As a sort of reprisal, the authorities suspended the two newspapers which had not appeared on the 21st July: _Le Quotidien_ and _L'Écho de la Presse_. Immediately _La Belgique_, which had appeared, suspended itself, in order to produce a belief that it was not German! As for the _Bruxellois_, it said not a word of the striking demonstration of the 21st. In other Belgian towns the shops were closed. In Antwerp more than the shops were closed; the bureau of German passports, in the Place Verte, announced, by means of two written notices, in German and Flemish, that it was closed for the 21st July. The Germans were trying to repeat the trick of the ivy-leaf. In vain, however, since the 21st was to occur only once! At Gand the Germans forbade the closing of the shops. And the latter were all open. But in many windows one saw, instead of the usual display of goods, a group of articles which comprised a bucket of water, a scrubbing-brush, and a chamois leather, with an inscription: "Cleaning To-day." _The Anniversary of the 4th August._ We must suppose that the unanimity with which the houses of Brussels were kept shut up touched the Germans in a sore place, for they prohibited the repetition of their manifestation on the 4th August, the anniversary of their entrance into Belgium. NOTICE. I warn the population of the Brussels district that on the 4th August any demonstration, including the decoration of houses by means of flags and the wearing of emblems as a demonstration is strictly prohibited. All gatherings will be dispersed regardless by the armed forces. Also I order that on the 4th August all the shops, as well as cafés, restaurants, taverns, theatres, cinemas, and other establishments of the same kind shall be closed after 8 o'clock in the evening (German time). After 9 o'clock in the evening (German time) only persons having a special written authorization emanating from a German authority may remain in or enter the streets. Persons contravening these orders will be punished by a maximum imprisonment of five years and a fine which may amount to 10,000 marks, or one of these penalties to the exclusion of the other. The shops and establishments beforementioned which, as a demonstration, shall close during the day of the 4th August will remain closed for a considerable period of time. THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT, VON KRAEWEL. _1st August, 1915._ The placard announcing these prohibitions forbade us to deck our houses with flags! Flags, good God! Who then would have dreamed of flying flags in commemoration of the rupture of an international pact! At the most the people of Brussels had intended to wear in the buttonhole a little "scrap of paper." But the wearing of emblems was forbidden.