_April 24th._--Called to the Chief this evening, and received instructions and materials for an article in the _Kölnische Zeitung_, which ran as follows: “If the French ship which came to Glückstadt to convey 40,000 French prisoners of war back to their country was obliged to return without having effected its object, the reasons were very clearly indicated by the Imperial Chancellor in his last speech in the Reichstag. According to the Preliminary Peace, the prisoners were to be surrendered; but, on the other hand, the French Government was not at liberty, until after the signature of the final treaty, to station any troops between the Seine and the Loire, with the exception of 40,000 men in Paris. In consideration of the embarrassment caused to the Government of M. Thiers by the Communist rising, no objection was raised on the part of Germany to the collection of a force of over 40,000 men near Versailles; and, indeed, this measure was for a time endorsed by the liberation of a large number of prisoners. The Germans were, however, under no obligation to do this. On the contrary, their obligation ceased so long as the French Government was not in a position to fulfil its share of the undertaking to establish and maintain a neutral zone between the Seine and Loire. The concessions made on the German side in the matter of the liberation of prisoners were voluntary concessions, mere acts of a complaisance dictated by our own interest, the continuance of which depended entirely upon circumstances, upon the good will manifested at Versailles, and upon the confidence which may be reposed in Berlin, in the loyalty to its treaty engagements, as well as the energy and capacity of the Versailles Government. But there was also another consideration. Notwithstanding the order issued by Favre, all the German prisoners in the hands of the French have not yet been sent back, although their liberation should have taken place immediately after the Convention of the 28th of January. This is doubtless due to the independent position of the French Minister of War, as well as of the Chief of the Admiralty, who have shown a reluctance to discharge strictly and speedily the engagements entered into by Favre and Thiers for the release of some fourteen hundred German officers and soldiers, who are still held as prisoners, as, amongst other matters, for the surrender of the merchant vessels that had not been condemned before the conclusion of the Preliminary Peace. Can the Versailles Government fairly expect us to make further concessions when it has itself contumaciously neglected the fulfilment of its own obligations for fully three months?”