THE SUNDAY OREGOMAy, PORTLAM), DECE3IBEK 14, 1919.
"INNOCENT PRIESTS OF 1ST AMUR SHOT'-FAKE PROBE IS OFFERED
Cardinal Merrier Answers Inquiry by Giving Names of Clergy in His Diocese Who Had Been Put to Death by Invader.
CARDINAL lIKIlCIKirS STORY
Including- his correspondence
with .the German authorities
in Belgium during the war, 1914
to 19X8. edited by Professor
Fernand Mayence of Louvain
university and translated by the
Benedictine Monks of St. Augus
tine's, . Kamugate, England.
l
Kxplanatory Comment by Professor '
Fcraiiod Mayence.
' f-pECHXlCALLY the cardinal's vie- '
Xiory in tne incident 01 tne pas
toral letter was unsullied. He
had delivered his message and re
vived many hearts. He had been ac
corded such international distinction
that the German government could j
not lay hands upon him without in-j
curring odium trom which even the '
most hardened Junker would shrink.
The pertinent interest of the press
of the greatest of the neutral nations
rendered it difficult for the invaders
to resort to measures of physical vio
lence on the numerous occasions when
the. prelate expressed his patriotic
views.
But these factors of success, which
in one sense protected the cardinal,
rankled in the breasts of the chiefs
of both the political and military de
' partments in Brussels. The invaders
could not forgive the promulgation
of the pastoral letter. The govern-
or-general was fretfully anxious to
unearth some fact, or, if this were
impossible, to invent others, reflect
ing upon the behavior of the Belgian
people under the guidance of their
spiritual leader.
The. German authorities also as
sumed concern for "reports" of their
atrocities which they knew perfectly
well to be facts. By January, 1910.
ihe stain upon the German name was
dark indeed. Nations then officially
neutral were aware of the barbarity
of the empire. It is too much to say
thHt either Von Bissing or Von der
Jancken, who figure so prominently
' in the cardinal's story, were wholly
conscienceless. They were disturbed
by clviliiatlon's finger of scorn and
nought repeatedly to win some ad
mission . from the primate that his
own people were not always blame
less. Hypocrisy and a strange warped
sense of shame are curiously com
mingled in the correspondence in
which the military ruler of Malines
Rnd Von Bissing ask the cardinal for
information concerning execution of
1 Belgian priests. Mercier promptly
'supplied the names of those slain and
; suggested that a mixed Belgian and
"German commission of inquiry be ap
pointed to serve Brand Whitlock, the
American minister in Brussels. In
evltably the German government lost
' its interest in an investigation. No
; such commission was ever appointed.
: It might have made a fair report, and
r in that case the Germans couia have
anticipated the complexion of it.
- The erap in history has since been
fully supplied by the archbishop of
; Namur and by Professor Fernand
Mayence of the University of Louvain.
who has published a book with all the
, facts upon the slaughter of tfie inno
cent cures.
The Germans had a favorite blanket
"excuse" for most of their wanton
slaughter of Belgian civilians. "Man
hat geschossen" (Somebody has fired).
At Charleroi. Havre. Blisrny, Hou-
panrde, Monceau-sur-Sambre. Goeg
. nies and Termonde the Invaders in
sisted that the uniformed townspeople
had deliberately attacked the Hun
! troops.
Had this been so and such a situa-
tion would not have been surprising,
considering that Germany had been
the first to break faith by regarding
treaties as scraps of paper interna
tional law would have supported her
case. Such assistance would have
been extremely welcome to the em
pire which was continually running
afoul of the accepted codes of civil
ization. And so the cry of "f reeshooters"
. (francs-tireurs) was rrpeateuly raised.
;lt is significant that it was partlcu-
larly loud whenever the German army
' suffered a check. The troops would
fail back Into a town from which
hostages and fines had been taken
during the advance, and on' this re-j
turn trip the orgy of atrocities mur-
dcr, fire. rape, massacre would be
gin. The contention was always the
tamo. Civilians had been shooting
the kaiser's soldiers'.
Hoping to ranKe American public
opinion on his side. 'Wilhelm formally
notified President AVIIson on Septem
ber 8, 1914, that Belgian civilians had
fired upon and maltreated the con
quering troops and on" the, next day
ordered the government In Belgium to
muke an Investigation of the facts.
