"At the time of the invasion Belgian civilians, in twenty places, were
made to take part in operations of war against their own country. At
Termonde, Lebbeke, Dinant, and elsewhere in many places, peaceable
citizens, women, and children were forced to march in front of German
regiments or to make a screen before them.
[Sidenote: Cardinal Mercier's judgment on the system of hostages.]
"The system of hostages was carried out with a fierce cruelty.
The proclamation of August 4th, quoted above, declared, without
circumlocution: 'Hostages will be freely taken.'
"An official proclamation, posted at Liége, in the early days of
August, ran thus: 'Every aggression committed against the German
troops by any persons other than soldiers in uniform not only exposes
the guilty person to be immediately shot, but will also entail the
severest reprisals against all the inhabitants, and especially against
those natives of Liége who have been detained as hostages in the
citadel of Liége by the commandant of the German troops.'
"These hostages are Monsignor Rutten, Bishop of Liége; M. Kleyer,
burgomaster of Liége; the senators, representatives, and the permanent
deputy and sheriff of Liége."
The above quotation is taken from _An Appeal to Truth_, addressed Nov.
24, 1915, by Cardinal Mercier and the other bishops of Belgium to the
cardinals, archbishops, and bishops of Germany and Austria-Hungary.
[Sidenote: Will Irwin on brutality of German drive through Belgium.]
"Some ten or a dozen American correspondents, of whom I was one,
witnessed the First German drive through Belgium. Most of us were so
appalled and horrified by what we saw as to become anti-German for
life." Will Irwin, in _Saturday Evening Post_, Oct. 6, 1917, p. 41.