risters of the country lodged protest after
protest and fought their case step by step. Mr. Theodor was deported,
but the German administration had blundered again--and the world knew
it. When Baron von Bissing tried to infringe the privileges of the
Church and to cow the Belgian priests into submission by forbidding them
to read to their flock the patriotic letter of Cardinal Mercier,
published on Christmas Day, 1914, he found himself opposed not only by a
far cleverer man than himself, but by all the spiritual influence of one
of the greatest priests in Europe. The letter was read, the Cardinal did
not leave for Germany but for Rome, whence he came back to Malines, and,
if anything, adopted a still firmer tone in his subsequent letters and
speeches. Von Bissing was beaten--and the world knew it.

These are only a few striking examples among many. Since August, 1914,
hundreds and hundreds of civilians have been imprisoned or deported;
workmen, because they refused to work for the enemy; lawyers, because
they refused to accept his law; bankers, because they would not let
their money cross the frontier; professors, because they did not consent
to propagate Kultur; journalists, because they objected to print Wolff's
news; tradespeople, because they put their patriotism above their
private interests; priests, because they did not worship the German god;
women, because they did not admire German officers; children, because
they did not play the German games. Meanwhile the firing parties did not
remain idle. The world has heard with horror of the death of Miss
Cavell; it has been shocked by the disproportion between her "crime" and
her punishment, and by the hypocrisy displayed by the German
administration during her trial. But, if England has lost one great
martyr, Belgium has lost hundreds, who perished in the same way,
sometimes for smaller offences, often for no offence at all. For the
German judges are in a hurry, and they have no time to enquire too
closely in such matters. The vengeance of a spy, the slightest suspicion
of a policeman, sometimes even an anonymous letter, are enough to
convince them of the guilt of the accused person. The healthy effect
produced on the population by Dinant and Louvain must not be allowed to
spend itself. Frightfulness must be kept up at any price. The reign of
terror is the condition of the German regime.

* * * * *

To-day, in this most tragic hour of