Lest We Forget: World War StoriesThompson, John G. (John Gilbert)
History
Lest We Forget: World War Stories
Thompson, John G. (John Gilbert)
Readers -- History; Readers -- World War, 1914-1918
As a part of his church duty, he wished to go to Brussels to celebrate
high mass. He applied for a pass which would allow him to go by train
or trolley. An excuse was invented for refusing it. Then the Cardinal
sent word to the Commandant that he must go and that he would walk. Two
hours afterward he left his residence on foot, accompanied by two or
three priests, and started on his walk of fifteen or more miles to
Brussels.
Men, women, and children, and priests from every part of the city
crowded about him and followed him, till he reached the German
sentries, who stopped the crowd and demanded where they were going.
The Cardinal showed his _Ausweiss_, an identification card which every
Belgian must carry, and he was allowed to proceed with two priests for
companions. The other priests demanded the right to go on, and a heated
dispute arose between them and the sentries. One of the priests lost
his temper and forgot himself so far that he began to beat one of the
sentries with his umbrella. The other sentry called for help, and the
crowd was soon dispersed. The angry priest was put under arrest and led
off to the guardhouse.
The Cardinal had gone on but a short way when the uproar behind him
caused him to stop and look back at what was happening. When he saw the
priest led off by the soldiers, he and his companions turned back and
followed the soldiers to the little guardhouse. He walked directly in,
looking neither to the right nor the left, standing a head above the
rest of the crowd. He fixed his piercing black eyes upon the eyes of
the priest; then he beckoned him to come and turned and walked out,
followed by the priest.
The soldiers made no attempt to stop them. They seemed to recognize an
authority that they could not help obeying, even though they did not
want to. The Cardinal accompanied by the three priests went on down the
road and out of Malines towards Brussels. They walked about half way
to the city and then took the trolleys.
In speaking of the Germans, the Cardinal is reported to have said,
"They are so stupid, these Germans! Sometimes I feel that they are like
silly, cruel children, and that I should do something to help them."
He loves America and the Americans and is grateful for all that the
United States have done for his suffering people. He told one of his
fellow-workers who had become discouraged, "If you follow a great
Captain, as I do, you will never be discouraged."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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