Sjeptembcr 27, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
Cbe Sast 3|ours of Ciitb Cabell 
By Hugh Gibson (First Secretary of the American Legation in Brussels) 
Another Chapter from 
A Journal from a Legation 
Omng to the temporarv, iHnexs of Mr. Whitlock, American 
Minister in Brussels, iiho uas in charge of British interests 
in Belgium, it fell to the diitv of Mr. Hugh Gibson to under- 
take to save the life of Miss Edith Cavell. who, as this 
r.orrative shows, had be-en denied justice by the Gernian 
Military Court. The facts were written down at the time, 
and Raemaekers' famous cartoon, published on the occasion 
and reproduced by us to-dav. is another record. It is not to 
be assumed that because at the last moment the German 
authorities in Brussels refw^ed to apply personally to the 
Kaiser for a reprieve, that the Kaiser :tas not in sympathy 
i.ith the crime. He has never repudiated it ; he has defended it. 
OX AUGUST 5, 1915. Miss Edith Cavell, an English 
woman, directress of a large nursing home at %V^' 
sels, was quietly arrested by the German authorities 
and confined in the prison of St.-Gilles on the charge 
that she had aided stragglers from the Allied armies to 
escape across the frontier from Belgium to Holland, fur- 
nishing them with money, clothing and information concerning 
the route to be followed. It w^as some time before the news 
of Miss CavcU's arrest was received by the American Legation, 
Which was entrusted with the protection of British interests 
in the o.'cupied portion of Belgium. On August 31st the 
Minister at Brussels received a communication from the 
Ambassador in London transmitting a note from the Foreign 
Office stating that Miss Cavell was reported to have been 
arrested and asking that "^teps be taken to render her assist- 
ance. Mr. Whitlock immediately addressed a note to the 
German authorities asking whether there was any truth in 
the report of Miss Cavell's arrest, and requesting authoriza- 
tion for -Maitre Gaston de Leval, the Legal Counsellor of the 
Legation, to consult with Miss Cavell and, if desirable, entrust 
some one with her defence. 
Xo rej)ly was receiyed to this communication, and on 
September loth the Legation addressed a further note to 
Baron von der Lancken, Cliief of the Political Department, 
calling his attention to the matter and asking that Baron 
von der Lancken enable the Legation to take such steps as 
might be necessary for Miss Cavell's defence. On September 
ijth a reply was received from Baron von der Lancken in 
which it was stated tliat Miss Cavell had been arrested on 
August 5th and was still in the military prison of St.-Gilles. 
The note continued : 
She has lierself admitted that she concealed in her house 
French end Hnghsh soldiers, as well as Belgians of militar\' 
age, all desirous of. proceeding to the front. She has also 
admitted having furnished these soldiers with the money 
necessary for their joufney to France, and having facilitated 
their departure from Belgium bv providing them with guides, 
who enabled them to cross the Dutch frontier secretly. 
Miss Cavell's defence is in the hands of the advocate Braun. 
who, I may add, is already in touch with the competent 
German authorities. 
In view of the fact that the Deparlment of the Governor- 
General as a matter of principle does not allow accused persons 
' to have any interviews whatever, 1 much regret my inabilitv 
to priKure for M. de Leval permission to visit Mi^s Cucll 
as long a.s she is in solitary confinement. 
International Law 
Under the provisions of international law the .American 
Minister could take no action while the case was before tlic 
courts. It is an elementarv rule that the forms of a trial 
must be gone through without interference from any source. 
If, when the sentence lias been rendered it apj/ears that there 
has been a denial of justice, the case may be taken up diplo- 
matically with a view to securing real justice. Thus, in 
the early stages of the ca.se the .American .Minister was helj)- 
less to interfere. All that he could do while the case was before 
the courts was to watch the procedure carefully and be pre- 
pared with a full knowledge of the facts to see that a fair 
tri.il was granted. 
