XIV

The Daily Mail.

'The story of Miss Cavell's arrest, trial, and martyrdom is one of those sublime tragedies which make the deepest appeal to the heart of man. The facts cover theenemy with eternal infamy. The Germans did to death a woman whose whole life had been dedicated to the service of suffering man, for a breach of a barbarous law which they themselves had imposed. All efforts to save her were in vain. The German authorities tricked and attempted to deceive the United States Minister at Brussels, who made the most persistent exertions in her behalf. They evidently hurried on the execution in order that no chance might baulk them of their prey. This is a deed which in its horror and wicked purposelessness stuns the world and cries to heaven for vengeance.'Miss Cavell neither grieved nor faltered when she knew her fate. She was happy, she said, to die for her country; and a life which had been generously devoted to a noble work was crowned by an heroic death. It is difficult to say what inspiration a nation does not draw from such an example as hers, which lifts up even the meanest and most selfish heart to new heights of unselfish love and devotion."To weep would do her wrong." Her life and death are beautiful as those of the saints of old, and will move mankind like immortal music or song. In the truest sense she may be said to have died happy. Her country will never forget her. Her memory will brace our troops in the hour of battle, and when the grey forms close in the North Sea it will be there. Those who die thus have won immortality.'

'Miss Cavell neither grieved nor faltered when she knew her fate. She was happy, she said, to die for her country; and a life which had been generously devoted to a noble work was crowned by an heroic death. It is difficult to say what inspiration a nation does not draw from such an example as hers, which lifts up even the meanest and most selfish heart to new heights of unselfish love and devotion."To weep would do her wrong." Her life and death are beautiful as those of the saints of old, and will move mankind like immortal music or song. In the truest sense she may be said to have died happy. Her country will never forget her. Her memory will brace our troops in the hour of battle, and when the grey forms close in the North Sea it will be there. Those who die thus have won immortality.'

The Daily Chronicle.

'In a War which numbers its casualties by millions, and which has witnessed holocausts of atrocity like the sinking of theLusitaniaand the sack of Louvain, the murder of a single lady may seem a small episode. But the enormity of a crime is not always measured by the number of its victims. Here was a lady of education who had devoted her life to the relief of human suffering. The head of a great nursing institute, she had helped to train hundreds of nurses, including Germans. When the War broke out she devoted herwhole strength to the care of the wounded, and had lavished her personal attention on wounded German soldiers. Latterly she had assisted certain British, French, and Belgian soldiers to escape to England across the Dutch frontier. Charged with this military offence, she admitted it with complete candour; indeed, she seems to have been the principal witness against herself. One may safely affirm that, having regard to her transparently humanitarian motives and all the circumstances of the case, no Government in the world but the German would have inflicted the death penalty on such a culprit. They not merely inflicted it, but compassed its infliction with a mixture of duplicity and brutality that must make every decent human being's gorge rise. Of Miss Cavell herself no one will dispute that if any death in this War has been heroic, hers was; one cannot say less, and no one could say more. The sense of the whole civilized world can be left to judge between this helpless woman and her murderers.'

The Scotsman.

'That Miss Cavell was guilty of an offence against martial law was not denied. But it was not a crime that implied any moral delinquency or transgression of the normal rules of human conduct. On the contrary, it was prompted by the spirit of self-sacrifice and mercy that had guided her whole life, but of which not the tiniest measure was yielded to herself by the men who pursued her to the death. While it may be said that she acted imprudently, and that punishment, and even severe punishment, for her offence was to be looked for, she acted from motives and under circumstances that could only raise her in the eyes of all who are capable of appreciating generosity, courage, and kindness. No suspicion of espionage was attached to her conduct; no accusation of that nature was brought against her; and on being charged with what she had done, she made full and frank acknowledgement. This candour of confession was turned against her as one of the aggravationsof her offence. It is made but too clear that the tribunal before which she was hurried thirsted for her blood and for the blood of all who were concerned in the escape of those prisoners from the tender mercies of the Brussels military authorities. Having already lain for several weeks in prison, Miss Cavell was brought before a court-martial, and after a two-days' trial was sentenced to death in the evening and led out to execution early next morning. There was a surreptitiousness as well as a vindictiveness about the whole proceedings that cannot but amaze, as well as horrify and disgust.'