The two proceedings were preten
tious, but as regards each other badly
timed. The emperor had been charac
teristically hasty. A week later, when
the German commission had com
pleted Us Inquiry, this significant
sentence appeared in the report: "We
have been unable to find a single case
of civilian attack on German sol
diers!" CHAPTKR VI.
Proposal for an lntilry Into the
Murder by (irrnan Troops of
VrleatM Belonffinur to the Oloeesc of
Malines.
Toward the end of 1914 and at the
beginning of 1915 the German gov
, ernment established in Belgium vari
ous commissions of inquiry, composed
.entirely of Imperial ofl'iicalu, 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 in
quiries appeared in a white book,
which will remain for future genera
tions one of the most convincing
witnesses of the duplicity, insolence
and also of the folly of Prussian mili
tarism. The Kreischef of Malines proved
himself a worthy representative of
his government. Pretending that he
had learned from a newspaper article
that Priests of the diocese of Ma
lines had been killed, though he knew
by the Christmas, pastoral letter the
assertion of the cardinal that 13
members of the clergy had -perished
as victims of German barbarity, he
communicated to his eminence a
scheme for an Inquiry, askinc the
cardinal for information regarding
Gives Names of Slain Priests.
The cardinal answered without de
lay:
Arcnnisnops House. Mslfnes, Jan. 24.
Mullnes: fcir The numes of th nri.i.
and religious of Malines diocese who to
my knowledge have been put to death by
German troops are the following;: Dupier
reaux. of the Society of Jenua; the Brothers
Sebastian and AlUrd, of the congregation
ol josepnites; .nroiner Caudlde, of the
congregation of Our l.ady of Merx-y: Fath
er Maximln. a Capuchin: Father Vincent.
a minor conventual: uareite. a teacher
XjOmbaerts. Gorls, De Clerck. Dergent,
Woutern. Van Blaedl. pariah priests.
On Christmas day. when 1 published my
pastoral letter, I did not yet know with
certainty what had been the fate of the
pure of Herent: since then hi. body has
been found at Louvmn ana Identified.
Other figures Quoted by me tn my pas
tnrn 1 letter outht now to be added. For
Instance, for Aerscho I save tne numb
et victims us 81, but tho total of Aer-
sohotois dug up now reaches 14:. 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 is indispensable that the results of
the inquiry should appear to all with an
authority beyond dispute.
With thi3 end in view, I have the honor
to propose to you, my dear count, and to
the German authorities through your kind
intervention, that the commission of in
quiry be composed equally of German dele
gates and Belgian magistrates to be ap
pointed 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 ih United
States would not refuse to preside either
h'mself or through a delegate of his own
choice.
Accept. I beg of you, dar Kreischef, the
assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) V. J. CARDINAL MERCIKR
Archbishop of Malines
CHAPTER VII.
RelraNF of the Belgribn Doftor and
( heniiKU Confined at Heidelberg.
Reference has already been made
in a preceding letter to a group of
Belgian army doctors and pharma
ceutical chemists confined at Heidel
berg and threatened by the camp
commandant with reprisals, to be 'un
dertaken as a sort of protest against
the supposed bad treatment to which
it was falsely alleged the German
officer prisoners in France and Bel
gium bad been subjected. The car
dinal, who had interceded with Von
Bissing on his compatriots' behalf,
early in 1915 received a letter from
the governor-general stating that the
officers had been conducted to Switz
erland, after a provisional internment
SO pronounced had become the ob
jections to duplicate auction in
the Knickerbocker club of New
York, as a test of pkill. especially
where a number of players of vary
ing caliber were engaged in play,
that the attendance at these games
began rapidly to diminish, and the
card committee saw that something
had to be done or the game would
die of pure inanition.
To E. T. Baker, therefore, one of
the crack players of the club, was
assigned the task of devising if pos
sible some system joverninK the
game whereby these objections might
be overcome, or at least reduced to a
minimum, and the interest in the
game revived. The system which he
evolved was given its first trial a
short time ago and so satisfactory
was it found that the lagging inter
est was quickly revived and it was
unanimously voted to continue it
throughout the season.
