I was anxious to obtain his opinion upon the situation, and this is a _resume_ of what he told me.

"When Jules Favre," he said, "went to Bismarck, he was prepared to agree to the dismantlement of the fortresses of Alsace and Lorraine, the cession of half the fleet, the payment of an indemnity of eighty millions of pounds, and an agreement for a term of years not to have a standing army of more than 200,000 men.

A Constituent Assembly would have ratified these terms.

The cession of a portion of the fleet is but tantamount to the payment of money.

The conscription is so unpopular that a majority of the nation would have been glad to know that the standing army would henceforward be a small one.