Part 15 (1/2)

May the souls of the suffering and afflicted find comfort and consolation in the a.s.surance of the paternal tenderness that prompts our prayers. Yes, may G.o.d take pity upon the Belgian people and grant them the abundance of all good.

As a pledge of these prayers and good wishes, we now grant to all, and in the first place to you, our dear son, the apostolic benediction.

Given in Rome, by St. Peter's, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, in the year MCMXIV., the first of our Pontificate.

BENEDICT XV., Pope.

One last word, my dearest brethren: At the outset of these troubles I said to you that in the day of the liberation of our territory we should give to the Sacred Heart and to the Blessed Virgin a public testimony of our grat.i.tude. Since that date I have been able to consult my colleagues in the episcopate, and, in agreement with them, I now ask you to make, as soon as possible, a fresh effort to hasten the construction of the national basilica, promised by Belgium in honor of the Sacred Heart.

As soon as the sun of peace shall s.h.i.+ne upon our country we shall redress our ruins, we shall restore shelter to those who have none, we shall rebuild our churches, we shall reconst.i.tute our libraries, and we shall hope to crown this work of reconciliation by raising, upon the heights of the capital of Belgium, free and Catholic, that national basilica of the Sacred Heart. Furthermore, every year we shall make it our duty to celebrate solemnly, on the Friday following Corpus Christi, the festival of the Sacred Heart.

Lastly, in every region of the diocese the clergy will organize an annual pilgrimage of thanksgiving to one of the privileged sanctuaries of the Blessed Virgin in order to pay especial honor to the protectress of our national independence and universal mediatrix of the Christian Commonwealth.

The present letter shall be read on the following dates: On the first day of the year and on the Sundays following the day on which it shall severally reach you.

Accept, my dearest brethren, my wishes and prayers for you and for the happiness of your families, and receive, I pray you, my paternal benediction.

D.J. CARDINAL MERCIER,

Archbishop of Malines.

APPEAL TO AMERICA FOR BELGIUM.

By THOMAS HARDY.

Seven millions stand Emaciate, in that ancient Delta-land: We here, full charged with our own maimed and dead, And coiled in throbbing conflicts slow and sore, Can soothe how slight these ails unmerited Of souls forlorn upon the facing sh.o.r.e!

Where naked, gaunt, in endless band on band Seven millions stand.

No man can say To your great country that, with scant delay, You must, perforce, ease them in their sore need: We know that nearer first your duty lies; But--is it much to ask that you let plead Your loving kindness with you--wooing wise-- Albeit that aught you owe and must repay No man can say?

With the German Army

By Cyril Brown.

[Staff Correspondent of THE NEW YORK TIMES.]

I.

GERMAN GREAT HEADQUARTERS IN FRANCE, Dec. 1.--There is a certain monotony about the ”scientific murder” of the firing line--a routine repet.i.tion of artillery duels, alarums, and excursions which can be (and are being) vividly described by ”war correspondents” from the safe vantage ground of comfortable cafes miles away. The real human interest end of this ultra-modern war is to be gleaned from rambling around the operating zone in a thoroughly irresponsible American manner, trusting in Providence and the red American eagle sealed on your emergency pa.s.sport and a letter from Charles Lesimple, the genial Consul at Cologne, to keep you from being shot.

For instance, you get some interesting first-hand knowledge as to how spies can ”get away with it,” in spite of the perfect German military system of controls and pa.s.ses. There is no ”spy hysteria” in Germany as there apparently is in England, judging from the London papers, but none the less the German authorities know perfectly well that there are swarms of spies in their midst and are hunting them down with quiet, typically Teutonic thoroughness.

But the very perfection of the German military machine is its weak spot, and on this, my second visit to the German Great Headquarters, I was able to give the astonished authorities a personal demonstration as to how any smooth-tongued stranger could turn up at even this ”holy of holies.” The nocturnal trail led in a military train from Luxemburg over Longwy to Longuyon, where at 3 o'clock in the morning I met an old reader of THE NEW YORK TIMES, Herman Herzberger, a wealthy glove leather manufacturer of Berlin, well known to the trade in New York and Gloversville.

”What a coincidence,” Mr. Herzberger remarked in good American. ”I am going to the front with my wife to see my 18-year-old son, who is in a hospital at Vonziers. My son, who was in the high school, enlisted as a volunteer, with practically the whole school, at the outbreak of the war.”

With ”constant reader,” I boarded a troop transport at Longuyon and crawled on through the night to the front. It was a reserve battalion of a Prussian infantry regiment of the line, and a little research work produced the interesting discovery that it was composed of men who had been wounded, were recovered, and going back for the second time. They were delighted to have an American in their midst, and promptly made me an honorary member. They had no idea where they were going, but eagerly hoped ”they would be back in the trenches by evening.”

”Many of us,” said a Sergeant, ”did not need to come back because owing to having received serious wounds the first time we were excused from further military service--but they all came back none the less. Here's one man who had nine wounds, from bullets and sh.e.l.l splinters, and this one was shot through the lungs, but you're all right again, aren't you?