One of the most serious objections
to the game as formerly played was
that when, as was the usual custom,
results were determined by the num
ber of points a side had made, the
aerage players had no chance what
ever unl'jss it so happened that their
ai! versa rics were even worse players
than thmeselves when they were lia
ble to be presented with tricks. If
pitted nss-inst good players they
were doomed from the start and
could expect nothing but minuses. To
take part repeatealy in a contest
where the odds are decidedly against
you is, to say the least, dishearten
ing, and mtturatly one s enthusiasm
rapidly wanes.
Another objection to the game as
played was that, as the game could
not start until all players had ar
rived, it often ran until an extreme
ly late hTur and many were com
pelled to leave before results were
announced. Then too. one slow couple
could hold up the entire rccm as it
was required that the four deals at
every table be completed before, pro
gression could take place.
Added to these drawbacks, it dis
crepancies were round m the score.
as whs otten the case, they had to
be adjusted before results could be
determined. This of course contrib
uted still further to the incon
venience of players. Kverything con
sidered, it is not surprising that the
interest in the game began rapidly
to diminish, and that players gener
ally felt the game did not properly
represent auction and that they had
no place in such contest.
An explanation of the system now
in use, culled from an eastern paper.
follows:
"In the first place two separate
competitions will go on at the same
time, the set match, pair against pair
for the evening only, and the cumu
lative score against all comers for
the season, played under a system of
autocratic - handicapping. Instead of
giving pins for the top score each
evening which resulted in some
players accumulating about a qviart
of them, and otbers never gettin
any, there will be one or two really
valuable prizes for the best match
score during the season.
"Tae most radical departure, how
inllllBlil
&rsr7E' I -
at Heidelberg. The cardinal thanked
Von Bissing for his intervention: I
niMiuiBiiuij o nvuse, ti 11 11 est, reo. o.
1!)13. To H is Excellency Baron von Bia
sing,- Governor-General, Brussels: Sir In
reply to the letter I had the honor of ad
dressing you on December 17 last, your
excellency has been so kind as to inform
me that 2.1 doctors jnd 1 dispensers, pris
oners at Heidelberg, have been released.
I rejoice at the result of the steps taken
by your excellency and think It my duty
to express my gratitude.
Please accept, dear governor-general,
the assurance of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) U. J. CARDINAL M ERCIER,
Arbishop of Malines
In an effort to trap the cardinal
and to nullify the investigation the
Kreischef summoned Mgr. Van Roey
and demand exact information from
him regarding the massacres of Ala
lines, stating that he did not wish
to bother Cardinal Mercier further.
Mgr. Van Roey, whose information
was not of first hand, would not be
trapped into an admission of uncer
tainty, however, and in a letter re
plied as follows:
"o BnKlneMM of Mine to Meddle.
Mgr. Van Roey replied immediately:
Archbishop's House. Malines. Feb. 4.
115. Tc fount von Wengorky, Kreischef.
Valines: Sir I had the honor to hand his
eminence the cardinal archbishop the de
mand for Information whirh. the adjutant
has made regarding the priests shot in the
diocese of Malines.
His eminence tells me that to an iden
tical inquiry which was addressed to him
self personally he replied in his letter of
January 24 iat. T deem, therefore, that
It is no business of mine to yneddle in a
matter wnlch tho cardinal lias already
taken in har.d himself.
ever, from the old system is
airangement of the players.
1 tl,e
Iour
persons make up their own table
and start to play immediately, with
oift waiting for any other table or
section to be filled. As soon as an
other tabic is filled, it can start, and
the four who begin at any table re
main at that table all evening, and
get through-the regulation 28 deals
as quickly or as nlowly as they
please. This obviates all the vexa
tious delays that arose under the old
system of waiting until every one
had .finished, and then moving to the
next table after every four deals.
"Those who come early, 8:15 being
the official starting time, can get
away-early, and the committee feel
safe in guaranteeing that the games
will be all finished and the reJvlta
announced by 11:30 at the latest.
"Those who do not wish to enter
tl e competition for the cumulative
score prizes may play their own
game, for so much a point if they
please, with partners and opponents
of their own selection, making up
their own table and paying no atten
tion tc any other table ii the room.
except to turn in their total score to
the umpire at the end of the play.
so that he may get an average. These
scores need not be. posted opposite
the names, as all the committee wants
is the figures, and no one will know
how much or how little any pair
make unless they choose to tell it
themselves. This feature should
prove very attractive to those who
fear they are not good enough, to
play against the cracks. They can
at least see by the average score,
which will' be announced, how , much
they fell short or gained.
