_Thursday, November 24th._--Busily engaged all the morning with various articles on the Treaty with Bavaria, written in the sense of the Chief’s utterances of last night. Wollmann told me that a Colonel Krohn had arrested a lawyer at a place in the Ardennes for having treacherously entered into communication with a band of franctireurs, and the court-martial having sentenced the man to death, he had presented a petition for pardon. The Chief had, however, written to the Minister of War to-day that he would advise the King to let justice take its course. Colonel Tilly, of the General Staff, and Major Hill are the Chief’s guests at dinner to-day. The Minister again complained that the military authorities do not communicate sufficient information to him and too seldom consult him. “It was just the same with the appointment of Vogel von Falkenstein, who has now locked up Jacoby. If I have to speak on that subject in the Reichstag, I shall wash my hands of the matter. They could not possibly have done more to spoil the broth for me.” “I came to the war,” he repeated, “disposed to do everything for the military authorities, but in future I shall go over to the advocates of Parliamentary government, and if they worry me much more, I shall have a chair placed for myself on the extreme Left.” The Treaty with Bavaria was then mentioned, and it was said that the difficulties which had been encountered arose partly on the National side, on which the Minister observed, “It is really remarkable how many clever people there are who, nevertheless, understand nothing about politics. For instance, the man who always sat on my right here (Delbrück). A very clever man, but no politician.” Suddenly changing the subject, he said: “The English are beside themselves, and their newspapers demand war on account of a note which is nothing more than a statement of opinion on a point of law--for that is all that Gortschakoff’s Note amounts to.” Later on the Minister returned once more to the postponement of the bombardment, which he regarded as dangerous from a political standpoint. “Here we have now collected this enormous mass of siege artillery. The whole world is waiting for us to begin, and yet the guns remain idle up to the present. That has certainly damaged us with the neutral Powers. The effect of our success at Sedan is very seriously diminished thereby, and when one thinks on what grounds.” One of the causes of the delay brought him to speak of the Crown Princess, of whom he said: “She is in general a very clever person, and really agreeable in her way, but she should not interfere in politics.” He then again related the anecdote about the glass of water which he told me near Crehanges, only this time it was in French that the Princess spoke.