The Irish Times.

'If any one in Ireland still fails to see the necessity for resisting to the utmost the extension of Prussian power in Europe, this should open his eyes. It will be equally admitted by every one but her executioners that her sex, her kindness to German wounded, and her charitable intentions incommitting the undoubted offence against the law imposed upon Belgium by the conquerors should have been regarded as good reasons for treating her with leniency. All these considerations were ignored by the German authorities. Their haste to accomplish the foul deed without possibility of interference is not out of keeping with the worst that we know of savage races. In utter contrast with their proceedings, there was reported yesterday the hearing in a North of England town of an appeal by a woman charged with attempted espionage against a sentence of six months' imprisonment. The woman was of German descent; she had sought information concerning a shell factory, and she admitted that she would have passed it on to the Germans if possible. Her trial was fair and careful, and she had the fullest opportunity of securing legal advice at every stage. Her appeal was patiently heard. So it is with every case of the kind, whatever may be the nationality of the accused person. British justice has a namethroughout the world. Henceforth, so will German justice, but the name will be of other significance.'

The Nursing Mirror.

'The heroic and tragic death of Miss Edith Cavell has placed the martyr's crown on the head of this most courageous and patriotic woman, and has consecrated afresh the whole of the nursing profession for her sake in the eyes of the world. Never has the heart of the nation been more deeply stirred than by this crowning deed of infamy; never have the vials of its righteous indignation been poured forth in such a torrent of just anger. The whole of the civilized world has risen as one man to protest against this violation of all the laws of mercy and of judgement against this act by which Germany stands forth for all time alone, apart, leprous and unclean, among the people of the earth. Her words to the chaplain on the evening before her execution were those of quiet courage and resignation. Spoken in the stern solemnityof that prison cell, with the sincerity that comes from the nearness of the eternal dawn, these words carry a force and conviction they might otherwise lack to every one of her fellow workers round the world, and are driven home to each heart like a nail fastened in a sure place.... This day of national adversity is our day of opportunity. In it may we be all "brave in peril, constant in tribulation, and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death, loyal and loving one to another."'

The Lady's Pictorial.

'It is difficult to speak of the crime which has blotted the already foul page of Germany's infamy in constrained language. The whole civilized world stands aghast at the callous brutality and deceit of the German officials in Brussels who have done to death a noble Englishwoman; and words are impotent things in which to express the horror, the disgust, the fury, that this brave woman's murder has excited. Nor is it possible to deal in otherthan conventional phrases with her splendid self-sacrifice. She has died for her country, but she has also won the martyr's crown. Her love for her country was boundless. To serve it she ran a risk the gravity of which she fully recognized, and she freely admitted that in so doing she had offended against military laws. We all knowâ€”it is written for all time on the pages of historyâ€”how she paid the penalty. There is no need to retell the shameful story, to extol further her splendid heroism, to waste breath in execrating the savages whose name is now besmirched beyond all cleansing; whose blood-thirst has been slaked at the heart of a helpless woman. But it is worth whileâ€”it cannot be too often repeatedâ€”to cry aloud that Edith Cavell died that her countrywomen may live. Who dared to ask what is one woman among the tens of thousands of men who have perished for their country in view of all that this heroic nurse's slaughter means to England? Dying in her country's service, sacrificed to the savagery of the mosttreacherous, bestial, merciless enemy against which civilized peoples have ever had to fight, a victim to their lust of hate, she has left to Englishwomen an example and a message which must surely stir them to follow her, if need be, to death.'

The British Weekly.

