Towards 2 o’clock, when the rattle of the mitrailleuse could be clearly distinguished, and the French artillery was at the outside only half a German mile in a straight line from Versailles, the Chief rode out to the aqueduct at Marly, whither the King and the Crown Prince were understood to have gone.
The affair must have caused some anxiety at Versailles in the meantime, as we see that the Bavarian troops have been called out. They are posted in large masses in the Place d’Armes and the Avenue de Paris. The French are camped, sixty thousand strong it is said, beneath Mont Valérien and in the fields to the east of it. They are understood to have captured the Montretout redoubt, and the village of Garches to the west of Saint Cloud, which is not much more than three-quarters of an hour from here, is also in their hands. They may, it is feared, advance further to-morrow and oblige us to withdraw from Versailles, but this seems to be at least an exaggeration. At dinner there is scarcely any talk of immediate danger. Geheimrath von Löper, who is understood to be Under Secretary in the Ministry of the Royal Household, dines with us. We hear that there is no longer any danger for our communications in the south-east, as Bourbaki, after pressing Werder very hard for three days without however being able to defeat him, has given up the attempt to relieve Belfort and is now in full retreat, probably owing to the approach of Manteuffel. The Chief then refers to a report that the taxes cannot be collected in various districts of the occupied territory. He says it is difficult, indeed impossible, to garrison every place where the population must be made to pay the taxes. “Nor,” he adds, “is it necessary to do so? Flying columns of infantry accompanied by a couple of guns are all that is needed. Without even entering into the places, the people should be simply told, ‘If you do not produce the taxes in arrear within two hours we shall pitch some shells in amongst you.’ If they see that we are in earnest they will pay. If not the place should be bombarded, and that would help in other cases. They must learn what war means.”
The conversation afterwards turned on the grants that were to be expected after the conclusion of peace, and alluding to those made in 1866, the Chief said, inter alia: “They should not be grants of money. I at least was reluctant for a long time to accept one, but at length I yielded to the temptation. Besides, it was worse still in my case, as I received it not from the King but from the Diet. I did not want to take any money from people with whom I had fought so bitterly for years.
“Moreover, the King was to some extent in my debt, as I had sent him forty pounds of fine fresh caviare—a present for which he made me no return. It is true that perhaps he never received it. Probably that fat rascal Borck intercepted it.” “These rewards ought to have taken the form of grants of land, as in 1815; and there was a good opportunity of doing so, particularly in the corner of Bavaria which we acquired, and which consisted almost entirely of State property.”
While we were alone at tea, Bucher told me that “before the war he had a good deal to do with the Spanish affair.” (This was not exactly news to me, as I remembered that long before that he suddenly ordered the Imparcial, and gave directions for various articles directed against Montpensier.) He had negotiated in the matter with the Hohenzollerns, father and son, and had also spoken to the King on the affair in an audience of one hour’s duration which he had had with him at Ems.
Friday, January 20th.—I am called to the Chief at 12 o’clock. He wishes to have his reply to Kern’s communication, and the letter in which he declined to supply Favre with a passport, published in the Moniteur.
Bohlen again came to dinner, at which we were also joined by Lauer and von Knobelsdorff. The Chief was very cheerful and talkative. He related, amongst other things, that while he was at Frankfurt he frequently received and accepted invitations from the Grand Ducal Court at Darmstadt. They had excellent shooting there. “But,” he added, “I have reason to believe that the Grand Duchess Mathilde did not like me. She said to some one at that time: ‘He always stands there and looks as important as if he were the Grand Duke himself.’”
While we were smoking our cigars, the Crown Prince’s aide-de-camp suddenly appeared, and reported that Count —— (I could not catch the name) had come, ostensibly on behalf of, and under instructions from, Trochu, to ask for a two days’ armistice in order to remove the wounded and bury those who fell in yesterday’s engagement. The Chief replied that the request should be refused. A few hours would be sufficient for the removal of the wounded and the burial of the dead; and, besides, the latter were just as well off lying on the ground as they would be under it. The Major returned shortly afterwards and announced that the King would come here; and, hardly a quarter of an hour later, his Majesty arrived with the Crown Prince. They went with the Chancellor into the drawing-room, where a negative answer was prepared for Trochu’s messenger.
About 9 P.M. Bucher sent me up a couple of lines in pencil to the effect that the letter to Kern should be published in the Moniteur to-morrow, but that the communication to Favre should be held over for the present.
Saturday, January 21st.—At 9.30 A.M. the Moniteur is delivered, and contains the Chief’s letter to Favre. Very disagreeable; but I suppose my letter to Bamberg only arrived after the paper was printed. At 10 o’clock I am called to the Minister, who says nothing about this mishap, although he has the newspaper before him. He is still in bed, and wishes the protest of the Comte de Chambord against the bombardment cut out for the King. I then write an article for the Kölnische Zeitung, and a paragraph for the local journal.