Cannot his last
six months be remitted?
It is a traditional practice for the Archbishop to conse
crate his Suffragans. Thus I was invited to consecrate the
•Baron von Falkenhausen had succeeded in the capacity of Governor
General Baron von Bissing, who died April 18th, 1917.
t M. Herman had been condemned for having helped young men to
cross the frontier.

DEPORTATION OF UNEMPLOYED 349
new Bishop of Ghent on Tuesday, May 1, and joyfully ac
cepted the invitation. And now a pass to Ghent is re
fused, though I had in my request for a permit indicated the
whole of my itinerary. But all these personal grievances
I put up with without protest.
In return, may we not hope that the German authorities
will lean more toward clemency? Will you not use your
influence to bring them to this way of acting? I deem it
my duty to remind you of the delays made in repatriating
our workmen ; of the lamentable condition in which they re
turn to us — a clear evidence of the treatment they have
undergone. The war will not last forever. You who see
things from a broader point of view than the militarists
should make them understand that they can have no interest
in arousing against them the indignation of all right-thinking
men on the day conditions of peace are discussed.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
In his reply to the preceding letter, Baron von der
Lancken examined the different cases mentioned therein, but
passed over in complete silence the Cardinal's protest
against the manner in which the repatriation of the deported
was carried out.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium, Brussels. May ist, 19 17.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have duly received your esteemed letter, dated April
28th. I have the pleasure to be able to answer your Emi
nence that a few days ago the Cure Herman, of Orp-le-
grand, received a remission of the rest of his sentence. The
case of the Abbe Allaer has not yet been settled, but I have
every reason to expect a satisfactory solution.*
As regards the Merjay case, I have not yet been able
•The Abbe Allaer had been sentenced to eight months' imprisonment
for having helped Monsignor Legraive in showing hospitality to a French
man on his way to the frontier.

350 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
to take any steps, owing to the change of Governor General.
The illness and death of Baron von Bissing have not al
lowed me till now to attend to the favor you ask for in your
letter of April 12th on behalf of Burgomaster Dessain. I
must confess that it will be very hard to obtain authoriza
tion for him to go to Switzerland. In cases of this kind
which have occurred before, the released prisoners, espe
cially Batonnier Theodor, took up on foreign soil an atti
tude which was not of a kind to encourage the German
authorities to continue in this course.
Your Eminence also makes the remark that you were
unable to assist at the consecration of the new Bishop of
Ghent. The responsibility for this must not be laid to the
charge of the German authorities. For my part, I would
have done all I could to facilitate the journey to Ghent both
for your Eminence and for the Bishops of Liege and Na
mur. For this it would have been needful to put off the
consecration for a few days. As, however, the new Bishop
pleaded urgency and declared that he would be satisfied with
the presence of Bishops living close at hand in the war zone,
it was not possible to give effect to the reasons brought for
ward by your Eminence to justify your presence at the con
secration, nor to obtain the traveling permit asked for, in
view of the more stringent regulations which had been lately
adopted. (Signed) Lancken.

CHAPTER XXXII
BARON VON DER LANCKEN AGAIN ACCUSES CERTAIN PRIESTS
OF HAVING MISUSED THEIR OFFICE OF PREACHING
Political Department, Government General of Belgium,
Brussels. November 3rd, 1916.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I must again thank your Eminence for the trouble you
have taken to make certain modifications in the text of your
pastoral, prior to its being read in the churches. To prove
how right we were in regarding certain passages as dan
gerous, I think it enough to quote the following instance:
At Brussels a Capuchin father added to the passage refer
ring to the independence of Belgium certain comments, which
your Eminence manifestly did not anticipate. He said:
"England has again guaranteed our independence."
I would again beg your Eminence to direct your particu
lar attention to what is going on at the Grotto of Lourdes,
at Laeken. True, these sermons contain no direct attack
on the occupying power, but preachers often choose topics,
such as, e. g., "Joshua and the 300 Warriors," which prove
beyond doubt their intention to poison the minds of their
hearers against Germany. Such proceedings are bound to
have consequences. I think that your Eminence could pre
vent by a simple admonition the deplorable results of this
course of action.
As a sequel to information received by us, an inquiry
was set on foot about certain reprehensible remarks made
in the church of Cureghem by the curate Egidius Davidts.
By order of the Governor General the inquiry was sus
pended, but his Excellency Baron von Bissing would be
grateful to your Eminence if you were to call the curate to
order in accordance with ecclesiastical law.
35i

352 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Lastly, I should like to communicate the following to
your Eminence: A proposal was made to the Governor
General to limit the number of candles used on the occasion
of the feast of All Saints, owing to a lack of material used
in their manufacture. The Governor General is loth to
meddle in religious matters. In view of the scarcity of wax
he leaves your Eminence to take whatever steps the inter
ests of public worship may require.
I believe that the Viaene case has been settled according
to your wishes. The judicial formalities to be gone through
in a case of this kind, the collecting of all the documents,
etc. . . . always take up some time, in consequence of the
press of work at the offices where these matters are dealt
with. I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.
His Eminence answered the accusations of the chief of
the political department by putting him on his guard against
arbitrary interpretations place'd on words used in the pulpit.
Baron von der Lancken had at the beginning of his letter
thanked the Cardinal for making some slight modifications
in the pastoral, "The Voice of God." The Cardinal an
swered, as he already had done in his recent interview with
him about this matter, that this spontaneous concession could
not be looked upon as an acknowledgment of the occupying
Power's right to censor any document issued by him as
Bishop. Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 5th, 191 6.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I have duly received your esteemed letter
I. 10387, dated November 3rd, for which I thank you.
I will set on foot without delay an inquiry into what
happened out of the ordinary in the churches of Cureghem,
Laeken (Lourdes Grotto) and in that of the Capuchin Fa-

LANCKEN ACCUSES BELGIAN PRIESTS 353
thers at Brussels. On my side, let me ask you again to be
wary of arbitrary interpretations of words uttered by
preachers. Thus the alleged words attributed to a Capuchin
Father, quoted in your letter, "England has guaranteed
Belgium's independence," are they not capable of an inno
cent interpretation and is not that one which we ought to
adopt? I have not as yet been able to get information as
to the sermon you complain about, but I understand very
well that one might say — precisely to avoid what on another
occasion you called a prophecy — we have a sure guarantee,
given us by the treaty of London, that European peace will
not be concluded so long as Belgium has not recovered her
independence. I do not regret having suppressed the three passages of
my pastoral which have particularly offended the Governor
General, though without reason in my opinion. I suppressed
them willingly because you were kind enough to declare
that you put no obligation upon me. I wished to prove to
you thereby not only that I am anxious to spare those trouble
who devote themselves to my service, but also that I know
when my conscience allows me how to sacrifice my own
personal views in order to avoid a dispute.
To safeguard the rights of my conscience I made a
great point of telling you that my free concession was not
to be interpreted as the acknowledgment of a right of the
occupying Power to watch over or censor my Episcopal acts
or writings. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXXIII
NATIONAL CELEBRATIONS IN THE CHURCHES
On November 15th, the King's name-day, a high mass,
followed by the Te Deum, was sung in several churches,
among others at St. Gudule, and at St. Jacques-sur-Couden-
berg. On the pretext that some members of the congre
gation had, on coming out of the church, sung the "Braban-
conne," and raised shouts of "Long live the King," "Bel
gium forever," "Liberty forever!" the town of Brussels
was punished by General Hurt, Governor of Brussels and
Brabant. According to an order dated November 20, all
public establishments were to be closed at 8 p. m. and the
inhabitants were forbidden to frequent the streets between
8:30 p. m. and 4 a. m. The penalty was not abrogated till
December 19th.
On the occasion of these incidents, Baron von Bissing
addressed to the Cardinal the following letter :
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
November 2$th, 191 6.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
Your Eminence is aware, I suppose, that on the 15th
inst. solemn religious services held in the Churches of St.
Gudule and St. Jacques were made an occasion for political
demonstrations which were afterward continued in the
streets. The Governor of Brussels and of Brabant has had
to punish the population of Greater Brussels.
Your Eminence assuredly cannot be blind to the fact that
the principal cause of these incidents is to be found as usual
in the playing and singing of the National Anthem. It is
inevitable that the enthusiasm of the crowd should be roused
and excesses committed. Since, as a general rule, the organ
354

CELEBRATIONS IN CHURCHES 355
gives the signal for the singing, the responsibility of all that
happened falls on the ecclesiastical authorities. Since dem
onstrations of this kind may lead to serious trouble, I can
not in future adopt the same tolerant attitude as I have done
up till now. I must also mention, on this occasion, the use
of flags inside the churches. People are no longer content
with decorating the altars with flags, but they have begun
to unfurl and wave them. If in the future incidents like
those which have happened at Brussels are brought to my
notice, I shall have to leave to the judgment of your Emi
nence the advisability of celebrating or not solemn religious
services on anniversary days.
I am informed that more than a year ago your Eminence
gave instructions to your clergy limiting the introduction of
secular rites into religious services to those cases only pro
vided for by the liturgy. For the aforesaid reasons I have
asked myself whether I ought not to prohibit the playing or
the singing of the National Anthem and other nonreligious
melodies, and if I ought not to restrict the use of flags in
churches to memorial services held for the fallen in battle.
Before issuing any order of the kind, I solicit your Emi
nence's advice.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
The Cardinal's answer is as follows:
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
November 29th, 1916.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The letter I. 1 1.3 19, with which your Excellency
has honored me under date 25th November, calls my atten
tion to "political demonstrations" alleged to have taken
place in certain churches.
I have at heart as much as anybody the dignity of public
worship and respect for holy places. So recently as last
Sunday I opened my address in the Church of St. Gudule
with these words: "Brethren, I beseech you earnestly to
remain recollected in the House of God, both during and

356 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
after the service." My words were heeded. Neither by
gesture nor by word of mouth was the decorum of the cere
mony disturbed.*
I feel confident that the few parishes where an abuse
may have crept in will observe a similar recommendation,
such as I shall deem it my duty to make them.
For my own part, I beseech your Excellency to be on
your guard against deliberately or undeliberately exagger
ated reports sent you. For instance, I do not know whether
there be in reality one or several churches where the clergy
would indulge in flag waving. I have made no inquiry about
the two cases of St. Gudule and St. Jacques, the only two
which your Excellency's letter mentions by name. But a
person of high standing, a stranger in Belgium, who assisted
at the religious service on November 15th, of his own ac
cord, informed me that he was very surprised that the Ger
man authorities should have used, in describing this cere
mony, the word "demonstration."
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Baron von der Lancken, acting on the order of Baron
von Bissing, acknowledged the Cardinal's letter of Novem
ber 29th and called attention to a new case, in which, accord
ing to him, the Cardinal's people had taken part in a politi
cal demonstration in a Brussels church.
Political Department of the Government General, Brussels.
December 15th, 19 16.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
His Excellency was pleased to hear that your Eminence
would make it your duty to send an admonition to the clergy
of those parishes where abuses have crept in.
Quite lately people have again made a political dem
onstration in a Brussels church. In the middle of the singing
a Belgian flag was unfurled and waved before the altar;
* On Sunday, November 2, mass was said at St. Gudule for the inten
tion of those deported. The Cardinal made an address in which he in
veighed against the crime of deportation and proclaimed that violated right
remains right and that injustice resting on might is none the less injustice.

CELEBRATIONS IN CHURCHES 357
then it was carried all round the church in a End of torch
light procession. All the time the "Brabanconne" was
played on the organ in a very lively and ostentatious way.
Such cases fall within the scope of the orders which have
been drawn up against political demonstrations organized
in public and consequently render those participating in them
liable to legal proceedings. It is impossible not to hold the
cure responsible for any breaches of the law in his church.
Your Eminence knows how distasteful it is to the Governor
to take steps against priests, and he, therefore, earnestly
desires the ecclesiastical authorities to take the needful meas
ures to avoid their recurrence.
(Signed) Lancken.
The Cardinal asked Von der Lancken for details and
took advantage of this opportunity to intercede in favor
of some persons detained under peculiarly cruel circum
stances. Archbishop's House!, Malines,
January 16th, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the
Political Department, Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — For a long time I have wanted to revert
to the Governor General's esteemed letter, dated November
25th, 19 16, in which he complained of certain demonstra
tions, unseemly beyond all reason, which, according to re
ports made to him, took place in several Brussels churches.
In this letter his Excellency mentions the singing of the
"Brabanconne," national flags being unfurled and waved,
and other secular melodies rendered in church, etc. He in
vited me to prohibit them, to save him the trouble of for
bidding them himself. I have received information from
reliable sources and have not succeeded in finding a single
church, either in Brussels itself or in the surrounding dis
trict, where the above-mentioned abuses are or were preva
lent. I am aware that Baron von Bissing is absent and that
is the reason why I have put off till now the present corre
spondence ; but possibly he took you into his confidence be-

358 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
fore leaving and you would therefore be in a position to
specify the churches he had in view.
I embrace this opportunity of bringing to your notice
certain events you are interested in, or in which you would
be perhaps willing to interest yourself.
The chaplain of Luttringhausen prison induced Canon
Loncin to petition for the remission of the last three months
of his sentence ; Canon Loncin writes to his family that his
appeal has been rejected.
Again, M. l'Abbe Herman, cure and dean of Orp-le-
grand, a venerable priest of sixty-three years of age and
an invalid, has undergone, first at Rheinbach, then at Wahn
(Rhld) thirteen months' imprisonment for humane acts
which every man who is not absolutely heartless and, still
more, every priest devoted to his country was obliged to
perform; you had raised my hope of his release and even
the Holy Father deigned to interest himself in his case. So
far the wretched captive has, so he informs me, not a gleam
of hope. Shall I be compelled to tell him that he must serve
the remaining nine months of his sentence? The Abbe
Bernaerts, too, who is so indispensable for his parish and the
social work of which he was director at Antwerp, is still
interned. I endeavored to visit him on the 7th inst., but
was denied access to the prison. You will remember that a
woman of mysterious character, certainly without a search-
warrant, examined in the presence of an officer Abbe Ber
naert's confidential papers — an incident I have already
brought to your notice. May I ask you whether the inquiry
has been fruitful of results?
You must have heard that the mayors and leading citi
zens of several communes in the province of Antwerp are
interned at Malines, because some workmen in their respec
tive communes have evaded deportation. Among those in
terned is an old man of eighty. I do not wish to reopen
the discussion of deportation itself for the present, but, the
temperature being what it is, can you, in the name of hu
manity, justify the detention in an. icy cell of a venerable
octogenarian? But there is something else even more inhuman than

CELEBRATIONS IN CHURCHES 359
this. A poor woman named Madame Wilputte, who is
about to become a mother — according to the doctors within
the next fortnight — is lodged in the cavalry barracks in
Malines, and notwithstanding her condition the local au
thorities have made known to her their intention to have
her carried off to Germany immediately.
Is such conduct conceivable ? Can you do nothing to put
a stop to it?
Please receive the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The chief of the political department contented himself
with replying as follows :
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium, Brussels, January 17 th, 191 7.
5. No. I. 597.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have to acknowledge the receipt of your esteemed let
ter of the 1 6th inst. The Governor General will still be
away for some time. Nevertheless, I am able to give the
desired information about the patriotic demonstrations
which were made in churches. The incidents mentioned in
the Governor General's letter, dated December 15th, oc
curred on December 3rd at St. Mary's Church at Schaer-
beek. During the 1 1 o'clock service a procession was formed
inside the church in which the Belgian flag was carried
around. This ceremony was repeated in the same church
on January 7th.*
These particulars will suffice to guide your Eminence
in seeking supplementary information. I should like, how
ever, to add that if these demonstrations continue, their
authors must not be surprised if they incur severe penalties,
for it is a proved fact that the leniency we have hitherto
shown has given rise to an increase in ceremonies of this
kind in church, the tendency of which is obviously political.
•These so-called demonstrations consisted in a procession which took
place regularly inside the church on the first Sunday of each month. Even
before the war the national flag figured prominently therein.

