The fearful deeds of horror which have besmirched the name of Germany form a terrible page of history. They have been proved by captured Germans themselves to have been deliberate, and to have been actually ordered by officers as high in rank as colonels and majors, and to be part of the Kaiser’s preconceived plan. The murder of unarmed, inoffensive citizens, the hussar-like stroke of sowing neutral waters with death, the destruction of unfortified towns and the massacre of their inhabitants, the violation of women and young girls, the forcing of men, women, and children to march as shields in front of their troops, the murder of the wounded, the wholesale slaughter of non-combatants, the tortures, the mutilations, and the vile outrages are surely sins against humanity, and are bound to meet with an awful and just retribution. The blood of those martyred innocents cries aloud to God for vengeance, and such vengeance must surely come upon the Kaiser and the inhuman monsters surrounding him who have so deliberately urged on their wild assassins to commit the unspeakable crimes reported during the first month of the war. It must be remembered, in reading of these terrible atrocities, that while they were being committed on the defenceless on every hand, yet the Kaiser sent a telegram to the King of Würtemberg actually thanking the Almighty for the success of his marauders in their murderous campaign against women and children. The text of the Kaiser’s message was: “With God’s gracious assistance, Duke Albrecht and his splendid army have gained a glorious victory. You will join me in thanking the Almighty. I have bestowed on Albrecht the Iron Cross of the First and Second Class.--WILHELM.” God’s gracious assistance! The ruthless and utterly inexcusable barbarities committed by the German army were surely without parallel in the whole history of the world. The spectacle of racial degeneration which Germany displayed staggered civilization, and this awful story of murder, cruelty, and debauchery will surely remain for all time as a record of infamies which have eternally disgraced the German nation. About the apportionment of blame there must be no mistake. The Kaiser could have prevented it by a single word. But, condemned by his own speech, he and his people are alike responsible for the acts of the troops, and no differentiation can be made by right-thinking people. [Illustration: THE BELGIAN COMMISSION. _Photo, Barratt._ _Face p. 21._] II. My Interview with Belgian Ministers of State. In order that the civilized world should be acquainted with the terrible atrocities committed in Belgium, the King of the Belgians, who had served in the trenches with his men, disguised as a private soldier, appointed a Mission to proceed to the President of the United States and lay the case before him. The members of the Mission were:-- =M. Carton de Wiart, Chief of the Mission, who is the Belgian Minister of Justice;=