_Wednesday, October 26th._--In the morning I translated Granville’s despatch for the King, and afterwards prepared an abstract of it for the press. The latter was accompanied by the remark that we had already twice offered the French an armistice on favourable terms, once through Favre, and again, on the 9th of October, through Burnside, but that they would not accept it because we desired it. Then telegraphed to London that Thiers is receiving a safe conduct to our headquarters and permission to proceed thence to Paris. Also that the Comte de Chambord had a meeting at Coppet with the Comte de Paris. In the evening I wrote another article on the instructions of the Chief to the following effect. It is rumoured that Vienna diplomacy has again taken steps to induce the Germans to grant an armistice. We find it difficult to credit this report. The only advantage to the French of an armistice at the present moment would be to strengthen their resistance and to render it more difficult for us to enforce the conditions which we recognise as essential. Can that be the object Austria has in view in taking this measure? The following considerations are of an obvious nature. If the authorities in Vienna deprive us of the fruits of our victory, if we are prevented from securing that safe western frontier which we are striving to win, a new war with France is unavoidable, or rather the continuation of the one thus interrupted. It is quite clear where in such circumstances France would seek allies and probably find them. It is equally certain that in that case Germany would not wait until the recovery of France from her present chaotic condition, which would be promoted by a cessation of the war now in progress. Germany would be obliged to deal first with this future ally of France and to seek to render it powerless, and the latter standing alone would have to bear the cost of its own act in preventing us from attaining our present object. In other words, it might then happen that Austria would have to compensate us by the cession of Bohemia for the loss of Lorraine, which it once before alienated from the German Empire.