gcls_WFP_867

"Germans have assuredly their qualities, but the lack psychology. You believe the world can be governed by abstract formulas. You imagine that the method of domination which you may have employed successfully in Germany will also succeed here. You are entirely mistaken. I have spent my life teaching. I have learnt that to be avle to educate a young man, you must know him before applying formulas to him. To pass laws and apply the legislation are two entirely different things. You seem to ignore these elementary truths."
"If by resistance you mean rebellion", retorted Mercier, "recourse to violent measures, or inciting others to have recourse to them, then you are within your rights in forbidding us to resist, and we assert, on our side, that in this sense, we abstain from resistance. But if by resistance you understand this assertion of our rights, recourse to prayer, whether public or private, to obtain God's protection of our country and the triumph of the sacred rught of patriotism - then, Baron, I am obliged in conscience to tell you that I will continue to resist you without flinching."
[handwritten in blue ink: written after {illegible} death]
"Monsieur Le Baron:
I appreciate deeply the thoughtful attention of your letter, and express my gratitude for it.
Baron von Bissing was a Christian. I remember his saying to me one day, in a tone that placed his sincerity beyond all doubt, 'I am not a Catholic, but I believe in Christ.' To the Christ, therefore, I shall pray, and very sincerely, for the repose of his soul.
Accept, Monsieur le Baron, the expression of my high regards."
"In view of my age and that intimacy of the heart which unites us at this moment, you may allow me to betray a secret. Like every one else, I have known joy and I have known suffering during the course of my life. but I have never been unhappy. Whehter in the years of peace or in the years of war, whether in poverty or prosperity, whether in failure or in success, never have I ceased to feel, deep down in my heart, a sense of tranquility, confidence, and peace. And as I want you all to be happy, I must tell you the fidence, and peace. And as I want you all to be happy, I must tell you the secret of Christian serenity. It lies in giving yourself confidently to the
[handwritten in blue ink: continued on page 1108]
[image of a statue of a man wiritng on a desk]

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