'The Saxon name Edith, which is linked with the most ancient glories of English history, has acquired a new lustre through the sufferings of Edith Cavell. In every church on Sunday preachers sounded the praise of the loving, gentle woman who was shot by the Germans in Brussels in the dark of a mid-October night a few hours before the fleet of Zeppelins started on their flight towards London. Her only crime was that she furthered the escape from Belgium of her countrymen and their Allies. The shield clasped for their sake in her delicate hand was like the buckler of Arthur in Spenser's poem, "All of diamond perfect pure and cleene," and coming ages will see that it was hewn out of the adamantrock. Amid the panoply of the martyrs her diamond shield will burn.'

The Catholic Times.

'Baron von Bissing, the German Governor-General of Belgium, recently addressing a meeting of German women in Brussels, said, "We must do our best to carry on here in Belgium a real German 'Kultur' work." He has just given the world a proof of what the Germans can do for the promotion of "Kultur" in Belgium. It is a proof which has brought home fully to civilized people the truth that when the Germans are called barbarians there is no exaggeration in the charge. The shooting of women is a relic of barbarism abhorrent to the general feeling of the present day. The execution of Miss Cavell brings into relief once more the main characteristic of German warfare. Laws, civilized customs, honourable traditions, must give way if they obstruct German domination. A multitude of Belgians, male and female, have been put to death with as muchcruelty as was displayed towards Miss Cavell. It is needless to say that by revealing their true character during the War the Germans have been fighting most effectively against their own cause. The horror excited by their infamies is worth whole regiments of recruiting-sergeants. Not only in the countries at war with Germany, but amongst the populations of the neutral nations, it produces the firm belief that there could be no greater enemy of popular rights than Germany, and that the success of German "Kultur" work would blast civilization like a deadly blight.'

The French Senate 'bowed with respect and profound emotion before the memory of this heroic martyr to duty, who sacrificed her life in the cause of patriotism and of eternal right'; and the French press glowed with magnificent tributes to the memory of the brave Englishwoman. One of themost striking articles was that communicated toL'Homme EnchaÃ®nÃ©by M. Clemenceau:

'It was necessary that Miss Cavell, symbolizing in her heroic death and her simplicity an incalculable mass of awful butchery, should rise from her tomb to show the Germans that every soul of living humanity revolts with disgust against a cause which can only defend itself by a most cowardly assassination.'The profound truth is that she honoured her country in dying for that which is the finest in the human soulâ€”the conscience of a grandeur of which the greater part of us dreams, and which only a few of the elect have a chance of realizing. This was the lot of Miss Cavell; driven to a wall by a detachment of riflemen, she was walking without a complaint, without a regret, being already no longer of this earth, when a physical faintness made her falter. To me it only makes her appear greater, since, combination of strength and weakness,she thus showed herself woman, purely woman, to the end. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"â€”"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"â€”said Another on His cross, in a moment of weakness and distress by which the splendour of His sacrifice was increased.'Edith Cavell did not speak a word; she fell. Thereupon an officer, a representative gentleman of "Germany above everything," a delegate of the Emperor, and, through the Emperor, of "the old German God," carrying out his despicable task of butcher, calmly drew near, placed his revolver at the temple of his victim, pressed the trigger, and then, with his hand red with blood, signed to his "men," if such I may call them, that the work of Germania was done. We shall not forget the name of Miss Cavell, but we do not know, we never shall know, the name of the other. He calls himself a Germanâ€”that is enough. Every other German would have claimed the honour of carrying out the same task. Since the day of Joan of Arc, to whosememory I know that the British will one day wish to erect a statue, Great Britain has owed us this return. She has given it nobly.'Now the Eumenides are let looseâ€”Miss Edith Cavell, murdered by a coward, will live among the men of all ages and of all countries with a life which, for a time of which one cannot foresee the end, will bring shame and torment on the people on whom her blood lies; and that the lesson may be lasting, I should like to see in Rome, Brussels, Nish, Paris, London, and Petrograd, as an indestructible memorial of a community of sentiment, a statue of this noble woman and of the German officer. It would be sufficient to take as a model the excellent drawing published by Abel Faivre in theEcho de Paris, in which that fine artist has indicated in a few strokes of sublime grandeur the nobility of the blessed victim, and, without forcing anything, the features of the assassin.'Those who come after us, and whose knowledge of the terrible realities of thesedays will only be derived from cold, dispassionate words, must have before their eyes an image recalling the living facts: Edith Cavell and a Boche without name, representative of a people which, feeling the weight of universal opprobrium, has not found one spark of conscience from which to utter one word of protest.'

