“The irreparable crime of Louvain and the ruthless damage done to the Cathedral of Malines while Cardinal Mercier was absent in Rome have left Belgium’s cup of bitterness still unfilled. We do not understand the reason of these remorseless attacks upon venerable places of worship, and particularly upon Roman Catholic churches. We do not fully discern why even the modern Huns should be so eager to violate these peaceful sanctuaries, destroying one, bombarding another with zest, stabling their horses in a third, as they have undoubtedly done. One would almost fancy that the late Professor Cramb was right after all, that Germany regards the Christian creed as outworn, and that she dreams, when she has imposed her will upon the world (if she can), of founding a new religion, with the Kaiser as its inspired expositor. We wonder what the pious people of Bavaria and Austria-Hungary think of this persistent desecration of Catholic shrines. The meaning of the sack of Dinant is, however, sufficiently clear. Thousands of travelers know that pleasant little town, which clustered beneath the old citadel on the banks of the Meuse. They will learn with horror and distress that it has shared the fate of Louvain, that it has been shelled and burned, that many of its defenseless men have been shot, and that its women are hunted and homeless. We have not yet been told, but doubtless shall hear in due course, that the splendid thirteenth-century church of Notre Dame, the most complete example of pointed Gothic architecture in Belgium, has perished amid the general destruction. The reason of this sack and pillage of town after town in Belgium, with every accompaniment of murderous barbarity--Termonde is another melancholy case in point--is becoming obvious. It is due to the resolute resistance of Antwerp. The Germans want to capture Antwerp, but can not spare enough men to invest the fortress, and in any case hope to obtain it without paying the price. They seek to terrorize Antwerp into submission by laying Belgium waste, by razing her undefended cities to the ground, and by shedding the blood of innocent Belgian citizens of both sexes. . . . The wilful devastation of Belgium will have only one definite result. It will increase the chorus of indignant denunciation of German methods of warfare which now rises from every civilized country in the world.” [Illustration: BURNING OF THE CATHEDRAL OF RHEIMS. This noble building, one of the finest pieces of Gothic architecture in the world, was bombarded by German shells and set on fire. Much of the priceless statuary and the entire roof were destroyed.] [Illustration: THE SACKING OF LOUVAIN.