"Those who enter the cumulative
score competition for prizes will be
automatically handicapped according
to their skill as shown by their
scores each evening. No matter how
much below average they may be as
playtrs, they will never have to play
against any better than themselves,
and will have just as good a chance
to win their match as the best play
ers in the club.
"The system of scoring for games
and rubbers is practically the same
as at straight auction, but only the
N and S score, as a total, will be
turned in to the umpire at the end of
the pi.y The E and W pair will
have to agree to this as correct, and
it is obvious that there can be no
discrepancies to adjust. Add up all
the N and S scores, divide by the
number of table's in play, announce
the average and It is done.
"If the average for N and. S is 850
plus those who have made more win
a match and it counts the same
whether they make 851 points or 3000
plus. The E and W pairs lose it. If
N and S are below average the E and
W pair win the match.
"The players entered for the cumu
lative score turn in their names to
the umpire and on the next evening
they will play against some pair that
made about the same score last time
If Mr, and Mrs. Jones were 400 be
low average they will play against.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown who were 380
below last time. If trey were 600
above average they will, probably.
MALPBSJTH -
HOMBZZX
S7MWf?ZZ
V
Please accept, sir,
sincere esteem.
the expression of niy
ERX. VAX ROET.
The Kreischef of Malines, pressing
his pretended investigations further,
then requested that the cardinal
grant an interview to his adjutant.
After some delay this was arranged
for February 10. Cardinal Mercer, in
the meantime, however, had by letter
again called attention to his letter of
January 24. which gave full particu
lars regarding the shooting of priests
in the diocese by German troops.
On February 10, at the appointed
hour, the adjutant. Von Fleming, pre
sented himself at the archbishop's
house and renewed the questions
already put to him by the kreischef.
His eminence answered them in writ
ing. The following is the text xZ his
reply signed by himself and the ad
jutant: The adjutant. Von Fleming, asks me in
the name of the governor general
1, In what parishes priests have been
shot ?
(-) What troops put them to death and
on what date?
(3) Is the bishop of the diorese ready
to declare positively that his priests were
innocent?
The nama of the parishes have already
been printed in my Christmas pastoral.
1014. on page 63.
The German headq uarters staff is bet
ter informed than anyone else an to what
troops were occupying a parish on any
particular day. While the population
easiJy recognize the Gorman uniform, they
are for the most part unable to distin
guish the regiments of which the army is
composed.
1 have good reasons for my persona!
convicrton that the priests whose names 1
have cited were innocent, but in justice
find themselves pitted against two
of the top notchers.
"The idea of this system of match
play is that a match is' a match and
ounts the same whether it is won
y two points or 2000. What is more,
it will count just as much toward
he prize if Mr. and Mrs. Jones beat
Mr. and Mrs. Brown as if two of the
very best players in the club played
se-atnHt two others emiallv slronc.
The best players will have to play
against the best all the time and all
they can win is a match. The poor
est player will have just as good a
chance to score if he can beat some
one in his own class."
The following hand will be of in
terest as showing the evil results of
poor biddinc and poor play. It is a
well-known axiom that 'we learn
through our errors, and if the stu
dent will carefully follow the wrong
methods employed in this hand both
as regards bidding and play, and the
consequences resulting therefrom, he
may be brought to avoid himself
falling into such pitfalls.
r 5 4
Q 7 5 2
.1 7 6
K J 10 S
K3
K
A K Q 9 4 3 :
9 8 4
T I
A B
Z I
Q J 10 9 7 6 2
10 S 3
A8
A J 9 8 4
10 8 5
A 7 2
iS. protected in three suits, started
with "no trumps." A, who saw he
could defeat the bid by one or more
tricks, devoutly hoped it would stand,
so passed; likewise Y. B, who by
every rule and principle known to
the game should have done the same,
made a bid of "2 hearts." Such bid
on the second round would have been
perfectly correct, but as a first round
bid it was entirely unjustifiable. As
it happened, however, it turned out
to be the best thing for the side that
v. si r
So fnrnrrrr-l'-ni fT0" sJJF Acid StotBadh I I TW'CjS
i . ; is- .i
MALICES
it Is not for us to prove their Innocence; i
it is for the military authorities who have'
proceeded aaglnst them to establish their
guilt. !
a biased commission 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 com
mission bo formed to Investigate 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 oC Ger
man magistrates and partly of Belgian
magistrates the task of throwing full light
on tacts about mhich the governor general
has had the happy idea to institute an
Inquiry. In order that the results of tne
inquiry may have all desirable weight, it
were well that the tribunal should be pre
sided over by some delegate from a neutral
sta te.
