The Chief then related that when he was attending the University at Göttingen he fought twenty-eight students’ duels in three terms, and was always lucky enough to escape with a whole skin. Once his opponent’s blade flew off, probably because it was badly screwed in, and caught him in the face, where it remained sticking. Otherwise he had never received a scar. “I had one very narrow escape, though, at Greifswald. There they had introduced an extraordinary head-dress, a white felt, sugar-loaf hat, and I took it into my head that I must snip off the top of the sugar-loaf, and thus I exposed myself so that his blade whizzed by close to my face. I bent back, however, in good time.”
Wednesday, February 1st.—It was stated at lunch that Gambetta had approved of the armistice, but expressed surprise that we still continued to attack the French in the south-east. Favre, with his unbusinesslike habits, had omitted to telegraph to him that operations were not suspended there. This, by the way, was at his own request.
There were no guests at lunch. The Minister, speaking about Favre, said: “I believe he came here to-day merely in consequence of our conversation of yesterday, when I would not acknowledge that Garibaldi was a hero. He was evidently anxious about him, because I would not include him in the armistice. He pointed to the first article like a thorough lawyer. I said: ‘Yes, that was the rule, but the exceptions followed, and Garibaldi comes under them.’ I quite understood that a Frenchman should bear arms against us—he defended his country, and had a right to do so; but I could not recognise the right of this foreign adventurer with his cosmopolitan Republic and his band of revolutionaries from every corner of the earth. He asked me then what we should do with Garibaldi in case we took him prisoner. ‘Oh,’ I said, ‘we will exhibit him for money, and hang a placard round his neck bearing the word “Ingratitude.”’”
The Chief then asked: “But where is Scheidtmann?” Somebody told him. “He will have, I think, to give me legal advice in the matter” (viz., the war contribution of two hundred millions to be paid by Paris). “Is he not a lawyer?” Bucher said no, he had not studied at all, was originally a tradesman, &c. The Chief: “Well, then, Bleichröder must first go into action. He must go into Paris immediately, smell and be smelt at by his brethren in the faith, and discuss with the bankers how it is to be done. Surely he is coming?” Keudell: “Yes, in a few days.” The Chief: “Please telegraph him at once, that we want him immediately—then it will be Scheidtmann’s turn. I suppose he can speak French?” No one could say. “I am disposed to select Henckel as the third string. He is well acquainted with Paris, and knows the financiers. A member of the haute finance once said to me: ‘On the Stock Exchange we always lay our money on lucky players,’ and if we are to follow that rule Count Henckel is our man.”
À propos of German unity, the Minister told us that thirty years ago, at Göttingen, he had made a bet with an American as to whether Germany would be united within twenty-five years. “The winner was to provide twenty-five bottles of champagne, and the loser was to cross the ocean to drink them. The American wagered against union, and I in favour. The interesting point is that, as far back as 1833, I must have had the idea which has now, with God’s help, been realised, although at that time I was opposed to all those who professed to desire such a change.”
Finally, the Chief declared his belief in the influence of the moon on the growth of the hair and of plants. This subject came up through his jocularly congratulating Abeken on the style in which his locks had been trimmed. “You look twice as young, Herr Geheimrath,” he said. “If I were only your wife! You have had it cut exactly at the right time, under a crescent moon. It is just the same as with trees. When they are intended to shoot again they are felled when the moon is in the first quarter, but when they are to be rooted up then it is done in the last quarter, as in that case the stump decays sooner. There are people who will not believe it, learned men, but the State itself acts on this belief, although it will not openly confess to it. No woodman will think of felling a birch tree which is intended to throw out shoots when the moon is waning.”
After dinner I read a number of documents relating to the armistice and the revictualling of Paris, including several letters in Favre’s own hand, which is neat and legible. One of the letters states that Paris has only flour enough to last up to the 4th of February, and after that nothing but horseflesh. Moltke is requested by the Chief not to treat Garibaldi on the same footing as the French, and in any case to demand that he and his followers shall lay down their arms—the Minister desires this to be done on political grounds. Instructions have been sent to Alsace that the elections for the Assembly at Bordeaux, which is to decide as to the continuance of the war, or peace, and eventually as to the conditions on which the latter is to be concluded, are not to be hindered, but rather ignored. The elections are to be conducted by the Maires and not by the Prefects in the districts we occupy.