360 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
As I am on the point of going on a journey for a few
days, I am sorry I can give your Eminence no exact informa
tion as to the other matters dealt with in your letter. I hope,
however, to be able to obtain the necessary authority for you
to visit Abbe Bernaerts. Moreover, I have taken certain
steps in favor of the Cure Herman and the Malines people
under arrest, and on my return I shall be able to give your
Eminence fuller details.
Please receive the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Lancken.
N. B. — I have just this moment heard that the leading
Malines people who were arrested with a view to their un
dergoing an urgent examination have been set at liberty.

CHAPTER XXXIV
REMOVAL OF CERTAIN APPARATUS FROM THE ST. LAMBERT'S
TECHNICAL SCHOOL
The German authorities, not content with despoiling the
Belgian factories of all their machinery, went so far as to
carry off certain tools used in the instruction of apprentices
at St. Lambert's Technical School, Malines.
As soon as he became aware of this new encroachment
on the rights of private property, the Cardinal commissioned
one of his vicars general to lay a protest against this un
justifiable act of commandeering before the competent Ger
man military authority, but he was too late, for on the
arrival of the Cardinal's delegate the material was already
loaded in railway wagons labeled for Germany.
The Cardinal hastened to complain to Baron von Bissing
in these terms : Archbishop' s House, Malines,
December nth, 191 6.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — I have the honor to inform you that this morning
an engineer, engaged in the Rateau works at Muysen-lez-
Malines, advised me that thirty-nine engineer's twin vises,
forming part of the apparatus of St. Lambert's Technical
School, were commandeered by a German officer.
St. Lambert's Technical School is a free school, under
the patronage of the Archbishop of Malines. It trains
workmen, ironworkers among others, who attend a practical
course, in a section reserved for them at the Rateau works,
using tools and other apparatus made by their own hands.
I at once sent one of my vicars general to protest against the
361

362 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
taking away of these tools and to insure their retention for
the use of our apprentices. When my delegate arrived the
iron vises were already loaded in trucks, at the station at
Muysen, and tomorrow they will be dispatched to Germany.
The officer, Lieutenant Buehler, had already gone back
to Antwerp, but the vicar general called at his office in the
afternoon and asked him to postpone their dispatch. The
lieutenant excused himself on the plea that he was obliged
to obey orders.
I have ventured to place these facts before your Excel
lency in the firm conviction that you will admit my claim
by restoring to our young workmen equipment doubly dear
to them, because it is not only forged by their own hands,
but also insures them a means of livelihood.
Accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Baron von der Lancken received orders from Baron von
Bissing to reply to the Cardinal's protest. He made no at
tempt to justify the commandeering of engineer's vises and
even implicitly acknowledged the illegality of the proceed
ings taken by the military authorities. Moreover, he de
clared that the occupying power would do its best to repair
the damage done to St. Lambert's school.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium, Brussels. December i$th, 191 6.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
As soon as I was informed over the telephone by Mgr.
de Wachter, Auxiliary Bishop, of the removal of engineer's
vises from St. Lambert's School, I exerted myself to the ut
most to settle the matter. The next day the Governor Gen
eral, after perusing your letter, seemed very anxious to com
ply with your request. It has not, however, been possible
to prevent the transport of the articles in question, but the
Governor General has given orders to return as many vises
to St. Lambert's School as have been taken away.
According to information received, only three of the

APPARATUS FROM SCHOOL 363
vises belonging to the school were parallel or twin vises;
the others were of the common type. I am sorry to have to
warn your Eminence, however, that the parallel vises will be
very hard to restore; the stock with which we are going
to replace them will not comprise this special kind.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.
The assertion that the military authorities had only taken
away three parallel vises was untrue. Moreover, Baron
von der Lancken himself acknowledged as much in a letter
to Mgr. Legraive, the auxiliary bishop. "It was my mis
take," said he, "when I said that all the vises requisitioned
were not parallel vises."
In spite of the Governor General's promises, the articles
taken away were never either replaced or paid for by the
Germans. The school, at its own expense, had to purchase
a new stock.

CHAPTER XXXV
REQUISITION OF COPPER
An order of the Governor General dated July 8, 191 6,
ordered the compulsory declaration of all existing stocks of
copper, tin, nickel, bronze, or gun-metal in occupied terri
tory. By a new order of December 30th all household articles
made of tin, brass, copper, etc., were seized and had to be
made over, the date of delivery being fixed later on for
each district. Any one contravening the order was liable
to penalties not exceeding five years' imprisonment and
20,000 marks fine.
As soon as these orders came into force, the Cardinal
wrote Baron von Bissing as follows :
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
February 14th, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The official gazette of laws and orders of July 8th,
19 1 6, announces that the military authorities are thinking of
commandeering all existing copper, tin and nickel in occupied
territory. We could not bring ourselves to believe that the
occupying power would ever resort to such measures; but
now an order of December 30th confirms that of July 8th
and we learn that these regulations are now being enforced.
From the moral and religious point of view adopted by
me by reason of my duty as bishop, I respectfully make your
Eminence a dual request:
First. That you will not regard as guilty those who in
their conscience believe that they cannot actively lend a hand
in carrying off the commandeered metals.
364

REQUISITION OF COPPER 365
Second. That you would kindly take into account that,
according to canon law, the goods of religious communities,
seminaries, episcopal colleges, as well as those of the "fab-
riques," are ecclesiastical property and therefore cannot be
alienated without the Sovereign Pontiff's sanction.
To be fair, I must inform your Excellency that I can
neither co-operate myself nor allow those under me to co
operate in the alienation of these goods.
Receive, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXXVI
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL REQUESTS THE CARDINAL TO RE
STRICT THE CONSUMPTION OF COAL IN THE CHURCHES
Political Department of the Government General,
Brussels, February gth, 19 17.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
Your Eminence is not unaware that at the present mo
ment a great dearth of coal is making itself felt. As the
weather continues to be bitterly cold, it is needful for this
fuel to be everywhere used with the greatest economy, so
the government has taken steps to limit the consumption of
coal. As regards fuel economy, those churches which are
heated must fall into line with the rest. The Governor
General requests me to draw your attention to this matter
and leaves it to you to judge what steps you think ought to
be taken so that the coal restrictions imposed upon every
body in the public interest may be complied with.
Please receive the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Lancken.
The coal shortage was due solely to the German requi
sitions, for, as the Cardinal showed in his letter of Novem
ber 2nd to Baron von Bissing, reproduced later on, the war
time output of the Belgian mines, had it been left at the
disposal of the people, would have admitted of the distribu
tion of approximately three tons of coal a year to each of the
population. But the greater part of the output was com
mandeered by the German Government, which, in order to
secure a supply of gold, sold it to neutral countries at a
handsome profit. Meanwhile the Belgian people — for the
common good, said Baron von der Lancken — had to deprive
themselves of fuel during the most intense cold.
366

RESTRICTION OF USE OF COAL 367
Among the steps mentioned by the chief of the political
department in his letter to the Cardinal, we must note the
closing of all educational establishments through lack of
heating power.

CHAPTER XXXVII
the cardinal's pastoral letter, "courage,
brethren !"
The Cardinal's Lenten Pastoral for the year 19 17, be
ginning, "Courage, brethren," was read in all the churches
of the diocese on Sunday, February 25th.
It was divided into two sections. In the first the Cardi
nal dilated upon the moral greatness of the nation ; he did
homage to the valor of the army and the prisoners, the
patience of the refugees, the firmness of the Government and
the undaunted courage of the King. "If," said he, "there
were some dark clouds in the sky, they would dissolve in the
course of history and allow nothing to shine forth but the
moral beauty of the nation, its glowing patriotism, its
staunch resolve. The grand lessons of military heroism and
patriotism given by the Belgian people would serve to edu
cate the mind of generations to come."
In the second section the Cardinal dwelt on the gran
deur of the Christian spirit. "If natural moral virtues be
worthy of esteem, charity alone, which Christ infuses into
the soul, gives virtue its full significance and strictly speak
ing merits eternal reward."
The Pastoral ended with an exhortation to confidence
and acts of adoration and love of God, and of submission to
His holy will.
Baron von Bissing, considering that the Cardinal had
again issued a political manifesto, wrote him as follows :
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
February 27th, 19 17.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
On the 25th inst. your Eminence ordered a Pastoral to
be read in all the churches, a whole chapter of which is
368

"COURAGE, BRETHREN I" 369
taken up with purely political matters. I must raise a vig
orous protest against the abuse which has been made of
the liberty of worship, hitherto accorded, in order to pro
mote a political agitation. By issuing this manifesto, di
rected against the occupying power, your Eminence has
again sadly disillusioned me of the hope I was justified in
forming, in view of the repeated declarations of the Holy
Father. If, after this incident, I refrain from taking seri
ous measures it is solely because of my regard for the Holy
See and for the sake of religious peace in occupied territory.
For an action of this nature a simple priest, according to
the orders now in force, would render himself liable to legal
proceedings. Nor can I refrain from expressing to your
Eminence my surprise that you should issue a public mani
festo of this kind at the very time when, in common with a
certain number of well-known personages in the occupied
territory, you have just addressed an appeal to his Majesty
the Kaiser in the interests of the unemployed. This act of
your Eminence deters me from promising, as I have done,
my support to the above appeal.
Receive the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Baron von Bissing,
Lieutenant General.
The Cardinal hastened to justify his conduct by assert
ing that his duty was to encourage, lead and support his
beloved people struggling in the midst of the most cruel
sufferings. Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 3d, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — The letter I. 1799, with which your Excellency
has honored me, under date of February 27th, only reached
me yesterday, March 2d, and I avail myself of my first
leisure moment to answer it.
May I beg your Excellency to be so good as to abstract
for a moment from your position as a soldier and the chief
representative of the occupying power to hearken to those

370 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
feelings which cause a responsive echo in the heart of every
Christian and thrill his very soul ? I do not ask more than
that in order to rest assured that you will not hold fast to
your first decision.
Be so good, Excellency, as to look the facts in the face.
Just as Our Holy Father Benedict XV, in his consistorial
address of December 4th, 19 16, proclaimed so nobly before
the Church and before the world, considerable numbers of
inoffensive citizens are dragged from their mothers, their
wives and their weeping children and led off into captivity
far from their native land. We have seen them go dejected
in mind, though sound in body, and we have seen them
come back wizened, emaciated, a prey to tuberculosis in
the proportion of six to ten, thus creating a dire menace for
generations to come.
Every family is in dread. Tales of sorrow come to us
from every side, and how can we in face of this remain
unmoved witnesses of our beloved people's anguish? No,
Excellency, a power which only took count of exterior dis
cipline might make this claim. A man with a heart would
not uphold it.
I regret having to raise my voice in public at a moment
when people are speaking about the generous efforts dis
played by your Excellency to prevent fresh deportations and
to mitigate the effects of those already carried out — at a
moment when I had just signed a confident appeal to his
Imperial Majesty. But it is needful to take account of the
complex situation created for us by events. We are face to
face with a power which has at its disposal the means of
might; but around us are a people weak, agonized and
suffering; we have to respect the one without neglecting the
other. I am ready, with God's grace, for every personal
sacrifice, but one cannot ask a shepherd to take no interest
in his flock. It is inconceivable that he should see it dis
persed and hear its cries without trying, at least, with the
poor means at his disposal, to prove that he still leads them
and that he will not forsake them.
Would your Excellency kindly read again with an im
partial eye my Pastoral of February nth? You will find

"COURAGE, BRETHREN!" 371
therein nothing but the expression of sentiments of kindly
solicitude. I have no intention of wounding any one what
ever, nor of being aggressive. I merely confine myself
to encouraging a people who are dear to me and of whom
I am, by my vocation, the leader and mainstay. The faith
ful understand me; my words incite no one to rebellion,
whereas in the case of many I know it has brought them
peace of mind.
Accept, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Baron von der Lancken, having in the course of an
interview with Mgr. Legraive, complained of the Pastoral,
"Courage, My Brethren," the Cardinal wrote him as fol
lows: Archbishop' s House, Malines,
Louvain, March 6th, 1917.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — You were so kind as to inform me through
his Lordship, Mgr. Legraive, that, thanks to your pressing
instances, Mile. Douterlinge will escape capital punishment.
I rejoice with the family and thank you for your kind and
effective intervention.
In the course of your interview with my Auxiliary
Bishop it appears that you passed severe judgment on my
last Pastoral and expressed annoyance at a letter addressed
by me to a club of young Frenchmen. On this last point you
have been led astray, for I have not written either to any
young men's club or to any French newspaper.
As regards my Pastoral, you must be acquainted by this
time with the correspondence on this topic exchanged be
tween the Governor General and myself. I cannot expect
you to tell me that you are satisfied with my answer, but you
cannot deny that in forming a judgment about the meaning
or expediency of my Pastoral, we must look at it from two
points of view — that of the occupier and that of the unfor
tunate people whose territory is occupied.

372 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
You must acknowledge that the military power of Ger
many could not have conceived anything more opposed to its
longing for peace than the forcible and woeful deporta
tions, which have aroused universal indignation.
Accept, dear Baron, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

Baron von der Lancken could think of nothing better to
justify the action of the occupying power than to appeal to
wartime necessities:
Political Department of the Government General,
Brussels, March gth, 191 7.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
Your Eminence's esteemed letter, dated the 6th inst,
has duly come to hand. I did, as you say, discuss with
Mgr. Legraive your last Pastoral and your letter published
by the Parisian press. As regards this last, I take the lib
erty to send your Eminence an extract from the "Vingtieme
Siecle." According to this, the letter was not addressed di
rectly to the "Revue des Jeunes," but to one of its staff of
writers. I only revert to the Pastoral in order to pass a criticism
on the remark made by your Eminence that we must dis
tinguish between the occupying power and the occupied
country. The occupied country will understand many things
done by the occupying power, if it makes an attempt to ap
preciate the latter's point of view. It will then realize that
the occupying power has to take count of the necessities
of war imposed on it, and that it by no means acts in an
arbitrary manner. The occupying power will, of course,
look upon all criticism of its administration as unwar
ranted, if no account be taken of the circumstances.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.