'The profound truth is that she honoured her country in dying for that which is the finest in the human soulâ€”the conscience of a grandeur of which the greater part of us dreams, and which only a few of the elect have a chance of realizing. This was the lot of Miss Cavell; driven to a wall by a detachment of riflemen, she was walking without a complaint, without a regret, being already no longer of this earth, when a physical faintness made her falter. To me it only makes her appear greater, since, combination of strength and weakness,she thus showed herself woman, purely woman, to the end. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"â€”"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"â€”said Another on His cross, in a moment of weakness and distress by which the splendour of His sacrifice was increased.

'Edith Cavell did not speak a word; she fell. Thereupon an officer, a representative gentleman of "Germany above everything," a delegate of the Emperor, and, through the Emperor, of "the old German God," carrying out his despicable task of butcher, calmly drew near, placed his revolver at the temple of his victim, pressed the trigger, and then, with his hand red with blood, signed to his "men," if such I may call them, that the work of Germania was done. We shall not forget the name of Miss Cavell, but we do not know, we never shall know, the name of the other. He calls himself a Germanâ€”that is enough. Every other German would have claimed the honour of carrying out the same task. Since the day of Joan of Arc, to whosememory I know that the British will one day wish to erect a statue, Great Britain has owed us this return. She has given it nobly.

'Now the Eumenides are let looseâ€”Miss Edith Cavell, murdered by a coward, will live among the men of all ages and of all countries with a life which, for a time of which one cannot foresee the end, will bring shame and torment on the people on whom her blood lies; and that the lesson may be lasting, I should like to see in Rome, Brussels, Nish, Paris, London, and Petrograd, as an indestructible memorial of a community of sentiment, a statue of this noble woman and of the German officer. It would be sufficient to take as a model the excellent drawing published by Abel Faivre in theEcho de Paris, in which that fine artist has indicated in a few strokes of sublime grandeur the nobility of the blessed victim, and, without forcing anything, the features of the assassin.

'Those who come after us, and whose knowledge of the terrible realities of thesedays will only be derived from cold, dispassionate words, must have before their eyes an image recalling the living facts: Edith Cavell and a Boche without name, representative of a people which, feeling the weight of universal opprobrium, has not found one spark of conscience from which to utter one word of protest.'

The Journal des DÃ©bats.

'Miss Cavell died like a heroine, like a true worthy daughter of England, the victim of those who would like to have killed her country, and who revenged themselves on a woman. The murder of Miss Cavell deserves to be avenged, and it will be, and in a manner more terrible than the Germans dream of. The soul of England and the soul of France are to-day united over the body of poor but glorious Miss Cavell in a most sacred oath.'

Intransigeant.

'The German who cold-bloodedly, without even the excuse of the passion ofbattle, judged, condemned, and executed Miss Cavell is a monster, a being who has placed himself voluntarily beyond the pale of human law. England, who has furnished us with so many causes for gratitude since the beginning of the War, now offers for our admiration a loyal, strong, and simple heroine. This winter at the feast of Joan of Arc English officers brought flowers to her statue. The French will not forget the great example of Edith Cavell. She has entered the eternal light which shines on the foreheads of heroines and martyrs. For centuries to come little children will spell her name, and learn in the story of her life lessons of courage.'

The German reign of terror just over their own borders the Dutch may accept as a menace and a warning to themselves; but the assassination of Nurse Cavell aroused the most emphatic denunciations of the crime.

The Amsterdam Telegraaf.

