man been
condemned to death, but over one hundred Belgian women and children have
been sent home again.'"[126]

[Footnote 126: Ibid., p. 19.]

The above extracts will suffice to show how these Roman Catholic
gentlemen proceeded. Immediately an atrocity was reported they applied
to the authorities, and in every case received an affirmation that the
deed had never taken place. Among the monstrous lies exposed by these
investigators, are reports that Belgian priests paid eight shillings for
every German head brought to them; high treason charges against Catholic
priests in Alsace; all kinds of monstrous crimes charged to the
priesthood; that a Belgian boy was caught with a bucketful of dead
Germans' eyes; espionage by priests etc., etc.

Yet one other case deserves quotation: "On October 5th, 1914, a priest
was travelling by rail to Mayence. In the same compartment there were
four privates from Infantry Regiment No. 94. One of them named Roessner,
related the following story to his comrades, and then, at the priest's
request, again repeated it:

"'In the Belgian village of Patsie the _cure_ welcomed a German major
and his orderly into his house. Afterwards the priest promised a boy of
thirteen that he should go straight to heaven if he would murder the two
Germans. The lad perpetrated the murder, after which he and the _cure_
were shot under martial law.'

"When the priest pointed out how incredible the whole story was, the
soldier swore to its truth, and became very impolite to his auditor. An
inquiry was instituted and this was the result:

"'War Office, No. 1866. The investigations made, in especial the
hearing under oath of private Roessner and several officers in his
regiment, have resulted in the following particulars being obtained:
At the beginning of the campaign as the troops marched into a
village--name unknown--they saw by the roadside two or three dead
civilians. One was apparently a boy of about thirteen, while the other
was an adult with a dark coat. It was not established whether this was
the body of a priest. Furthermore, we have not been able to discover
by whom, or for what reason, these people were shot.

"'At that time the story quoted by you about a _cure_ and a boy, was
told as a "rumour" to all the troops marching through. It is
impossible after the lapse of time to test the truth of the narrative.

"'Signed by order,

"'BAUER AND WAGNER.'"[127]

[Footnote 12