Perhaps in no better way can the barbarous methods of the Austrian invader be understood than from a quotation from an appeal made by the Serbian Archbishop. "The barbarous methods of warfare of the German Allies, the object of which is to annihilate other nations and their culture, have inflicted on us, as well as on the Belgians, bloody and incurable wounds. Whole crowds of our best and noblest Serbs, who as non-combatants peacefully received the Austrian army, have been killed with a cruelty of which even savages would be ashamed. Men and women, old men and innocent children have been murdered by terrible tortures, by arms, and by fire. Many have been locked up in school buildings and other houses and burnt alive. All the churches to which the Austrians got access have been desecrated, robbed, and destroyed. The schools and the best houses have fared in the same way. Belgrade, the beautiful capital of Serbia, its churches, its educational and humanitarian institutions, have been destroyed. The university, the national library, the museum, and scientific collections, have been ruined. For those who have escaped, and for the orphans of the fallen, speedy help is most necessary." Said Madame Grouitch an eye witness of these depredations, "Imagine the farming districts of our Middle States charred and trampled, and everything killed. This would give you a faint idea of Serbia after the Austrians first entered it." When they approached Belgrade at the very beginning of the war, within six hours they were shelling the city and killing women and children. In other cities, as at Shabats, for example, they did many things from what seemed a mere spirit of wantonness, emptying the contents of shops into the streets and carrying away property that could hardly have been of use to them. But while they devastated the country they had entered and terrified the non-combatants, they had few engagements with the Serbian soldiers worthy the name of battle. It was during this second invasion that King Peter especially endeared himself to his men. In one instance where they were growing disheartened, he entered the trenches and discharging his rifle as a signal, led them to victory. The Serbs from the beginning of the war felt confidence in their leaders--the Crown Prince, Putnik, Misich, Pasich, the king.