George Bancroft to P. S.—The number of German troops now on French soil is about five hundred thousand. Other troops are still sent forward. To-day and to-morrow there will go twelve battalions of infantry, two of cavalry, and three batteries. Eight pieces of the heaviest artillery are on the way to Paris. The places in Alsace which are invested and not yet taken are Metz, Strasburg, Schlettstaedt, Bietsch, and Pfahlzburg; in the north, Paris and Mezieres. Thionville is watched by a small detachment. There has been fighting in the streets of Paris, with the use of guns and cannon. Who were the parties is unknown. On the 19th four divisions, one more than the Germans supposed, fled before the Germans, carrying the panic into the city. One of the Würtemberg, September 24, 1870

Mr. Bancroft to Mr. Fish.

Sir: Count Bismarck has published another circular, in which he expressly defines as the conditions of peace the cession to Germany of the fortresses of Strasburg and Metz. He describes every attempt of the French to obtain the intervention of neutral powers as only a delay in the negotiations for peace. On the part of neutrals themselves, he holds it to be an act of cruelty for them to prolong the war by nursing hopes of intervention which can never be fulfilled. He declines a truce, unless it shall be attended with the security of the adoption of the concerted conditions of peace. He justifies his demand for the possession of the fortresses by the fact, that in more than twenty wars against Germany the French have in every instance been the aggressors. His conditions of peace he describes as moderate, because they have no other object than the safe enjoyment of tranquillity in time to come. As to the internal government of France, he disavows every disposition to meddle with it. His words are: “It is perfectly indifferent to us what government the French nation may establish for itself.” But he draws a distinction between the conditions of peace which Germany demands and the form of government which France may elect. The latter France alone must decide. Strasburg and Metz must pass from the possession of France into that of Germany, or the peace which is to be negotiated, whatever the government of France may be, will prove only a truce, that would last only till France could recover strength to take revenge for its defeats.

With regard to the progress of the war, I am assured by the best military authorities here that Strasburg can hold out but a few days longer. It will probably be in the hands of the Germans before this letter reaches you. On the other hand, little has been done at Metz, except to invest it, and await its surrender from want of food, of which, however, as yet there appears to be no deficiency. Nevertheless, the bold, unequivocal manner in which Count Bismarck, supported by all the governments of Germany, publishes to the world his conditions of peace, implies a settled determination to be content with nothing less.

The circular of Count Bismarck defines the nature of any negotiations on the part of Jules Favre. He has communicated his conditions of peace to cabinets and peoples, and leaves to the French minister little more than to decide whether he can accept them. He begins and ends with an ultimatum which he propounds, not in secret, but aloud, so that Jules Favre, and everybody else in Europe and America, may know what it is.

The news of last night announced the capture of Toul, the fortress which interrupted the German line of communication by railroad with Paris. It now becomes possible to forward to the neighborhood of Paris the heavy guns which have already been sent forward into France as if they had been intended for the siege of Metz. The circulars of Count Bismarck, of which I inclose copies, of which I have given you an analysis, furnish solutions to every question but one—the conditions on which Germany will agree to a truce. On that subject I have now special information; Count Bismarck offered Jules Favre a truce on condition, first, a constituent assembly should be called; and second, for the convenience of supplying the German army, the Germans should hold the fortresses of Strasburg, Toul, and Verdun. Jules Favre took the offer to Paris, and yesterday sent a refusal, so that war continues to rage. Meantime Toul has surrendered at discretion, and the city of Strasburg may be taken within three days. Meantime measures are going forward for the reconstruction of government in France and in Germany. For France, it is agreed on all hands that it is not fit to restore the dynasty of Napoleon. In the present condition of the country it is not likely that many friends of the Orleans dynasty will be returned as members of the constituent assembly, which is soon to come together. And therefore there is room to hope that the republic will win a majority to its support; the more so, as the republic will be the second choice of the legitimists, and perhaps of other parties. But the republic will be seen with reluctance by Great Britain; and, in truth, of the great powers the United States alone will give it a hearty welcome.

In Germany negotiations are going forward for its reconstruction as a united kingdom or empire, with the King of Prussia as King or Emperor of Germany. Baden has for four years been ready for such a result. The possession of Hesse lying already partly in North Germany, partly in South, and exposed to invasion from France, it will need but a slight pressure to obtain the consent of its sovereign to the change which its people already desire. In Würtemberg and in Bavaria the stern and strict system of Prussian discipline, both civil and military, was not loved, but its results in this war have been so astounding as to convert that adverse feeling into a sentiment of admiration and gratitude. The opposition to a union in Würtemberg grew out of a junction between an extreme democratic party, a court party, and the ultra-montanes. The war has dissolved this coalition, and the national party is in the ascendant. Up to this time the spirit of independence has been strongest in Bavaria, from its greatness and wealth, the antiquity and imperial ancestry of its royal house, its geographical position on the Danube, and the attachment of its royal family and its people to the See of Borne. But the people of Bavaria have for their sovereign a patriot King, who loves Germany as well as Bavaria. The ultra montane party, which, against his wishes, seemed likely to obtain the ascendency in the parliament of the kingdom, has suffered severe blows from the decree of Papal infallibility and the fall of the temporal power of the Pope. The exposed situation of the Bavarian Palatinate creates a dependency on others for defense. The delight in victories achieved by the coöperation of Bavarian and Prussian troops has effaced the sullenness consequent in the hard reverses of 1866, and Mr. Delbrück, whose standing and ability are known to you, is now at Munich, on the invitation of the Bavarian government, to concert the basis of a constitution that shall include all Germany. A congress of the German ruling princes will then be held, and it is the general belief that success will attend the negotiations.

Such a result was, before this war, not aspired to by the Prussian King. He foresaw that the union of Germany must one day take place, but he never believed that it would take place during his lifetime.

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