In July 1915 the people of Brussels hit on a new method of celebrating the national anniversary of the 21st July. Since our tyrants would obviously forbid us to fly our flag at half-mast, in token of our being for the time in mourning for our country, a number of shopkeepers announced, by means of a small printed notice, that "the shop would be closed on Wednesday, the 21st July." The Germans were displeased; moreover, they issued a decree forbidding all demonstrations. 21ST JULY. _Order of the Governor of Brussels dated 18th July, 1915._ I warn the public that on the 21st July, 1915, demonstrations of all kinds are expressly and severely prohibited. Meetings, processions, and the decoration of public and private buildings also come under the application of the above prohibition. Offenders will be punished by a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months and a fine which may amount to as much as 10,000 marks, or by one of these penalties to the exclusion of the other. They also announced, by means of the newspapers in their pay, _Le Bruxellois_ and _La Belgique_, that the closing of the shops might be regarded as a demonstration. Their pains were wasted. On the morning of the 21st the shops and cafés remained closed; in private houses the shutters were not opened. In all Brussels only a few taverns were open--taverns frequented by the Germans, which a Belgian would never compromise himself by entering. All that day it was a comforting and impressive spectacle to see the crowd, in its Sunday clothes, grave and deeply affected, with never one uplifted voice, passing along the streets of closed houses. Never had the like been seen in Brussels. No one would have dared to hope for such unanimity of feeling after eleven months of occupation. The Germans were raging. They brought out troops, who, with bayonet and cannon, occupied the principal public squares; they ran an armoured motor-car up and down the most frequented streets; they dragged artillery along the avenues surrounding the city. But they did not succeed in fomenting the slightest disturbance; the Brussels public was too firmly determined to preserve its dignity and its tranquillity. In all the churches the _Te Deum_ was replaced by a High Mass, followed by the playing of the _Brabançonne_; the latter was sung in chorus by the congregation, who were moved to tears. The comic note was struck by the Germans. Suddenly, in the afternoon, motor-cars began to hustle the crowds that had gathered; they bore red placards, which were immediately pasted up, announcing that the cafés, cinema-halls, etc., were to be closed at 8 p.m. Now all these establishments had been closed since the morning. The Germans must have lost their heads to make so grotesque an exhibition of themselves.