Malines, February 10. 1913.
(Signed. D. J. CARDINAL. MKRCIER.
Archbishop of Malines.
Sfgned VON FLEMING,
Major and Adjutant of the Kreischef of
Malines.
The proposals of the cardinal
achieved no results whatever. .
CHAPTKR VIII..
The Cardinal' Protest Against the
Behavior of a Germ a a Military
Cfcaylala.
Archbishop's House, Malines, Feb. 9.
1913. To his excellency Baron von Bis
sing, governor general. Brussels: Dear
Governor General An Incident has taken
place at Forrieres, in the province of Lux
emburg, to which I would call your kind
attention. In conjunction with my ven
erable colleagne. Mgr. Heylen. bishop of
Namur, I should like, in addressing your
excellency to forestall any painful contro
versy. At Forieres on Thursday.' January T,
the Cure Tagnon had a conversation In the
sacristy with the chaplain of Arion which
tar. be more or less summed up tn these
terms:
"Many innocent prieuts in the diocese of
Nanmr have been shot."
"Pardon me," answered the chaplain,
"cur staff headquarters is in possession of
proofs that many civilians were francs -tireur.7
and that the clergymen iucitec
them to fire on the German troops."
"You must Trot 'believe all these tales; If
one were to pin one's faith to all one
hea rs. I should also believe that the Ger
mans have attempted to, violate our nu'is."
That 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 eucristry.
The cure acknowledged that, materially,
he had" 'made the 'statement, but in a
vagu manner: pople say', "there is a
rumor that" and conditionally "Germans
may have violated our nuns."
J Imprisonment of Cure
Nevertheless, the chaplain made a cate
gorical and detntd accusation against the
?nrL', the net result t which wa thv hn
prisonment of the cure and his condemna
tion to either 100 days in jail or 1000
francs fine.
M. Mtssoii. a public notary, accused of
having In the course of a familiar conver
sation 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
could have been done, though this
in no sense proved the correctness of
the bid, but was the result rather of
gross mismanagement on the pai t of
Z. Judging by his policies he was
far more interested in . the success of
the opposing side than of his own. In
stead of overcalling the "2 heart bid"'
with "2 no trumps." with the ace of
the suit guarded in his own hand,
many players would have done. or.
better still, with "2 clubs," he weakly
yielded the bid, and B played the
hand and made a little slam, his
score totaling 380 points. 48 for tricks,
32 for honors, 50 for slam, and. it
being the rubber game. 250 for rub
ber. The very fact of its being the
rubber game and the bid a major suit,
made Z' course in yielding the bid all
the more reprehensible. However. Z
had he made his tricks at the start,
vent a little slam, but to save game,
and this he could easily have done
had he made his tricks at the stardt.
Instead of leading one of his two
side aces, preferably the ace of clubs.
he most unaccountably led the 9 of
clubs. This enabled dummy to win
with his singleton club, and as .at
tricks two, three and four he led
his three master diamonds, declarant
discarding his three losing spades,
declarant at trick five ruffed a spade
and the consequence was that ZY did
not take a trick either in clubs or
spades. All the side made was the
ace of trumps..
Had Z led his ace of clubs, at trick
2, seeing that dummy would ruff a
second round, he should have shifted
and come out with his acc of spades,
following at trick three, on the
chance-that his partner held the king
of spades, with a small spade which
Y would have won. These three
tricks with a fourth won by Z with
the ace of hearts (trumps) would
have reduced B's tricks to nine, (one
short of game) and his score instead
of being 380 would have been simply
66.
Going back to the bidding. Z with
his strength, and more than ever as
it was the rubber game and the bid
a major bid. Z should on no account
FOE' LIVER AND BOWELS". . . .;
Twi.Uy MKnT"' . . .Hill eu i
AER9CHOT
army which the chaplain has put into his
mouth. But it i not my Intention to lay
tress on the accusation Itself.
