The conversation then turned on Vienna and Count Beust. The Chief said Beust had apologised for the recent discourteous note. It was written by Biegeleben, and not by himself. The reference to Biegeleben led to the discussion of the Gagern family and to the once celebrated Heinrich von Gagern (President of the Reichstag in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt). “I remember,” the Chief said, “in 1850 or 1851, Manteuffel was instructed to bring about an understanding between the Gagern and the Conservative sections of the Prussian party--at least, as far as the King was disposed to go in the cause of German unity. Manteuffel selected Gagern and myself for this purpose, and so we were both invited one day to a _souper à trois_ at his place. At first there was little or no mention of politics, but Manteuffel afterwards made some excuse for leaving us alone. When he left I immediately began to talk politics, explaining my standpoint to Gagern in a plain, business-like way. You should have heard Gagern! He assumed his Jove-like aspect, lifted his eyebrows, ran his fingers through his hair, rolled his eyes and cast them up to heaven so perpendicularly that you could hear the joints in his neck crack, and poured out his grand phrases to me as if I were a public meeting. Of course, that did not help him much with me. I replied coolly, and we remained divided as before. When Jupiter had retired, Manteuffel asked, ‘Well, what arrangement have you come to together?’ ‘Oh,’ I replied, ‘no arrangement at all. The man is a fool. He takes me for a public meeting! A mere watering-can of fine phrases! Nothing can be done with him.’” The subject of the bombardment having been introduced, the Chief said: “I told the King again yesterday that it was time to begin, and he had no objection to make. He replied that he had given orders to begin, but that the generals said they could not. I know exactly how it is. It is Stosch, Treskow, and Podbielski.” Some one asked: “And Hindersin?” “He is also against it,” said the Chief. “Podbielski” (so I understood him to say) “could be brought round. But the other two are influenced by considerations affecting their own future.” It appeared from some further remarks of the Minister that, in his opinion, first Queen Victoria, and then, at her instance the Crown Princess, and, finally, the Crown Prince, persuaded by his consort, will not have Paris bombarded; while the generals “cannot” bombard the city out of consideration for the views of the Crown Prince, who will, of course, be the future King, and will have the appointment of Ministers of War, commandants of army corps, and field marshals.