August 2, 1917 
LANU & WATER 
II 
he brushed away the tears that had started to his eyes. He 
began in a very direct way by saying that he would Hmit 
himself to reading a few documents, and hoped that, after 
hearing them, the House would consider the Goverr.'ment 
worthy of the confidence that had been reposed in it, and that 
immediate action would be taken upon matters of urgent 
importance. He first read the German Ultimatum, which 
was received quietly but with indignation and anger which 
was with difficulty suppressed. \\ ithout commenting upon 
the German note, he then read the reply which had been 
handed to the German Minister. This was followed by a 
final note delivered by the German Minister this morning 
stating that in vieiv of the refusal of the King to accede to the 
well-intentioned proposals of the Emperor, the Imperial Govern- 
ment greatly to its regret was obliged to carry out by force of 
arms the measures indispensable to its security. 
After reading these documents he made a short ringing 
speech full of fire which was repeatedly interrupted by cheers. 
\Vhen he came down from the tribune he was surrounded 
by cheering Senators and Deputies struggling to shake his hand 
and express their approval of his speech. Even the Social- 
ists, who have fought him for years, rose to the occasion and 
vied with their colleagues in their demonstration of enthu- 
siasTi. M. Broqueville rose again and said, " In the present 
crisis we have received from the Opposition a whole-hearted 
support ; they have rallied to our side in the most impressive 
way in preparing the reply to Germany. In order to 
emphasise this union of all factions, His Majesty the King has 
just signed a decree appointing Monsieur Vandervelde as a 
Minister of State." This announcement was greeted by roars 
of applause from all parts of the House, and Vandervelde was 
immediately surrounded by Ministers and Deputies anxious 
to congratulate him. His reply to the Prime Minister's 
speech was merely a shout above the roar of applause : " I 
accept." 
As we came out some of the colleagues were gathered about 
debating whether they should go over to the Palace and 
ask to take leave of the King. They were saved that labour, 
however, for the King had stepped into a motor at the door, 
and was already speeding to the General Headquarters which 
has been set up nobody knows where. That looks like busi- 
ness. 
At the German Legation 
WTien I got back to the Legation I found von Stumm, 
Counsellor of the German Legation, with the news that his 
chief had received his passports and must leave at once. He 
had come to ask that the American Minister take over the care 
of the German Legation, and the protection of the German 
subjects who had not yet left the country. I said that we 
could not undertake anything of that sort without authority 
from Washington, and got the Minister to telegraph for it 
when he came in from some hurried visits he had made in 
search of news. 
While we were snatching some lunch, von S. came back 
with the German Minister, von Below, and said that some 
provisional arrangement must be made at once as the staff 
of the Legation would have to leave for the Dutch frontier 
in the course of the afternoon, long before we could hope for 
an answer from Washington. We did not like the idea of 
doing that sort of thing without the knowledge of Washington, 
but finally agreed to accept the charge provisionally on grounds 
of humanity until such time as we should receive 
specific instructions as to who would be definitely entrusted 
with the protection of German interests. In case of need 
we shall be asked to take over certain other Legations, and 
shall have our hands more than full. 
At five o'clock we went over to the German Legation, 
which we found surrounded by a heavy detachment of Garde 
Civique, as a measure of protection against violence. We 
drew up, signed, and sealed a protocol accepting what is known 
as "la garde des clefs et des sceaux" until such time as definite 
arrangements might be made. The Minister and von Stumm 
were nearly uristrung. They had been under a great strain 
for some days, and were making no effort to get their be- 
longings together to take them away. They sat on the edge 
of their chairs, mopped their brows and smoked cigarettes 
as fast as they could light one from another. I was given 
a lot of final mstructions about things to be done — and all 
with the statement that they should be done at once, as the 
German army would doubtless be in Brussels in three days. 
While we were talking, the chancellor of the Legation, Hofrat 
Grabowsky, a typical white-haired German functionary, 
was pottering about with sealing-wax and strips of paper, 
sealing the archives and answering questions in a deliberate 
and perfectly calm way. It was for all the wdrld like a scene 
in a play. The shaded room, the two nervous diplomats 
registering anxiety and strain, the old functionary who was 
to stay behind and tjuard the archives, and refused to be moved 
from his calm by the approaching cataclysm. It seemed 
altogether unreal, and I had to keep bringing myself back 
to a realization of the fact that it was only too true and too 
serious. 