'Under the fatherly government of Bissing, the Belgians at present have cause to envy the Parisians of 1793 in the Reign of Terror. Not a person is sure of his life, and certainly not an honest and brave person, for the German reign of terror seeks by frightful examples to make the whole of Belgium a nation of traitors and cowards. Love of country, which the Germans themselves claim to honour as the highest virtue, they punish in the enemy as the most frightful crime.'In the last fortnight were pronounced ten sentences of death and thirty-two of penal servitude for from ten to fifteen years. Among these death sentences were four women. We wrote once in this journal, "Holland is incapable of shuddering any more." We were wrong. The death penalty on a brave woman has caused the whole of this country to freeze with horror. Openly and unashamed Germany makes herself a nation of outlaws against whom in the future every possiblemeasure of reprisal must be counted as warranted.'

'In the last fortnight were pronounced ten sentences of death and thirty-two of penal servitude for from ten to fifteen years. Among these death sentences were four women. We wrote once in this journal, "Holland is incapable of shuddering any more." We were wrong. The death penalty on a brave woman has caused the whole of this country to freeze with horror. Openly and unashamed Germany makes herself a nation of outlaws against whom in the future every possiblemeasure of reprisal must be counted as warranted.'

Nieuws Van Den Dag.

'What poor psychologists German officials and officers seem to be! They started with the request to the Belgian Government for free passage; they then overwhelmed the neutral press with one-sided reports regarding theLusitaniacase and the visits of Zeppelins to undefended towns; finally, incidents of this sort! Everywhere they betray a lack of the most elementary conception of psychology.'

Apartfrom questions of common humanity, Americans are keenly interested in the tragical end of Edith Cavell because of the untiring services of the American Legation in Brussels, first to see that the accused had a fair trial, and, second, their desperate and heroic efforts to gain time in which to formulate a final appeal for clemency. The admiration of all true Americans must be excited by the account of the humane endeavours of their representatives, which lose not a jot because their appeals were made to a cold-blooded, ferocious tribunal that is a stranger tocompassion, and does not subscribe to the ordinary decencies of civilized life and practice.

The following press comments indicate the unanimity of the note of detestation with which America views one of the greatest crimes of all time.

New York Herald.

Under the heading 'Nana Sahib in Belgium' was foreshadowed the national abhorrence which will hold Germany to be the moral leper of civilization. Mr. Whitlock's report 'will cause a wave of horror to sweep over the world at the possibility of a nation which is capable of perpetrating such terrible deeds as a mere matter of military routine succeeding in this War and dominating Europe.'For the consolation of those weaklings who object to the execution of Miss Cavell it is announced that the black act was done according to German military law, and therefore "legal." So the slayings in Louvain, Dinant, and other blood-soakedspots in Belgium were in accordance with military law, and therefore "legal." The sinking of theLusitaniawas therefore similarly "legal." The desolation of Armenia was in accordance with Turkish military law, and therefore "legal." The order of Herod, if re-enacted by the military authorities of Germany, would be in accordance with German military law, and therefore "legal." But the civilized world would denounce it just as it denounced the Belgian,Lusitania, and Armenian slaughters, and as it is denouncing the execution of Miss Cavell.'

'For the consolation of those weaklings who object to the execution of Miss Cavell it is announced that the black act was done according to German military law, and therefore "legal." So the slayings in Louvain, Dinant, and other blood-soakedspots in Belgium were in accordance with military law, and therefore "legal." The sinking of theLusitaniawas therefore similarly "legal." The desolation of Armenia was in accordance with Turkish military law, and therefore "legal." The order of Herod, if re-enacted by the military authorities of Germany, would be in accordance with German military law, and therefore "legal." But the civilized world would denounce it just as it denounced the Belgian,Lusitania, and Armenian slaughters, and as it is denouncing the execution of Miss Cavell.'

New York Times.

