recently witnessed in Berlin the arrival of Emperor William and the
Crown Prince, which he compared to the departure of Napoleon III for
Sedan in 1870. We were talking at the Ministry of War, where I also met
the Marquis Robert de Flers, the well-known dramatist and editor of the
_Figaro_, and M. Lazare Weiler, deputy. M. Hedeman told me that two
days after the declaration of war a skirmish took place near the village
of Genaville in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, between French
custom-house officials and a squadron of German cavalry. The commander
of the German detachment was shot in the stomach, fell to the ground,
and was captured. He was Lieutenant Baron Marshall von Bieberstein, son
of the former German Ambassador at Constantinople. A French lieutenant
of gendarmes helped the prisoner to his feet. Lieutenant von
Bieberstein, who was mortally wounded, said: "Thank you, gentlemen! I
have done my duty in serving my country, just as you are serving your
own!" He then died. M. Charles Humbert, senator of the Meuse, gave the
helmet and sabre that had been worn by Lieutenant Marshall von
Bieberstein to the editor of the _Matin_.

[Illustration: The Statue of Strasbourg, after the capture of Altkirch
in Alsace by French troops.]




_Tuesday, August 11._


Tenth day of mobilization. Warm, sunny weather, with light northerly
breezes. Temperature at five P.M. 27 degrees centigrade.