ONE STORY OF BELGIUM

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2468, 22 May 1915, Page 3

ONE STORY OF BELGIUM

. « THE MURDER OF A PRIEST. The following letter appeared in the New York "Evening Post" recently : — Sir,—Here is the plain, unrhetorical account of the shooting of one single Belgian priest after the burning of Louvain. It was sent to Father 'Jhurston, S.J., of Farm Street, London, by one of the fellows of the victim, a member of the Department of Physics and Mathematics of tho University of Louvain. As he himself is still in Belgium, his name cannot be given. The ; second' part of the story is quoted from Father Schill, of Louvain, who is now ■ itv Paris:— "Wo saw then, brought between two ! soldiers with -fixed bayonets and accom- ; panied by two officers,_ Father Eugene Dupiereux. He held in his clasped hands his crucifix and rosary. We understood. Four yards from us the group halted. An officer asked us whidh of us understood German. Father Schill, a native of Luxemburg, stepped forward. With brutal threats of every 1 description, he was made to_ read in French, and then translate into Ger- ' man, the text of the paper found on Father Dupiereux. This paper, which was a private note, written on a halfsheet of notepaper, inadvertently placed in his pocket, among other papers, in the hurry of departuro, ran m sub- ■ stance as follow^: — " -At the beginning of the war we 1 laughed when French newspapers spoke of the invasion of Barbarian hordes. Those who, like us, have seen tho con- 1 duct of the Germans at Louvain now know what to expect. Genseric's methods were no different. After the burning of the Library and the University, the barbarians can no longer have a word to say against K'halif Omar for burning the library at Alexandria. And all in the name of German culture!' "I now quote from Father Schill: " 'As I read those words the officer stopped mo: "Genug—ab' ("That will do I"), and as some tried to pacify him: "Kein wort melir!" ("Not another word!") Then tho father, who had listened to tho reading with perfect calm and self-possession, askod to receive absolution. This was explained to the officer, and leave was granted. After his confession the father rose. Tho officer gave the command: "Vorwarts for die front." (I leavo the poor, faulty German as it was written.) Without a moment's hesitation, the father stopped forward, his eyes fixed on the crucifix. At about fifteen yards away from us the father halted at the officer's command. Then four soldiers were summoned and placed between tho victim and ourselves. The command rang: "Legt an! Feuer." We heard but one report; the father fell on his back. A last quiver ran through his arms. Then the spectators were told to tum around. Among them was the victim's twin brother. Tho officer bent over tho body and discharged his gun into the ear, the bullet issuing from tho eye I' " Of late we have been hearing much to tho effect that in tho present war one army is, after all, pretty much the same as anotlior; and what the Germans have done tho Allies would do under tho same conditions. Now, abovo is one very small case in point. And can any reader of this believe for a moment that any English or French or. Russian officer could conceivably liavo a man shot for such a reason? Indeed, can any one believe that tho Germans, without the teachings of the last forty years, could themselves be capable of it? And does not such a story absolutely ohnke the mouths of all the Dernburg and Bernstorff explainers and apologists that can be sent over to us for years to come? Arthur E. M'Failane. , Forest Hills, N.Y., April 6.