'In the great tribunal of civilization the Germans have done themselves immeasurable hurt by their savagery against those who opposed them. Putting the interests of State above the interests and rights of the individual, putting the ends Germany seeks to attain above all other things on earth, destroying the peace of the world, bringing on the bloodiest War in history,a War that has brought to their deaths millions of the people of Europe and threatens to impoverish great nations, all for the attainment of ends the world has denounced in themselves, and by means which too often have violated the foundation principles of humanity and justice, Germany has brought herself into a position where the world turns from her in horror, and dreads nothing so much as the success of her arms. Man's love of life, the chivalric sentiment of man for woman, tender consideration for the helplessness of age and of youth, all these she has maimed and bruised and defaced with her mailed fist, all these she has trampled under foot. The execution of Edith Cavell but carried out the spirit and purpose of the Imperial military policy.'

The Sun.

'In spite of the manifestations of "frightfulness" with which the record is already crowded, we are not willing to believe that chivalry to women is dead in the Germanarmy. To the rank and file von Bissing can never be a hero. Doubtless his monstrous deed will be justified; nevertheless, it will sicken the soul of many an honest German officer. And the German womenâ€”for woman is true to her sex the world overâ€”will deplore the fate imposed upon one who was the victim of her sympathies. Never has there been a war in which women have not played such a part as this Englishwoman did.'Indeed, to all Germans who have not been corrupted by Prussian militarism, the hurried, stealthy shooting of hapless Edith Cavell in the dead of night behind prison walls will always be a bitter memory. More than all the counts in the Bryce Report of atrocities in Belgium it will weigh in the scale of judgement, for it has struck the world with horror.'

'Indeed, to all Germans who have not been corrupted by Prussian militarism, the hurried, stealthy shooting of hapless Edith Cavell in the dead of night behind prison walls will always be a bitter memory. More than all the counts in the Bryce Report of atrocities in Belgium it will weigh in the scale of judgement, for it has struck the world with horror.'

The Tribune.

'Alive, Miss Cavell was but an offender against German military rules; dead, dead after summary conviction, dead undercircumstances that give the incident the character of a midnight assassination and the colour of an atrocity, she becomes to all men of English blood a martyr and an inspiration to new patriotic devotion.'The thing is like the Zeppelin raids, it is like the Louvain slaughter, it is like theLusitaniamassacre. The wrongs done to the women and children of a race do not terrify the men. They only serve to rouse the spirit, strengthen the arm, nerve the will. "Terribleness" is but the emptiest of threats and the weakest of weapons. There is something almost pathetic in the German dullness to the things that move the world. It begs, whines, pleads for the goodwill and the approval of neutral mankind. It stands almost as a suppliant for the alms of approval of other races. But in the same moment, without warning, without reason, without anything but an incomprehensible stupidity and folly, it does something that shocks the moral sense, the humanity, of men and women the world over.'

'The thing is like the Zeppelin raids, it is like the Louvain slaughter, it is like theLusitaniamassacre. The wrongs done to the women and children of a race do not terrify the men. They only serve to rouse the spirit, strengthen the arm, nerve the will. "Terribleness" is but the emptiest of threats and the weakest of weapons. There is something almost pathetic in the German dullness to the things that move the world. It begs, whines, pleads for the goodwill and the approval of neutral mankind. It stands almost as a suppliant for the alms of approval of other races. But in the same moment, without warning, without reason, without anything but an incomprehensible stupidity and folly, it does something that shocks the moral sense, the humanity, of men and women the world over.'

Philadelphia Public Ledger.

'The Administration has a duty in this matter which it should not overlook. Miss Cavell, as a British subject, was under the protection of the American Legation. The American Minister made both an official and a personal request that her life might be spared. This request was not only refused, it was treated with contempt. Mr. Gibson's report is scrupulously restrained in language, but his indignation may easily be read between the lines. The sentence was carried out with a haste that emphasizes the insults to the United States; the procedure from the beginning was marked by insolence to its representatives. To let the matter drop here would be a confession that this country can neither protect its citizens' interests, nor those of other nations whose interests it has undertaken to guard.'

The Baltimore Sun.

'It is difficult to speak in temperate language of the execution of Edith Cavell.... The world will pronounce this one of the crowning atrocities of cold-blooded brutality. It is impossible to think of it without horror, to speak of it without execration.'

The Chicago Tribune.