Maitre de I^'val communicated with M. Braun, who said 
that he had been prevented from pleading before the C(nnt 
on behalf of Miss Cavell, but had asked his friend and colleague, 
M. Kirschen, to take up the ca.se. Maitre de Leval then 
communicated with .M. Kirschen, and learned fronr him 
that lawyers defending prisoners before German military 
Courts were not allowed to see their clients before the trial 
and were shown none of the documents of the prosecution. 
It was thus manifestly impossible to prepare any defence 
save in the presence of the court and during the progress of 
the trial. Maitre de Leval, who from the beginning to the 
end of the ca.se showed a most serious and chivalrous concern 
for the welfare of the accused, then told M. Kirschen that 
he would endeavour to be present at the trial in order to watch 
the case. M. Kirschen dissuaded him from attending the 
trial on the ground that it would only serve to harm Miss Cavell 
rather than help her ; that the judges would resent the pre- 
sence of a representative of the American Legation. Although 
it seems unbelievable that any man of judicial mind would 
resent the presence of another bent solely on watching the 
course of justice, M. Kirschen's advice was confirmed by other 
Belgian lawyers who had defended prisoners before the Ger- 
man military courts, and sp-ake with the authority of experi- 
ence. M. Kirschen promised, however, to keep Maitre de 
Leval fully posted as to all the developments of the case and 
the facts brought out in the course of the trial. 
The trial began on Thursday, October 7th, and ended the 
following day. 
On Sunday afternoon the Legation learned from persons 
who had beeii present at the trial some of the facts 
The Case Against Miss Cavell 
It seems that Miss Cavell was prosecuted for having helped 
English and French soldiers, as well as Belgian young rnen, 
to cross the frontier into Holland in order that they -might 
get over to England. She had made a signed statement 
admitting the truth of these charges and had further made 
public acknowledgment in court. She frankly admitted 
that not only had she helped the soldiers to cross the frontier, 
but that some of them had written her from England thanking 
her for her assistance. This last admission made the case 
more serious for her, because if it had been proven only that 
she had helped men to cross the frontier into Holland she 
coidd only have been sentenced for a violation of the passport 
regulations, and not for the " crime " of assisting soldiers to 
reach a country at war with Germany. 
Miss Cavell was tried under paragraph 58 of the German 
Military Code, which says : 
Any person who. with the intention of aiding the hostile 
power or causing harm to German or allied troops, is guilty 
of one of the crimes of Paragraph go of the German Penal 
Code, will be sentenced to death for treason. 
The " crime " referred to by paragraph Qo was that of 
"conducting soldiers to the enemy ".(namely, dem Feinde 
Mannschaften zufiihrt.) 
It is manifest that this was a strained reading of the pro- 
visions of military law ; that a false interpretation was wilfully 
put upon these provisions in order to secure a conviction. 
The law was obviously framed to cover the cases of those 
who assist stragglers or soldiers who have become lost to get 
back to their own lines and join their imits. It is doubtful 
whether framers of the military law had foreseen anything so 
indirect and unprecedented as that of helping soldiers cross 
the frtintier into a neutral country in the hope that they might 
subsequently find their way back to their own army. Miss 
Cavell assisted these soldiers to escape into a neutral country 
which was bound, if possible, to apprehend and intern them. 
If these soldiers succeeded in outwitting the watch authorities 
and making their way to England, their success would not. 
to any fair-minded person, increase the offence committed 
by Miss Cavell. 
Her Courage in Court 
Miss Cavell's conduct before the Court was marked by the 
greatest frankness and courage. She stated that she had 
assisted these men to escape into Holland because she thought 
that if she had not done so they would have been seized and 
shot by the Germans ; that she felt that she had only done her 
duty in helping to save their lives. 
The Military Prosecutor replied that while this argument 
might be made concerning linglish soldiers, it could not apply 
to Belgians who were free to remain in the country without 
danger. The subsequent behaviour of the Gei-mun authorities 
to the Belgian young men who remained in the country does 
not lend any considerable weight to the remarks of the Public 
Pro.secutor. 
In. concluding his plea, the Public Prosecutor asked that the 