"COURAGE, BRETHREN 1" 373
Inclosed with this letter was the following extract from
the "Vingtieme Siecle," dated February 24th, 1917 :

AN UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF CARDINAL MERCIER

Undaunted Loyalty of French and Bel
gians Under Hardships

The "Revue des Jeunes" will publish tomorrow the fol
lowing letter which one of its correspondents has just re
ceived from Cardinal Mercier: Archbishop's House, Malines,
January i$th, 19 1 7.
Dear Sir — Mr. X  has furnished me with a tan
gible proof of your kindness toward myself and my suf
fering flock. I appreciate it greatly and I thank you for it.
Indeed, Belgium is being sorely tried and the sufferings of
the populations of northern France are not less keen. But,
thank God, our courage does not flag. Our people, I mean
the lower classes, they who have to bear the brunt of priva
tions, are wonderful for their steadfastness. This week I
went through the byways and alleys of a little town — Lierre
— which the invaders had already looted in August, 19 14,
and from which they had just kidnapped 1,000 able-bodied
men. I went from house to house to see the families of the
deported. I had to dry many tears and to comfort many in
sorrow. I have heard hard words about the tyrants who
brutally smash up our homes, but I have not heard either a
wife or a mother asking for peace at any price. We suffer,
but we abide our time. Victory, reparation and necessary
guarantees are what we count on. The Americans in charge
of the feeding of the French populations report that your
own people are animated with the same generous senti
ments. With you, this spectacle is less surprising, as a
Frenchman is temperamentally and traditionally generous.
Historically he is the embodiment of warlike valor and of
chivalry, whereas with us, who have enjoyed a long spell

374 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
of peace and possess a less sanguine temperament, the in
tense loyalty shown during the last two years amazes us
and inspires us with a sentiment, perhaps childishly exag
gerated, of self-admiration.
You will understand and excuse this feeling, at all
events in the case of the bishop, the father of his flock,
and if I make much of it, it is to explain the comfort you
have given me by your kind thoughtfulness.
I pray God to reward you for it, to bless you and yours
and the noble French nation, and I offer you, sir, the assur
ance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XXXVIII
condemnation of mgr. LEGRAIVE, AUXILIARY BISHOP OF
MALINES, AND OF M. L*ABBE ALLAER
On the finding of the court-martial at Antwerp, Mgr.
Legraive, Bishop Auxiliary of Malines, was condemned to
nine months' imprisonment for showing hospitality to a
young Frenchman on his way to the frontier, and Abbe
Allaer to eight months as an accomplice. The Cardinal
learned of these sentences on his way through Brussels,
after a few days' absence. He discovered at the same time
that Baron von der Lancken, through the Nuncio, had
advised him to ask for Mgr. Legraive's reprieve. Accord
ingly, he at once sent in an appeal to the Governor General
of this tenor: St. Louis's Institute, Brussels,
March 17 th, 19 17.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — In returning this evening to Brussels after a few
days' absence, I learn to my amazement that the court-
martial sitting at Antwerp has just sentenced Mgr. Le
graive, my Bishop Auxiliary, to nine months' imprisonment.
I feel that your Excellency will mercifully quash this
sentence, the more so because I happen to know that the act
was inspired, as Mgr. Legraive avers, by motives of char
ity. I hope also that the Abbe Allaer, spiritual adviser to
the seminary, who has been sentenced to eight months'
imprisonment, will experience similar leniency.
Accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
375

376 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The next day the Cardinal begged for permission to
visit Mgr. Legraive at Antwerp :
Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 18th, 19 17.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I am very anxious to visit this afternoon
his Lordship Mgr. Legraive in prison. Would you kindly
procure me the necessary authority to do so or warn the
governor of the prison by telephone ? I will arrange to be
at Antwerp between 4 and 5.
Accept, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
A few moments after sending this letter the Cardinal
learned that Mgr. Legraive had already been sent to Ger
many. He expressed his surprise to Baron von der
Lancken : Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 18th, 1917.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — Yesterday, on my arrival at Brussels, I
learned that his Excellency the Nuncio was urging me, on
your advice, to send in a petition for the reprieve of Mgr.
Legraive, my Auxiliary Bishop. And this morning I learn
that yesterday Mgr. Legraive had already arrived in Ger
many. I have tried in vain to account for the coinci
dence. Accept, dear Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Three days later Mgr. Legraive, having received a re
prieve, returned to his country after spending forty-eight
hours in the camp at Siegburg. The Cardinal hastened to
thank Baron von Bissing for his intervention.

CONDEMNATION OF MGR. LEGRAIVE 377
Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 21st, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissing, Governor General,
Brussels.
Sir — At this very moment Mgr. Legraive returns to
us from Germany. The reprieve granted him is the result
of your prompt and powerful intervention. I am only
doing my duty in expressing to you how grateful I feel
and at the same time I offer to you the assurance of my
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Cardinal also thanked Baron von der Lancken for
the share he had had in releasing Mgr. Legraive and asked
him to use his influence to obtain the Governor General's
clemency on behalf of Abbe Allaer.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 22d, 19 17.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I have heard of the large share you had
in the speedy release of Mgr. Legraive and I hasten to
thank you. The joy of the seminarists at the return of their
venerable and beloved president knew no bounds. The
clergy and myself are still very much concerned because
Abbe Allaer was not able to return with his companion
in captivity, while his aged mother is pining away in her
loneliness. But we still hope that the Governor General's
clemency will soon reach this worthy and deserving priest.
I take the liberty of confiding to your care the inclosed
letter addressed to the Governor General.*
Accept, my dear Baron, the assurance of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
•The Cardinal asked in this letter for the repatriation of twenty-two
deported people.

378 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Baron von der Lancken replied in these terms:
Political Department of the Government General,
Brussels, March 23d, 19 17.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I am greatly obliged to your Eminence for your ac
knowledgment of my efforts to effect Mgr. Legraive's re
lease. If Abbe Allaer is to be set at liberty it would, at
least, be necessary to draw up a regular petition. I leave
it to your Eminence to write in this sense to the Governor
General.* For my part I am not in a position, unfortu
nately, to take any new steps. I have sent on to the Gov
ernor General your Eminence's two letters, dated January
2 2d, the one to thank him for the reprieve of Mgr. Le
graive, the other asking for the repatriation of twenty-two
deported persons. Applications dealing with each indi
vidual case were not inclosed with the letter. I beg your
Eminence to send them to me, since the Governor General
is disposed to support your appeal.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.
•Abbe Allaer was not released until the beginning of June.

CHAPTER XXXIX
DEATH OF BARON VON BISSING
In the morning of April i iththe adjutant of Count von
Bismarck, Kreischef of Malines, called on the Cardinal in
the name of the chief of the political department, with
official intimation of the death of Baron von Bissing, which
occurred in the evening of the previous day. On receipt of
this communication the Cardinal wrotej Baron, von Ider
Lancken the following letter: Archbishop's House, Malines,
April igth, 1917.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
I am very much affected by your kind attention and wish
to express my gratitude. Baron von Bissing was a believer;
I remember he said one day in unmistakable accents: "I
am not a Catholic, but I believe in Christ." I shall pray
to our Lord in all sincerity for the repose of his soul.
Accept, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

379

CHAPTER XL
BARON VON FALKENHAUSEN SUCCEEDS BARON VON BISSING
 FIRST RELATIONS OF THE CARDINAL WITH
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL
On April 24th Baron von Falkenhausen was nominated
in the place of Baron von Bissing. A prudent intermediary
expressed to the Cardinal his wish to know whether he
wanted to enter into personal relations with the new Gov
ernor General. In view of the then existing state of public
feeling, his Eminence considered that an exchange of visits
would not be expedient. Upon this Baron von Falkenhausen
commissioned the chief of the political department to an
nounce officially to the Cardinal his nomination to the post
of Governor General and to assure him that he would be
ready at all times to insure liberty of worship to the Bel
gians. In reply to this official announcement, the Cardinal sent
the following letter to Baron von Falkenhausen :
Archbishop's House, Malines,
May ioth, 19 17.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral, Brussels.
Sir — I must thank you for your Excellency's kind fore
thought in announcing to me officially, through the kind
offices of Baron von der Lancken, your appointment to the
Governor Generalship of Belgium. But what particularly
gratified me is the assurance you gave in that letter, that
religious liberty would be always effectively protected in
Belgium and that your Excellency would do your best to
safeguard it.
I am intrusting this letter to my Vicar General, Mgr.
380

BARON VON FALKENHAUSEN 381
Van Roey, who will deliver it personally at the Government
House and reiterate to the delegate of your Excellency
the expression of my thanks and sincere esteem.
Please accept the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XLI
THE CARDINAL RECOMMENDS TO BARON VON FALKEN
HAUSEN THE RELIGIOUS INTERESTS OF WORKMEN AT
THE MALINES ARSENAL AND OF PERSONS
DETAINED ON SUSPICION
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
May 12th, 1 917.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral, Brussels.
Sir — Emboldened by your Excellency's expressed wish to
protect the religious interests of our people, I should like
to recommend to your solicitude the workmen of the cen
tral works at Malines. I refrain from speaking of the
conditions under which these workmen have been engaged at
the arsenal. But the Bishop of the diocese has been sad
dened to find that it has been made morally impossible for
these poor workmen, who for the most part belong to Chris
tian families, to hear mass on Sundays. Not only are they
deprived of their Sunday's rest, but their work begins at 6
a. m. — too early for the first mass and only ends at noon,
too late for the last masses. I have also the honor of call
ing your attention to the spiritual destitution of people
detained on suspicion. As long as their cases are in process
of investigation they are precluded from assisting at mass
and are thus hindered from fulfilling their religious duties
and deprived of their chief spiritual consolation. I may
mention that the internal arrangements of our prison chapels
are such as to effectively prevent all intercommunication be
tween the prisoners. I will be obliged to your Excellency
for your favorable attention to both these petitions.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier.
The Governor General replied through the chief of the
political department that he would institute an inquiry into
the points raised by his Eminence. 382

RELIGIOUS INTERESTS OF WORKMEN 383
When the inquiry, which lasted more than a month, was
concluded, Baron von der Lancken informed the Cardinal
that his request had been granted, so far as circumstances
would allow. As a matter of fact, things remained more or
less in statu quo.
The Cardinal, while thanking Baron von der Lancken
for the paltry concessions he had obtained, again insists
upon receiving adequate satisfaction. He complains, at the
same time, of the vexatious measures to which he is sub
jected by the Government General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
July 19th, 19 1 7.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — My Vicar General has had the honor to
give you a provisional answer to the letter which you were
good enough to write me on the ioth ultimo. Neverthe
less, I must revert to the subject matter of your corre
spondence because I attach great importance to it and,
thanks to your gracious intervention, do not despair of ulti
mately obtaining redress.
You are kind enough to inform me that, from a religious
point of view, an improvement has been effected in the
prison regime. Though I must confess I do not exactly
perceive in what this mitigation consists, yet I am glad the
lot of the prisoners has been softened and thank you for
the efforts you have made to bring it about.
As regards the Malines arsenal, you allege that even
before the war work was in full swing and went on with
out interruption even on Sundays. In this I am obliged to
say you have been misinformed, for it is only since the
occupation that the workmen have been deprived of their
liberty to assist at mass.
I am very grateful to you for having obtained for them
one free Sunday out of four; but the fact remains that on
the other three Sundays of the month they are compelled to
work, and the government withholds facilities for perform
ing their religious duties. The earliest masses are said at
6:30; they go on, together with the sermon, until 7:15,

384 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
whereas, according to the regulations, the workmen are
obliged to sign on at the arsenal at 7 a. m. Thus hun
dreds of workmen are precluded from obeying the dictates
of their conscience.
Your government plumes itself on making the fulfill
ment of their religious duties compulsory on every one in
your army. Why then refuse the Belgians what you com
mand Germans to do?
You appeal to pressure of work. Really, if instead of
opening the gates of the arsenal at 7 a. m., you were to
open them at 9 a. m., do you think work would suffer seri
ously? Is it not already enough that our poor workmen
are forced to exhaust their strength every day of the week
in the service of their enemies?
I said, Baron, that you have been misled by the people
commissioned to inform you. Does not the incident brought
to my notice yesterday supply an additional proof? I
have not expressed to anybody my intention of going to St.
Gudule's on the 21st of this month. I decided on the
contrary, several weeks ago, to sing the Te Deum in my
cathedral, and I have informed the Metropolitan Chapter
of my decision. The author of the report which annoyed
you has therefore invented his story in every detail, and it
is upon reports of this nature that the German Headquar
ters are disturbed, threaten, fix their decisions, etc. . . . !
Can you not put an end to this irritating procedure?
Again, on the 12th instant, after the funeral of the
late lamented M. Scholaeert at St. Gudule's, I lunched in
the strictest privacy with a friend. Just as I was taking
my seat again in my carriage, I was amazed to see a group
of about twenty people of the lower classes prowling about
just outside the house. Their presence was accounted for
by two armed sentries, who were lying in wait for my exit
and spying on my movements. I saw these two sentries with
my own eyes, and bearing arms, too !
Is this meant for a joke? But if some day the joke
becomes a tragedy, who is to be made answerable for it?
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier.
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XLII
THE CARDINAL'S ATTITUDE TOWARD PARTITION OF
ADMINISTRATION
The German Government, wishing to break up Belgian
national unity, included in its program of reconstruction in
Belgium a regime of administrative separation.
This work of disintegration was begun in November,
19 1 6, by doubling certain branches of the service in the
Ministry of Science and Art, thus creating two classes of
officials, whose duty it was to control education in the
Flemish and Walloon provinces, respectively. To pacify
the minds of the officials in charge, the German civil ad
ministration informed them that the question was but one
of internal order and had nothing to do with separatist
administration. On March 23d, 1917, the occupying power threw off
the mask. By way of fulfilling the promise made by the
Imperial Chancellor some weeks previously to the mem
bers of the traitorous "Conseil des Flandres," who had gone
to visit him in Berlin, he had an order published according
to which Belgium was to be divided into two administrative
districts, the first with its headquarters at Brussels, the
second at Namur. On receiving this news, Belgian national
feeling was deeply stirred and numerous protests were made
to the Governor General by prominent persons in the coun
try. Senators and deputies belonging to all parties met and
deliberated on the attitude of passive resistance they ought
to take toward the order of March 23d. Some of them
considered that all officials in the central administration
ought to resign; others went so far as to recommend the
resignation of all officials, even purely local ones, magis-
385

386 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
trates, mayors, teachers, etc. The opinion which prevailed
and to which in the end the members unanimously assented
was that only the highest officials of the central administra
tion should resign and that lower officials should be free
either to resign or remain at their posts.
The Belgian Government, on being consulted, explicitly
approved of this modified solution, urging, however, the
officials of the exchequer to delay their resignations for the
time being.
The occupying power was not slow in taking steps
against refractory officials. On the pretext that in with
drawing the declaration of loyalty, which they had signed
at the beginning of the occupation, and refusing to continue
giving their services they were setting up active resistance
against the carrying out of legal provisions, the government
had them deported to Germany.
The Cardinal made an energetic protest to Baron von
Falkenhausen against these flagrant violations of interna
tional law and The Hague convention.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
June 6th, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen-,
eral, Brussels.
Sir — Since the beginning of the occupation of Belgian
soil by armed force, the representatives of the Imperial
Government fully understood that the administration of
our country had to be organized in conformity with inter
national law.
To the various classes of officials forming part of the
civil administration, Baron von Bissing, basing his action
on The Hague convention, addressed an invitation, whose
burden, if we prescind from the variants of diction, was
as follows for all of them:
"Do you agree to fulfill under my general administra
tion the offices you held under the Belgian Government?
Not otherwise than my predecessor, Baron von der Goltz,
I do not ask you to lay on one side your national spirit;
rather, I appeal for your co-operation in the public interest.