'The execution of Edith Cavell should and may be the cause of mental awakening on the part of those who have hitherto remained obstinately secure in the face of a world of terrors.... Civilization is breaking faster and faster. How far the sword and torch will sweep no man can prophesy, but this we knowâ€”the American nation has given to the German Empire an offence greater than that furnished by Belgium, and has not as yet taken any step to protect itself from retribution.'

It may be urged against this simple chronicle of the life and death of Edith Cavell that an Englishman could be expected to approach the subject only in too heated and partisan a spirit to set forth the case dispassionately.

There is no occasion to import factitious bitterness into the tragedy, which was born in prejudice, suckled in suspicion, and reared to its foul maturity on hatred. All the cogent and damning facts dealing with the arrest, trial, and death of the heroic Red Cross nurse are vouched for by the American Legation in Brussels; these factsare embodied in the statements communicated by Mr. Whitlock to Mr. Page for transmission to Sir Edward Grey, and may be read in the British 'White Paper,'Miscellaneous No. 17(1915), entitled, 'Correspondence with the United States Ambassador respecting the execution of Miss Edith Cavell at Brussels.'

The American Legation summed up the truth so far as the Germans would allow the truth to be made knownâ€”and it may be accepted that what details they permitted to escape from their net of secrecy and deceit would be only those that would enable them to put the best face on what they were pleased to consider merely a regrettable, but inevitable, incident of warfare.

In this old world of ours, however, 'murder will out.' Whatever steps Potsdam cunning took to keep the secret in its own dark bosom, the enormity was disclosed to a scornful world, and the Germans found themselves in a common pillory upon which beat the fierce light of amerciless criticism and well-merited opprobrium.

The German authorities may be safely left to the judgement of fair-minded peoples; and in passing it may be remarked that civilized communities have an inherent regard for justice, even when it operates to their own immediate disadvantage. It would be a sorry world if it were otherwise; how sorry a few nations who consigned their honour to the melting-pot can make it, we know only too well. It would be sorrier still but for the firm conviction that in the end right will triumph over might, justice will prevail over injustice, encouraging us to look forward to the time when 'Civilization smiles; Liberty is glad; Humanity rejoices; and Pity exults.'

When the welter of blood and the ruinous dissipation of treasure is at an end, and we can appraise our tangible losses in life and money and endeavour to form some conception of the moral gains resulting from the conflict, amid the innumerable individual deeds that make us proud of those of ourrace the heroism in life and death of Edith Cavell will shine forth like a precious jewel.

It is well to remember that 'of every tear that sorrowing mortals shed, some good is born, some gentler nature comes'; and in her death and the tears that we shed for it, the martyr leaves behind her an inestimable legacy that will yield rich dividends to humanize the souls of those who are left behind to admire and reverence the example of a noble woman.

When the foregoing paragraph was written, one's faith in the strength of our Empire and belief in the righteousness of our cause justified the sure knowledge that we had not witnessed the real conclusion of this pathetic soul-rending incident, that was without exact parallel in our varied Empire story; but one could only waitâ€”and wonder.

For three further searing years the war continued its desolating course, that entailed the death and mangling of millions of thecombatants and the expenditure of uncountable wealth.

The end came with dramatic suddenness that almost paralysed the suffering nations, who could scarcely realize that intense courage, energy, and determination had at length given the Allies the victory.

Even while the Germans stood at the bar of justice at the Peace Conference, Mother Empire decided the time had arrived to take Edith Cavell to her own broad bosom; and the dust of one of the most gallant women of our race was brought from Belgium to be reinterred under the shadow of Norwich Cathedral, in the county that must ever be proud that it gave her birth.

From Dover the body of Nurse Cavell came through Kent towards the capital; the orchards were in full blossom, the fields golden with buttercups, every bank blue and white with wild flowers, as if England had put on her richest garment to receive her own.

From Victoria Station the funeralcortÃ¨gepassed into the streets amid the wonderful stillness and silence of vast crowds, a tribute of silence that acclaimed the dead no less surely and splendidly than the living heroes of the war had been welcomed home by the heartfelt cheers of the multitude.

