nother German source we learn the following:

"During the trial in the Senate Chamber the accused, almost without
exception, gave the impression of persons _cleverly simulating
naive innocence_. It was not a mere coincidence that two-thirds of
the accused were women.

"The Englishwoman, Edith Cavell, who has already been executed,
declared that she had believed as an Englishwoman that she ought to
do her country service _by giving lodgings in her house to soldiers
and recruits who were in peril_. She naturally denied that she had
drawn other people into destruction by inducing them to harbor
refugees when her own institute was overtaxed."

From this meagre information we can only infer that Miss Cavell did
admit that she had sheltered some soldiers and recruits who were in
peril, and while this undoubtedly constituted a grave infraction of
military law, yet it does not present in a locality far removed from the
actual war zone a case either of espionage or high treason, and is of
that class of offenses which have always been punished on the highest
considerations of humanity and chivalry and with great moderation.

The difficulty is that the world is not yet fully informed what defense,
if any, Miss Cavell made, or whether an adequate opportunity was given
her to make any. The whole proceeding savours of the darkness of the
mediaeval Inquisition.

We have already seen that even if Miss Cavell's counsel, M. Kirschen,
endeavored in good faith to make an adequate defense in her behalf, it
was impossible for him to see her in advance of the trial, and M.
Kirschen admitted this when he explained to the legal counsel of the
American Embassy that

"lawyers defending prisoners before a German Military Court were
not allowed to see their clients before trial and were not
permitted to see any document of the prosecution."

It is true that M. Kirschen so far defends the trial accorded to Miss
Cavell as to say

"that the hearing of the trial of such cases is carried out very
carefully and that in his opinion, although it was not possible to
see the client before the trial, in fact the trial itself developed
itself so carefully and so slowly that it was generally possible to
have a fair knowledge of all the facts and to present a good
defense for the prisoner. This would especially be the case of Miss
Cavell, because the tria