23 OCTOBER 1915, Page 2

In the Lords on Wednesday, in answer to a question

by Lord Desert in regard to the execution of Miss Edith Cavell, Lord Lansdowne said, and wo endorse his words to the full, that the incident has moved public opinion in this country more than any event in the war. He had no hesitation in saying that in no civilized country would some measure of mercy have been refused to one who was not only a woman, but a brave and devoted woman, who bad given all her efforts and energies to the mitigation of suffering. The United States bad. forwarded to the Foreign Office a full report of the execution, from which it appears that the representatives of the United States and of Spain up to the very last moment used every effort to obtain a com. mutation of the death sentence, or at least a period of suspense. Two French ladies accused of sheltering French and British fugitive soldiers were to have been executed on Monday, but owing to representations made by the King of Spain and the Pope these executions have been postponed.