"Will it be said that we are living under martial law: that we are submitting to the hard necessities of war: that all should give way before the superior interests of your armies?
"I can understand martial law for armies in the field. It is the immediate reply to an aggression against the troops, repression without words, the summary justice of the commander of the army responsible for his soldiers.
"But our armies are far away; we are no longer in the zone of military operations. Nothing here menaces your troops, the inhabitants are calm.
"The people have taken up work again. You have bidden them do it. Each one devotes himself, Magistrates, Judges, officials of the provinces and cities, the clergy, all are at their post, united in one outburst of national interest and brotherhood.
"However, this calm does not mean that they have forgotten.
"The Belgian people lived happily in their corner of the earth, confident in their dream of independence. They saw this dream dispelled, they saw their country ruined and devastated, its ancient hospitable soil has been sown with thousands of tombs where our own sleep; the war has made tears flow which no hand can dry. No, the murdered soul of Belgium will never forget.
"But this nation has a profound respect for its duty. It will always respect it.
"Has not the hour come to consider as closed the period of invasion and to substitute for the measures of exception the rules of occupation as defined by international law and the treaty of The Hague, which sets a limit to the occupying power and imposes obligations on the country occupied?
"Has not the hour arrived to restore the Court House to the judiciary corps? The military occupation of the Court House is a violation of the treaty of The Hague.
"Among the moral forces does one exist that is superior to justice? Justice dominates them all. As ancient as humanity itself, eternal as the need of man and nations to be and to feel protected, it is the basis of all civilization. The arts and sciences are its tributaries. Religious creeds live and prosper in its shadow. Is it not a religion in itself?