PARTITION OF ADMINISTRATION 387
You will continue to receive your salaries out of the Belgian
treasury for which I am temporarily responsible, under one
condition: that you undertake to fulfill your duties loyally
and to do nothing which would militate against the German
administration of the occupied provinces of Belgium."
On this occasion several men engaged in government
work submitted a case of conscience to the religious authori
ties for solution: Could they without detriment to their
patriotism and loyalty toward the legitimate government
yield obedience to a foreign administration? This was a
thorny and delicate question.
At the first sitting of The Hague conference (1899),
the delegate sent by the Netherlands Government, M. Van
Karnebeek, declared that "he resented the introduction of
any clause which appeared to empower, either directly
or indirectly, the officials of an invaded territory to place
themselves at the disposal of the conqueror." Nevertheless,
the conference took a broader view of the matter. It quite
realized that were certain officials to remain at their posts
in invaded territory, they would frequently perform their
duties much better, at least, morally speaking, toward the
population. Notwithstanding this, both at the Brussels conference
in 1874 and The Hague conference in 1899, the official
representatives intrusted with the task of drawing up a code
of international law, laid great stress not only on the claim
of officials to liberty of action, either in resuming their duties
when the occupying power invites them to do so or in declin
ing to resume them, but also on the liberty of resigning after
having once agreed to resume the various duties.
I would invite your Excellency to read over again
Article IV of the Brussels conference of 1874 and the pro
tocols of the same conference and you will find there, sup
porting the liberty of officials, the explicit declarations of M.
Beernaert and Baron Lambermont, for Belgium ; M. Lands-
berge, for Holland; M. Vedel, for Denmark, and Colonel
Staaf, for Sweden and Norway. I appeal to the testimony
of neutral countries, as they are indisputable arbitrators of
international law.

388 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
I would also invite your Excellency to read through
again the protocol of The Hague conference of 1899 and
the Rolin report, which is an authentic commentary on the
articles voted by this conference. Your Excellency would
see that the conference unanimously denies "the right of the
occupier to constrain directly or indirectly any class of
employes of the occupied state to resume their duties."
Seeing that the Government General in Brussels at the
end of the year 19 14 sheltered its invitation to the public
officials in Belgium behind The Hague convention, I formed
my conscience according to its provisions and answered my
harassed inquirers :
"The contract submitted for your signature prior to
your engagement includes nothing which compromises your
consciences on the score of morality or religion or loyalty
to your country. You may, therefore, sign it without for
feiting either your honor or your patriotism. Your services
contribute, indeed, toward the national weal. I do not doubt
that the Belgian Government, were it possible to consult it,
would ratify your acceptance. You are not, therefore, want
ing in loyalty. As regards the engagement you are required
to enter into, 'to undertake nothing against German admin
istration in the occupied territories,' it commands you to re
spect both public order and the regulations needful to main
tain it. None of you has the intention to break them. But
if some day the conditions of the contract submitted for your
acceptance were to change their character, you would always
be free to repudiate it. Both natural and international law
confer as well as guarantee your liberty in so acting."
What was but a surmise in 19 14 is now unfortunately
a fact. The decree concerning separate administration, which
tends to throw the whole of the administration into con
fusion and to break up our national unity, places the state
officials in a situation which many of them believe offends
their self-respect and wounds their consciences. They are
thus within their rights in resigning their posts.
Do not let the lawful exercise of a right be punished
either with exile or imprisonment. The regulation attached

PARTITION OF ADMINISTRATION 389
to Article 43 of The Hague convention of October 18th,
1907, stipulates that, save where absolutely impossible, the
occupying power must respect the laws in force in a country.
Nothing hinders the occupying power from respecting the
civil organization of our general administration.
The questions of Belgian home politics concern Bel
gians alone and cannot be solved except by the Belgian
Parliament or Government or by the King of the Belgians.
Your Excellency must be badly informed respecting the rea
sons why the various public officials resigned their posts.
When you have seen as in a brighter and nobler light the
attitude of these courageous men, rather than proceed
against them with vigor you will add your voice to that of
every self-respecting man to pay them homage for their pru
dence and disinterestedness. I say their prudence advisedly
because they prefer to take refuge in a positive refusal —
non serviam — rather than act in secret to the prejudice of an
administration they can no longer loyally serve ; to their dis
interestedness, because they have laid the sacrifice of their
own interest and the safety of their hearths and homes on
the altar of their country.
I beg of you to hearken to the voice of those who
know intimately the Belgian people and their history, when
they affirm that no violence will ever triumph over their
patriotism. Receive, sir, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General confined himself to answering
that he declined to discuss with the Cardinal any questions
other than those of a religious character.
The Holy See, through the medium of the Nuncio,
manifested a desire to be accurately informed as to the at
titude of the Belgian episcopate toward the administrative
separation imposed on Belgium by the occupying power.
The Cardinal complied with this request in a long and

390 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
detailed letter addressed to his Holiness Pope Benedict
XV.*
Malines, August $th, 1917-
Most Holy Father — I regard it as my duty to give
to Your Holiness exact information as to the attitude of the
Belgian episcopate toward the measures the occupying power
has decreed in order to accomplish what it terms "adminis
trative separation."
In reality it is not with measures of administration
that we have to deal, but with an attempt to effect national
disruption. No one doubts this in Belgium and no one out
side Belgium will have any doubt of it after the publication
of the late Baron von Bissing's "Denkschrift" or Memoirs.
In it our former Governor General lays bare his hope
that in flattering the crude aspiration of a few ardent
Flemings of a separatist frame of mind Germany will, on
the one hand, ultimately succeed in detaching them in affec
tion and perhaps also in fact from the Walloon part of
the population, and on the other hand will hinder their
withdrawal from under the hegemony of the German Em
pire. Belgians have come to the conclusion that they must
oppose by all legitimate means this anti-national policy,
while the almost complete unanimity of the Flemings as
well as the Walloons, embracing Belgian citizens of every
party, whether in the occupied or unoccupied parts of the
country, have rallied around their King and Government.
The Belgian episcopate has considered that it ought
not to be last in the ranks of those who do their duty, while
for my part I have not only in private conversations, but also
first at a deans' meeting, a second time at a meeting of the
rectors of episcopal colleges, and a third time at a meeting
of the masters and mistresses of the training schools, clearly
declared what is our patriotic duty and at the same time
what our Christian conscience dictates in such a contingency.
In a Pastoral issued by me long before the war — on the
* This letter was read by the Cardinal in the course of a retreat preached
to the clergy at the beginning of September and was taken down by one
of the retreatants and published in "Cinquante Mois d'Occupation Alle-
mande" by L. Gille, A. Corns and Delands-Herre, Brussels, 1919, Vol. Ill,
pp. 412-418.

PARTITION OF ADMINISTRATION 391
feast of the Epiphany, 19 10, to be precise — I said that
patriotism, which, following St. Thomas, I called patriotic
piety, is binding in conscience to such an extent that to
fail therein in serious matters is to commit a grievous sin.
Taking my inspiration from this principle, I declared to
the deans that anybody countenancing these attempts to
break up our national unity would be a traitor to his coun
try, and to the directors of the seminaries and episcopal
colleges I added that I forbade our seminarists and young
students to take part in such partisan meetings, where, under
cover of what they term activist propaganda, the King, as
well as the religious authorities, is insolently attacked.
While we were issuing these general directions to our
clergy the occupying power multiplied its separatist efforts
to attain its own ends. At the outset it proceeded slowly
and stealthily. But so early as November, 19 16, it dupli
cated certain posts at the Ministry of Sciences and Art, in
tending thereby to introduce a twofold set of officials, classi
fied in two categories, namely, Walloons and Flemings. But
to soothe the consciences of those concerned, the German
commissary formally declared that it was only a matter of
internal economy special to the teaching services and by no
means the beginning of a separatist administration for the
whole country. In the city and district of Brussels and in
the great towns of the Flemish provinces numerous families
of Walloon extraction or of French customs give their chil
dren a partly French education. Various steps were taken
to forbid this bi-lingualism. At last, on March 23d, 1917,
the Governor General threw off the mask and decreed the
partition of the Belgian administration into sections, one
Flemish and the other French, and created a separate cen
tral bureau for each of them.
These measures are contrary to Article 43 of The
Hague convention of October 18th, 1907, and are an in
fringement of our constitutional liberties in the matter of
language. Until now the functions of the central adminis
tration were carried on by delegates of the lawful authority
under the supervision of the occupying power. For the
future there will be no central authority of national origin.

392 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The occupying power, in order to lead everybody outside
Belgium to believe that this dual organization has the
approval of one part of the nation, usurps the rights of the
whole nation, and so well does it know this that it has tried
to effect this change by resuscitating the hateful and gro
tesque comedy of the Council of Flanders.
The staffs at the ministries, mindful of the loyalty they
owe the Belgian Government, were prepared in great num
bers to resign their posts rather than lend a hand to a
policy of national scission.
Some persons, nevertheless, foreseeing reprisals at the
hands of the occupying power, and more anxious to protect
the private interests of officials' families or to safeguard
certain party advantages than to preserve intact the supreme
interest of national unity, would have advised all the staffs
to humor the whims of the occupying power in order to
avoid a greater evil. These two opinions were submitted
to the government at Havre, which substantially replied as
follows: "The higher officials ought to resign; the lower
may remain at their posts." Immediately the directors
general and the secretaries general of all the ministries
complied with the wishes of the Belgian Government and
were, just as was expected, led away captive to Germany.
The occupying power thought itself capable of checking
the exodus of the staffs by taking these violent measures,
whereas all with very rare exceptions risked their family
position and their liberty with a lofty disinterestedness that
one could not but admire. The logical sequence of these
events was that a fresh question arose, viz., what was to
be done respecting the new dualist arrangement? Were
we to treat with it, obey, or oppose it with passive resist
ance? Opinions were again divided; some deemed it best to
break with rather than appear to recognize this new situa
tion; to close the colleges, the training and private schools.
The majority, and I sided with these, refused to proceed
to extremes at the first onset. The Belgian Government it
self gave the example of moderation, by not demanding
from all officials equality of sacrifice. Duty called for a

PARTITION OF ADMINISTRATION 393
protest against a separatist administration, but practical life
is made up of obstacles unsurmountable by formal logic.
In consequence, we decided to leave the primary schools
open in order not to consign our children to vagabondage,
but we proceeded to draw up a protest in the case of the
colleges and training schools for elementary teachers.
There are in Belgium free normal schools, official nor
mal schools, communal and provincial schools and state nor
mal schools. There is, moreover, a central state board
before which those who have not followed a regular course
in the normal schools may appear.
In the normal schools not belonging to the state a state
delegate has the right to assist at the final examination
and the certificates receive governmental approbation by a
stamp being affixed to them.
Now we decided after consulting the masters and mis
tresses concerned that the final examinations would take
place as usual at the end of the scholastic year, but in pri
vate; that is to say, without inviting the German officials
to assist at them and without submitting the certificates for
their signature.
We subsequently carried our decisions into effect quietly,
unostentatiously and liberally. We anticipated the with
drawal of the subsidies granted to the normal schools by
the state as well as the scholarships awarded to the scholars
in subsequent years. What would happen to these schools?
What would the parents say? All these questions were
looked squarely in the face by those present at the meeting
convened by us. They were peaceably solved in that spirit of
national loyalty inspired by the motto : "Do thy duty, God
will do the rest."
A mistress of the normal school in Flemish Campine
stated that she needed an annual sum of 15,000 francs to
pay the salaries of her lay mistresses. All her school chil
dren belonged to Flemish families of the lower middle class.
We were for the moment certain that the Belgian Govern
ment would in its turn legalize the certificates of our private
boards and pay us the grants which the Germans might re
fuse, yet we had not absolute certainty. This particular

394 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
mistress contented herself with saying: "Providence will
provide." Yes, Providence will provide. It has provided.
In fact, M. Poullet, our Minister of Science and Arts, wrote
us congratulating the head teachers on their courageous
attitude, promising that the certificates granted should be
legalized on his return and the financial deficit met. The
parents have raised no objection to this and the scholars
with only one or two exceptions have approved.
As soon as this decision was arrived at, I informed
the official authorities responsible for the management of the
normal, communal and provincial schools, and without hesi
tation they adopted our way of thinking and followed the
same line of action as ourselves. In the state normal schools
nobody could prevent the Germans from setting up a board
to their liking. The board was set up, but the scholars
themselves refused to appear before it.
Our last remaining resource was the central board.
Each pupil of our private schools had the right to present
himself before it. By establishing a board of an official
character on our premises we would actively have co-oper
ated in realizing the German plan ; by permitting our pupils
to go before a central board we should not assume any
direct responsibility. It was, therefore, taken for granted
that parents would decide whether or not it was expedient
to present their children before this board, while we on our
part stood aside. The central board was likewise a fiasco.
Lastly, the certificates granted by the heads of colleges
and schools on the completion of humanities had to be rati
fied by the central administration at the Ministry of Educa
tion. It was decided that these certificates should not, as
was customary, be sent collectively to the Ministry, but that
each individual pupil concerned could demand his certificate
for himself and hand it in to be officially stamped. As a
matter of fact no certificate was asked for or forwarded to
the German central authorities.
One can easily understand that after such a success, the
organizers of separatist administration were disconcerted,
disappointed and annoyed. But they only have themselves
to thank if after three years of tyrannical government they

PARTITION OF ADMINISTRATION 395
have not yet formed even a vague idea of the psychology
of the Belgian people. All things considered, it is our
duty to render the annexation of Belgium as difficult as pos
sible for the Germans.
I know quite well that all the neutrals do not share our
opinion. It would have been so convenient for us to pro
test verbally and so save our principles, then bow our necks
under the yoke in order to spare ourselves trouble. The
same sentiments were voiced at the time of the infamous
and brutal invasion of our territory by a military power
before which we were fated to succumb. Belgium chose
sacrifice. It is her glory in the sight of God and in the
verdict of history. Confronted with the recent acts of ad
ministrative perfidy, Belgium could easily have silently ac
quiesced and could later have sent an academic protest to
the authorities of the German empire. But this policy is not
according to the temper of our people. The Belgian does
not love what savors of convention; he prefers deeds to
words, but, at the same time, knows the value of modera
tion. In fact, the attitude of the nation in this question of
separatist administration, "the gravest," said a diplomat
to me, "that the Germans have raised since they first op
pressed under the pretense of ruling us," the attitude of the
nation has been admirably moderate, that is to say, marked
with calculated energy. Our temporary rulers had need of
rare audacity in taxing us with sedition, when our conduct
was so moderate in its resistance and so high-spirited in its
refusal to submit.
The truth is, the occupying power uses its resources to
the utmost limit to drive us to desperation, and is amazed
at not succeeding. We yield neither to cajolery nor tx>
frightfulness, but during three years we have never once
attempted an act of open rebellion. It is precisely this calm
self-possession that the Prussian militarist fails to under
stand. While they venture to lodge complaint against our lack
of respect for their bureaucratic regulations, they continue
their deportations in the war zone, and, contrary to the

396 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
highest authorities, they obstruct repatriation. Nine whole
months, beginning on November nth, 191 6, have now
gone by and thousands of inoffensive Belgian citizens re
duced to idleness through the calculated disorganization of
our industries have suffered hunger, anguish, exhaustion in
exile. By dint of wearing down their physical powers the
Germans end by extorting a mere external consent to a
system of compulsory labor their soul abhors, and then by
distorting this forced acquiescence into a free act they
enroll them in the list of voluntary workers, a class they
are not bound to restore to their homes. Is this not odious
enough? But let no one any longer trust in their sincerity
when they announce under certain conditions of lamblike
mildness and with the silent approval of occupied Belgium
the termination of deportation.
All the world knows that spies in the service of an
enemy military power are punishable with death and we do
not think of blaming the Germans for putting down real
spying. But when ignorant, simple people count the trains
that pass through their village station and then at the end
of the week send the total number to a comrade who is fool
ishly believed to be in correspondence with the English
army, when they are found boasting of their prowess in
the conviction that they have saved their country, is it not
criminal to condemn them by batches of eight, twelve or
eighteen on a charge of espionage? And when out of a
list of fifteen suspects of this kind three are pardoned, or
two out of twenty, who are sent as a matter of course to
penal servitude for life, ought one to reckon it mercy or
cruelty? I am coming to the end of this long account, most Holy
Father, but it was needful to make it complete or else risk
a misunderstanding. I omitted to state that the Belgian hierarchy is unani.
mous in condemning separatist administration and "activ
ism." In regard to this, the sentiments of all are known
to me and I can assure you they are unanimous.
In taking practical steps it is ordinarily very difficult,
if not absolutely impossible, for us to act in concert. Ques-

