This fact
appears not to be exceptional. It is, indeed, notorious that at
Maestricht, either by mistake or in consequence of a mutiny, Germans
about this same time killed one another during the night at a cavalry
camp which they had established at Mesch, close to the Dutch frontier in
Limbourg.
It is confirmed that the town of Vise was entirely burned, with the
exception, it appears, of a religious establishment which seems to have
been respected, and that several citizens, both of the town and of the
village of Canne, were shot.
A Deliberate System.
A large number of places situated in the triangle between Vilvorde,
Malines, and Louvain--that is to say, in one of the most populous and, a
few days ago, one of the most prosperous regions in Belgium--have been
given over to plunder, partially or entirely destroyed by fire, their
population dispersed, while the inhabitants were indiscriminately
arrested and shot without trial and without apparent reason, the sole
object being, it seems, to inspire terror and to compel the migration of
the population.
This was notably the case in the communes or hamlets of Sempst, Weerde,
Elewyt, Holstade, Wespelaer, Wilsele, Bueken, Eppeghem, Wackerzeele,
Rotselaer, Werchter, Thildonck, Boortmeerbeek, Houthem, Tremeloo.
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