+---------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | [Illustration] | | | | =WE, WILHELM,= | | | | =GIVE NOTICE to the inhabitants of those provinces occupied | | by the German Imperial Army, that--= | | | | I MAKE WAR upon the soldiers, and not upon English | | citizens. Consequently, it is my wish to give the latter and | | their property entire security, and as long as they do not | | embark upon hostile enterprise against the German troops | | they have a right to my protection. | | | | GENERALS COMMANDING the various corps in the | | various districts in England are ordered to place before the | | public the stringent measures which I have ordered to be | | adopted against towns, villages, and persons who act in | | contradiction to the usages of war. They are to regulate | | in the same manner all the operations necessary for the | | well-being of our troops, to fix the difference between the | | English and German rate of exchange, and to facilitate in | | every manner possible the individual transactions between | | our Army and the inhabitants of England. | | | | =WILHELM.= | | | | Given at POTSDAM, _September 4th, 1910_. | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ The above is a copy of the German Imperial Decree, printed in English, which was posted by unknown German agents in London, and which appeared everywhere throughout East Anglia and in that portion of the Midlands held by the enemy. This was the appalling question on everyone’s tongue all over the country, for it now became generally known that upon this line of defence four complete and perfectly equipped German army corps were ready to advance at any moment, in addition to the right flank being exposed to the attack of the XIIth Saxon Corps, entrenched on the Essex coast. It was estimated that no fewer than two hundred thousand Germans were already upon English soil! The outlook grew blacker every hour.