The course of procedure was terribly reminiscent of the methods of the old Spanish Inquisition. True, Miss Cavell was not subjected to actual physical torture, but the mental strain was calculated to break down anything in the nature of obstinacy. With diabolical cunning she was cut off from communication with the world outside the jail as completely as if she were dead, lest any whisper of warning to guard her tongue might reach her from outside; and often she had to face interrogation by brutal and implacable enemies, who sought not to do her justice, but only to assure her condemnation.
It is a comfort to believe that Miss Cavell's keen perception and her knowledge of German unscrupulousness enabled her to realize the inevitable end that awaited her, thus saving her from carking speculation that might have unhinged her reason. With Christian fortitude she grasped the inestimable boon of resignation, fully assured that 'death is the liberator of him whom freedom cannot release, and the comforter of him whom time cannot console.'
Really the secrecy of her arrest and imprisonment and the precautions taken for her utter isolation were scarcely worth the trouble the crafty conspirators had taken, for Nurse Cavell took up a simple and heroic position that greatly simplified matters from the German standpoint. She was not an inexperienced girl, she was a noble woman of clever intellect, and had never been in doubt of the penalty she might incur by succouring compatriots and friends in distress in defiance of the German military code.
Inspired in her perilous work by the dictates of purest humanity, which has been the glory of women of all nations in all ages, she boldly avowed to her accusers that she had nothing to conceal. The last thing to have entered her mind would have been to attempt to mitigate her offence by lying; she would not even palter with disingenuousness. Not only did she admit the charges against her, but she related incidents about which her inquisitors had but the most fragmentary particulars, or even only flimsy suspicions. She did not hesitate to supply dates and details for which the spies had sought in vain.
It is impossible to tell when Miss Cavell first became aware that a considerable number of her friends were under arrest. In any case during her long incarceration in prison and the numerous interrogations she had to undergo in order to elicit the admissions to construct the case against her, she scrupulously avoided the implication of other persons. No brutality, no wheedling, no bribe, could ever have made that brave soul disloyal by word or deed to any of her associates.
IV
SPINNING THE TOILS
The Germans have asserted that Edith Cavell's arrest, trial, and punishment were necessary as a warning, especially to others of her sex, that enterprises conducing to the disadvantage of their army were punishable with death. It is sufficient commentary upon this claim to remember that Baron von Bissing caused the English nurse to be arrested in secret and tried in camera, when publicity was a prime necessity if her case was to act as a warning to others.