When we got to the Political Department we found that Baron von der
Lancken and all the members of his staff had gone out to spend the
evening at one of the disreputable little theatres that have sprung up
here for the entertainment of the Germans. At first we were unable to
find where he had gone, as the orderly on duty evidently had orders not
to tell, but by dint of some blustering and impressing on him the fact
that Lancken would have cause to regret not having seen us, he agreed
to have him notified. We put the orderly into the motor and sent him
off. The Marquis de Villalobar De Leval and I settled down to wait,
and we waited long, for Lancken, evidently knowing the purpose of our
visit, declined to budge until the end of an act that seemed to appeal
to him.
He came in about 10:30, followed shortly by Count Harrach and Baron
von Falkenhausen, members of his staff. I briefly explained to him the
situation as we understood it, and presented the note from the minister
transmitting the appeal for clemency. Lancken read the note aloud
in our presence, showing no feeling aside from cynical annoyance at
something--probably our having discovered the intentions of the German
authorities.
When he had finished reading the note Lancken said that he knew nothing
of the case, but was sure in any event that no sentence would be
executed so soon as we had said. He manifested some surprise, not to
say annoyance, that we should give credence to any report in regard to
the case which did not come from his department, that being the only
official channel. Leval and I insisted, however, that we had reason
to believe our reports were correct and urged him to make inquiries.
He then tried to find out the exact source of our information, and
became insistent. I did not propose, however, to enlighten him on this
point, and said that I did not feel at liberty to divulge our source of
information.
Lancken then became persuasive--said that it was most improbable that
any sentence had been pronounced; that even if it had, it could not
be put into effect within so short a time, and that in any event all
government offices were closed and that it was impossible for him
to take any action before morning. He suggested that we all go home
"reasonably," sleep quietly, and come back in the morning to talk about
the case. It was very clear that if the facts were as we believed them
to be the next morning would be too late, and we pressed for immediate
inquiry. I had to be rather insistent on this point, and De Leval, in
his anxiety, became so emphatic that I feared he might bring down the
wrath of the Germans on his own head, and tried to quiet him. There was
something splendid about the way De Leval, a Belgian, with nothing to
gain and everything to lose, stood up for what he believed to be right
and chivalrous, regardless of consequences to himself.
Finally, Lancken agreed to inquire as to the facts, telephoned from his
office to the presiding judge of the court-martial, and returned in a
short time to say that sentence had indeed been passed and that Miss
Cavell was to be shot during the night.
We then presented with all the earnestness at our command the plea
for clemency. We pointed out to Lancken that Miss Cavell's offences
were a matter of the past; that she had been in prison for some weeks,
thus effectually ending her power for harm; that there was nothing
to be gained by shooting her, and, on the contrary, this would do
Germany much more harm than good and England much more good than harm.
We pointed out to him that the whole case was a very bad one from
Germany's point of view; that the sentence of death had heretofore been
imposed only for cases of espionage, and that Miss Cavell was not even
accused by the German authorities of anything so serious. At the time
there was no intimation that Miss Cavell was guilty of espionage. It
was only when public opinion had been aroused by her execution that the
German government began to refer to her as "the spy Cavell." According
to the German statement of the case, there is no possible ground for
calling her a spy. We reminded him that Miss Cavell, as directress of
a large nursing home, had, since the beginning of the war, cared for
large numbers of German soldiers in a way that should make her life
sacred to them. I further called his attention to the manifest failure
of the Political Department to comply with its repeated promises to
keep us informed as to the progress of the trial and the passing of
the sentence. The deliberate policy of subterfuge and prevarication by
which they had sought to deceive us as to the progress of the case was
so raw as to require little comment. We all pointed out to Lancken the
horror of shooting a woman, no matter what her offence, and endeavored
to impress upon him the frightful effect that such an execution would
have throughout the civilized world. With a sneer he replied that, on
the contrary, he was confident that the effect would be excellent.
When everything else had failed we asked Lancken to look at the case
from the point of view solely of German interests, assuring him
that the execution of Miss Cavell would do Germany infinite harm.
We reminded him of the burning of Louvain and the sinking of the
_Lusitania_, and told him that this murder would rank with those two
affairs and would stir all civilized countries with horror and disgust.
Count Harrach broke in at this with the rather irrelevant remark
that he would rather see Miss Cavell shot than have harm come to the
humblest German soldier, and his only regret was that they had not
"three or four old English women to shoot."
The Spanish Minister and I tried to prevail upon Lancken to call Great
Headquarters, at Charleville, on the telephone and have the case laid
before the Emperor for his decision. Lancken stiffened perceptibly
at this suggestion and refused, frankly--saying that he could not do
anything of the sort. Turning to Villalobar, he said, "I can't do that
sort of thing. I am not a friend of my sovereign as you are of yours,"
to which a rejoinder was made that in order to be a good friend one
must be loyal and ready to incur displeasure in case of need. However,
our arguments along this line came to the point of saying that the
military governor of Brussels was the supreme authority (Gerichtsherr)
in matters of this sort, and that even the Governor General had no
power to intervene. After further argument he agreed to get General von
Sauberschweig, the military governor, out of bed to learn whether he
had already ratified the sentence and whether there was any chance for
clemency.
