They had thrown themselves upon their knees, and with raised hands
were weeping and beseeching that their lives might be spared.

"The villagers are exceedingly ignorant, and when their land is in
danger, believe themselves justified in seizing any old shot-gun or
revolver which lies at hand. Probably some of the more prudent are aware
that it is a mad enterprise, but the instinct of self-defence is so
innate in the simple country people that advice does not help in the
least." (Von Bethmann-Hollweg and von Tirpitz justify the use of gas,
the sinking of merchant vessels containing women and children, the
dropping of bombs on open towns, etc., etc., by the plea of
self-defence.--Author.)

"But it is otherwise with regard to the atrocities on our wounded; these
are a stain on Belgium's national honour which will not easily be wiped
out. A German would never perpetrate such monstrous crimes,[112] and
that we can say without any overweening opinion of ourselves."[113]

[Footnote 112: This is hypocrisy or ignorance.--Author.]

[Footnote 113: Ibid., pp. 18-19.]

Herr Knutz offers no proof of the alleged atrocities; he has heard of
them, believes and repeats the story. I have some fifty German books
describing the war in Belgium, and in all of them similar legends are
mentioned, but in no single instance is a case proved and nailed down.
No victim is named, and the scene of the alleged atrocity is never
given, hence it seems to be the usual German artifice to make
_Stimmung_, _i.e._, to raise feeling.

One thumb-nail picture from the teacher's diary shows that the Germans
created only too well a _Stimmung_ of abject terror among the Belgians.

"This morning, August 19th, we searched a small wood for Belgians, but
found none. On leaving the wood a touching picture met our eyes. Several
families were fleeing with their children, and the barest necessaries of
life, into a neighbouring village. An old woman on crutches was trying
in vain to keep up; a young mother with a sucking child was sobbing and
pressing the babe to her bosom. The boys were weeping bitterly and
holding their hands high to prove that they were harmless. We passed by
the ruins of Roosbeck, where civilians had shot on the 20th Artillery
Regiment, for which reason it was burnt down."[114]

[Footnote 114: Ibid., p. 27.]

Among the various interesting pictures of the Fatherland sketched by
German authors perhaps the following is the most naive: "English, F