It is the behavior of the chaplain that I
fihd odious. A conversation held tn the
anteroom by two brother priests cannot be
the subject for a summons to court. Tho
aforethought behavior of the accuser who
tries to impose on the good faith of his
brother priest, airily accepts a cigar which
he smokes In hia company, enjoys the
hospitality of hia table. In order to extort
from him a confidence with which to
trump up a case against him- this pro
meditation aggravates the guilt of the ac
cuser and the odious character of his ac
cusation. The military tribunal of Arlon must
have been badly informed of the i-ase to
have accepted such an accusation and not
to have proceeded against the accuser,
rather than the accused.
Calls Dominican "Cngentlemanly"
We, Mgr. the bishop of Namur and my
self, deem that our respect for the dignitv
of the priesthood and our solicitude for
the maintenance of good fellowship, which
ought to reign, among priests to whatso
ever nationality they belong, will not allow
us to let pass without censure the ungen
tlemanly behavior of the rector of the
Dominican priory at Du&seldorf. We are
minded therefore to refer the case to the
Reverend Father General of the Dom
inican order and to the Holy See at Rome.
Nevertheless, if the chaplain will consent
to withdraw his accusation and If your
excellency will condt-scend to remit tn
penalty inflicted on the Cure Tagnon and
on his parishioner. M. Misaon. we shall be
pleased to consider tne inciaent as cioaea
Kindly receive, governor general, mtj
assurance of my sincere esteem.
(S.gned) IX .1. CARDINAL MERCIKR.
Archbishop s House. Malines.
I join with his eminence in begging the
governor to take in hand the cause of my
diocesans.
(Signed) " TH. LOUIS HEYLKN,
Bishop of Namur
Following . this intervention, the
punishment inflicted on the cure Tag
non and on M. Misson was reduced by
one-half.
, CHAPTKR IX..
The Cardinal Intercede om behalf of
K. Van Bambcke, S. and of the
A bbe Cnylltsu Von Blsmingr, rom
plain of the patriotic attitude tak
en op by the eiery.
K. Van Bambeke. S. J., and the Abbe
Cuylita had been condemned by the
German military tribunals- for having
helped Belgian youths to cross the
frontier. As a result of the Cardi
nal's intervention, the governor-general
consented to set the Abbe Cuylits
at. liberty and gave permission to K.
Van Bambeke to do his punishment in
a Belgian 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 of Malines. March 7, 1IH5.
To His Excellency. Baron von Bissins,
fiovernor-General, Brussels
Sir: The Reverend Father Van Bambeke.
have so easily yielded the bid. As
explained, some players would have
raised to "2 no trumps." The better
and sounder thing, tiowever. would
have been to employ the shift and
call "2 clubs." leaving it to his part
ner to indicate which of the two
bids, no trumps or clubs, the better
suited 4iis hand. This, too. without
increase of contract. . In this very
fact that a preference can be in
dicated without increase of contract,
lies the chief ' value and beauty of
the shift. In this case, as Y had no
protection in hearts, (the adverse
bid), his preference would be for
clubs, and he would so indicate by
maintaining silence, or in the event
that A had raised "3 hearts." (as with
a trick, the guard td trump honor)
and a raiser (the ace of diamonds),
he should have done, Y should have
called "3 clubs." As he, too, holds a
trick, (the guarded trump honor) and
a raiser, (the guarded king of spades),
one raise would have been perfectly
justifiable. Had. the bid rested at "3
clubs," the side would have made
good, scoring a total of 30 points. 18
for tricks and 12 for honors, not
much to be sure, but infinitely better
than allowing the adversaries to
make 350, or even 56. Had Y's "3
club bid" been overculled by B with
"3 hearts," and Z secured the bid at
"4 clubs." ZY -would have gone down
one trick, or 50, minus honors. In all
38. This, too. would have been far
better than allowing the adversaries
to get the bid.
If played at clubs. A would have
come out with one of his master dia
mcr.ds and. seeing that his partner
was void of the suit, and thus that
declarant as well as dummy would
follow to three rounds, at tricks two
and three would have followed with
his two remaining master cards of
the suit. To these three tricks B
would have discarded his three los-
ii g cpadea, so a .spade lead at trick
4 would have been won by B with
a small trump. Tiie remainder of the
tricks,- nine, -would have lone to
declarant. Had B still persisted with
his bid and gone "4 hearts" over Z's
S. J., prefect of the Central Art and Me
chanical school. Rye d' Allemagne, Brus
sels, has been condemned to two years
and a half penal servitude for having
provided facilities for two or three youuj
mn to nasa the frontier and the A bbe
Cuylits, cure of N. IX. at Cureghem. has j
to undergo one year of the same penalty ;
fpr a similar offense.