Lancken was gone about half an hour, during which time the three of us
labored with Harrach and Falkenhausen, without, I am sorry to say, the
slightest success. When Lancken returned he reported that the military
governor had acted in this case only after mature deliberation; that
the circumstances of Miss Cavell's offence were of such a character
that he considered infliction of the death penalty imperative. Lancken
further explained that under the provisions of German military law
the Gerichtsherr had discretionary power to accept or to refuse
to accept an appeal for clemency; that in this case the Governor
regretted that he must decline to accept the appeal for clemency or any
representations in regard to the matter.
We then brought up again the question of having the Emperor called on
the telephone, but Lancken replied very definitely that the matter
had gone too far; that the sentence had been ratified by the military
governor, and that when matters had gone that far "even the Emperor
himself could not intervene." (Although accepted at the time as true,
this statement was later found to be entirely false and is understood
to have displeased the Emperor. The Emperor could have stopped the
execution at any moment.)
Despite Lancken's very positive statements as to the futility of our
errand, we continued to appeal to every sentiment to secure delay and
time for reconsideration of the case. The Spanish Minister led Lancken
aside and said some things to him that he would have hesitated to
say in the presence of Harrach, Falkenhausen and De Leval, a Belgian
subject. Lancken squirmed and blustered by turns, but stuck to his
refusal. In the meantime, I went after Harrach and Falkenhausen again.
This time, throwing modesty to the winds, I reminded them of some of
the things we had done for German interests at the outbreak of the
war; how we had repatriated thousands of German subjects and cared for
their interests; how during the siege of Antwerp I had repeatedly
crossed the lines during actual fighting at the request of Field
Marshal von der Goltz to look after German interests; how all this
service had been rendered gladly and without thought of reward; that
since the beginning of the war we had never asked a favor of the German
authorities, and it seemed incredible that they should now decline to
grant us even a day's delay to discuss the case of a poor woman who
was, by her imprisonment, prevented from doing further harm, and whose
execution in the middle of the night at the conclusion of a course of
trickery and deception was nothing short of an affront to civilization.
Even when I was ready to abandon all hope, De Leval was unable to
believe that the German authorities would persist in their decision,
and appealed most touchingly and feelingly to the sense of pity for
which we looked in vain.
Our efforts were perfectly useless, however, as the three men with whom
we had to deal were so completely callous and indifferent that they
were in no way moved by anything that we could say.
We did not stop until after midnight, when it was only too clear that
there was no hope.
It was a bitter business leaving the place feeling that we had failed
and that the little woman was to be led out before a firing squad
within a few hours. But it was worse to go back to the legation to the
little group of English women who were waiting in my office to learn
the result of our visit. They had been there for nearly four hours
while Mrs. Whitlock and Miss Larner sat with them and tried to sustain
them through the hours of waiting. There were Mrs. Gahan, wife of the
English chaplain; Miss B. and several nurses from Miss Cavell's school.
One was a little wisp of a thing who had been mothered by Miss Cavell,
and was nearly beside herself with grief. There was no way of breaking
the news to them gently, for they could read the answer in our faces
when we came in. All we could do was to give them each a stiff drink of
sherry and send them home. De Leval was white as death, and I took him
back to his house. I had a splitting headache myself and could not face
the idea of going to bed. I went home and read for awhile, but that was
no good, so I went out and walked the streets, much to the annoyance
of German patrols. I rang the bells of several houses in a desperate
desire to talk to somebody, but could not find a soul--only sleepy and
disgruntled servants. It was a night I should not like to go through
again, but it wore through somehow, and I braced up with a cold bath
and went to the legation for the day's work.
The day brought forth another loathsome fact in connection with the
case. It seems the sentence on Miss Cavell was not pronounced in open
court. Her executioners, apparently in the hope of concealing their
intentions from us, went into her cell, and there, behind locked door,
pronounced sentence upon her. It's all of a piece with the other things
they have done.
On October 11 Mr. Gahan got a pass and was admitted to see Miss Cavell
shortly before she was taken out and shot. He said she was calm and
prepared, and faced the ordeal without a tremor. She was a tiny thing
that looked as though she could be blown away with a breath, but she
had a great spirit. She told Mr. Gahan that soldiers had come to her
and asked her to be helped to the frontier; that, knowing the risks
they ran and the risks she took, she had helped them. She said she had
nothing to regret, no complaint to make, and that if she had it all to
do over again she would change nothing.
They partook together of the Holy Communion, and she who had so
little need of preparation was prepared for death. She was free from
resentment and said: "I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must
have no hatred or bitterness toward any one."
She was taken out and shot before daybreak.
She was denied the support of her own clergyman at the end, but a
German military chaplain stayed with her and gave her burial within
the precincts of the prison. He did not conceal his admiration, and
said: "She was courageous to the end. She professed her Christian faith
and said that she was glad to die for her country. She died like a
heroine."