[2] All numerals relate to stories herein told--not to chapters from
original sources.
"HOW BELGIUM SAVED EUROPE"--THE LITTLE KINGDOM OF HEROES
_Tragedy of the Belgians_
_Told by Dr. Charles Sarolea, Ph. D. (Liège), Litt. D. (Brussels),
Belgian Consul in Edinburgh_
Dr. Sarolea is the historian of the Belgian people in the world
tragedy through which they have passed. Count D'Aviella, Belgian
Secretary of State, exclaims: "I am sure no one can read these
tragic pages without becoming more than ever confirmed in his
conviction that we are fighting in the cause of right, of liberty,
and of civilization." Dr. Sarolea has for twelve years been Belgian
Consul in Scotland; he is the personal friend of His Majesty
King Albert of Belgium, with whom he frequently sits in private
audience. He has written a book, "How Belgium Saved Europe," which
sets forth the great tragedy which places the Belgian people on the
same plane with those soul stirring heroes of universal history in
the Persian Wars of Greece, the Punic Wars of Rome, the Wars of
Spain against the Moors, the epic of Joan of Arc, the Wars of the
French Revolution--and all the outstanding and inspiring chapters
in the drama of human heroism. He tells about "The Hero-King" and
"The German Plot in Belgium." We here record his story on "The
Destruction of Louvain," by permission of his publishers, _J. B.
Lippincott Company_: Copyright 1915.
[3] I--STORIES OF MAD FURY IN LOUVAIN
On September 1 (1914) a procession of refugees from Louvain arrived at
Malines in a frenzy of terror with the news that the town of Louvain
had been set on fire by the Germans and that the whole city was a heap
of ruins. The wildest stories added to the horror of the tale. It
was said that there had been a wholesale massacre of men, women, and
children, and that hundreds of priests, and especially Jesuits, had
been singled out for murder. Many of the stories proved to be without
any foundation. But when all the exaggerations had been discounted
there remained a body of substantial facts that were enough to send a
thrill of indignation through Europe.
Two certainties emerged from the chaos of conflicting evidence. First,
there had been indiscriminate slaughter of civilians and looting of
property. Secondly, the Germans, armed with incendiary fuses and
obeying the order of the military authorities, had methodically burned
the whole section of Louvain which extends from the station in the
centre of the town, including the University and the church of St.
Pierre.
Since the destruction of the hapless University town other atrocities
have followed in almost daily succession, Termonde, Aerschot, Malines,
Antwerp. The world has almost got accustomed to them. There has been
nothing like this mad fury of destruction in the whole history of
modern warfare. Rheims has outdone even Louvain, and the ruin of the
Cathedral of Rheims is an even greater loss than the destruction of the
old Belgian Catholic University.
Still Louvain remains the one crowning infamy. German casuistry may at
least find some extenuating circumstances in the fact that Rheims was
a fortified town, and that the Cathedral tower might have been used as
an observation post for the French armies. For the crime of Louvain
no extenuating circumstance can be urged. Louvain was undefended. It
was a peaceful city of students, priests, and landladies. It was in
the occupation of the Germans. Its destruction, therefore, was both a
wanton and a cowardly act of cruelty, and being both wanton and cruel,
it will stand out as the typical atrocity of German militarism.
Only those who are familiar with the history of Belgium and Brabant,
and with the history of Belgian Universities, know what Louvain and
the University stood for. Founded in 1425, in the days of Petrarch,
Froissart, and Chaucer, it was one of the oldest and most illustrious
seats of learning in Europe. It was the seat of Pope Adrian VI,
the tutor of Charles V. It still remained the most famous Catholic
University in the world. It still attracted scholars from every
country. It was still the nursery of Irish, English, and American
priests.
And not only had Louvain 500 years of learning behind it, it was also a
city with a magnificent municipal tradition. The town hall, one of the
gems of Gothic architecture, was a glorious monument to that municipal
tradition. By the destruction of Louvain the German soldiery have
wiped out five centuries of religious and intellectual culture and of
municipal freedom.