[Footnote 58:  Seignobos, A Political History of Contemporary Europe, vol. i. p. 187 (Eng. edit.).]

He now entrusted three important portfolios, those for Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, and Public Instruction, to pronounced Republicans—­Jules Favre, Picard, and Jules Simon.  Having pacified the monarchical majority by appealing to them to defer all questions respecting the future constitution until affairs were more settled, he set out to meet Bismarck at Versailles.

A disadvantage which almost necessarily besets parliamentary institutions had weakened the French case before the negotiations began.  The composition of the Assembly implied a strong desire for peace—­a fact which Thiers had needlessly emphasised before he left Bordeaux.  On the other hand, Bismarck was anxious to end the war.  He knew enough to be uneasy at the attitude of the neutral States; for public opinion was veering round in England, Austria, and Italy to a feeling of keen sympathy for France, and even Russia was restless at the sight of the great military Empire that had sprung into being on her flank.  The recent proclamation of the German Empire at Versailles—­an event that will be treated in a later chapter—­opened up a vista of great developments for the Fatherland, not unmixed with difficulties and dangers.  Above all, sharp differences had arisen between him and the military men at the German headquarters, who wished to “bleed France white” by taking a large portion of French Lorraine (including its capital Nancy), a few colonies, and part of her fleet.  It is now known that Bismarck, with the same moderation that he displayed after Koeniggraetz, opposed these extreme claims, because he doubted the advisability of keeping Metz, with its large French population.  The words in which he let fall these thoughts while at dinner with Busch on February 21 deserve to be quoted:—­

If they (the French) gave us a milliard more (L40,000,000) we might perhaps let them have Metz.  We would then take 800,000,000 francs, and build ourselves a fortress a few miles further back, somewhere about Falkenberg or Saarbrueck—­there must be some suitable spot thereabouts.  We should thus make a clear profit of 200,000,000 francs. [N.B.—­A milliard = 1,000,000,000 francs.] I do not like so many Frenchmen being in our house against their will.  It is just the same with Belfort.  It is all French there too.  The military men, however, will not be willing to let Metz slip, and perhaps they are right[59].

[Footnote 59:  Busch, Bismarck in the Franco-German War, vol. ii. p. 341.]