The Minister allowed himself little recreation--a ride between 3 and 4 o’clock, an hour at table with half an hour for the cup of coffee which followed it in the drawing-room, and now and then, after 10 P.M., a longer or shorter chat at the tea-table with whoever happened to be there, and a couple of hours sleep after daybreak. The whole remainder of the day was devoted to business, studying or writing in his room, or in conversations and negotiations,--unless a sortie of the French or some other important military operation called him to the side of the King, or alone to some post of observation. Nearly every day the Chancellor had guests to dinner, and in this way we came to see and hear almost all the well-known and celebrated men prominently connected in the war. Favre repeatedly dined with us, reluctantly at first, “because his countrymen within the walls were starving,” but afterwards listening to wise counsel and exhortation and doing justice like the rest of us to the good things of the kitchen and cellar. Thiers, with his keen intelligent features, was on one occasion amongst the guests, and the Crown Prince once did us the honour to dine at our table, when such of the Chief’s assistants as were not previously known to him were presented. At another time Prince Albrecht was present. Of the Minister’s further guests, I will here only mention Delbrück, President of the Bundeskanzleiamt, who was frequently in Versailles for weeks at a time, the Duke of Ratibor, Prince Putbus, von Bennigsen, Simson, Bamberger, Friedenthal and von Blankenburg, the Bavarian Ministers Count Bray and von Lutz, the Würtemberg Ministers von Wächter and Mittnacht, von Roggenbach, Prince Radziwill, and finally Odo Russell, who was subsequently British Ambassador to the German Empire. When the Chief was present the conversation was always lively and varied, while it was frequently instructive as illustrating his manner of regarding men and things, or as throwing light upon certain episodes and incidents of his past life. Madame Jesse put in an appearance a few days before our departure and, as previously observed, did not produce a good impression. She seems to have made charges against us which the French press, even papers that lay claim to some respectability, circulated with manifest pleasure. Amongst other things we are alleged to have packed up her plate and table linen. Furthermore, Count Bismarck tried to compel her to give him a valuable clock.