PARTITION OF ADMINISTRATION 397
tions arise unexpectedly and demand instant solution. Jour
neys are very tiresome and slow, and intercourse by sealed
letters impossible. With the Bishops of Ghent, Bruges and
Tournay all communication is severed. I can only keep in
correspondence with my colleagues of Namur and Liege.
The moment the problem of education boards for the
normal schools arose I sent a messenger to expound my
views to these colleagues. The Bishop of Namur agreed
with me at once, the Bishop of Liege hesitated chiefly for
local reasons. At Liege, in fact, the liberals wanted either
a radical clear-cut solution or submission to the decree, and
the Bishop justly feared lest masters and mistresses trained
in the neutral (irreligious) schools should fill the vacancies
created in the free (religious) schools owing to absence of
certified teachers trained in our colleges. At Ghent exami
nations had already begun when the question was raised in
the provinces of Brabant and Antwerp, but the Bishop ex
pressed to me later on his keen regret that he had not known
earlier the line of action which had been adopted. The
Bishop of Tournay informed me of his own accord of his
adhesion. At Bruges I do not know what happened, but as
this town is being constantly subjected to bombing attacks, I
imagine that studies and examinations receive only slight at
tention. I may add that even at Liege the bishop must have
left much liberty to the training colleges, for several, accord
ing to what I hear, did not hold any legal examinations.
In the name of our suffering country, in that of the
Belgian episcopate and in my own, I respectfully thank Your
Holiness for your fatherly care of us. I thank you for
the quite special apostolic blessing which you have deigned
to bestow on me and on dear Belgium through Cardinal
Gasparri, and I beg you to renew in spirit this blessing
for which we are always the more eager in proportion as
our cross becomes heavier, and I place at Your Holiness's
feet the homage of my most profound veneration and of
my ardent filial duty.
Your Holiness's most humble and obedient servant,
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XLIII
ARREST OF CANON VRANCKEN, THE CARDINAL'S PRIVATE
SECRETARY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
June 3d, 19 17.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment, Government General, Brussels.
On my return to Malines yesterday evening I had the
joy of finding the Abbe Allaer released. I know the part
you have taken in securing his liberation and I hasten to
thank you. On the other hand, I was exceedingly grieved
to learn that my private secretary, Canon Paul Vrancken,
had been summoned to appear before the Antwerp court-
martial on Wednesday and that the military prosecutor had
asked for a year's imprisonment.
You know, no doubt, the charge brought against Canon
Vrancken. In a sermon preached at Malines on Whit
sunday he mentioned the heroic conduct, known to every
one, of the twenty-three young men, who, on the appeal
.of the curate of St. Leger and with him, offered their lives
to save those of the twenty-four fathers of families seized as
hostages in August, 19 14, and sentenced by the German
military authorities to be shot.
Many persons present at the sermon bear witness that
the orator did not utter a single offensive word either against
the German army or the occupying power. I have seen him
this morning in his cell. He is the soul of uprightness and
he assures me that he had no aggressive intention. His
arrest has amazed him.
He is too valiant in suffering to desire an appeal for
mercy, and in spite of the paternal affection I feel for
him, I refrain from making one to the Governor Gen
eral. 398

ARREST OF CANON VRANCKEN 399
But I feel I must call your attention to the following
consideration: The action of the curate of St. Leger and
of the twenty-three young men of his club is, morally speak
ing, so admirable that it will henceforth form a page of
universal history. It is inscribed forever in the annals of
mankind. Only think of the stigma which would rest forever on the
name of your people should historians have no alternative
but to add that for having paid his tribute of admiration
to these young heroes, a Catholic priest had to suffer
imprisonment and exile.
Accept, Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
In spite of his Eminence's intervention, the Very Rev.
Canon Vrancken was convicted and deported to Germany,
where he was detained until hostilities were terminated.

CHAPTER XLIV
THE CARDINAL ACCUSES THE OCCUPYING POWER OF IGNOR
ING RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY  HE AGAIN INSISTS ON
OBTAINING PERMISSION TO SEND BELGIAN
PRIESTS TO INTERNMENT CAMPS IN
GERMANY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
July igth, 19 17.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral, Brussels.
Sir — In your letter of the 13th ult. your Excellency
was good enough to write me that you were inclined to meet
the wishes of the Belgian episcopate in church matters
whenever such are brought to your notice. On the other
hand, you insist on determining the limits of the jurisdictions
proper to the ecclesiastical and political authorities.
On this point I am in agreement with your Excellency,
with this reservation, however, that questions bearing on the
moral order cannot be alien to episcopal jurisdiction and
consequently cannot be removed from my care.
It is from the moral point of view that I have expressed
an opinion on certain measures taken by the occupying power
and formed a judgment as to the attitude adopted by cer
tain Belgian officials toward it.
On the other hand, the occupying power ignored the
spiritual authority of the diocese in an incident which oc
curred lately, and I beg your Excellency to kindly do me
justice. A nun, of German extraction — Sister Celine — of the
Convent of the Poor Servants of Mary Immaculate, Rue
Boduognat, 19, Brussels, lodged a complaint with the Ger
man authorities against her superioress and sisters in re-
400

BELGIAN PRIESTS FOR PRISONERS 401
ligion. It concerned certain difficulties regarding the inter
nal order of the convent and ought consequently to have
been brought before our tribunal.
My curia adopted an attitude of great condescension
toward the German administration and showed special favor
to Sister Celine by placing her, at the request of Baron von
der Lancken,* in the Ursuline Convent at Haecht, where the
superioress is a German. In spite of these conciliatory
proceedings on our part, the German tribunal summoned to
appear before it the superioress of the Convent of the Poor
Servants of Mary Immaculate and condemned her to two
years and nine months' imprisonment; Sister St. Pierre was
sentenced to two and one-half months' imprisonment, and
finally Sister St. Paul to eighteen months' imprisonment.
Notwithstanding the fact that Sister Celine was received
into her community out of charity and without a dowry, the
German authorities have compelled the superioress of the
convent in the Rue Boduognat to pay the German supe
rioress at Haecht 2,000 marks toward Sister Celine's main
tenance. I beg the Governor General to quash this judgment
and to transfer Sister Celine's case to the ecclesiastical court
of the Malines diocese. As it rested with the ecclesiastical
authorities to remove Sister Celine, in case this were found
to be expedient, I beg the Governor General to refund the
2,000 marks to the superioress of the Poor Servants of
Mary Immaculate, and to leave to the same authority the
task of determining the conditions of Sister Celine's main
tenance at Haecht or elsewhere.
I am forced to add that if I do not obtain satisfaction
I regret I shall have no alternative but to refer the matter
to the Holy See, for it is my duty to see that canon law is
respected. I would also direct your Excellency's attention
to another matter.
While your predecessor was still at the head of the
* Baron von der Lancken wrote Monsignor Legraive, asking him to
transfer Sister Celine from the convent of the Rue Boduognat to the Ursuline
Convent at Haecht

402 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
government in Belgium, I was pained to see two of my
young priests, the Revs. Van Roy and Van Bergen, rebel
against my authority. Without having sought the permis
sion of their ecclesiastical superiors, they deserted their
posts, visited offices of your administration, where they ob
tained permission to pass into Germany. We have learned
from newspaper articles that they have entered into rela
tions with a group of enemies of Belgian unity and have
received passports for Gottingen.
These two refractory priests, suspended by their Bishop,
are exercising their ministry contrary to canon law at Got
tingen. I demand earnestly that this abuse be brought to an
end.* I tried by every means in my power to get your predeces
sor to grant, and the Holy See has deigned to make repeated
applications to Berlin to obtain, permission for Belgian
priests, in communion with their bishops, or at least Dutch
priests, to exercise their ministry for the benefit of our
countrymen. All these efforts have been met by an obstinate refusal
on the part of the German authorities. Only priests who
are at loggerheads with their bishops enjoy the favors of
the Empire in Germany.
In the interests of ecclesiastical discipline, on the one
hand, and of our countrymen interned in Germany on the
other, I beg your Excellency to be so kind as to bring the
Revs. Van Roy and Van Bergen back to Belgium and to
authorize the Belgian bishops to send their countrymen,
whether soldiers or civilians, interned in Germany, priests
speaking both our national languages who retain the confi
dence of their superiors.
I offer you, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier.
•These two priests have since then acknowledged their fault and ex
pressed their deepest regret for having disobeyed the Cardinal's orders.

BELGIAN PRIESTS FOR PRISONERS 403
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
P. A. I. 5653. July 26th, 1917.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
Eminence's esteemed letter of the 19th inst., which reached
me on the 20th (the original is erroneously dated 19th). I
am glad to note therein that your Eminence wishes to con
fine your relations with the occupying power to purely ec
clesiastical matters. Further on your Eminence reminds me
that in my letter of June 13th I said that in what concerns
church interests I would always take into consideration the
requests made to me. On the strength of this assertion
you ask me to withdraw orders, in issuing which certain of
my subordinates are alleged to have been guilty of unjus
tifiably tampering with matters concerning the internal
economy of the church.
To this charge I venture to answer that:
First. No German authority has "constrained" the
superioress of the Poor Servants of Mary Immaculate to
pay 2,000 marks for the maintenance of Sister Celine at
the Ursuline Convent at Haecht, and if such an order had
really been made, I would hasten to withdraw it. But your
Eminence has been misinformed, and I cannot regard as
purely ecclesiastical the fact that three French nuns have
been punished for possessing and propagating noncensored
publications and also for having insulted the Germans. Of
fenses against the common law committed by ecclesiastics
fall everywhere within the competence of the ordinary
courts. Second. As to the case of the two priests, Van Roy
and Van Bergen, who are exercising their ministry in Ger
man internment camps, your Eminence, having entered into
negotiations with the German ecclesiastical authorities, I
have abstained entirely from interfering in this canonical
dispute and will accept without question, so far as I am
personally concerned, whatever decisions may be come to.
On this occasion your Eminence again expresses the
wish to obtain leave for the bishops to send Belgian priests

404 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
into Germany. I am ready as my predecessor was to do
what I can in this way, but the decision in this matter rests
with the Berlin war office, to which is intrusted the supreme
control of all internment camps.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem.
(Signed) Von Falkenhausen,
Lieutenant General.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
August ist, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral.
Sir — In your esteemed letter of the 26th ult., you are
good enough to renew the expression of your desire not
to tolerate abuses of power which would encroach upon the
prerogatives of religious authority, and according to the
interpretation you give the facts I have called to your at
tention, the occupying Power has no cause to reproach it
self with any unwarrantable interference. This interpreta
tion needs to be clearly defined:
First. According to your Excellency, the superioress
of the Poor Servants of Mary Immaculate has not been con
strained (gezwungen) to pay a pension of 2,000 marks to
the superioress of the Ursulines at Haecht for the main
tenance of Sister Celine. I conclude that in your Excel
lency's judgment, as in reality, the arranging of the pen
sion for a nun passing from one convent to another is a
domestic concern, pertaining exclusively to the management
of religious communities. Moreover, I conclude that the
diocesan authority has full freedom to determine as it likes
the amount of pension to be paid to the superioress of
Haecht for the said nun. If I have misunderstood you, I
beg you to put me right.
Second. It goes without saying that German justice
would not summon nuns to its tribunal and condemn them
without seeking to justify its interference. You bring for
ward prohibitions (verboten) and personal conversations
offensive to Germans. At this rate there is not a single

BELGIAN PRIESTS FOR PRISONERS 405
Belgian family the members of which are not liable to
arrest. The fact against which I must continue to protest is
quite simple. A German nun, instead of bringing her com
plaints, if she had any worthy of consideration, about petty
domestic squabbles to the notice of the diocesan authorities,
addresses herself to an incompetent tribunal merely to annoy
her superiors and sisters in religion.
The tribunal, instead of referring the plaintiff to her
ecclesiastical superiors, intervenes, judges and condemns. I"
hold that this is an abuse of authority, such that no pretext
can rob it of a name which out of regard for your feelings I
refrain from uttering.
Third. As regards the sending of priests speaking our
two national languages to interned Belgians, I beg your
Excellency to obtain for me a definite answer, a plain yes
or no. During three years I have pleaded the exercise of liberty
of conscience for these unfortunate men, condemned to
confess to a priest who, even if he were a saint, brings
back to their minds the memory of an enemy. The Holy
See has deigned to take my appeal under his august protec
tion. As a matter of fact, the representatives of the Empire
invariably meet our every effort with the answer that they
are going to take steps, Schritte . . . unternehmen. Mean
while we are no better off than we were before.
I beg the competent authority to make known to us once
and for all whether or not it will allow us to send Belgian
priests in communion with their bishops to help our coun
trymen. If it answers in the affirmative, it will thereby supply
proofs of its respect for religious liberty and we shall
thankfully hasten to the aid of our abandoned brethren.
But in case of a negative reply, I would ask your Ex
cellency to no longer allow censored Flemish newspapers
of the extremist section (flamingant) and certain dishonest
individuals hiding behind their German protectors, both at
Gottingen and here full liberty to calumniate me by alleg
ing that if Flemish prisoners in Germany are deprived of

406 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Flemish confessors and preachers, it is only because Malines
has an Archbishop who is an enemy of the language and
indifferent to the religious needs of the Flemish people.
I have reason to believe that a letter treating of con
fidential ecclesiastical affairs, addressed to the head chaplain
of the German army in Berlin, has not reached him. Will
your Excellency allow me to send him a copy in a sealed
envelope and yourself insure its safe arrival at its destina
tion? I shall be exceedingly obliged if you will do me this
«favor. Accept, sir, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Political Department of the Government General of Bel
gium. Brussels, August 17th, 19 17.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
The Governor General, after reading your Eminence's
letter of the ist inst., told me that he did not intend to
answer it himself. I have just come back to Brussels. On
my return his Excellency drew my attention to the necessity
of dealing in detail with certain points raised by your
letter and this I hasten to do.
First. As regards Sister Celine's pension, the Governor
General has already declared to your Eminence that no
German authority has compelled the superioress of the
Poor Servants of Mary Immaculate to contribute 2,000
marks toward Sister Celine's maintenance in the Ursuline
convent. According to further information received, we
have nothing to add to this declaration.
Second. In this same letter of July 26th the Governor
General already observed that the prosecution of the sis
ters of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate could in no
wise be looked upon as an encroachment on the domain of
religion by the civil power. The sisters were convicted for
infringements of German decrees, viz., one sister for having
retained and circulated noncensored publications and for in
sulting Germans, another for insulting Germans, and a third

BELGIAN PRIESTS FOR PRISONERS 407
for being in possession of and circulating noncensored pub
lications, for insulting Germans and having no identity card.
These are misdemeanors and well within the province
of the civil tribunal and not of the ecclesiastical authorities.
Offenses against the common law committed by ecclesiastics
are everywhere judged by ordinary tribunals.
Third. As regards the appointment of Belgian priests
to internment camps in Germany, obviously we could only
admit those priests who, in our judgment, could be trusted
not to bring any anti-German influence to bear upon the
prisoners. The choice of these priests could, therefore, not
be left exclusively to Belgian bishops; it would have to be
made in agreement with the competent German authorities.
If no solution of this problem can be reached, the special
care of the prisoners must be left exclusively in the hands
of German priests. There is nothing extraordinary in this,
for neither in France nor in England are religious services
for German prisoners intrusted to priests sent from Ger
many. Besides, the spiritual interests of Belgians interned
in Germany have not hitherto been neglected; they have
always been attended to in a satisfactory manner.
Fourth. Your Eminence believes that a letter ad
dressed by you to the head Catholic chaplain of the Prussian
army, Doctor Joppen, of Berlin, has not arrived at its
destination. It must be noted, however, that as a sequel
to a letter from your Eminence, the head chaplain has sent
the Governor General a detailed report on two Flemish
priests. The presumption is that the said letter is the one
your Eminence has in view and which therefore has been
duly received. It is not possible for the Governor Gen
eral to transmit the sealed letters you forwarded to him to
their addresses.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.