They were very ominous about what an invasion means 
to this country, and kept referring to the army as a steam 
roller that will leave nothing standing in its path. Stumm 
kept repeating: "Oh, the poor fools! Why don't they get 
out of the ivay of the steam roller ? We don't want to hurt 
them, but il thev stand in our way they will be ground in'.o the 
dirt. Oh, the poor fools I ' ' 
The Government had a special train ready for the German 
diplomatic and consular officers who were to leave, and they 
got away about seven. Now, thank goodness, they are 
safely in Holland, and speeding back to their own country. 
Before leaving, Below gave out word that we would look 
, after German interests, and consequently we have been de- 
luged with frightened people ever since. 
, All the Germans who have' remained here seem to be para- 
lyzed with fright, and have for the most part taken refuge 
in convents, schools, etc. There are: several hundreds of 
them in the. German Consulate-General which has been pro- 
visioned as for a siege. Popular feeling is, of course, running 
, high against them, and there may be incidents, but so far 
nothing has happened to justify the panic. 
This morning a Belgian priest, the Abbe Upmans, came in 
to say that he had several hundred Germans under his care 
and wanted some provision made for getting them away 
before the situation got any worse. After talking the matter 
over with the Minister and getting his instructions I took 
the Abbe in tow and, with Monsieur de Leval, went to the 
Foreign Office to see about getting a special train to get these 
people across the border into Holland, and thence to Germany. 
. We plan to start the train on Friday morning at four 
o'clock, so as to get our people through the streets when 
there are few people about. We are sending word about, that 
all Germans who wish to leave should put in an appearance 
by that time, and it looks as though we should have from 
seven hundred to a thousand to provide for. It will be a 
great relief to get them off, and 1 hold ray breath until tlie 
train is safely off. 
This afternoon, as the Minister and I were going over to 
call on the British Minister, we passed the King and his staff 
heading out of the Rue de la Loi for the front. They looked 
business. 
Several times to-day I have talked over the telephone 
with the Embassy in London. They seem to be as strong on 
rumours as we are here. One rumour was that the British 
Flagship had been sunk by German mines with another big 
warship. Another to the effect that five German ships have 
been destroyed by the French fleet ofi the coast of Algeria, 
etc., etc. 
The Red Cross is hard at work getting ready to handle 
the wounded, and everybody is doing something. Nearly 
everybody with a big house has fitted it in whole or in part 
as a hospital. Others are rolUng bandages and preparing 
all sorts of supplies. 
There is talk already of moving the Court and the Govern- 
ment to Antwerp to take refuge behind the fortifications. 
When the Germans advance beyond Lifege, the Government 
will, of course, have to go, and the diplomatic corps may 
follow. It would be a nuisance for us, and I hope we may 
be able to avoid it. 
Germans are having an unhappy time, and I shall be happier 
when they are across the border. Nothing much seems to 
have happened to them beyond having a few shops wrecked 
in Antwerp, and one or two people beaten up here. One 
case that came to my knowledge was an outraged man who 
had been roughly handled and could not understand why. 
All he had done was to stand in front of a>cafe where the 
little tables are on the sidewalk and remark : " Talk all the 
French you can. You'll soon have to talk German. " 
A Search for Wireless 
August 6th. — This morning when I came into the Legation 
I found the Minister of Justice in top hat and frock coat 
waiting to see somebody. He had received a report that a 
wireless station had been established on top of the German 
Legation, and was being run by the people who were left in 
the building. Ht came to ask the Minister's consent to send 
a judge to see and draw up a proces verbak. In our own 
artless little American way we suggested that it might be 
simpler to go straight over" and find out how much there was 
to report. The Minister of Justice had a couple of telegraph 
linemen with him, and as soon as Mr. Whitlock could get 
his hat we walked around the corner to the German Legation, 
rang the bell, told the startled occupants that we wanted 
to go up to the garret . And— then we went. 
When we got there we found that the only way up to the 
