“Hardly had the shot rang out than protests arose from our little band. Among those who protested most vigorously were three young Frenchmen from eighteen to twenty years old. They looked to me like students leaving Germany, like myself. I did not speak to them and do not know their names. Just as the soldiers seized him and his comrades one of the young Frenchmen tried to speak to an officer who was wearing a large, light grey cloak. This officer did not listen to him. Some order must have been given, I don’t know by whom. “One of the three Frenchmen, who must have been told of the fate awaiting him, cried out in German ‘Don’t hold us. We aren’t afraid; we are Frenchmen!’ “This time the officer replied coarsely, half turning round, ‘Shut up.’ The three Frenchmen of their own accord placed themselves against the wall of the same restaurant. Two lines of soldiers were drawn up on either side of them at right angles to the wall. Other soldiers--how many I did not count--took up their position in front of them about eight yards away. A volley rang out. The three Frenchmen fell. “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.