any portraits are drawn and a few painted. One artist is just
completing a portrait of me in pastels. There is an endless
outpouring of theatre posters, caricatures, humorous drawings,
skits on the camp, etc."
Six students at Ruhleben passed the London University Matriculation
examination in December, 1916. One of them took the Edinburgh papers as
well later on. (_Observer_, August 26, 1917.) These are remarkable
cases, for the strain of prolonged internment seems most of all to
affect the power of concentrated attention.
The case of another successful student is recorded in the _Daily News_
of June 2, 1918:
The distinction--probably unique--of graduating for the degree
of Doctor of Music of Oxford University while a prisoner in
enemy hands has been achieved by Mr. Ernest Macmillan, a young
man with Edinburgh connections. Mr. Macmillan, who is the son of
a clergyman in Toronto, was studying music in Germany when the
war broke out, and since then he has been interned as a civil
prisoner at Ruhleben. His answer to examination papers and his
"exercise" (or composition) were sent from Ruhleben to Oxford.
That such things are possible at Ruhleben is a great tribute to English
spirit and endurance. We must also not forget that they would clearly be
wholly impossible if the Germans were actually barbarians.
A FRIENDLY ENEMY.
When Bishop Bury during his visit in November, 1915, asked what he might
be allowed to say at Ruhleben, General Friedrich replied: "Please do all
you can to hearten and cheer up your fellow countrymen. Appeal to their
patriotism, speak to their manhood. You and they will have no one
between you. There will be no official of the camp; no one to listen to
you, no one to come between yourself and them. We trust you entirely
with them, and you will understand, I am sure, that we do not wish to
diminish anyone's sense of nationality who is imprisoned or interned in
Germany." ("My Visit to Ruhleben," p. 21.) The words, says Bishop Bury,
"seemed to come straight from the heart of the speaker." Some readers
will be sceptical; but at least _the words were acted on_. The Bishop
spoke about the armies and the war to the men, and told them of his own
experiences in the war area, "just as I should have told them to my own
countrymen in this country." At his last address the British flag was
run in on a cord and "God Save the King" was sung. The Bishop had no
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