“Fresh cries arose from our party. Horror-stricken women began to weep. I did not see the bodies removed, but I saw them fall to the ground.
“At this moment a great uproar broke out. Another Frenchman, a big man with a great black beard, whose age and appearance I forget and whom I did not know, began to shout, ‘Cowards! Murderers!’ Soldiers surrounded him. He struggled with them. They speedily overcame him, and, without taking the trouble to stand him up against the wall, without the intervention of any officer, one of the soldiers thrust the barrel of his rifle against his body and shot him down point blank before my eyes.
“I saw these same soldiers dragging his body along the ground. The man was struggling still. I had not the strength to look any more. I heard other shots. I don’t know if there were any other victims.”
The German troops allowed no considerations of religion or respect for antiquity to interfere with their scheme of devastation. Great works of art and architecture and ancient churches were destroyed by fire or shell, and in more than one instance it is stated that cathedrals were used for stabling horses. To-day many are the ruined churches in Belgium. Of the beautiful cathedral of Louvain only the walls stand, for the interior is reported to have been ruthlessly shelled, pillaged, and finally set on fire. Other churches in the ill-fated city similarly suffered, while at Malines, too, bare walls and loose masonry are all that remain of what were until recently sacred edifices of exceptional interest to visitors by reason of their ancient treasures.
“We believe that some of the generals and some of the officers have encouraged these crimes, which would be impossible without such countenance. Yet we trust that there are still German officers whose characters can be respected.”
—From the Morning Post.
XIV.
“It is not a fair fight. Germany is fighting foully; she is defying not only the rules of war, but the rules of humanity.”—Mr. Richard Harding Davis, the great American author.
Treatment of English Travellers.