The two ecclesiastics are in poor health,
which would be shattered for good and
a!) by residence in a foreign land.
For thus reason I appeal with confidence
to Your Excellency' humane sentiments
and ask you to arrange that both the re
ligious and the secular priest may under
go their punishment in our own country.
I would be extremely obliged to yu
wore you to comply with my request, and
I beg you to accept, sir. the expression
of niy sincere esteem.
(Signed) L. J. caklunal whKtitK.
Archbishop of Malines.
Iu a decree issued shortly af ter-
wa rd by Von Bissing that officer
granted leniency in the case of the
two men. but declared that hence
forth no mercy would be shown to
priests "again found guilty of of
fences against German authorities."
Your Excellency Klnd Act.
Archbishop's House, Malines.
April 10, lt13.
To His Excellency Baron von Bissins.
Governor-General, Brussels
fir: I have had to be away from Ma
lines these last few days and have been
unable to reply as soon as 1 should ha
liked to letter No. 14-2. which Ypur Ex
cellency did me the honor of addressing
to me.
In allowing F. Van Bambeke to undergo
his penalty in Belgian prison Your Ex
cellency has done a very kind act. for
which the prisoner's friends will be grate
ful; and In authorising the Cure Cuylits
to re-enter his parish at Cureghem you
have done a good service to the religious
and moral interests of our diocese. We
thank you In all sincerity 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
mo of the necessity in which you. might
find yourself to meet me wit h a refusal
If T should again have recourse to your
right to gfa-nt 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
vour prerogative be eventually just tried,
you should again see your way to taking
such steps as equity demands.
Accept, sir. the expression of my feel
ings of gratitude and sincere eteni. .
i Signed) D. J. CARDINAL MERCIKR,
Archbishop of Malines.
CHAPTER X.
Scheme for an Inquiry on the Subject
of Annaulf Committed by tier
man Soldier I'pon una.
We have seen how the Kreischef of
Malines had communicated to the car
dinal 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 24 replied that he would tend
his aid only to an international com
mittee of inquiry, which alone could
offer guarantees of impartiality, re
mained unanswered. The scheme for
an inquiry was shelved.
Von Bissing raised the point once
again. Only, without trying to throw
' "enl on a11 tne 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 committed against nuns by
German soldiers. The cardinal, while
he hinted that accusations of this
character were not so void of founda
tion 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 Bis&ing
made a pretext of .this refusal to de
clare that his eminence thus recog
nized the falsity of the accusations
brought against the German troops;
once again he distorted his correspon
dent's views. Cardinal Mercier's an
swer to the governor-general's letter
proposing an Investigation into the
subject of assaults said to have- been
"4 clubs he. too. would have gone
down by one trick incurring a los
of 50 less honors, or 34.
As can.be seen, any bid and any
play adopted by Z would have been
far better for his side than as he in
reality bid and ' played. Who can
assert that players do not frequently
win. not hc use of t Iip ir p-nod pi a .
There's No Picture Like
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The greatest r"
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Picture of Hai-:
co in the
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It 4b a marv loue t v- I f the human
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detail a true symbol of strength, ft ? resents
a figure of striking appearance it tt erect car
riage, clear stein, sparkling eyes.strong limbs,
steady nerves and firm muscles; fairly vibrat
ing in animation ' keen, alert, fresh, and
spirited: with an air of unbounded confidence
and a face radiant in co'or and illuminated
with a slow of hope and cheerfulness.
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and cooled
Meier &
THE
committed by German soldiers upon
nuns, was as follows:
19A5rchbi8hP" House, Malines. April 16.
Thi3 exce"Pry- Baron von Bissing,
rornor general. Brussels: Sir I have
received the letter No. 1243 with
wluh -our excellency has honored me
i"TL. 1 . m orr 1 prevented from
answering it earlier.
rtamnwar inded bln bruited y
Ibn. ewper.. nd denied by others,
mn .r1 allied to have been com
Hum, : -n Verman Mdier upon Belgian
o?;; n,d In Sreement wt your ex
ft? ihi aMlnst tno o thus
1" 1'Bht-hearted way and without proof
. . siuony i no people or
entertain ,uch odious accu-ationa.
h,u,Ul w1 -or excellency asks me to
wh?,U ,nrowinB "Bht on the (trounds.
tin f J.1? ?r faL"- of " imputa
tions. I fmu lt necessary to ask you a
preliminary question.