Thursday, February 2nd.—We were joined at dinner by Odo Russell, and a tall stout young gentleman in a dark blue uniform, who, I was told, was Count Bray, a son of the Minister, and formerly attached to the Bavarian Embassy in Berlin. The Chief said to Russell: “The English newspapers and also some German ones have censured my letter to Favre and consider it too sharply worded. He himself, however, does not appear to be of that opinion. He said of his own accord: ‘You were right in reminding me of my duty. I ought not to leave before this is finished.’ The Minister praised this self-abnegation. He then repeated that our Parisians were unpractical people and that we had constantly to counsel and assist them. He added that they now wished apparently to ask for alterations in the Convention of the 28th of January. Outside Paris little disposition was shown to help in reprovisioning the city. The directors of the Rouen-Dieppe railway, for instance, upon whom they had relied for assistance, declared there was not enough rolling stock, as the locomotives had been taken to pieces and sent to England. Gambetta’s attitude was still doubtful, and he seemed to contemplate a continuation of the war. It was necessary that France should soon have a proper Government.” “If one is not speedily established I shall give them a sovereign. Everything is already prepared. Amadeus arrived in Madrid with a travelling bag in his hand as King of Spain, and he seems to get on all right. My sovereign will come immediately with a retinue, Ministers, cooks, chamberlains, and an army.”
With regard to Napoleon’s fortune, very different opinions were expressed. Some said it was large, others that it was inconsiderable. Russell doubted if he had much. He thought the Empress at least could not have much, as she had only deposited £6,000 in the Bank of England. The Chancellor then related that on the way to Saint Cloud to-day he met many people removing their furniture and bedding. Probably they were inhabitants of neighbouring villages, who had nevertheless been unable to leave Paris. “The women looked quite friendly,” he said, “but on catching sight of the uniforms the men began to scowl and struck heroic attitudes. That reminds me that in the old Neapolitan army they had a word of command, when we say, ‘Prepare to charge, right!’ the command was ‘Faccia feroce!’ (Look ferocious!). A fine presence, a pompous style of speech, and a theatrical attitude are everything with the French. So long as it sounds right and looks well the substance is a matter of indifference. It reminds me of a citizen of Potsdam who once told me he had been deeply impressed by a speech of Radowitz’s. I asked him to show me the passage that had particularly stirred his feelings. He could not mention one. I then took the speech itself and read it through to him in order to discover its beauties, but it turned out that there was nothing in it either pathetic or sublime. As a matter of fact it was merely the air and attitude of Radowitz, who looked as if he were speaking of something most profound and significant and thrillingly impressive,—the thoughtful mien, the contemplative eye, and the sonorous and weighty voice. It was much the same with Waldeck, although he was not nearly such a clever man nor so distinguished looking. In his case it was more the white beard and the staunch convictions. The gift of eloquence has greatly spoilt Parliamentary life. A great deal of time is consumed as every one who thinks he has anything in him wants to speak, even when he has nothing new to say. There are far too many speeches that simply float in the air and pass out through the windows, and too few that go straight to the point. The parties have already settled everything beforehand, and the set speeches are merely intended for the public, to show what members can do, and more especially for the newspapers that are expected to praise them. It will come to this in the end, that eloquence will be regarded as dangerous to the public welfare, and that people will be punished for making long speeches. We have one body,” he continued, “that is not in the least eloquent, and has nevertheless done more for the German cause than any other, that is the Federal Council. I remember, indeed, that at first some attempts were made in that direction. I cut them short, however, though as a matter of fact I had no right to do so, albeit I was President. I addressed them much as follows: ‘Gentlemen, eloquence and speeches intended to affect people’s convictions are of no use here, as every one brings his own convictions with him in his pocket—that is to say, his instructions. It is merely waste of time. I think we had better restrict ourselves to statements of fact.’ And so we did. No one made a big speech after that, business was speedily transacted, and the Federal Council has really done a great deal of good.”
Friday, February 3rd.—In addition to a violently warlike proclamation, Gambetta has issued a decree declaring a number of persons ineligible for the new Representative Assembly. “Justice demands that all those who have been accessory to the acts of the Government which began with the outrage of the 2nd of December, and ended with the capitulation of Sedan, should now be reduced to the same political impotence as the dynasty whose accomplices and tools they were. That is a necessary consequence of the responsibility which they assumed in carrying out the Emperor’s measures. These include all persons who have occupied the positions of Minister, Senator, Councillor of State, or Prefect from the 2nd of December, 1851, to the 4th of September, 1870. Furthermore, all persons who, in the elections to the legislative bodies during the period from the 2nd of December, 1851, to the 4th of September, 1870, have been put forward in any way as Government candidates, as well as the members of those families that have reigned in France since 1789, are ineligible for election.”