It will perhaps be objected that those who write of such things are blinded by the militarist spirit; that they have, like everybody in Germany, abolished in themselves the critical faculty; and that they do not even dream of disputing the statements of the official journals; in short, that they do not, properly speaking, lie, because they are sincere. But can they really be sincere? Could they, on the 10th March, pretend that they still believed that the Belgians gouge out the eyes of wounded men and choke them to death with sawdust when _Vorwärts_ had succeeded in getting at the truth, and had been protesting against these lies since the month of January? Besides, the Germans know their own "reptile" Press, and they ought to realize that their newspapers do not merit credence, least of all in time of war. But even if we absolve these writers of the crime of lying, to accuse them of nothing worse than inconceivable credulity, we cannot on any pretext extend the same indulgence to those who are incontestably in a position to know the truth. To cite only one example--is it not shameful that Baron von Bissing the younger should publish _in April 1915_, in the _Süddeutsche Monatshefte_, an article on Belgium in which he repeats the accusations against the "francs-tireurs," and the tales of Belgians mutilating the German wounded? And what are we to say of the reply made by the German Minister of War to Mlle. Leman according to which the German troops have never ill-treated priests (p. 72), nor touched the property of the Church? A visit to Bueken (near Louvain) gives the reply to this twofold assertion. In May 1915 one could still see, in the sacristy, the muniment chest which had contained the sacred vessels; it had been broken open by the Germans with the aid of a bell-clapper. As for the curé, M. De Clerck, we know what he suffered; he was shot after his ears and nose were cut off. With the curé his assistant was killed: Father Vincentius Sombroek, a conventual, born at Zaandam, in Holland.[37] The picture-postcard has, of course, not been forgotten. The Germans had on sale in Brussels, for their soldiers, a coloured card of _The Uhlans_ _before Paris_. It shows groups of German cavalrymen contemplating Paris and the Eiffel Tower. This card is published by R. and K., and bears the number 500. This same firm fabricated some remarkable cards relating to the military operations in Belgium. No. 507 represents the bombardment of Antwerp. It shows the city in flames, seen from the Tête de Flandre, and it also shows guns installed in the same locality. Now the Germans never had guns on the left bank of the Scheldt. No. 502 shows the bombardment of Namur by means of guns firing from Jambes, which again is incorrect. These cards, it should be noted, were still being sold in June 1915; that is, when every one knew that these pictures were "faked." _The Germans' Treatment of Mgr. Mercier._