In revenging themselves on Rheims for their disappointments and failures, the Germans seem to have been particularly determined to destroy the building which is at once one of the most precious artistic treasures of France and one of the most ancient evidences of her history. In 1814 the then Allies bombarded Rheims but respected the Cathedral. It is true that there were Germans who found fault with this respectful forbearance. One of them, _Johann Joseph Goëres_, author of a voluminous work entitled "_Christian Mysticism_," dared to write in April, 1814: "_Destroy, reduce to ashes, this Rheims basilica, where Chlodoric was consecrated, and where was born that empire of the Franks, those turncoat brothers of the noble Germans; burn the Cathedral._" In the course of the recent war the Germans followed the vindictive advice of Goëres, although, less frank than he, they did not dare, in face of the indignation of Christendom and of the whole world, boast of their vandalism. [Illustration: THE PIERCED VAULTING AND TOWERS OF THE CATHEDRAL IN 1919] By way of excuse they alleged sometimes errors in firing, sometimes that the French had established a battery of artillery near the Cathedral and an observation-post in one of the towers (a projector was installed on the Cathedral, on September 13, 1914, _i.e._ the day that the French re-entered Rheims, and it remained there only one night). On November 9, 1914, General Rouquerol declared to the French Government, who had demanded an enquiry, that the nearest battery to the Cathedral was at that time more than 1,200 yards away; that on the day (September 19) the Cathedral was set on fire by the German shells, the nearest French batteries were still quite close to the spot occupied by the above-mentioned battery, whose position the French Premier verified personally. The General concluded that the German artillery could not have made an error of 1,200 yards in firing, but that they had deliberately aimed at the Cathedral. The Cathedral, though terribly shattered, is still standing. The description of the edifice (pp. 33 to 60) gives particulars of the damage and destructions which occurred principally in September, 1914, April, 1917, and July, 1918. On September 19, 1914, incendiary shells set fire to various portions of the building. The roof was burnt, but the vaulting escaped injury. The tambours of the side doors and the statues on the latter were destroyed by the flames. The 18th century stalls, consecration carpet of Charles X. and archi-episcopal throne were likewise burnt. The great rose-window of the western façade, together with several other stained-glass windows, were destroyed, as were also the "Angel" steeple and its caryatids above the chevet. The northern tower was seriously injured by the burning of the scaffolding around it (_see photo, p. 9_). The statues were eaten into by the flames and subsequently crumbled away, some of them being irrecoverably lost.