In the face of these brutal attacks, the German soldiers had to protect themselves by energetic retaliatory measures. As had been threatened, the inhabitants who had participated in the attack were shot, and the houses out of which they fired were burned. It was impossible to prevent the fire from spreading to other houses, and thus some rows of them were destroyed. It was in this way also that the Cathedral caught fire (App. 4). A further spreading of the conflagration was prevented by our troops who, led by their officers, undertook the work of extinguishing the fire in a self-sacrificing manner (App. 46). Thanks to their efforts, only a comparatively small part of the town, _i.e._ the quarter between the station and the town hall, suffered. The magnificent town hall was saved through the efforts of our troops. The burning houses lit up the dark night and enabled our soldiers to meet the attack more effectively. Thus it diminished gradually; only here and there a few shots were fired during the night. The next morning, however, the attacks were renewed with great violence. The disturbances still continued on this and the following days, though the hostages were, on August the 26th and 27th, again led through the streets in order to exhort the inhabitants to keep the peace (Apps. 1, 37, 38, 40, 44, 45, 47). That the insurrection did not break out accidentally, but was prepared long beforehand, can be proved, apart from the above-mentioned rocket-signals which announced the beginning of the surprise attack, by the following facts: 1. The circumstance that arms had been found in large quantities, though these, according to the declaration of the Mayor, had been already handed over on August 19th (Apps. 1, 20). 2. The observation that a great number of young men entered Louvain and dispersed in the town (App. 34). It was easy for them to take up quarters in the hotels and the lodging-houses left by the students. 3. Numerous stores of cartridges and explosives, which had been hidden there by the population, exploded in the burning houses (Apps. 1, 2, 6, 37).