McCLURE'S, ARCHER AND FERRER 53 



An ordinary biassed correspondent of the usual stamp who was 

 sent out to get the whole story, would have consulted Senor 

 Maura himself, and let him give his own explanation. 



II 



There is a continuation of the history of the trial and con- 

 demnation of Ferrer in the December number of "McClure's," 

 thereby concluding Mr. Archer's article upon the subject. Had 

 that portion of the article been seen by me at the time I penned 

 the remarks in the last number of this magazine ("Catholic 

 World," Dec. 1910) I would have pointed out several other 

 instances of seeming bias, unfairness, and lack of informa- 

 tion upon the part of the author. As it is, one must con- 

 fess that the article as a whole bears out nearly all that was 

 said by Catholics regarding the death of Ferrer or any part 

 which the Church or the religious orders might have taken 

 to effect the result. In his second article Mr. Archer, 

 by his omission of any statement of the kind, seems to 

 acquit them, as he concentrates all his criticism upon the 

 Spanish government and military officers. There is no wish 

 on the part of any Catholic to champion the civil or military 

 administration in Spain; its faults and shortcomings may be 

 manifold, but when the Church and her religious orders are 

 made the authors and instigators of the prosecution of Ferrer, 

 and are charged directly with putting him to death without 

 even the form of a trial, it is, indeed, time to protest vigor- 

 ously and to examine the case in all its bearings. 



Certainly Mr. Archer's article shows clearly, even from the 

 testimony of one who has mixed closely with Ferrerites and 

 kept aloof from his opponents, that such expressions as were 

 used by Mr. Perceval Gibbon in his article on Ferrer in 

 "McClure's" of one year ago are untrue. There is certainly no 

 basis for the latter's statement that, after the Madrid episode, 

 "the government and the orders had lost the first round of 

 the fight, but they had gained experience, which served them 

 well when Ferrer again fell into their hands. This time 

 [Barcelona trial] they improved even on a special court and 

 no jury; they abolished witnesses and limited the discretion 

 of the man they themselves nominated to conduct the defense," 



i< 



