_April 2nd._--This evening between 8 and 9 o’clock the Secretary of State came to my desk. He first asked if I was always obliged to remain so late in order to see if anything was wanted upstairs. I replied in the affirmative, explaining at the same time that Bucher conveyed the Chief’s orders to me, and supplied me with material. He then observed: “He has stated to diplomatists that he wishes the war to be waged in a milder form. The English representative told me so, and I should be glad to know if any instructions to this effect have been received here. Has anything of the kind been done?... After all he cannot mean to go so far as the papers say. Why, that would amount to a Thirty Years’ War.” I said that would hardly be possible, and the Chief would scarcely think of going beyond a certain point. “I do not believe it either,” he said; “but in that case the semi-official journals should not give rise to such apprehensions as seem to be entertained by the other papers; and he should not have given such directions. If you should happen to hear that a milder tone is to be adopted, please let me know, so that I may be informed when the diplomatists question me on the subject.” During this conversation I remembered a letter which I had seen on the floor of his room the day before yesterday, which was dated from Brussels, and would appear from the handwriting to have come from Balan. It contained the following passage: “It would seem as if the ecclesiastical question would more and more dominate all other relations with us, and in this respect as well as in many others would postpone for a long time to come the return of that idyllic peace of former times which we were accustomed to in our youth.... The main difficulties have scarcely begun. In my opinion they will inevitably arise when it becomes necessary to check the fanatics of the movement that has now been started.” _April 3rd._--Bucher dictated to me to-day the following ideas for an article for the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_, which he had taken down in shorthand from the Chief: “Naturally very many persons in Alsace-Lorraine wish to remain French citizens, through fear of the conscription and for other similar reasons. That was clearly foreseen by us, but we were obliged to keep that strip of land as military cover against new filibustering raids such as the French have attempted fifty to sixty times during the past two centuries. It is obvious that we could not permit those who elected for the French nationality to continue to reside in Alsace-Lorraine, as possibly the majority would then adopt that course. As to the threat of expelling the Germans from France, all those who are not absolutely necessary for the maintenance of industry and commerce in France are already being driven away. Life is made so unendurable to the others that they leave of their own accord.”