CHAPTER XLV
THE GOVERNOR GENERAL THREATENS TO SEIZE THE
CHURCH BELLS'
A rumor had become current throughout occupied Bel
gium that the military authorities were about to seize
church bells. Without waiting for the official publication of
an order to this effect, his Eminence, in conjunction with
their Lordships, the Bishops of Namur and of Liege,
expressed his fears to the Governor General and protested
beforehand against sacrilegious acts, such as would be com
mitted by seizing the bells. Archbishop' s House, Malines,
September qth, 191 7.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral, Brussels.
Sir — For some time past a rumor has gained currency
among the people, giving rise to a very keen and painful
impression on all sides. There is a question, they say, of
removing the bells from the churches.
Our first impulse was to pay no attention to this rumor,
especially as it appeared to have little foundation in fact,
in view of the solemn assurances we had from time to
time received from the German authorities, that during
the time of occupation the rights of the church would be
respected. But certain events give us cause for anxiety,
especially the seizure of bells in the war zone No. 1 in
occupied France; the taking away of bells used for civil
purposes in certain districts of Belgium, and lastly a bell
which was used for worship has just been violently carried
off from Magoster-lez-Laroche, without the local authori
ties being advised or warned that this would be done. This
408

THREAT TO SEIZE CHURCH BELLS 409
last act, the result, no doubt, of a mistake, was at once re
ported to the military Governor General of Luxemburg by
the diocesan authorities of Namur, as being formally con
trary to the decree of December 13th, 1916, according to
which objects belonging to churches and other buildings or
places used for ecclesiastical purposes are exempt from
seizure and delivery.
These incidents, Excellency, do not shake our confidence,
but they fill us with apprehension and will serve to justify
our addressing you a collective letter today to demand pro
tection for the rights of the church and ecclesiastical prop
erty — a protection to which Article 46 of The Hague con
vention entitles us.
We fear lest the prolongation of the war may some
day threaten with danger the weighty interests of religion
and Christian art, of which we are the natural guardians.
We hope the German authorities will listen to our appeal.
We conjure you to intercede with the higher command of
the army, should the need ever arise. It is superfluous to re
peat to your Excellency that it is the duty of the Belgian
hierarchy to keep the patrimony of the church intact and to
oppose every act or attempt contrary thereto. Catholic
liturgy does not merely look upon bells as objects pertaining
to worship ; it has included them in the category of sacred
vessels. They are consecrated to divine worship through
being anointed by the bishop and by the prayers of the
Church. They must be retained for their exclusively re
ligious purposes and only used for sounding the praises of
God and summoning the faithful to prayer. They cannot
be alienated without the consent of the ecclesiastical authori
ties. Their removal, their being utilized for profane pur
poses, would be looked upon by our people as a sacrilege.
Moreover, how painful would it be for the faithful to think
that the metal from which the bells are cast and which is as
a rule provided by their generosity, might be converted into
guns or ammunition for the use of a hostile army and might
be destined to carry death into the ranks of their own coun
trymen, their own children.
We shall be happy to receive from your Excellency a

410 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
word to calm our fears and to enable us to pacify our sorely
tried people.
Accept the assurance of our sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
(Signed) M. H. Rutten,
Bishop of Namur.
(Signed) Th. Louis Heylen,
Bishop of Liege.
The Governor General gave an evasive answer.
Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
September 29th, 1917.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
In the letter you wrote me on the ioth inst., your
Eminence, in conjunction with their Lordships, the Bishops
of Namur and Liege, expresses fears lest the bells in Bel
gian churches be seized. The hierarchy contemplates a
case in which military necessities might lead to the execution
of such measures.
I am able to answer that so far there has been no
reason for assuming any definite attitude as regards the
question raised in this appeal.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem.
(Signed) Von Falkenhausen,
Lieutenant General.
The Cardinal acknowledged the receipt of the Governor
. General's letter as follows :
Archbishop's House, Malines,
October 4th, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral, Brussels.
Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your Excellency's letter of the 29th inst., with reference
to the preservation of bells consecrated to Catholic worship,

THREAT TO SEIZE CHURCH BELLS 411
and I thank you in the names of my colleagues, the Bishops
of Namur and Liege, and in my own, for having quieted
our anxiety in this matter.
Please accept our assurance of our sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Events were soon to show that the fears of the Belgian
people as to the seizure of their church bells were not ill-
founded. Early in February, 191 8, Baron von Falken
hausen informed the Cardinal that he was ordering inven
tory to be made of all existing bronze bells and all zinc
organ pipes in Belgium. This was the prelude to the definite
act of seizure. Government General of Belgium, Brussels,
February 8th, 19 18.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of
Malines.
I have the honor to inform your Eminence that I shall
at an early date issue an order providing for a general
inventory of all bronze bells, etc., and all zinc organ pipes
throughout Belgium.
In view of my letter of September 24th, 19 17, I did
not wish to fail giving you this information.
I offer your Eminence the assurance of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Von Falkenhausen,
Lieutenant General.
In the face of this decision the Cardinal, considering all
negotiations with the Governor General fruitless, wrote
directly to the Chancellor of the empire, Count von Hert-
ling, in these terms : Archbishop's House, Malines,
February 14th, 19 18.
Mr. Chancellor — The Governor General of Brussels,
Baron von Falkenhausen, has informed me in a letter dated

4i2 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
February 8th that he will very shortly proceed to seize the
bells and organ pipes in our churches.
In September, 1917, it was already being noised abroad
that our bells were in danger. We tried then to pacify the
minds of our flock by inviting an assurance from the Gov
ernor General that in accordance with the oft-repeated
promises of his predecessors he would uphold the rights of
the church in Belgium, the Bishops of Namur and Liege
joining their signatures to mine. The answer of the Gov
ernor General, dated September 29th, was evasive. That of
February 8th now announces that we must no longer cher-.
ish any illusions under this head, and that failing the august
protection of his Imperial Majesty the sacrilege will be
perpetrated in the course of a few days.
Our only remaining hope, Excellency, is in your gra
cious intervention.
Article 46, of The Hague convention, imposes upon
the occupying power the duty of respecting both the exer
cise of public worship and private property, whether held
individually or collectively. Again Article 53 limits all
requisitions in kind to the needs of the army of occupation.
It is superfluous to add that bells and organ pipes are
not used to meet the needs of the army of occupation.
They come under the head of private property and are
used in the exercise of Catholic worship.
In the name of international law, subscribed to by the
highest authorities of the German Empire and the King
dom of Prussia, I beg your Excellency to prevent the pub
lication of the order with which Belgium is threatened. Be
ing a Catholic, like ourselves, your Excellency cannot be
unaware that the forcible seizure of a church bell is a sac
rilege. A bell is a consecrated object, which means that it
is irrevocably dedicated to the service of God. The bishop
has not merely blessed it, he has anointed it with holy oil
and sacred chrism in order that, according to the language
of the liturgy, it may be sanctified by the Holy Ghost ("sanc-
tificetur a spiritu sancto") and the faithful recognize in its
call the voice of the Church summoning her children to has
ten to her bosom ("Vasculum ad invitandos filios sanctae

THREAT TO SEIZE CHURCH BELLS 413
ecclesiae praeparatum, ut festina antes ad piae matris ec
clesiae gremium cantent in ecclesia sanctorum canticum
novum").
The voice of the bell summoning you to lead the life of a
Christian and which will summon you again to the tribunal
of God, your Excellency recognizes, reveres and regards
with affection. Now that you are Chancellor of the Empire,
its appeal still reaches your heart just as it did when you
were yet a simple member of the faithful. The realities of
the spiritual life and ecclesiastical law are unchanged by hu
man greatness. You can neither order nor authorize the
ordering of the profanation of bells consecrated to Catholic
worship without at the same time participating in a sacrilege.
Let me add, Excellency, that this encroachment on the
rights of the Church announced by the Governor General
of Brussels would come as a great shock to a people who
have never wished Germany anything but good — a people
Germany has bound herself by oath to take under her pro
tection and who should by now be spared fresh sorrows.
Among the cherished hopes of your compatriots is as
suredly that of one day renewing friendly relations with our
country. The remembrance of a violation of religious rights
so very dear to each diocese, parish and every Christian
family in our country, would linger in the minds of our
people for several generations, fostering hatred instead of
love. Will not your Excellency therefore come to the con
clusion that the economic future of Germany is inevitably
bound up with the vindication of international law and the
rights of conscience?
Our venerable colleagues in the German and Austrian
episcopate do not deny the validity of these principles, but
they have had to resign themselves to the removal of bells
from their churches with feelings of despair in their souls.
If perchance they were so blinded by patriotism as to tol
erate an evil they were powerless to prevent, our patriot
ism on the contrary only gives additional force to the law
of resistance. We should, indeed, be traitors to our church
and our country were we to be guilty of the cowardice of
supplying the enemy with material for engines of destruc-

414 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
tion destined only to bring death into the ranks of the heroes
who are sacrificing their lives for us.
I make this my appeal to the man whose noble career
has been devoted to the service of right, to a Christian who
has always considered it an honor to champion the rights
of the Church and of the consciences of Catholics.
In conclusion I beg the Chancellor of the Empire to re
ceive the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Holy See on its own account also made pressing
appeals to the Imperial Government to prevent the impend
ing confiscation.
It was owing to these various representations that the
threat of the Governor General remained a dead letter and
the bells in the Belgian churches were saved.

CHAPTER XLVI
THE CARDINAL PROVES THAT THE SCARCITY OF AGRICUL
TURAL PRODUCTS IN OCCUPIED BELGIUM IS DUE SOLELY
TO THE ACTION OF THE GERMAN "CENTRALS"  HE
DENOUNCES CERTAIN SERIOUS OUTRAGES COMMITTED
BY GERMAN SOLDIERS IN CHURCHES AND COMPLAINS
OF THE SUPPORT GIVEN BY THE GERMAN AUTHORI
TIES TO A CAMPAIGN DIRECTED AGAINST HIMSELF BY
THE "ACTIVISTS"
Early in the winter of 1917-1918, though the output
of the Belgian coal mines had not sensibly lessened, coal was
almost unobtainable. The occupying power limited more
and more the coal ration of the people.
Acting on the instructions of the Governor General,
Baron von der Lancken informed the Cardinal that it was
needful to practice the greatest economy in the consumption
of coal. This letter was a reproduction, more or less, of one
he had already written on the same subject in February,
1917. His Eminence replied directly to the Governor General,
proving by figures that if the scarcity of coal were great the
blame must be solely attributed to the German requisitions.
In general the scarcity and consequently the prevailing high
prices of agricultural products were due to the sinister ac
tion of the "Centrals." These organizations, created by
the occupying power ostensibly to regulate the equable dis
tribution of produce among the inhabitants, had for their
main purpose the filching of the greater part of it for the
benefit of Germany. 415

416 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
November 24th, 191 7.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral, Brussels.
The letter with which your Excellency has favored me
through the obliging medium of Baron von der Lancken
informs me that the quantity of coal allotted by your gov
ernment for distribution among the Belgian people consist
ently grows less and less, so that not only private houses
but also schools and churches will have to suffer from the
general scarcity. I do not complain of the extension of the
same treatment to all alike, but I fail to understand how
this regime of famine comes to be imposed upon us. Bel
gium is a rich country, and yet our people are impoverished
to the point of being hungry and cold.
Normally, agriculture, industry and the working of the
mines are carried on with a marvelous intensity and behold,
after three years of occupation the factories are closed down
and we are told that the available agricultural products will
not suffice for our most pressing needs.
Official statistics which I have by me prove that the
coal-producing industry yielded in 19 10 twenty-four million
tons and in each of the four following years twenty-three
million tons. If we deduct from these figures the quantity
consumed in the collieries, this leaves an annual average of
twenty-one million tons available for sale and distribution.
Taking the Belgian population at a rough estimate of six
million, each inhabitant ought to be allotted more than three
tons, i. e., 3,000 kils. of coal per annum.
I am not unaware that at the present time coal miners
are less numerous and their work less productive, but who
is to be held responsible for the reduction of hands and
energy? Agricultural products are almost unobtainable and are
sold at exorbitant prices. One simple instance of this will
suffice: Potatoes have been sold at from 2f 50 to 3f a kilo
(roughly from 48c. to 58c. per pound). Our land yields
sufficient quantity to supply each inhabitant with about one
and one-third pounds per day, even after deducting the

SCARCITY OF PRODUCTS 417
amount necessary for feeding cattle and for use in certain
industries, but the Brussels people actually received from
September, 19 16, to September, 19 17, approximately two
ounces of potatoes per head per day!
Therefore, in the name of our starving people, dis
mayed by the outlook for the winter, I beg your Excellency
to call to mind the promises made by your predecessors and
realize your own responsibilities in this matter.
Hardly had he arrived in Brussels when the Governor
General Baron von der Goltz proclaimed that Belgian citi
zens desirous of peaceably following their occupation had
nothing to fear from the troops or the German authorities
and invited our countrymen to resume their commercial ac
tivities, to reopen the factories and to gather in the harvest.
Under date April 2 2d, of last year, the late Baron von
Bissing made the following communication to the Belgian
public :
"With a view of insuring the victualing of the people I
have determined henceforth to prohibit in the territory un
der my authority the exportation of all foodstuffs. All these
products, provided they be Belgian, will therefore be re
served for the population of the territory dependent on my
administration" 1
Every time, either in the beginning or in the course of
the occupation, the fulfilling of our pastoral duty has com
pelled us to draw a line of demarcation between our per
manent duty of loyalty to the legitimate government on the
one hand and the acceptance of the temporary regulations
issued by the occupier on the other, the representatives of
your government have appealed for their own advantage
to Article 43 of The Hague convention. This article, it is
well to remember, is conceived in these terms:
"Article 43. The authority of the legal power, having
'de facto' passed into the hands of the occupier, the latter
shall do everything in his power to re-establish and insure,
as far as can be, public order and public life by respecting-,
unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country."
The reason why international law recognizes in the oc
cupier a power "de facto" is therefore quite definite, "to re-

4i 8 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
establish and insure, as far as can be, public order and pub
lic life." The limits of the exercise of it are defined, "To
respect, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in
the country."
Whoever holds the power, therefore, will find in this
Article 43 both the basis and the limit of his responsibilities.
Moreover, Article 43 clearly defines the obligatory destina
tion of the resources of the country. The occupier may
not seize or claim them except for "the wants of the army
of occupation." These two articles give the key to the solution of the
knotty problem of providing the country with foodstuffs
and fuel.
Our own painful experience shows that the German
administration has erred in intrusting to the "Centrals" the
exclusive control of the supplies of potatoes, coal, sugar,
cereals, fats, etc.
Means of subsistence and heating are not lacking, yet
the people are badly fed and the means of heating very poor.
Where does everything not intended for their consumption
go ? In the name of public order and public life, which your
government pledged itself to maintain when it took the
power in hand, in the name of a people suffering hunger and
cold, we implore the General Government to resolutely
abolish the "Centrals" whose procedure is so fatal to Bel
gian interests and to confide the control of supplies for our
country either to permanent deputations agreeably to the
Belgian laws of August 4th, 19 14, or to the national com
mittee under the supervision of ministers who will protect
Belgian interests.
This letter is addressed to the Governor General with
feelings of deference and hope. No doubt what I ask him
for is no favor, but when the interest of workers' families
and small householders is at stake, it does not cost a pastor
very dear to join to his lawful claims an earnest prayer.
Besides, is not your Excellency bound to admit that in doing
us justice you are falling in with the wishes of your own
countrymen? If the latter, as we firmly believe, have not
given up all hopes of one day renewing commercial rela-

SCARCITY OF PRODUCTS 419
tions with Belgium, is it not natural that they should ask you
not to sow fresh seeds of discord and bitterness, but rather
leave behind you some last remembrance which will speak
of justice? Please accept the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General, instead of answering the Car
dinal's arguments, found it easier to assert, just as he had
done before, in the matter of the protest against the arrest
of officials, that he declined to discuss with his Eminence
questions which had no direct bearing on ecclesiastical af
fairs. The Cardinal justified himself by affirming that his duty
made it imperative for him to take a practical interest in
both the physical and moral sufferings of his flock. Since
the Governor General wished to confine himself to strictly
ecclesiastical matters in his relations with the Cardinal, the
latter denounces some serious breaches of respect due to
religion committed in sundry places by German troops. He
also complained of the support given by the occupying
power to the campaign of calumny leveled against him by
the "activists." The latter publicly proclaimed that if Flem
ish prisoners in Germany had no priests at their disposal
speaking their language, the blame must be laid on the Car
dinal's shoulders. As a matter of fact, the latter had, since
December, 19 14, appealed to the German Government for
permission to send priests speaking both the national lan
guages to internment camps in Germany.
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December nth, 1917.
To His Excellency Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor Gen
eral, Brussels.
Your Excellency — In your esteemed letter dated Novem
ber 29th you express the view that the subject of my letter
of 23rd ult. did not concern what you call ecclesiastical af
fairs and is therefore outside my province.