To the roll of the drums, the stately tread of escorting Coldstreamers, the beautiful melody of funeral marches by the Scots and Welsh Guards' bands, the gun-carriage and its honoured burden came to Westminster Abbey, where, in the shadows of the dim old church, the first portion of the funeral ceremony was to be performed.

A great congregation, representing all classes of society, had assembled, and the nursing profession and the various branches of the women's military services were largely in evidence. For fully half an hour the waiting gathering listened enraptured to entrancing and uplifting music of the Grenadier Guards' band.

The last notes died away. Suddenly the assembly rose as Queen Alexandra was ushered to her seat. With her was PrincessVictoria; and the King was represented by the Earl of Athlone.

A few moments later the strains of Chopin's funeral march could be heard outside the Abbey, betokening the arrival of thecortÃ¨ge; and then beautiful voices echoed and re-echoed through aisle and transept as the choir met the coffin, which progressed slowly from the great west door towards the catafalque that waited to receive its noble burden. Tall Guardsmen bore shoulder high the coffin, covered with the Union Jack, which Edith Cavell had honoured with her life. To rest upon the glorious colours Queen Alexandra had sent a magnificent wreath of red and white carnations and arum lilies, to which an autograph card was attached upon which she had written:

In memory of our brave, heroic, never-to-be-forgotten Nurse Cavell.Life's race well run,Life's work well done,Life's crown well won,Now comes rest.FromAlexandra.

In memory of our brave, heroic, never-to-be-forgotten Nurse Cavell.

Life's race well run,Life's work well done,Life's crown well won,Now comes rest.FromAlexandra.

The service was marked by severe simplicity that savoured nothing of exultation over a fallen foe; and yet there was the beautiful exultation that belongs essentially to the Church of England Order for the Burial of the Dead, which proceeded with tense emotion until the congregation and choir united in singing 'Abide with me.' The Dean pronounced the blessing.

The Dead March fromSaulwas played with all the poignant appeal of rolling and booming drums, wailing reeds, and the triumphant clangour of brass. The 'Last Post,' heralded by a roll of drums, commencing so softly as scarcely to be audible, swelled to a roar before it died into the silence, on which broke the bugles; and last the 'RÃ©veillÃ©.'

Out of the shadows of the centuries into the sunlit street the flower-decked coffin was borne by the eight Guardsmen bearers to be replaced on the gun-carriage, which passed through the crowded City to Liverpool Street Station,en routefor Norwich, and every yard of the way there wasevidence that the spirit of Edith Cavell was living in the throngs who mourned her loss, even as they honoured her sacrifice.

Later in the day came the final scenes in the obsequies of Edith Cavell at Norwich Cathedral, where the ashes of the world-famous victim of an unchivalrous foe had come home for sepulture in an atmosphere of intimate and almost personal concern. The citizens turned out in tens of thousands. Every department of the civic life of the county was represented, but again the nurses were in the forefront of the picture. Wreaths came from near and far, and among not a few from Belgium was one inscribed 'Elizabeth, Reine des Belges.'

The tribute of Empire had already been paid in London, and the closing ceremony was more in keeping with the sweet simplicity of her who was being laid to rest by the side of her mother amid the peaceful and mellow surroundings of the ancient Close, in a sequestered little corner called 'Life's Green.'

At the graveside the Bishop of Norwichdelivered a touching address, in which he dwelt more upon the manner of Nurse Cavell's death rather than the work of her life. In conclusion he said:

'Edith Cavell rests under the shade of our cathedral in its eight-hundredth year, adding one more to the long line of those blessed saints of God over whom it has watched in life and death. We will think of her while her body rests in its keeping as herself alive unto God and present with the Lord, and we will look on to the glad day when she and we and all we love, having waited and watched for the glory of the Resurrection, at last shall see

The splendour of the morningDawn on the hills.'

Printed by the Southampton Times Company, Ltd., 70 Above Bar

Back to Index Next