recies.

THE CREDULITY OF HATE.

At Aachen a hostile demonstration took place at our expense.
There happened to be a German troop train in the station at the
time. A soldier of our escort displayed a specimen of the
British soldier's knife, holding it up with the marline-spike
open, and declared that this was the deadly instrument which
British medical officers had been using to gouge out the eyes of
the wounded Germans who had fallen into their vindictive hands!
From the knife he pointed to the medical officers sitting
placidly in the train, as much as to say. "And these are some of
the culprits." [It is not surprising that thus monstrously
misinformed, and ready to believe all evil against the hated
English, the soldiers] strained like bloodhounds on the leash.
"Out with them!" said their irate colonel, pointing with his
thumb over his shoulder to the carriages in which these
blood-thirsty British officers sat. The colonel, however, did
not wait to see his behest carried out, and a very gentlemanly
German subaltern quietly urged his men to get back to their
train and leave us alone. The only daggers that pierced us were
the eyes of a couple of priests, a few women and boys, who
appeared to be shocked beyond words that even a clergyman was
amongst such wicked men.

I have quoted this passage as I have not the least wish to give a merely
_couleur de rose_ picture of the situation. Human nature is, I fear,
everywhere very much the same, and, once its passions are aroused,
extremely credulous of evil against its opponents. Only one thing in the
account a little surprises me, and that is the colonel's order. If the
officer was a colonel, would a subaltern be able quietly to countermand
his orders? Is there not some mistake of rank here, or perhaps a
misunderstanding of an angry exclamation?

TORGAU.

The populace at Torgau called them swine with variations--all of which,
alas, is exactly what has been done, in some cases, by the populace on
our side too. At Torgau "the Commandant was a Prussian reservist officer
with a long heavy moustache. We were told [by the other prisoners] that
he was courteous and considerate in every respect, and that, provided we
took care, to salute him whenever we passed him, we should find him
everything we could reasonably wish." And later, "It was a subject of
universal regret when the first Commanda