420 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The Governor General would find neither in Germany
nor elsewhere any Catholic bishop who would consent to
limit his sphere of action to the precincts of the church or
to the purely spiritual wants of his flock. The physical
and moral sufferings of our people are ours also, and any
bishop failing to share in them would betray his sacred trust.
Moreover, I am a Belgian citizen and I owe it to my coun
try to make fitting use of whatever influence I possess on
her behalf. Should I have noised abroad my grievances?
Or submitted them directly to the first authority in the
Empire? But when I laid them before the Governor Gen
eral, was that not paying homage to the high position he
holds midway between his Imperial Majesty and occupied
Belgium? However that may be, your Excellency cannot dispute
the religious character of the two following incidents, the
first of which took place at Hainault within the war zone,
while the second concerns myself personally.
On November 14th last at Tournay, Mons, and in a
number of important communes in Hainault, German sol
diers, either themselves or through the instrumentality of
others, opened certain tabernacles where the Blessed Sac
rament is reserved in our churches and chapels, while in some
places, I am told, they even dared to lay hands on the sacred
ciborium inclosed in the tabernacle. These facts are
vouched for by persons whom I believe to be sincere and
well-informed. I earnestly beg your Excellency to investi
gate these matters and take the necessary steps to prevent
a repetition of such sacrileges.
To come to the second of my complaints. For some
five months now the activist newspapers have been organ
izing a campaign of calumny and outrage against myself.
Personally I treat it with contempt. But there is one thing
I must set my face against, because by dint of repetition it
might lead simple-minded folk to misconstrue the sentiments
with which I am inspired in the carrying out of my pastoral
duties. These newspapers make me answerable for the
lack of bi-lingual Belgian confessors in both the military
and civil internment camps and in those where the deported

SCARCITY OF PRODUCTS 421
are lodged. As a matter of fact, your officials know quite
well that I have made repeated representations directly and
indirectly, both to your predecessors and yourself, to put an
end to this deplorable state of affairs, but in vain.
The action of the slanderers is all the more cowardly
because they know that the connivance of your government
insures impunity for them and deprives us of the means of
defense. The most bare-faced among them, who signs him
self Dr. Aug. Borms, is a favorite of your administration
and of the Politische Abteilung. The latest edition of his
calumny is dated November 29th. Can you not realize that
respect for truth and religion imposes duties upon you?
Receive the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General was unwilling to answer the
Cardinal's letter of November 24th on the pretext that he
would not discuss with him anything except religious mat
ters. It was Baron von der Lancken who took upon him
self to plead the cause of the "Centrals" and to justify the
manner in which foodstuffs and particularly agricultural
products were being distributed by the occupying power.
The cause was a bad one; consequently the pleading
was weak.
Political Department of the Government General, Brussels,
December ist, 1917.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General has forwarded me your letter of
November 24th for reply.
I cannot refrain from refuting certain insinuations it
contains and calling your Eminence's attention to some
points which escaped your notice when ventilating your
grievances and making known your wishes.
Your Eminence regrets that agricultural produce is
hardly obtainable and only at exorbitant prices. On this
occasion you are right in recalling the promises made by the
late Baron von Bissing to the representatives of neutral

422 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
countries and the Belgian people, to forbid the exportation
of foodstuffs, with certain exceptions provided for in the
contracts. It could not have escaped your notice that this
promise made by the Governor General limiting his right
to commandeer these goods for the needs of the army of
occupation was a purely voluntary act on his part in favor
of the Belgians, for you must remember that this right of
seizure is in conformity with Article 53 of The Hague con
vention, as you yourself acknowledge.
This engagement, to which he consented of his own
free will, the Governor General has always observed in its
entirety. This, I am glad to see, your Eminence does not
call into question in your letter. You ask where the food
stuffs destined for the Belgian people ultimately go. I
would remind you that the Governor General in numerous
notices to the people has shown that great quantities of food
stuffs were acquired by the wealthy to the detriment of the
bulk of the people. It is the rich who are unpatriotic enough
to pay middlemen exorbitant prices, such as are mentioned
in your Eminence's letter. Small farmers and holders of
monopolies enrich themselves by fraudulently disposing of
foodstuffs which the Governor General in his solicitude en
deavors to put on the market at reasonable prices for sale
to the less fortunate and needy classes. Numerous orders
and decrees of all kinds, and quite lately the new order
in virtue of which more severe penalties than ever are to be
inflicted on profiteers, are so many proofs of the fight which
the "Centrals" and other organizations erected by the Gov
ernor General are carrying on against a fraction of the
population for the benefit of the masses. Your Eminence
yourself, in your pastoral letter of last spring, showed that
the wretched state of things now obtained must be laid at
the door of the profiteers. You made a solemn appeal to
the consciences of peasants who have proved to be unpa
triotic. At the time of these declarations people complained
to the German authorities that the clergy had not exercised
its weighty influence to remedy the sad plight in which the
Belgian people finds itself. In spite of all this you throw all
the responsibility on the "Centrals" and ignore the untiring

SCARCITY OF PRODUCTS 423
efforts of the Governor General and his officials to insure
the just and equitable distribution of all agricultural prod
uce. Of course they do not always succeed in overcoming
the resistance made by certain sections of the population
at the instigation of vested interests. The same phenomena
are to be found in all countries involved in the war. No
where have the organizations created to meet new situa
tions succeeded in finding definite solutions to the grave
problems arising out of the war in every country nor for
the changes in economic conditions which are its inevitable
consequence. As regards the difficulties in the coal supply, the question
is primarily one of transport. Belgium, so far as this goes,
finds herself in precisely the same plight as other countries.
Your Eminence reminds me that the occupier has the
right to maintain public order and life. The numerous
orders of the Governor General, whose purpose it is to
insure the feeding of the Belgian people, and the unceasing
efforts of the officials placed under him, the penalties ever
increasing in severity against profiteering in foodstuffs and
against all who disobey the Governor General's orders, are
an eloquent proof of the slender foundation on which your
accusations rest. If results do not always justify our expec
tations, the chief blame must be sought for — I am compelled
to admit — in the want of co-operation on the part of the
competent Belgian authorities and in the absence of public
spirit among the Belgian people.
Nevertheless these authorities and the population of
Belgium are the principal objects of the Governor General's
benevolent intentions.
I offer to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.
The Cardinal in a letter addressed to Baron von der
Lancken and in which he complains of several vexatious
measures taken by the occupying power again accuses the
"Centrals" of being the primary cause of the acute distress
in which the population was plunged.

424 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
December nth, 191 7.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I am glad to accept your kind offer to
transmit a sealed letter to the head Catholic chaplain, Mgr.
Joppen.* It is true, then, that in spite of all the promises made to
His Holiness and to us, the Dean Jules Herman will not
recover his liberty. The case is one of the numerous appli
cations of a process inadmissible in justice. When the tri
bunal sentences a prisoner to a definite penalty and the pen
alty is paid, the prisoner has a right to his liberty. But
now, without a new trial, by an arbitrary decision he is kept
in exile. Among the numerous victims of this procedure I
may mention the mayor of Malines, M. Charles Dessain;
the dean of Orp-le-grand, M. Herman, and my secretary,
Canon Loncin.
I know that people are trying to be disagreeable to me,
but is this a reason for condoning an injustice?
The same ungracious intention toward myself again
manifests itself in the letter written in the name of the
Government General to his Excellency the Nuncio, regard
ing the closing of the Ursuline Convent at Malines. This
letter speaks of the "spirit of rebellion" against the laws
of the country, of "breaches, which being committed at
Malines itself . . ."
This is erroneously identifying with a "rebellion" a pas
sive resistance dictated by motives of conscience, and with
the "laws of the country" measures fabricated for no other
purpose than to overturn them.
Furthermore, supposing the training colleges had broken
the laws of the country, it does not follow that it was per
missible to shut the Catholic secondary school and the Catho
lic primary school, which, though under the same roof as
the training college, had nothing in common with it. The
* In answering a letter of the Cardinal wherein he interceded on behalf
of a political prisoner, Baron von der Lancken offered to forward a sealed
letter to Monsignor joppen and announced that Abbe Herman had not
obtained leave to return to Belgium.

SCARCITY OF PRODUCTS 425
closing of these two schools is a severe blow to the freedom
of education. I still hope that the line of action taken
against these innocent nuns will not be continued with.*
As regards the "Centrals," it is not possible for you not
to feel the weakness of your pleading.
No doubt I have reminded small farmers of the obliga
tions, charity and common fairness imposed upon them be
cause I hold that we must tell the truth even to our friends,
but you will notice that I immediately subjoined: "I am
fully aware that the primary responsibility for the crisis does
not rest with the small farmers." In a document intended
for public reading in the churches, I could not be more pre
cise than this, but you are too circumspect not to see that I
did not even mention the word "Central." Do not place
any additional burden on the shoulders of the small farmers.
You have already weighed down and drained them by the
fines you have inflicted. "The Central" is but an octopus
whose spreading tentacles unceasingly absorb the vital re
sources of the country. Leave the permanent deputations
and the national committee to preside over the distribution
of food and coal and then the people will be nourished and
warmed and you will no longer incur the reproach of having
favored Germany and engaged in commerce with the neu
tral countries to our detriment.
Please receive the assurance of our sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Baron von der Lancken, in replying to the foregoing let
ter, endeavors, in accordance with the Governor General's
instructions, to refute the accusations brought against the
occupying power by the Cardinal in his letter of December
ioth to Baron von Falkenhausen.
•The authorities of the free (Catholic) training college, under the
direction of the Ursulines, in their unwillingness to recognize the adminis
trative separation imposed by the occupying power, refused, as the ma
jority of establishments had done, to present their pupils before an examin
ation board on which members from tbe new offices sat. On account of this
refusal the government ordered the closure, not only of the training college,
but also of the free secondary school and the primary school, which were
carried on in the same buildings as the training college.

426 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Political Department of the Government General,
Brussels, December igth, 1917.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
The Governor General has handed me your Eminence's
esteemed letter dated the ioth inst. and has asked me to
reply to it. His Excellency declares that he is unable to
recognize the right by which, as a Belgian citizen, your Emi
nence claims to use the influence you derive from the posi
tion you occupy in the Church. For your Eminence, in
vested, as you are, with very high ecclesiastical authority,
holds a privileged position and enjoys a protection of which
the Governor General and his predecessors out of regard
for the Holy See have always held count. From the very
beginning of the occupation your Eminence has made use
of the privileges attached to your ecclesiastical position to
foment a political agitation which in the case of a simple
citizen would bring upon him prosecution by the courts. It
is for this reason that the Governor General expressly ad
heres to his own point of view, viz., not to enter into cor
respondence with your Eminence except in questions of a
purely religious nature. In his quality of representative of
His Majesty the Emperor, the Governor General exacts the
full recognition of his authority in the territory under occu
pation. I now come to the particular points put forward by your
Eminence. In the first place, I should like to remark that
in regard to the perquisitions made in churches in the
provinces of Hainault, an explanation has already been given
by the inspector of military areas to his Lordship the Bishop
of Tournay, and the affair can therefore be considered at
an end Nevertheless, I should like to point out that these
perquisitions have shown the misuse to which churches have
been put by concealing objects in every way profane in places
reserved for divine worship only.
In regard to the complaints made by your Eminence
against Doctor Borms, the Governor General thinks that
the latter had good reasons for offering resistance to your
Eminence when, in using your ecclesiastical influence, you

SCARCITY OF PRODUCTS 427
initiate a conflict with the legitimate aspirations of the Flem
ish people. To sanction the sending of Belgian priests into prison
camps in Germany — a question which for the second time
your Eminence raised — rests exclusively with the military
authorities in Germany, but I feel bound to remark that
the same authorities, in refusing the candidates recom
mended by your Eminence, yield to a misgiving, which from
their point of view is fully justified, for the political atti
tude which you have assumed from the very beginning of
the war has not been such as to inspire them with sufficient
confidence in your choice.
In your letter of December nth you again bring for
ward your objections to the "Centrales." Referring to the
statements I have already made, I should like to call your
attention once more to this fact, that the difficulties of which
you complain in regard to supplying the people in Belgium
with food are to be found in every belligerent country, even
in those where no organization of the kind exists. It ap
pears to me that it is not fair to make the Belgian "Cen
trales" responsible for all the difficulties.
So far as the Cure Jules Herman is concerned, new
arrangements have been made with which I recently made
your Eminence acquainted. With regard to the closing of
the schools at Malines, conducted by the Ursulines, I can
only state to your Eminence that I am not competent to deal
with the matter, but all the same I will procure fuller infor
mation and if needful will be ready to revert to this affair
later on, in case it is ever reopened.
I present to your Eminence the expression of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.

CHAPTER XLVII
THE CARDINAL REQUESTS BARON VON DER LANCKEN NOT
TO CONVERT THE CHURCH OF ST. ROCH, AT
HAL, INTO A HOSPITAL
Archbishop's House, Malines,
March 29th, 19 18.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart-
x ment, Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I must draw your kind attention to a
rather delicate situation that has arisen at Hal, which, by
an effort of good-will, could be settled without any un
pleasantness. The local authorities wish to convert a parish church,
that of St. Roch, to be precise, into a hospital. To do so
would entail the disorganization of divine worship in a par
ish of more than 3,000 souls, at a moment when the services
are exceptionally numerous. The dean of Hal informs me
that there are a certain number of unconsecrated buildings
where the wounded could easily be lodged.
I hope you will be good enough to use your good offices
for the furtherance of religious liberty, and in so doing
you will earn my gratitude. I may add also that, according
to information received, your intervention is urgently needed.
Please receive the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
The Cardinal's request met with a favorable reception.
The church remained available for religious purposes.

