"In the afternoon I had more trouble with the Germans. The German military party 'fear' that the Entente may, perhaps, be inclined to agree to a general peace, and could not think of ending the war in this 'unprofitable' fashion. It is intolerable to have to listen to such twaddle. "If the great victories which the German generals are hoping for on the Western front should be realised, there will be no bounds to their demands, and the difficulty of all negotiations will be still further increased. "_December 25, 1917._--The plenary sitting took place to-day, when we gave the Russians our answer to their peace proposals. I was presiding, and delivered the answer, and Joffe replied. _The general offer of peace is thus to be made, and we must await the result._ In order to lose no time, however, the negotiations on matters concerning Russia are being continued meanwhile. We have thus made a good step forward, and _perhaps_ got over the worst. It is impossible to say whether yesterday may not have been a decisive turning point in the history of the world. "_December 26, 1917._--The special negotiations began at 9 A.M. The programme drawn up by Kuehlmann, chiefly questions of economical matters and representation, were dealt with so rapidly and smoothly that by 11 o'clock the sitting terminated, for lack of further matter to discuss. This is perhaps a good omen. Our people are using to-day to enter the results of the discussion in a report of proceedings, as the sitting is to be continued to-morrow, when territorial questions will be brought up. "_December 26, 1917._--I have been out for a long walk alone. "On the way back, I met an old Jew. He was sitting in the gutter, weeping bitterly. He did not beg, did not even look at me, only wept and wept, and could not speak at first for sobs. And then he told me his story--Russian, Polish, and German, all mixed together. "Well, he had a store--heaven knows where, but somewhere in the war zone. First came the Cossacks. They took all he had--his goats and his clothes, and everything in the place--and then they beat him. Then the Russians retired, beat him again, _en passant_ as it were, and then came the Germans. They fired his house with their guns, pulled off his boots, and beat him. Then he entered the service of the Germans, carrying water and wood, and received his food and beatings in return. But to-day he had got into trouble with them in some incomprehensible fashion; no food after that, only the beatings; and was thrown into the street. "The beatings he referred to as something altogether natural. They were for him the natural accompaniment to any sort of action--but he could not live on beatings alone.