The Chief seems to be seriously considering the idea of asking the King to relieve him of his office. According to Bucher he is already on the point of resigning.
“The Chief,” he said, “informed me of something to-day which nobody else knows. He is seriously considering whether he will not break with the King.” I said that in that case I should also take my leave. I did not wish to serve under any one else. Bucher: “Nor I either. I, too, would then resign.”
At dinner, at which Prince Putbus and Odo Russell were present, the Chief related that he had once tried to use his knowledge of State secrets for the purpose of speculating in stocks, but that his attempt was not successful. “I was commissioned in Berlin,” he said, “to speak to Napoleon on the question of Neuchâtel. It must have been in the spring of 1857. I was to inquire as to his attitude towards that question. Now, I knew that his answer would be favourable, and that this would mean a war with Switzerland. Accordingly, on my way through Frankfurt, where I lived at that time, I called upon Rothschild, whom I knew well, and told him I intended to sell certain stock which I held, and which showed no disposition to rise. ‘I would not do that,’ said Rothschild. ‘That stock has good prospects. You will see.’ ‘Yes,’ I said; ‘but if you knew the object of my journey you would think otherwise.’ He replied that, however that might be, he could not advise me to sell. But I knew better, sold out and departed. In Paris, Napoleon was very pleasant and amiable. It was true he could not agree, as the King wanted to let us march through Alsace-Lorraine, which would create great excitement in France, but in every other respect he entirely approved of our plans. It could only be a matter of satisfaction to him if that nest of democrats were cleared out. I was, therefore, so far successful. But I had not reckoned with my King, who had in the meantime, behind my back, made different arrangements—probably out of consideration for Austria; and so the affair was dropped. There was no war, and my stock rose steadily from that time forward, and I had reason to regret parting with them.”
Villa Coublay and the bombardment were then referred to, and the alleged impossibility of bringing up at once the necessary supply of ammunition. The Chief said: “I have already informed the august gentlemen a couple of times that we have here a whole herd of horses that must be ridden out daily merely for exercise. Why should they not be employed for once to better purpose?”
It was mentioned that the Palazzo Caffarelli in Rome had been purchased for the German Embassy, and both Russell and Abeken said it was a very fine building. The Chancellor observed: “Well, we have also handsome houses elsewhere, in Paris and in London. According to Continental ideas, however, the London house is too small. Bernstorff has so little room that he has to give up his own apartments when he has a reception or any other function of the kind. His Secretary of Embassy is better off in that respect. The Embassy in Paris is handsome and well situated. Indeed, it is probably the best Embassy in Paris, and represents a considerable money value, so that it has already occurred to me whether it might not be well to sell it and give the interest on the capital to the Ambassador as an allowance for rent. The interest on two and a half million francs would be a considerable addition to his salary, which only amounts to one hundred thousand francs. But on thinking the matter over more I found that it would not do. It is not becoming, not worthy of a great State, that its Ambassador should live in a hired house, where he would be subject to notice to quit, and on leaving would have to remove the archives in a cart. We ought, and must have, our own houses everywhere.”... “Our London house is an exceptional case. It belongs to the King, and everything depends on the way in which the Ambassador knows how to look after his own interest. It may happen that the King receives no rent—that actually does occur sometimes.”
The Chief spoke very highly of Napier, the former English Ambassador in Berlin. “He was very easy to get on with. Buchanan was also a good man, rather dry, perhaps, but absolutely trustworthy. Now we have Loftus. The position of an English Ambassador in Berlin has its own special duties and difficulties, if only on account of the personal relations of the two Royal families. It demands a great deal of tact and care.” (Presumably a quiet hint that Loftus does not fulfil those requirements.)
The Minister then led the conversation on to Grammont. He said: “Grammont and Ollivier strike me also as a pretty pair! If that had happened to me—if I had been the cause of such disasters, I would at least have joined a regiment, or, for the matter of that, have become a franctireur, even if I had had to swing for it. A tall, strong, coarse fellow like Grammont would be exactly suited for a soldier’s life.”
Russell mentioned having once seen Grammont out shooting in Rome dressed in blue velvet. “Yes,” added the Chief, “he is a good sportsman. He has the strength of muscle required for it. He would have made an excellent gamekeeper. But as a Minister for Foreign Affairs, one can hardly conceive how Napoleon came to select him.”
The Minister joined us at the tea-table about 10 o’clock, and referred again to the bombardment. He said: “I did not from the very beginning wish to have Paris invested. If what the general staff said at Ferrières were correct, namely, that they could dispose of a couple of the forts in three days, and then attack the weak enceinte, it would have been all right. But it was a mistake to let 60,000 regulars keep an army of 200,000 men engaged in watching them.” “One month up to Sedan, and here we have already spent three months, for to-morrow is the 1st of December. If we had telegraphed immediately after Sedan for siege guns we should be now in the city, and there would be no intervention on the part of the neutral Powers. If I had known that three months ago I should have been extremely anxious. The danger of intervention on the part of the neutral Powers increases daily. It begins in a friendly way, but it may end very badly.” Keudell remarked: “The idea of not bombarding first arose here.” “Yes,” replied the Chief, “through the English letters to the Crown Prince.”
Thursday, December 1st.—We were joined at dinner by a first lieutenant, Von Saldern, who took part in the last engagement between the 10th Army Corps and the Loire army. According to him that corps was for a considerable time surrounded by the superior French force at Beaune la Rolande, the enemy endeavouring to force their way through one of our wings towards Fontainebleau. Our soldiers defended themselves with the greatest gallantry and determination for seven hours, Wedel’s troops and the men of the 16th regiment specially distinguishing themselves. “We made over 1600 prisoners,” said Saldern, “and the total loss of the French is estimated at four to five thousand.” “I should have been better pleased,” said the Chief, “if they had all been corpses. It is simply a disadvantage to us now to make prisoners.”