428

CHAPTER XLVIII
THE RELIGIOUS INTERESTS OF PRISONERS DETAINED IN THE
CITADEL OF DIEST
Early in March, 191 8, the military authorities brought
back a large number of civilian prisoners from Germany,
principally from the camp at Holtzminden, and interned
them in Diest in a disused citadel. The Cardinal, hearing
that the spiritual interests of these prisoners were neglected,
requested the Governor General, using Baron von der
Lancken as an intermediary, to authorize the parochial
clergy of Diest to attend to their wants.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
March 29th, 19 18.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — At the present moment there are about
400 civilians, transferred from Germany, lodged in a citadel
situated in the small town of Diest, and rumor has it that
their number will shortly be considerably increased. Some
of them are prisoners, while others — and these are in the
majority — have already expiated their offense, but, I am
told, are being detained as "undesirable" under police sur
veillance. None of these men ever comes into contact
with the priests. At the most they receive but rare and
flying visits from the German chaplain. I earnestly request
his Excellency the Governor General to kindly authorize the
local clergy to provide regular religious services for those
who are interned.
I trust you will use your influence to procure this author
ity. At the same time that I thank you in anticipation, I
ask you to accept the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
429

430 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
The Governor General refused to grant the Cardinal's
request, but Baron von der Lancken, in replying to the above
letter, guaranteed that the spiritual welfare of the prison
ers at Diest, which had hitherto not been overlooked, would
be even better attended to in the future.
The Cardinal acknowledged the receipt of the letter of
Baron von der Lancken and, while taking note of the assur
ance given by the Governor General, expressed his regret
that his request had not been granted.
Archbishop? s House, Malines,
April 2nd, 191 8.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I duly received yours of April 17th, 1918,
in which you very kindly inform me as to the care of the
religious interests of those interned in the citadel of Diest.
Though I very much regret that Belgian priests are de
nied access to their compatriots, especially to hear their con
fessions, I am grateful for the guarantees given in your es
teemed letter. In thanking you I would ask you to receive
the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER XLIX
THE COMMANDEERING OF MATTRESSES IN THE HOMES FOR
THE AGED OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR —
DIVINE SERVICE IN THE PRISON ATTACHED TO
THE KOMMANDANTUR AT BRUSSELS
At the time when woolen goods were commandeered,
the Cardinal was informed that aged persons lodged in the
Homes of the Little Sisters of the Poor were threatened
with the loss of their mattresses. He therefore requested
Baron von der Lancken to intercede with the Governor Gen
eral in favor of the unfortunate old people.
He also asked him to arrange to have mass celebrated
in the Kommandantur prison at an earlier hour, so as not
to prolong until a late hour in the morning the fast of the
communicants. After an inquiry which lasted three weeks the Governor
General decided that 400 old men, out of 450 inmates of
the Rue Haute at Brussels, should be robbed of their mat
tresses. As regards the hour of divine worship at the Kom
mandantur no change could be made, Baron von der
Lancken informed the Cardinal.
The Cardinal in an energetic protest showed how outra
geous were the decisions of the Governor General.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
June 27th, 19 1 8.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels. _
Dear Baron — Your letter dated June 12th brings me
a very disappointing answer to the two petitions made by
me in the firm hope that this time, at all events, I should
meet with no refusal; the refusal is, alas! unconditional.
431

432 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Thus out of the 450 mattresses of these poor and infirm old
men in the Home of the Rue Haute, his Excellency the Gov
ernor General has ordered 400 to be commandeered, and
you tell me in his name that fifty mattresses for fifty of the
more serious cases must suffice.
I am amazed at such language and must confess that
discussion is quite beyond me. For months your agents have
invaded, sometimes in one district, sometimes in another, the
homes, hospitals, orphanages, and made the aged, the sick,
the dying and orphan children sleep on straw, or on some
indefinable substitute to which in any case those interested
prefer straw. These facts go so far beyond the limits of
what we Belgians would have believed possible that we look
on them with amazement, scarcely believing the evidence of
our own eyes.
The odiousness of these repeated requisitions takes our
breath away.
But when the heartrending appeal of the Little Sisters
of the Poor, in favor of the aged under their care, in Rue
Haute at Brussels, came to my ears, I was under the impres
sion, quite wrongly as I see now, that the distress of these
saintly women and the fate that awaits their charges would
evoke feelings of sympathy, but, alas, for the sad searing
of conscience brought about by militarism !
You imagine also that it is possible for prisoners, weak
ened by the hardships they have undergone and the mental
strain resulting from several months of confinement, to re
main fasting until 9 a. m. or even later, when they go to
communion on Sundays. The question naturally arises as to
how the concession I have applied for can possibly be preju
dicial to the discipline of the Kommandantur prison, espe
cially as there are generally some priests among the pris
oners who would only be too glad to say mass for them at
an earlier hour — and yet you refuse to grant it !
Once more I am silent. You cut me short.
Furthermore you state, incidentally, that the spiritual
needs of the prisoners are not very great. Now many
of them on their release have told me that they suffered

COMMANDEERING FROM AGED POOR 433
greatly from a lack of the consolations of our holy religion.
But all are not heroes.
To overcome the repugnance certain patriotic souls nat
urally feel toward making their confession to a priest who
is for them a constant reminder of an enemy power, to re
main fasting until a late hour in the morning, when their
whole organism is exhausted, both call for more than aver
age virtue, and this is precisely the reason why I have fori
four whole years implored every successive and competent
German authority to grant military and civilian prisoners
adequate facilities for approaching the sacraments, both
here and in Germany. But in spite of the loudest public
professions of regard for the spiritual welfare of Catholic
prisoners, I have met with an obstinate refusal right up to
this day.
Please accept the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER L
THE BELGIAN BISHOPS FORMALLY PROTEST AGAINST THE
IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT'S PROJECT TO UTILIZE CERTAIN
CATHOLIC CHURCHES FOR PROTESTANT WORSHIP
Archbishop's House, Malines,
July 8th, 191 8.
To Baron von Falkenhausen, Governor General, Brussels.
Excellency — We have learned that the Imperial Gov
ernment in Belgium has conceived the project of using cer
tain of our Catholic churches for Protestant worship.
Filled with consternation at the announcement of this
danger, we deem it our episcopal duty to lose no time in
doing our utmost to oppose unanimously the measure with
which we are threatened and to declare that it is an en
croachment on the sacred rights of the Church and wound
ing to the susceptibilities of our flock.
In virtue of their solemn consecration or blessing our
churches are dedicated exclusively and forever to Catholic
worship. To hand them over arbitrarily for another pur
pose is in the eyes of the Church tantamount to an odious,
if not actually a sacrilegious, desecration, and so true is this
that in certain cases provided for by canon law, a church
thus desecrated has to be reconciled by expiatory rites be
fore it can be restored to Catholic worship.
These joint churches have been and are still proscribed
in numerous decrees emanating from the Roman congrega
tions and condemned by theologians. So great is the num
ber and such the harmony existing between these various
decisions, that they constitute an acquired right in law. In
countries where these joint Catholic and Protestant churches
are in vogue the practice is merely tolerated by Rome, and
the Holy See has explicitly declared that it cannot be intro-
.434

USE OF CATHOLIC CHURCHES 435
duced elsewhere. The teaching of the Catholic faculties
in the German universities is identical with what we have
just laid down. Article 14 of the Belgian constitution also
guarantees liberty of worship in public as well as privately.
Is there any one bold enough to maintain that the measure
they contemplate inflicting upon us is in no way prejudicial
to Catholic worship ?
The Hague conference expressly laid down in Article
46 : "Religious convictions and the exercise of public wor
ship must be respected."
This parading of a form of worship antagonistic to their
own in their very sanctuaries would inflict a deep wound on
the feelings of our faithful people, and it is precisely on the
ground of scandal that the prohibition of the Roman con
gregations is based.
The Belgian people in general, whether in town or in
the country, are staunch in their allegiance to the historical
traditions of the Roman Church. The sight of unbelievers
and Catholics worshiping in the same church would be in
flicting an outrage upon sorely wounded consciences and a
painful scandal to pious persons, in whose judgment this
promiscuity will ever remain an uncalled for and odious
desecration. Let us add that the projected scheme would
only accentuate the discontent, hidden yet keenly felt, caused
by the physical and moral sufferings the Belgian nation has
gone through during four years and which weigh more and
more heavily upon them as the days go by.
The General Government cannot even allege as a pre
text the absence of secular buildings where the Evangelical
services can be carried out with due decorum. We under
take to point out, in all the districts where the occupying
power calls for one, a hall where religious service can be
held without objection.
Whatever happens, we will not have recourse to resist
ance by force; our dignity forbids us; but we protest and
we continue to protest against the violations of canon law,
of Belgian constitutional law and of international law. We
can never of our own free will connive at the regime of joint
churches. If it be established, it will be so in spite of u&

436 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
May it please God to enlighten the Imperial Govern
ment on the bearing and disastrous consequences of the pol
icy it contemplates adopting and make it refrain from pro
ceeding further with it, thus sparing the Belgian people, the
clergy and the faithful this fresh calamity.
We beg your Excellency to accept the expression of our
sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines,
(Signed) T. L. Heylen, Bishop of Namur,
(Signed) M. H. Rutten,
Bishop of Liege.
P. S. — We are unable to submit the text of this docu
ment to his Lordship the Bishop of Tournay, but we are
in a position to vouch for his sharing our views and his asso
ciating himself with us in our protest.

CHAPTER LI
RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND OF THE DEPORTED
Under the ever-growing pressure of the allied troops
the German army was in full retreat. The victorious Flan
ders offensive, launched on September 28th, had already
freed a considerable part of occupied Belgium. The Ger
man General Government of Belgium knew that its days
were numbered. On Thursday, October 17th, at 3 p. m.
Baron von der Lancken repaired to the Archbishop's house
and in the name of the Governor General and the Berlin
Government handed the Cardinal the following declaration,
translated into French:
"You are in our estimation the incarnation of occupied
Belgium, of which you are the venerated and trusted pastor.
For this reason it is to you the Governor General and my
government also have commissioned me to come and to an
nounce that when we evacuate your soil we wish to hand
over to you unasked and of our own free will the political
prisoners serving their time either in Belgium or in Ger
many, as well as those who have been deported. They will
be free to return to their homes ; the first batch will start on
Monday, 21st inst. As this news is sure to rejoice your
heart, I am happy to impart it to you ; the more so as I have
not been able to live for four years in the midst of the Bel
gians without esteeming them and appreciating their patriot
ism at its true value."
The next day the Cardinal sent Baron von der Lancken
the following letter: 437

438 CARDINAL MERCIER'S OWN STORY
Archbishop's House, Malines,
October 18th, 1918.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — The announcement you were kind enough
to make yesterday, in the name of the Governor General
and the German Government, as to the early release of our
political prisoners and our deported, has greatly rejoiced
me and I return you my heartfelt thanks.
Next Sunday your message will be given to the public
in all the parishes of the diocese. It will produce a soothing
impression and will quicken hopes. When in the course of
the week families see the absent ones returning to their
homes they will feel rising in them generous desires of rec
onciliation and forgiveness.
I have the honor to join to my letter a copy of the com
munication to be made to my flock.
I feel sure I am voicing the wishes of our people, when,
in their name as well as in my own, I beg you to tell the au
thorities, whose representative you are among us, how
greatly we appreciate the benevolent action of which your
government's initiative is a proof and with what earnestness
we long for the realization of the hopes your promise has
raised in our hearts.
Accept, Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
With this letter was inclosed the Cardinal's communica
tion to his flock, which was read in all the churches on Sun
day, October 20th. Malines, October 17th, 1918.
To the Clergy and Faithful of the Diocese of Malines.
Dear Beloved Brethren — Our hearts soar in hope.
Peace is not yet signed. So suddenly do events follow
one another, so disconcertingly at times, that no one would
venture to say peace was already won.
Its day, however, has already dawned.
We already see the harbinger of it.

RELEASE POLITICAL PRISONERS 439
Today, Thursday, October 17th, the chief of the politi
cal department came in the name of the Governor General
of Brussels and of the Berlin Government. He brought
word to me that Belgian political prisoners, interned either
in Belgium or in Germany, and the Belgians deported into
Germany will be released as soon as Belgium is evacuated.
The release of those detained in the prisons of occupied
Belgium, outside the military areas, will begin from Mon
day, 2 ist inst.
I append herewith the written declaration which the
German Government's delegate handed to me. Influenced
by a personal feeling, which you will understand, I have
hesitated to give you the full text thereof. But on reflection,
I have decided to do so.
(Here follows the text of the declaration above.)
You see then, dearly beloved brethren, that God is still
with us. Your earnest appeals to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and to Our Lady of the Rosary, Mary our Mediatrix, have
been heard. Persevere of one mind in your prayers.
Remain calm and dignified.
The hour of definite deliverance and of peace with vic
tory is at hand.
Courage and confidence !
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in Thee.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, protect Belgium.
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Mary our Mediatrix,
pray for us.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.

CHAPTER LII
PROTEST OF THE CARDINAL AGAINST THE BEHAVIOR OF
GERMAN TROOPS DURING THEIR RETREAT
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
October 18th, 191 8.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — I am credibly informed that about Octo
ber 14th and 15th more than 500 young men of St. Nicholas
were led by force to the front, in the direction of Ypres.
If, as I have reason to believe, this proves correct, you must
admit that it is to be deplored and is, more than ever, un*
fortunate. May we hope that the Vilvorde and Malines prisons
will be opened at the beginning of next week, those of Brus
sels and Antwerp soon afterward?
Accept, dear Baron, the expression of my high esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Archbishop' s House, Malines,
October 28th, 191 8.
To Baron von der Lancken, Chief of the Political Depart
ment of the Government General, Brussels.
Dear Baron — The communal authorities at Malines
are very much perturbed at the way in which the military
make free use of the residences of private people. They
are not content with requisitioning available rooms, but they
expel, in a cavalier manner, the landlords from their homes
and supplant them. Ladies, lawyers, doctors have thus been
evicted from their houses.
And yet places of amusement, concert halls and theaters,
440

BEHAVIOR OF GERMAN TROOPS 441
which would be admirably adapted for the installation of
officers, are left open. The occupation of those places
would, moreover, have a salutary moral effect.
I know that the jurisdiction of His Excellency the Gov
ernor General does not extend to the war zone, but I thought
that his great influence might indirectly be used, and with
success, in the interest of Malines families and of public
order. I avail myself of this opportunity to thank you for the
release already granted to prisoners and also ask you to
kindly stimulate the zeal of the officials commissioned to
carry out the work of release. I know that numerous pris
oners, among whom is a considerable contingent of priests
and religious, who could render invaluable services to the
diocese, are anxiously awaiting the release promised them
through the clemency of the Governor General.
Accept, Baron, the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) D. J. Cardinal Mercier,
Archbishop of Malines.
Political Department of the Government General,
Brussels, November ist, 19 18.
To His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor to acknowledge your esteemed letter of
October 28th. I at once sent it to the competent military
authorities, and believe myself already justified in saying
that your Eminence's wishes will be met, so far as circum
stances will allow.
I offer to your Eminence the assurance of my sincere
esteem. (Signed) Lancken.