horities finally concluded to tear them down. But they were certainly
very picturesque, as my picture shows, their red tiled roofs and green
blinds, making most agreeable notes of color against old St. Peter's
gray wall.

[Illustration: The Cathedral: Louvain]

The church so wantonly destroyed in 1914 contained some most remarkable
works of art in the nine chapels. Among these were the "Martyrdom of St.
Erasmus," by Dierick Bouts, long thought to be a work of Memling.
Another painting, "The Last Supper," was also considered one of
Memling's works, until its authenticity was established by the finding
of the receipt by Bouts for payment, discovered in the archives of the
Library in Louvain in 1870. Formerly the church owned a great treasure
in Quentin Matsys' "Holy Family," but this was sold to the Brussels
Museum for something less than L10,000, and upon the outbreak of the war
was in that collection. It is said that most of these great paintings
owned in Belgium were placed in zinc and leaden cases and sent over to
England for safety. It is to be hoped that this is true.

The _custode_ showed, with most impressive manner, a quaint image of the
Savior which, he related, was connected with a miraculous legend to the
effect that the statue had captured and held a thief who had broken into
the church upon one occasion! The townspeople venerate this image, and
on each occasion when I visited the church, I noted the number of old
women on their knees before it, and the many lighted waxen candles which
they offered in its honor. A wave of indignation passed over the world
of art when the newspapers reported the destruction of the beautiful
Hotel de Ville, just opposite old St. Peter's. This report was almost
immediately followed by a denial from Berlin that it had suffered any
harm whatever, and it would seem that this is true.

The Library, however, with its hundreds of thousands of priceless
records, and masterpieces of printing is, it is admitted, entirely
destroyed! This great building, black and crumbling with age, was
situated in a small street behind the Hotel de Ville. The town itself
was bright and clean looking, and there was a handsome boulevard leading
from the new Gothic railway station situated in a beflowered parkway,
which was lined with prosperous looking shops. This whole district was
"put to the torch" and wantonly destroyed when the town was captured in
1914. Late photographs show the new station levell