.H!rCi.V'' ""thority the riBht to institute
an inquiry about so delicate a matter?
Whom would one question?
hJH nfes"'-' The doctor? They are
bound by professional secrecy.
would anyone venture to interroirato
cruer"ew.HPartiPS? WouW 5i Iwf'K
iSH ou,d aM attempt to induce
the witness to speak at the risk of ma fc
in known the hapless' vic.n. of V
nuhHn k 'Uld- in ,he Wton f the
SlXnor? UPa lhCm th Btai" f
rt-re r asK1.m eoneerned. I would not
tor on. so delicate & subject and any con-
tiHnCH hich hve Iready been ex.
termed to me spontaneous! v, or in the
future will be made to me on the subject.
others0"1100 forbids mo t( reveal . to
Our duty, your excellency, la to prevent
by every means )n our power the public
from Indulging in such wanton and im
rY!u 11'eations: and I shall approve
wKh all my hear, any effort at repression
whi.-h justice chooses to adopt with those
who either of set purpose or through an
unpardonable levity invent these tales or
spread them broadcast. But I think we
cannot proceed any further without en
croachiiig upon the rishts of conscience,
snd without also expoiue them to viola
tion. Accept, dear governor ceneral. a re
newed assurance of mv deep esteem
tSigncd) U. J. CAKPINAL MKKCIER,
Archbishop of Malines.
"Honor" of German Soldier.
Governor General of Belgium. Brussels.
P. A. J. No. 1S77. April I'O. UU 3.
To h;a eminence. Cardinal Mercier
archbishop of Malines.
I have the honor of expressing to vour
eminence my hearty thanks for your let
ter of the 1tfth iiiMtant.
I perfectly understand the feelings which
hindered yom emiucme from uudiTtak- "
ing any painful inquiry in order to an
swer the questions which I had addressed
to you. I had indeed no intention of ex
acting such an inquiry. I had reason
rather to believe that if, after all. these
re?ortR had any solid foundation. th
ecclesiastical authorities would, in one wav
or another, have had cognizance of them.
It is enough now to state that neither
your eminence nor the other bishops can
furniwh any proof based on Tacts of these
reports, and I feel bound again to de
cl a re indignantly that they hn purposely
propacated and with malicious Intent.
1 willingly agree that an inquiry, hav
ing tor its object the refutation of these
lying accusations, would be ot a nature
to w ound the modesty of nuns. Never
theless, I cannot refrain from pointing
out 10 your eminence that in present.-- of
such allegations I myself and all who
have at heart the honor and good name
01" the German soldiers experience like
sentiments. It Is in the name of these
same .feelings which your eminence finds
justifiable, while intervening on behalf of
the uuar t-onltded 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 acknowledge that your eminence,
in the most peremptory way. disapproves
of the propogation of such lies in the
press, and that t 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.
(To be continued.)
Copyright. 1!1 , by Publh- 1 -edger com
pany. Copyright, Canada, 1919, by Public
ledger company. International copyright.
HUH, by Public ledger company.
but because of extremely bad play on
trie part of their opponents, because
of tricks that are presented them by
thir opponents. srenerally - uncon
Meiously. because of players deliber
ately working at times to the In
terests of the opposing: side. I Will
give an example of this in tny next
isuv
Cou'd NaturehavetakenyouforhermodelT
Suppose you study yourself in the mirror of
the present and compare your looks, your feel
ings and your condition with the general
characteristic of this picture of the human
body in perfect working order, all parts of
which are sound, well organized and disposed,
performing their functions freely, naturally.
If you fail in any single point of resem
blance, you are not the picture of health.
It's imperative, then, that you look to m
means to rebuild your strength, energy and
vigor to bring your body up to a normal
state of efficiency in all of its parts.
ethatHtrrf nerves and
It tenl8 to renew
power and endue-
. irsn. iknffUKi ana
tnm. worrv or over-
dia-oition and a, hoa
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