“Poincare’s villa is visible on the horizon in the green landscape.  A gun has been brought to bear on the house—­they mean to destroy it before leaving—­they call this the extreme unction.

“The daily artillery duel began on our return drive, and kept up an incessant roar.

“St. Mihiel.

“We stopped at St. Mihiel, where many French people still remain.  They were detained as hostages to prevent the town from being fired at.  People were standing about in the streets watching the cars go by.

“I spoke to an old woman, who sat by herself on her house-steps.  She said:  ’This disaster can never be made good, and it cannot well be worse than it is now.  It is quite the same to me what happens.  I do not belong here; my only son has been killed and my house is burnt.  Nothing is left me but my hatred of the Germans, and I bequeath that to France.’  And she gazed past me into vacancy.  She spoke quite without passion, but was terribly sad.

“This terrible hatred!  Generations will go to their graves before the flood of hatred is abated.  Would a settlement, a peace of understanding, be possible with this spirit of the nations?  Will it not end by one of them being felled to earth and annihilated?

“St. Privat.

“We passed through St. Privat on our way to Metz.  Monuments that tell the tale of 1870 stand along the road.  Everywhere the soil is historic, soaked in blood.  Every spot, every stone, is reminiscent of past great times.  It was here that the seed was sown that brought forth the plan of revenge that is being fought for now.

“Bethmann seemed to divine my thoughts.  ‘Yes,’ he said, ’that sacrifice would be easier for Germany to bear than to part with Alsace-Lorraine, which would close one of the most brilliant episodes in her history.’

“Sedan.

“On the way to the Crown Prince’s quarters.  There stands the little house where the historic meeting between Napoleon III. and Bismarck took place.  The woman who lived there at the time died only a few weeks ago.  For the second time she saw the Germans arrive, bringing a Moltke but no Bismarck with them, a detail, however, that cannot deeply have interested the old lady.

“With the Crown Prince.

“A pretty little house outside the town.  I found a message from the Crown Prince asking me to proceed there immediately, where I had almost an hour’s private conversation with him before supper.

“I do not know if the Crown Prince ever was of a warlike disposition, as people say, but he is so no longer.  He longs for peace, but does not know how to secure it.  He spoke very quietly and sensibly.  He was also in favour of territorial sacrifices, but seemed to think that Germany would not allow it.  The great difficulty lay in the contrast between the actual military situation, the confident expectations of the generals, and the fears entertained by the military laymen.  Besides, it is not only Alsace-Lorraine.  The suppression of German militarism spoken of in London means the one-sided disarmament of Germany.  Can an army far advanced on enemy soil whose generals are confident of final victory, can a people still undefeated tolerate that?