Von Bulow's greeting to the people of Liège (_in text_) 324
How the simple pleasures of the German soldiers were restricted (_in text_) 324
Aux habitants de la Belgique (_in text_) 328
Appeal of the Queen of the Belgians for help from America (_in text_) 338
Julius Van Hee, American Vice-Counsel at Ghent 340
A Brussels soup-kitchen run by volunteers 341
Meals served to the children in the schools 341
German proclamation announcing the execution of Miss Cavell (_in text_) 349
Fly-leaf of Miss Cavell's prayer book 357
Notes in Miss Cavell's prayer book 360, 361
This volume is not a carefully prepared treatise on the war. It does not set out to prove anything. It is merely what its title indicates--a private journal jotted down hastily from day to day in odd moments, when more pressing duties would permit. Much material has been eliminated as of little interest. Other material of interest has been left out because it cannot be published at this time. It is believed, however, that what is printed here will suffice to give some idea of life in Belgium during the first few months of the war.
I have eliminated from the journal most of the matter about the early history of the Commission for Relief in Belgium. My day-to-day record did not do any sort of justice to the subject, and since it was not adequate, I have preferred to eliminate all but such casual reference to the relief work as is necessary to maintain the narrative. I am reconciled to this treatment of the subject by the knowledge that the story will be told comprehensively and well by Dr. Vernon Kellogg, who will soon publish an authoritative history of the Commission's work. As former Director of the Commission in Belgium, he has the detailed knowledge of its workings and the sympathetic understanding of its purpose, which peculiarly fit him for the task.
The work of the Commission is of a scope and significance that few of us realise. It is without doubt the greatest humanitarian enterprise in history, conducted under conditions of almost incredible difficulty. To those who had an understanding of the work, it had a compelling appeal, not only as an opportunity for service but also as the greatest conservation project of all time--the conservation of one of the finest races of our civilisation.