THE following letter is reprinted from a recent issue of The Bulwark. It was written by Pablo Fernandez, who has been in prison for the truth’s sake, to a friend in Spain, and is worthy of perusal by our readers. The date is 15th September, from Escollera, the military prison of Ferrol:—
“VERY DEAR BROTHER,—I received your welcome letter, and thank God I am again in the Escollera, although I have not quite recovered. But at least I am more tranquil, for latterly communication with me was prohibited, and no one could visit me in the Hospital. Here in the prison it is very damp, and the food is not always good, but I have the consolation that the brethren can come and see me and comfort me in any trouble (if there were any); and although in one way it is somewhat uncomfortable, in another I am better off.
“The judge came yesterday that I might choose my defender. As our brother in the faith, the Colonel —, has written to me telling me to name him; I did so. But I was told that no one higher than a captain could undertake my defence. I insisted that the colonel could, for he had offered to do so. But they would not accept him, so they will name anybody officially. I know no other, and they could not wait for me to seek one who might be a Liberal by means of Don — (a retired captain who is a Protestant). So they will choose whoever they like, but it does not matter; for I will say with the Psalmist—‘Plead my cause, oh Lord,’ and, although they punish me, He who is over all—He it is who will defend me. He saith—‘Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee.’ I have called upon Him, therefore He will hear me.
“I will also tell you that on the 7th of this month there was an inspection of prisons, when the prisoners were allowed to make any petition to the General. I took advantage of the opportunity. I went with the others and asked for liberty on parole. When I entered the office, the General said very shortly that I had done very wrong in not kneeling down, because it was no question of conscience but of military duty. ‘The fact is,’ he said, ‘that you have someone who gives you bad advice,’ and with many other reasons the poor man tried to make me think that I had done wrong. I answered that it was true that I had an Advisor, and that God by His Holy Word counselled me, and, because it is He who counsels me, my conscience does not permit me to kneel before an idol. ‘It is not an act of conscience nor anything of the sort: it is an act of a soldier. As a soldier you should have knelt, not as a Catholic. It does not matter to us whether you are a Freemason, a Protestant, or even a Buddhist, that is the least of it, the fact is that in the army everybody has to kneel down in a military manner. If it were in the battlefield,’ he continued, ‘that you had been ordered to do anything and you disobeyed, you would have been shot down!’
“‘As a soldier,’ I replied, ‘I do not see that such a manœuvre is necessary every Sunday, and therefore as a soldier I will not do it. And if it were on the battlefield, I would be commanded to fire, and that I am ready to do, and to shed even the last drop of my blood in defence of my country, but not to kneel down, but because God condemns it; my conscience does not permit it, and I cannot do it. To try would not only be to lose my dignity, but even my personality.’
“The General began again to speak, with all his learning, and, without giving me a chance to answer, he ordered me to retire if I had nothing more to say. I was going to reply, but did not, and went out. Liberty has not yet come. God grant that it be not delayed, but that His will be done.—Yours in Christ,
PABLO FERNANDEZ.”
ALEXANDER GAIR said that the legal sinner thinks he must be perfect before he should try to draw near to the Most High, but that the believer goes, helpless as he is, to Christ—hoping.